Representatives from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam, together with IRRI scientists and a project partner from the Philippines, participated in an Impact Pathways Workshop to share experiences and describe country-specific outscaling strategies.In addition to commonly employed extension strategies, partners have actively used different forms of social media to reach out to farmers and other stakeholders

The CRISPR-Cas9 system is an effective editing tool for plant and animal genomes. However, there are only a few reports on the application of CRISPR-Cas9 to horticultural plants. The team of Junhui Zhou from the University of Maryland in the USA aimed to evaluate the application of CRISPR-Cas9 in wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca) by targeting the auxin biosynthesis gene TAA1 and Auxin Response Factor 8 (ARF8).

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms has published the Scientific Opinion on the safety of insect resistant and herbicide tolerant genetically modified (GM) cotton GHB614 × LLCotton25 × MON15985 (Unique Identifier BCS‐GHØØ2‐5 × ACS‐GHØØ1‐3 × MON‐15985‐7). The scientific opinion is published based on the application EFSA‐GMO‐NL‐2011‐94 under Regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003 from Bayer CropScience AG.

Commonwealth countries must embrace innovations to address food, fuel, and health needs of her people. This was a clarion call by scientists and government representatives attending the Commonwealth Innovation Forum (TCIF), held in Queensland, Australia from April 5-6, 2018. The forum unanimously acknowledged innovation's role in delivering diversified and stronger global economic productivity. Echoing the message, Prime Minister of Malta, Dr. Joseph Muscat stressed that ideas and collaboration among different scientists and leaders are key to fostering innovations that can upscale the Commonwealth economy.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has partnered with the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) in an effort that will yield millions of powerful new solutions to agriculture's challenges. EBP is an international cooperative initiative to sequence in the next 10 years the DNA of more than 1.5 million species—those more complex than bacteria—representing the world's biodiversity.

Bioeconomy can help efforts to tackle pressing global concerns, including hunger, poverty, and climate change. This was according to Food and Agriculture Organization Deputy Director-General for Climate and Natural Resources, Maria Helena Semedo, speaking at the Global Bioeconomy Summit in Berlin, Germany on April 20, 2018.

Scientists from the University of Würzburg have investigated the impact of a new pesticide on the honeybee. In high doses, it has a negative impact on the insects' taste and cognition ability. In February 2018, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed that the pesticide group of neonicotinoids is harmful to bees. A novel pesticide manufactured by Bayer AG is therefore being discussed as an alternative; it contains flupyradifurone from the class of butenolides. The product goes by the brand name of Sivanto.

ICRISAT’s highest award for research, was announced by its Governing Board today. Dr Mamta Sharma and Dr Pooja Bhatnagar-Mathur are joint recipients of the Doreen Margaret Mashler Award for 2018, for significant work in their respective research fields of plant pathology and biotechnology at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

IRRI and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations through the Closing Rice Yield Gaps with Reduced Environmental Footprints (CORIGAP-PRO) and the European Union Support to District Development Programme increases the national capacity of Sri Lanka on postharvest technology for rice by conducting a workshop on drying and storage technologies.
 

Succinate is one of the most important bio-based building block chemical because of its numerous potential applications. However, efficient production of succinate from lignocellulosic feedstock is rarely reported. A study conducted by Yufeng Mao, Guiying Li, and Zhishuai Chang of Tianjin University in China aimed to engineer Corynebacterium glutamicum to efficiently produce succinate from lignocellulosic hydrolysate.