{"id":16772,"date":"2026-06-20T12:53:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/maff-japan-calls-for-more-attention-to-basic-research-in-root-and-tuber-crops\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:44:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:44:45","slug":"maff-japan-calls-for-more-attention-to-basic-research-in-root-and-tuber-crops","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/maff-japan-calls-for-more-attention-to-basic-research-in-root-and-tuber-crops\/","title":{"rendered":"MAFF Japan calls for more attention to basic research in root and tuber crops"},"content":{"rendered":"<strong>\u2026provides funds to drive an initiative aiming to increase productivity and use of food yam in Africa<\/strong>\n\nThe Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery (<a title=\"Visit The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.maff.go.jp\/e\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MAFF<\/a>) has provided funds to roll into action a second phase of its collaborative MAFF-IITA yam project, as part of efforts to ensure that the productivity and utilization of food yam in Africa would increase.\n<div id=\"attachment_2307\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_IITA-IBRC.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2307\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_IITA-IBRC.jpg\" alt=\"Picture of David De Koeyer in the greenhouse at IBRC\" width=\"1024\" height=\"673\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2307\" \/><\/a>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2307\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">David De Koeyer in the greenhouse at IBRC, where yam clones used in sequencing the genome of Dioscorea\nrotundata are grown. IBRC is a key partner in the AfricaYam project led by IITA.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nSpecifically, the initiative will enhance a broader understanding of the basic agronomic traits of yam among researchers and boost breeding activities on the African continent.\n\nConsequently, three IITA scientists of the MAFF-IITA yam project,\u00a0<a title=\"Visit David De Koeyer&apos;s profile page on the IITA website\" href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/iita-staff\/de-koeyer-david\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David De Koeyer<\/a>, Head of Yam Breeding;\u00a0<a title=\"Visit Haruki Ishikawa&apos;s profile page on the IITA website\" href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/iita-staff\/ishikawa-haruki\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Haruki Ishikawa<\/a>, Plant Physiologist; and\u00a0<a title=\"Visit Ryo Matsumoto&apos;s profile page on the Biosciences website\" href=\"http:\/\/bioscience.iita.org\/index.php\/en\/people\/81-profile\/128-ryo-matsumoto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryo Matsumoto<\/a>\u2014 the project\u2019s new Postdoctoral Scientist and Yam Agronomist \u2014 paid a courtesy visit to MAFF on 17-21 April to express IITA\u2019s appreciation for the support from Japan, not only in terms of funding, but also through various kinds of collaboration, exchange of ideas, and development of human capacities for scientists and students. They also shared future plans of the project. The team was accompanied by Kohtaro Iseki, JIRCAS scientist based at IITA.\n\nIshikawa, Project Leader said, \u201cRecently, IITA restructured its strategy to focus primarily on enhancing both the delivery and basic research of each priority crop. So balancing delivery and research is the new vision of IITA. This is why we visited our collaborators in Japan and had lively discussions through which various propositions for collaboration in yam research were established. It was a really fruitful visit. This project can contribute greatly to basic studies of yam aimed at improving productivity and nutrition.\u201d\n\nTo explore new areas of collaboration the team also visited partner institutions and potential partners such as the\u00a0<a title=\"Visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mofa.go.jp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ministry of Foreign Affairs<\/a>\u00a0(MoFA), the\u00a0<a title=\"Visit the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences website\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jircas.go.jp\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences<\/a>\u00a0(JIRCAS) in Tsukuba, the\u00a0<a title=\"Visit the KAWABE Noken Sangyo K.K. website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kawabenoken.co.jp\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">KAWABE Noken Sangyo K.K.<\/a>\u00a0in Tokyo, the\u00a0<a title=\"Visit the Iwate Biotechnology Research Center website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ibrc.or.jp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Iwate Biotechnology Research Center<\/a>\u00a0in Iwate as well as the\u00a0<a title=\"Visit the Tokyo University of Agriculture website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nodai.ac.jp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tokyo University of Agriculture<\/a>.\n\nAt the end of the visits, De Koeyer said, \u201cOur travel was a great success and will enhance further collaboration and capacity building between IITA and Japan.\u201d","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery (MAFF) has provided funds to roll into action a second phase of its collaborative MAFF-IITA yam project<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":16773,"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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