The conference “New approaches to plant breeding of orphan crops in Africa” will be held on September 19-21, 2007 in Bern, Switzerland. Orphan crops, also referred as neglected or lost crops, are crops of high economic value in developing countries particularly in Africa. These crops include cereal crops (such as millet and tef), legumes (cow pea, grass pea and bambara groundnut), and root crops (cassava and sweet potato). Topics to be discussed include techniques that could be implemented in a scheme of orphan crops improvement, and future prospects and feasibility of modern biotechnology in African agriculture.

For more information, visit: http://www.botany.unibe.ch/deve/orphancrops/index.htm.