The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a plant breeding innovation that uses site-directed nucleases to target and modify DNA with great accuracy. Developed in 2012 by scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, CRISPR-Cas9 has received a lot of attention in recent years due to its range of applications, including biological research, breeding and development of agricultural crops and animals, and human health applications

Supporting herders to get back on their feet and preventing further livestock losses and suffering are crucial in drought-hit Ethiopia where hunger has been on the rise this year, warned today the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The proposal for direct use of Golden Rice for food, feed, and processing is now under public comment in the Philippines. The Public Information Sheet (PIS) on the proposal for the direct use as food and feed, or for processing of Golden Rice was published in the July 26 issue of Manila Standard. The application for biosafety permit was submitted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in February 2017

It is with deep sadness that the International Rice Research institute (IRRI) announces the passing of Dr. Gelia Tagumpay Castillo, 89, on Saturday, 5 August. Gelia had been ill for some time.
Born on 3 March 1928 in Pagsanjan, Laguna, Philippines, she was an internationally respected rural sociologist. Her outstanding publications are major and definitive works on Philippine agricultural and rural development.
 

Denmark, Ireland, Norway, and multiple other nations didn’t see the fish war coming. In 2011, in the waters and fjords of east Greenland, fishermen began spotting a blue-green iridescent fish. It was mackerel, a species that had never before been caught so far north. By 2014, the fish was one of Greenland’s most valuable exports, generating $100 million in sales (1).

The CRISPR-Cas9 system allows effective gene modification through RNA-guided DNA targeting. Researchers have significantly altered Cas9, resulting in partially or completely deactivated Cas9. The deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) offers a platform to regulate transcriptional expression with the addition of an activator or repressor.

Many vulnerable rural families in Iraq can now benefit from a safer, more secure means of receiving income thanks to mobile money transfer technology adopted for the first time by FAO as part of a cash-for-work programme aimed at rehabilitating agricultural infrastructure and land.

The FAO Food Price Index - a monthly trade-weighted index tracking international market prices of five major food commodity groups - averaged 179.1 points in July, its highest value since January 2015, marking a 2.3 percent increase from June 2017 and 10.2 percent rise from its level a year earlier.

CSIRO scientists and partners successfully mapped for the first time the genome of cotton bollworm and corn earworm, two of the most devastating caterpillar pests in agriculture. This relevant information will make it easier for researchers to identify the weaknesses of the pests, predict how they will mutate, and design plants that they will not want to eat. This breakthrough could potentially help the agriculture industry save billions of dollars a year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced the extension of deregulation to Bayer CropScience's canola event MS11, genetically engineered (GE) for male sterility and herbicide resistance. APHIS has previously reviewed and deregulated these GE traits in other varieties of GE canola, and has prepared a plant pest risk similarity assessment (PPRSA), draft environmental assessment (EA), preliminary finding of no significant impact (FONSI), and a preliminary determination of nonregulated status.