At global celebrations marking World Soil Day 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) underlined the vital link between soil and water in producing our food and the need for integrated management and conservation of these key resources to enable climate change mitigation and adaptation. “We have to produce more with less. As we strive to feed a growing population with better food, we must adopt sustainable agricultural practices that preserve and enhance soil health.,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said as he opened the celebrations here.

Clubroot caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae is an important disease in brassica crops. Managing clubroot disease of canola on the Canadian prairie is challenging due to the continuous emergence of new pathotypes. Brassica oleracea is considered a major source of quantitative resistance to clubroot. Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) was performed in the parental lines; T010000DH3 (susceptible), ECD11 (resistant) and 124 BC₁ plants.

“FAO works for the vulnerable people,” the Director-General said in his opening remarks, adding that the Organization “has a comparative advantage” in areas ranging from its core mandates, such as food and nutrition security and catalyzing agricultural productivity, to increasingly complex ones, such as fostering environmental sustainability, mitigating and adapting to climate change and building resilience among vulnerable people rocked by conflicts.

Mr. Phạm Thành Nhân, Dong Thap Muoi Research and Development Centre, leaving for IRRI, the Philippines, to join the three-month training course by IRRI from  November 13, 2019 to January 21, 2020

Mr. Li Jianqiang (Director), Ms. Feng Chunmei (Technical Director), Mr. Tan Yewei (Business Manager) - Subtropical  Crop Research Institute, QuangXi, China, paid a short visit how to cooperate with the IAS about crop production and consumption, November 12, 2019.

- The IAS has launched the proposal  to Dong Thap Science and Technology Service with the emphasis on "Survey and investigation of sweet potato, vegetable, and flower crops", March 6-7 2023.

- Mr Nguyen Van Manh (teamwork member)  successfully submitted the proposal of "Study on agronomical practices suitable to "Xoai Cat" mango variety in Can Gio"; March 7 2023.

Vietnam Economic Pulse (VEP) has sustained the recovery from Covid-19 to create the prospects for growth in 2023. Finally, the real GDP growth in 2022 reached 8.02% (General Statistics Office of Vietnam). It is the highest among major countries in the Asia Pacific region. Vietnam economic conditions have improved dramatically. The GDP per capita obtained $US 4,110.  Thanks are due to an effective and universal Covid-19 vaccination program, and a flexible policy response, the domestic economy has rebounded strongly from the last quarter of 2021.