The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2020 (SOCO 2020) aims to discuss policies and mechanisms that promote sustainable outcomes – economic, social and environmental – in agricultural and food markets, both global and domestic. The analysis is organized along the trends and challenges that lie at the heart of global …
AS THE May 7 deadline for the review of the Deep Sea Fishing (DSF) policy by the P Murari committee drew closer, the leaders of India's 80 lakh-strong traditional fishing community built up a tempest against megascale joint venture DSF projects. Sit-ins and rallies were held from Paradip to Delhi. …
Farmers in the developing world are in for tough times ahead. A 1994 Food and Agricultural Organization publication titled Medium- Term Prospects for Agricultural Commodities warns that the rate of trade growth for food and agricultural commodities during the '90s is likely to be less than half the rate of …
THE Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) will hand over its collection of 610,000 varieties of crop germplasm -- the largest in the world -- to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, to ensure that plant breeders all over the world have equal accessibility to this valuable material. …
WHEN SWARMS of desert locusts from Africa invaded Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat in early July this yearfarmers helplessly re-lived the horror of seeing their crops destroyed. Says Prahlad Singh of Derdokabas village in Jodhpur districtAfter waiting for years, we finally had a good monsoon and the crops grew well. …
With tonnes of toxic chemicals being poured into the desert soil to kill locusts, experts warn of damage to the area's delicate ecosystem. The widespread use of banned organochlorine pesticides -- dieldrin in particular -- is expected to have serious ecological effects. Officials counter, "We use a mild mixture of …
A GLOBAL system for sustainable management of the world's fish stocks, which are being rapidly depleted by heavily subsidised national fishing fleets, is essential to prevent their extinction, participants in a recent UN conference have urged. The session in New York, a follow-up to the Earth Summit in Rio de …
WHAT DOES the International Monetary Fund have to do with land degradation? On the face of it, nothing. But in reality, quite a lot. A degraded landscape in an increasingly integrated world is the end-product of a long chain of economic processes. Debt leads to debt repayment, which in turn …
THE EUROPEAN Community (EC) has decided to seek membership to the International Whaling Commission (IWC). At present, the EC is a member only of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation though seven EC nations are individual members of the IWC. In the wake of this decision, the EC has informed …
ASIA TOPS the list of continents with the highest deforestation rate. The initial estimates of the 1990 tropical forest resources census show about 3.6 million ha -- or about 1.2 per cent -- of forest land are cleared each year in Asia. This is much higher than in either Latin …
WEN LIAN TING, Malayasia's permanent representative to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), won the epithet of "dragon lady" during the Rio summit for her unwavering opposition to the forest convention. The tough UNCED prepcom meetings, spread over a period of two years, required enormous mental and physical stamina, which …
Small changes in urban human behavior and increased energy efficiency will have a positive impact on our natural resources. Mukul Sanwal[1] The recently released report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) established by the United Nations, “Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability,” details the impact of climate …
The Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), an inclusive inter-governmental meeting on nutrition jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), will be held at FAO Headquarters, in Rome, 19-21 November 2014. Notwithstanding progress in many countries, unacceptably high levels of malnutrition persist. …
The Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and CGIAR Research Program on MAIZE are jointly organizing the 12th Asian Maize Conference and Expert Consultation on Maize for Food, Feed, Nutrition and Environmental Security on …
