Mohamed F. R. Khan, Extension sugar beet specialist and associate professor at NDSU and the University of Minnesota, discussed management practices for Cercospora leaf spot of sugar beet at research sites in Italy in September. He was invited by the Institute of Research and Development in Agriculture. Khan presented “La barbabietola da zucchero, Geneticamente Modificata, L’Esperienza Americana” to growers and industry personnel in Ferrara, Italy, and “Sugar beet: History, production and research in the USA” to faculty, staff and students in the Department of Agroenvironmental Sciences and Technology, Università di Bologna, in Bologna, Italy.

The National Association of Beet Growers and the Institute of Research and Development in Agriculture recognized Khan for his research contributions to controlling Cercospora leaf spot and improving the sugar beet crop in Italy.