News & Events

World coffee prices reached a multi-year high in 2024 - increasing 38.8 percent on the previous year’s average – mostly driven by inclement weather affecting key producing countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said today. According to an FAO note on global coffee market trends, in December 2024, Arabica, the higher quality coffee favoured in the roast and ground coffee market, was selling at 58 percent up on a year ago, while Robusta, used mainly for instant coffee and blending, saw a price surge of 70 percent in real terms.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has appointed the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters as Global Goodwill Ambassadors recognizing the US team’s dedication to raising awareness about food insecurity, food waste, and the importance of healthy diets. On Sunday, in front of around 8000 spectators and basketball enthusiasts at Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu joined the team centre court during the halftime show to make the announcement.

The primary goals of crop breeding are to enhance yield and improve disease resistance. However, the “trade-off” mechanism, in which signalling pathways for resistance and yield are antagonistically regulated, poses challenges for achieving both simultaneously. Previously, we demonstrated that knock-out mutants of the Dense and Erect Panicle 1 (DEP1) gene can significantly enhance rice resistance to sheath blight (ShB), and we mapped DEP1's association with panicle length

Cowpea, a vital legume crop in sub-Saharan Africa, nourishes millions and supports rural economies. Yet, its productivity is under siege by a persistent enemy: cowpea anthracnose disease (CAD). Recent research has identified the causal agents of CAD in Nigeria, challenging previous understanding of the disease in the country. Historically, Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and C. destructivum were considered the primary pathogens responsible for CAD in Nigeria.

The main objectives of crop breeding are to improve production and boost disease resistance. However, building both traits may lead to a “trade-off” effect, wherein there is antagonistic regulation of the two traits. In the research team's previous study, rice mutants missing the DEP1 gene showed improved resistance to sheath blight. In their latest study, dep1 mutants exhibited reduced rice yield. Truncated DEP1 led to ShB resistance and yield increase in japonica rice.

Sugarcane, which provides 80% of global table sugar and 40% of biofuel, presents unique breeding challenges due to its highly polyploid, heterozygous, and frequently aneuploid genome. Significant progress has been made in developing genetic resources, including the recently completed reference genome of the sugarcane cultivar R570 and pan-genomic resources from sorghum, a closely related diploid species

Wheat a vital global crop for food security, faces challenges from climate change and a growing population, making yield improvement crucial for future production. A study published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal highlights the gene affecting wheat grain weight and filling. The Wox gene family encodes transcription factors essential for plant growth and development. However, the role of Wox genes in cereal crops remains unclear, particularly with yield traits like thousand kernel weight (TKW)

Experts from the University of Florida released a review article in The Plant Journal featuring the applications of RNA interference and various gene editing tools in sugarcane. The complexity of sugarcane's genome has led to limited applications of site-specific nucleases, and with no reports about the use of meganucleases or zinc-finger nucleases. However, a pioneering study in 2016 used TALENs to target the lignin biosynthesis gene COMT, building on previous RNAi research demonstrating lignin reduction potential.

Flowering time is a key agronomic trait that determines the adaptability of crops to the environment and thus affects yields. The mechanism underlying flowering time is still far from clear in Brassica napus. In this study, a recombinant inbred line population composed of 215 lines was constructed and 35 flowering time QTLs were identified. One major QTL, qFT.A02-1 (explaining 16.40–17.80% of phenotypic variation), was detected in two environments,

Scientists led by Prof. Alexander Vainstein from the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a gene-edited lettuce with significantly higher levels of essential vitamins and antioxidants, a breakthrough in the global fight against micronutrient deficiencies. The newly developed lettuce variety contains 2.7 times more β-carotene (provitamin A), an essential compound for vision, immune function, and skin health.

Nigeria has joined the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) as the 80th member of the leading international standard-setting organization in plant variety protection (PVP). President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed Nigeria's instrument of accession to the 1991 Act of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants that takes effect on March 27, 2025.

Difficulties exist in obtaining full-length, correctly folded, and soluble papain or papain-like proteases that necessitate the exploration of alternative strategies. This study describes the development of an Escherichia coli strain capable of producing soluble papain without the need for complex and time-consuming in vitro refolding steps. To enhance the production of soluble papain, engineered T7 promoters and a recombinant papain translationally fused with varying tags were constructed.