29 June 2012 www.avrdc.org

Home garden production:

How Helen Keller

International brings better

nutrition and health to

women and communities

pages 8 &11

Home gardens produce

success in Bangladesh

Through the Horticulture Project, women are growing healthier lives for their families

In the village of Shikarpur in

Bangladesh’s Barisal District, Parul Begrum’s home garden has got the

neighbors talking.

Parul was one of 250 women farmers who received training in

producing vegetables at home from

local nongovernmental organization BRAC and the

Bangladesh Agricultural

Research Institute (BARI), partners in the United States

Agency for International

Development (USAID)-funded

Horticulture Project run by AVRDC – The World Vegetable

Center and the International

Potato Center (CIP). The classes combined information about the

nutritional value of eating

vegetables every day with practical demonstrations of home gardening

techniques.

The most valuable lesson, however, was the realization that one small

piece of land 6 m x 6 m could meet

the nutritional requirements of a four- to five-person family.

Peter Hanson (l), AVRDC Plant Breeder, visits a farmer and her family in Bangladesh. New gardeners start with easy-to-grow leafy vegetables. As they gain confidence, BRAC provides

training for crops requiring more complex management.

2

The garden design, developed by

AVRDC in the 1980s and introduced to Bangladesh in the

1990s by M.L. Chadha, retired

AVRDC Regional Director for South

Asia, was revised to incorporate orange-fleshed sweet potato in the

planting rotation. The tuber has

high levels of beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

Lack of this essential nutrient is the

leading cause of preventable

blindness in children.

Six weeks after planting seeds of

amaranth, spinach, okra, gourd, beans, and cucumber, Parul

harvested more than 78 kg of

vegetables — far exceeding the

needs of her five-person family. The surplus has provided an

opportunity for her to earn extra

money to support her family’s needs. According to BRAC’s project

coordinator, neighbors now visit

the home gardens and ask to

purchase vegetables, which often are sold at prices a little lower than

those at the nearest market.

Parul also distributed some of the

extra produce as gifts—and in the

best gift of all, shared her knowledge about the benefits of

eating fresh vegetables with the

recipients. As the neighbors

exchange tips on growing vegetables and preparing

vegetables for meals, the

community’s stock of agricultural and nutritional knowledge is

expanding.

BRAC works with each gardener for a year to ensure they understand

the full production cycle. BRAC, Lal

Teer Seed and other seed companies market small packets of

vegetable seeds for gardeners.

Access to good quality seed is vital

for the success of home gardens.

In Bangladesh, women in female-

headed households typically have only one year of education and

most have limited knowledge about

nutrition and food handling to

improve their family’s health. The home is their sphere; if a woman

gardener produces a surplus of

vegetables, her husband will be the one to sell the produce at the

market. The Horticulture Project is

empowering women by providing

access to information about growing produce using modern

methods and positioning them as

the guardians of family nutrition. According to project partners, in

just a few months it has boosted

discussion about diet and nutrients

and motivated many women in the community to start their own

vegetable gardens, leading to

increased self-confidence.

The Horticulture Project aims to

improve nutrition of at least

100,000 poor households in Southern Bangladesh by exploiting

the full potential of crops, including

vegetables and sweet potato.

The International Potato Center contributed

some of the information for this story.

(top to bottom)

Parul Begrum tends her garden; the surplus

is sold to neighbors.

Okra is a popular home garden crop in

Bangladesh; it is productive, hardy, and

nutritious.

AVRDC Plant Pathologist Jaw-fen Wang

(pink shirt) and Nutritionist Ray-yu Yang

(white shirt) met with home gardeners and

their families.

With better access to vegetables, a young

home gardener can look forward to a lifetime

of better nutrition and health.

The Deccan Chronicle reported on the bitterless bitter

gourd powder prepared by researchers Hsin-I Wang and Sandra Habicht at AVRDC for upcoming trials

with project partner the Avinashlingam University

for Women in Coimbatore, India.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/sci-tech/others/tn-

varsity-working-bitter-free-gourd-297

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/soon-

bitter-gourd-without-bitterness-303

3 CORNUCOPIA

The Center in the news 

Candid shots: Robert Holmer, Regional Director, AVRDC East and Southeast Asia;

Lawrence Kenyon, AVRDC Virologist;

and Roland Schafleitner, Head, AVRDC

Biotechnology/Molecular Breeding visited the Center for Agricultural

Biotechnology at Kasetsart University’s

Kamphaeng Saen Campus in Thailand.

http://www.cab.kps.ku.ac.th/activity/2012-03-06-

001/

welcome

Mohamed Dhamir Kombo, an MSc

student from Wageningen University, joined the Regional Center for Africa in May

2012 for three months to research “Variety

evaluation and selection of leaf amaranth

genotypes” under the supervision of plant breeder Chris Ojiewo.

Maya Fromstein, a BSc student in

International Agriculture and Food Systems at McGill University in Canada, is spending

her 2012 summer break at the Regional

Center for Africa studying economics of

vegetable production, nutrition, farmer group formation, and other topics under the

supervision of Chris Ojiewo.

Karl Sadkowski, a 2012 World Food Prize

Borlaug-Ruan Intern from Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA will study agricultural

economics, food security, and poverty

reduction at the Regional Center for Africa

this summer. Karl is AVRDC’s third 2012 World Food Prize intern, along with

Michelle Laterrade based at headquarters

and Meredith Bruster at AVRDC South Asia.

You have been AVRDC's

pepper breeder for more than a decade. How have

developments in plant

breeding changed the way you

conduct your research?

Before coming to AVRDC, my

pepper breeding experience focused on improving traits that were

important for dehydration and

production of high quality paprika

powder—traits like high color, low pungency, high solids, early

maturity, etc. Cosmetic

characteristics like fruit shape were

not important, as the fruit were

destined to be dried and milled to powder. Similarly, disease

resistance was not a priority, as the

semi-arid, temperate climate in

coastal California reduced disease

pressure to a minimum, and occasional defects were quickly

masked by the postharvest

processing.

Peppers at AVRDC, though, were

almost like a completely different

crop to me. My breeding objectives shifted toward addressing the

problems that make pepper

production a risky challenge for

farmers in tropical locations, and I began working on the incorporation

of disease resistance and tolerance

to environmental stress. I have

been fortunate to have the support

of many skilled plant pathologists at the Center. Numerous

cooperators including researchers

and extensionists in national

4 CORNUCOPIA

Farewell

Paul Gniffke, Plant Breeder

(Pepper and Bulb Allium), will retire on 30 June 2012 after 10

years of service to AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center. Paul led

breeding activities for the two crops from his base at

headquarters, and also served as Deputy Theme Leader for

Breeding since September 2008.

His major contributions include development of advanced chili

lines carrying multiple diseases resistance, release of more than 10

new lines of pepper distributed to more than 20 cooperators in at

least 16 countries, and introgression of hot pepper

restorer lines into sweet pepper. Colleagues will miss his lively wit

and sharp perceptions of the

global agricultural scene. Paul is looking forward to retired life in

Sequim, Washington, USA, in the rain shadow of the Olympic

Mountain range.

We couldn’t let Paul go without a

few final words:

Highlights at AVRDC (clockwise from top left):

International Open Day, 2007.

Pepper Hybrids Demonstration, 2009.

vBSS training workshop, 2008.

AVRDC-APSA workshop, 2004.

(...continued on page 5)

agricultural research systems, seed

companies and farmers have allowed me to see how my

selections perform under a wide

range of weather conditions and

cultural practices.

I have been very impressed with the

use of molecular markers in the AVRDC tomato breeding program

under Peter Hanson, and we have

attempted in small ways to bring

this strategy into the pepper program, in anthracnose resistance

and CMS restorers. Marker-assisted

selection has not been justified in resistance breeding for some

diseases, as sources of resistance

have been identified, and resistant

plants can be selected at the seedling stage at a low cost. I have

no doubt, though, that markers will

take an increasingly important role in pepper breeding as access to the

tools improves.

What was most challenging

about your work?

Communication would probably be the area with which I struggled

most, especially in eliciting

progress reports from some of the cooperators that contributed to our

project-related activities. Cultural

differences sometimes left both

sides dissatisfied in our exchanges. Even so, this area might at the same

time be considered one of the most

rewarding and exciting aspects of

the job. I certainly have grown from

the struggles, learning patience and careful listening, and I hope that

others also benefited in some way.

What's so intriguing,

professionally and personally,

about peppers?

Peppers have fired me up since my

high school days in New Mexico

(where the enchiladas and chiles

5 CORNUCOPIA

(clockwise from top left):

Dishing out a spicy treat during the International Food Fair, 2006.

Leading the chorus on stage during the 2003 Annual Party.

Participating in the World Diabetes Day “Walk for Health” with colleagues Peter Hanson (left) and Srinivasan Ramasamy, 2011.

(...continued from page 4)

(...continued on page 6)

rellenos can’t be beat!), but I didn’t

become a true chilihead until later in college, when friends challenged

each other to see who could take the

HEAT. It was only then that I

learned about the diverse potential and history of peppers. After

Capsicum was brought back from

the Americas by Columbus, it spread around the world in a matter of a few

decades. It became naturalized and

engrained in local cuisines so quickly

that knowledge of its true origin was sometimes forgotten, and some

types were given the name Capsicum

chinense. Some historical evidence suggests that paprika arrived in

Hungary from Asia, through Silk

Road merchants, rather than more

directly from Spanish or Portuguese traders. Peppers are nutritious; the

Hungarian physiologist Albert

Szent-Gyorgi received a Nobel Prize for discovering and characterizing

vitamin C in pepper. Peppers display

an immense range of fruit types,

flavors, and uses. There are sweet bell peppers that can almost be

served as a dessert fruit…and then

there is ‘Bhut Jolokia,’ the world’s hottest pepper, which can be placed

on fences to deter elephants from

trespassing or used by police in riot

control. How can you not love peppers?

Plans for the future?

My new home in northwest

Washington state, USA, will have a shorter and cooler growing season

than I have enjoyed in the tropics.

But it is still an area where

vegetables and other specialty foods and crops are appreciated. The area

is well-known for Dungeness crab,

and seasonal runs of three or four distinct species of salmon, each

more delicious than the last. Former

dairy farms in the area are being

converted into boutique horticultural specialty businesses;

the region has the largest

concentration of lavender production in the USA, various

producers of hydrangeas, dahlias,

rhododendrons and other

ornamentals, and is proud of its tradition of locally grown organic

vegetables. In my home, I’ll have a

little garden and perhaps a greenhouse, to indulge my impulses

to grow a better pepper, and perhaps

to contribute to the organic

vegetable seed industry. While I can, I will still travel, and hopefully I can

share some of my experience and

opinions in vegetable breeding.

Share one memorable moment

out of so many during your

time at the Center…

I will not soon forget the dinner

prepared for us at the conclusion of the first phase of the GTZ Chili

Project, with team members from

India, Thailand, Indonesia, and our hosts from Hunan Province in

China. Every dish that was served—

and there were dozens— included

peppers in one way or another: stir-fried with beef, a shredded topping

on shrimp, soups, and my favorite, a

mild chili sautéed in a light oil, so that the seared, waxy cuticle slipped

off effortlessly, leaving a delicious,

tender morsel of throat-warming

goodness. Of course no Chinese party is complete without frequent

toasting of the guest of honor with

eager invitations to gan-bei (“drink it all”)! I was the honored guest, and

I hadn’t learned the art of politely

declining…it seemed that the line of

people hoping to wish me well never ended. I certainly don’t remember it

ending.

And so it is with AVRDC. I have

cherished my time here, and I want

to wish all my friends and

acquaintances the very best for the future.

6 CORNUCOPIA

(...continued from page 5)

Seminars

Mandy Lin, Assistant Specialist, Global Technology Dissemination,

shared her experiences in “Training Trainers and Farmers on Summer Tomato Integrated Crop Management in Bangladesh” with colleagues on

7 June 2012. Summer tomato is a high value crop that can bring farmers

a net income of USD 8000-10,000 per hectare (compared with winter

tomato at USD 2500-3000 per hectare), but growing tomato in the hot-wet season is challenging. Tested technologies, including simple rain

shelters and grafting, were among the crop management skills and

methods participants learned during the training courses conducted by Mandy and her colleagues and project partners in Bangladesh.

Wen Qian Chung, entomology intern from Universiti Putra Malaysia,

stung the audience with a biting question: “Bees and bitter gourd: Can the lasting relationship be lost?” in her presentation to AVRDC staff on

11 June 2012. Her research aimed to assess the lethal effects of pesticides

on honey bees and to determine the sublethal effects of pesticides on

honey bee memory retention and response to water and sucrose. Pollination by bees increases the number of bitter gourd fruits per plant

and the overall yield, so it is important to use safe pest control methods

and products that do not harm bees when cucumber moths, army worm, melon fly or other pests attack the plants.

7 CORNUCOPIA

Yun-che Hsu, Principal Research Assistant, Entomology, discussed the

management of striped flea beetles (Phyllotreta striolata, SFB) on vegetable brassicas in a presentation on 14 June 2012. SFB lacks natural

enemies and has developed resistance to several pesticides. She reviewed

the Center’s research in screening accessions of radish, pak-choi and

Chinese cabbage for resistance or tolerance to SFB; testing the effectiveness of allyl isothiocyanates (AITC), a volatile and toxic

compound in plants; push-pull strategies with trap crops; and the use of

male-produced aggregation pheromones.

Jackie Hughes, AVRDC Deputy Director General –

Research, introduced the ASEAN-AVRDC Regional Network in her talk "AARNET: what, whom and why?" on 29 June 2012. The network serves

as an important entry point for the Center’s research and development

outreach in ASEAN countries. Current initiatives include local field trials

of promising vegetable lines, translation of AVRDC pest identification field guides into six languages, and an expert consultation slated for

August 2012 in Bangkok.

8 CORNUCOPIA

Visitors

Nancy J. Haselow, Vice President and Regional

Director for Asia Pacific, Helen Keller International (HKI), came to headquarters on 18 June 2012 to

discuss opportunities for collaboration with Center

management and staff. HKI aims to prevent blindness

around the world through its eye health programs to address cataracts, river blindness, trachoma, and

diabetic retinopathy, and to improve the nutrition and

health of the world’s most vulnerable populations with vitamin A supplementation, food fortification, and

homestead food production. HKI and the Center have

similar visions for home garden programs in Asia and

plan to explore new initiatives for joint activities.

Nancy J. Haselow (r), Vice President and Regional Director for Asia

Pacific from Helen Keller International (HKI) and Jackie Hughes,

AVRDC Deputy Director General - Research exchange gifts and

information during a coffee break with AVRDC staff.

Thirty-four trainees from the

Taiwan Foreign Service Institute (FSI) received an introduction to

international agricultural development

work from Maureen Mecozzi (top left)

Head, AVRDC Communications & Information during their visit to

headquarters on 27 June 2012. The

group, led by Phoebe Yeh (above, w/umbrella), Deputy Director of FSI and

accompanied by nine FSI staff, also

received a tour of the Demonstration

Garden from Willie Chen (above, w/hat).

Ji-Gang Kim (left) from the National Institute of

Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration, Korea, visited headquarters on 25 June

2012 to meet AVRDC staff including Jackie Hughes,

Deputy Director General-Research, and to consult with

his colleague Myeong-Cheoul Cho, RDA seconded scientist currently working in Pepper Breeding at

AVRDC.

Visitors

9 CORNUCOPIA

On 29 June 2012 the Taiwan Turnkey Project

Association, an organization commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, brought a group of 14

agricultural producers, processors and marketers

from the Philippines to visit AVRDC’s research

facilities and genebank. The group included Gerald Jone O. Uygongco, Vice President, La Filipina Uy

Gongco Corp.; Paul Felipe Cruz, President,

Herbanext Laboratories Inc.; Phillip L. Ong, President, Santeh Feeds Corp.; Jusie Roxas,

President, Farm Links; Alejandro Escaño,

President, MFI Foundation Inc.; Bernadette

Arellano, Managing Director, SBE Farms Enterprises, Inc. The group was accompanied by

Benedict M. Uy, Deputy Director for Commercial

Affairs, Manila Economic and Cultural Office, Philippine Representative Office in Taiwan.

Esther Njeru, Outreach

Assistant at the Regional Center for Africa, Arusha,

Tanzania, left the Center

on 15 June 2012 after two

years of service. Esther assisted her colleagues in

researching marketing issues along the

vegetable value chain in Tanzania and Cameroon. We wish her all the best!

Farewell

Reshma Sanal (l)

received an undergraduate internship certificate from

Director General Dyno

Keatinge after studying the

molecular characterization of legume pod borer

(Maruca vitrata) and its

natural enemies in Entomology at

headquarters.

Alejandro Escaño (right), President, MFI Foundation Inc.

In Africa, GIZ meets to discuss food security in a changing climate 

More than 100 members of

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale

Zusammenarbeit (GIZ),

including professional staff of the

International Centrum for Migration and Development

(CIM) projects working in Africa,

met in Windhoek, Namibia recently to focus on food security and

climate change in plenary sessions

and working groups. GIZ has been

a long-time donor to AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center, and has

supported a number of Center

projects over the years.

Ibrahim A. Mayaki, Chief

Executive Officer of the New

Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning

and Coordination Agency, gave the

meeting’s opening remarks. He analyzed the challenges to

achieving food security as the

climate changes, and noted a

multidisciplinary approach focused on regional cooperation, youth and

education should be given more

attention to find solutions to the most important development

questions facing Africa.

In presentations, workshops, and strategic discussions, the

participants examined the success

of farmer business schools, green economy approaches, agribusiness

for pro-poor growth, and natural

resources management in

promoting food security and resilience of rural livelihoods in

sub-Saharan Africa. New donor

strategies were explored.

The problem of postharvest food

loss drew particular attention. The

group decided to conduct a survey on postharvest practices and

related issues to identify existing

practices and unsolved problems. The results will guide future

research activities.

The event concluded with a three-

day field trip to visit several

German-Namibian cooperative

projects related to fisheries, land tenure, and natural resources. The

next meeting in February 2013 in

the Ivory Coast will examine results from working groups on household

resilience and postharvest food

loss.

10 NEWS FROM THE REGIONS

(left): Ibrahim Mayaki (2nd from left), Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD); Vera Scholz, Andreas Proksch, Stephan Krall (l to r) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Africa Department in a plenary discussion.

(center): A fishery project in northern Namibia.

(right): Farmers answer questions during the field trip.

(left): Local associations explained their activities to protect natural resources.

(right): Theresa Endres (l), AVRDC Community Development Specialist (Nutrition), in Mali with a colleague from Democratic Republic of the Congo.

3

inside insight

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 11

When and why did HKI begin

exploring home food production?

HKI has long sought to combat

blindness resulting from vitamin A deficiency. In the countries where

we worked, we noticed three types

of gardens: traditional, seasonal scattered plots of just a few

vegetables; improved, typically on

fixed plots but not used year-round;

and developed, which produced a wide range of vegetables and fruit

throughout the year. Evidence

indicated children from homes with developed gardens consumed 1.6

times more vegetables and had a

lower risk of night blindness than

children in homes without homestead gardens, as they had

access to a diversity of homegrown

fruit and vegetables rich in certain forms of vitamin A. So HKI began a

pilot project in 1990 in Bangladesh,

working with 1000 households to

establish year-round home gardens and provide nutrition education.

The pilot succeeded, and we began scaling up the initiative in 1993,

bringing in more local NGOs as

partners. Today, 52 local NGOs are active in HKI’s Homestead Food

Production Program for 900,000

households in Bangladesh,

benefitting more than 4.5 million people. The program is also active

in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, and

Nepal.

How do the activities

promoted in HKI’s Homestead

Food Production Program differ from other home garden

initiatives?

One difference in our program is

the inclusion of animal sources—

poultry, goats, fish—as part of that production system. The eggs and

other animal foods raised by the

gardeners support the body's ability

to utilize the micronutrients in the vegetables and fruits grown in their

homestead gardens. Produce from

the gardens ensures the availability of vitamins and minerals essential

for proper immune system function

and full physical, intellectual and

cognitive development.

The integration of animal

husbandry does add a measure of complexity to the program,

however. For instance, poultry

require immunization and caging,

and keeping animals may require more labor and capital, thus

reducing the cost effectiveness of

the program. But the nutritional benefits from milk, meat and eggs

outweigh the challenges animals

may present.

How is the program

implemented?

HKI looks at home food production

as a system, one that starts with the

individual but ultimately has impact on the entire community.

We provide technical and

managerial support as well as start-

up supplies, such as seeds, seedlings, saplings and chicks to

local nongovernmental

organizations (NGOs). They in turn integrate Homestead Food

Production into their ongoing

activities.

To promote home food production,

we usually delineate a district of

about 1200 households, and then within that district encourage 15-20

Nancy Haselow, Vice

President and Regional

Director for Asia Pacific,

Helen Keller

International (HKI), gave

AVRDC staff an overview of

“Helen Keller International’s

Homestead Food Production

Program: an integrated

(agriculture and nutrition)

model for addressing

undernutrition” on 18 June

2012. The organization,

which focuses its efforts on

eye health, nutrition and

neglected tropical diseases for

the world’s most vulnerable

populations, emphasizes

scalability in its projects and

frequent monitoring and

evaluation to determine

effectiveness.

interested individuals to establish

Village Model Farms. The model farms demonstrate the best

techniques and methods available

for growing vegetables and rearing

small livestock, and sometimes incorporate plant nurseries. These

model farms become important

sources of information and places to teach new home food production

skills.

How does the program benefit participants?

The Homestead Food Production Program has combined greater food

availability with nutrition

education, and this has led to increased consumption of higher-

quality food—and in Bangladesh,

increased vitamin A intake among

women and children.

The program empowers women,

who organize 90% of the gardens; they begin contributing to the

economic stability of their families

and make sure their children

consume the nutritious food they grow. The gardens also provide

families with income from the sale

of surplus goods and increase the technical knowledge and capacity of

local NGOs.

Lessons learned from HKI’s experience in home food

production?

Perhaps the most important:

Nutrition education and behavior-

change communication must be a high priority to translate food

production into improved diets and

better health. Strong links between

the agriculture and the health

sectors are needed. Building on

local practices with existing organizations ensures better

integration with community

activities. Be flexible, but follow a

standard program design to ease replication. And finally, invest in

the information systems to get solid

feedback that can be applied to improve and adjust ongoing

interventions, and keep donors,

governments and other partners

informed.

3

inside insight

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 12

Fresh, 26 June 2012

Fresh is published bi-weekly by

AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center

P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan 74199

Taiwan

Editor: Maureen Mecozzi

Graphic design: Kathy Chen

Photographic guidance: Ming-Che Chen

Contributors: Theresa Endres, Paul Gniffke,

Peter Hanson, Ray-yu Yang

Comments, ask a question,

add a name to our mailing

list: info@worldveg.org

www.avrdc.org

A garden grows self‐confidence alongside vegetables. In Bangladesh, home gardeners gain prestige and standing in their communities.