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Archive November 1998

Impact of trypanosomiasis

African animal trypanosomiasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by tsetse flies, is known to severely limit livestock productivity. Now, a new study has estimated the indirect impact of trypanosomiasis on land use and crop production as well. Prepared under the interagency Programme Against African Trypanonosomiasis (PAAT), the study says that "by constraining farmers from the overall benefits of livestock in farming - less efficient nutrient cycling, lower access to animal traction, lower income from milk and meat sales - trypanosomiasis reduces both yields and areas cultivated". Estimates of the elasticity of livestock holdings with respect to total agricultural production suggest that a 50% reduction in livestock population would reduce total agricultural output by 10%. For details, see Spotlight: Cost of trypanosomiasis. See also our Interview with FAO's PAAT coordinator Brian Hursey.


GIS mapped flood zones in Bangladesh

A computer-based Geographic Information System (GIS) - set up with assistance from AG's Land and Water Development Division - is helping Bangladesh plan its recovery from disastrous flooding in July. Heavy monsoon rains caused floods across two-thirds of the country, leaving 1,000 people dead and causing crop losses totalling some 2 million tonnes. Using its GIS facilities, the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council produced flood maps that are being used to assess damage, identify areas for disaster relief, prepare agricultural rehabilitation programmes, and formulate action plans for cereal production. Above: blue shading indicates flooded areas around the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka


Spotlight   Asian farmers look to market

As Asian industrial economies struggle against recession, contract agriculture is emerging as a promising new source of domestic growth and export earnings. That was one of the main findings of a consultation, co-sponsored by AG's Agricultural Support Systems Division (AGS) in Thailand last month, on market-oriented farm production systems. The consultation, attended by senior-level agriculture experts from seven countries, reviewed cases where farmers had made profitable contracting arrangements with a wide range of agribusinesses. However, the transition from traditional production-oriented agriculture to a market-led approach hinged on restructured extension services, improved market infrastructure and information systems, promotion of farmer cooperatives, and easier access to investment finance. See Spotlight: Contract farming in Asia for more...


Tests keep sterile male flies "competitive"

Mass-bred, sterilized male fruit flies are a potent weapon in campaigns to eradicate insect pests: wild females mating with sterile males produce no offspring. But recent research has discovered "lapses in mating compatibility" that can lead to the failure of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) programmes. A new manual from the FAO/IAEA Joint Division (AGE) aims at helping SIT programme managers ensure that, once in the field, their tephritid fruit fly males "compete effectively with wild insects and mate successfully". Product quality control, irradiation and shipping procedures for mass-reared tephritid fruit flies provides a series of tests - approved by experts from 12 countries - for assessing sterile males' overall quality and competitiveness. For further information, contact AGE's Insect and Pest Control Section.


Spotlight   Latin American land use

AG's Land and Water Development Division (AGL) says land degradation and declining food production in large parts of Latin America and the Caribbean are often the result of inappropriate land use or land management, which are themselves consequences of poverty and ever-growing pressure on natural resources. To help governments promote more sustainable practices, the Division has published New framework for conservation-effective land management and desertification control (FAO, 1998), which presents FAO guidelines for the preparation and implementation of National Action Programmes (NAPs) in the region. The guidelines outline modifications that may be needed in political, institutional and legislative frameworks, the creation of NAP coordination commissions, regional and international cooperation, and financing strategies. See also Spotlight: Conservation in Latin America.


Biotechnology to improve traditional crops

A new research project launched by the FAO/IAEA Joint Division (AGE) will use biotechnology and mutation techniques to improve traditional food crops in low-income food-deficit countries (LIFDCs). AGE points out that raising food production in many LIFDCs depends on improvement of basic and neglected food crops that are adapted to local agroclimatic and biotic stresses, but are often incompatible with modern farming technology. "Improvement can be speeded up by combining in vitro techniques with mutation induction and mutant isolation, particularly in vegetatively propagated plants," AGE says. The five-year project will involve agricultural research institutions and universities in LIFDCs and researchers from other countries, supported by the AGE's Plant Breeding Unit in Seibersdorf, Austria.


Meetings on new phytosanitary measures

Representatives of 87 countries and officials of regional plant protection organizations assembled at FAO headquarters in Rome early this month for meetings that herald a new era for the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). Revisions to the IPPC approved by the FAO Conference in November 1997 included establishment of a Commission on Phytosanitary Measures to guide the implementation of the new Convention and adopt international standards for phytosanitary measures. Meeting for the first time on 3-6 November, the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM) established rules of procedure and adopted two new international standards. The ICPM meeting was followed by a technical consultation among regional plant protection organizations, which gave them the opportunity to coordinate promotion and implementation of the IPPC. For more details, visit the IPPC web pages.


Tropical feeds on-line

AG's Animal Production and Health Division (AGA) has launched a new on-line Tropical feeds database containing information on more than 720 livestock feeds available in developing countries. Intended as a resource for planning integrated livestock production systems, the Web-based facility supersedes a previous version available on diskettes. Searchable by 13 feed categories - including legumes, fodders, fruits and vegetables, oilseeds, crop residues and agro-industrial by-products - the database returns detailed information on botanical and physical characteristics, processing, uses and limitations for different classes of livestock, composition and botanical stages, and full references to published articles. The database is complemented by AGA's Feed resources electronic library.


Spotlight   Guide to plant nutrient management

Depletion of soil nutrients is an often hidden form of land degradation. But excessive application of nutrients, or inefficient management, can cause environmental problems, especially if large quantities are lost from the soil/crop system into air or water. A new FAO publication, Guide to efficient plant nutrition management addresses both issues to ensure enhanced agricultural production and environmental protection. Produced by AG's Land and Water Development Division (AGL), the guide is intended to promote assessment of plant nutrient requirements within farming systems and regular monitoring of soil fertility. It will help in formulation of legislation on fertilizer use and plant nutrition, and guide "everyone concerned with the manufacture, marketing and use of fertilizers in working towards efficient and sustainable plant nutrition management". For an extract, see this month's Spotlight article Managing plant nutrients.


Asia meeting on pesticides convention

Less than two months after signing of the Rotterdam Convention on prior informed consent (PIC) regarding hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade (see September news item), AG's Plant Production and Protection Division (AGP) has organized a workshop to raise awareness of its implications among national authorities in Asia. Scheduled for December in Bangkok, the workshop will review principles and rules of the Convention, discuss changes made to the previous, voluntary PIC arrangements (e.g., compliance on the part of exporters) and sort options for addressing them. Among goals of the workshop are to foster active national authorities' involvement in the PIC procedure, and formulate recommendations to an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee that will oversee the operation of the PIC. Get more on PIC.

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