FAO Director General Jose Graziano da Silva called on government ministries and international agencies to break through traditional silos and embrace more creative approaches to tackling today's developmental challenges as embodied by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For World TB Day, today, WHO is calling on countries and partners to "Unite to End TB". This is an ambitious aim. While there has been significant progress in the fight against TB, with 43 million lives saved since 2000, the battle is only half-won. 2016 marks the beginning of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) era. Ethiopia is one country making progress in tackling TB and is committed to reaching the SDG target of ending TB by 2030.

SUWON, South Korea—Dr. Kyu-Seong Lee has been named director general of the Department of Central Area Crop Science under the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) of the Rural Development Administration (RDA) of South Korea, effective 7 March 2016.
 

Researchers from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of Copenhagen have shown, for the first time, that the production of a plant hormone by a beneficial microbe is protecting a plant from a pathogenic microbe by inducing plant resistance. Plant beneficial microbes mediate biocontrol of diseases by interfering with pathogens or via strengthening the host, but the microorganisms' production of phytohormones, including cytokinins, has not been considered as a biocontrol mechanism before.

FAO 23 March 2016, Rome - The United Nations has called for a stronger response by governments, aid organizations and the private sector to address the devastating impact the El Niño climate event is having on the food security, livelihoods, nutrition and health of some 60 million people around the world.

A team of biologists at Nagoya University's Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM) led by Narihito Nakamichi has uncovered that the clock genes produced by plants during the evening are regulated by clock proteins produced in the morning.

As temperatures increase, plants speed up their respiratory metabolism, leading to elevated carbon release and making forests around the world a carbon source. However, a new study at the University of Minnesota on more than 1,000 young trees has found that plants adjust or acclimate to a warmer climate and may release only one-fifth as much additional carbon dioxide than scientists previously believed.

Finger millet can play a key role in fighting malnutrition and bringing down the numbers of malnourished children under five years of age. “Finger millet is high in calcium, zinc and iron. Hence it is good for children, young women and breast-feeding mothers. It possesses important amino acids, which help fight malnutrition and degenerative diseases,” said Dr Rhoda Nungo, Food Nutritionist, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) – Alupe Research Centre, Busia. She was speaking at a training program led by ICRISAT.

FAO 21 March, 2016, Rome - FAO today launched a new programme aiming to enhance the critical role of forests in improving water quality and water supplies, on the occasion of the UN's International Day of Forests. 

Since 2014, the Philippine Rice Information System (PRISM) has been providing the Department of Agriculture (DA) with timely seasonal data on rice area and yield and assessment of crop health and damage in the event of a typhoon, flood, or drought. In its first annual executive meeting on 31 March, PRISM will present its achievements and activities to a wider audience. High-level officials including Senator Cynthia Villar, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, DA undersecretaries, and other stakeholders will attend the event.