News & Events

Agrifood systems are playing an increasingly central role in countries’ biodiversity strategies and actions, according to preliminary findings presented during a High-Level Roundtable hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at its headquarters in Rome.

Sparse testcrossing is an effective strategy for increasing both short- and long-term genetic gain in hybrid breeding programs. Maize hybrid breeding programs aim to develop new hybrid varieties by crossing genetically distinct parents from different heterotic pools, exploiting heterosis for improved performance. The programs typically consist of two main components: population improvement and product development. The population improvement component aims to enhance the heterotic pools through reciprocal recurrent selection based on general combining ability (GCA)

Researchers at the University of Queensland have made a breakthrough discovery revealing that RNA-based biopesticides sprayed on leaves can travel systemically through a plant to its roots. This finding challenges long-held scientific assumptions and opens the door to protecting crops from underground threats such as nematodes and fungi with sustainable, chemical-free sprays.

Nearly 6.5 million Somalis face high levels of hunger, and more than 1.8 million children face acute malnutrition due to worsening drought, the Somali government and UN agencies have warned in a new report. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report indicates that a third of the population – 6.5 million people – are expected to face crisis levels of hunger or worse (IPC 3 and 4) by March, an increase of 1.7 million people since January.

Salt stress significantly limits rice productivity worldwide, highlighting the need for a thorough understanding of cultivar-specific tolerance mechanisms. This study explored the morpho-physiological and metabolomicresponses of four rice cultivars to salinity stress, aiming to identify potential adaptation strategies and candidate tolerance markers. The four rice cultivars (Giza 177, Giza 178, Sakha 104, and Sakha 108) were subjected to 200 mM NaCl treatment for 14 days under controlled conditions.

Every year, 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems, including lakes, rivers, and seas. According to the World Economic Forum, our oceans could weigh more from plastic than from fish by 2050 if the production of plastic remains uncontrolled. Plastic waste is a global problem. Traditional plastic waste management has been insufficient to tackle the scale of the crisis. With plastic pollution continuing to rise at an alarming rate, it’s clear that innovative solutions are urgently needed.

This agreement will focus on strengthening collaboration on sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation that will shape resilient food systems.The strategic collaboration between the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and CGIAR brings together complementary expertise. CGIAR advances science and innovation for transforming food, land, and water systems, while IUCN provides global overview and leadership on biodiversity and measures for conservation.

We found conspicuous differences in the global metabolomes and proteomes of the samples sourced from the two geographic regions. A total of 30 differential metabolites were identified in the metabolomics study, the composition of which was determined to be predominantly flavonoids and found in higher amounts in the samples from Mali. The proteomics study identified 39 differentially abundant proteins, which were found to be mainly involved in metabolic and cellular processes,

Researchers at Shandong Agricultural University have discovered that a key Green Revolution gene, Rht-D1b, does far more than just reduce plant height. The researchers, led by Dr. Han Zhang, redefined this gene as a central coordinator of wheat architecture and found that it also controls tiller angle and number, providing a new genetic blueprint to significantly boost global wheat yields and food security.

Last October, in the Caquetá foothills, more than a technical training session took place: it was a gathering to understand how to produce milk while caring for the forest and the future of Caquetá, Colombia. Nearly 60 suppliers from the company Lácteos del Hogar came together to learn and practice with a key tool—MyGeoFarm—and to understand, in a simple and participatory way, what the Zero-Deforestation Agreements (ZDAs) mean for the dairy sector and how to comply with them at the farm level.

Grazing systems represent the most extensive production systems in the world and are highly sensitive to climate change. However, their global-scale sensitivity and vulnerability to climate impacts remain poorly understood. Here, we apply the safe climatic space framework to assess how changes in core climatic drivers of grazing suitability, including temperature, precipitation, humidity, and wind speed, will reshape global grassland-based grazing systems.

Scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) have developed the most comprehensive genetic map of the cucumber to date, identifying 171,892 structural variants that could revolutionize crop breeding. By creating a graph-based pangenome from 39 cucumber varieties, researchers can now pinpoint large-scale DNA rearrangements that influence critical traits such as fruit shape, resilience, and the prevention of internal hollowness.