FAO 25 March 2016, Rome - Cuba has helped to edge forward global efforts targeting illegal fishing by acceding to a FAO-brokered international pact that now requires the adherence by just one more party before coming into force. Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations agencies in Rome, Alba Soto Pimentel, today formally presented FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva with Cuba's instrument of accession to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.

Scientists have believed for a long time that the role of plant immune system was only to distinguish between friend and foe and to fend off pathogens, but it is also involved in accommodating beneficial microorganisms in the plant when required. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, Germany in collaboration with an international consortium of other laboratories discovered this relationship between the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the fungus Colletotrichum tofieldiae

Australia's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has issued a license in response to application DIR 138 from Bayer CropScience, authorizing the commercial release of canola genetically modified (GM) for dual herbicide tolerance and to facilitate production of the GMOs. The release is authorized to take place throughout Australia. The GM canola and products derived from the GM canola may enter general commerce

"Life was very difficult. I was not happy at all with the situation," recalls William. It was access to water – through an irrigation system installed by the Tanzanian government and supported by IFAD – that finally changed her life. With regular access to water, William became not only a successful farmer but also an innovative entrepreneur, starting her own construction business with the additional income.

Cassava, the third largest source of calories after rice and maize in the region, supports an estimated 40 million people. The crop underpins a US$5 billion market in starch, chips and other cassava products including biofuel. Southeast Asia is currently the world’s largest trader of cassava starch.

The rice fields of Vietnamese farmers in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) and other coastal areas have recently been undergoing acute drought and salt water intrusion. However, according to scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), these problems can be foreseen and viable options are being made available to help farmers cope and lessen, if not totally avoid, production and income losses.

The maize kn1 gene encodes a transcription factor protein involved in the establishment and maintenance of plant meristems. The gene has also been used to improve shoot regeneration and transformation in tobacco and other crops. A team from the University of Connecticut, led by Wei Hu, studied the effects of kn1 gene on the genetic transformation efficiencies of six citrus genotypes.

In 2009, Professor Tetsuya Higashiyama of Nagoya University and his colleagues discovered that a synergid cell located next to the egg cell, produces molecules called LUREs that attract pollen tubes in Torenia plants. They also discovered similar LURE peptides in Arabidopsis thaliana in 2012.

FAO 10 March 2016, Putrajaya, Malaysia - While the Asia-Pacific region has shown remarkable progress in reducing poverty and hunger during the last 25 years, it can lead the world in the complete eradication of these scourges within the next 15 years, FAO's Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific heard today.  

A new study published by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and authored by Val Giddings, Robert D. Atkinson, and John Wu reveals how opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) hurts developing nations. According to the report, campaigns against GMOs, originating primarily in Europe, have created significant obstacles to the development and adoption of genetically modified crops. The authors emphasized that the restrictive climate for agricultural biotech innovations could cost low- and lower-middle-income nations up to US$1.5 trillion in foregone economic benefits through 2050.