Search for "winged bean"

How can the winged bean improve our futures? An interview with Chong Yuet Tian

Tian is a Future Food Beacon Malaysia PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Festo Massawe, Dr. Hui Hui Chai and Dr. Ajit Singh. She obtained a BSc (Hons) in Agricultural Science before joining University of Nottingham Malaysia to research genetic improvement of crop plants, especially minor and underutilised crops. She is currently researching winged …

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Crops for the future: the case of the winged bean – by Chong Yuet Tian

Future Food Beacon researchers in Malaysia and the UK are working with partners globally to utilise crop diversity to plug gaps in food production. We aim to address nutrition security challenges by making a diverse range of healthy food crops available and accessible to all. In addition to the flagship project on Bambara groundnut, Future …

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Understanding genetic variation in winged bean: an interview with Niki Tsoutsoura

Niki is a PhD candidate with the Future Proteins Platform. Niki holds an MSc. in Crop Improvement from the University of Nottingham. During her MSc studies, she became familiar with underutilised crops like winged bean. Underutilised crops are relatively underexploited as they have low economic importance or agricultural significance in developed economies, therefore they receive …

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Underutilized crops and their future potentials

The importance of crop diversification, for biodiversity and to cope with extreme weathers brought on by climate change, has never been more important. At the University of Nottingham, we have set up a Crop Diversification Unit, led by Dr Sean Mayes, to examine traditionally underutilized crops and their potentials as alternative sources of food for …

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Small Islands and Developing States, food systems and climate change

The food systems of Small Islands and Developing States are particularly susceptible to climate change. They therefore require different strategies and thinking on this challenge, argue Ee Von Goh,  Chiew Foan Chin, Christina Vimala Supramaniam, Andrew Clarke, and Pau Loke Show. Small island developing states (SIDS) are disproportionately affected by climate change. SIDS are considered …

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Supporting small scale farmers in developing countries

Diversifying agriculture away from limited cereal crops is important for surviving and building resilience to climate change. It also enables small scale farmers to build socio-economic flexibility, and food and nutritional security, argue Sean Mayes and Festo Massawe. Our current reliance on three major cereal crops for 60% of plant-based calories worldwide is risky. Climate …

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Meeting the protein needs of a growing, and aging, global population with healthy and sustainable protein sources

We need sources of protein that don’t harm human or planetary health, writes Prof Andy Salter. Humans require sufficient supplies of dietary protein, of appropriate quality, to grow and maintain health throughout their lifespan.  Protein quality is dependent on both the amount of essential amino acids contained and its digestibility.  While animal-derived foods represent rich …

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RADIANT: Realising dynamic value chains for underutilised crops

Biodiversity is hugely important for the functioning of natural systems, and restoring biodiverse ecosystems is an essential part of our fight against climate change. Biodiversity is key to food, nutrition and economic security, particularly for small farmers and farming communities in rural areas. There are around 259,000 plant species on our planet, of which 50,000 …

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