FAO 12 October 2015, Rome-The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) opened its plenary today, marking the first international gathering on food security and nutrition since global leaders approved the Sustainable Development Agenda's goals.

As part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's (APEC) Food Security Week hosted this year by the Philippines in partnership with ISAAA, the High Level Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Biotechnology (HLPDAB) convened representatives of the APEC member economies to discuss agri-biotech developments in the region on September 30-October 1, 2015 at the Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo City

Twenty years after its birth, FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries shared a moment in the limelight with ministers, researchers and leaders in the fisheries industry at the first International Fisheries Stakeholders Forum that opened in Vigo, Spain, today.  "The Code of Conduct has been an unmitigated success, because it captures both the essence of nature conservation and the need for developing countries to grow and prosper," said Arni Mathiesen, FAO Assistant Director-General for Fisheries and Aquaculture speaking at the opening session.

Genome sequences of more than 3,000 rice varieties have been placed with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) by the world’s leading rice research institute in a move boosting plans to set up a global data exchange system for crop genetic resources. The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Treaty (ITPGRFA) made the announcement at the 6th session of the Governing Body of the FAO-based 136-member nation plant treaty that is being held in Rome this week.

Ghanaian Farmer Leaders have challenged their government and scientists to intensify outreach to farmers and other stakeholders in order to allay fears on the safety of GM crops and other biosafety issues. In a biotechnology and biosafety sensitization workshop held at Techiman, Central Ghana, in September, the farmer leaders stated that if similar workshops were organized at the grassroots, farmers "would not be holding placards and demonstrating over a technology that could possibly benefit them."

His high school counselor suggested that he go straight into science or engineering. But Alfred Schmidley, a 1985 graduate of Bradley University in Illinois, was in no rush to make such a decision and would soon consider other ideas. “When I went to college, the world around me suddenly got a whole lot bigger—with some apprehension, mind you, as I began trying to fill in all the gaps,” he recalled with a laugh. “I found it all very complicated!”

Researchers from Ghent University in Belgium have succeeded in stabilizing folates in biofortified rice. The research team developed a new rice prototype, and applied two strategies for the folate to remain stable for long storage. The first strategy involved binding folates with a folate binding protein. This protein is well studied in mammals, but unknown in plants. It occurs in milk and protects folate from degradation. Based on a folate binding protein from bovine milk, the folate content of rice remained stable upon long storage.

Scientists from two institutions in Japan have revealed why black rice is black. Also called "Emperor's rice" because it was reserved only for the Emperor in ancient China, black rice has gained popularity worldwide for its high levels of antioxidants.

The United States and China have conducted in-depth discussions about agricultural biotechnology, and committed to further improve the approval processes. Representative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and China's Ministry of Agriculture discussed the issue in the Strategic Agriculture Innovation Dialogue before U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping met last week.

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has requested to withdraw the backup seeds that they deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to restart their collection away from the ongoing conflict in their previous home in Aleppo, Syria. ICARDA is currently based in Beirut, Lebanon, and requesting seeds from their gene bank in Aleppo is getting more and more difficult.