Paris, 5 February 2007


EFITA newsletter / 295 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


URGENT: Did you send your paper summary for the next EFITA congress in 2007 in Glasgow?
2 - 5 July 2007 - Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, UK
See: http://www.efitaglasgow.org/
Contact: Caroline PARKER
E-mail: c.g.parker(a)gcal.ac.uk


Next AgriMMedia seminar: Marketing and sale via Internet of services and products proposed by farmers
7 March – PARIS – during the Paris Show of Agriculture – an exceptional event
See: http://www.acta-informatique.fr/?d=6671


Agrotourism (referred as "Agritourism" and compatible with "Agrotourism") on Wikipedia
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agritourism


A web site devoted to agri-tourism in Poland (in Polish)
See: http://www.agroturystyka.pl


Finnish editor of agricultural software programmes
See: http://www.bitcomp.fi/fi/index.php?lang=en


Information society and agriculture & rural development
See: http://bookshop.europa.eu/eGetRecords?Template=Test_EUB/en_publication_details&UID=437405


Agri-science partnerships development workshop – 2007 - Organized by Agri-Science Park@ICRISAT And Department of Biotechnology Government of Andhra Pradesh
17 February – HYDERABAD - INDIA
> Objective
To consolidate the potential Agri-business companies / organizations across India and from abroad who envisage R&D initiatives in Agri-biotechnology and explore new opportunities for collaborative activities under the Agri-Science Park@ICRISAT - the Ag-Biotech hub of the Genome valley initiative of the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP).
> Genesis
The Agri-Science Park@ICRISAT was set-up in December 2003 under the Genome Valley initiative of GoAP, being positioned as the Ag-Biotech hub of the Genome Valley. It has been 3 years since its inception, the Agri-Science Park (ASP) has been working in building excellent public / private partnership models. The ASP@ICRISAT has demonstrated successful partnerships from across the agribusiness and agribiotech sectors and having reached a stage wherein, it is necessary to take up a consolidative partnership building approach by way of organizing an awareness campaign among the prospective clientele and stakeholders to strengthen ASP@ICRISAT.
> Need for “Partnerships Development Workshop”
ASP@ICRISAT has the following components that are working effectively with the private sector companies:
- ABI (Agri-Business Incubator)
- ABP (Agri-Biotech Park)
- HPRC (Hybrid Parent Seed Research Consortium)
- BRC (Biopesticide Research Consortium)

ASP@ICRISAT is anchoring the above initiatives to work in synergy for optimizing the growth of individual initiatives while conforming the overall growth of the Genome Valley mandate. The components of ASP - ABI has currently 7 incubatees, ABP has 8 tenants, HPRC has 35 companies as members and BRC has 11 companies as members. Most of the partnerships emerged out of individual needs. With the ever growing Ag- Biotech sector taking the mainstream, it is necessary to map the potential companies / organizations across the country, and from abroad who are looking at the Indian market for business, and bring them to ASP@ICRISAT where conducive infrastructure, expertise, environment and resources are available. This also involves working on a strategic business development approach to assess the factual demand from the Agri-biotech sector for future planning.

> Accomplishments at ASP so far
- Farmers have benefited through new / improved products like sweet sorghum varieties, well-adapted groundnut, and hybrid pigeon pea technology.
- Gestation period for Lab to land has considerably reduced.
- Anchored innovative ventures in the areas of Bio-fuel (Ethanol from Sweet Sorghum, bio-diesel), Neutraceuticals, Agri-clinics, Crop Biotechnology.
- 60 partnerships in place with over 20 technologies exchanged.
- Best exhibit award for ASP in Bio Asia 2004 & 2005.
- Best Technology Business Incubator Award for year 2005 by the Government of India.
Contact: Abdul Rahman ILYAS
E-mail: a.r.ilyas(a)cgiar.org


5th New Ag International Conference and Exhibition
21-23 March - BUDAPEST - Hungary
- Almost 25 papers in 3 sessions, with speakers from 13 countries
- A highly international exhibition with companies from 15 countries having already booked exhibition stands
See: http://www.newaginternational.com
E-mail: newag(a)newaginternational.com


Knowledge, sustainability and bio-resources - AIEA2 and SOBER International Conference (Association internationale d’économie alimentaire et agro-industrielle - Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural)
22 – 27 July 2007 - Londrina Paraná-Brasil
>> Call for papers (15 March 2007)
Agriculture and the food industry are going through rapid and substantial structural changes, driven by the evolving of development patterns, consumer lifestyles and by the growing of globalization and integration from local and global problems. The main effect of these changes has been a much greater emphasis on the role of Knowledge and Innovation, Sustainable Development and Bio-resources in the future development of the agri-food system.
The complexity of the structural changes going on in the agri-food sector will require to improve the debate on these factors of development and their different influence on the agriculture and food industry development at local, country and global level. We will welcome comparative analyses between developed and less developed countries, as well as transition economies.
The Conference aims to stimulate theoretical and empirical contributions on the role of Knowledge, Sustainability, and Bio-resources, and brings together economists, social scientists, policy makers and managers, in order to discuss and assess new perspectives in the further development of agri-food systems and the need for political economic actions.
>> Proposals must take the form of an abstract that should not exceed 2 double-spaced pages written in English. Only Word or PDF documents are accepted. Your file must be emailed to: aiea2(a)stat.unibo.it
See: http://aiea2.stat.unibo.it/en/


All leading agricultural machinery manufacturers represented – more than 1,600 companies expected
13 – 17 November - HANOVER
With 10 months still to go before the international DLG agricultural machinery exhibition Agritechnica opens its gates at Hanover on November 13 – 17, 2007 there has been massive demand for stand space from machinery manufacturers worldwide. According to the organiser DLG (the German Agricultural Society) the event can already be confident of very high exhibitor numbers - although official closure date for booking stand space is not until February 2007.
See: http://www.dlg.org/en/press/press_office.html?struts=publicArtikelDetail.do&artikelId=1001&spracheId=2&kategorieId=1&bereich=News


Launch of the Rural-eGov project: Training SMEs of Rural Areas on Using e-Government Services
Rural-eGov (Training SMEs of Rural Areas on Using e-Government Services) is a collaborative European project funded by the Leonardo da Vinci programme and focused on improving the uptake of e-Government services in rural areas across Europe. It is a pilot project of 24 months duration, which started in October 2006.
The project will analyse the needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the rural areas of Wales, Greece, Germany, Poland and Slovenia who have different types and levels of e-Government services and deployment. It will look at the degree of awareness within rural SMEs of such services and review their status in the participating countries.
A vocational training curriculum will also be developed in order to help the target SMEs use and exploit e-Government services. The curriculum will adopt a blended learning approach, using a combination of ICT based learning, as well as more traditional forms of learning such as seminars etc. Innovative and relevant e-learning content will be developed that will support various training scenarios which will be tested with rural SMEs. In addition, a Web based observatory will be designed which will provide a collection and categorisation of e-Government services that can support rural SMEs. As part of the project deliverables, a set of policy recommendations will also be developed for EU agencies, National Governments and Rural administrations.
See: http://rural-egov.eu
Contact: Alexander Sideridis, Nikos Manouselis
E-mail: as(a)aua.gr, nikosm(a)aua.gr


Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he'd just been run over by a train
His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut and bruised and he's walking with a limp
"What happened to you?" asks Sean, the bartender.
"Jamie O'Conner and me had a fight," says Paddy.
"That little shit, O'Conner," says Sean,
"He couldn't do that to you, he must have had something in his hand."
"That he did," says Paddy, "a shovel is what he had, and a terrible lickin' he gave me with it."
"Well," says Sean, "you should have defended yourself, didn't you have something in your hand?"
That I did," said Paddy.
"Mrs. O'Conner's breast, and a thing of beauty it was, but useless in a fight."


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