Group Leader, Bacteriology and ICGEB Scientific Coordinator, Dr. Vittorio Venturi participated in the “Week of Italian Cuisine in the World” in VietNam addressing coffee sustainability, in addition to meeting with partners on biofertiliser and rice-related projects.
Hanoi, 16 November 2022
Dr. Venturi and Dr. Iris Bertani, Research Associate in the Bacteriology Lab, were in ICGEB Member State Viet Nam last week to meet with partners in the ongoing Italy-Vietnam bilateral project entitled “Development of bacterial biofertilizers for Coffea canephora (C. robusta): composition and dynamics of the rhizomicrobiome of Robusta coffee plants in the main Robusta coffee growing areas in Vietnam” co-funded by the ICGEB, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology. The importance of this project on coffee sustainability is reflected in the fact that Vietnam is the world’s biggest grower of the coffee variety Coffearobusta, used in instant coffee and espresso.
Dr. Venturi and Dr. Bertani proceeded to take part as speakers in a talkshow entitled “Coffee Culture & Sustainability between Italy and Vietnam” organised at the “Casa Italia” Italian cultural centre by the Italian Embassy in Vietnam. The initiative was part of the 7th edition of the broader “Week of Italian Cuisine in the World” initiative by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
“Italy imports about 250 million Euro of coffee per year from Vietnam, with a total revenue of 4.5 billion in import and export”, stated Italian Ambassador in Viet Nam, Antonio Alessandro at the opening of the event.
This event brought Italian and Vietnamese coffee producers in contact with scientists working on improving coffee growing techniques, including ICGEB’s Dr. Venturi and Dr. Bertani, as well as Dr. Nguyen Thu Ha of the Soil and Fertilisers Research Institute and Dr. Dinh T. Hang of IMBT, Vietnamese University.
Ho Chi Minh City, 17 November, 2022
The ICGEB delegation presented at an associated event on coffee culture and met with Dr. T. Hang Dinh of the Microbiology and Biotechnology Institute, Vietnam National university, partner from a previous Italy-Vietnam bilateral project with whom the Bacteriology Lab is still collaborating through a PhD project. On this occasion, a continuation was discussed for the Italy-Vietnam bilateral project “Rice microbiome and plant health” run in between the institute and ICGEB in 2017-2019.
