Date:

24-27 September 2012

Venue:

Epochal Tsukuba
(Tsukuba International Congress Hall), Tsukuba, Japan

Participation Fee:

Free

Language:

English

Organized by:

National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES)
Monsoon Asia Agro-Environmental Research Consortium (MARCO)

Supported by:

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

College of Agriculture, Ibaraki University

Download the Leaflet for Marco Symposium 2012  (PDF 2.5MB)

Monsoon Asian countries are blessed with natural resources for agriculture by the warm and seasonal humid climate, and can therefore sustain about 60% of the world’s human population within only about 16% of the Earth’s land surface. The dominance of rice cultivation and family-owned small-scale agriculture in this region has led to the development of agro-ecosystems with long-term sustainability of food production and biodiversity conservation. On the other hand, the agro-ecosystems in monsoon Asia have been intensively disturbed or managed by human activities for many centuries and are now suffering from rapid economic, social, and environmental changes. As a result, drastic deterioration of some of these ecosystems has been observed recently due to the combined effects of climate change, urbanization, pollution by toxic chemicals, or invasion by alien species. Therefore, it is imperative that the researchers, engineers, and administrative authorities of this region develop close international collaborations to meet the region's growing agricultural needs while harmonizing these human systems with the natural systems that support them.

To meet this requirement, the Monsoon Asia Agro-Environmental Research Consortium (MARCO) was organized through an agreement among the participants from 15 countries at an international symposium entitled “Evaluation and Effective Use of Environmental Resources for Sustainable Agriculture in Monsoon Asia: Toward International Research Collaboration”. The symposium was held from 12 to 14 December 2006 in Tsukuba, Japan. Since then, MARCO has promoted international collaboration to advance research on agricultural and environmental issues in monsoon Asia by hosting international symposia or workshops every year, setting up a Web site as a venue for exchanging information, and helping train the people who will carry on the activities proposed by the consortium.

The MARCO Symposium 2012 will provide a venue for exchanges about the current situation for various problems and the latest results of studies, and for discussing the direction of future research and ways to strengthen collaboration to meet agro-environmental challenges in monsoon Asia.

The MARCO Symposium 2012 will include:

• field excursion
• plenary sessions to report and discuss problem status and the latest results of studies on agriculture and environment in monsoon Asia
• parallel or satellite workshops to exchange information and discuss research plans for specific topics
• a wrap-up session to discuss the directions for future research and ways to strengthen the MARCO collaboration

The MARCO Symposium 2012 will focus on:

• exchanges related to problem status and the latest results of agricultural and environmental studies in monsoon Asia
• discussions of future research directions and ways to strengthen collaboration to meet agro-environmental challenges in monsoon Asia

August 17: Deadline of abstract submission * Deadline has been extended to Aug. 31st.

September 10: Deadline of registration * Deadline has been extended to Sep. 14.

Research Coordination Office

National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences (NIAES)

3-1-3 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8604, Japan

Phone: (+81)-29-838-8181

FAX: (+81)-29-838-8199

E-mail: marco2012@ml.affrc.go.jp