International Workshop on Food Security: Science, Technology and Policy

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1 International Workshop on Food Security: Science, Technology and Policy A Series of Conferences of the International Food Security Alliance (IFSA) (September 22-25, 2012, Beijing, China) PROGRAMME Venue: No. 8 Building (Jia-Bin Building 嘉宾楼, 8 号楼 ), Beijing Friendship Hotel, China Organized by China Agricultural University Lancaster University University of Missouri

2 Aims and Objectives This meeting is a first research development stemming from an agreement made by partners in September 2011 to establish an International Food Security Alliance (IFSA) for the purposes of addressing the challenge of Global Food Security. Our hope for this workshop and associated field visits will be to build on recently-initiated and long-standing collaborations to make a substantive step towards collaborative research activity focused on an interdisciplinary area of high priority. The emphasis of the meeting will be on food production and policy. While merely increasing production or productivity is unlikely to resolve the issue of global food insecurity, stagnation of productivity with continued resource input at current levels will certainly exacerbate the emerging tensions between actors in the food system. We recognise that questions of economic concentration, ownership, and control often shape the adoption and use of new technologies (ETC Group 2008; King 2001; Schimmelpfenning 2000; Vorley 2003). For these reasons, there is a need to formulate research on technologies to sustainably enhance productivity and resource use efficiency in such a way that adoption of research outcomes can be expected to impact the resulting societal interactions in ways that benefit people, the planet and profit. Such technologies should have a high chance of successful adoption by societies, industries and businesses alike. With this aim in mind this workshop is structured to: First consider the structure and operation of the food system To then consider a range of approaches and options for increasing food production in a sustainable fashion, and then To conceptualise a comprehensive and interdisciplinary bid for funding of a research programme focussed on the below ground system. Speakers are asked to emphasise the work in their area that must have a high priority in the future (rather than just review their past work). We hope that in this way we can look forward and produce some useful output from the workshop. Following the meeting, we hope that the group can continue to work on a bid for research funding. In due time, potential funders for the work will be approached. The workshop will also formally launch the new Centre for Resources, Environment and Food Security at CAU and will aim to further develop collaborations between this Centre and a range of partners. Organizers Chairs: Prof. Dr. Fusuo Zhang and Prof. Dr. Bill Davies Fusuo Zhang Bill Davies Jianbo Shen Robert Sharp China Agricultural University Lancaster University China Agricultural University The University of Missouri

3 Program Guide Saturday, 22 September, 10:00-18:00 Arrival and Registration, The lobby of No.2 Building Sunday, 23 September, 9:00-18:00 Chair: Bill Davies Executive President of China Agricultural Tao Wang 09:00-09:40 University (CAU) Welcome address Bill Davies Lancaster University, UK Welcome address and presentation on Food Security 09:40-10:10 Fusuo Zhang Director of Centre for Resources, Environment and Food Security, (CAU) Challenges of Food Security and Environment Protection in China 10:10-10:30 Coffee Break and Photo Shooting 10:30-11:00 Geoff Tansey Trustee, Food Ethics Council, UK Fair, healthy and sustainable food systems Food System and the Food Economy Chair: Bill Davies 11:00-11:30 Jikun Huang Director of Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Prospects and Challenges of Global and China s Food Economy 11:30-12:00 Zhonghu He Distinguised Scientist and China Liaison CIMMYT-China partnership, progress and prospective Officer, International Mazie and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Research Professor and Director of National Wheat Improvement Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS). 12:00-12:20 Discussion 12:20-13:30 Lunch Delivering Food Security Chair: Fusuo Zhang 14:00-14:30 Guihua Lu Beijing Kaituo DNA Biotech Research Center Improving Crop Productivity through Advanced Biotechnologies 14:30-15:00 Gemma Molero CIMMYT Productive wheat for a range of environments 15:00-15:30 Xinping Chen CAU P management in intensive agriculture 15:30-15:50 Coffee & Tea Break 15:50-16:20 Jianchang Yang Yangzhou University Alternate wetting and drying irrigation in rice 16:20-16:50 Adam Price Aberdeen University, UK Rice grain quality 16:50-17:20 Jianhua Zhang Chinese University of Hong Kong Drought and productivity for quality food production in China 17:20-18:00 Discussion

4 18:00-21:00 Banquet Monday 24 September The Below-Ground System Chair: Jianhua Zhang Keynote Presentation 08:30-09:00 Bob Sharp Director, Interdisciplinary Plant Group, University of Missouri, USA Roots and root growth 09:00-09:30 David Braun Director of the Missouri Maize Centre, University of Missouri, USA Carbon Partitioning 09:30-10:00 Lixing Yuan CAU Genetic and molecular dissection of maize root systems for NUE 10:00-10:20 Coffee & Tea Break 10:20-10:50 Hao Zhang Lancaster University, UK Imaging soils and quantifying the uptake of nutrients and metal ions 10:50-11:10 Jianbo Shen CAU Manipulating rhizosphere processes for improving nutrient use efficiency and crop productivity 11:10-11:40 Sally Wilkinson Lancaster University, UK Water use for food security 11:40-12:00 Discussion 12:00-13:30 Lunch Soils, Water Use and Agriculture Chair: Jianbo Shen 13:30-14:00 Richard Whalley Rothamsted Research, UK Soils: physics 14:00-14:30 Junguo Liu Beijing Forestry University Water resources, food security and wetland protection: trade-offs and synergy 14:30-15:00 James Hunt CSIRO, Australia A systems approach 15:00-15:30 Discussion 15:30-15:50 Coffee Break An Interdisciplinary Project Chair: Bill Davies 15:50-16:20 Yiching Song Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, CAS Smallholder farming and sustainability in China: Explorations and Reflections 16:20-16:50 Alison Browne Manchester University, UK How do we ensure uptake of new technologies? 16:50-17:20 Martin Parry Rothamsted Research, UK Collaborating and communicating 17:20-18:30 Discussion Writing a research bid 18:30 Close

5 Items for discussion in the final session 1. The components of a collaborative project 2. Potential funders 3. The idea of a case study could be discussed at this meeting. Namely, choosing a very small system -I guess in China but could be anywhere- where productivity is on the decline and focusing all IFSA efforts, socioeconomic, agronomic, & genetic to raise productivity. Such an exercise is a good proof of concept for a broader effort. Post Conference Tour (optional) (25-27 September) After the conference a group will be travelling to Yunnan to view the famous rice terraces and to learn a bit about rice production using this system. Please indicate whether you are interested in joining (costs additional). Leave Beijing on 25 September in the early morning and return on September 27 in the late evening.

6 General information Beijing Friendship Hotel ( 北京友谊宾馆 ) No.1, Zhongguancun Nandajie, Haidian District, Beijing , Operator: Address in Chinese: 海淀区中关村南大街 1 号 Note: The venue, No.8 Building ( 嘉宾楼 ), No.5 Meeting room; The registration, No.2 Building ( 敬宾楼 ) Arrival in Beijing We will arrange transportation from airport to hotel. Please pay attention to the reception at arrival. Our students will meet you there. Taxi service is also available at the airport during the whole day. The cost from the airport to the Friendship Hotel is about US$22/RMB150. The following dual language notes are prepared to help you get to the right place. Please take me to (Beijing) Friendship Hotel (No.2 Building). Thank You! 请送我到 ( 北京 ) 友谊宾馆 2 号楼 ( 地址 : 中关村南大街 1 号, 电话 : , )

7 Chairman Fusuo Zhang (China Agricultural University) Bill Davies (Lancaster University) Organizers Jianbo Shen (China Agricultural University, , ) Lei Zhou (Lancaster University, Futong Yu (China Agricultural University, , ) Haigang Li (China Agricultural University, , ) Robert Sharp (The University of Missouri) Sponsors Centre for Resources, Environment and Food Security, China Agricultural University Lancaster University The Lancaster Environment Centre Natural Science Foundation of China State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of China Ministry of Education of China Ministry of Agriculture of China BBSRC RCUK Interdisciplinary Plant Group, University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri Food and Energy Security, a new journal from Wiley Blackwell Please contact organizer: Prof. Jianbo Shen, jbshen@cau.edu.cn