269 News & Press Releases found
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) News
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Genetic makeup of thousands of rice varieties placed in global seed data pool
Genome sequences of more than 3,000 rice varieties have been placed with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) by the world`s leading rice research institute in a move boosting plans to set up a ...
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New partnership to promote sustainable mechanization of agriculture
FAO and the European Agricultural Machinery Industry Association CEMA , an international non-profit organisation, today forged a new partnership that aims to promote wider use of sustainable agricultural mechanization in developing countries. ...
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Major crop losses in Central America due to El Niño
Prolonged dry weather associated with the El Niño phenomenon has severely reduced this year’s cereal outputs in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, putting a large numbers of farmers in need of agricultural assistance as the ...
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FAO Food Price Index registers sharpest fall since December 2008
International food commodity prices continued to decline in August as ample supplies, a slump in energy prices and concerns over China`s economic slowdown all contributed to the sharpest fall of the FAO Food Price Index in almost seven years. The ...
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Ancient crops preserved for future generations in Arctic seed vault
Varieties of one of the world`s most important staple crops will be stored for perpetuity deep in the Arctic ice today. José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is ...
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FAO Food Price Index hits lowest level in almost six years
Prices for major food commodities in July hit their lowest average monthly level since September 2009 as sharp drops in the prices of dairy products and vegetable oils more than offset some increases for those of sugar and cereals. Meat prices, ...
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Worries rise over outbreaks of avian flu in West Africa
Fears are growing that without timely intervention to stem outbreaks of the highly virulent avian flu virus H5N1 across West Africa, further spread across the region and beyond is inevitable, FAO said today. To this end, the agency is calling for ...
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Huge opportunities for agricultural growth in West Africa
West Africa has unprecedented opportunities for agricultural growth, but making the most of them will require more effective regional integration, says a new report by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Food and Agriculture Organization ...
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China signs $50 million South-South Cooperation agreement with FAO
China and FAO today signed a $50 million agreement to support developing countries in building sustainable food systems and inclusive agricultural value chains, recognizing the growing importance of collaboration between Southern countries in ...
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FAO predicts World Food Import Bill to fall to Five-Year Low
International prices for agricultural commodities continued to decline in April and abundant inventories are poised to offset any pressure from the slight reduction in global harvests expected this year. Worldwide cereal production will likely ...
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Expected sharp fall in Southern African maize production raises food security concerns
Southern Africa`s maize harvest is expected to shrink this year by some 26 percent compared with 2014`s bumper crop, a situation that could trigger food price increases and adversely affect recent food security gains, FAO warned today. For 2015, ...
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Targeting total eradication of a devastating livestock disease
The world can definitively stamp out a plague that devastates sheep and goats, freeing hundreds of millions of rural families from one of the major risks to their food security and livelihood. FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) ...
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Digital certificates to boost controls over spread of plant pests and diseases
The creation of a new global electronic certification system that will help curb the spread of plant pests and diseases through international trade in a more secure and cost-effective way has been approved by representatives from 181 ...
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Keeping plant pests and diseases at bay: experts focus on global measures
How to prevent insects, bacteria, viruses and weeds from infesting fruit, vegetable and other plant and food consignments and then spreading across the world is the focus of a four-day gathering of international experts which began at FAO today. ...
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FAO food price index declines further in February, led by sugar
The FAO Food Price Index declined to a 55-month low in February, dropping 1.0 percent from January and 14 percent below its level a year earlier. Lower prices for cereals, meat and especially sugar more than offset an increase in milk and palm oil ...
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Fertilizer Use to Surpass 200 Million Tonnes in 2018
Global fertilizer use is likely to rise above 200.5 million tonnes in 2018, 25 percent higher than recorded in 2008. World fertilizer consumption will grow by 1.8 percent a year through 2018, according to FAO`s new report "World fertilizer trends ...
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Crunching genomes to boost animal health
FAO has chosen the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics as a designated reference centre to expand its access to state-of the-art technology in combating dangerous viral infections, including avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease, in farm ...
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FAO food price index declines in January, cereal output poised for record
The FAO Food Price Index continued to decline in January, averaging 182.7 points for the month, or 1.9 percent below its December 2014 level. Lower prices reflect strong production expectations as FAO also raised its 2014 forecast for world cereal ...
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FAO food price index drops in December
FAO`s monthly Food Price Index declined in December after three months of stability. Continued large supplies and record stocks combined with a stronger US dollar and falling oil prices contributed to the decline. The December Food Price Index ...
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International Year of Soils 2015: Healthy soils for a healthy life
Our soils are in danger because of expanding cities, deforestation, unsustainable land use and management practices, pollution, overgrazing and climate change. The current rate of soil degradation threatens the capacity to meet the needs of future ...