This is a flavour of one of the six presentations that occurred in the Genetic Resources Oral Presentations on Wednesday, September 15th. Genetic Diversity and Adaptation of Date Palm (Pheonix dactylifera L.) – Sakina Elshibli The date palm produces sugar rich fruits which are cultivated in arid areas of the world. One kilogram of dates produces approximately 3000 calories. Palm dates also contain a wide range of nutrients, vitamins, and amino acids. The date palm can tolerate drought, but when the fruit is cultivated irrigation is needed. Date palms are useful because they provide small microclimates through shade. They also have a wide range of social and economic values, such as a housing material. This is especially true in Sudan where this study was carried out. There is an apparent diversity of date palms (fruit shape, side leaf structure, and morphology stages.) Dates are usually divided into two groups: dry and soft. In Sudan there is no genetic characterization of morphological variability in date palms. Over past twenty years production has increased, however stresses have also increased. These stresses include: floods, spread of diseases, desertification, and drought. Propagation is also a main constraint to increased cultivation. Date palm seeds are not suitable for cloning. It is only possible for few cultivars to be cloned, leading to date palm monocultures. A high percentage of off-types increase the risk of contamination for traditional cultivars.

In the light of climate change, GTZ otherwise known as the international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development, lately emphasized their projects on issues dealing with sustainable management of natural resources. The results on four projects of GTZ were presented on Tropentag 2nd day of conference. One project highlighted is presented by Dr. Markus Buerli, SDC Programme Officer for Mongolia, which focused on a project on pasture ecosystem management; with a topic preserving the Green Gold of Mongolia. The main approach of the Green Gold project which started in 2004 was to facilitate the formation of Pasture User Groups (PUGs) which – lately – comprises of 10,000 herders, in order to support these groups in attaining legal recognition, empowerment of the communities, collective actions as well as to develop pasture management plans.