INTERDROUGHT-II follows the first INTERDROUGHT symposium held in Montpellier France in 1995, which in the opinion of many of those who attended it, provided an excellent platform for presenting, discussing and integrating results of both basic and applied research towards the development of solutions to crop production under drought–prone conditions. Despite the importance of drought as a major constraint in food production world-wide, there has, surprisingly, been no other major and dedicated international symposium since that first INTERDROUGHT meeting which has brought together such a wide range of world class expertise to identify practical avenues for improving crop performance under drought-prone conditions.

The objective of INTERDROUGHT-II is to serve as a platform for presenting and debating key issues and strategies relevant for increasing the yield and stability of crops under drought conditions by genetic and crop management approaches. Great advances were made in recent years in understanding the molecular basis of plant response and plant tolerance to drought stress. Hundreds of drought responsive genes were identified and the function of some has been resolved at the cellular level. However, there is a huge gap between the molecular level science and the interpretation and application of this knowledge at the whole plant level in the field. Excellent meetings are being continuously dedicated to the cellular and molecular aspects of stress, such as the biannual Gordon Conference on “Cellular basis of drought and salinity tolerance in plants (2004)”. However, there is now an increasing demand in both public and private research sectors for crosstalk between disciplines involved with the molecular science and those involved with whole plant problem solving in farming under field stress in order to advance practical solutions to drought prone farming. We believe INTERDROUGHT-II offers a unique and timely platform for this purpose.

Henceforth, the main mission of INTERDROUGHT-II is to explore the possibilities of science and technology applications to crop improvement and crop management under drought-prone farming by linking progress made at the molecular level to that at the whole plant and crop levels in the field. This conference will provide recommendations on the most effective approaches to achieve better crop productivity under drought conditions as well as the research needed to move forward in this direction.

This meeting is especially concerned with the poorer developing countries that confront an increasing problem of food production with less water and under drought-prone conditions. This meeting will strive to address such problems with an appropriate participation of experts and students from such countries.

We are making every effort to create a comfortable and hospitable environment for you at this meeting. We cordially extend our invitation to you.

This web site is designed to provide all the information you need and all the contacts you might want to address for specific questions.

*** We are most grateful to our SPONSORS for making this event possible ***