Month: November 2014
Highlights of the 12th Asian Maize Conference
Capacity development
The 12th Asian Maize Conference and Expert Consultation on “Maize for Food, Feed, Nutrition and Environmental Security” convened in Bangkok, Thailand from 31 October to 1 November 2014.
Updated Web Wheat Atlas 3.0 prioritizes user experience
Capacity development
Whether you are a scientist, a researcher or simply interested in learning more about the vital staple crop that provides 20 percent of the world’s calories, the Wheat Atlas can help.
Ethiopia’s seed co-ops benefit entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers
Nutrition, health and food security
Government-subsidized farmer-run cooperatives produce high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat seed, accelerating distribution and helping smallholder farmers grow healthy crops.
Maize opportunities and challenges for Asia
Capacity development
Compared with other cereals, maize has recorded the fastest annual growth in Asia at around 4 percent, but consumption is rising faster than yields.
Global wheat-rust research aids Ethiopian farmers
Climate adaptation and mitigation
The 2014 World Food Prize laureate, Sanjaya Rajaram’s adaptable, high-yielding wheat varieties are grown on more than 58 million hectares worldwide.
Q+A: Young scientist wins award for “Taking it to the Farmer”
Innovations
Conservation agriculture is becoming a vital part of the rural landscape throughout Mexico and Latin America, leading to a major World Food Prize Field award for Bram Govaerts.
Enhancing the nutritional quality of maize
Nutrition, health and food security
Malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency, which can cause blindness and stunting, increased infant and maternal mortality and lower IQs, are at epidemic levels in some parts of Asia.
Food security successes earn ‘sultan of wheat’ World Food Prize
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Sanjaya Rajaram, 2014 World Food Prize laureate, is credited with producing 480 wheat varieties, leading to increased yields and food for more than 1 billion people a year.
Scientists ship 2 tons of wheat seed samples around the world
Climate adaptation and mitigation
CIMMYT seed samples — International Wheat Nurseries — are sent to government and university research institutions and national agricultural research systems around the world.
Research on climate-resilient wheat keeps Green Revolution on track
Climate adaptation and mitigation
As the global population grows from a current 7 billion to a projected 9.6 billion by 2050, wheat breeders involved in the battle to ensure food security face many challenges.
Strengthening maize policies and public-private partnerships in Asia
Nutrition, health and food security
Policies designed to promote maize industry growth require data and information, which is often difficult to obtain in Asian countries. This was discussed during the technical session on improving maize seed systems in Asia at the 12th Asian Maize Conference.
Is gluten the new villain? The New Yorker covers the rising gluten-free trend
Nutrition, health and food security
“The most obvious question is also the most difficult to answer: How could gluten, present in a staple food that has sustained humanity for thousands of years, have suddenly become so threatening?”
12th Asian Maize Conference
Nutrition, health and food security
The 12th Asian Maize Conference is taking place in Bangkok from 30 October to 1 November, bringing together more than 350 leading agricultural researchers, policy-makers, farmers and service providers from across the public and private sectors.
