7^th Asian Crop Science Association Conference in Indonesia

To update researchers on the recent scientific findings in crop science, the Asian Crop Science Association (ACSA) conducts regular international conference every three years. The four-day conference (September 27 – 30^th, 2011) was conducted in the Research Center for Bioresources and Biotechnology, Bogor Agricultural University with the theme Improving food, energy and environment with better crops. This event is also in accordance with the kick off meeting and workshop of Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) Research Project on Rice Innovation for Science Society of Japan (CDDJ), Japan Society of Breeding (JSB) and Japan Society of performance for sustainable agricultural development in wetlands.

This year's ACSAC also coincided with the 48^th Anniversary of Bogor Agricultural University. There were more than 200 participants from different countries, not only from Asia, but also from USA and supported by Bogor Agricultural University, Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), Indonesian Consortium of Biotechnology (KBI), ISAAA, ABSP II, PBPI, and JIRCAS.

Highlighting the event were the poster and oral presentations from scientist participants. Invited speakers included Prof. Paul Teng of National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore who discussed food security and sustainable agriculture. He said that "if sustainable agriculture is taken to mean agricultural which is environmentally friendly, economically sound, and socially just, then ensuring food availability means ensuring that there is sustainable agriculture." Moreover he added that a key debate is the use of appropriate technology and the modality in which it is practiced, whether in a conventional manner or through organic and subsistence farming. The debate is further complicated by the fast uptake of biotechnology crops. Food availability is often the focus of much of the debate on food security but raising farm productivity alone is not sufficient to ensure household food security."

The event was officially closed  with a visit to the Botanical Garden in Bogor. For more information, contact Dewi Suryani at dewisuryani@biotrop.org.