HarvestPlus Uganda has been collaborating with the BioInnovate Africa project and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry & Fisheries (MAAIF) to develop an information and communication technology (ICT) platform for certifying vitamin A orange sweet potato vines.
The ICT platform, which is accessible via a mobile application and a website, allows farmers to …
The four major biotech crops — soybeans, maize, cotton, and canola — were the most adopted biotech crops by 26 countries in 2018, according to the ISAAA report, Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2018. Soybeans lead at 95.9 million hectares, followed by maize (58.9 million hectares), cotton (24.9 million), and canola (10.1 million hectares). Based on …
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has designed new regulatory guidelines governing local food processors in a move aimed at increasing food fortification and tackle malnutrition.
The proposed guidelines, expected to be implemented next month, are also intended to improve the quality of the food that is processed in the country.
The …
An engineered small molecule called opabactin that targets the receptor for the hormone abscisic acid (ABA), which plants release in stressful conditions, limited water loss in Arabidopsis, tomato, and wheat, and improved wheat’s tolerance of drought-like conditions in the lab, according to a study published today (October 24) in Science. It …
THE Regional Director, African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), Dr Issoufou Abdourhamane, on Saturday said that the numerous challenges facing Africa’s agriculture could be effectively tackled with the deployment of appropriate technologies.
He said with the deployment of appropriate technologies, the creation of conducive environments and translation of political will into action, …
The term genetically modified organisms (GMOs) inspires images of crazy crops: a single plant that bears tomatoes above ground and potatoes beneath, or a tree that bears a fruit with stripes of yellow sour orange and green stripes from citron. Unlikely as they may sound, the two plants described above …
B4FA Fellow Michael Ssali writes:
Good farmers should continuously seek new knowledge about their work. Farming is dynamic and agricultural practices keep changing. New markets for agricultural products often come with new conditions that have to be met.
Time and again challenges crop up and a farmer will need guidance on how …
B4FA Fellow Michael Ssali explains: In his essay titled ‘Education for Self-Reliance’ Mwalimu Julius Nyerere spoke of a situation where the type of education provided to Tanzanian children soon after the country’s independence was divorced from the society which it was supposed to prepare them for.
He argued that children were …
Global plant diversity could be a lifeline for food security in sub-Saharan Africa, finds a new study.
The analysis reveals that replacing some at-risk African food crops with more resilient crops from other parts of the world, as well as tapping the huge genetic diversity of crop wild relatives, could help shore up …
Although technology is transforming just about every area of life we care to consider, in the vital area of sustainable agriculture, things are not happening quite so fast.
Food has a heavy environmental impact, but although technology today is doing much to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle environmental issues in …