Climate Change and Abiotic Stress Workshop Held in Egypt

A workshop on "Climate Change and Abiotic Stress" was organized by the Egypt Biotechnology Information Center (EBIC), on 23th September 2013 at Cairo University, Egypt. About 150 people representing researchers and students from different universities and research institutes attended the workshop.

One of the speakers in the workshop was Dr. Adel Elbeltagy, former president of International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). He outlines the impact of climate change on world's agriculture, affecting both quality and quantity of the crops causing a loss that can reach up to 50 percent. He also showed the relation of food shortage, energy, and political stability. He concluded that adopting new technologies in agriculture can counquer the effects of climate change.

Dr. Naglaa Abdallah, the Director of EBIC and Department Head of Genetics, demonstrated the role of the EBIC sharing information on GM crops in Egypt. She also highlighted the importance of GM crops for solving the expected food shortage in Egypt during the coming decades with the expected increase in population. She stated that climate change and global population are two important forces that affect the world's food demand by reducing productivity and increasing the requirement for more food. She discussed the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project which addresses these concerns by developing drought tolerant white maize.

For more information about the workshop email Dr. Naglaa Abdalla of the Egypt Biotechnology Information Center at naglaa_a@hotmail.com.