Borlaug Scholars from Nine Countries Conduct Cooperative Research with IFAS Faculty

The Borlaug Fellows program, sponsored by USDA and named for Nobel-Prize winner Norman E. Borlaug, has placed a total of twelve visiting scholars with UF/IFAS during the past several months. Visiting scholars are working scientists early in their careers, who come from nations outside the U.S. They are teamed up with senior scientists from the U.S. who serve as mentors and collaborators on research programs that will benefit their home nations’ agricultural, natural resource, or human resources sector. UF/IFAS served as host to three scholars from Guyana, in South America; eight women scholars from various nations in Africa; a scholar from El Salvador; and a scholar from Peru. The Borlaug program at UF/IFAS began when seven women scientists from Africa visited in 2005, conducting cooperative research with UF/IFAS mentors.

Guyana

Plastic mulching techniques, DNA extraction methods for variety identification of peanuts, and ruminant and cattle nutrition in Guyana were the three main areas studied by the visiting scientists from Guyana.

Fellow Joseph McAllister was teamed with Mentor Stephen Olson, a vegetable crops expert from NFREC-Quincy. Fellow Kaye McAllister was teamed with Mentor Maria Gallo, a molecular genetics expert in the Agronomy Department; and Fellow Juan Solomon was teamed with Mentor Adegbola Adesogan, a dairy science expert in UF/IFAS Animal Sciences Department.

Joseph McAllister visited North-Florida farms to study plastic mulching techniques and studied the properties of various-colored mulches on plant growth. He hopes to adapt plastic mulches to Guyana’s soil conditions to improve crop yields in tomato, peppers, egg plants, melons, cucumbers and pumpkins.

Fellow Kaye McAllister gained hands-on experience in DNA extraction methods and gel electrophoresis analysis with the ultimate goal of learning these procedures well enough to use them in molecular variety identifications. She studied genomic DNA isolation from peanut seed and visited the North Florida Research and Education Center, as well as the Plant Science Research Unit in Citra. She also attended the annual American Peanut Research and Education Society meeting in Savannah, GA to listen to presentations, view posters and interact with peanut researchers from across the nation.

Juan Solomon studied recent advances in ruminant nutrition and feed formulation for sheep and beef cattle production, particularly in the use of dietary energy-protein through supplemental feeding of grains and agricultural by-products. Solomon attended the American Association of Animal Science conference, studied computer-based ration formulation for ruminants, visited experiment stations and feed companies, and learned a computer-based record-keeping system for livestock.

Africa

The eight women scientists from Africa began their work at the CGIAR Gender and Diversity Leadership Training Program in Nigeria, then came to the U.S. for five-week Fellowships with their American mentors. Marta Hartmann, Ph. D., in the Agricultural Education and Communication Department, led the overall group learning experience, which included Fellow seminars, training in leadership, intercultural communication, and gender issues, as well as reflection sessions throughout the time the Fellows were here. The eight women participated in a welcoming reception, a group seminar through the African Studies Center, a special luncheon sponsored by the UF Gender, Environment, Agriculture and Participation Program (GEAP), an agricultural field day in North Florida, a behind-the-scenes trip to the Disney/EPCOT Center focused on agricultural innovations, and a Thanksgiving celebration. The eight Fellows represented five countries, while the Mentors came from six UF/IFAS departments.

Olanike Adeyemo, Ph.D., DVM, Aquatic Pathobiology, from Nigeria, was mentored by UF/IFAS faculty Denise Petty, Ph.D., Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in Gainesville; by Ruth Francis-Floyd, Ph.D., Veterinary Medicine, also in Gainesville; and by Roy Yanong, Ph.D., Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in Ruskin. Olanike has six years professional experience as a lecturer at the University of Ibadan. She teaches a number of courses in the areas of fisheries and wildlife. Her research interests are in field and laboratory investigations of fish and aquatic animal diseases, water quality and pollution studies, and hygiene and quality control in industrial practices. During her stay at UF, she acquired knowledge in the use of advanced technology in aquaculture production and management. The training she obtained through the fellowship will serve as a train the trainer foundation. She toured the Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory (TAL), met UF TAL faculty and staff, and was exposed to common production practices and re-circulating systems used on fish farms in the state. She also reviewed theory of water quality in re-circulating systems, visited two ornamental fish farms, and had a chance to meet the producers and learn a bit more about their work. In the fish disease diagnostic laboratory at the TAL, she helped faculty and staff work up some cases, and learned our specific protocols with regard to diagnostics. She also reviewed parasites of fish. Finally, she received a copy of the Two-Day Fish Health Management workshop notebook, as well as diagnostic forms, to provide her with a template for her own work in Nigeria.

Precious Hamukwala, M.Sc. in Agribusiness, from Zambia, was mentored by James Sterns, Ph.D., in the Food and Resource Economics Department. Ms. Hamukwala is a lecturer at the University of Zambia. She has held this position for a year. Her responsibilities include lecturing, supervising project work, and conducting research. Her research interests are in technology assessment and/or adoption, determining the levels of information and communication technology to use in making farm management and agribusiness marketing decisions, and determining marketing arrangements for under-utilized traditional food crops. Her goal is to conduct targeted research in Zambia that will result in policy change. Precious noted that her areas of research interests are broad, but narrowed her work to the following: Determining the level of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) used by farmers in making production and marketing decisions, how government policies affect ICTs’ use by farmers, and looking at markets of sorghum & millet in Zambia, which are underutilized household food-security crops in Zambia that were replaced by corn for most urbanized consumers.

Susan Keino, M.Sc. in Community Nutrition and Development, of Kenya, was mentored by Glenda Warren, Ph.D., Family Youth and Community Sciences and Lisa House, Ph.D., in the Food and Resource Economics Department. Ms. Keino has been a Graduate Assistant at the Maseno University in Kenya since 1999, and was promoted to a Tutorial Fellow in 2006. She teaches undergraduate courses in nutrition and public health. Her research interest is in food security issues, food-based approaches in micronutrient interventions, food policy, and maternal and child nutrition. However, her main concern at the moment is the persistent food insecurity in Kenya. Therefore, during her Fellowship, she gained knowledge on the formulation and development of food policies, which she can adapt to ensuring food security in Kenya and hopes the same can be applied in other countries facing the same problem in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ruth Mbabazi, Masters in Food Safety and Quality Management, from Uganda, was mentored by Gary E. Rodrick, Ph.D., Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) and Amy Simmonne, Ph.D., Family, Youth and Community Sciences. Ms. Mbabazi is a fisheries inspector at the ministry of agriculture, animal and fisheries in Uganda. She develops and implements the quality management systems for the fisheries sector. She trains fisheries stakeholders in food safety analytical techniques. Her research interests are to assess food security systems adopted among urban households in Uganda. The study outcome is intended to address factors affecting food utilization in Uganda.

Nancy Muthoka, Masters in Science in Horticultural Economics, from Keyna, was mentored by John Vansickle, Ph.D., in the Food and Resource Economics Department. Ms Muthoka is a Research Officer Horticultural Economics with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya. She has worked with socio-economic evaluation of horticultural technologies, priority setting, and development planning. She has an interest in market research and policy analysis. During her fellowship, she learned practical skills on policy research with an emphasis on horticulture, including floriculture. She anticipates that the program will influence her work with the rural poor, especially women.

Aminata Dolo Nantoume, Masters in Population, Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, from Mali, was mentored by Jane Polston, Ph.D., Plant Pathology. Ms. Nantoume works at the national agricultural research institute in Mali (Institut d'Economie Rurale). Her interest is in developing pest management in vegetables. She has been working in a Farming System and Natural Resource Management Research Program since 1998 at the Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER), the agricultural research institute of Mali. Recently, she has obtained a DEA degree in Mali, a degree equivalent to the Master of Science. The topic of her thesis was “Contribution to the research and development of tomato leaf curl disease (TYLCV) control methods in Mali.” Since that time she has been working in the Fruits and Vegetables Research Program of the same institute. Therefore, her specific area of interest would be “the application of biotechnology tools to solve the tomato crisis in Mali.” Her main objective is to reduce losses in tomato production and therefore improve the incomes of women, the poorest of the rural population. She is interested in the use of PCR for virus determination, characterization of viruses involved in the TYLCD, and screening germplasm for resistance.

Simisola Mercy Odeyinka, Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition, from Nigeria was mentored by Adegbola Adesogan, Ph.D., in the Animal Science Department. Dr. Odeyinka has been a senior lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria since 1991. Her responsibilities involve teaching research and supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as working as department head. She learned the recent techniques in measurement of nutrient utilization in small ruminants as well as techniques in the extraction of the oil from seeds. Simi Odeyinka is also interested in further exploring the nutritional value of Moringa I.

Vivian Oduro, M. Phil. in Plant Breeding and Biotechnology from Ghana was mentored by Kenneth Quesenberry, Ph.D., in the Agronomy Department. Ms. Oduro is the head of department of plant and soil sciences at the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI). She has been at this post for almost 10 years. Her work has been in the determination of suitable tissue culture growth medium for a variety of crops. She coordinates and supervises all research and development and commercial activities as well as provides technical guidance to commercial activities and training of new production workers. Her research interests include plant tissue culture techniques and the use of modern molecular techniques to elucidate problems in agriculture. She learned more techniques molecular biology/plant biotechnology which will sharpen her research skills to assist her in making significant contributions to the research already being conducted at her department, involving mutation techniques to breed ACMV. She initiated a small experiment using TDZ as a growth regulator that Dr. Quesenberry’s lab has continued after she left. She tried to determine the effect of TDZ, a growth hormone on the growth and development of red clovers in vitro. She did some tissue culture work with red clovers and studied genotype and medium interactions. She also determined which explant (plant part) responded best to the treatments imposed. This work was particularly useful to her because she was introduced to this new growth hormone and how to use it. It will greatly help in her work on cassava, plantains, sugarcane and pineapple tissue culture. In addition, she spent time in the lab of Dr. Maria Gallo of the Agronomy Department in the new genetics laboratory, where she was introduced to how that laboratory has achieved successes in sugarcane tissue culture. She learned tissue culture protocols used by Dr. Gallo’s program for sugar cane, a crop that the BNARI lab will be expanding into Ghana. In her laboratory in Ghana she has a new project on sugarcane tissue culture. The techniques she learned will be helpful for the Ghana lab to increase proliferation rates and be able to raise large amounts of planting materials for farmers to grow. She also attended plant breeding lectures to refresh her knowledge in plant breeding.

El Salvador

Yanira Lopez, M.S. in Ecological Agriculture with emphasis in Genetics Resources and Biotechnology, is a faculty member in the Escuela de Biologia of the Universidad de El Salvador in San Salvador. She currently teaches courses in general biology, plant physiology, and biotechnology. Her mentor was IFAS faculty member Richard E. Litz, Ph.D., at the Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, Florida, where Yanira worked for three months. Her research program involved cell and tissue culture of tropical fruit species, in particular banana and pineapple. Yanira was educated at the Universidad de El Salvador, and completed post graduate studies in 1999 at the Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza (CATIE) in Turrialba, Costa Rica. Yanira worked with avocado and mango during her stay at TREC, where she gained expertise in the regeneration of these fruit species by somatic embryogenesis. Avocado and mango are two of the most important fruit crops of El Salvador. She hopes that she will be able to develop advanced propagation techniques and gained experience with genetic resource management of these trees.

She is also interested in developing advanced propagation methods for native fruits of Central America, such as ‘jocote’ (Spondias spp.), which is a distant relative of mango, the Malphigiaceae species ‘nance’ (Byrsonimia crassifolia), and the Sapotaceae species mamey sapote, which is also grown commercially in south Florida. These trees are relatively unexploited in El Salvador because they are difficult to propagate vegetatively. As a result, the plantings consist of seedling trees, and production varies widely from tree to tree. Increasing the production of these underexploited fruits is considered a national priority by the FRUTALES program of IICA and the government of El Salvador.

Peru

Carlos Gomez, Ph.D., worked with Adegbola Adesogan in the Animal Sciences department, studying strategies to improve productivity of dairy and beef cattle. Gomez is director of an outlying research and education station run by the National Agricultural University in Lima. While at UF/IFAS, Dr. Gomez studied a number of techniques, including methods of blood sampling, formulating weening feed mix for calves, and measuring the colostrum in the milk a cow gives immediately after giving birth to a calf, which has the natural antibodies a mother’s milk transmits to her offspring. These antibodies help the young animals develop their immune systems, improving the health of the calves.

Contact: David Sammons

• Back to March 2007 International Focus Newsletter