A team of researchers from Ain Shams University and other institutions conducted a study to characterize the transgenic Micro-Tom plants and revealed new insights into tomato fruit ripening. Their findings are published in Transgenic Research. Auxin is a plant hormone that controls several growth and development traits. The researchers described the characteristics of a new transcriptional activator SIARRI which binds specific DNA sequences in Arabidopsis plants

Researchers from the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) have successfully shown that iron treatment helps increase the resistance against rice blast fungus and activate the plant's immune response against the pathogen. A study published in the Rice journal led by Blanca San Segundo, a researcher at CRAG, reveals that exposing rice plants to moderately high levels of iron increases resistance to infection by the pathogenic fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, the agent causing rice blast, the most common disease in rice responsible for large production losses worldwide.

Today, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has made publicly available country-by-country indicators on healthy diets that show their cost - including by food group - and the number of individuals unable to afford them. The data serves as a reminder that even if the world has made progress towards providing enough calories to feed the global population, there remains a long road ahead to sustainably nourishing all people, everywhere.

A study done in the United Kingdom compared the reactions of 200 consumers to conventional meat, cultured meat, and plant-based meat alternatives in terms of taste, pleasantness, and other appeal-related factors. Interestingly, results suggested that there is an opportunity to promote acceptance of alternatives to conventional meat products based on the former's perceived healthiness despite its reduced expected taste pleasantness and other negative attributes.

Murdoch University, ISAAA Inc., and partners aim to assist both small and large-scale exporters in understanding the potential of gene editing for crop improvement, and the issues related to trade in gene-edited produce. Thus, a two-day international meeting titled International Conference on Gene-edited Crops: Enabling Future Commercialisation and International Trade is being organised on April 26-27, 2023 at The Shine Dome, ACT, Australia.

“Quality is not an act. It’s a habit.”  This sign greets Carlos Angulo Gonzáles as he walks into the premises of the Allima Cacao Cooperative. It perfectly captures the approach he and the members of the cooperative take to their work. The Allima cooperative brings together 400 small-scale farming families in Chazuta, a district in the Peruvian Amazon. Most of them are Kichwa Indigenous Peoples and recently switched from cultivating coca leaves to cocoa beans, with support from the local government.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced the recommendations for the viral composition of influenza vaccines for the 2023-2024 influenza season in the northern hemisphere. The announcement was made at an information session at the end of a 4-day meeting on the Composition of Influenza Virus Vaccines, a meeting that is held twice annually.

ICRISAT in collaboration with Nigeria's National Agricultural Research System - Lake Chad Research Institute (for pearl millet) and the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University (for sorghum) - has developed three sorghum and three pearl millet varieties, which have now been released promising better nutrition and higher yields for farmers.

A new cooperation framework was signed today between the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Eagle Genomics at the International Conference on Innovations to Transform Drylands. Director General, ICRISAT, Dr Jacqueline Hughes and Eagle Genomics CEO, Anthony Finbow signed the agreement overseen by an international gathering of some of the world’s foremost dryland agrifood system experts.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Board of Trustees and CGIAR have appointed Professor Appolinaire Djikeng as Director General of ILRI and CGIAR Senior Director of Livestock-Based Systems. Prof. Djikeng is a globally-recognized expert in developing multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, and global research and development programs focused on agricultural development, livestock development, and human health. Read the announcement here.