10 December 2010
On 9 November 2009, the Foundation launched the first edition of the Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize for Agriculture and Food, in partnership with the Languedoc-Roussillon Region, which made a financial contribution of €20,000.
The awards were presented by the President of the Foundation accompanied by the President of the Jury, Guido Grysseels (Director of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium) and the Director of the Foundation, in a plenary session on the occasion of GCARD 2010, just before the award ceremony of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), during a joint ceremony, which was an exceptional opportunity for the international visibility of the Foundation’s Scientific Prize.
The Prize was awarded to Ken Sayre, Agronomist from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT, Mexico) in the Senior Scientist category and to Sylvia Restrepo, Plant Pathology Researcher from the University of the Andes, Bogota in the Young Promising Scientist category.
Ken Sayre has developed agronomic methods to improve soil fertility and limit soil erosion while reducing the use of fertilisers and irrigation. These methods are now widely used in Latin America, Central Asia, India and China.
Sylvia Restrepo has developed new organic methods to control the main diseases that attack potatoes and cassava.
Oliver Oliveros
Directeur Délégué, en charge des partenariats, des coopérations internationales et du développement
