Murdoch University’s Graham O’Hara and Ron Yates are helping boost productivity and reverse the soil fertility decline in southern and eastern African farms.
Dr O’Hara and Dr Yates are delivering specialist training in legume and root nodule bacteria systems to scientists working with the Gates-funded N2AFRICA project and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded food security project.
The ACIAR-funded Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume cropping Systems for food security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project is part of the Australia Food Security Initiative for Africa.
It focuses on maize as the main staple and legumes as an important dietary protein source for the rural poor.
N2AFRICA is a large scale, science research project focused on putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers growing legume crops in Africa.
N2AFRICA is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through a grant to Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University, in the Netherlands.
Murdoch University is a partner in both projects through its Centre for Rhizobium Studies.
The post-graduate level course, delivered in Holland, is for PhD candidates and researchers interested in symbiotic nitrogen fixation and its application in agriculture.
The discussions and inputs from the course will lead to a new agenda for research on legume-rhizobium symbioses.
A short summary of the course outcomes will be published in a relevant journal.
