A new plant protection method on the horizon
Reading Time: 2 minutesNOVEL technologies are being sought to replace the traditional pesticides used to protect plants, particularly edible plants such as cereals. A new collaborative project between the University of Helsinki and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) is shedding light on the efficacy of environmentally friendly RNA-based vaccines that protect plants from diseases and […]
Five ways India must help its farmers face the threat of climate change
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY MANOJ DORA Senior Lecturer in Operations & Supply Chain Management, Brunel University London Climate change could hurt farmers’ income by up to 20-25% in the medium term, according to the Indian government’s latest annual economic survey. Extreme weather events, temperature rise and lower rainfall all threaten to derail the Indian government’s agenda of doubling […]
Conflicts and weather patterns strain food security
Reading Time: 2 minutesROME: High levels of food insecurity persist in the world, due largely to conflicts and to adverse climatic shocks that are taking a toll, particularly in East African and Near East countries, where large numbers of people continue to be in need of humanitarian assistance, a new FAO report notes. Some 37 countries are in […]
INBIOSIS- CFF collaborate to ensure food and national security
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBY ASMAHANIM AMIR SEMENYIH: Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), UKM is working hand-inhand with Crops For the Future (CFF) to ensure the sustainability of crops and food security, through research. UKM Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation, Prof Dr Hj Mohd Ekhwan Toriman said the research will focus on nutritional value chains for dietary diversification […]
Minister: Brace up for 2050’s digital agriculture
Reading Time: 2 minutesSERDANG: The agriculture sector has to remain strategically important as a food provider and must keep pace with a fast changing world moving towards digital technology, says Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based industries, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek. “New digital and biotechnologies will impact on the livelihood of millions of farmers worldwide. We need to […]
FAO: Fast-spreading pests harm food security
Reading Time: < 1 minuteCOLLECTIVE efforts must be given to combat rapidly spreading, cross-border animal and plant pests and diseases that could harm global food security. This is according to the assessment of representatives from over 20 countries who attended a meeting organised by the United Nations – Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health, Bioversity […]
Call to reverse world hunger crisis
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHE recent increase in the number of hungry people in the world requires immediate action to reverse this situation, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told members of the FAO Council on Dec 4. He noted that the latest hunger figure – 815 million people – marked the first increase after more than a decade […]
Call to African govts to promote agri-biotechnologies
Reading Time: 2 minutesAFRICAN governments need to exert more effort to put in place viable legislation and investments that promote agricultural biotechnologies and address food insecurity. This was one of the recommendations put forward during the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Regional Meeting on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa held from Nov […]
‘Food Evolution’ provokes pro-GMO debate
Reading Time: 2 minutesBY ARUNA GANESAN BANDAR SUNWAY: A recent forum held in conjunction with the documentary Food Evolution directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy pushed the global pro-GMO agenda a notch higher. Panellists from various countries including Malaysia, Belgium, Philippines, India, and Kenya [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] who watched the movie at Monash University Malaysia here – lent […]
Bangladesh releases high-yielding disease-resistant wheat variety to farmers
Reading Time: 2 minutesAS wheat farmers in Bangladesh struggle to recover from a 2016 outbreak of a mysterious disease called “wheat blast,” the country’s National Seed Board (NSB) released a new, high-yielding, blast-resistant wheat variety, according to a communication from the Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Bangladesh. Called “BARI Gom 33,” the variety was developed by WRC using […]