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Archive October 1999

Regulations for herbicide-resistant crops

A technical consultation on herbicide-resistant crops (HRCs) has called on FAO to prepare guidelines to regulate their introduction and provide training to developing countries on their risks and benefits. The consultation, called by AG's Plant Production and Protection Division, found that HRCs could promote more effective weed control, reduced tillage and higher yields. However, they carried a number of risks - increased grower dependency on herbicides, restrictions on farm-saved seed, loss of biodiversity and the development of herbicide-resistant biotypes. Download the full consultation report (PDF, 93K).


Irrigation in North Africa

FAO water development specialists will meet their counterparts from North Africa in Morocco on 20-22 October for a workshop aimed at improving the efficiency of irrigation schemes in the region. Organized by Morocco's Rural Hydraulics Administration, with support from FAO and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute in Bari, Italy, the workshop comes amid increasing water scarcity and intense competition for water from other sectors. Participants will review case studies on technologies and management approaches that have helped modernize irrigation networks. They will also draw up recommendations on the role of various players in the irrigation sector, technology options and the economic implications of alternative crops. Details from JeanMarc.Faures@fao.org.


Reconstruction aid for Kosovo farmers

An expert from our Agricultural Support Systems Division joined a recent FAO mission to Kosovo to prepare a $50 million project for emergency farm reconstruction. The UN says the 450,000 refugees expected to return to Kosovo's farming areas by late 1999 will urgently need agricultural assistance. The proposed project will help by providing farm mechanization and livestock inputs, essential support services, and input supply and repair facilities. The FAO mission assessed the inputs most urgently needed to maximize sown acreage, particularly for winter wheat. The mission will prepare a comprehensive set of proposals for consideration by donors in October.


Future of food irradiation

FAO, IAEA and WHO are sponsoring an international conference this month to review the current status of food irradiation and plan for its large-scale adoption in the coming decade. Long regarded as an effective means of ensuring food quality and safety, irradiation is also seen increasingly as a legitimate sanitary and phytosanitary treatment for food and agricultural commodities entering international trade. The conference, to be held in Antalya, Turkey, on 19-22 October, will bring together regulators, food scientists and manufacturers, retailers, the radiation processing industry and consumer organizations. For further information, consult the Conference's web site (for background, see Facts about food irradiation, PDF, 1.18MB).


Workshops on conservation agriculture in Eurasia...

Intensive soil tillage is believed to have reduced soil fertility in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS, formerly USSR) by as much as 50%, while associated wind and water erosion affects some 3.3 million sq km of land. Those alarming estimates were presented at a workshop on conservation tillage sponsored by FAO, ICARDA and CIMMYT in Kazakhstan on 20-24 September. The workshop, attended by representatives from 12 CIS countries as well as Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, was part of a process aimed at developing and implementing national action plans for conservation tillage throughout the region. Get further details of the workshop, and background on conservation agriculture.

...and soil fertility in Africa

Meanwhile, AG's Land and Water Development Division is organizing a workshop for plant nutrition management experts from 14 African countries that will document proven, cost-effective - and available - technologies for restoring and maintaining soil fertility. The workshop, to be held in Lusaka, Zambia, on 6-9 December, is part of FAO's support to the Soil Fertility Initiative (SFI) for sub-Saharan Africa. Participants will also review work on participatory diagnosis of constraints and opportunities in soil and nutrient management and exchange country experiences in launching the SFI programme. For details, contact Rabindra.Roy@fao.org.


International Plant Protection Convention upgrades site

The secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) has considerably expanded its Web site. The site carries information on the status of the New Revised Text of the IPPC, approved in 1997, and its key role - under the World Trade Organization's SPA Agreement - in setting international standards on measures to protect plants from harmful pests. You'll find a full list of IPPC official contact points, regional and national plant protection organizations, and a meeting calendar, as well as complete documentation for the second meeting of the IPPC's Interim Commission for Phytosanitary Measures (Rome, 4-8 October).


Land resources information in South America

An FAO regional project is helping Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay develop land resources information systems (LRIS) allowing agricultural development planners and to assess the potential of natural resources at different levels of production, management and inputs. The five-year, Japan-funded project will create databases on land and water resources in each of the participating countries, develop locally adapted land evaluation tools based on FAO's Agroecological zoning (AEZ) system, and train national staff in their application. Visit the project's web pages.

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