The Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building (GIPB), in collaboration with the FAO Inter-Departmental Working Group on Bioenergy, is launching a call for expanded up-to-date information on genetic resources and breeding of selected species, together with detailed analysis of their potential as bioenergy crops adaptable to sustainable smallholder production systems.

Species of interest under this call are jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.), castor bean (Ricinus communis L.), sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and Pongamia (Pongamia pinnata L.). Letters of Intention may be submitted to GIPB by September 1st, 2008. Visit the GIPB portal (http://km.fao.org/gipb/) or click here for detailed information on this call.

The GIPB Knowledge Resource Center provides a wide array of plant breeding and related information, tools and resources, such as:

• A worldwide assessment of plant breeding capacity;
• Newly published plant breeding and related literature;
• Opportunities in training and capacity building;
• Links to plant breeding news in the world media;
• Announcements of important events related to plant breeding;
• Links to organizations and networks that have direct connections with plant breeding

Click here to see these and other features.