28 January 2015, Rome - Farmers in southern Malawi urgently need seeds and livestock after intense flooding destroyed their fields and homes, washing away animals and crops and threatening local food security.

IRRI has developed drought-tolerant varieties which have been released in several countries and are now being planted by farmers. These include Sahbhagi dhan in India, the 5411 variety in the Philippines, and the Sookha dhan varieties in Nepal, and the BRRI dhan varieties in Bangladesh. Across these varieties, the average yield advantage of drought-tolerant varieties over drought-susceptible ones is 0.8-1.2 tons per hectare under drought.

A new district-level platform launched in Mali creates needed space for researchers, NGOs and policy makers to meet and tackle climate change and food insecurity together. Photo: OXFAM

New district-level meeting platform will help scientists, traditional authorities and organisations share climate knowledge, tools and lessons learned for a more food secure and resilient region.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva today attended an African Union (AU) summit which is set to focus on a continent-wide commitment by governments to end hunger by 2025, and also on efforts to boost the role of women in achieving prosperity in Africa.

29 January 2015, Rome – Inland fisheries – the network of lakes, rivers and streams that provide fish and freshwater to millions across the world – need to be better managed in order to safeguard their contribution to healthy diets and economies, particularly in developing countries.

Ha Noi, Viet Nam. The National Zero Hunger Challenge (ZHC), a major initiative to eradicate hunger in Viet Nam, was launched today by the Government of Viet Nam in collaboration with the United Nations, including FAO. The launch, led by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dũng along with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, and other leaders of line ministries symbolized the Government of Viet Nam's commitment to achieving Zero Hunger by 2025.
 

Ag Biotech Vietnam, in collaboration with the Faculty of Biology and Chemistry of the Northwestern University, organized a biotech quiz contest  bearing the theme "Learning the biotechnology applications in agriculture 2014 ".

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a major fungal disease in durum wheat caused by Fusarium gramineum. FHB infected durum wheat suffers grain yield losses and reduced quality. With this problem, researchers from Sapienza Università di Roma, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" and Iowa State University conducted a study on durum wheat to increase its resistance against the disease.

The National Academy of Sciences conducted a two-day workshop on how to communicate about genetically modified organisms (GMO) to the public. The workshop was held on January 15-16, 2015 in Washington, DC. The workshop was attended by life science researchers and featured speakers who are experts on science communication.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced its decision to deregulate Monsanto's Dicamba-tolerant trait technologies –Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ soybeans and Bollgard II® XtendFlex™ cotton. The decision will be published in the Federal Register in the near future.