Today, June 29, is “International Tropical Day”.
The words “international” and “tropical” correspond to JIRCAS, which was first established in 1970 as the Tropical Agricultural Research Center.
Since its establishment, JIRCAS has been conducting experimental research to improve technology related to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries in tropical and subtropical regions.
This issue features the latest topics, new technologies, and research results of JIRCAS.
- Latest Topics
- JIRCAS Publishes BFMgh and BFMbf, Support Programs for Farm Management Planning Targeting Ghana and Burkina Faso The Builder of Farming Model (BFM) is a program that facilitates local smallholder farmers to make efficient decisions, including technology selection, to support the preparation of optimal farming plans. BFMgh is an English language program developed for Ghana and BFMbf is a French language program developed for Burkina Faso.
- JIRCAS Publishes Technical Manual for Efficient Use of Water Resources in Irrigation Schemes in Africa This technical manual describes methods that contribute to improving water use efficiency in response to water resource constraints and facility deterioration, which are expected to become severe in the future, particularly in Africa.
Manual for Development of Low-Cost Water Facilities in Africa Published: A manual that will enable local farmers to construct and maintain low-cost irrigation facilities with their own techniques was developed.
This manual introduces inexpensive reinforcement measures that can be easily implemented by local farmers, such as the use of bricks made from local soil, cover plants, and wooden fence.
Year-round Intermittent Irrigation Improves Farmers’ Profits and Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions Implementation of the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technology throughout the year in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam increased farmers’ profits by 6% and reduced GHG emissions would by 38%.
AWD is expected to become a promising mitigation and adaptation measure for climate change. (only Japanese)
Development of Cellulose Saccharification Technology Using Microorganism Culture Only
A microbial saccharification technology that does not require at all the addition of cellulase enzyme when converting cellulose-based biomass into fermentable carbohydrates was developed.
In addition, the microorganisms can be cultured repeatedly, making this an inexpensive and efficient next-generation saccharification technology.
Researcher NAKAGAWA Andressa of the Crop, Livestock and Environment Division received the Best Poster Presentation Award for her research on responses to drought stress and effects of manure application in two tropical forage legumes presented at the 253rd Annual Meeting of the Crop Science Society of Japan (CSSJ) held online on March 27-28, 2022
New Technologies and Research Outputs
The JIRCAS Tropical Agriculture Research Front (TARF) conducts research related to the tropics and subtropics, taking advantage of the climate in Ishigaki Island, Okinawa where it is located. With today’s celebration of International Day of the Tropics, we would like to introduce a technology developed at TARF.
- Development of a simple shoot-tip grafting method for virus-free passion fruit
With the increase in passion fruit cultivation in Japan, outbreaks of virus diseases have become a problem. Passion fruit is mainly propagated by nutritional propagation from cuttings, which makes it easy for virus infection to spread. The newly developed technology does not require aseptic manipulation or special facilities, and can be tested for viruses approximately two months after treatment, making it easy to introduce the technology in the field.
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Edited and Published by
Information and Public Relations Office
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)
1-1 Ohwashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8686, Japan https://www.jircas.go.jp/en
