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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

Right to Learn campaign seeks to fund financially needy students

2015-11-11

SRC President, Lindokuhle Ntuli, pledges financial support to the Right to Learn campaign.
Photo: Tango Twasa

In response to the dire need for financial relief for academically deserving students from underprivileged backgrounds, the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the University of the Free State (UFS) launched the Right to Learn campaign on Friday 30 October 2015. The campaign, which aims to counter deregistration, was initiated following the national #FeesMustFall campaign, which gained momentum after students from the University of Witwatersrand first mobilised against the proposed fee increases for 2016.

The SRC’s Projects Committee realised that, although President Jacob Zuma had consented to a 0% increment, the lack of an increase would not eliminate the financial burden currently facing some students.

“The campaign was conceived at the SRC’s strategic planning meeting, and is now spearheaded by the SRCs Projects Committee,” said Letsika Leqoalane, SRC: Academic Affairs. “The campaign was founded on the university's value of ‘Superior Scholarship’ and the SRC’s value of reducing student financial exclusions,” he added.

Students in pursuit of continued access to education

The Right to Learn campaign was established as a supplementary initiative to the #FeesMustFall movement. “The Right to Learn campaign is an initiative to raise funds for students who are facing financial exclusion in the coming year,” said the SRC Academics Affairs officer.

All proceeds will be channeled towards reducing the number of students who will face de-registration in 2016, the SRC textbook bursary, and food bursaries. “This campaign stands on three pillars, namely: no to de-registration, no to student food insecurity, and yes to textbooks,” explained Leqoalane.

A call for support

According to SRC President, Lindokuhle Ntuli, “SRC members have made pledges of no less than R500 each from their own pockets.” The SRC is appealing to the UFS community to make donations into the campaign bank account, and thereafter to email the proof of payment to Ntuli at NtuliL@ufs.ac.za. The account details are:

Account number: 15-7085-0721 ABSA Bank Branch
Reference: SRC FUND
Branch Code: 632005 Cheque Account
Swift code: ABSAZAJJ

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