Agric & Biotech

World food prices fell 3.7 per cent in July from the month before with declines seen across all crop types, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday, August 2, 2018. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in Rome, where it is based, that the drop was the sharpest monthly drop since last December. FAO’s food price index, which ...

The first comprehensive overview for more than a decade of the state of knowledge about global biodiversity and the contributions of nature to people is nearing completion with a final meeting of authors this week at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), in Frankfurt Germany. Under the leadership of Professors Josef Settele (Germany), Sandra Díaz (Argentina), and Eduardo ...

Germany has published the first report on the utilisation of genetic resources through the Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) Clearing-House by issuing a checkpoint communiqué concerning research on ants from South Africa. This was rapidly followed by checkpoint communiqués from Malta and Qatar. The ABS Clearing-House is a global repository of information that helps provide legal certainty and transparency in the ...

Media Rights Agenda (MRA) on Monday, July 30, 2018 named the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) the week’s inductee into the “Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame” for alegedly violating the provisions of the FOI Act over the past seven years. MRA says ARCN is thus denying Nigerians the right to information in the agricultural development sector. The ARCN ...

Cotton farmers in Nigeria may have been given a lifeline following the official registration of two Bt Cotton varieties known as MRC 7377 BG 11 and MRC7361 BG11 by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Materials. The Director/CEO National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof. Alex Akpa, disclosed in Abuja on Thursday, July 26, 2018 that the ...

Tunisia and the African Development Bank (AFDB) have signed an agreement for the launch of a pilot project to use drones for data collection to enhance management of agricultural projects in the country. The project, to be implemented over the next 10 months, would receive technical management and assistance from South Korea, Minister Zied Laadhari announced during the signing ceremony on ...

A water irrigation and supply system funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) has transformed the lives of rural farming communities in Cape Verde’s Santiago Island, sparing farmers grueling treks of up to 20 kilometres to fetch water for farming and daily use. Santiago Island, Cape Verde’s largest and most important agricultural centre, depends on water for its survival, but ...

A study by the India, New Delhi-based research and advocacy body, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), has exposed what looks like a large-scale illegal presence and sale of genetically modified (GM) processed foods in the country. Without the approval of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), production, sale and import of these foods is banned in ...

The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has told grain importers to ensure that their activities follow the agency’s import guidelines. Dr. Rufus Ebegba, Director General/CEO NBMA, made the appeal during an interactive session with grain importers on Wednesday, July 25, 2018 in Abuja. Dr Ebegba noted that, over the years, most seed companies imported grains from countries where most grains ...

The Climate Adaptation and Agribusiness Support Programme of the International Food and Agricultural Development (IFAD-CASP) says it will visit 207 villages in seven states to scrutinise the programme implementation. Mr Richard Nzekwu, National Coordinator (Climate Change and Adaptation) of IFAD-CASP, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse, Jigawa State, on Friday, July 20, 2018. ...