Event announcement: 4th National Annual Conference of the Society for Underutilized Legumes
Society for Underutilized
Legumes logo.
The Society for Underutilized Legumes (SUL), in conjunction with the IITA Genetic Resources Center in Ibadan, Nigeria, will hold its 4th National Annual Conference on 8–9 December. Due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will take place via Zoom.
The virtual conference will feature keynote speeches, plenary sessions, and other academic engagements. Prof Nwadiuto Esiobu, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton FL USA/Founder, Applied Biotech, Abuja, Nigeria is the invited keynote speaker on the theme “Underutilized legumes: Towards sustainable ecosystem development and food security”. Other leaNigeriad paper presenters include Prof Lateef B. Taiwo, Institute of Agricultural Research & Training (IAR&T), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ibadan, Nigeria, who will be speaking on “Cropping practices and their effects on environmental sustainability”. Prof S. G. Ado, Vice-Chancellor, Al-Qalam University, Katsina, Katsina State, Nigeria & Institute of Agricultural Research, Samaru, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria will address “Fighting hunger with underutilized legumes: A paradigm shift”. IITA’s Head of Germplasm Health Unit, Lava Kumar, will speak on “The impact of climate change on plant health”.
The 2019 edition featured field trips to IITA and IAR&T, plenary sessions, the Annual General Meeting, the official launch of the SUL website (www.sulegumes.org) and the Society journal: Journal of Underutilized Legumes (JUL), and the award of an honorary fellowship to Head of IITA Genetic Resources Center (GRC), Prof Michael Abberton (FSuLeg), for his outstanding contributions and research support for the promotion of underutilized legumes.
The SUL was set up for academic research and the promotion of improved use of underutilized legumes in tropical Africa. The Society encourages the growth and development of opportunities to researchers, entrepreneurs, and organizations (universities, research institutes, and donor agencies) to disseminate research outputs aimed at improving the economics, utilization, and conservation of underutilized legumes on the African continent and worldwide.
A 2016 symposium on African yam bean, organized by the GRC in Ibadan, Nigeria, was the foundation for SUL formation. The inaugural conference was held in 2017 at Ebonyi State University in Abakaliki, Nigeria, while Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria hosted the second edition in 2018. The Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR &T), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, hosted the 3rd and 2019 edition.
This year, the conference fee is ₦2,500 (regular) and ₦1,500 (students). The membership fee for new members is ₦10,000, and existing members will pay the same amount as annual dues. Registration for the conference is online via the Society’s website https://sulegumes.org/4th-annual-conference-2020/
