XIV Meeting of the Southern and Eastern Africa Cotton Forum (SEACF) 
Harare, Zimbabwe, 4 – 6 July 2018
GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES FOR COTTON YIELD ENHANCEMENT IN AFRICA

INAUGURAL SESSION
Dr Dumisani Kutywayo: Local Organizing Committee
Mr. Adalberto Banze: SEACF Chairperson
Mr. Kai Hughes: ICAC Executive Director
Permanent Secretary: Opening:
Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Zimbabwe 

Presentations

SESSION1: POLICY PERSPECTIVES
Mrs. Nancy Zitsanza: Cotton Sector Governance in Zimbabwe: Policy, Regulation, and National Strategies
Mr. Michael Jenrich: One Variety, One Zone, One Gin Concept
Mr. Fungai Simbi: Public & Private Sector Interventions to Improve Cotton Productivity in Southern & Eastern African Region
Mr. Jeremiah Tevera: Unpacking the Cotton Grower’s Roles, Challenges and Expectations in the Cotton Production Sub-sector.

SESSION 2: TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
Dr. Usha Joshua: FLD in Cotton - Transfer of Technology Practice Advocated for Africa from the Experiences of India
Mr. Nkosilathi Nkomo: Development of Value Added Products from Cotton Stalk by product.
Dr Richard Musebe: Smallholder Cotton Production: Integrated Crop & Pest Management Technology Transfer & Capacity Building in Kenya

SESSION 3: PLANT BREEDING
Mr. Manuel Maleia: Plant Breeding: Stability and Adaptability of Cotton Genotypes Under Multienvironmental Conditions in Mozambique
Mr. Maco Mare: Determining Adaptability of Medium Staple G. hirsutum Genotypes to the Agro-ecological Conditions of the Lowveld of Zimbabwe.
Mr. Kudzai Mandiveyi: New Mahyco cotton hybrids for Zimbabwe and Africa
Dr. Ye Wuwei: Cloning and Expression of Drought & Salt-Tolerant Genes in Cotton

SESSION 4: AGRONOMY
Dr. Blaise Desouza: Conservation Agriculture the BMP for Sustainable Cotton Production in Africa: Indian Experience
Dr. Mathilda Van der Westhuizen: Evaluation of Cotton Cultivars Under Irrigation in Southern Africa
Dr. Md. Farid Uddin: Cotton Seedling Transplantation for Adaptation to Climate Change in Bangladesh
Ms. Cheidza Gwiranenzara: Impact of Conservation Agriculture on Cotton Productivity

SESSION 5: CROP PROTECTION
Mr Fredy Musiniwa: Measuring Tolerance Levels of Pre-released Gossypium hirsutum L. Genotypes to Verticillium dahlia Kleb.
Prof. Yuan Youlu: Genome Wide QTL Mapping for Resistance to Verticillium Wilt, Fiber Quality and Yield Traits in Cotton Chromosome Segment Substitution Lines

SESSION 6: BEST PRACTICES FOR YIELD ENHANCEMENT IN AFRICA
Dr. Md. Farid Uddin
Dr  Graham Thompson,
Dr Blaise Desouza
Mr Washington Mubvekeri

SESSION 7: GM COTTON PRACTICALS & INTERACTIVE SESSION
Dr. Keshav Kranthi: Secrets of High Yields
Dr. Keshav Kranthi: Biotech Cotton -Africa

FINAL STATEMENTS
Mr. Lawrence Malinga: SEACF Secretary
Dr. Dumisani Kutywayo: Incoming SEACF Chairperson
Mr Kai Hughes: ICAC Executive Director
Mr. Ringson Chitsiko: Closing:Secretary for Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, and Rural Resettlement, Zimbabwe