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Dr. Hortense Mafouasson

Mafouasson Apalla Hortense Noelle was born in the northern part of Cameroon to parents who had agriculture as a hobby. For this reasonshe amongst 6 siblings were engaged on the field during weekends.What I found most interesting as a child was the practice of eating what we had grown. That was my first motivation to study agronomyHortense obtained her Bachelor and Master s degree in Agronomy and Plant Pathology at the University of DschangCameroon. She was recruited as research assistant at the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD)assisting the Maize Breeding Unit of the Cereal Programme. She has been involved in many research projects including the development of maize varieties tolerant to acid soils and the identification of agronomic practices aimed at improving maize production. She was also appointed Assistant Head of the Programming and Planning Unit of the Division of Scientific Policy and Planning under the Ministry of Scientific Research and InnovationCameroon. In 2006 she was recognized by the Ministry of Scientific Research as one of the best young researchers in her Institute. For her PhD work sponsored by AGRAHortense intends to work on maize tolerance to low nitrogen soils.Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients in maize fertilization. In my country the price of fertilizers keeps rising thus making them more expensive to farmers. This is one of the reasons for the decrease in maize production in the country. The development of maize varieties with nitrogen use efficiency would help the farmers by reducing the amount of fertilizer used on the farms. I am hoping this would contribute to increasing maize production in Cameroon.