Scientists from the United Kingdom have developed a new genomics strategy to track the devastating wheat yellow rust pathogen. A major fungal disease of wheat, yellow (stripe) rust caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis Westend f. sp. tritici Eriks. (PST) has re-emerged globally in recent years.

The Media Conference on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2014, co-organized with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), was held on February 27, 2014 at InterContinental Manila Hotel, Makati City. According to the ISAAA report, around 415,000 small and resource-poor Filipino farmers planted an estimated 831,000 hectares of biotech corn in 2014

06 March 2015, Rome - Marking International Women’s Day 2015 (March 8th), leaders from the United Nations’ three Rome-based food agencies gathered to remind the world that women farmers play a central role in achieving food and nutrition security.

Nigerian senators have unanimously adopted the report of the joint committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and Science and Technology on the National Biosafety Management Agency establishment bill 2015, as presented by Senators Emmanuel Bwacha and Robert Borriface on February 27, 2015. The agency will regulate the safe use, handling and transport of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and products in the country. It prescribes procedures for the movement, risk assessment, and adoption of any GMO and penalties for contravening the law.

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) has revealed the genetic roots of resistance to wheat stem rust, a disease that has recently devastated crop yields from southern Africa through the Middle East. Plant breeders have successfully combated the disease by introducing rust-resistant cultivars in the mid-20th century, until Ug99, a mutated strain emerged in 1999 in Uganda.

Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. New wildlife farming census data was released today at a Wildlife Farms Survey Dissemination Workshop. The workshop shared information on the extent and types of wildlife farmed in southern Viet Nam Provinces through a baseline census. This research is a milestone for Viet Nam as it offers a starting point to bring further commitment and attention to making wildlife farming safer in Viet Nam.

Breeding climate-smart sorghum, finger millet, chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut crops figure high on the agenda of the Government of Karnataka (GoK). Mr Krishna Byre Gowda, Minister of Agriculture, GoK, said that Karnataka will soon sign an agreement with ICRISAT and the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, India, to produce non-GM varieties of the above five crops. A consortium would be formed for this purpose and will be funded by GoK.

27 February 2015, Nassau - Agriculture, particularly family farming, is crucial for Caribbean countries to achieve food security as they face climate change and other challenges, and can also spur their economic development by creating jobs, especially for youth, according to FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

A high yielding hybrid maize seed, YH-1898, developed jointly by the breeders of Maize and Millets Research Institute of Sahiwal and the Punjab Seed Corporation (PSC) was launched in Pakistan on February 23, 2015.

Scientists at the University of Guelph identified a gene that could block genetically modified crops from cross-contaminating conventional crops. According to Sherif Sherif, lead author of the study, this discovery may put down arguments against GM food crops.