FAO Conference 2005. Representatives of FAO's 188 member countries met in Rome from 19 to 26 November for the Organization's 33rd biennial conference. The Conference reviewed the state of world food and agriculture and approved FAO's work programme and budget for 2006-2007. More...
Bird 'flu threat. Our Animal Health Service briefed Conference delegates on the avian influenza (AI) emergency and a global action plan, approved recently in Geneva, aimed at controlling AI in animals and limiting its threat to human health. More on the global plan...
Focus on water. Ministers of Agriculture and FAO specialists met to consider action for improving water management in agriculture, with special focus on Africa, the Near East and Small Island Developing States. Key issues are outlined in Spotlight: Water use in agriculture...
Rural finance. As part of the UN's International Year of Microcredit 2005, FAO and partner agencies have launched an online Rural Finance Learning Centre. Visit the Centre, see also Spotlight: Finance for the rural poor...
Animal genetic resources. Switzerland has agreed to host the First International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic
Resources in September 2007. The conference will finalize the process, being led by FAO's Animal Production and Health Division
and the CGRFA, of the Report on the state of the world's animal genetic resources. More...
Capacity development. Our Water Resources, Development and Management Service and IPTRID announce a new, online database that provides comprehensive information on capacity development for water in agriculture. Run a query...
Livestock technologies. The FAO/IAEA Joint Division has published Applications of gene-based technologies for improving animal production and health in developing countries, a compilation of peer-reviewed scientific papers presented at an international symposium in Vienna. Details...
Veterinary diagnostics. New on the website of our Animal Health Service is a user-friendly, interactive tool for training in the diagnosis of parasitic disease. It is intended primarily for those who teach parasitology to veterinary students, veterinary and laboratory technicians and extension workers in developing countries. Take a look...
Nuclear emergencies. In the event of a radiation emergency involving radioactive iodine, governments should consider halting local milk consumption, preventing cattle grazing on contaminated herbage, and housing animals that would normally graze outdoors. Those are some of the measures for nuclear emergency response recommended by the Joint FAO/IAEA Joint Division. More...
Genetic resources. The FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture held the first meeting of its Contact Group for the Drafting of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement in Hammamet, Tunisia, from 18 to 22 July 2005. See the meeting documents...
Soil conservation. Our Land and Water Development Division has a new CD-ROM on methods and materials used for soil conservation. The manual summarizes factors that control soil erosion, and provides guidelines for selecting materials. It outlines a project cycle from feasibility, through investigation, design and construction to planned maintenance. Order your copy...
Farmers and markets. FAO's Agricultural Support Systems Division has assembled 24 case studies from 19 developing countries showing how farmers have linked up to markets through their own efforts or with outside assistance. The review covered farmer-to-trader links, the role of a "leading farmer" in marketing produce, and linkages with private companies and cooperatives. Click here...
Genetically modified crops. FAO hosted at its Rome headquarters in January 2005 an expert consultation on genetically modified organisms in crop production and their effects on the environment. The main objective was to review post-release monitoring methodologies for GM crops and develop guidelines for monitoring programmes. Read the executive summary (PDF, 39K), Get the full report (PDF, 240K)...
Water valuation. Agriculture is under increasing pressure to justify its large share of the world's freshwater resources. A recent FAO report urges adoption of a "functional approach" to water valuation as a basis for negotiation with other users. Get Economic valuation of water resources in agriculture (PDF, 5.8MB)...
New norms. FAO's Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM) has adopted three new standards on: requirements for the establishment of areas of low pest prevalence, guidelines for inspection, and guidelines for the determination and recognition of equivalence of phytosanitary measures. Details...
Livestock policies. How can national livestock policies be improved to serve the interests of the poor? That is a key question examined in a new FAO study, The political economy of pro-poor livestock policy-making in Ethiopia. Get the paper (PDF, 350K), read more about FAO's Pro-poor livestock policy initiative...
Aid to Iraq. Under a $10 million project, FAO is currently working in Iraq to restore urgently needed veterinary services to protect farm animals and humans from epidemic diseases. Details from the FAO Newsroom...
AI epidemic. The avian influenza (AI) epidemic in Asia has caused losses estimated at up to $12 billion, and the highly pathogenic virus H5N1 could persist for years in some countries. Eliminating AI is therefore a long-term goal requiring better cooperation at national, regional and international levels, FAO says. Details here; see also Spotlight: Avian influenza in Asia...
Plant nutrients. Our Land and Water Development Division (AGL) has a new online database on crop responses to plant nutrients. Called Fertibase, it provides yield data for the main food crops in specific agro-ecological zones of some 30 countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Fertibase will help planners estimate fertilizer needs to meet crop yield targets. Starts here...
Minimum tillage. A joint IFAD/FAO study in northern Tanzania has found that adoption of minimum tillage and cover crops can help reduce demands for labour and farm power in small-scale agriculture. Download the study (PDF, 1.3MB), read more about conservation agriculture and cover crops...
Insect pests. IAEA and FAO host an international conference on the area-wide control of insect pests in Vienna on 9-13 May 2005. Area-wide programmes integrate the use of sterile insects with other control technologies against key veterinary, medical and plant pests. More on the conference and the area-wide approach...
Animal feed. New from our Animal Production and Health Division (AGA): Assessing quality and safety of animal feeds, which brings together recent studies of feed analysis, feed composition, evaluation of nutritional quality and antibiotic growth-promoters. This way...
COAG 2005. Delegates from more than 70 countries meet in Rome from 13-16 April 2005 for the biennial session of FAO's Committee on Agriculture (COAG). High on the agenda: Globalization in the livestock sector, Good agricultural practices and SARD and Food safety. For more, see full COAG documentation and Spotlight; for other COAG highlights, read on...
New web portal. COAG delegates will see a demonstration of an FAO web portal that provides access to international and national information on food safety, animal and plant health. Read the report, visit the portal...
Poverty alleviation. An FAO study has found that sustainable livelihoods approaches - such as our Pro-Poor Livestock Facility - can contribute to real poverty reduction, if applied effectively.
Get the COAG report...
Nuclear emergencies. FAO is setting up a crisis unit, linked to the IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre, to deal with nuclear or radiological events related to food and agriculture. See Preparedness for nuclear emergencies...
Water desalination. In a report to COAG, FAO says desalination of brackish or sea water for agriculture can be effective in the case of some high-value crops, but is generally much less economical than re-use of treated wastewater. See Water desalination for agricultural applications...
Energy crops. Agro-industries processing bananas, rice, wheat, sorghum, cassava and many other crops could play a much greater role in production of biomass energy, a report to COAG says. See Bioenergy...
Avian influenza. Recent human deaths from avian influenza (AI) in Viet Nam have sparked renewed concern over AI outbreaks in Asia. See Spotlight: Avian influenza in Asia, and FAO's latest AI situation report (PDF, 245K)...
Tsunami impact. FAO's Agriculture Department has mobilized to assist agricultural reconstruction in areas devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami. See our new Tsunami reconstruction web site, and Spotlight: After the tsunami...
Water, food and ecosystems. Some 500 participants from 160 countries attended the FAO/Netherlands International Conference on Water for Food and Ecosystems in The Hague from 31 January-4 February. See the Conference website and Spotlight: Water, food and ecosystems in Africa...
Genetic resources. At its 10th regular session in Rome on 8-12 November 2004, the CGRFA called for new impetus in its work on animal genetic resources (read the session report). The Commission later convened for its second meeting as Interim Committee for the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (full report here)...
Rice 2005. FAO's International Rice Commission (IRC) is coordinating follow-up to the International Year of Rice 2004. IRC initiatives include support to 17 projects worldwide on rice and rice-based systems. To the IRC website...
Agricultural marketing. A new CD-ROM from our Agricultural Support Systems Division contains more than 30 agricultural marketing publications. Ordering details...
Darfur assistance. Blacksmiths trained by an FAO project in Sudan's troubled Darfur region have won a UNIDO contract to produce animal-drawn cultivators for local farmers. More on FAO assistance to Darfur...