Climate change: Coalition promises $650 m to African farmers

A coalition of donors, aid institutions and philanthropy has promised to invest more than US $650 million in the CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) System Organization to help 300 million smallholder farmers in developing countries towards awareness to  impacts of climate change, which already are eroding crop and livestock productions in places like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Sorghum grain yield could be doubled

Plant scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), in their search for solutions to global food production challenges, have doubled the amount of grains that a sorghum plant can yield.

New possibilities for gene therapies with spin of the Sleeping Beauty transposase

Scientists have developed a new variant of the Sleeping Beauty transposase. It has dramatically improved biochemical features, including enhanced stability and intrinsic cell penetrating properties.

Did an extraterrestrial impact trigger the extinction of ice-age animals?

A controversial theory that suggests an extraterrestrial body crashing to Earth almost 13,000 years ago caused the extinction of many large animals and a probable population decline in early humans is gaining traction from research sites around the world.

Food Security: Oyo Government, society partner to combat weeds on water ways

The Oyo Government has expressed interest to establish a synergy with the Weed Science Society of Nigeria to combat the challenges of weeds on food security occasioned by impacts on water ways and other decaying antiquated infrastructures in the state.

AFDB intensifies technologies transfer to reduce poverty,

·       Injects Vitamin A cassava in Benin Republic...

African Development Bank (AfDB) led by Nigerian Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina has reiterated its readiness to intensify the use of improved technologies in the shelves of research institutes in the African continent by farmers, saying this would reduce poverty rate with Pro vitamin A cassava variety already being introduced to Benin republic farmers. This was contained in statement issued to Feed Africa group last week.

Antimicrobial resistance is drastically rising

The world is experiencing unprecedented economic growth in low- and middle-income countries. An increasing number of people in India, China, Latin America and Africa have become wealthier, and this is reflected in their consumption of meat and dairy products. In Africa, meat consumption has risen by more than half; in Asia and Latin America it is up by two-thirds.

The world is getting wetter, yet water may become less available for North America and Eurasia

With climate change, plants of the future will consume more water than in the present day, leading to less water available for people living in North America and Eurasia, according to a Dartmouth-led study in Nature Geoscience. The research suggests a drier future despite anticipated precipitation increases for places like the United States and Europe, populous regions already facing water stresses.

Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops

Once dismissed as 'junk DNA' that served no purpose, a family of 'jumping genes' found in tomatoes has the potential to accelerate crop breeding for traits such as improved drought resistance.

You don't have to go cold turkey on red meat to see health benefits

A new study has found that halving the amount red and processed (RPM) meat in the diet can have a significant impact on health, reducing the amount of LDL 'bad' cholesterol in the blood which cuts the risk of developing heart disease.