One hundred profiles are now available in the FAO Country Pasture Profile database. Developed to make available basic information about the pasture and forage resources of countries, each profile provides a broad overview of relevant general, topographical, climatic and...[more]

The Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture has just published an educational module on conservation and sustainable use as part of a series of training materials for the implementation of the Treaty. This second module is...[more]

Despite efforts to control the disease for almost ten years, Banana Bacterial Wilt (or BXW as it is known) continues to ravage banana fields in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), especially in the North and South Kivu neighbourhoods. At the same time the disease has...[more]

Increasingly essential as pest risk increases due to globalization[more]

The Second Global Plan of Action for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the FAO Council in Rome on 29 November 2011 as a new global framework aiming at the conservation and sustainable use of the world’s diversity of plants on which food and...[more]

Soil salinization is one of the more subtle and progressive causes of soil degradation, threatening some of the most productive lands currently under irrigated agriculture. It is also an increasing environmental concern for those areas for which suggested climate change...[more]

The newly funded EU-project SmartSOIL had its kick-off meeting in Brussels on November 10-11 2011. FAO participates in SmartSOIL as a member of the advisory panel and is represented by Caterina Batello, team leader AGPME, with Christian Nolte, Senior Officer Soil Fertility and...[more]

The online package on climate-resilient and environmentally sound agriculture or "climate-smart" agriculture goes live. Through simplified concepts and relevant resources and examples, we explore the impacts of global change on agriculture, the impacts of agriculture on...[more]

There are certain formulations of pesticides that cannot be safely used in many developing countries given the socio-economic and climatic conditions. These formulations can result in problems for human health or the environment.  Despite the fact that pesticide poisoning is a...[more]

African governments should promote sustainable small-scale horticulture in rural, urban and peri-urban areas, in order to boost consumption of fruit and vegetables across the region. That was one of the key recommendations of the Anglophone African Regional Workshop on Promotion...[more]