Two young researchers are making IITA proud. They won the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA) and the Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL) research paper competition, 2015-PhD category for West Africa.
Olutayo Talabi, a Research Associate in IITA’s Maize Program and a former IITA Research Fellow, won first prize with his research paper on Genetic variability and intertrait relationships in maize under drought and low soil nitrogen environments, while Olubunmi Ibitoye, an IITA Research Fellow in the cowpea breeding unit, was awarded second prize for her work on Performance of cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp hybrids under drought induced and well-watered conditions.
For this round of the competition, entries were judged from two regions, East Africa and West Africa, for papers which fell in either the PhD or MSc categories.
The panel of judges ranked the submissions from the IITA researchers as best among many others from researchers in West. The second and final round of the competition will be between the top three winners from East Africa and the top three from West Africa.
As a Research Fellow between January 2012 and March 2013, Olutayo conducted his M.Phil thesis research under the joint supervision of IITA scientist, Baffour Badu-Apraku, and Prof Fakorede of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. The award-winning paper by Olutayo was part of his M.Phil research conducted at IITA.
Olubunmi conducted her research under the supervision of Ousmane Boukar and Christian Fatokun. She is a PhD c andidate with the West Africa Center for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana.
For more information please contact:
Katherine Lopez, Head of Communication, IITA HQ, K.Lopez@cgiar.org
About IITA www.iita.org
IITA is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research-for-development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. It is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
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