Banana Farming News
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Resistance genes from wild relatives of crops offer opportunities for more sustainable agriculture worldwidew
Growing crops with stacks of two or more resistance genes from closely related species, introduced into the crop via for instance genetic engineering, combined with the simultaneous introduction of resistance management, can ensure the long-term resistance of these plants to economically significant and aggressive diseases. The combination offers opportunities to make agriculture more sustainable ...
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New $13.8 million project aims to boost banana production in Uganda and Tanzania
Millions of smallholder banana farmers in Tanzania and Uganda are set to benefit from a new $13.8 million project to develop and distribute higher-yielding, disease-resistant hybrid banana varieties. The effort is being funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Rony Swennen, a professor at KU Leuven (Belgium) and ...
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Ministers meet at FAO to discuss role of agricultural commodity markets
Governments ought to review the way international agricultural commodity markets are governed, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told ministers from around the world gathered for a meeting on the subject Monday. Commodity markets caught global attention due to volatile food prices in the past five years. While prices are currently declining, Graziano da Silva noted that ...
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Cultural change in Kenyan banana farming
Farmers in Nkubu, Meru County, central Kenya, are experimenting with a new banana production method with the help of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and the Kaguri Agricultural Training Centre The introduction of laboratory grown tissue culture banana seedlings has significantly boosted the local economy. Such tissue cultures allow farmers to grow more robust ...
By SciDev.Net
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The changing face of global banana trade
Despite the continued importance of multinational companies in the global trade of bananas, their involvement in banana production has fallen dramatically over the past three decades, shifting their sphere of action to favor other areas in the sector and opening the door to opportunities for other companies. This view of the changing nature of the global banana trade is captured in a new FAO ...
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FAO urges countries to step up action against destructive banana disease
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is warning countries to step up monitoring, reporting and prevention of one of the world’s most destructive banana diseases, Fusarium wilt, which recently spread from Asia to Africa and the Middle East, and which has the potential to affect countries in Latin America. The TR4 race of the disease, which is also known as ...
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Improving the productivity of tropical potato cultivation
Potatoes thrive in tropical highlands. The tubers are healthier than rice, banana or cassava, and can play an important role in food security. Production is, however, often very low due to various diseases and farmers can struggle to generate sufficient added value. This is where Wageningen comes in.Potato specialist Anton Haverkort travels the world giving advice on how to bring cultivation and ...
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FAO calls for action to accelerate economic transformation and development in Africa
Despite important economic progress and agricultural successes, Africa remains the world’s most food insecure continent, with relatively low levels of agricultural productivity, low rural incomes, and high rates of malnutrition, FAO said today. As the Organization’s 28th Regional Conference for Africa gathers in Tunis, FAO is calling on African ministers of agriculture for action in ...
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World fish trade to set new records
The booming world fish trade is generating more wealth than ever before, but countries must help small-scale fishers and fish farmers benefit too, FAO said today. Global fishery production from wild capture fisheries and aquaculture is expected to set a new record in 2013 at 160 million tonnes, up from 157 million tonnes the previous year, while exports will reach $136 billion, according to ...
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Africa and India cultivate agricultural research ties
Africa and India are gearing up to further enhance cooperation in agricultural science, technology and innovation, and move beyond dialogue to a range of practical options from a virtual biotech platform to agribusiness centres, seed investments and even joint donor-aided projects. Willy Tonui, chief executive officer of Kenya’s National Biosafety Authority, said that studying how India ...
By SciDev.Net
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Fight against Black Sigatoka must continue to save small Caribbean banana farms
FAO warns that without increased commitment to combat Black Sigatoka Disease, which has ravaged banana and plantain production in the Caribbean, vulnerable people could face food insecurity if the disease situation is allowed to further deteriorate. Black Sigatoka disease is considered one of the most dangerous diseases of banana and plantain. It spread from Asia and reached the Caribbean in ...
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Overcoming Smallholder Challenges with Biotechnology
A new FAO publication calls for greater national and international efforts to bring agricultural biotechnologies to smallholder producers in developing countries. The publication, Biotechnologies at Work for Smallholders: Case Studies from Developing Countries in Crops, Livestock and Fish, asserts biotechnologies can help smallholders to improve their livelihoods and food security. ...
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Post Foods to Spend More than $2 Million for Air Violations at Modesto Cereal Plant
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that Post Holdings, Inc. and Ralcorp Holdings Inc. will pay $635,000 for violations of the federal Clean Air Act, including failing to install required air pollution controls at its cereal production facility located in Modesto, Calif. The penalty is in addition to approximately $1.4 million the company has already spent on equipment ...
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Climate-smart farming takes root in Kenya
Like most African countries, Kenya is highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. There is growing concern about potential stress on fragile ecosystems and rural communities, especially in the arid and semi-arid agro-ecological zones and some humid highland areas of the country. In keeping with the Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (SRA) of Kenya 2010-2015 and Kenya's vision 2030, ...
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Give young people the tools to solve hunger, says expert
Young people are the key to innovations that could help feed billions of people in the decades ahead, according to Calestous Juma, an internationally recognised development expert. "Today's youth have access to new types of knowledge that were not available to their parents, such as genomic and geospatial data. The challenge is searching for this knowledge, adapting it to local conditions and ...
By SciDev.Net
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Chiquita Brands International, Inc : Chiquita Brands Set to Celebrate Earth Day With Community Outreach
Chiquita Brands Set to Celebrate Earth Day With Community OutreachEmployees to Volunteer in Local CommunitiesOpportunity to Showcase That Every Day is Earth DayCHARLOTTE, N.C.- April 19, 2013 - On Monday, April 22, 2013, people all around the world will celebrate Earth Day. To mark the occasion, Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB) will be getting hands on. Employees from the company's headquarters ...
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Let`s add climate knowledge to agroforestry plans
We need to know more about how smallholder agroforestry can help farmers adapt to climate change, write James Roshetko and Rodel Lasco. Much is known about agroforestry — the mixing of tree species with crops and livestock to enrich farmers' livelihoods. But less is known about how it can help farmers adapt to climate change. This gap in our knowledge is increasingly worrisome. With ...
By SciDev.Net
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Banana compost could boost crop yields, a study finds
Using old banana trees to make compost may help boost crop yields while cutting down water and fertiliser use, according to an Egyptian researcher. Banana-based fertiliser could cut about 20 per cent of the water used in irrigating maize and lead to better yields and improved soil properties — such as availability of micronutrients and soil moisture — a researcher at Egypt's National ...
By SciDev.Net
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Climate change could spread major coffee pest
Coffee production in parts of East Africa and South America could suffer as climate change drives up the numbers and distribution of a key pest, according to research. Scientists from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) in Kenya say their study provides the first global maps of the coffee berry borer's distribution. The research, published in PLoS ONE last month ...
By SciDev.Net
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CGIAR announces next batch of research programmes
Some of the key foods that could help solve the global food crisis will be the focal point of six new research programmes totalling US$957 million over the next three years. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) — a network of governments and organisations that funds 15 major research centres around the world — conditionally approved proposals for the ...
By SciDev.Net
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