Malawi is one of the African countries with promising developments towards commercialization of GM crops. With a fully functional biosafety framework, field trials of cotton, cowpea, and banana are currently taking place in the country.

Researchers at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have discovered a gene that influences grain yield in grasses related to food crops. Four mutations were identified that could impact candidate crops for producing renewable and sustainable fuels. In a paper published April 18, 2017, in Nature Plants, a team led by Thomas Brutnell, Ph.D. Director of the Enterprise Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Danforth Center and researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, conducted genetic screens to identify genes that may play a role in flower development on the panicle of green foxtail.

Rice farmers are now receiving site-specific fertilizer recommendations for their crop without having to leave their villages through the Rice Crop Manager (RCM). Available in Odia and English, RCM is a web-based tool developed by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). It provides farmers with customized crop and nutrient management recommendations based on their actual field conditions and needs. Such recommendations can help increase the productivity and incomes of the farmers.
 

Aflatoxin in food was among the prominent issues discussed at the recent First All-Africa Postharvest Congress and Exhibition held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 28th to 31st March 2017.The Congress attracted about 600 participants from 22 countries including outside Africa. Its theme was Reducing food waste and losses: sustainable solutions for Africa. Two African staples – groundnuts and maize – are particularly aflatoxin-prone.

Plants or plant cells can be used to produce pharmacological glycoproteins such as antibodies or vaccines. However, these proteins carry N-glycans with plant-typical residues, which greatly impact the effect or activity of the protein. Two enzymes are responsible for the addition of plant-specific glycans: β(1,2)-xylosyltransferase (XylT) and α(1,3)-fucosyltransferase (FucT).

Indonesian farmers may have access to paddy seeds resistant to hoppers and bacterial blights in the next few years, according to Syngenta Indonesia president director Parveen Kathuria. He said that a new product is under testing by the Agriculture Ministry, which might be commercially available in 2019.

An on-going survey being conducted on Twitter by the Singularity Hub revealed that 71 percent of the respondents believe that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are needed to feed the world population of 9.7 billion by 2050. Twenty-three (23) percent of the respondents, 1,338 in total as of writing, believe that there is a need to know more, while only 6 percent think that GMOs are too dangerous or unsafe.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced temporary exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of the Bacillus thuringiensis mCry51Aa2 protein in or on the food and feed commodities of cotton; cotton undelinted seed; cotton, gin byproducts;

The crisis afflicting the strife-torn Lake Chad Basin is rooted in decades of neglect, lack of rural development and the impact of climate change, and the only way to ensure a lasting solution is to address these including through investments in sustainable agriculture, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, said today.

Plant branching is a process regulated by phytohormones produced by the plant, similar to hormones found in animals. Many scientists have believed that auxin, the most intensely studied plant phytohormone, is the most important factor that controls branching. Researchers at Texas A&M University have found that abscisic acid (ABA), more known for its role in regulating water movement in plants, also plays an important role in plant branching.