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.

Scientists Miguel Sanchez of ChileBio and Wayne Parrott of the University of Georgia released an article on their review of research papers that are usually used as evidence of negative effects of GM food and feed. Their review article is published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal.

Researchers led by plant biologist Naonobu Noda at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Tsukuba, Japan have genetically engineered the world's first true blue chrysanthemum.True blue flowers are rare in nature, and occur only in selected species such as morning glories and delphiniums.

A celebrated agricultural development expert, Dr Adesina held several positions at CGIAR Research Centers in his career, including the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and AfricaRice.

Africa, which has tremendous agricultural potential, is often described as a continent of paradoxes. Rice statistics reveal one such paradox. The continent’s average rice yields, estimated at about 2 tons per hectare (ha), are among the lowest in the world. Yet, Egypt, in northern Africa, has one of the highest national average rice yields worldwide, with nearly 10 tons per ha.

An international research team led by Heribert Hirt from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has found the missing link in the complex molecular pathway by which plants resist pathogens. Using Arabidopsis, the team activated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) using a bacterial microbial-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs).

FAO has developed new guidelines aimed at helping countries develop strong National Forest Monitoring Systems, which are key to measure progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).To fulfil their pledges under the Paris Climate Agreement and Agenda 2030 countries are expected to collect more detailed forestry data.

Agricultural biotechnology was again at the center of discussion during the biggest agricultural expo in Uganda, which ran from July 17-23, 2017. Dubbed the 25^th Annual Source of the Nile Agricultural Show, this year's theme was Managing the Challenges of Climate Change for Sustainable Agriculture. While officially opening the show on July 18, 2017,