Pup1 and beyond: Developing rice adapted to infertile soils in Africa

This international event, which takes place every four years, will bring together scientists and researchers in all fields related to plant breeding. Participants will present and discuss their research findings and their visions for meeting the great challenges of plant breeding in coming decades. Plant breeding has always been considered to be an art and a science. The development of new tools and the rapid technological development of plant genomics, bioinformatics and phenomics, to name just a few, have added a new dimension. A clear understanding of the requirements for the plant cultivar of the future is necessary for the targeted application of these tools and techniques. At the same time, breeding objectives are constantly changing as a result of climate change, a scarcity of natural resources and the necessity to sustain biodiversity. The various disciplines must collaborate to achieve the common goal of developing new cultivars, thus translating these scientific advances into action, hence the title of this conference: "Plant Breeding, the Art of Bringing Science to Life". The congress will last 4 full days with 11 plenary sessions, each introduced by the keynote of an invited speaker. This will be followed by high quality oral contributions, selected from submissions by the scientific committee. The program will be complemented with inspiring ultra-short "flash presentations", an opportunity for exchanging detailed crop specific information in parallel sessions, opinion statements by important stakeholders and poster sessions. One half day will be devoted to an excursion. You will have the choice among 5 attractive options, each combining a technical and a touristic aspect. The excursions are an integral part of the program and will end with the conference dinner.