{"id":16757,"date":"2026-06-20T12:53:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/iita-marks-fascination-of-plants-day-with-tomorrows-scientists\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:42:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:42:57","slug":"iita-marks-fascination-of-plants-day-with-tomorrows-scientists","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/iita-marks-fascination-of-plants-day-with-tomorrows-scientists\/","title":{"rendered":"IITA marks Fascination of Plants Day with tomorrow\u2019s scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"IITA joined other scientific institutions, universities, museums, schools, farmers, and companies all around the world to celebrate the Fascination of Plants Day on 18 May. The event was initiated by the European Plant Science Organization (EPSO<\/a>) four years ago to create awareness on the importance of plants and plant sciences.\n
\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Students getting an opportunity to use scientific equipment in the labs.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nTo mark the event,\u00a0IITA<\/a>\u00a0brought together nearly 60 children from two neighboring schools at its Eastern Africa hub office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to learn about ongoing research on plants and their importance in food security in the country.\n\nThe primary school pupils were welcomed by the Hub Director\u00a0Victor Manyong<\/a>\u00a0who highlighted the activities of the Institute in supporting farmers in the country by addressing challenges such as plant pests and diseases, nutrition, and investing in soils.\n\nHe stressed the importance of having future scientists to continue addressing the many problems facing the agriculture sector and farmers in the future as climate change takes effect and the population increases for a hunger free-Africa.\n\n\u201cThe population is increasing; however, the land remains the same or even less, yet we have more mouths to feed. The climate is changing too and we need to conserve our forests. Our scientists are working hard to find solutions to these but we also need future scientists. We are expecting some of you to be our future IITA scientists,\u201d said Manyong to the students drawn from East Africa International School and Ushindi Primary School.\n\n\u201cThis is the third year we have marked this event and brought young people to the hub to spend time with our scientists in the laboratories. This we believe is very important to expose them to the world of science and to motivate them to study sciences,\u201d he added.\n\n\u201cWe want to thank IITA for this opportunity again. The children have learned a lot. And they have seen in real life the application of the subjects they are studying in school,\u201d said Joseph Butale, a science teacher at Shindig Primary School.\n

\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Students with their teachers and IITA staff celebrate IITA at 50<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nThe students also watched a short video on the importance of plants followed by a short tour the hub\u2019s four laboratories\u2014Pathology, Molecular, Food Science, and Soil. They were met and briefed by the researchers about various research being conducted at IITA.\n\nThey also cut the IITA 50th anniversary cake as a part of the celebrations.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IITA joined other scientific institutions, universities, museums, schools, farmers, and companies all around the world to celebrate the Fascination of Plants Day on 18 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