Plenary Speakers
Prof. Diego Rubiales
Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
Spain
Prof. Diego Rubiales
Institute for Sustainable AgricultureSpain
Biography
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Prof. Francesco Vinale
University of Naples Federico II
Italy
Prof. Francesco Vinale
University of Naples Federico IIItaly
Biography
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Prof. Dr. Florence Fontaine
University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Prof. Dr. Florence Fontaine
University of Naples Federico II, ItalyBiography
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Dr. Gianfranco Romanazzi
Marche Polytechnic University
Italy
Dr. Gianfranco Romanazzi
Marche Polytechnic UniversityItaly
Biography
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Dr. Leslie Weston
Charles Sturt University, Australia
Dr. Leslie Weston
Charles Sturt University, AustraliaBiography
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Dr. Carlo Leifert
Southern Cross University
Australia
Dr. Carlo Leifert
Southern Cross UniversityAustralia
Biography
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Mohammad Babadoost
University of Illinois
United States
Mohammad Babadoost
University of IllinoisUnited States
Biography
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Prof. Srinivasa Rao Mentreddy
Alabama A&M UniversityUSA
Prof. Srinivasa Rao Mentreddy
Alabama A&M UniversityUSABiography
Dr. Srinivasa Rao Mentreddy, an Indian-born American citizen, is a Professor of Crop Science at
Alabama A&M University in Alabama, USA. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural
Science and a Master of Science in Agronomy from Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University in
India, as well as a Ph.D. in Agronomy from the University of Tasmania in Australia.
Dr. Mentreddy's research focuses on developing sustainable crop management practices
that utilize cover crops for field, vegetable, and medicinal herb production in both open field and
agroforestry systems. He also evaluates low-temperature plasma technology to ensure food safety
and improve crop productivity while exploring climate-smart agricultural practices, such as cover
cropping and alley cropping.
With several years of experience, Dr. Mentreddy has evaluated crop varieties based on
growth performance, radiation use efficiency, and competitive abilities across a wide range of field
crops. He has assessed the production potential of new crops, including pigeon pea, mung bean,
turmeric, Virginia mountain mint, and medicinal basil in Alabama. Over the course of his career,
he has accumulated more than 35 years of research experience with crops like canola, food-grade
soybeans (tofu, vegetable, and natto types), transgenic corn, sweet potatoes, cassava, and Irish
potatoes.
In addition to his research, Dr. Mentreddy has served as a technical advisor for USAID
projects in Ghana, Uganda, and Nepal. He teaches several crop science courses at both the
undergraduate and graduate levels and advises Ph.D. and M.S. students on their thesis and
dissertation research across various disciplines. Dr. Mentreddy is a prolific author, with 52 peer
reviewed journal articles and over 200 conference abstracts. He also serves as an editor or reviewer
for numerous international journals.
Speech Title
1. Development of three high-value medicinal herbs for potential commercial production in the southern USA.
2. Cold atmospheric pressure plasma applications for enhancing seed germination, rhizome sprouting, plant growth, seed nutritional profiles, and yields.
Dr. Assaf Eybishitz
World Vegetable CenterTaiwan
Dr. Assaf Eybishitz
World Vegetable CenterTaiwanBiography
Assaf accomplish his MSc and PhD degrees from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem subjects on tomatoes resistance mechanism against viruses. After Assaf graduated, he joined TomaTech R&D LTD, a commercial seed company, as a tomato breeder for several types in various regions around the world, his breeding and R&D work were mainly focused on indeterminate round, beef, cluster and plum tomatoes types. During this period, Assaf developed and commercialized several new worldwide commercial varieties. In addition to the breeding programs, Assaf developed and establish several new breeding capabilities which allow identification and characterization resistances against tomato viruses. These capabilities gave the ability to identify, isolate and developed virus-resistant breeding lines and identify genetic markers for resistances traits, an important and central ability in the breeding process.
In 2022 Assaf join to the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) as a Senior Scientist, Tomato breeder with the aim to continuing research, breed and contribute from his experience to the tomato breeding programs. The breeding objectives will focus on disease resistance, biotic and abiotic stress, genetic multi-traits breeding lines, climate change stress, enrichment flavor and fruit nutrient materials with the aim of achieving capacity and enabling a high-quality and significant growing solution for tomatoes farmer around the world.
Speech Title
advancements in tomato horticulture and agricultural science
Prof. Shlomo Nir
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
ISRAEL
Prof. Shlomo Nir
The Hebrew University of JerusalemISRAEL
Biography
Professor Nir from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, along with his colleagues from the Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, developed a model to simulate and predict how well this process works. “By combining natural breakdown processes with filtration and modeling, we can create a system that continuously removes pollutants, making water purification much more efficient, and amenable for planing ” explained Professor Nir. Their approach offers an improvement over existing methods.
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Dr. Christophe El-Nakhel
Researcher, University of Naples Federico IIItaly
Dr. Christophe El-Nakhel
Researcher, University of Naples Federico IIItalyBiography
Christophe El-Nakhel is a Researcher in Horticulture and Floriculture at the Department of Agricultural Sciences (DIA), University of Naples Federico II, Portici (NA), Italy. His research focuses on the application of biostimulants on vegetables and in general he works on pre-harvest factors and their effect on the quality of horticultural products, soilless cultivation, microgreens and as well as the integration of urine derivatives in fertilization. He takes part of the editorial board of both journals Horticulturae and Agriculture MDPI and served as guest editor for several special issues in both journals.
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Dr. Andrei A. Bunaciu
Senior Researcher
Romania
Dr. Andrei A. Bunaciu
Senior ResearcherRomania
Biography
Andrei A. Bunaciu was born in 1955 in Făgăraş, a small Transylvanian town in central Romania. He graduated from the Politehnica University of Bucharest in 1979. He received his Ph.D., in 1990, from the Politehnica University of Bucharest, Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry using as the theme of his dissertation, Ion-selective membrane electrodes applied in pharmaceutical drug analysis. For several years he worked as a Senior Researcher at the Central Laboratory for Scientific Control of Biological Products and Veterinary Drugs - Bucharest, the Institute of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research Bucharest, the Romanian Intelligence Service, and in the Vibrational Spectroscopy Department at SCIENT - Research Center for Instrumental Analysis, Tȃncăbeşti - Snagov. Since 2018, he has been the C.E.O. and senior researcher at AAB_IR research Bragadiru company. His research interests concern molecular recognition of pharmaceutical and biological compounds, using infrared spectroscopy techniques. He is the author/co-author of 97 publications in biomedical, pharmaceutical, and food analysis, including a book VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY APPLICATIONS IN BIOMEDICAL, PHARMACEUTICAL AND FOOD SCIENCES, published in 2020 by Elsevier, Inc., as well as three chapters: VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY APPLICATIONS IN DRUG-ANALYSIS, in Encyclopedia of Spectroscopy and Spectrometry, 3rd Edition, Lindon, J.C., Tranter, G.E. and Koppenaal, D.W. (eds.), Oxford; Elsevier, 2017, vol. 4, pp. 575-581, RECENT APPLICATIONS OF INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY IN BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS, in FTIR Spectroscopy: Advances in Research and Applications, edited by Adriana S. Franca and Leandro S. Oliveira, Nova Publishers, NY, USA, 2022, pp. 575-581, and respectively DETECTION OF PARAFFIN OIL ADULTERATION IN EDIBLE OILS USING FTIR SPECTROSCOPY, in Pharmaceutical Research: Recent Advances and Trends, edited by Kevin Fernandez, 2024, vol 9, pp. 55-69
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