COMMUNICATIONS - NETWORKS
PROSEA
Plant Resources of South East Asia (PROSEA) is a foundation under Indonesian law, with an international
charter and headquarters in Bogor (Indonesia). It is an autonomous, non-profit, international agency,
governed by a board of trustees. It seeks linkage with existing regional and international organizations.
PROSEA's main aim is to document information on the plant resources of South East Asia. It consists of a
network office at Bogor, which coordinates six country offices in the region and a publication office in
Wageningen (The Netherlands).
The objectives of PROSEA are:
- to document the wealth of information that exists on the plant resources of South East Asia, and to
make this available for education, extension work, research and industry;
- to make operational a computerized databank on the plant resources of the region, and to publish the
results in the form of an illustrated, multi-volume handbook in English;
- to promote the dissemination of the information gathered.
The target groups are people professionally concerned with plant resources in South East Asia who work in
education, extension work, research and commercial production (direct users), and people in South East
Asia who depend directly on plant resources and who obtain relevant information through extension (indirect
users).
The activities of PROSEA include the establishment and operation of databases, the sponsorship, support
and organization of training courses, research on topics relevant to PROSEA's purpose, and the publication
and dissemination of books, reports and research results.
For more information, please contact:
PROSEA network office, Centre for Research & Development in Biology (CRDB), Jalan Raya Juanda
22-24, P.O. Box 234, Bogor 16122, Indonesia. Tel: +62-251-322859. Fax: c/o +62-251-
325854/326425.
PROSEA publication office, Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU), P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH
Wageningen, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-8370-84587. Fax: +31-8370-82206/84575.
Integrated bio-systems
'Integrated Bio-Systems' (UNU.ZERI.IBS) is an unmoderated listproc list for exchanging information and
sharing experiences regarding the use of biological technologies--in an integrated manner--in aquaculture,
agriculture, industry, forestry and animal husbandry. This will serve as a general list for bringing together
people with a wide range of interests. It has been created by the Zero Emission Research Initiatives (ZERI)
Project, of the United Nations University in Tokyo (Japan), in cooperation with the Ecotechnology Network
(ECOTEC).
Specialized lists will elicit in-depth discussions between experts, practitioners, entrepreneurs, researchers
and students. Such lists will be used for discussing specific technologies for selected integrated systems such
as mushrooms, algae, biogas, earthworms, biofertilizers, biopesticides, fish and small animal farming or
waste-water treatment and reuse.
The general objectives are:
- to promote the study and use of ecologically sound and economically viable technologies in
integrated bio-systems, through the exchange of information and the sharing of experiences;
- to discuss how traditional, self-reliant technologies and the latest high technologies can be combined
and used in an integrated manner;
- to stimulate research on problems related to their application, integration and economic
sustainability.
By re-using and adding value to agro-industrial and agricultural by-products and materials, these
technologies should contribute to zero emissions: i.e., to production and manufacturing 'without wastes'.
They should also provide opportunities for generating income and developing small businesses that use the
environment in a sustainable manner.
To subscribe to UNU.ZERI.IBS, send an e-mail message to LISTPROC@CAREN.NET. In the
body of the e-mail write: SUBSCRIBE UNU.ZERI.IBS followed by your first name,
your last name, and in parentheses the name of your organization. For example: SUBSCRIBE
UNU.ZERI.IBS Akke Tick (Nuffic-CIRAN). Please keep your name and organization to fewer than 36
characters.
For more information, please contact the owner of the list:
Mr Eng-Leong Foo, The United Nations University, 53-70 Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150,
Japan. Fax: +81-3-34992828. E-mail: foo@hq.unu.edu
Mulch-Based Agriculture Group
The Mulch-Based Agriculture (MBA) Group was officially formed in 1994 under the sponsorship of Cornell
International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development (CIIFAD). The goals of the MBA Group
are:
- to facilitate interdisciplinary research on indigenous and traditional tropical mulch-based
systems;
- to encourage exchange of related information between researchers in various institutions/agencies,
and between researchers and people working at the NGO/field level;
- to consolidate, synthesize and disseminate practical, farmer-tested information on mulch
technologies. The MBA Group's main interests revolve around mulch-based systems that can improve
agricultural sustainability for resource-poor farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Mulch-based systems include: green manures, cover crops, and various agroforestry systems that have a
mulch, or layer of vegetative biomass, which is cut and left to lie on (or be partially incorporated into) the
soil. Traditional farmers have used such systems for centuries. In addition, innovations are emerging from
the work of farmers and investigators with such systems as the velvet bean/maize rotations in northern
Honduras, contour hedgerows in Asia, and the Frijol tapado (covered beans) system in
Costa Rica. Systematic study of indigenous MBA systems, both traditional and new, can provide important
lessons for improving the sustainability and productivity of agriculture in developing countries, particularly
on erosion-prone hillsides. (INDKNOW)
Contact: H. David Thurston, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY 14853, USA. Tel: +1-607-255 7835. Fax: +1-607-255 4471.
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