An international collaboration between researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Nagoya University and the University of Western Australia has discovered a gene in rice that confers flood tolerance, droughttolerance, and disease resistance, and the discovery of the gene is a major step forward in the quest to produce climate smart crops.

Researchers at Japan's Tohoku University have discovered that plants activate autophagy in their leaf cells to derive amino acids that are used for survival under energy-starved "hunger" conditions. Autophagy is a process where plants "self-eat" the portion of intracellular proteins in their cells.

The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have agreed to a step-change in their partnership to accelerate delivery on the rapidly growing needs of the African rice sector, in particular, and the Sustainable Development Goals, in general. The two CGIAR Centers will join together to offer a comprehensive, pan-African, multi-focus program of research for development services aligned with national priorities.

IRRI collaborates with USAID in engaging the youth into rice science while showcasing IRRI’s innovation and leadership in breeding, varietal development, climate change adaptation, and yield gap reduction. The fourth Cambodia Science and Engineering Festival was a large celebration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. During the three-day event, the IRRI Cambodia Team engaged more than a thousand students and other young professionals through various interactive activities highlighting rice science.

Natural disasters are costing farmers in the developing world billions of dollars each year, with drought emerging as the most destructive in a crowded field of threats that also includes floods, forest fires, storms, plant pests, animal diseases outbreaks, chemical spills and toxic algal blooms.
 

The GMOinfo.eu website supported by EuropaBio and partners from 11 countries across Europe, was launched to provide factual information about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to Europeans in their own language. The GMOinfo.eu page is operated by the Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC) in partnership with EuropaBio. The website contains information on trade and approvals, cultivation and benefits of GMOs, innovation and intellectual property, and science and safety.

The expert committee of Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency is expected to decide on the country's GE labelling requirements by the end of March 2018. This is according to the Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report released by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service

Agriculture is the top user of the world's freshwater, and the increasing population puts more pressure on this precious resource. For the first time, scientists from the United States and United Kingdom have improved how a crop uses water by 25 percent without compromising yield by altering the expression of one gene that is found in all plants.

Seed companies in Africa have been challenged to explore ways of developing their own biotech products to meet the rising needs of food in the continent amid devastating effects of climate change and emerging pests. Addressing more than 450 delegates from 50 countries at the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) Annual Congress held on February 26-March 1, 2018 in Cairo, Egypt,

Centering around the theme: “Capitalizing on gains made: Towards enhanced nutrition, livelihood, and equity in unfavorable rice ecosystems,” the Consortium for Unfavorable Rice Environments (CURE) through the project, Reducing Risks and Raising Rice Livelihoods in Southeast Asia, held a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand on February 21-22.