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.

A new large-scale European project aims to measure crop plants and their response to changes in the environment. The European Multi-Environment Plant Phenomics and Simulation Infrastructure, or EMPHASIS, is part of the new European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap, in which the member states of the ESFRI Forum coordinate research strategies in Europe.

A research team led by Associate Professor Miyake Chikahiro and PhD student Takagi Daisuke from the Kobe University Graduate School of Agricultural Science, has discovered that a gene in plants suppresses the toxic byproducts of photosynthesis. When plants absorb energy from sunlight during photosynthesis, the excess energy reacts with oxygen in cells to produce harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS). Luckily, plants have genes that neutralize these toxic species. Professor Miyake's research group evaluated one of these genes, known as "AOR" (alkenal/one oxidoreductase).

How climate change might affect the food supply for a growing population is a critical concern. A new study conducted by researchers from Brown and Tufts universities suggests that researchers have been overlooking how two key human responses to climate — how much land people choose to farm, and the number of crops they plant — will impact food production in the future.

Genestack, developer of next generation enterprise platform for genomics research and development, together with Rothamsted Research, will make new tools for agri-genomics available on its platform. The tools, which are being developed at Rothamsted Research, will help scientists apply high-throughput bioinformatics technologies to accelerate crop breeding and crop improvement research.