The “Sustainable Cropland and Forest Management in Priority Agro-ecosystems of Myanmar” Project of FAO in Myanmar is a five-year project (2016-2021) funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) and being jointly coordinated and implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation (MoALI). The project has supported establishment of a National CSA at Yezin Agriculture University in Myanmar. One of the key activities of the National CSA Center is to organize annual workshop/conference to share ideas, opportunities, and challenges with regards to CSA and SLM and to discuss on the way forwards. Such workshops will focus on different themes of CSA and SLM every year. Accordingly, the second workshop was organized by the CSA Center at YAU on 29th August 2019 and the theme of this workshop was “Green Ecology in Myanmar”. This proceeding presents the background of the project and workshop and compiles all the papers presented during the workshop.

The “Sustainable Cropland and Forest Management in Priority Agro-ecosystems of Myanmar” Project of FAO in Myanmar is a five-year project (2016-2021) funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) and being jointly coordinated and implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MoNREC) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation (MoALI). The project has supported establishment of a National CSA at Yezin Agriculture University in Myanmar. One of the key activities of the National CSA Center is to organize annual workshop/conference to share ideas, opportunities and challenges with regards to CSA and SLM and to discuss on the way forwards. Such workshops will focus on different themes of CSA and SLM every year. Accordingly, the first workshop was organized by the CSA Center at YAU on 14th Sep 2018 and the theme of this workshop was “Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture in Myanmar”. This proceeding presents the background of the project and workshop and compiles all the papers presented during the workshop.

This book presents deliberations on molecular and genomic mechanisms underlying the interactions of crop plants to the abiotic stresses caused by heat, cold, drought, flooding, submergence, salinity, acidity, etc., important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding, and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in vegetable crops is imperative for addressing FHNEE (food, health, nutrition, energy, and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing has provided precise information regarding the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining, and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for 'designing' crop genomes with resistance to abiotic stresses. The nine chapters each dedicated to a vegetable crop or crop group in this volume elucidate on different types of abiotic stresses and their effects on and interaction with the crop; enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to abiotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing abiotic stress-resistant crop varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate on different genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery, and gene pyramiding for developing adaptive crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yields, and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating abiotic stress-resistant crops

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar is a forest resource-rich country, but is also facing serious deforestation and forest degradation problems. Currently, Myanmar's forest still covers more than 40% of the country's land area (Aung (2001) but 70% of its population live in rural areas, and the agricultural sector is the main contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) (30%) (World Bank 2014). The country faces the all-too-common dilemma of how to develop its economy while at the same time curbing environmental degradation and contributing to carbon emissions reduction. In 2013, Myanmar adopted a REDD+ program and started its preparatory phase. Myanmar established and developed its National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) and Reference Emission Levels (RELs) for REDD+ following the guidance and modalities set out by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Implementing REDD+ requires political commitment to address direct and indirect drivers of deforestation, an adequate funding mechanism that is based on a thorough analysis of all costs and benefits, a transparent and equitable benefit-sharing mechanism, and a participatory decision-making approach in which all stakeholders can take part in REDD+. The Global Comparative Study on REDD+, together with its country partners, is compiling profiles of 14 countries to better understand the socioeconomic contexts in which REDD+ policies and processes emerge.