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The Philippine Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry has ruled that Golden Rice is “as safe as conventional rice.” The agency’s ruling marks a major step forward in the regulatory process for Golden Rice. The grain has been genetically engineered to help fight the health scourge of vitamin A deficiency…

Three young female leaders hope their Women Who Farm campaign will pave the way for the success of others across Africa.

In a bid to combat “hidden hunger,” an international research agency is developing rice varieties with higher levels of iron, zinc and beta-carotene. Healthier rice varieties have the potential to reach many people because rice is already widely grown and eaten, Dr. Russell Reinke, Healthier Rice Program Lead from the…

Massive investment is needed to bolster the livestock sector in developing countries, says Dr. Max Rothschild of the Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University. Nearly 1.3 billion people are estimated to depend directly on livestock for their livelihoods, including 1 billion rural poor. Additionally, more than 3.5…

A group of 15 leading scientists in forest biotechnology research recently published a letter in the Science Magazine, calling on international forest certification programs to review and modify their standards that exclude genetically modified (GM) and gene-edited trees. Although the review won‘t take place until October, researchers believe it‘s…

Farmers who grow cereal crops in most African countries are all too familiar with the challenges presented by striga, a parasitic plant also known as witchweed that infests farmers’ fields and causes lower yields, or even no harvest at all. Now African scientists are breeding maize that can resist this…

Some 1,500 farmers gathered in India today to illegally plant government-banned genetically modified (GM) seeds, which they say could improve their livelihoods and help reduce pesticide use. The farmers massed in a field in Akot, a village in Maharashtra, where they symbolically planted pest-resistant Bt brinjal (eggplant) and herbicide-tolerant cotton…

Of all the available tools that can help smallholder farmers improve their livelihoods, there is perhaps one that is the most important: money. Martha Brantley, director of strategic partnerships for the non-profit investment fund Shared Interest, works to help smallholder farmers, especially women, get the capital they…

Nigerian scientists are engaging large numbers of diverse farmer groups to help them evaluate new varieties of cassava in research that is already revolutionizing cassava breeding around the world. Typically considered a “poor man’s crop” in sub-Saharan Africa, cassava is the fourth most consumed food staple in the African continent after…