May 21-25, 2006. Beijing. China

First Announcement

Organized by

Center of Agricultural Resources

                     Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology

                     Chinese Academy of Sciences

Center for International Scientific Exchanges

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Sponsored by

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Ministry of Science and Technology of China  

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Invitation

Welcome to attend the First International Conference on the Theory and Practices in Biological Water Saving, organized by the Center of Agricultural Resources, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Center for international scientific exchanges, Chinese Academy of Sciences, will be held from 21 to 25 May 2006 in Beijing, China.

Water shortage has become one of the most urgent problems in the world. The next crisis in water shortage may have impacts far more severe than the crisis in oil shortage either we have experienced or in the future. Improving water use efficiency through biological approaches in combination with other agronomic water saving methods and projects and developing a sustainable agriculture under limited water resources have become and will continue to be the challenges in our research in the future.

The twentieth century has witnessed the great effort of mankind to strive for more food production. In the 1950s and 1960s, breeding for semi-dwarf wheat and rice cultivars that were lodging resistant and required more nutrients, led to an unprecedented increase in grain production known as the First Green Revolution. As mankind has entered 21^st century, Blue Revolution, the struggle in agriculture for better use of water resources, has just begun.

Norman E. Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, said in 2000, “how can we continue to expand food production for a growing world population within the parameters of likely water availability? The inevitable conclusion is that humankind in the 21^st Century will need to bring about a ‘Blue Revolution –more crop for every drop’ to complement the so “Green Revolution” of the 20^th Century. Water use productivity must be wedded to land use productivity. Science and technology will be called upon to show the way”.

From the post decade, many scientists have paid more attention on water use efficiency. For example, There is one chapter “Technologies affecting water-use efficiency of plants and animals” in the book “Water related technologies for sustainable agriculture in U.S arid and semiarid lands” in the 1990s. The genomics of plant water use efficiency project, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation in 2001 in USA. The book “ Fundamental of physiology and genetics and breeding in crop drought resistance and water saving ” published in 2003 in China. The book “water use efficiency in plant biology” published in 2004 in UK. More crop water use efficiency study carried out and new crop varieties with high water use efficiency were bred in Australia and other countries. So we think that there is a good fundament and good opportunity for us to set up the first conference on theory and practices in biological water saving.

In our opinion, drought resistance is important, but high water use efficiency is more much important in crop high yield breeding and production, because crop water saving breeding or high water use efficiency breeding program could combine high yield with high water use efficiency and good drought resistance traits together in one body. By now, more researches and investments have already been put on water saving agronomic methods and water saving equipments and projects, but we know less about biology fundament of high water use efficiency and drought in plant, especially in animal and microorganism in the ecology system in arid and semiarid area.

In another aspect, we should pay more attention to the study on high water efficiency with salt water and poor quality water by plants animal and microorganism under stress environment, and utilize these high water use efficiency organisms to recover good ecological environment and get more economic profit from unfavorable environments.

We feel that it is the right time to hold a conference to bring us together and discuss these challenges and share our ideas and results. Beijing should be the right place for such an event because of its geographical location in the semiarid area suffering severe water shortage problems. As the capital of Chinese civilization and culture for hundreds years, Beijing surely should have much more you will be interested to know.

This conference topic will focus on the theory and practices in biological water saving with sessions such as:

1.          Water resource and security of food and economy and ecology

2.          Advances in biological water saving

3.          Agronomic water saving methods and projects

4.          Physiology and genetics in breeding for high water use efficiency and drought resistance in plants

5.          Physiology and genetics in breeding for high water use efficiency and drought resistance in animal and microorganisms

6.          Biology in use of salt water and poor quality water resource

There were many international conferences on drought resistance and dryland agricultural, but such international conference on water use efficiency has never been held before. We sincerely welcome more scientists from every country in the world, put more interesting in the first international conference on theory and practices in biological water saving, and we are waiting for your outstanding contributions to the first conference on First International Conference on the Theory and Practices in Biological Water Saving.

We also welcome more biology companies and agricultural and industry companies, related water saving and drought resistance, take part in this international conference, to exhibit your technology and equipments and products to improving biological water use efficiency combining with your new science and technology.

For more information, please contact:

Dr Zhang Zhengbin

Center of Agricultural Resource

Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Address: No 286 Huaizhong Road，Shijiazhuang, Hebei province，P R China

Post code: 050021

E-mail: zzb@ms.sjziam.ac.cn

Tel: 86-0311-5886648(O)    Fax:86-0311-5815093