For years, wheat farmers in Afghanistan’s central highlands have relied on methods passed down through generations. In Daikundi Province, many traditionally scatter 70 to 100 kg of seed across each jerib of land believing that more seed will bring a better harvest.

Every healthy harvest begins long before the first grain is collected. It starts with healthy soil, resilient ecosystems and smart decisions in the field. That message resonated throughout a seminar hosted by FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division on 24 September, where experts from Indonesia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and FAO explored how environmentally friendly plant health approaches can help advance One Health goals while reducing reliance on chemical pesticides.

Thirty experts from 16 country across the Asia Prior Informed Consent (PIC) region gathered in Beijing for a three-day regional workshop aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention. 

Healthy plants are essential to healthy people, animals and ecosystems. Bringing plant health more firmly into the One Health agenda was at the heart of the action session “Plant health: A key pillar of One Health”, held on 22 September during the FAO Global Conference for Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems in Rome.

Almost two thousand years ago, Marcus Aurelius counselled that we should “constantly regard the universe as one living being”. Today, that idea is at the heart of the One Health approach, which recognizes that the health of people, animals, plants and the environment cannot be considered in isolation, but form an interconnected “web of life”.

Women play a crucial role in global agrifood systems, particularly in small-scale farming, yet they are disproportionately exposed to the risks associated with hazardous pesticides and chemicals. Recognising this challenge during the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, the Rotterdam Convention dedicated a side event entitled Women farmers at the leading edge of pesticide management in agrifood systems on the margins of the twenty-second meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC.22).

The twenty-second meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC.22), a subsidiary body of the Rotterdam Convention, formally opened this morning at the headquarters of FAO. 

An interview with Yurdi Yasmi, Director of FAO Plant Production and Protection, ahead of the FAO Global Exhibition: From Seeds to Foods(8-12 October) taking us behind the scenes of the second edition. 

FAO held a technical meeting with the National Plant Gene Bank of Iran to support the revision of the Global Plan of Action for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA).

Agriculture must move beyond a primary focus on producing sufficient quantities of food and place greater emphasis on providing the diverse and nutritious foods needed for healthy diets, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said Monday, highlighting horticulture’s contribution to better nutrition, resilient livelihoods and more sustainable agrifood systems.