{"id":12812,"date":"2026-06-20T12:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/first-world-congress-on-root-and-tuber-crops-will-draw-international-scientists-to-southern-china\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T12:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:25:11","slug":"first-world-congress-on-root-and-tuber-crops-will-draw-international-scientists-to-southern-china","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/first-world-congress-on-root-and-tuber-crops-will-draw-international-scientists-to-southern-china\/","title":{"rendered":"First World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops will draw international scientists to Southern China"},"content":{"rendered":"Hundreds of the world\u2019s top experts on potato, cassava, sweetpotato, yam,  and other root crops will gather in Nanning, Guangxi province, southern China, 5-10 October, for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gcp21.org\/wcrtc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">First World Congress on Root  and Tuber Crops<\/a>. The event is the result of a collaboration between the International Society for Tropical Root Crops (ISTRC)  and the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21), both of which are supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers  and Bananas (RTB).\n\n\u201cChina is a key location for roots  and tubers: it\u2019s the first potato  and sweetpotato producer in the world,\u201d explained Graham Thiele, RTB Director. \u201cI expect that ISTRC  and GCP21 \u2013 both close partners of our research program \u2013 will draw several hundreds of participants to the Congress. This should help to advance the agenda for potato, sweetpotato, cassava, yam  and other roots  and tubers, all of which are important in developing countries.\u201d\n\nRoot  and tuber crops are essential food staples for hundreds of millions  and generate significant income for industry. However, scientists agree that further research is needed to help farmers  and businesses fully tap their potential.\n<ul>\n \t<li>Some potato  and sweetpotato cultivars are especially promising, thanks to their high vitamin  and mineral content. Orange-fleshed sweetpotato, in particular, can dramatically improve the health of children  and mothers in poor areas, thanks to the high content of beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. Some potato cultivars are rich in zinc, iron,  and antioxidants: millions of people don\u2019t consume enough of these micronutrients.<\/li>\n \t<li>Cassava, a starchy root crop that can be grown in poor soils, is raising a lot of interest, given its resilience to climate change. Although cassava is consumed by about 700 million people today, it is expected to feed more than 2 billion people by 2050. There is also a growing dem and for cassava from industries in Africa  and Asia.<\/li>\n \t<li>Other root crops, such as yam, taro,  and cocoyam, are traditional staples that play an important role in food security  and income generation. They would benefit producers  and consumers much more if their full potential were tapped.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\u201cThe Congress will be a good opportunity to share information on major advances in yam research since the first global conference on that crop in Accra in 2013,\u201d said Robert Asiedu, Director for West Africa of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).\n\n\u2018The theme of the Congress is <em>Adding Value<\/em>. This is appropriate given that \u2013 despite their importance \u2013 investment has been much lower in root  and tuber research than for cereal crops. Roots  and tubers play an important role in food security  and nutrition; they hold great potential for improving incomes through direct sales or value-addition via processing for food  and non-food uses. Consequently participants will discuss appropriate processing technologies  and business enterprise models for developing nations. They will exchange information on themes ranging from varietal selection  and pest  and disease control to the delivery to processors  and markets but with special attention to gender issues  and planning for climate change.\n\nKeith Tomlins, ISTRC President  and a professor at UK\u2019s Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, explained, \u201cISTRC fully supports the objectives  and theme of the Congress as this is a key policy of the Society. This is our 17th triennial symposium,  and the first time that ISTRC has been involved in a meeting in China. We are very excited by the opportunity  and the Chinese Local Organizing Committee has made us feel very welcome. We appreciate working with GCP21  and very much look forward to the Congress.\u201d\n\nThe Congress in Nanning will be the third scientific conference for GCP21 which brought together some of the world\u2019s top cassava experts in Ghent, Belgium (2008)  and Kampala, Ug anda (2012). Claude Fauquet, Director of GCP21, explained that participation had increased significantly from 2008 to 2012  and he expected a large number of the world\u2019s cassava community to gather in China.\n\n\u201cIt will be an excellent opportunity to convene African  and Asian scientists, technicians,  and developers so they can learn from one other,\u201d said Fauquet. \u201cIt will also be a great opportunity for the public  and private sectors to meet  and generate new activities. We have the momentum to make this First Congress on Root  and Tuber Crops a real success for the benefit of the global community.\u201d\n\n<strong>Pre-registration<\/strong> for the Congress is currently open via the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gcp21.org\/wcrtc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conference website<\/a>. Full registration  and <strong>abstract submission<\/strong>will open by 1 May  and the Travel Grant Program by 15 April. Attendance is limited to 750, so early registration is advised.\n\nNational partners for the event include the Guangxi Academy of Sciences (GXAS), the Guangxi Cassava Research Institute (GCRI), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS),  and the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences (CATAS).\n\n&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;\n\n<strong>ISTRC:<\/strong> The International Society for Tropical Root Crops was created to foster, stimulate  and support any type of activity leading to the general improvement of world tropical root crop production  and utilization. Created in 1967, it has an international m andate, through its membership  and constitution, to help improve the research  and development of cassava, sweetpotato, yam, taro, potato,  and other root crops. As the forum for bringing together those involved in root  and tuber crops, it supports, in particular, early-career scientists. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.istrc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.istrc.org\/<\/a>\n\nGCP21: The Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century is an independent non-profit organization collaborating with several CGIAR Research Programs  and an array of research  and development (R&amp;D) organizations working with cassava around the world. GCP21 organizes meetings  and conferences on a variety of topics aimed at filling gaps in R&amp;D, promoting international funding for cassava R&amp;D, triggering the production of industrial products from cassava,  and providing a range of information about the crop  and the scientists working on it. The goal of GCP21 is to increase cassava productivity in the world. <a href=\"http:\/\/ciat.cgiar.org\/gcp21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/ciat.cgiar.org\/gcp21<\/a>\n\n<strong>RTB:<\/strong> The CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers  and Bananas is an international collaboration of agricultural research centers working on cassava, potato, sweetpotato, yam, banana, plantain  and other roots  and tubers that aims to improve the food security, nutrition  and livelihoods of some of the world\u2019s poorest families. It combines the expertise  and resources of the International Potato Center (CIP) as the lead center, Bioversity International, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)  and French partners represented by the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD). <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rtb.cgiar.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.rtb.cgiar.org<\/a>\n\n<strong>CATAS:<\/strong> The Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Sciences (with headquarters in Haikou) is a national academy specifically for tropical  and subtropical agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of the Chinese government. CATAS leads cassava research in China in multiple aspects including germplasm conservation  and evaluation, breeding  and planting technology, basic research on the molecular mechanism of high starch accumulation  and tolerance to drought, based on genomics, transcriptomics  and genomic breeding  and the evaluation  and diagnosis of pests  and diseases. There are two principal cassava research programs: the Chinese Cassava Industry Technology System funded by MOA  and the National Basic Research Program of China funded by MOST.\n\n<strong>GCRI:<\/strong> the Guangxi Cassava Research Institute is the second agricultural institute working on cassava in China. It was established in 2009 as Guangxi has been for more than 25 years a very important province for cassava production, accounting for more than 70% of the country\u2019s production. The province is also very strong in the development of the processing industry with major products such as starch  and alcohol. Major research activities in GCRI are breeding, cultivation practices, extension technologies, biotechnology, comprehensive utilization (animal feed, human food, further use of by-products, etc.), rural economic development approaches based on cassava as an important income resource,  and technical training.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hundreds of the world\u2019s top experts on potato, cassava, sweetpotato, yam, and other root crops will gather in Nanning, Guangxi province, southern China, 5-10 October, for the First World Congress on Root and Tuber Crops.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":12672,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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