Agriculture

Mars has formed the first global standard for sustainable rice with the Sustainable Rice Platform

Mars announces sustainable rice partnership

By Michelle Perrett

Mars Food, the owner of Uncle Ben’s, has announced the first global standard for sustainable rice in partnership with the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP).

Insect food

Eating insects poses no special risks for humans

By Michael Stones

Edible insects pose no special risks to human health – when consumed directly or used as stock feed – according to a new risk assessment from the European food safety watchdog.

FAO plans water usage database to improve productivity

FAO plans water usage database to improve productivity

By Eliot Beer

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is developing an open-access database to measure water usage in the Middle East and North Africa, to improve water productivity and reduce scarcity issues.

Two new barley plant genes discovered

Feature

Two new barley plant genes discovered

By Millie Thwaites

A group of international researchers have discovered two new genes in the barley plant that will shed light on the history of agriculture and also bring new capabilities to barley breeding programs.

Pope Francis weighs into the GMO debate

Pope Francis weighs into the GMO debate

By Elaine Watson

Pope Francis has weighed into the debate over GM crops, arguing that while he doesn’t believe there is any “conclusive proof that GM cereals are harmful to human beings”, he worries about their effects on the ecosystem, and argues that they have resulted...

The FAO already had warned that Yemen was facing widespread crop failure because of the conflict

Yemen facing food supply catastrophe

By Eliot Beer

Conflict in Yemen has pushed even more people into food insecurity, and growing shortages of food, water and fuel mean the country is facing imminent catastrophe, according to aid agencies.

One of the biggest challenges was farmer resistance to the new system, Mondelez said

Egypt wheat farming scheme boosts harvests 10%

By Eliot Beer

An Egyptian wheat farming education programme from Mondelez and Care has seen farmers boost their wheat crops more than 10% each year, with some doubling their harvests.

UN bodies putting smallholders' livelihoods at risk

Asia-Pacific

UN bodies putting smallholders' livelihoods at risk

By RJ Whitehead

With two-thirds of Asia’s farmland now owned by just a handful of landowners, United Nations-backed policies to promote corporate agricultural production have been blamed for displacing farmers. 

‘True Aussie’ was unveiled for the meat industry about a year ago

Australian ‘True Aussie’ quality campaign boosts exports

By Poorna Rodrigo

Australia’s push to re-define its agricultural produce under a unified name - ‘True Aussie’ that signifies products are clean, green and safe - is helping the country’s meat exporters, claim industry leaders.

Organic farming tends to have lower crop yields than conventional farming - but it is also less reliant on non-renewable inputs

Can organic feed the world?

By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

Organic crops generally have lower yields than conventional crops – but that’s not the only way to measure their potential to feed the world.

GM contamination case hinges on duty of care as judges hear appeal

Briefing

GM contamination case hinges on duty of care as judges hear appeal

By RJ Whitehead

"The heart of this clash between two neighbours is a question of how two systems of agriculture can co-exist," a court Western Australia’s supreme appeals court heard as an organic farmer who lost his certification allegedly due to the harvesting...

Agriculture almost wiped out in Vanuatu by cyclone Pam

The Pacific

Agriculture almost wiped out in Vanuatu by cyclone Pam

By RJ Whitehead

Strong winds, heavy rains and floods in the wake of severe tropical cyclone Pam have caused extensive damage to agriculture across Vanuatu, including its main food and export crops, livestock and fisheries infrastructure, the Food and Agriculture Office...

UAE aims to achieve sustainable quinoa production by 2021

UAE pushes quinoa as staple crop

By Eliot Beer

The UAE has launched a major quinoa cultivation project to introduce the crop as a domestically produced staple, following successful farm trials.

The centre will work with global experts to exploit natural crop diversity

UAE opens Agricultural Innovation Centre

By Eliot Beer

The UAE government has officially opened a new agricultural research centre in Sharjah, aimed at promoting agricultural sustainability and the latest technological innovations.

Australia’s biosecurity could be in for a shock

Australia

Australia’s biosecurity could be in for a shock

By RJ Whitehead

European honey bee colonies wiped out and an invasion of a devastating wheat disease are just two of the potential biosecurity threats facing Australia, according to a report released by Australia’s research agency.

Crucial to food security, family farms need greater support

State of food and agriculture

Crucial to food security, family farms need greater support

By RJ Whitehead

Nine out of 10 of the world's 570m farms are managed by families, making the family farm the predominant of agriculture, and consequently a potentially crucial agent of change in achieving sustainable food security and in eradicating hunger in the...

Around 3,000 hectares of vegetable fields, 736 hectares of fruit trees, and 13,200 greenhouses have been destroyed or damaged in Gaza.

Gaza conflict causes $450m damage to agri infrastructure

By Eliot Beer

The recent conflict in Gaza has effectively halted local food production and caused US$450m-worth of damage to the territory’s agricultural infrastructure, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warns.

Chambers of commerce call for GM field trials

India

Chambers of commerce call for GM field trials

By RJ Whitehead

A leading industry body has called on India’s authorities to allow field trials of certain crops as a measure aimed at the poor by increasing food production.

Victorian grains to reap long-term research benefits

Australia

Victorian grains to reap long-term research benefits

By RJ Whitehead

Grain growers in the state of Victoria will benefit from a new five year agreement that will increase research and development in their industry, according to the Australian agriculture minister.

Iraq violence threatens critical harvest, says FAO

Iraq violence threatens critical harvest, says FAO

By Eliot Beer

The recent conflict in Iraq has pushed the country to the brink of a food supply crisis through risks to harvests and growing refugee numbers, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned.

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