News

Dr. Haileyesus Getahun was traveling in the remote north of his native Ethiopia when he encountered a painful sight.

After cruising over a beautiful but arid highlands and valleys for about 6 hours on a mule back, amidst a...

By LUIGI GUARINO | Director of Science and Programs

All the genebank managers of the CGIAR centres get together every year as part of the CGIAR Research Programme (CRP) on Genebanks. It’s not really a research programme. Suffice...

The Big Mac Index determines the purchasing power of different currencies by comparing prices of McDonald’s hamburgers in different countries, but in the Middle East, eating at global food chains is often more expensive than...

On the 23rd of October 1987, a young crop collector named Jane Toll was taking part in a collecting mission in central Chad, helping the staff of the young country’s genebank seek out and conserve indigenous diversity.

“Our focus...

Every year farmers grow around $150 billion worth of wheat, providing 23% of the calories we live on. But some years it all goes wrong.

2010 was a bad year for wheat: a heat wave in Russia, cold weather in Canada, drought in China...

A box containing 25 accessions of pigeon pea marks first-ever seed deposit from India to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault

In April 2014, India made its first seed deposit to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault with one box of 25...

Valencia, Spain (15-16 May 2014) – Why eggplants? Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important vegetable crop, especially in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. According to FAO statistics, eggplant ranks 6th, after...

NEW AUSTRALIAN SEED DEPOSIT

Indigenous crop wild relatives, brassica, oats among seeds that find safe haven in Svalbard Global Seed Vault

It is cold and white outside. The wind blows snowflakes sideways. But the members of the...

The potato is the world's number three food, feeding more than a billion people. But potato late blight may be the world's number one plant disease threat.

The fungus-like organism known as late blight is probably the worst...

Sorghum comes in a strong fifth among the world's important cereal crops – and nothing else matches its diversity of forms and uses.

A stalwart of hot and dry areas, sorghum demands few inputs and provides more than just grain in...

By LUIGI GUARINO | Director of Science and Programs

We use 43 muscles to frown but only 17 to smile. 89.2% of all statistics are made up on the spot. You can probably think of examples. Numbers such as these have been repeated so...

By LUIGI GUARINO | Director of Science and Programs

There’s a reason why the tag line for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization is “Fiat panis,” or “Let there be bread.” Bread is more than simply a food, it’s a potent symbol...