2019

At its Seventeenth Regular Session, the Commission adopts a Work Plan for the Sustainable Use and Conservation of Micro-organism and Invertebrate Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. It agrees to address functional groups of invertebrates and/or micro-organisms as follows:

·        CGRFA-18: (a) Pollinators, including honey bees and (b) Biological control agents and biostimulants

·        CGRFA-19: (a) Soil micro-organisms and invertebrates, with emphasis on bioremediation and nutrient cycling organisms and (b) Micro-organisms of relevance to ruminant digestion

·        CGRFA-20: (a) Edible fungi and invertebrates used as dietary components of food/feed and (b) Micro-organisms used in food processing and agroindustrial processes.

2019

Publication of The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, which includes in its scope micro-organisms and invertebrates such as pollinators, soil micro-organisms and biological control agents.

2013

Publication of Background Study Paper No.65 Status and trends of the conservation and sustainable use of micro-organisms in food processes, which provides key information on microbial strains relevant to food processing, a detailed overview of the uses of micro-organisms in food processes and information on the microbiology and other features of traditional fermented foods, highlighting successes and constraints related to the sustainable use of micro-organisms for food processing and recommending actions needed to improve their management.

2013

Publication of Background Study Paper No.64 Status and trends of the conservation and sustainable use of microorganisms in agroindustrial processes, which provides an assessment of the status and trends of the use and conservation of micro-organisms in agro-industrial processes, including their use as biofertilizers and biopesticides, in composting, in the production of microbial metabolites and in bioremediation.

2013

Publication of Background Study Paper No.63 The conservation and use of micro-organisms and invertebrates in root crop-based systems: state of knowledge, trends and future prospects, which reviews the status and trends of micro-organism and invertebrate diversity in root crop-based production systems, describes the current and potential future contributions of these organisms to these systems, and identifies knowledge gaps and research priorities in this field.

2012

Publication of Background Study Paper No.62 Invertebrates in rice production systems: status and trends, which provides an overview of the current and past roles of invertebrates in rice systems, the most relevant invertebrate species in these systems, areas facing the risk of critical loss of invertebrate diversity and related ecosystem services, and constraints and opportunities in the management of invertebrates in rice systems.

2012

Publication of Background Study Paper No.61 Micro-organisms and ruminant digestion: state of knowledge, trends and future prospects, which provides a historical account of progress made in rumen microbiology research and an overview of the rumen microbial ecosystem and its role in improving livestock productivity and the environmental and health impacts of livestock production.

2009

Publication of Background Study Paper No.46 The use and exchange of microbial genetic resources for food and agriculture, which describes the main patterns of global exchange of microbial genetic resources for food and agriculture, the main benefits of the use and exchange of these resources, the terms and modalities of such exchanges, stakeholder perceptions of these matters, and promising initiatives in this field.

2007

Publication of Background Study Paper No.38 The sustainable management of biodiversity for biological control in food and agriculture: status and needs, which discusses the use of biological control agents, their value to agriculture, trends in their use, the state of the international policy environment for their use, their risk status, the state of conservation measures for their protection, challenges to accessing them, and priorities and recommendations for improving their sustainable use and conservation.