Researchers from the University of Arizona (UA) have discovered an unexpected strategy that can delay, and even reverse, the evolution of resistance by pests to genetically engineered crops. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that hybridizing genetically engineered cotton with conventional cotton reduced resistance in the pink bollworm, a voracious global pest.

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) launched its 2016 report titled Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2016. Two launch events were held on May 4 and 5, 2017 in Beijing, China. The media conference held on May 4, 2017 at China Wold Hotel was attended by some 40 journalists from Chinese and international news agencies. ISAAA Chair, Dr. Paul Teng, presented the highlights of the report.

Mutation breeding is an effective technique to increase resilience to drought in crops grown in drought-prone countries. At a recent training course held in Namibia, crop improvement scientists learned about the principles and practical aspects of using mutation breeding to improve drought tolerance traits in crops such as sorghum, cowpea and pearl millet, among others.

Two-and-a-half-year-olds normally fail standard false-belief tasks. In the classic version, children have to say where a protagonist will look for an apple that, unbeknownst to her, was moved to a new location. Children under 4 generally predict that the protagonist will look for her apple in its current location, rather than where she left it.

In their study of influenza mortality in Chicago in 1918, Grantz et al. (1) conclude that pandemic-related mortality was related to “neighborhood level social factors” (e.g., illiteracy, homeownership, unemployment). Because “social factors” do not directly cause influenza illness or mortality, they must be surrogates for other factors. Other studies of Chicagoans during the 1918 pandemic provide insights.

FAO today welcomed the new report published by WFP on food security, conflict and international migration. "The WFP report is an important contribution to the debate and analysis of some of the fundamental drivers of migration especially those related to conflict and food insecurity," said Kostas Stamoulis, FAO Assistant Director-General. Economic and Social Development Department.

In 2016, Central and Southern Viet Nam has experienced the worst drought and salt intrusion in 90 years, with 18 provinces declaring state of emergency at its most severe time. From this event, 1 million people were in need of food assistance and 1.75 million people lost their income due to damaged or lost livelihoods. The Government of Viet Nam has also estimated an economic loss of 674 million US Dollar. Farmer Dinh Van Tuong, the eldest son-in-law of the Dinh family from An Thanh Commune, Gia Lai Province, was no exception.

As part of efforts  to move towards "climate-smart" agriculture, countries have shared new experiences on how to produce food in ways that help farmers cope with the impacts of climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. The exchange took place at a special 26 April side-event during a session of FAO's executive Council.

The Philippine government was urged to promote high-yielding biotech corn seeds to boost production and enable farmers to export. This call was given by Monsanto Philippines Commercial Lead, Rachelle Lomibao during an interview after the launch of the company's new hybrid corn variety, Dekalb 6999S.

The Philippine government was urged to promote high-yielding biotech corn seeds to boost production and enable farmers to export. This call was given by Monsanto Philippines Commercial Lead, Rachelle Lomibao during an interview after the launch of the company's new hybrid corn variety, Dekalb 6999S.