Soybean conference to kick off next week

15th February 2013 By: Natasha Odendaal - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

The spotlight would be on the soybean industry next week, as researchers and farmers from over 24 countries gather at the Durban International Conference Centre, from February 17 to 22, for the ninth World Soybean Conference.

Minister of Science and Technology Derek Hanekom was expected to open the conference, which was themed ‘From China to Africa – Can research close the gap between soy production and increasing global demand?’.

With a trade show and a technical programme, the conference would host oil, fat and soybean fibre products, soy foods and drinks, biotechnology, animal feed and soybean processing equipment.

Food security, sustainability, health and nutrition, genetics and breeding, processing, applications, agronomy, transportation and storage, and commodity markets were some of the diverse topics to be discussed during the plenary and concurrent breakaway sessions.

The Protein Research Foundation and the Oil and Protein Seed Development Trust would host the conference.