GUANGZHOU, CHINA: TFNet CEO Mohd Desa Hassim will attend the Banana Asia Pacific Network (BAPNET) steering committee meeting on 23-26 August 2016 at the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (GDAAS).
The meeting will review the status of the occurrence, threat, and impact of Fusarium Wilt Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4) in the Asia Pacific region. The participants will also share the recent outputs and outcome of national and regional R&D collaboration in mitigating the disease and plan for future collaborations.
Participants from China, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia will be presenting country reports on the status of Foc TR4. La Corporación Bananera Nacional from the Americas, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the Asia Pacific, and TFNet will also present their organization’s Foc TR4 programme.
The workshop will break participants into two groups to discuss policies that prevent Foc spread and R&D on management and mitigation.
In 2014, TFNet organized a side event on “Mitigating and Adaptation Measures for the Control of Banana Fusarium Wilt TR4, including the successful development of Resistant Cultivars” during the 70th Session of the Committee on Commodity Problems in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. The side event led to a technical consultation workshop that developed the Global Programme on Fusarium Wilt Disease of Banana. TFNet can contribute to the global programme by organizing policy workshops and trainings on biosecurity and disease mitigation.