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Plant breeding enhances crop improvement

15 September 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Dr van Biljon — Dr Angeline van Biljon was elected as a member of the Southern African Plant Breeders’ Association (SAPBA) executive committee.

Ever wondered how seedless fruit such as lemons, watermelons, and grapes came to be?

Dr Angeline van Biljon, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), was recently elected as a member of the Southern African Plant Breeders’ Association (SAPBA) executive committee where she will serve until March 2022.

She says it is a privilege to be a member of the team. “It is an opportunity to bring plant breeding to the community so that more people can know about the subject. For example, that seedless lemons, grapes, and watermelons does not just happen; that orange sweet potatoes with high beta-carotene are bred to combat vitamin A deficiency; and that wheat quality is important to make a good loaf of bread.”

This position also brings with it the possibility for her students to work closely with people in industry. “Other members of the committee are breeders in seed and breeding companies,” explains Dr Van Biljon.

Contributing on other platforms

She was nominated and elected for this position during the SAPBA conference that was held at the Future Africa campus in Pretoria. Besides serving on the executive committee of SAPBA, she is involved with and are serving on several other platforms where she is making a difference in the plant breeding industry.

Dr Van Biljon collaborates on wheat quality with researchers in the wheat industry at the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Small Grain in Bethlehem. “I’m also a committee member of the Cereal Science and Technology – Southern African Association.”

For the past two years, she has been giving online lectures on biofortification as part of a National Research Foundation/Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT/NRF) group in Alnarp in Sweden. However, she states a working visit to the Nanjing Agricultural University in Nanjing, China as one of her biggest highlights.

Today, I want to help students see the difference plant breeding can make in crop improvement and food security.

The difference plant breeding can make

Although genetics was one of her passions as student, she later found herself as a flower breeder at the ARC Roodeplaat. Years later, she returned to the UFS to complete her PhD in Plant Breeding. And today, she wants to help students see the difference plant breeding can make in crop improvement and food security.

Currently, Dr Van Biljon is focusing on her research, which is the study of the nutritional value of various crops by determining, among others, the beta-carotene values of butternuts, the starch quality of wheat, and the tryptophan value of quality protein maize. “I also look at the influence of abiotic stress on the crop quality and nutritional value of various crops,” she adds.

News Archive

UFS welcomes two new deans in the faculties of Theology and Law

2014-08-04

The university council has approved the appointment of two deans: Prof Fanie Snyman, at the Faculty of Theology and Prof Caroline Nicholson, at the Faculty of Law.

Both professors offer the university a wealth of knowledge and experience in research and teaching.

Prof Fanie Snyman

Prof Snyman joined the university in 1984 as a senior lecturer in the Department Old Testament. His career followed a steadfast ascent which led him to attaining the title of professor and head of department the following year. On 1 July 2013, Prof Snyman took on the additional role of acting dean of the faculty.

As dean, he set out a clear vision of academic leadership with four primary focus areas: research, teaching and learning, internationalisation and regional engagement.

He is the author of eight books and contributed to seven internationally- and twelve nationally-published books. He has published nine articles in international journals and about 60 more in accredited journals.

Prof Snyman proposes to bring staff members together to extensively rethink and reposition the faculty in terms of identity, transformation and the way forward. “We live in a complex world, characterised by uncertainty and in constant change. This calls for complex but also innovative solutions,” he says.

Prof Caroline Nicholson

Prof Caroline Nicholson was born in Scotland and came to South Africa as a young child. She obtained her BProc and LLB degrees at the University of the Witwatersrand and completed her articles of clerkship at Chernin’s in Hyde Park Corner, Johannesburg. Prof Nicholson was admitted as both an attorney and notary public of the then Supreme Court of South Africa in 1986.

In 1986 she joined the University of South Africa (UNISA ) as a lecturer and remained there until 1999. During this time she completed an LLM in Banking Law and an LLD in Comparative Conflict of Laws – focusing on international parental child abduction. During the same year she moved to the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria where she worked for the last fifteen years. In 2003 she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and has an abiding interest in ADR, especially within the Family Law context.

Prof Nicholson has produced numerous articles and research presentations on a variety of legal subjects. Her primary areas of interest are, however, legal education and child law. She is known both nationally and internationally for her research contributions.

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