MIRCENS: Catalytic tools in agricultural training and development

Abstract

A global network of Microbiological Resources Centres (MIRCENs) , set up by Unesco, includes five centres concerned with biological nitrogen fixation. These centres are Kenya, Brazil, the United States and Senegal-train experts in the methods of Rhizobium inoculation, which when applied to certain leguminous plants can often avert the need to use expensive chemical nitrogen fertilizers in food crop production. The MIRCENs constitute an excellent example of international co-operation in science.