Project News

YAU-JICA TCP short-term expert training program "Plant Water Physiology" was conducted:

YAU-JICA TCP Short-term Expert Training Program "Plant Water Physiology" was conducted, to which Dr. HIRASAWA Tadashi, (Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology) was dispatched as a short-term expert from 7th to 16th December 2016. The training was conducted with 10 participants and a plural number of observers. 10 participants are from Department of Agronomy (2), Department of Plant Breeding, Physiology and Ecology (2), Department of Soil and Water Science (2), Department of Horticulture and Agricultural Biotechnology (1), Department of Agricultural Economics (1) and 2 from Department of Agriculture (DOA), Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI).

The lectures on the principles of "Plant-Water Relation" were given for the first three days, in which Dr. HIRASAWA explained clearly about 1) water potential and water content in plants, 2) method and methodology of measuring them, 3) water movement in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and 4) drought resistance and water-use efficiency. Successively, Dr. HIRASAWA lectured on 1) water use in rice production and 2) eco-physiological characteristics of rice plants in responses to drought based on his long research experience. Then, the lecture on "Improving Drought Resistance of Crop Plants" was delivered at last.

The second half of the training was devoted to practical lessons to train the techniques for measuring 1) water potential in leaf using pressure chamber, and 2) photosynthetic and evapo-traspiration rates using photosynthetic meter. All the participants were divided into 2 groups, and they were repeatedly trained so that everyone could acquire the skills and techniques.

Both groups respectively delivered presentation on their results based on analytical data processed by themselves, and lively Q&A and discussions followed.

As the project recognized this subject, "plant water physiology," as an important field of studies for the future development of research activities in YAU, this program is expected to be sustainably implemented to strengthen the research capability of YAU Staff.

Scenery of lecture (2016.12.7)

Practice to measure leaf gas exchange (2016.12.15)