December
Pasture profiles... New on our web site are profiles of pasture and forage resources in Algeria, Bolivia, Colombia, Jordan, Peru, Poland and Turkey. Profiles are now available for 32 countries, providing an overview of soils, agroecological conditions, ruminant livestock production systems, pasture resources, and research and development organizations. Start here...
Land and water... AG's on-line Gateway to land and water information is expanding rapidly. Recent additions to the site include regional reports for the Caribbean and Asia/Pacific, and country profiles from India, Georgia and Uganda. The site also provides links to land and water databases worldwide. Go there...
Organic fertilizers...
Our Land and Plant Nutrition Management Service is compiling a database of information on commercially available organic fertilizers, organo-mineral fertilizers, organic amendments and water-retaining products. Read all about it...
Pastoral development... New from our Plant Production and Protection Division (AGP): Grassland resource assessment for pastoral systems, a guide for use in pastoral development programmes. It describes a computer-based model that analyses the support capacity of land and forage resources, leading to sounder management decisions. Order your copy from Stephen.Reynolds@fao.org...
Milk processing... Small-scale milk processors in developing countries often cannot afford conventional stainless steel equipment for pasteurising and packaging fresh milk. But FAO's Animal Production Service has helped develop an alternative: a simple, low-cost system, known as the MILKPRO, that runs on a small diesel engine and turns out 100 litres of pasteurized milk per hour. More...
November
Treaty on plant genetic resources approved... An International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was approved by the FAO Conference on 3 November 2001. The convention will ensure better use of plant genetic diversity to meet the challenge of eradicating world hunger. See FAO's Press release...
Farming systems... The first in a series of profiles of the developing world's major farming systems are now available as part of our Farming systems and poverty web site. Browse farming systems maps for sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. For background, see Spotlight: Global farming systems...
Agro-chemicals and pesticides... An intergovernmental negotiating committee has made "significant progress" towards an international, legally binding treaty to deal with hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade. The committee, representing 115 nations, met in Rome in October 2001. Get meeting documents...
Conservation agriculture... "Conflicts and synergies" between conservation agriculture and livestock will be discussed at a meeting organized by FAO and the Latin American Network for Conservation Agriculture (RELACO) in El Salvador in November 2001. For details, contact Jose.Benites@fao.org. Find out more about Conservation agriculture...
Animal agriculture... Globally, livestock production is growing faster than any other sector in agriculture. To keep pace, our Animal Production and Health Division (AGA) has redesigned its web site, which presents details of
AGA's work programme, publications and conferences, plus access to online documents organized into 10 key themes. Click here...
October
AG21 now in Arabic, Chinese... With this update, we present Arabic and Chinese editions of Agriculture 21. The new editions include all of our Spotlight articles and News pages since January 2001, as well as Guides to our technical divisions' main pages in Arabic and Chinese...
Conservation agriculture... The first World Congress on Conservation Agriculture starts in Madrid, Spain, on 1 October 2001. The five-day congress has been organized by FAO and ECAF. See our Spotlight article on Conservation agriculture...
Kyoto Protocol... A meeting of United Nations energy experts at FAO headquarters has welcomed a "rescue plan" for the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change. The plan seeks to create a consensus on arrangements for ensuring compliance with the protocol and on the extent to which a country's forests can offset its carbon emissions. For details, see FAO News and highlights. See also our Spotlight article: Agriculture's role in climate change...
All about water... Introducing WCA-InfoNet, a community-based knowledge system on water conservation and use in agriculture. Now being developed at FAO, the site collects and disseminates information through a "topic tree" that expands to more than 400 specific subjects.
Living modified organisms... Plant protection specialists meeting at FAO headquarters in September 2001 agreed on specifications for an International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) on living modified organisms. The specifications will be submitted for approval to the fourth session of the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures in March 2002.
September
Transboundary diseases... FAO's newly published State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA 2001) warns that the spread of emergent diseases and invasive species has increased dramatically in recent years. It calls for increased regional and international cooperation, noting that "not all countries can face the cost of prevention and reaction alone". See SOFA; visit our web site on Transboundary diseases...
Rice web site... FAO's International Rice Commission has a new-look web site. It includes the history and mandate of the commission, the RICEINFO database, and information on rice development programmes and networks worldwide. Go there now...
Fertilizer forecasts... How much nitrogen fertilizer will African farmers need in the year 2005? Our Land and Water Development Division has the answers, in its on-line Fertilizer Supply and Demand Outlook Database. Compiled in collaboration with the the fertilizer industry, it provides five-year forecasts for the world and 12 regions. Just a click away...
New ISPMs... An intergovernmental meeting has adopted three new international standards for phytosanitary measures (ISPMs). The standards focus on pest risk analysis, and guidelines for phytosanitary certificates and for the notification of non-compliance and emergency action. Get details on the reports page of FAO's Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures...
Safe animal feed... An article in our on-line journal, AGRIPPA, presents information on animal feed safety that is unavailable in many developing countries. Drawing on some 400 references, it reviews the use of animal carcass waste and swill processing, and the main problems associated with the use of plant by-products. See Safe use of plant and animal by-products...
Rio+10... In preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, September 2002), FAO has created a web site with documentation on progress and constraints in four key areas identified in the 1992 Earth Summit's Agenda 21: land resources, deforestation, sustainable mountain development, and sustainable agriculture and rural development...
Water and irrigation in Africa... Our Land and Water Development Division (AGL) announces a new CD-ROM on water resources and irrigation in Africa. It includes country statistics on all aspects of agricultural water management in the region, and a set of maps, data and models that can be combined through a geographical information system. More from AGL's Digital Media Series page...
Camelidae... Camel maintenance is very low tech - they browse and graze all the year round without supplementary feeding, and during the wet season get most of their water from lush plants. More about camels (and llamas) in Spotlight...
July-August
Technology vs. locusts... FAO is training pest control personnel in North Africa and Asia in using modern information technology to report outbreaks of desert locusts. With the help of global positioning systems, palm computers and modems, information about plague threats now moves faster than the locusts themselves. For more, see FAO News and highlights...
Seed regulations in Africa... Representatives of African countries, France and international donors met in Rome in July to develop an action plan for harmonizing seed regulations in sub-Saharan Africa. The workshop was hosted by our Seed and Plant Genetic Resources Service. Read more on FAO's seed networks, see also Spotlight: Toward seed security...
Contract farming guide... New from our Agricultural Support Systems Division: Contract farming, a guide for business and governments on establishing long-term partnerships with small farmers through production contracts. For background, see Spotlight: Agribusiness and small farmers, order your copy or download the guide (PDF, 650K) right here...
Plant agrobiodiversity... The first session of FAO's Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources will be held in Rome from 2-4 July 2001. The group, which represents 27 countries in developed and developing regions, advises the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources on issues related to plant agrobiodiversity. Browse documents for the meeting...
Irrigation management... FAO is co-hosting an international email conference on strategies for transferring irrigation management from government agencies to water users' associations. The conference will be held in two sessions: a briefing (June-July), with case studies from Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey and the USA, and an exchange of views and experiences (September-October). Start here...
June
Seed policy in the Near East... Our Plant Production and Protection Division publishes the report of an FAO workshop on seed policy and programmes in North Africa and the Near East. It includes 10 papers on plant genetic diversity, national seed strategies, legislation, inter-country cooperation and technology transfer in the region. Start here...
Foot-and-mouth disease... The major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the United Kingdom has put the spotlight on Europe. But many parts of the developing world have to deal with the virus every day. See FAO News and highlights: The 'hidden' epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease...
Genetic resources... FAO's Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture meets for its sixth extraordinary session in Rome on 24-30 June. On the top of the agenda: finalization of negotiations for the revision of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources. Browse meeting documents...
Locust training course... Our Migratory Pests Group conducted recently a training course for 30 pest-control officers from five northwest African countries. The course, held in Libya, covered survey and control techniques, environmental and human safety issues, and locust campaign organization. Photographs of the event...
Obsolete pesticides... FAO is calling for international support for its campaign to clean up dangerous stocks of obsolete pesticides. FAO estimates at 500,000 tonnes the amount of banned, decomposed or unwanted pesticides in the developing world and countries in transition. Find out more...
Food and cities... FAO and UNCHS host a seminar on "Food into cities" in New York on 7 June during the UN General Assembly's Special Session on the Habitat Agenda. Adopted in Istanbul in 1996, the agenda aims at making human settlements more liveable, equitable, sustainable and productive. The FAO/UNCHS event seeks to sensitize participants to the impact of urban growth on urban food security. Browse our Food into cities web site, read more about Istanbul+5; for an overview see Spotlight: Urban food marketing...
Help on animal feed safety... Our Animal Production and Health Division (AGA) publishes guidelines for countries seeking FAO assistance in implementing safe animal feeding standards. Following outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow" disease) in Europe, says AGA, many countries need to upgrade legislation and put in place feed management systems that ensure the safety of raw materials and compound feeds entering the food chain. Details...
...and mycotoxins Meanwhile, the FAO/IAEA Joint Division is helping food control laboratories in developing countries establish cost-effective analysis of fungal mycotoxins in food and feed. Activities include a five-year project to evaluate analysis techniques, and training courses for national staff in Asia and Latin America. More on mycotoxins...
Fertilizer strategies... Available for downloading now: Fertilizer strategies, an FAO guide for decision-makers on the production, importation, distribution and marketing of fertilizers. Download PDF versions in English (311Kb), Arabic (1.7MB), French (1.3MB) or Spanish (690Kb)...
May
Tsetse eradication... FAO and IAEA are collaborating in a Pan-African Tsetse Eradication Campaign (PATEC) launched by the Organization for African Unity. African leaders have declared 2001 as the year for a renewed, continent-wide effort to eradicate the tsetse fly and, with it, the parasitic livestock disease trypanosomiasis. Read more about the disease in Spotlight: Cost of trypanosomiasis...
Irrigation management... Available now for downloading: Transfer of irrigation management services, a manual aimed at policy-makers and planners. It outlines approaches for
a sustainable devolution of roles from irrigation agencies to water users’ groups. Download the publication in English (pdf, 980K), French (1.8Mb) or Spanish (1.95Mb); order a copy from publications-sales@fao.org.
AGRIPPA... Our Animal Production and Health Division is developing a web-based journal, AGRIPPA, for electronic publishing of agricultural literature. AGRIPPA will use the Internet to create networks of editors, reviewers and contributors that cover the full range of agricultural subjects and interests. Details here...
Tropical silage... Late in 1999, FAO sponsored a global electronic conference on ways of expanding the use of tropical silage in small-scale livestock production. The conference proceedings are now available in a new publication, Silage making in the tropics (FAO Plant Production and Protection Paper 161). Order your copy from publications-sales@fao.org, browse e-conference papers here...
E-conference on land issues... Now under way: an FAO electronic conference on land policy and planning issues. The conference is part of FAO's consultations with governments, civil society organizations and the private sector on progress in land resources planning and management since the 1992 Earth Summit. Join the discussion...
New thinking on FMD... A scientific conference on foot-and-mouth disease, organized by FAO and OIE, has proposed new precautionary measures and control methods for the disease. The conference's recommendations address criteria for the declaration of FMD outbreaks, the use of vaccination, alternatives to "stamping out", and new research priorities. Get the recommendations (pdf, 77K), see also our FMD pages...
INPhO in Africa... Post-harvest experts from Africa meet in Rabat, Morocco in mid-May to discuss future development of FAO's Information Network on Post-harvest Operations (INPhO) database, which currently contains more than 15,000 records. INPhO hopes to broaden its collaboration with African countries, and help them develop their own post-harvest databases. Click here for INPhO...
Pacific island dairying... New from FAO, on CD-ROM: a comprehensive guide to Dairying in the Southwest Pacific. The CD includes training manuals, searchable databases, bibliographies, full-text publications, country profiles, contact details for various suppliers, and links to useful websites. Order your copy from Stephen.Reynolds@fao.org...
Good news... Generally dry weather has reduced Desert Locust populations across north Africa and west Asia to "insignificiant numbers of solitary adults", our Migratory Pests Group reports. "Unless further rains fall, locust numbers will continue to decline in the coming weeks, and no significant developments are expected." The latest situation...
April
Soil biodiversity... New on this site: a Soil Biodiversity Portal that outlines general concepts and has case studies showing how interventions with micro-organisms, macro-organisms and organic matter can raise farm productivity and protect agroecosystems. This way to the new portal, see also our recent Spotlight article, The life in soil...
Conservation agriculture... FAO is co-sponsoring an international Congress on Conservation Agriculture, in Madrid from 1-5 October. The congress aims at "integrating good environmental and agricultural practices into policy structures throughout the world". Get details about the congress (PDF, 960K), visit our Conservation agriculture web site, read more about the subject in Spotlight...
Making hay... Our Crop and Grasslands Service announces a new publication: Hay and straw conservation for small-scale farming and pastoral conditions. Written for agricultural technicians and extension workers, it draws on case studies from Asia, Africa and Latin America to show how hay and crop residues can be integrated into production systems. Get details here, order a copy from publications-sales@fao.org
Erosion control... Methods and materials in soil conservation is a 120-page manual written for developing countries where soil conservation resources and skills may be limited. It covers erosion processes, specific conservation methods to deal with wind, rain and sheet erosion, and the use of vegetation in control measures. Download the manual here (PDF, 3.5MB)...
Action on BSE... FAO, WHO and OIE have called a meeting in Paris on 11-14 June 2001 to recommend policies for dealing with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow" disease) and its human form, the new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Full details here. For all the facts on BSE, see also our new Animal feed safety web page...
Water in Latin America... On the surface - and underground - Latin America and the Caribbean appear to have no shortage of fresh water. For every one of the region's 490 million people, nature provides some 28,000 cubic metres of water a year, almost four times the world average. But these region-wide statistics hide stark differences among countries. Get the details in a new report on our AQUASTAT web site...
E-conference ends... Almost 325 people - from government, NGOs, civil society, the private sector and international organizations - participated in a recent electronic conference on agriculture, land and rural development organized by FAO and SANREM. Their contributions will be incorporated in FAO's review of progress in sustainable agriculture and land use since the 1992 Earth Summit. Browse conference proceedings, see also Spotlight: Earth Summit+10...
Soil productivity in Africa... A new publication from our Land and Water Development Division addresses the problem of increased land degradation and declining soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Aimed at the region's planners and decisionmakers, it recommends application of new concepts - e.g. natural capital - and innovative techniques (such as multi-criteria analysis and "green" accounting) in the planning of measures to enhance soil productivity. Download The economics of soil productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (PDF, 690K)...
March
FAO's Committee on Agriculture (COAG) meets in Rome on 26-30 March to recommend action on key development issues. Go now to full COAG documentation or browse our Spotlight: COAG articles on biosecurity, sustainable agriculture and climate change...
Foot and mouth disease... FAO's European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease publishes briefings in English and French, with maps, on recent outbreaks of FMD Type O in the UK - starts here. See also our global picture of FMD outbreaks in 2001, and FAO Press releases of 14 March and 21 March...
More on FMD... Foot-and-mouth disease is one of 15 debilitating - and often deadly - livestock diseases featured in our Advanced Veterinary Information System (AVIS) web site. AVIS provides detailed information on each disease, including clinical signs, diagnosis and control, OIE laboratory techniques and references. Starts here...
Bammy bread... An FAO project that helped revive production in Jamaica of "bammy" - a traditional bread made from cassava flour - is paying big dividends for local women. Jamaica's online newspaper, The Gleaner, reports that over the past four years one women's group has produced more than 1.5 million bammies for local and export markets. See Spotlight for more on the FAO project...
Soil management... New from our Land and Water Development Division: guidelines to help project staff involve farmers in designing soil and plant nutrient management schemes. It shows ways of identifying solutions to soil problems, improving extension methods, and prioritizing research. Download Guidelines for participatory diagnosis (PDF, 2.2MB)...
Phytosanitary measures... Proposed new international standards for phytosanitary measures (ISPMs) are among agenda items for discussion at an intergovernmental meeting in Rome on 2-6 April 2001. The proposed standards, to be reviewed by FAO's Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, focus on pest risk analysis, and guidelines for phytosanitary certificates, notification of non-compliance, and official control for regulated pests. Get documents...
On-line guide for vets... New on our EMPRES web site: an on-line guide for veterinary authorities on detecting disease or infection in animal populations, predicting its likely spread, organizing control operations and re-establishing "verifiable freedom from infection". The site comes in simple HTML or multi-media (requires Flash plug-in). You'll also find a useful page of emergency management links...
Marketing, in Arabic... Many of the pages of our Agricultural marketing web site are now available in Arabic. They contain details of marketing information systems, marketing extension and urban agriculture, and links to full publications. If you have Arabic fonts, this way...
Irrigation CD-ROM... Planning or managing an irrigation scheme of 1,000 ha or less? Then order Irrigation guidelines, the latest CD-ROM in our Land and Water Digital Media Series. It provides a menu-driven media tool for easy orientation on the subject, and a wide range of applications for a variety of users. Details here; browse the full list of FAO's land and water CD-ROMs here...
Desert images... A team of FAO experts is just back from Libya's remote southeast, where it investigated the origins of an unexpected outbreak of desert locusts (the team concluded the invasion came from neighbouring western Sudan). The mission's report, illustrated with more than 100 photographs, provides a rare glimpse of the region's people, history and geography. Starts here...
Sterile insects... The FAO/IAEA Joint Division for Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture has a new video on the sterile insect technique (SIT), an environmentally-friendly method of pest eradication. Order the video from J.Hendrichs@iaea.org; get more on SIT...
February
Animal health information.... Our Animal Health Service publishes a new page of links to its Animal Health Information System. On-line data cover FAO collaborating centres on animal health, members of FAO's Reference Laboratory Network, operational field projects, and contact points for national veterinary services worldwide. This way...
Land and water updates... Some 1,300 people around the globe have subscribed to our electronic newsletter, Land and water. It provides details of ongoing activities of our Land and Water Development Division (AGL) and of new publications. Browse previous issues on-line, subscribe here...
Hazardous pesticides... Government delegates meeting in Geneva have agreed to add two pesticides to a list of hazardous substances subject to international controls. Ethylene oxide and ethylene dichloride join 24 other pesticides and five industrial chemicals covered by FAO's interim Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure, which aims to promote the safe use of agricultural chemicals, particularly in developing countries. Click here for full details...
Animal science in China... With FAO assistance, China has created an International Academy of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAAS) in northern Beijing. The IAAAS centre was completed late last year and the first set of students - from China and olther developing countries - will start their courses in May. Our Feed Resources Group has the full story...
BSE alert... FAO says all countries that have imported cattle or meat-and-bone meal from Western Europe - especially the UK - during and since the 1980s are at risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human form, the new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. For details, see FAO's Press release on BSE. For all the facts on BSE, see our new Animal feed safety web page...
Agro-ecological zones... Available now is the CD-ROM version of FAO's Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) study. The CD-ROM describes the GAEZ methodology and illustrates its use in quantifying land productivity, estimating land area with rain-fed cultivation potential, and assessing the impact of climate change. For more on GAEZ, see Spotlight; order the CD-ROM here...
E-conference on SARD... To review progress towards goals set at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, FAO is organizing an electronic conference on sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD) and land issues from 26 February. It is inviting governments, NGOs, civil society, the private sector and international organizations to participate. More on our Rio+10 web site...
Food security, Zambia... FAO and the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) have helped boost small farmer vegetable production in three Zambian provinces. In a follow-up to FAO's Special Programme for Food Security in Zambia, the project trained 600 extension officers in integrated plant and nutrition systems, and set up a pilot input supply scheme for 21 farmers’ groups. More here....
Locusts move north... Those hopper bands recently formed in central Mauritania (see January News) are moving to greener pastures in the country's north, where they will lay eggs in the months ahead. Our Migratory Pest Group expects some will move into Morocco and Algeria. Follow the locust trail here...
January
Plant genetic resources... Negotiations for the revision of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture will resume in Rome in early February. The 40-nation contact group negotiating the revised undertaking last met in November. This way to meeting documents...
Rinderpest videos... The web site of our programme against transboundary pests and diseases (EMPRES) makes available six videos on the deadly cattle disease rinderpest. They include a public awareness presentation, a general introduction to the disease, and technical details of diagnosis and vaccination. If you have the bandwidth, this way...
Marketing extension... Ready for download now is FAO's Marketing extension guide No. 2, which is designed to help extension workers advise farmers on how best to use market information. Printed copies will be available soon. Details here...
Caribbean land and water... Fourteen Caribbean countries have asked FAO to help prepare national and sub-regional reports on the state of land, water and plant nutrition resources in the region. The recommendation was made at the first meeting of the Caribbean Land and Water Resources Network in Barbados.
Post-harvest visitors... Each month, around 25,000 people visit the web site of our Information Network on Post-harvest Operations (INPhO), a tenfold increase since February 1999. Browse INPHO's web statistics, or explore the site...
Farmer guides on livestock... Our Animal Production Service has published online three manuals from FAO's Better Farming Series, which are written for farmers with basic literacy. The manuals offer practical advice on keeping chickens, using fodder trees and shrubs as livestock feed in the tropics, and feeding animals on straw...
Problem soils... AG's Land and Water Development Division publishes a new web site on agriculture's "problem soils": those affected by high levels of acidity, calcium carbonate, organic content (e.g. peat), salinity, sand and clay. Prosoil includes a database of case studies and an electronic archive containing 66 documents. Get started here....
Forage profiles... New on our Country pasture and forage resources web page are profiles for Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Malawi, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. They provide an overview of soils, agroecological conditions, ruminant livestock production systems, pasture resources, and research and development organizations.
Hoppers on the move... Our Migratory Pests Group is keeping an eye on an outbreak of hoppers in central Mauritania. Although ground teams are treating the newly forming swarms, some are expected to move into southern Morocco. Details...