Various crop production technologies to meet climate change challenges were demonstrated to 200 farmers and several to agricultural officers at a recently held fair to celebrate World Food Day.

An improved rice parboiling system developed by the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), combined with training and the adoption of an innovation platform approach along the rice value chain, is starting to make a difference in the lives of more than 450 women in the Glazoué rice hub in central Benin. It shortens processing time, reduces drudgery, and does not expose the women parboilers to heat burns.

FAO 5 November 2015, Rome - Major food commodity prices rose in October, spurred by weather-driven concerns about sugar and palm oil supplies. The FAO Food Price Index averaged nearly 162 points in October, up 3.9 percent from September, while still down 16 percent from a year earlier.

Scientists from Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and Donald Danforth Plant Science Center are working towards developing vitamin A-enriched tubers. Assistant Professor Joyce Van Eck of BTI developed a new technique for building up beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A, in potatoes. With the help of experts from Danforth, this technique will be used to develop biofortified cassava roots.

New research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies reveals the details of how plants manage their energy intake, which could potentially be harnessed to improve yield. Plants are stuck where they are planted, so they use a variety of ways to cope with environmental challenges. Chloroplasts convert sunlight into chemical energy to enable the plant to grow. The command center of the cell, the nucleus, occasionally sends out signals to destroy all of the 50-100 chloroplasts in the cell, such as when leaves drop off.

FAO 2 November 2015, Rome - FAO and the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed today to strengthen their cooperation to promote international food trade and safety in ways that improve peoples' nutrition and allow small-scale producers to have better access to international agriculture markets.

FAO 26 October 2015, Rome – Hunger eradication and sustainable development will not be achieved if we do not take urgent action on climate change, said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, calling on the global community to put food security and agriculture at the center of the debates on climate change.

Mulching acts to control weeds, conserves soil moisture and increases soil temperature in tropical and sub-tropical environments which has positive effects on vegetable yield and quality. Plastic mulching material is now widely available in SE Asia at a relatively low cost. This cost is about 25 percent of that of new biodegradable plastic mulches which are now being tested owing to their ability to gradually degrade into water and CO2 without leaving harmful residues

FAO is working with the Government of Lesotho, non-governmental organizations and other United Nations agencies on a resilience strategy to help adapt the country's farming system to changing climate conditions such as erratic rain patterns and higher temperatures. The initiative includes promoting homestead gardening and adopting innovative techniques such as the construction of keyhole gardens.

The President of Uganda, H.E. Yoweri Museveni, has asked Members of Uganda's Parliament (MPS) to "modernize their thinking" towards new scientific innovations and technologies, including modern biotechnology. This statement was made during the World Food Day celebration at the National Agricultural Research Organization's Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Rwebitaba, Kabarole district on October 16, 2015.