By Rogers Aghan, March, 14, 2023, Internationally recognized experts in agricultural research will come together this summer to deliberate on how sorghum can contribute to sustainability and resilience amid adverse climate change.
The Global Conference dubbed, Sorghum in the 21st Century will be held in Montepellier, France on June 5-9.
The 2023 Sorghum in the 21st Century Global Sorghum Conference will bring together specialists in the genetics and genomics field and others within breeding, sustainable farming systems, post-harvest solutions, and product development. These specialists will play a critical role in identifying key solutions to recurrent and persistent challenges in agriculture and food security currently.
Participants from around the globe in regions producing sorghum are expected to grace the prestigious event.
“After the challenges of the pandemic, we are thrilled with the prospect of finally bringing the global sorghum community back together,” said Dr. David Jordan, who chairs the International Sorghum Task Force (ITSF). “It is very pleasing to be able to capitalize on the strong attendee support from the 2018 conference in South Africa and now to create an even more successful conference in Montpellier in 2023.”
France’s Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and a consortium of global research and development institutions, including the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sorghum and Millet (SMIL), SorghumID, the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), and the Centre d’Étude Régional pour l’Amélioration de l’Adaption à la Sécheresse (CERAAS), have come together to organize the ISTF-supported conference.
The event will direct focus on both the private-sector and researchers at large, with attempts to facilitate partnership while networking across sectors. Some of the vital topics to be discussed include defining the role of sorghum in regenerating soil health and enhancing the sustainability of global farming systems. Also, the genetic role of sorghum in responding to climatic and environmental concerns will be brought forth in similar sessions.
The conference will go for five days with the last date slated for visitations. Local sites of scientific interests like CIRAD’s unique research centers or an experimental vineyard and phenotyping platform have been determined in the list.
According to Dr. Jean-François Rami, a member of the task force and a crop geneticist at CIRAD, the conference gives participants a special opportunity to meet the entire sorghum community and go beyond just hearing research updates.
He also reiterated that the conference will provide researchers with a structure where they could connect to industry and development partners. He added that students could participate in unique sessions during the conference which will give everyone a chance to visit technical expos and enjoy various social events.
The early registration deadline is March 15, 2023.
