Training in Soil Borne Pathogens of Wheat

August 12, 2016

Intensive training on soil borne pathogens of wheat was recently held at the Transitional Zone Agricultural Research Institute (TZARI) in Eskisehir, Turkey. The training was led by Dr Abdelfattah Dababat of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Turkey. The aim of the Soil Borne Pathogens Program is ultimately to help tackle the problems caused by soil borne pathogens in order to alleviate hunger and contribute to food security.

During the opening ceremony, the 45 participants representing 16 countries were welcomed by representatives of the Turkish Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock (Yusuf Aslan, Field Crop Research Head, and Suat Kaymak, Plant Health Department Head), the Director of TZARI (Dr Sabri Cakir) and the Soil Borne Pathogens Program Leader (Dr Dababat).

The quality of the scientific program and the participation of soil borne disease specialists from various countries made it a highly successful course. Presentations were given by 15 experts in the field, including three renowned Australian experts: Dr Timothy Paulitz of Western Sydney University; Dr Grant Hollaway, the Department of Economic Development, Horsham; and Dr Ian Riley of the University of Adelaide.

The training course is of importance to the future work of soil borne pathogens of wheat, in addition to creating linkages between the CIMMYT-Turkey program and other national institutes in the region. It is the fifth CIMMYT international training course—the program has been successfully conducted in Turkey in 2000 and 2010, China in 2005 and Tunisia in 2008. The final report for this most recent training course is available here.