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Agricultural Biotechnologies
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The News items relate to applications of biotechnologies in food and agriculture in developing countries and their major focus is on the activities of FAO, other UN agencies/bodies and the 15 CGIAR research centres. The News items cover all food and agricultural sectors (crops, forestry, fisheries/aquaculture, livestock, agro-industry) and a wide range of biotechnologies (e.g. use of molecular markers, artificial insemination, triploidisation, biofertilisers, micropropagation, genomics, genetic modification etc.). New documents are included as News if they are freely available on the web and, for people who can't download them or who wish further information, an e-mail contact is also provided. The News service was launched in January 2002 and all News items posted since then (there were 800 in the first 9 years) are available here. The news and event items on this website are also disseminated through an e-mail newsletter called FAO-BiotechNews that is published in six different versions, one per language i.e. Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. To subscribe, send a message to [email protected] indicating which e-mail addresses are to be subscribed and in which language they wish to receive the newsletter.
16/06/2010
FAO has just published Building biosafety capacities: FAOs experience and outlook, which aims to illustrate the main findings and lessons learned from FAOs past and ongoing biosafety capacity building initiatives, in order to improve future interventions and better shape strategic planning, in line with the Cartagena Protocol and other related international instruments. The 53-page book, by A. Sensi, K. Ghosh, M. Takeuchi and A. Sonnino, presents a brief overview of 26 biosafety capacity building projects, whose total funding amounted to about 7.5 million US dollars, launched by FAO since 2002. They include 18 national projects as well as six that are subregional, regional or interregional and two that are global. Conclusions in the book propose key operational elements for future initiatives to maximize results and fully meet countries` needs. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1033e/i1033e00.htm or contact [email protected] to request a copy, providing your full postal address.
15/06/2010
As part of its Animal Production and Health Guidelines series, FAO has just published Breeding strategies for sustainable management of animal genetic resources whose aim is to help countries plan and develop effective genetic improvement programmes and to maximize the chances that such programmes will be sustained. The 132-page guidelines are intended for use by policy-makers and organisations involved in livestock development. They provide countries with advice on how to specify their objectives and priorities; identify the conditions necessary for sustainable development of their animal genetic resources; benefit from the experiences of other countries with similar conditions; and find practical guidance on how to initiate or improve breed development programmes (including whether to use reproductive biotechnologies such as artificial insemination). See http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1103e/i1103e00.htm or contact [email protected] for more information.
14/06/2010
The report of the 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling, that took place on 8-12 March 2010 in Budapest, Hungary, is now available. Agenda item 3 was dedicated to the "Proposed draft guidelines on criteria for methods for detection, identification and quantification of specific DNA sequences and specific proteins, in particular in foods derived from modern biotechnology" and is covered in paragraphs 13-33 of the report. See the report (ALINORM 10/33/23), together with the agenda providing links to the meeting`s documents, at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/archives.jsp or contact [email protected] for further information. The Committee agreed to forward the proposed draft guidelines to the 33rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (to be held 5-9 July 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland) for adoption at Step 5/8 with the recommendation to omit Steps 6 and 7. The Codex Rules of Procedure, describing also the 8-Step elaboration procedure, are available at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/procedural_manual.jsp (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish).
13/06/2010
The report of the 38th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling, that took place on 3-7 May 2010 in Quebec City, Canada, is now available. Agenda item 6 was dedicated to "Labelling of foods obtained through certain techniques of genetic modification/genetic engineering" and is covered in paragraphs 134-161 of the report. See the report (ALINORM 10/33/22), together with the agenda providing links to the meeting`s documents, at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/archives.jsp or contact [email protected] for further information.
12/06/2010
The manual on Selection and breeding of cattle and buffalo in Asia: Strategies and criteria for improved breeding is now available, which was prepared under the framework of the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Asia and the Pacific Region (RCA) programme, with the technical support of the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. The publication includes information about trends in livestock production and cattle breeding management in Asia; the important traits for dairy and beef cattle, their selection criteria, and breeding objectives; proposed systems for operating a cattle breeding and genetic improvement programme in Asia; and an overview of current and future technologies (including molecular and reproductive technologies) for improvement of cattle breeding. See the manual (651 KB) or contact [email protected] for more information.
11/06/2010
Following the first symposium, held in Beijing, China in 2005, the 2nd International Symposium on Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources was held on 24-27 April 2010 in Bologna, Italy. Abstracts from the symposium are now available. The scientific programme was organised in nine different sessions, covering themes such as harnessing plant diversity: From sequence to function or genomics-assisted crop improvement for food security in developing countries. The symposium was organised by Bioversity International, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) and the University of Bologna, and took place with the patronage, inter alia, of FAO. See http://www.gpgr2.com/ or contact [email protected] for more information.
10/06/2010
The 64th Session of the UN General Assembly considered a number of agenda items with preparatory documents and/or resolutions relevant to biotechnologies, including items 53 (a) on Agricultural technology for development; 55 (c) on Science and technology for development; and 60 on Agriculture development and food security. See the preparatory documents (numbered A/64/258, A/64/168 and A/64/221 respectively) for each item at http://www.un.org/ga/second/64/documentslist.shtml (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and the resulting resolutions (numbered A/RES/64/197, A/RES/64/212 and A/RES/64/224 respectively) at http://www.un.org/ga/64/resolutions.shtml or contact [email protected] for more information. For example, in resolution A/RES/64/224, the General Assembly, inter alia, Reaffirms the need to mobilize the resources needed to increase productivity, including the review, approval and adoption of biotechnology and other new technologies and innovations that are safe, effective and environmentally sustainable.
09/06/2010
The International Industrial Biotechnology Network (IIBN) was launched at a symposium held on 29 March 2010 at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, co-organized with the Institute of Plant Biotechnology for Developing Countries (Ghent University, Belgium). The network is dedicated to promoting the use of novel biotechnologies for adding economic value to under-utilised biological resources in developing countries in order to meet specific developmental and biodiversity conservation goals, respectful of cultural and social values. To achieve its mission, IIBN will catalyse partnerships between public research institutes, governments, private sector and national and international development agencies leading to international initiatives intended to translate recent technological advances in the life sciences into renewable bio-based products. See http://indbiotech.net/ or contact [email protected] for more information.
08/06/2010
The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity has now published the 7th issue of Biosafety Protocol News. The 23-page issue highlights experiences and lessons learned in facilitating the exchange of information on living modified organisms (LMOs) through the Biosafety Clearing-House, with contributors presenting their experiences and lessons learned in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. See http://www.cbd.int/doc/newsletters/bpn/bpn-07.pdf (5.8 Mb) or contact [email protected] for more information.
07/06/2010
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development recently published Technology and innovation report 2010: Enhancing food security in Africa through science, technology and innovation. The 106-page report focuses on ways of improving agricultural performance in Africa and the role that technology and innovation can play in raising the agricultural production and incomes of smallholder farmers and in facilitating access to food for the poorest people both on and off the farm. It is organised in seven chapters, covering respectively key issues in the development of African agriculture; building innovation capabilities in Africa agriculture; agriculture and national food security; challenges and opportunities to achieve food security; transfer and diffusion of agricultural technology; technology mixes for small scale farming (including discussion of various crop biotechnologies); and recommendations. See http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/tir2009_en.pdf (1.2 MB) or contact [email protected] for more information.
06/06/2010
On 16-17 June 2009, the CGIAR Science Forum 2009 was held in Wageningen, the Netherlands, convened by the Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It brought together over 300 scientists, donors and civil society groups from 55 countries to debate recent advances in genomics, biofortification, bio-based products and other technologies that can reduce food insecurity in developing countries. A special open access issue of the journal Crop Science has now been published containing a selection of papers presented at the Forum. See the website or contact [email protected] for more information.
05/06/2010
The abstracts are now available on the web from the 6th International Rice Genetics Symposium that took place on 16-19 November 2009 in Manila, Philippines. Organized every 4-5 years since 1985 by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the symposiums aim was to "showcase the latest developments in the field, including research on breeding, mapping of genes and quantitative trait loci, identification and cloning of candidate genes for biotic and abiotic stresses, gene expression, and genomic databases and mutant induction for functional genomics". The 365-page publication contains abstracts from the plenary, concurrent and poster sessions and from two workshops. The symposium was held in conjunction with the 7th International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics. See http://ricegenetics.com/ or contact [email protected] for more information.
04/06/2010
The Africa Rice Congress 2010 was held in Bamako, Mali on 22-26 March 2010. Organised by the Africa Rice Center, and following the first Africa Rice Congress that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2006, the congress aim was to take stock of advances in rice science and technology aimed at enhancing rice productivity in farmers fields, while protecting environmental services and coping with climate change. A 205-page publication, edited by P. Kiepe, M. Diatta and D. Millar, containing abstracts from the congress, in English and French, is now available on the web. The abstracts, many of which describe the use of biotechnologies in rice, are organised in six main themes, one of which is genetic diversity and improvement (pages 1-59). See the congress website (in English and French) or contact [email protected] for more information.
03/06/2010
To complement its scientific crop improvement research, the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) commissioned a series of socio-economic studies, including one entitled Ex-ante impact analysis of marker-assisted selection technologies by G. Norton and colleagues. The study was conducted in Africa and Asia to evaluate the quantitative impact and investments of two GCP projects which utilised marker-assisted breeding to develop improved varieties of rice and cassava. See the studies at http://www.generationcp.org/sp5_impact/sp5main or contact [email protected] for more information.
02/06/2010
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently published Biotechnologies in agriculture and related natural resources to 2015, by A. Arundel and D. Sawaya. The 105-page article provides an overview of the current state of technological development and presents estimates and projections for the types of biotechnologies expected to reach the market for use in agriculture and related natural resources to 2015. It is one of two articles published in a special issue (volume 2009/3) of the periodical OECD Journal: General Papers, written for the Bioeconomy to 2030 project. See http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/19/36/44534300.pdf (2.1 MB) or contact [email protected] for more information.
01/06/2010
The final issue for 2009 of the Scientific and Technical Review, published by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), is now available in open access on the web. The issue contains 28 articles, describing different animal disease surveillance strategies and the control and elimination of important animal diseases. The organisation of Veterinary Services is also discussed, as well as diagnosis and vaccines. See http://www.oie.int/eng/publicat/en_numerosrt.htm (in English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information about the Review.
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