News & Events

The High-level segment of the First International Green Cities Conference, held during the World Food Forum 2025, produced two significant outcomes – a Communiqué and the Green City Principles and Criteria – to guide the next steps in advancing global efforts to make cities greener, more resilient, and inclusive. Co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UN-Habitat, the Conference united mayors, city practitioners, national authorities, civil-society and private-sector actors to explore practical strategies for sustainable urban development.

Rice, a major staple food for half of the world’s population, has been a significant source of nutrition. India is the second-largest producer and consumer of rice globally. Rice aroma is considered one of the most important traits as it is a key factor determining market price and is related to local and national identity. The genetic basis underlying aroma synthesis is well-explored in rice, and it is controlled by a recessive mutation in the betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (OsBADH2) gene that results in the synthesis of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP)

Experts from Yichun University in China discovered that SlWRKY75 plays a crucial role in helping tomatoes fight bacterial wilt, a devastating disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. The study, published in Frontiers of Plant Science, provides new insights into how this gene enhances disease resistance, offering potential pathways for developing stronger, more resilient tomato varieties. In this study, the researchers observed that the SlWRKY75-overexpressing tomato lines show enhanced resistance to bacterial wilt.

Across Ghana’s cocoa belt, the rhythm of the rains is no longer reliable. Once-predictable wet and dry seasons have given way to longer dry spells, hotter harmattan months, and sudden, intense downpours. For cocoa farmers, this “climate whiplash” is not just an inconvenience; it is a direct threat to their yields, which are projected to decline by 5% in the future compared to the current period, and to their livelihoods. Prolonged water stress causes pods to shrivel, while extreme rainfall fuels outbreaks of black pod disease, making it challenging to dry beans.

WRKYs are a unique family of plant-specific transcription factors. Research has proven that WRKY transcription factors play essential roles in regulating plant growth and development as well as biotic and abiotic stress responses. However, the role of WRKY proteins in regulating the resistance of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum remains unclear. Our previous study showed that R. solanacearum significantly upregulates SlWRKY75 expression in tomato

Scientists from Texas Tech University and partners reported the successful use of gene editing to induce basmati aroma in non-scented indica rice IR-64. Their results are published in Plant Physiology Reports. Aroma is one of the vital traits in rice and a key determinant for pricing. Studies have revealed that rice aroma is controlled by a recessive mutation in the betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (OsBADH2) gene that results in the synthesis of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP). However, the non-scented rice IR-64 carries a functional OsBADH2 gene, and knocking it out could induce the aroma.

This year, the United Nations revealed a sobering fact: fewer than 5 percent of its reports are downloaded more than 5,500 times. One in five never break 1,000. Evidence, it turns out, too often lives and dies in PDFs, admired by experts, unseen by those whose lives it aims to improve. The CGIAR Climate Security team took that as a challenge. In 2025, our researchers made a deliberate shift from publishing findings about people to communicating with them. Through partnerships with journalists, filmmakers, and broadcasters, we worked to bring scientific data into public dialogue, bridging the gap between climate models and lived experience.

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is an important tree grown worldwide for its edible fruits, nuts and other products of industrial applications. The ecologically sensitive cashew-growing region in coastal Kenya is significantly affected by rising temperatures, droughts, floods, and shifting rainfall patterns. These changes adversely impact cashew growth by altering flowering patterns, increasing pests and diseases, and causing postharvest losses, which ultimately result in reduced yields and tree mortality. This is exacerbated by the long juvenile phase, high heterozygosity, lack of trait correlations, large mature plant size, and inadequate genomic resources

University of Maryland researchers have identified a gene in wheat that could significantly enhance the global food supply. The scientists identified the WUSCHEL-D1 (WUS-D1) gene as the key factor responsible for a rare variety of wheat that develops three ovaries per flower, instead of the standard single ovary. Since each ovary can mature into a grain of wheat, activating this gene offers a path to producing significantly more wheat kernels per plant and potentially tripling the overall yield.

Deforestation has slowed in all of the world’s regions in the last decade, according to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 (FRA 2025) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Released every five years, the 2025 edition of the report was published today during the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Plenary in Bali, Indonesia.

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is caused by mitochondrial genes that are constitutively expressed in plant tissues, although the encoded proteins preferentially accumulate in anthers. The mechanisms regulating CMS protein accumulation remain unclear. Here, we explored this process using wild-abortive CMS (CMS-WA) rice (Oryza sativa). We show that WA352, the causal protein of CMS-WA, is degraded by the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS). Structural analysis and protein truncation assays revealed that the N terminus of WA352 is critical for its anchoring to the inner mitochondrial membrane and its UPS-mediated degradation. Functional complementation confirmed that WA352151–352,

Researchers at Iowa State University (ISU) have made discoveries about Agrobacterium tumefaciens, the bacterium responsible for the creation of genetically modified (GM) crops. Led by Professor Kan Wang of ISU's Agronomy and Biotechnology, the team explored how changes in the bacterium's DNA affect its ability to infect plants and influence their growth. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is also the foundation of genetic engineering in agriculture, which allows scientists to insert foreign genes into crops. “All of the GMOs on the market were made by Agrobacterium,