AFSI Newsletter - January 2021
Multi-Phase Training for Indonesian Regulators on Safety Assessment of Foods and Feeds Derived from GE Plants
In 2017, the Agriculture & Food Systems Institute initiated a training program on food and feed safety assessment for GE plants with Indonesian regulators as part of a multi-phased program supported by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. This program was conducted in collaboration with the Indonesian National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) and the Indonesian Center for Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Research and Development (ICABIOGRAD). Phase I of the training was held on August 1-3, 2017 in Bogor, Indonesia (pictured above), with Phase II taking place later that year in Wilmington, USA. Phase III was conducted virtually in 2020 as an interactive online training course, with ten video-based modules followed by learning assessments. AFSI officially concluded the training program on December 8, 2020 with an online discussion session that provided 22 participants chosen by BPOM and ICABIOGRAD with an opportunity to interact with international experts and AFSI staff who served as faculty during the training
Agricultural Biotechnology: Global and Local Experience
Our South Asia Biosafety Program, in collaboration with USAID, USDA, and the State Department, organized a webinar on December 9, 2020 to provide an update on the status of biotechnology development in Bangladesh and raise awareness of how this technology is being managed to achieve sustainable benefits for the country. The program featured a keynote address from Dr. Stuart Smyth of the University of Saskatchewan on the global experience with agricultural biotechnology.

Protocol for US Fruit and Vegetable Crop Modeling
As part of the Fruit & Vegetable Supply Chains: Climate Adaptation & Mitigation Opportunities project, multi-model simulations need to be conducted for target crops to assess the climate change impact on fruit and vegetable production and potential adaptations. When initially published in June 2018, the Protocol for US Fruit and Vegetable Crop Modeling covered the project's first target crop, potato, and tomato was added in March 2019. With the project entering its fourth year, the protocol has now been expanded to include the project's six remaining crops–sweet corn, green beans, carrots, spinach, strawberries, and oranges.

Presentation at the 2020 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union
This year, the 2020 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union took place virtually on December 1-17. As part of the session on Global Environmental Change, Dr. Dave Gustafson delivered the presentation "Integrated Approach to Climate Adaptation and Mitigation: Application to Fruit & Vegetable Supply Chains," for which a recording is now available.