During the recently-concluded African Crop Science Society Conference, held in Cape Town, South Africa (28 September– 01 October 2009), Silvano Assanga, research technician working for CIMMYT in Kenya, won the top prize for the best presentation.
A familiar face at CIMMYT since 2005, Assanga joined the center as an M.Sc. student studying breeding and genetics at the University of Nairobi. After completing his degree 18 months ago, he joined CIMMYT as a research technician. The conference theme was “Science and technology supporting food security in Africa.” Assanga’s presentation titled “Combining ability of early quality protein maize (QPM) inbred lines adapted to the mid-altitude ecology of East Africa,” assessed the potential of inbred lines for developing stresstolerant QPM hybrids.
“I am very happy to receive this prize and equally surprised,” Assanga said. He expressed his gratitude to CIMMYT for providing an opportunity to further his research activities, and specifically to Dan Makumbi, CIMMYT scientist, who has been his mentor and provided invaluable support during his M.Sc. and during the preparation of the presentation.
The conference provided a forum for over 600 scientists, researchers, technicians, and government, industry, and commercial representatives to discuss application of science in the various dimensions of crop production, to share expertise in their specific fields of interest, and to present their products.