Shinsuke Agehara is currently working as Assistant Professor in Plant Physiology at the University of Florida, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. He received the B.S. degree in International Agricultural Development at Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan in 2001, M.S. degree in Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University in 2004, and Ph.D. in Horticulture at Texas A&M University in 2014. His current research program focuses on understanding plant physiological and morphological adaptation mechanisms to environmental stresses, and developing integrated sustainable management strategies for vegetable and small fruit crops.

Agriculture science, Plant science, Plant phycology

Dr. Abbas Amini is an assistant professor at the Australian College of ACK and Western Sydney University, and the member of graduate supervisory board. After obtaining PhD, he conducted research with other Australian universities, as a postdoctoral research fellow at Monash and Deakin Universities, and as a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne. His fine outcomes have been presented in high impact factor journals, e.g., Nature publication group, and a recent published book in 2016. Abbas is the editor of ten reputed journals, and the committee member of 20 international conferences.

Bio-nanotech, Biomechanical Engineering

Dr. Ashok K Patra, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India. He did his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He was a Post Doctoral Researchers at ICRISAT, India; IGER, UK; INRA, France; and University of Notre Dame, USA. He was a Principal Soil Scientist (2006 to 2014) at IARI, New Delhi. He is a recipient of British Council TCT Award; Royal Society Award; DBT Overseas Associateship Award; Hooker Award of IARI; and he is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Soil Science and National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India. His research area includes nitrogen cycling, soil biodiversity, carbon sequestration and nanoparticles. With more than 200 publications in his credit he is serving as a member of editorial board of reputed journals.

Nitrogen cycling, soil biodiversity, carbon sequestration and nanoparticle

Dr. Siphiwe Felix M. Mkhize was employed by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) , as the Head of Provincial and State Owned Entities Performance Monitoring . Previously h e was posted abroad as M inister Counselor (Agriculture), at the Embassy of South Africa in the United States of America. He represent ed the South African Agricultural interest in the Americas with accreditation to South African Missions in Canada, Cuba and Mexic o from September 2001 to July 2010 . Pr ior Dr. Mkhize is an experienced agricultural and development practitioner who has both South African and international experience. He has worked on all levels of agriculture (policy, planning , monitoring and impleme ntation). He has represented South African agricultural sector on various for ums abroad and locally. Dr. Mkhize has training in various fields of agriculture (agronomy and soils) , sustainable development and international diplomacy . He holds a Diploma i n Irrigation Sciences from Mediterranean Agronomic Institute (MAI), in Bari , Italy, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Agronomy (Agriculture) from Iowa State University , USA, a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Soil Chemistry and Fertility from Universit y of Reading, in England, second Masters ( MPhil ) degree in Philosophy (Applied Ethics) in Environment from the University of Stellenbosch and a PhD in sustainable ecological management from the University of Pretoria , where he wr o t e his dissertation under Prof AS van Jaarsveld the current Vice Chancellor of University of KwaZulu Natal. He is registered as a Professional Natural Scientist ( Pr Nat Sc) with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions a nd al s o with the American Registry of Cer tified Professionals in Crops and Soils (ARCPCS) as a Professional Agronomist (CPAg). He is a member of the South African Soil Science Society and the American Society of Agronomy. He has written a number of papers in the field of agriculture, developmen t, ethics and agricultural biotechnology, and he is the author of two book s titled: Towards Hope and Challenge Agricultural Biotechnology and the Catholic Social Teachings: A Catholic Ethic for Agriculture, Environment, Faith and Food (2004 ) and .. . AND THE EYES OF ALL LOOKED AT HIM Understanding the Mystery of the Ministry of Permanent Diaconate (2014).

Agriculture Science, Plant science,Fisheries and Forestry

Gunnar Wingsle has completed his PhD at the age of 34 years from Department of Forest Genetics & Plant Physiology. He has published more than 60 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as a PI of the proteomic mass spectrometry facility at Chemical Biological Centre at Umeå University and SLU since 2000.

Genetics & Plant Physiology

Dr. R. R. Sharma after post-graduation from IARI, New Delhi, joined as Scientist there in 1997. He is Senior Scientist and associated with release of mango hybrids like Pusa Arunima, Pusa Surya, Pusa Lalima, Pusa Shresth, Pusa Pitamber etc. He has published 40 research articles in International journals, 60 in National journals, and authored 8 books. He is recipient of Dr. R.N. Singh award (twice), Dr Rajinder Prasad award (twice), and Himachal Shri Award. He has also served as International Mango Registrar for about 5 years (1999-2004). He is member, editorial board of Scientia Horticulturae, International Journal of Fruit Science (U.K.), American Journal of Plant Sciences (US), Journal of Food Processing and Technology (US), and Stewart Postharvest Reviews (UK), and Chief Editor of International Journal of Processing and Postharvest Technology, India.

Pre and Post harvest handling of temperate fruits, Food Science

Daniele De Wrachien is Senior Professor of Agricultural Hydraulics at the Department of Agricultural Engineering of the State University of Milan. He graduated in Geology at the same University ,where he received is PhD in Applied Geology. Full Professor of Agricultural Hydraulics (1986-2010) Associate Professor of Agricultural Hydraulics (1983-86) Professor of Geopedology (1970-1983) Director Institute of Agricultural Hydraulics (2000-2006); Director Computer Centre of the Faculty of Agriculture,(1992-95); Tutor of MPhil and PhD students of the Faculty of Agriculture; External Examiner to MPhil and PhD students of the Politecnico Milan ,State University of Palermo , State University of Basilicata , Welsh University ; Visiting Professor at the Wessex Institute of Technology ( WIT ) Honours and Awards -Award for Truthful Support and Help in Organizing and Improving Scientific Level of the Symposia "Actual Tasks on Agricultural Engineering", Croatian Agricultural Engineering Society, Opatija , Croatia, February 2006 ; -Award in Recognition of Services to the European Society of Agricultural Engineers, Bonn ,Germany ,September 2006 ; -Award for outstanding contribution to Engineering Sciences ,Wessex Institute of Technology ,The New Forest ,UK, June 2008 ; -Award for the Best Performing Working Body ,International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, Lahore ,Pakistan ,October 2008. Over 150 scientific publications: papers, key-note lectures, books and technical reports. Creative works: -Co-author "Land Reclamation and Conservation", CIGR Handbook of Agricultural Engineering, 1999; -Author "Land Use Planning: A Key to Sustainable Agriculture", FAO Handbook of Conservation Agriculture, 2003. -Co-organizer and Key-note Speaker: over sixty International Conferences, Congresses, Symposia, Workshops in Africa, America, Asia Australia and Europe ,among which is worth mentioning: - XII CIGR World Congress/AgEng'94 International Conference organised by CIGR and EurAgEng, 29 August-1September 1994, Milan, Italy - International Workshop Irrigation Scheduling: From Theory to Practice ,organised by FAO and ICID and EurAgEng , 12-13 September 1995, Rome, Italy - Conference Operation Management and Maintenance of Large Irrigation Networks ,organised by AIIA (Italian Association of Agricultural Engineering) and EurAgEng , 5-7 June 1996, Novara, Italy - AgEng'96 Madrid International Conference, organised by EurAgEng, 22-25 September 1995, Madrid, Spain - World Water Day '97 ,organised by ITAL-ICID and EurAgEng ,21 September 1997, Rome, Italy - International Conference Sustainable Irrigation in Areas of Water Scarcity and Drought ,organised by the ICID W.G. on Sustainable Crops and Water Use ,CIGR and EurAgEng ,11-12 September 1997, Oxford, U.K. - International Conference Water Management, Salinity and Pollution Control towards Sustainable Irrigation in the Mediterranean Region, organised by CIHEAM ,CIGR and EurAgEng ,22-26 September 1997, Valenzano, Italy - XIII CIGR World Congress ,organised by CIGR and EurAgEng ,2-6 February 1998, Rabat, Morocco - World Water Day'98 ,organised by ITAL-ICID and EurAgEng ,23 March 1998, Rome, Italy - International Workshop Groundwater Management: Guidelines for Sustainable Identification, Control and Reclamation Strategies organised by IRIS (Italian Association of Ground water Engineering) , IAHR and EurAgEng ,16 April 1998, Rome, Italy - International Symposium Experimental Data and Validation of Groundwater Mathematical Models for Reclamation of Polluted Sites ,organised by IRIS , IAHR, and EurAgEng ,6-10 July 1998, Cosenza, Italy - International Workshop Sustainable Tillage Systems, organised by CIGR and EurAgEng, 8-10 July 1998, Auburn, Alabama (USA) - International Workshop The Use of Saline and Brackish Water in Irrigation: Implication to the Management of Irrigation, Drainage and Crops, organised by the ICID WG on Sustainable Crops and Water Use ,CIGR and EurAgEng ,23-24 July 1998, Bali, Indonesia - AgEng'98 Oslo International Conference, organised by EurAgEng 24-27 August 1998, Oslo, Norway - Conference Irrigation and Research: Progress in the Use of Water Resources, organised by GRUSI (Italian Group of Research on Irrigation) and EurAgEng ,1-2 October 1998, Bari, Italy - International Conference Subsoil Compaction and Soil Dynamics: Processes and Environmental Consequences ,organised by IUSS and EurAgEng ,24-26 March 1999, Kiel, Germany - 2nd Inter-Regional Conference Emerging Technology for Sustainable Land Use and Water Management ,organised by CIGR, EurAgEng and ICID ,1-3 September 1999, Lausanne, Switzerland - 17th ICID International Congress ,organised by ICID ,11-19 September 1999, Granada, Spain - International Workshop Modelling of Transport Processes in Soils organized by EurAgEng ,24-26 November 1999, Leuven, Belgium - 8th International Workshop on Drainage ,organised by ICID, CIGR and EurAgEng ,31 Jannary-4 February 2000, New Delhi, India - 3rd Inter-Regional Conference Water Resources Management in the 21st Century, organised by ICID European Regional W.G ,CIGR and EurAgEng., 1-3 June 2000, Budapest, Hungary - International Workshop on Control of Adverse Impacts of Fertilizers and Agrochemicals ,organized by ICID,22-27 October 2000,Cape Town ,South Africa - 29th International Symposium Actual Tasks on Agricultural Engineering, organised by the Croatian Agricultural Engineering Society, CIGR, EurAgEng and AAAE,6-9 February 2001,Opatija,Croatia - 19th European Regional Conference Sustainable Use of Land and Water ,organised by the Czech ICID Committee, CIGR and EurAgEng,4-8 June 2001,Brno,Czech Republic - International Conference Sustainable Land Management: Environmental Protection, organised by IUSS,CIGR and EurAgEng,2-7 July 2001,Florence,Italy - International Workshop on Wastewater Reuse Management ,organized by ICID ,The World Bank,EurAgEng,NOWRA,19-20 September ,Seul, Korea - International Conference Water and Irrigation Development, organised by Lombardy Region, ANBI, ICID and EurAgEng,25-27 September 2001,Cremona,Italy - 1st World Congress Conservation Agriculture ,organised, by FAO,ECAF (European Conservation Agriculture Federation) and EurAgEng,1-5 October 2001,Madrid, Spain - 30th International Symposium Actual Tasks on Agricultural Engineering ,organised by the Croatian Agricultural Engineering Society, CIGR, EurAgEng and AAAE,12-15 March 2002,Opatija, Croatia - International Conference Drought Mitigation and Prevention of Land Desertification ,organised by the ICID Slovenian National Committee, CIGR and EurAgEng ,21-25 April 2002,Bled, Slovenia - International Workshop Crop Water Management for Food Production Under Limited Water Supplies ,organised by the ICID W.G. on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources for Crop Production., and EurAgEng ,21-28 July 2002, Montreal, Canada - 31st International Symposium Actual Tasks on Agricultural Engineering organised by the Croatian Agricultural Engineering Society, CIGR, EurAgEng and AAAE , 24-28 February, 2003, Opatija, Croatia. - 3rd International Workshop Research on Irrigation and Drainage organised by the Macedonian National ICID Committee and EurAgEng,19 March 2003, Skopje, Macedonia. - International Conference. Land Reclamation and Water Resources Development, organised by Lombardy Region ,ANBI,ICID,CIGR and EurAgEng ,27-29 May 2003, Mantua, Italy - 6th Inter-Regional Conference on Environment-Water Land and Water Use Planning and Management ,organised by the University of Castilla La Mancha, CIGR and EurAgEng , 3-5 September 2003, Albacete, Spain - 9th International Drainage Workshop Drainage for Secure Environment and Food Supply organised by ILRI ,ICID,CIGR and EurAgEng,10-13 September 2003, Utretcht, The Netherlands - International Workshop Improved Irrigation Technologies and Methods: Research Development and Testing ,organised by CEMAGREF ,ICID and EurAgEng ,17-19 September 2003, Montpellier, France - International Conference Land is Thirsty ,organised by ANBI and FAO and EurAgEng ,29 October 2003, Rome, Italy - 32nd International Symposium Actual Tasks on Agricultural Engineering ,organised by Croatian Agricultural Engineering Society, CIGR ,EurAgEng and AAAE , 23-27 February 2004, Opatija, Croatia - 4th International Workshop Research on Irrigation and Drainage . organised by the Macedonian National ICID Committee and EurAgEng ,24-25 March 2004, Skopje, Macedonia - International Conference Energy Efficiency and Agricultural Engineering 2004 ,organised by the Bulgarian National Society of Agricultural Engineers. ,CIGR and EurAgEng,3-5 June 2004, Rousse, Bulgaria - International Conference on Olympics of Agricultural Engineering 2004,organized by CIGR,11-14 October 2004,Beijing ,China - World Congress Agricultural Engineering for a Better World , organized by CIGR,EurAgEng,VDI,FAO,3-7 September 2006,Bonn ,Germany - First International Conference on Monitoring, Simulation, Prevention and Remediation of Dense and Debris Flows ,organized by WIT, EurAgEng,CIGR,June 2006,Rhodes,Greece - First International Conference on Sustainable Irrigation Management ,Technologies and Policies ,organized by WIT, September 2006, Bologna,Italy -22nd European Regional Conference on Water Resources Management and Irrigation and Drainage Systems in the European Environment organized by ICID ,EurAgEng, CIGR, FAO, September 2007,Pavia, Italy - Second International Conference on Monitoring, Simulation, Prevention and Remediation of Dense and Debris Flows ( Co-Chairman ), organized by WIT, EurAgEng, CIGR, June 2008, The New Forest, UK - First International Conference on Flood Recovery, Innovation and Response ,organized by WIT ,University of Wolverhampton ,July 2008,London,UK - Third International Conference on Monitoring ,Simulation , Prevention and Remediation of Dense and Debris Flows ( Co-Chairman ) ,organized by WIT ,EurAgEng ,CIGR, University of Milan , May 2010 ,Milan ,Italy - Second International Conference on Flood Recovery , Innovation and Response ( Co-Chairman ) ,organized by WIT ,EurAgEng ,CIGR ,ICID ,University and Politecnico of Milan ,University of Wolverhampton , May 2010 ,Milan , Italy - Fourth International Conference on Monitoring , Simulation ,Prevention and Remediation of Dense and Debris Flows ( Co-Chairman) ,organized by WIT ,EurAgEng , CIGR ,University of Milan ,May 2012 , Dubrovnik , Croatia -Third International Conference on Flood Recovery , Innovation and Response ( Co-Chairman),organized by WIT, EurAgEng ,CIGR ,ICID, University and Politecnico of Milan , University of Wolverhampton ,May 2012,Dubrovnik , Croatia -Fourth International Conference on Sustainable Irrigation and Drainage Management , Technologies and Policies Systems , December 2012 ,Adelaide , Australia . Co-Editor Books and Proceedings of International Conferences: -Water and Irrigation Development,2001 ,Editor : Lombardy Region; -Crop Water Management for Food Production under Limited Water Supplies, 2002 , Editor: ICID; - Land Reclamation and Water Resources Development, 2003, Editor: Lombardy Region; -Sustainable Irrigation Management ,Technologies and Policies , 2006 ,Editor :WIT Press ; -Water Resources Management and Irrigation and Drainage Systems Development in the European Environment, 2007,Editor : ICID; -Monitoring , Simulation, Prevention and Remediation of Dense and Debris Flow II ,2008, Editor WIT Pres; - Dam-Break Problems , Solutions and Case Studies ,2009, Editor : WIT Press; - Monitor ,Simulation ,Prevention and Remediation of Dense and Debris Flows III , 2010 ,Editor WIT Press ; - Flood Recovery , Innovation and Response II , 2010 , Editor WIT Press. International Expert ; -Monitoring , Simulation ,Prevention and Remediation of Dense and Debris Flows IV,2012,Editor WIT Press; -Flood Recovery ,Innovation and Response III,2012,Editor WIT Press. Coordinator of world-wide investigations on : -Question 39 "Irrigation and Drainage of Problems Soils" ,Fort Collins ,USA, 1984 , -Question 48 "Irrigation under Conditions of Water Scarcity" ,Granada., Spain, 1999, of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage. Co-leader of world-wide (FAO-ICID-EurAgEng) investigations : - -"Conjunctive Use of Surface and Groundwater" 2002,in cooperation with Costantino Fasso, Hon. Vice Pres. ICID ; -"Irrigation and Drainage Systems : Research and Development in the 21st Century", 2002, in cooperation with Bart Schultz ,Pres. ICID; -"Global Warming and Drainage Development", 2004 ,in cooperation with Reinder Feddes ,Wageningen University, The Netherlands; -"Climate Variability Agriculture and Food Security : A World-wide View" ,2004 ,in cooperation with Bart Schultz,Reinder Feddes, and Ragab Ragab, Wallingford Institute, UK. Memberships: -International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (Section 1 : Land and Water Engineering, 1995 - , Executive Board, 2004 -2014 ); - International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (Working Group on Drainage, 1988 -2006, Permanent Committee for Technical Activities, 2005 -2012 ,Working Group of the EB Journal Irrigation and Drainage ,1998- ,Hon. Member ITAL – ICID ,2010 -) -European Society of Agricultural Engineers (Chairman of the Field of Interest on Soil and Water, 1993-2006; Chairman of the Fields of Interest, 1999 - 2004; President, 2002 - 04; Past President 2004- ;Hon. Chairman of the Field of Interest on Soil and Water 2006- ) - WIT ( Board of Directors , 2011.- ) Editorial Boards of International Journals : -Irrigation and Drainage ( Associate Editor ), 1998 -; -Progress in Agricultural Engineering Sciences, 2004 - 2008 ; -Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 1998 - 2010; - International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 2009- . - Journal of Agricultural Sciences ( Editor-in-Chief ) ,2010 - ;. - Journal of Irrigation&Drainage Systems Engineering ,2010-; - International Journal of Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements ,2010- - Journal of Smart Grid and Renewable Energy , 2010 - ; - Journal of Safety and Security Engineering ,2011- ; - International Journal of Advanced Renewable Energy Research , 2012- ; - American Journal of Experimental Agricultural ( Editor-in-Chief ),2013 – - Journal on Frontiers in Soil Science , 2013- ; - Journal of Agricultural Science and Application,2013-; - As President of the European Society of Agricultural Engineers he established Agreements with national, regional and world-wide Organisations: -AESEE (Association of Agricultural Engineering in South-Eastern Europe),Rousse ,Bulgaria , October 2002 -CIHEAM (Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes) Valenzano, Italy, January,2003; -CIOSTA (Commission International pour l'Organisation Scientifique du Travail in Agriculture) ,Tourin, Italy, October 2002; -CIGR (International Commission of Agricultural Engineering) Rome, April,2003; -ESA (European Society of Agronomy) ,Taastrup, Denmark September 2003; -FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) Rome, Italy, April,2003; -ICID (International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage) ,Montreal, Canada, July 2002; -IUSS (International Union of Soil Sciences) Reading,UK,March,2004; -VDI-MEG (German Association of Agricultural Engineering), Leuven, Belgium ,September ,2004; -RURALIA (Italian Association for the Unitary - Restoring of Rural Heritage and Sites), Milan, Italy, September 2004. Listed in : -Who's Who in the World, 23rd ,24th and 25th Editions, Marquis ( USA ) Editor ; -Dictionary of International Biography ,33rd ,34th Editions ,International Bio- graphical Centre (UK) Editor; -Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century ,5th Edition, International Biographical Centre (UK ) Editor.

The scientific activity deals with the following fields of interest:. -water resources management; -irrigation and drainage technology; -classical and quantum water droplet trajectories in an irrigation spay; -performance assessment of sprinkler irrigation systems; -modelling of transport processes in porous media ; -modelling and fluid-dynamics of debris and hyper-concentrated flows; -flood control and mitigation measures; -desertification and environmental impact of climate change.

Gunnar Wingsle has completed his PhD at the age of 34 years from Department of Forest Genetics & Plant Physiology. He has published more than 60 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as a PI of the proteomic mass spectrometry facility at Chemical Biological Centre at Umeå University and SLU since 2000.

Genetics & Plant Physiology

Shinsuke Agehara is currently working as Assistant Professor in Plant Physiology at the University of Florida, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. He received the B.S. degree in International Agricultural Development at Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan in 2001, M.S. degree in Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University in 2004, and Ph.D. in Horticulture at Texas A&M University in 2014. His current research program focuses on understanding plant physiological and morphological adaptation mechanisms to environmental stresses, and developing integrated sustainable management strategies for vegetable and small fruit crops.

Agriculture science, Plant science, Plant phycology

Dr. Abbas Amini is an assistant professor at the Australian College of ACK and Western Sydney University, and the member of graduate supervisory board. After obtaining PhD, he conducted research with other Australian universities, as a postdoctoral research fellow at Monash and Deakin Universities, and as a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne. His fine outcomes have been presented in high impact factor journals, e.g., Nature publication group, and a recent published book in 2016. Abbas is the editor of ten reputed journals, and the committee member of 20 international conferences.

Bio-nanotech, Biomechanical Engineering

Bhattacharyya is engaged in studying the sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soybean. SDS is an emerging disease caused by the fungal pathogen, Fusarium virguliforme. The Bhattacharyya group has recently purified a phytotoxin produced by the pathogen. They have shown that expression of a synthetic single chain variable fragment anti-toxin antibody gene against the toxin resulted in enhanced foliar SDS resistance in transgenic soybean plants. Understanding the molecular basis of the soybean-P. sojae interaction is also a goal of the Bhattacharyya lab. The lab investigates two important aspects of this interaction: i) the recognition and ii) the signal transduction. These processes activate defense genes involved in the synthesis of anti-microbial defense compounds following infection. Bhattacharyya group is also involved in understanding the nonhost resistance mechanism of Arabidopsis against the soybean pathogen, P. sojae. They have been able to map and clone Pss1 and Pss30 that confer immunity of Arabidopsis to P. sojae. They have shown that Pss1 confers immunity not only against P. sojae, but also against the fungal pathogen F. virguliforme that causes SDS in soybean.

Agronomy Department Genetics and Genomics Plant Biology Center for Plant Responses to Environmental Stresses Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Microbiology

Prof. Dr. Said Elshahat Abdallah is working as Professor of Agricultural Process Engineering, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Egypt. He was born on January 6, 1972. He obtained his Ph. D. degree in Technical Sciences in November 2005 from the Faculty of Design, Don State Technical University, Russia. He prepared many scientific literatures such as Engineering of Food Factories and Dairy Plants, Engineering Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, introduction to agricultural process engineering, Instrumentation, Properties and Testing of Engineering Materials, Fitting of Curves and Differential Equations and Differentiation & Integration, etc… He published more than thirty research articles in international peerreviewed journals. He supervised, has done and examined about twenty M. Sc. and Ph. D. dissertations. He participated in several either local or international conferences on the topics of Agricultural Process Engineering. He contributed in the attendance of many meetings, workshops and training courses. He was awarded: Food Engineer of the Year Award – 2010; Excellence Award in International Scientific Publication – 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018; Arab Papers Published on Agriculture – 2012; Egypt 25 Foundation Award – 2012; Who's Who in the World – 2013, 2014 and 2015; 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century – 2013; Top 100 Engineers– 2013; International Biographical Center Man of The Year– 2013; Cambridge Certificate for Outstanding Engineering Achievement – 2013 and Cambridge Certificate for Outstanding EducationalAchievement – 2013. He served as: Editor-in-Chief; Associate Editor; Editorial Board Member; Food Expert; Reviewer, etc… in more than five hundred international peer-reviewed journals.

Agricultural Process Engineering; Postharvest Technology; Bioengineering; Food & Dairy Engineering; Agro-Industrial Waste Management; Process and Bioprocess Engineering; Thermal & Non-Thermal Process Engineering; Agricultural Production Engineering; Postharvest operations Engineering; Composting and Vermicomposting Process; Non-Conventional Forages Processing; Farm Wastes Bioconversion; By-Products Recycling Engineering.

He graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Biochemistry, School of Science in 1974. He joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan, in 1981 and worked in the research staff for 27 years. He took his doctor’s degree at The Tohoku University in 1989. He continued his research into rice quality and processing, and was promoted to the head of the quality laboratory in 1990. He managed food research as a director of Food Science and Utilization Division at the National Food Research Institute from 2005 until 2008. He retired from MAFF and moved to Niigata University in 2008. He now majors in cereal science and processing, specializing in, quality assay and processing of rice grains. He is currently doing research into rice processing, for example, bio-functional rice bread, rice noodles, and rice cake. He has published more than 260 papers on cereal science and utilization, and he got the prizes for outstanding papers on rice qualities, PCR technology of rice authentications, and the development of bio-functional rice bread, etc.

cereal science and processing, quality assay and processing of rice grains, bio-functional rice bread, rice noodles, and rice cake, PCR technology of rice authentications.

Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (born 7 August 1925) is an Indian geneticist and international administrator, renowned for his leading role in India's "Green Revolution," a program under which high-yield varieties of wheat and rice seedlings were planted in the fields of poor farmers. Swaminathan is known as "Indian Father of Green Revolution" for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India. He is the founder and chairman of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. His stated vision is to rid the world of hunger and poverty. Swaminathan is an advocate of moving India to sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity, which he calls an "evergreen revolution." From 1972 to 1979 he was director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. He was Principal Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture from 1979 to 1980. He served as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (1982–88) and became president of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1988. In 1999, Time magazine placed him in the 'Time 20' list of most influential Asian people of the 20th century.

Agriculture, Food, Food security, crop yield

He is awarded PhD in Field Crops from Çukurova University in the 2001. He holds a Master Degree (MSc) in Field Crops from Çukurova University in the 1995 followed by a Bachelor’s Degree (BSc) in Field Crops from Çukurova University in the 1992. He has extended his valuable service as an Associate Professor in Cukurova University for 3 years and has been a recipient of many award and grants. Currently, he is working as a Professor for Cukurova University. His international experience includes various programs, contributions and participation in different countries for diverse fields of study. His research interests as a Professor reflect in his wide range of publications in various national and international journals. He is the Editorial Board Member of many journals and serves as a member of various associations, apart from being an author for many books.

Field Crop, Plant Science, Agriculture

Dr. Narendra Kumar Gontia, born on July 24, 1961 did B.Tech. (Agril.Engg.) in 1983. He did his M.Tech. (SWCE) and Ph.D. Agril. Engg. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1991 and 2006 respectively. He is bestowed with prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Out-standing Post-Graduate Agricultural Research 2007 by ICAR, New Delhi for his Ph. D. contribution in Soil and Water Conservation Engg. Presently working as Principal and Dean, Agril Engg. and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh. He has 33 years of experience in field and academics in Agril. Engg. He has served in faculty of College of Agril Engg. and Technology, Junagadh since 30 years and hold various positions viz. Professor and Head, Dept. of SWE and Research Engineer, AICRP on Groundwater Utilization. He is the recipient of S.J. Hiran Memorial award Year 2001-02 and Distinguished Services Certificate award 1998-99 from ISAE, New Delhi for his contribution in Agricultural Engineering profession. He has good number of publications in national and international journals. He has supervised One Ph. D. and Eleven PG (M.Tech.) Theses in SWE and Seventeen UG projects. He is member of Academic Council, Research council, Extension Education council and Library council of JAU, Junagadh. He is Life Member of Nine professional societies.

Agriculture Science, Horticulture Science

Dr. Shane C. Burgess first in his family to complete college, he graduated with distinction as a veterinarian in 1989 from Massey University, New Zealand. He has worked in and managed veterinary clinical practices in Australia and the UK, including horses, farm animals, pets, wild and zoo animals, and emergency medicine and surgery. He did a radiology residency at Murdoch University in Perth in Western Australia, where he concurrently co-founded Perth’s first emergency veterinary clinic. He has managed aquaculture facilities in Scotland. Between 1995 and 1998, while working full time outside of the academy, he did his Ph.D. in virology, immunology and cancer biology (Bristol University Medical School, UK). Dr. Burgess worked in the UK World Reference Laboratory for Exotic Diseases during the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease crisis, where he led the diagnosis reporting office. He was awarded a Director’s Award for Service. In 2002, Dr. Burgess joined Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine as an assistant professor. He was recruited from Mississippi State as a professor, associate dean of the college and director of the Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology to lead the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in July 2011. Dr. Burgess is currently Vice President for Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Interim Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, and Director, Arizona Experiment Station at the University of Arizona. The college has a total budget of more than $120M with over 3,400 students and more than 1,800 employees. Dr. Burgess has been a Board Member of the Mississippi Biotechnology Association, served as a Mississippi Universities’ Industrial Outreach Committee member, and was President of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, 2009-2010. He has served USDA NRSP8: National Animal Genome Research Program as a Bioinformatics Committee Member, was one of the two US (and the non-federal) Inaugural Co-chairs for the Working Group on Animal Biotechnology within the US-EC Task Force on Biotechnology, a National Executive Committee member for the Food Systems Leadership Institute, a University and Industry Consortium (UIC) Executive Committee Member and was on the UIC Project Steering Team for its assessment project to define graduate numbers/quality/skills supply vs. demand in agricultural and biotech industries (a collaboration with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities). He currently serves on the Agri-Business and Water Council of Arizona Executive Committee, the Board of Directors for Arizona Farm Bureau, the Governor’s Agricultural Best Management Practices Committee for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the BIO5 Institute Deans’ Advisory Board, Tech Launch Arizona’s Internal Advisory Board, Arizona STEM Diploma Project Advisory committee, Flinn Foundation’s Arizona Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee, the Arizona National Livestock Show Board of Directors, and Reid Park Zoological Society Board of Directors. Dr. Burgess also serves on a number of university-level planning and strategy committees.

veterinary science, cancer, virology, proteomics, immunology and bioinformatics research

He graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Biochemistry, School of Science in 1974. He joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan, in 1981 and worked in the research staff for 27 years. He took his doctor’s degree at The Tohoku University in 1989. He continued his research into rice quality and processing, and was promoted to the head of the quality laboratory in 1990. He managed food research as a director of Food Science and Utilization Division at the National Food Research Institute from 2005 until 2008. He retired from MAFF and moved to Niigata University in 2008. He now majors in cereal science and processing, specializing in, quality assay and processing of rice grains. He is currently doing research into rice processing, for example, bio-functional rice bread, rice noodles, and rice cake. He has published more than 260 papers on cereal science and utilization, and he got the prizes for outstanding papers on rice qualities, PCR technology of rice authentications, and the development of bio-functional rice bread, etc.

Cereal science and processing, quality assay and processing of rice grains, bio-functional rice bread, rice noodles, and rice cake, PCR technology of rice authentications.

Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (born 7 August 1925) is an Indian geneticist and international administrator, renowned for his leading role in India's "Green Revolution," a program under which high-yield varieties of wheat and rice seedlings were planted in the fields of poor farmers. Swaminathan is known as "Indian Father of Green Revolution" for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India. He is the founder and chairman of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. His stated vision is to rid the world of hunger and poverty. Swaminathan is an advocate of moving India to sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity, which he calls an "evergreen revolution." From 1972 to 1979 he was director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. He was Principal Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture from 1979 to 1980. He served as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (1982–88) and became president of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1988. In 1999, Time magazine placed him in the 'Time 20' list of most influential Asian people of the 20th century.

Agriculture, Food, Food Security, Crop Yield.

He received Ph.D. from Mississippi State University, Mississippi, U.S.A, in Agronomy –from Plant and Soil Department. And Master degree in Environmental Science from College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, U.A.E. Since December 25, 2005, he is working as an Associate Professor of Agro-ecosystem and Environmental Plant Physiology with the Department of Aridland Agriculture, College of Food and Agriculture at the United Arab Emirates University. his research interests include the Water Conservation Strategies in the Aridland with special emphasis on Nano-Sand Technology of Water Conservation in irrigated agriculture, Global Change Biology and Food Security. He is still a member of American Society of Agronomy, U.S.A Since 2002. His contributions to the research and service include serving as a member of Scientific Research and Graduate Council in United Arab Emirates University from September 2006 to September 2017. He was a consultant to Emirates Foundation as Environment Manager in Environmental Program. He served as a Member of the Scientific Group for International Datepalm Conference in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

Agro-ecosystem,Environmental Plant Physiology

Dr. N.V.Naidu born in 1957 in a hamlet of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh was Graduated from S.V. Agricultural College, Tirupati, A.P and obtained B.Sc (Ag) degree in 1979 and Master & Doctoral degree majoring in Genetics & Plant Breeding in 1981 & 1990 respectively from College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, APAU (Presently renamed as Acharya N.G Ranga Agricultural University). He joined in service in the A.P Agricultural University in 1983 as Research Assistant and worked in various cadres viz Assistant Research Officer in Pulses & Groundnut, Breeder in Sugarcane, Principal Scientist (Sugarcane), Associate Director of Research, Associate Dean, Director (Seeds), Professor & University Head, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding and Director of Extension at various research Institutions & Colleges of ANGRAU. He has developed 23 improved varieties in Groundnut, Pulses, Sugarcane besides implementable technologies and recommended for commercial application. He was actively involved in the transfer of technologies to the benefit of farming community. He has published more than 100 research papers in national & international journals; number of popular articles & presented research papers in various Seminars, Symposia, Workshops and Conferences. His research contributions were recognised by the competent authorities and presented awards/prizes/appreciations by the university, Government of Andhra Pradesh and NGOs. Some of them include Best Research Worker by ANGRAU, Best Sugarcane Scientist by Sugarcane Growers Association, M/S KCP Sugar & Indcor, Ugadi Puraskharam by Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rythu Nestham by NGO, Gold and Silver medals for best research papers by SISSTA & STAI and Best team work award for Quality Seed Production by AICRP on NSP (Crops). He is a family member of IMRF and is participating in the conferences organized by IMRF since 2014. Presently working as Director of Research is guiding & coordinating research and development activities in ANGRAU.

Agriculture Science, Horticulture Science, Agricultural Biotechnology

Dr. Salah Abdel-Rahman is a Professor of molecular genetics at Department of Nucleic Acid Research Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications Alexandria, Egypt. PhD in 2003, Department of Molecular Animal Breeding, Institute of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. Dr. Salah has an expertise in Mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting production traits on different chromosomes in farm animals using microsatellite markers. Improvement of quantitative production traits (meat, milk, fertility, wool…etc) in farm animals using marker-assisted selection (MAS). Detection of adulteration and identification of meat and milk plus genetically modified organisms (GMOs) using molecular genetics techniques. DNA fingerprinting and national animals and plants genetic sources preservation.

Molecular genetics techniques, DNA fingerprinting

Dr Abbas Amini is an assistant professor at the Australian College of ACK and Western Sydney University, and the member of graduate supervisory board. After obtaining PhD, he conducted research with other Australian universities, as a postdoctoral research fellow at Monash and Deakin Universities, and as a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne. His fine outcomes have been presented in high impact factor journals, e.g., Nature publication group, and a recent published book in 2016. Abbas is the editor of ten reputed journals, and the committee member of 20 international conferences.

Bio-nanotech

Professor V. P. Singh is a Distinguished Professor and the inaugural holder of the Caroline and William N. Lehrer Distinguished Chair in Water Engineering in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering as well as the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A & M University. He received his B.S., M.S., Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees in engineering. He is a registered professional engineer, a registered professional hydrologist, and an Honorary diplomate in water resources engineering, American Academy of Water Resources Engineers.

Agriculture, Hydrologic Impacts of Climate Change

João R. Mesquita (D.V.M., M.Sc.; Ph.D.) is a Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu where he teaches topics within Infectious Diseases for more than 10 years. On the past decade he has focused on Virology, where he has published 44 papers in Scopus indexed Journals. He has won several scientific prizes from different societies and conferences, where he has presented numerous oral and poster presentations. His research interests are focused on animal and human virology, mainly on zoonotic viruses, with special interest on surveillance tools and epidemiology.

The focus of my research is the epidemiology of emerging viruses aiming to understand disease emergence, prevention, control, and elimination, while integrating the concept of One Health. Many emerging viral diseases are linked to increasing contact between humans and animals, and the intensification and incorporation of food production, which often lead to cross-species episodes resulting in facilitated pathogenicity and notable increase in incidence. Most emergent viruses can be categorized as zoonotic with the clear advantage of possibly having several natural reservoirs for the disease, warranting viral epidemiology studies in multi-species. As such I have been performing both molecular and serological surveillance studies mainly dedicated on enteric viruses such as norovirus and hepatitis E virus in a wide array of domestic and wild animals, as well as in humans.

He is awarded PhD in Field Crops from Çukurova University in the 2001. He holds a Master Degree (MSc) in Field Crops from Çukurova University in the 1995 followed by a Bachelor’s Degree (BSc) in Field Crops from Çukurova University in the 1992. He has extended his valuable service as an Associate Professor in Cukurova University for 3 years and has been a recipient of many award and grants. Currently, he is working as a Professor for Cukurova University. His international experience includes various programs, contributions and participation in different countries for diverse fields of study. His research interests as a Professor reflect in his wide range of publications in various national and international journals. He is the Editorial Board Member of many journals and serves as a member of various associations, apart from being an author for many books.

Field Crop, Plant Science, Agriculture

Dr. Shane C. Burgess first in his family to complete college, he graduated with distinction as a veterinarian in 1989 from Massey University, New Zealand. He has worked in and managed veterinary clinical practices in Australia and the UK, including horses, farm animals, pets, wild and zoo animals, and emergency medicine and surgery. He did a radiology residency at Murdoch University in Perth in Western Australia, where he concurrently co-founded Perth’s first emergency veterinary clinic. He has managed aquaculture facilities in Scotland. Between 1995 and 1998, while working full time outside of the academy, he did his Ph.D. in virology, immunology and cancer biology (Bristol University Medical School, UK). Dr. Burgess worked in the UK World Reference Laboratory for Exotic Diseases during the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease crisis, where he led the diagnosis reporting office. He was awarded a Director’s Award for Service. In 2002, Dr. Burgess joined Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine as an assistant professor. He was recruited from Mississippi State as a professor, associate dean of the college and director of the Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology to lead the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in July 2011. Dr. Burgess is currently Vice President for Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Interim Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, and Director, Arizona Experiment Station at the University of Arizona. The college has a total budget of more than $120M with over 3,400 students and more than 1,800 employees. Dr. Burgess has been a Board Member of the Mississippi Biotechnology Association, served as a Mississippi Universities’ Industrial Outreach Committee member, and was President of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, 2009-2010. He has served USDA NRSP8: National Animal Genome Research Program as a Bioinformatics Committee Member, was one of the two US (and the non-federal) Inaugural Co-chairs for the Working Group on Animal Biotechnology within the US-EC Task Force on Biotechnology, a National Executive Committee member for the Food Systems Leadership Institute, a University and Industry Consortium (UIC) Executive Committee Member and was on the UIC Project Steering Team for its assessment project to define graduate numbers/quality/skills supply vs. demand in agricultural and biotech industries (a collaboration with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities). He currently serves on the Agri-Business and Water Council of Arizona Executive Committee, the Board of Directors for Arizona Farm Bureau, the Governor’s Agricultural Best Management Practices Committee for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the BIO5 Institute Deans’ Advisory Board, Tech Launch Arizona’s Internal Advisory Board, Arizona STEM Diploma Project Advisory committee, Flinn Foundation’s Arizona Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee, the Arizona National Livestock Show Board of Directors, and Reid Park Zoological Society Board of Directors. Dr. Burgess also serves on a number of university-level planning and strategy committees.

veterinary science, cancer, virology, proteomics, immunology and bioinformatics research

Mike Wilkinson is Professor of Upland Agriecosystems at the Pwllpeiran Uplands Research Centre of IBERS, Aberystwyth University. His research spans the interface between agriculture and the natural environment, with contributions in crop genetics and improvement, conservation of crop relatives, applied epigenetics, and environmental risk assessment of Genetically Modified Crops. His research profile includes over 100 refereed publications across >50 journals. He has an H-factor of 42, an i10-index of 86 (Google Scholar) and total citations of almost 8,000. He re-joined Aberystwyth February 2016 after a four year spell in the University of Adelaide where he held the the prestigious Mortlock chair in Plant Epigenetics, was Head of the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Director of the Plant Accelerator and Director of the Waite Research Institute. Prior to this, we worked for eleven years in the University of Reading (UK), five years at the (now) James Hutton Institute (UK) and Leicester University (UK).

Agroecosystem, Agriculture Science, Agriculture Engineering and Agriculture Biotechnology

Lack of clean water to meet society’s needs is recognized as one of the major challenges of modern times by the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Chaubey’s research is focused on improving water quality and watershed management by integrating field data collection and mathematical modeling, and developing simulation models and tools that will guide policy decision makers, watershed managers, conservation specialists and farmers. Dr. Chaubey is unique in his integration of simulation modeling and innovative field research to improve our understanding of various rainfall-runoff and pollutant transport processes at field, stream reach and watershed scales. Dr. Chaubey is leading efforts nationally and internationally in quantifying how land use changes due to recent demand for biofuel production, agricultural intensification, and urbanization will impact water availability, water quality, and ecosystem services. His research improves watershed management decisions so that resource allocations and resulting water quality improvements can be optimized. Dr. Chaubey has published more than 400 research articles, including 105 peer reviewed journal articles and more than 180 technical papers in various conferences, and has given 50 invited presentations at various regional, national, and international conferences. He has won numerous honors and awards including New Holland Young Researcher Award, ADS/Hancor Soil and Water Conservation Award, Purdue Agricultural Research Award, Purdue University Faculty Scholar, Seed for Success Award, and Outstanding Research Award.

Ecohydrology, Source Pollution Engineering, Future of Water Resources, Design in Biological Engineering, Natural Resources Engineering, Nonpoint Source Pollution Engineering, Modeling and Simulation, NPS Pollution Control and Modeling,

Balabanov Viktor, Doctor of technical sciences, professor, Dean of the faculty "Processes and machinery in agribusiness" Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A Timiryazev (RSAU – MAA named after K.A. Timiryazev), Head of Sub Committee (SC 8) "Radio navigation and control system in agriculture" of the Technical Committee for Standardization (TC 363) "Radio navigation" Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart). Author of over 300 scientific and educational works, including 25 monographs, scientific journals and popular science books, 25 descriptions of inventions. and 11 on scientific research reports. Accredited experts of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Innovation Center "Skolkovo".

Agriculture Science, Agribusiness, Agriculture Biotechnology, Agriculture Engineering

Dr Abbas Amini is an assistant professor at the Australian College of ACK and Western Sydney University, and the member of graduate supervisory board. After obtaining PhD, he conducted research with other Australian universities, as a postdoctoral research fellow at Monash and Deakin Universities, and as a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne. His fine outcomes have been presented in high impact factor journals, e.g., Nature publication group, and a recent published book in 2016. Abbas is the editor of ten reputed journals, and the committee member of 20 international conferences.

Bionanotech

Shinsuke Agehara is currently working as Assistant Professor in Plant Physiology at the University of Florida, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. He received the B.S. degree in International Agricultural Development at Tokyo University of Agriculture in Japan in 2001, M.S. degree in Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University in 2004, and Ph.D. in Horticulture at Texas A&M University in 2014. His current research program focuses on understanding plant physiological and morphological adaptation mechanisms to environmental stresses, and developing integrated sustainable management strategies for vegetable and small fruit crops.

Agriculture science, Plant science, Plant phycology

He graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Biochemistry, School of Science in 1974. He joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan, in 1981 and worked in the research staff for 27 years. He took his doctor’s degree at The Tohoku University in 1989. He continued his research into rice quality and processing, and was promoted to the head of the quality laboratory in 1990. He managed food research as a director of Food Science and Utilization Division at the National Food Research Institute from 2005 until 2008. He retired from MAFF and moved to Niigata University in 2008. He now majors in cereal science and processing, specializing in, quality assay and processing of rice grains. He is currently doing research into rice processing, for example, bio-functional rice bread, rice noodles, and rice cake. He has published more than 260 papers on cereal science and utilization, and he got the prizes for outstanding papers on rice qualities, PCR technology of rice authentications, and the development of bio-functional rice bread, etc.

Cereal science and processing, quality assay and processing of rice grains, bio-functional rice bread, rice noodles, and rice cake, PCR technology of rice authentications.

Dr. Siphiwe Felix M. Mkhize was employed by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) , as the Head of Provincial and State Owned Entities Performance Monitoring . Previously h e was posted abroad as M inister Counselor (Agriculture), at the Embassy of South Africa in the United States of America. He represent ed the South African Agricultural interest in the Americas with accreditation to South African Missions in Canada, Cuba and Mexic o from September 2001 to July 2010 . Pr ior Dr. Mkhize is an experienced agricultural and development practitioner who has both South African and international experience. He has worked on all levels of agriculture (policy, planning , monitoring and impleme ntation). He has represented South African agricultural sector on various for ums abroad and locally. Dr. Mkhize has training in various fields of agriculture (agronomy and soils) , sustainable development and international diplomacy . He holds a Diploma i n Irrigation Sciences from Mediterranean Agronomic Institute (MAI), in Bari , Italy, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Agronomy (Agriculture) from Iowa State University , USA, a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Soil Chemistry and Fertility from Universit y of Reading, in England, second Masters ( MPhil ) degree in Philosophy (Applied Ethics) in Environment from the University of Stellenbosch and a PhD in sustainable ecological management from the University of Pretoria , where he wr o t e his dissertation under Prof AS van Jaarsveld the current Vice Chancellor of University of KwaZulu Natal. He is registered as a Professional Natural Scientist ( Pr Nat Sc) with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions a nd al s o with the American Registry of Cer tified Professionals in Crops and Soils (ARCPCS) as a Professional Agronomist (CPAg). He is a member of the South African Soil Science Society and the American Society of Agronomy. He has written a number of papers in the field of agriculture, developmen t, ethics and agricultural biotechnology, and he is the author of two book s titled: Towards Hope and Challenge Agricultural Biotechnology and the Catholic Social Teachings: A Catholic Ethic for Agriculture, Environment, Faith and Food (2004 ) and .. . AND THE EYES OF ALL LOOKED AT HIM Understanding the Mystery of the Ministry of Permanent Diaconate (2014).

Agriculture Science, Plant science,Fisheries and Forestry

Dr. Narendra Kumar Gontia, born on July 24, 1961 did B.Tech. (Agril.Engg.) in 1983. He did his M.Tech. (SWCE) and Ph.D. Agril. Engg. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1991 and 2006 respectively. He is bestowed with prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Out-standing Post-Graduate Agricultural Research 2007 by ICAR, New Delhi for his Ph. D. contribution in Soil and Water Conservation Engg. Presently working as Principal and Dean, Agril Engg. and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh. He has 33 years of experience in field and academics in Agril. Engg. He has served in faculty of College of Agril Engg. and Technology, Junagadh since 30 years and hold various positions viz. Professor and Head, Dept. of SWE and Research Engineer, AICRP on Groundwater Utilization. He is the recipient of S.J. Hiran Memorial award Year 2001-02 and Distinguished Services Certificate award 1998-99 from ISAE, New Delhi for his contribution in Agricultural Engineering profession. He has good number of publications in national and international journals. He has supervised One Ph. D. and Eleven PG (M.Tech.) Theses in SWE and Seventeen UG projects. He is member of Academic Council, Research council, Extension Education council and Library council of JAU, Junagadh. He is Life Member of Nine professional societies.

Agriculture Science, Horticulture Science

Dr. Mohd Rasdi Zaini currently working at Universiti Teknologi MARA (Melaka) (UiTM) as a senior lecturer (Associate Professor), Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology. His area of specialization is Agriculture Entomology focusing on Population Ecology of Agriculture Insect-Pest, Biodiversity of Insect and Multitrophic System especially sucking pest on vegetables such as whiteflies, aphids, and thrips. Additionally, he is also doing research on major pests in oil palm plantation particularly rhinoceros beetle and bagworms. Currently, he is focused on the trophic dynamics in an agro-ecology of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) plants planted under the rain shelter. The effects of nutrients applications on the crop and early infestations by potentially serious pests; whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) and aphids (Myzus persicae Sulzer) on several arthropod species (mainly pests) whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), aphids (Myzus persicae S.), thrips (Thrips sp.), red spider mites (Tetranychus sp.) and predatory mite (Phytoseiulus sp.) infesting the plant were also tested and investigated. He has also published more than 30 publications such as journals, books, proceeding and etc. Various experience in administration works and hold several positions in UiTM, Ex-Deputy Dean (Student Affairs) 2014-2016 in the Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology, UiTM Melaka Jasin Campus and currently being one of the Panel of Academic Advisory Board (PAAB) and Fellow of International Institute of Plantation Management (FiiPM). He was appointed as Academic Advisor of College FELCRA Bhd since 2016 until present. I was also appointed as Guest lecturer for MAP (Malaysia Association Productivity) and International Institute Plantation Management to deliver subject of Crop Protection; Pest and Disease since 2006 until present.

Agriculture Science, Plant Science, Crop protection, Agriculture Entomology, Plantation Management

Dr. N.V.Naidu born in 1957 in a hamlet of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh was Graduated from S.V. Agricultural College, Tirupati, A.P and obtained B.Sc (Ag) degree in 1979 and Master & Doctoral degree majoring in Genetics & Plant Breeding in 1981 & 1990 respectively from College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, APAU (Presently renamed as Acharya N.G Ranga Agricultural University). He joined in service in the A.P Agricultural University in 1983 as Research Assistant and worked in various cadres viz Assistant Research Officer in Pulses & Groundnut, Breeder in Sugarcane, Principal Scientist (Sugarcane), Associate Director of Research, Associate Dean, Director (Seeds), Professor & University Head, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding and Director of Extension at various research Institutions & Colleges of ANGRAU. He has developed 23 improved varieties in Groundnut, Pulses, Sugarcane besides implementable technologies and recommended for commercial application. He was actively involved in the transfer of technologies to the benefit of farming community. He has published more than 100 research papers in national & international journals; number of popular articles & presented research papers in various Seminars, Symposia, Workshops and Conferences. His research contributions were recognised by the competent authorities and presented awards/prizes/appreciations by the university, Government of Andhra Pradesh and NGOs. Some of them include Best Research Worker by ANGRAU, Best Sugarcane Scientist by Sugarcane Growers Association, M/S KCP Sugar & Indcor, Ugadi Puraskharam by Government of Andhra Pradesh, Rythu Nestham by NGO, Gold and Silver medals for best research papers by SISSTA & STAI and Best team work award for Quality Seed Production by AICRP on NSP (Crops). He is a family member of IMRF and is participating in the conferences organised by IMRF since 2014. Presently working as Director of Research is guiding & coordinating research and development activities in ANGRAU.

Agriculture Science, Horticulture Science, Agricultural Biotechnology

Dr Harvinder Singh Dhaliwal, born on May 1, 1962 at village Mandhali (Mansa) was appointed as Dean, College of Agriculture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana on March 1, 2013 and prior to this he had served as Additional Director of Research (Horticulture) from March 6, 2012 to February 28, 2013. He has acted as Director of Extension Education, PAU from February 1, 2014 to October 27, 2014. He is the recipient of Punjab Sarkar Parman Patar for the year 2013 and has been conferred with Smt. Harpal Kaur Memorial Award for the year 2011 in recognition of his outstanding research, teaching and extension work in the field of Horticulture. He did B.Sc. Agriculture (Hons.) in 1984; M.Sc. (Pomology) in 1986 and Ph.D. (Pomology) in 1991from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He has been awarded Sardar Bahadur Lal Singh Gold Medal for securing first position in M.Sc. (Pomology).

Agriculture Science, Plant Science, Horticulture Science

Prof Fhatuwani Nixwell Mudau completed a B.Sc Agric (Crop Science) at the University of Venda in 1996. He then registered M.Sc. in Horticulture at the University of Stellenbosch where he conducted research on citrus nutrition. He completed a PhD (Horticultural Sciences) at the University of Pretoria and he has done extensive research in herbal medicine. He has completed Masters in Business Leadership (MBL) at UNISA Graduate School of Business Leadership. His previous working experience includes Vista University VUDEC, Campus (Now Incorporated to University of South Africa), University of Venda and University of Limpopo as a Lecturer. In 2006, he was seconded to establish a fully funded Research Centre as an Associate Professor and Centre Manager known as Limpopo Agro Food Technology Station (LATS) by Tshumisano Trust (Now Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). He then joined the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) under Food and Beverages (Now Agro-Industries) Strategic Business Unit (SBU); HealthCare and Education (SBU) as a Specialist

Prof Fhatuwani Nixwell Mudau interests inclide project development and implementation in Agro Industries, Education and Healthcare sectors

R. R. Sharma after post-graduation from IARI, New Delhi, joined as Scientist there in 1997. He is Senior Scientist and associated with release of mango hybrids like Pusa Arunima, Pusa Surya, Pusa Lalima, Pusa Shresth, Pusa Pitamber etc. He has published 40 research articles in International journals, 60 in National journals, and authored 8 books. He is recipient of Dr. R.N. Singh award (twice), Dr Rajinder Prasad award (twice), and Himachal Shri Award. He has also served as International Mango Registrar for about 5 years (1999-2004). He is member, editorial board of Scientia Horticulturae, International Journal of Fruit Science (U.K.), American Journal of Plant Sciences (US), Journal of Food Processing and Technology (US), and Stewart Postharvest Reviews (UK), and Chief Editor of International Journal of Processing and Postharvest Technology, India.

Pre and Post harvest handling of temperate fruits, Food Science

Born in Haifa in 1939, Prof. Ilan Chet completed his doctoral work in microbiology at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was Dean and Vice President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prof. Chet received the Max-Planck Award (1994), the Israel Prize (1996), the Wolf Prize (1998), the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Germany (2001) and the French “Chevalier” Legion of Honor award (2014). From 2001 to 2006, Prof. Chet was nominated President of the Weizmann Institute of Science. He has been a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities since 1998 and of the European Academy of Sciences since 2004. In 2014, he was elected a member of the Academia Europea. Prof. Chet is the Deputy Secretary General for Higher Education and Research in the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean since 2010.

Biological control of plant diseases, Induced resistance, Molecular biology of fungi, Sustainable agriculture, Food security

Upendra M Sainju is currently working on the effects of tillage, crop rotation, crop diversity, cropping intensity, and cultural practices on soil aggregation, organic matter concentration, microbial activities, nitrogen mineralization, and carbon and nitrogen sequestration in dryland areas. He is also engaged in studying the effects of irrigation management, nitrogen fertilization rates, and cultural practices in nitrate-nitrogen movement in soil that affects water quality, soil organic matter level, and nitrogen mineralization in irrigated land. He is also involved in the development of methodology for determination of soil aggregation for dryland and irrigated areas and extraction method for determining ammonium and nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in the soils of various textures amended with or without plant residue.

Upendra M Sainju eight years working on the long-term effects of tillage, cover crops, and nitrogen fertilization on crop production, carbon sequestration in plant and soil, soil nitrogen fertility, microbial activities, and nitrogen leaching at Fort Valley State University, he developed a management practice consisting of conservation tillage, cover cropping, and nitrogen rate that sustains crop production, improves soil and water qualities, and reduces the rate of nitrogen fertilization as compared with the conventional practice.

Dr Johan van Rooyen is currently the director of “The Standard Bank Centre for Agri-leadership & Mentorship Development” and professor in Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University. He teaches Agri-business strategy, Agricultural and rural development and Business cases at the University of Stellenbosch and also lectures at the Universities of Free State, Pretoria, Antwerpen and the University of Ghent, Belgium. To-date he published more than 100 peer group refereed scientific papers, five academic books on Agri-business & Agri- development and presented over 100 papers at local and international events. He is a NRF rated scientist. Prof van Rooyen serves on a number of boards of agri-business companies and agencies, is currently a board member of IAMA (the International Agri-business and Food Industry Management Association) and serves on an expert panel of the “World Competitive Report”, University of Laussanne, Switzerland. He served on a number of committees, including the ‘Agricultural Sector Plan’ task team (2000-2001); served as ministerial appointment on the ‘Agri-BEE steering committee (2005-2008); managed the drafting of the ‘S.A. Wine Industry Transformation Charter and BEE Score Card’ (2003-2007); and served full terms on the boards of the S.A. Land and Agricultural Development Bank (2000-2004) and on the S.A. Agricultural Research Council (1996-2000). Previous employment includes: The Development Bank of Southern Africa (1984-1993) - Executive Group Manager, Agriculture and Rural Development; and Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis; Director of the Postgraduate School for Agricultural and Rural Development & Professor in the ABSA Chair of Agribusiness Management, University of Pretoria (1993-2002); CEO, Agri-business Chamber of S.A (1998-2002); CEO of the S.A. Wine Industry Council (2003-2008). His achievements include: Served On A Number Of Boards Of Agri-Business Companies And Agencies ( New Farmers Development Co, Aquaharvest, Sa Brandy Foundation, Winetech, Sawis, Wosa), President Of The Agricultural Economics Association Of South Africa, Chair Of The Agricultural Outlook Conference(Lanvokon) and Elected An Ifama Fellow In 2014, Co-Chair Ifama 2014 World Conference In Cape Town and Operate As Specialist Consultant In Agribusiness – Strategic Planning And Policy Development.

Agri-business, Agricultural and rural development, Agricultural Extension, Agricultural Economy

Professor Byoung Ryong Jeong has completed his PhD at the age of 31 years from Colorado State University, USA, and postdoctoral studies from University of Missouri-Columbia, USA, and Chiba University, Japan. He is a professor in Department of Horticulture and the Dean of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Republic of Korea. He has published more than 250 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editor-in-chief of Horticulture, Environment and Biotechnology, and president of the Korean Society for Floricultural Science. (Up to 100 words)

Climate Change, Conservation Biology, Genetics, Climatology, Ornamental Horticulture, Plant Tissue culture and micropropagation

Dr. Ashok K Patra, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India. He did his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He was a Post Doctoral Researchers at ICRISAT, India; IGER, UK; INRA, France; and University of Notre Dame, USA. He was a Principal Soil Scientist (2006 to 2014) at IARI, New Delhi. He is a recipient of British Council TCT Award; Royal Society Award; DBT Overseas Associateship Award; Hooker Award of IARI; and he is a Fellow of the Indian Society of Soil Science and National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India. His research area includes nitrogen cycling, soil biodiversity, carbon sequestration and nanoparticles. With more than 200 publications in his credit he is serving as a member of editorial board of reputed journals.

Nitrogen cycling, soil biodiversity, carbon sequestration and nanoparticle

Francis Lewu obtained BSc Agriculture in Plant Breeding and Seed Technology and MSc Agronomy in Nigeria. He started his career as a Genebank Research Assistant in International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Nigeria and later proceeded to study PhD Botany with specialization in plant genetic conservation and propagation. After his postdoctoral study, he joined the Department of Agriculture, University of Zululand, South Africa as a Lecturer in 2008 and was appointed HOD, of the department in January 2009; a position he held till end of May 2011. Francis Lewu joined the Cape Peninsula University of Technology as HOD of Agriculture Department in the Faculty of Applied Sciences. He was appointed Associate Professor in 2014 and became a C Rated National Research Foundation Scholar of South Africa during the same year. He is a qualified Professional Natural Scientist and has supervised and mentored master and doctoral students to completion. Prof Lewu currently concentrates his research effort on the autecology and propagation of screened medicinals and alternative cultivation protocols for field crops and horticultural species. He is editorial member of many journals and serves as reviewer to the NRF, several local and international journals and reviews many masters and doctoral thesis for several universities.

Autecology, Propagation of screened medicinals, Crop Science, Horticulture

Halos-Kim, is a Registered Professional Agricultural Engineer in the Philippines and has over 30 years’ experience working on crop processing, postharvest and food engineering research, development, and most recent, on Extension, in Asia and Africa. She was the Former Head of the Postharvest Engineering Unit, IITA in Nigeria & a Researcher with the Agricultural Engineering Department of IRRI in Philippines. From 2009, Engr. Leony is the Thematic Director of the Postharvest and Agro processing (PHAP) Extension of the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Halos-Kim leads a team of specialists (agricultural engineers, food technologist, rural development experts and economists) in Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda to promote the use of appropriate technologies to reduce losses, improve quality and food safety, and enhance food security and income of smallholder farmers in SAA focus countries, and in Africa in general.

Agricultural Engineering, Agro-processing, Crop Processing, Farm Power and Machinery, Postharvest Technology, Food Process Engineering, Agricultural Extension, Rural Development Works

Shashi Sharma is Professor and Chair in Biosecurity and Food Security, and Centre Director of Australia-China Centre for Abiotic and Biotic Stress Management in Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry at Murdoch University in Western Australia. Until his appointment at Murdoch University, Professor Sharma was Director of Plant Biosecurity at the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia from where he is on secondment. He has had a long career in food and agriculture spanning over 35 years and it includes working in several countries in different spheres of agriculture -- on-farm, post-harvest, trade, quarantine and biosecurity policy and planning, regulation, legislation and science. He studied for his MSc and PhD degrees at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) New Delhi and later returned to IARI as Professor and Head of the Division of Nematology. He worked well over a decade as a Scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), spent his sabbatical at the Delta Centre of the University of Missouri, USA and International Fellowship at the Rothamsted International, UK. He is recipient of several awards in recognition of his contributions to agriculture including Excellence in Science Award of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research. Professor Sharma is a strong advocate of biosecurity as an integral component of global food security strategy and has been internationally speaking on biosecurity and food security issues for a number of years.

Food sustainably, Bio-security and policy, Food safety and Food security, Post-harvest food loss and food waste management, Managing chemical contaminants, and Innovative technologies for improved market access and trade.

A. Gattinger is agronomist and soil ecologist and coordinates climate-related research at FiBL Switzerland and Germany (www.fibl.org). He studied agriculture at the universities in Kassel/ Germany and Aberdeen/UK and got his PhD at TU München/Germany. He has international scientific expertise in the field of soil ecology and climate impact of farming systems. A. Gattinger is author/co-author of currently 47 peer-reviewed papers and teaches soil ecology at the universities Basel/CH and Giessen/Germany. He chairs the International Round Table of Organic Agriculture and Climate Change, an international, multi-stakeholder association. Furthermore, he is a member in the German organic grower association Naturland and runs an organic farm in Selters, Germany.

Climate impact of farming systems, Greenhouse gas fluxes in soil-plant systems, Structure and function of soil microbial communities as influenced by agricultural management, Adaptive capacity of soils and farming systems to climate change, Soil and water conservation including water and nutrient use efficiency.

Dr. Raveendra H Patil completed his PhD from Copenhagen University, Denmark and has worked as Post-Doctoral Researcher at Yangzhou University, China, University of Nottingham, UK, Aarhus University, Denmark, and University of Florida, USA. Now Dr. Patil is based in India at UAS, Dharwad involved in teaching and supervision of Graduate students, undertaking research on climate change impact and adaptation studies in agriculture, precision agriculture, and sustainable production systems, among others. He is a recipient of Young Scientist award from the Indian Government (ICAR, New Delhi) and ISCA, Kolkata, India for his work on agro-forestry, and over the years he has received number of national and international fellowships. For instance, ICAR Junior & Senior Fellowship, Chinese Govt. Fellowship, The Royal Society, London, UK Fellowship, The Danish Government Post-Doc Fellowship and NSF, USA Post-Doc Research Associate Fellowship. He has published more than 50 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member and reviewer to number of reputed journals.

Agro-forestry and Sustainable production systems Crop production under changing climate and plant nutrition Soil nutrient cycling and GHG emissions from agro-ecosystems Crop model application to assess climate change impacts and identify adaptation strategies

Dr. Mannava Sivakumar was the former Director, Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch (CLPA) in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Weather and Climate Extremes Journal published by Elsevier and a senior Consultant with World Bank and WMO. He obtained his M.Sc (Agronomy) from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India, in 1972; and Ph.D in Agricultural Climatology from the Iowa State University (USA) in 1977. From 1977 to 1996, Dr Sivakumar worked at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India (1977-83) and in West Africa (1984-96) occupying the positions successively of Agroclimatologist, Principal Agroclimatologist, Team Leader, Resource Management Programme and Director, Soils and Agroclimatology Division. In July 1996, Dr Sivakumar joined the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and served as the Chief of the Agricultural Meteorology Division until 2008 when he was appointed as the Director of the Climate Prediction and Adaptation Branch (CLPA). Dr Sivakumar has over 300 publications to his credit, including 53 books and 85 articles in various international journals. Dr. Sivakumar received the "Young Scientist Award' and the Science Academy Medal from the Indian National Science Academy of India in 1983. He is a Fellow of seven international scientific societies including the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences of India, the Indian Meteorological Society, the National Environmental Science Academy, the American Society of Agronomy, the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences of Belgium, the Academy of Georgofili of Italy and Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Biodiversity Science. Dr Sivakumar received the 2007 International Service in Agronomy Award from the American Society of Agronomy, the Award of Excellence for exceptional and outstanding contributions in the field of Science from the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) in 2009 and the Bharat Jyoti Award from the India International Friendship Society in 2012.

Agricultural Climatology, Agronomy

Dr. Mohammad Reza Alizadeh has completed his PhD. in the field of Agricultural Machinery Engineering from Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, I.R. Iran in 2007. He works as Associate Professor and head of Agricultural Engineering Department, the Rice Research Institute of Iran (RRII) with nearly 25 years active research experiences in the area of mechanization of agricultural crop production and post-production. He has authored and co-authored more than 80 original and review papers in the national and international peer-reviewed journals. He joined as a member of the editorial board and reviewer of many international reputed journals related to agricultural engineering and post-harvest technology.

Field and post-harvest machinery management, Design and development of agricultural machinery, Engineering Properties of Agricultural Products, Precision Farming in plant Production and Post-Production.

Dr. Kazi Kamrul Islam has completed his MSc from Wageningen University, the Netherlands and PhD from Kyushu University, Japan. Dr. K.K. Islam has also completed his postdoctoral studies from Kyushu University in 2015. Currently he is the head and Associate Professor at the Department of Agroforestry, Bangladesh Agricultural University (a renounced and famous agricultural university in Asia). He has published more than 40 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of number of Journals.

Agroforestry, Agroecology, Forest Conservation, Forest Management, Forest Economics, Natural Resource Management

Dr Sani Yusuf Ahmad is an Associate Professor in Agronomy with specialization in Horticultural Production. He obtained his B. Agriculture, MSc. and Ph.D degrees from the famous Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria in 1995, 2003 and 2010, respectively. He is a member of several professional bodies and has several publications in reputable national, International journals and numerous research/technical reports to his credit. He is currently a lecturer/researcher at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria where he is actively involved in teaching, training, research and extension services. He attended several International Conferences and trainings across the globe.

Agronomy, Agriculture Extension, Horticulture

Dr. Sunday Yiseyon Hosu was born in Ogun State Nigeria. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics and Farm Management from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria in 2004. He obtained Masters Degree from Nigeria’s premier university: the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 2007 and PhD in Agricultural/Environmental Economics from the University of Fort Hare in 2013. His PhD thesis is a holistic attempt to know the determinants of food system among the poor households in the semi-arid region; the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. He focused on modeling small farms’ optimal productivity under stressed environmental conditions, resource utilization and effective institutional services provision. His study made insight on the necessary conditions to boost smallholder productivity and food security among the small-holder farmers in the Eastern Cape Province. His research interest focuses on optimal resource utilization for sustainable livelihood, food security and food systems as well as rural poverty analysis. He has authored and co-authored manuscripts and proposal with others. He has read papers on food issues at several local and international conferences. Dr Hosu is the Lead Researcher and Consultant, Sunclare Consults Limited, a-one- stop research outfit for solutions to agriculture and agribusinesses issues based in Nigeria. He is currently a Research Fellow at Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, Eastern Cape.

Optimal resource utilization for sustainable livelihood, food security and food systems as well as rural poverty analysis

Dr Olayinka Ayobami AIYEGORO obtained a doctoral degree in Microbiology (Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology) from the renowned University of Fort Hare in South Africa. He has a versatile research career in applied microbiology- his research emphases include: Public Health Microbiology, Phytomedicine, Probiotics and Prebiotics Research. He has published above 40 research articles in international peer reviewed ISI rated journals and also has 2 book chapters in his archives. Dr Aiyegoro is a rated researcher by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and also a registered professional member of South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions. He has worked as a University lecturer, research scientist and currently he is a Senior Researcher/Project Manager in GI Microbiology and Biotechnology Unit of Agricultural research Council- Animal Production Institute, South Africa. His daily activities include: researching students supervision, project and financial management, office administration and other Ad hoc duties.

Public Health Microbiology, Phytomedicine, Probiotics and Prebiotics Research

Dr. Justin K. Urassa holds a PhD (Developme Studies) and an M.Sc. Social research Methods (Development Studies) from the university of Sussex (United Kingdom), A Post-graduate Diploma in Poverty Analysis for Socioeconomic Security and Development from the Institute of Social Studies-The Hague, Holland in collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF)-Tanzania and Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA)-Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, an MSc. and B.Sc. (Agriculture) from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and a Diploma in Dairy Husbandry from Livestock Training Institute (LITI) Tengeru, Tanzania. In addition to his regular academic activities at the university he also acted as Associate Director for the Development Studies Institute, SUA from July 2004 to October 2005. Before Joining SUA in December 1999 he worked as a Livestock Tutor at the Ministry of Agriculture Training Institute (MATI) Mlingano, Tanga.

Rural livelihoods and well-being, Poverty analysis, Food Security, Agricultural and rural development, Policy analysis, Social development and gender and development.

Dr. (Mrs.) Angela M. Lamptey is a Lecturer at the Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon. She has a Ph.D in Fisheries Science from the University of Ghana. Her research interests include Aquaculture, Fisheries Ecology, Fish feeding habits, Biodiversity studies (Seabirds and sea turtles), aquatic biotopes studies and water quality studies. She is a reviewer to a number of International Peer-reviewed Journals and has over seven (7) publications in top peer-reviewed journals. She is a motivational speaker to various youth groups and a role model for young ladies.

Aquaculture, Seabird-fisheries interactions, Seabirds ecology, Fisheries ecology, Water quality studies, Fish feeding habits, Biodiversity studies (Seabirds and sea turtles), Aquatic biotopes studies.