Despite national turmoil and transportation strikes in Ecuador, 165 participants from

40 countries arrived in Quito on March 16 to take part in Late Blight: A Threat to Global Food Security (GILB '99). Their efforts were well rewarded. This unique event, organized by GILB and supported by government organizations and the private sector, was the first large group of late-blight specialists from all over the world convened in one place to focus on this devastating disease*. Enthusiastic debate, evident both in the plenary sessions and in the hallways, characterized the meeting from start to finish.

To maintain the momentum from the Conference, thematic and regional linkage groups were developed to provide an opportunity for late blight specialists to become more closely involved in regional and scientific issues. These groups will provide a mechanism to help GILB '99 participants maintain the valuable relationships, contacts, and collaboration that developed during this highly productive and successful conference.

*A larger but more general meeting (Phytophthora infestans 150) was held in Dublin, Ireland, in 1995.

For more information see GILB Newsletter #7

Volume 1: Conference proceedings

(Oral/poster presentations and list of participants)

Foreword

Introduction and opening of the meeting

·                     Address of the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock

·                     Introduction to the meeting

·                     Overview of GILB and objectives of the meeting

·                     Keynote address: Late blight: A threat to global food security  

Setting the stage: Late blight and late blight research

·                     Late blight and late blight research in Central and Eastern Europe

·                     The occurrence of late blight in North America

·                     The late blight situation in Belarus

·                     Potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans) situation in Asia with special reference to China

·                     The current status of late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans in Africa, with emphasis on Eastern and Southern Africa

·                     The current status of late blight in Latin America

·                     Understanding farmers' response to late blight: Evidence from a base-line study in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Uganda

·                     Rapporteur's report

Host resistance: Perspectives, progress and prospects

·                     Host durable resistance to late blight: Some experiences under long days in Argentina

·                     Breeding in Ecuador: Facing increasing late blight severity

·                     Trends in late blight resistance breeding in Western Europe

·                     New approaches to breeding for late blight resistance: Objectives, sources and technology

·                     The importance of resistance to late blight in potato breeding in Africa

·                     Rapporteur's report

Host Resistance: International testing and evaluation

·                     The value of international standard tests for late blight Resistance

·                     Standard international field trials (SIFT)

·                     Population testing

·                     The genotype x environment study (GxE)

·                     Rapporteur's report

Host Resistance: Molecular approaches

·                     Host resistance as a solution to the late blight problem: Lessons learned from genetic analysis and future prospects

·                     Natural and engineered QTL for quantitative resistance to late blight

·                     Gene discovery and candidate gene approaches

·                     The engineering of plant disease resistance

·                     Rapporteur's report

The Pathogen: Molecular approaches

·                     Research investments in Phytophthora infestans:

How to get to know the pathogen?

·                     Molecular markers in population studies

·                     Phytophthora infestans in the Andes: Unraveling the mysteries

·                     Fingerprinting made easy

·                     Rapporteur's report

Epidemiology and disease development

·                     Implications to late blight epidemiology of recent pathogen migrations

·                     Sources of initial inoculum: Relative importance, timing and implications for late blight epidemics

·                     Long-distance dispersal and its implication for late blight management in continuous and non-continuous potato production systems

·                     Decision support systems for control of late blight in potato in Europe: Their history, achievements, and possibilities

·                     A global sssessment of late blight severity

·                     Potato late blight management in the Toluca Valley: Forecasts and resistant cultivars

·                     Rapporteur's report

Integrating and implementing solutions

·                     From the little picture to the big picture: New ways of working with farmers, and other people, to manage late blight better

·                     The current situation of organic potato production in Europe

·                     Papas, pests, people, and power: Addressing pesticide concerns through organization, training, and policy Interventions in Carchi, Ecuador

·                     Farmer field schools focusing on integrated management of late blight

·                     Rapporteur's report

Closing of the meeting

Appendices

·                     Conference agenda

·                     Speakers' biographies

·                     Poster abstracts

·                     Participants

Volume II: Future directions for GILB

(Results of workshops/discussion groups)

Foreword

Introduction to Volume II

Reviewing current GILB priorities

Fine-tuning the GILB model

Exploring existing models of cooperation

Financing late blight research and cooperation

GILB and its partners

Future directions for GILB

Appendix