News Overview

By Kris A.G. Wyckhuys Given that agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from various agricultural sources is important to track sustainability commitments and develop mitigation strategies. Several analyses have focused on the carbon footprints of nitrogen fertilizers, but relatively few assess synthetic pesticides—drivers of biodiversity loss that are often applied excessively and inefficiently.

Rabat, Morocco, May 2022: This week sees major advances for agricultural research-for-development (R4D) in Morocco with the launch of the partner-led CGIAR Climber and F2R-CWANA Initiatives, and the inauguration of the new ICARDA Morocco genebank. The Climber and F2R-CWANA Initiatives are two of CGIAR’s new global portfolio of 33 initiatives developed by CGIAR and its partners, to deliver more relevant,

By Juan Lucas Restrepo, Global Director of Partnerships and Advocacy, CGIAR, and Director General of the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Land degradation is a global concern for food and nutrition security, biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation.   Despite its importance to our sustenance and livelihoods, we are witnessing unprecedented loss of arable

Robust and resilient agrifood systems begin with healthy crops. Without healthy crops the food security and livelihoods of millions of resource-constrained smallholder famers in low- and middle-income countries would be in jeopardy. Yet, climate change and globalization are exacerbating the occurrence and spread of devastating insect-pests and pathogens. Each year, plant diseases cost the global economy an estimated $220

Workshop participants stand for a group photo. (Photo: Danny Ward/John Innes Centre) On April 26–29, 2022, researchers from Nepal participated in a workshop on the use of MARPLE Diagnostics, the most advanced genetic testing methodology for strain-level diagnostics of the deadly wheat yellow rust fungus. Scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the John Innes Centre

This story was initially published at EBS.excellenceinbreeding.org In the race to develop more nutritious and climate-resilient varieties, crop breeders have access to enormous amounts of data: managing the operation of trials in different locations around the world, understanding soil and climate in multiple environments, measuring the field performance of hundreds of thousands of plants, and peeking inside the genome to

Enhancing the sector’s climate resilience through the scaling of innovative and integrated water management solutions in West Africa. The post Exploring agricultural water challenges and opportunities in West Africa as climate change signals a new normal first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

The new ICARDA Morocco genebank is supported by the Kingdom of Morocco, CGIAR Genebank Platform, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Genebank attributed funding, European Union, and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.  On May 18th, 2022, the new ICARDA Morocco Genebank officially opens in Rabat, Morocco. This state-of-the-art facility safely stores one of the world’s most unique and extensive collections