About FAO News Multimedia Main topics Statistics Members Publications

Plant Production and Protection

News

All news
Desert locust outbreak persists in Northwestern Africa: Control measures must increase to avoid further spread in 2026
22/12/2025
FAO warns that a serious desert locust outbreak continues in Northwestern Africa, with the situation remaining critical in Mauritania. A third generation of breeding is expected to worsen conditions in January, with larger hopper bands likely to appear.
Young professionals carry cardamom success from East to West Nepal
22/12/2025
A week-long learning mission under FAO’s One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative brought together the government agricultural officers and young researchers for an immersive journey into Nepal’s large cardamom heartland. Through field visits in Ilam and Jhapa, the group explored how decades of experience in Eastern Nepal can guide the crop’s expansion into the western districts of Syangja, Baglung and Myagdi. 
“From Seeds to Foods”: a visual journey now captured in a report about the exhibition
22/12/2025
What does it take to feed the world – today and tomorrow? The answer came to life in “From Seeds to Foods,” FAO’s first-ever global exhibition, and that experience is now captured in a vibrant, image-led report that invites everyone to explore it anew.

Held in Rome, Italy, on10–13 October 2025, during FAO’s 80th anniversary and the 5th World Food Forum, the exhibition transformed the Park of Porta Capena – into a 12 000 m2 open-air journey through global agrifood systems. For the first time, FAO stepped beyond its headquarters to meet the public, presenting food as a shared heritage, a scientific pursuit and a powerful cultural expression.
In Liberia, Director-General meets president, ministers, and launches OCOP initiative
11/12/2025
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu concluded a two-day mission to Liberia, during which he met with the country’s highest authorities and launched a project focusing on coffee as part of Liberia’s inaugural participation in FAO’s One Country One Priority Product Initiative (OCOP). Liberia selected Coffee Liberica, a rare and indigenous coffee species, as its priority crop.
Countries of Europe and Central Asia continue to benefit from OCOP initiative
06/12/2025
FAO and its regional partners strengthened strategic coordination, partnerships, and implementation planning for the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative in Europe and Central Asia, following the second meeting of the Regional Organizing Group held on 5 December.
From the ground up: Why soil health is key to One Health solutions
05/12/2025
In our interconnected world, the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment is inseparable. Soil, a vital but often overlooked component of this balance, is central to the One Health approach.
The Regional Launch for Latin America and the Caribbean of The Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
24/11/2025
This high-level, policy-focused dialogue convened ambassadors, policymakers, partners, and experts to discuss the respective priorities for conserving and sustainably utilizing crop diversity. The dialogue took place during the Eleventh Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty, at the Lima Convention Centre in Lima, Peru. It underscored the importance of regular, data-driven assessments for monitoring diversity, identifying threats, and shaping evidence-based policies.
FAO and Samoa kicked off a new cocoa value chain project with China's support
18/11/2025

A new global project to advance the cocoa value chain development in Samoa was kicked off today during an inception workshop, co-hosted by FAO and the Government of Samoa. This project is funded by the Government of the People’s Republic of China through the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Programme. Samoa is selected as a ‘demonstration country’ that will inspire and showcase examples to other Pacific Island countries.

Integrating agrifood systems into urban landscapes
12/11/2025
Since the launch of the Green Cities Initiative (GCI) in 2020, FAO has championed efforts to transition to sustainable plant production systems. Through the City Region Food Systems (CRFS) Programme, and initiatives on urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA), horticulture, and smart farming, FAO supports cities in designing and managing productive green spaces. These efforts help bring agrifood systems closer to urban residents. 
Africa’s vanishing crop diversity: the silent crisis threatening our food future
12/11/2025
Africa stands at a crossroads. A continent once celebrated for its astonishing agricultural diversity, where farmers cultivated thousands of unique crop varieties adapted to every soil and climate, is now witnessing a silent erosion of that genetic wealth. The Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) reveals a stark warning: Africa’s plant genetic wealth, the very foundation of its food security and cultural heritage, is disappearing.
Plant Production and Protection in the global news
Securing the Future of Millets
05/04/2024
Agricultural leaders, policymakers, and high-level representatives from the global south gathered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 25-26 March 2024, to chart a course for collective action beyond the International Year of Millets 2023 (IYM2023). 
Afghan farmers despair as locusts plague precious crops
14/06/2023
Hundreds of thousands of locusts have descended on crops in northern Afghanistan, under the helpless gaze of farmers and their families already stalked by famine.
'Nothing Stops Them': Locust Army Filmed Destroying Crops in Shocking Video
12/06/2023
In early 2020, a locust swarm of biblical proportions swept across parts of Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, damaging hundreds of thousands of hectares of cropland.