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May, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPECIAL FOCUS
Understanding and Containing Global Food Price Inflation
In recent months, dramatic increases in
basic cereal prices have aroused intense concern about world
agriculture and about the impact of food price inflation on poor
consumers in developing countries.
THEMATIC FOCUS:
AGRICULTURE AND BIODIVERSITY
Conservation Crossroads
A rational global system for conserving and using crop diversity
would restore scientists' access to genetic material without
compromising national sovereignty.
Inverview
David E. Williams, Coordinator of the CGIAR Systemwide Genetic
Resources Program, comments on progress and possibilities in
collaborative efforts to safeguard and use plant genetic
diversity.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Stock
Options
Scientists, policymakers and herders can act now to husband
diminishing diversity in animal genetic resources for use in
meeting future needs and challenges.
Calculated Advantage
A study finds that paying carbon credits to farmers at the
forest margin would make protecting trees far more profitable
than cutting them down to grow annual crops.
Amazingly Mobile Maize
A global partnership of gene sleuths analyze the DNA of maize
to puzzle out how a humble Mexican grass spread to become the
world’s most widely grown crop.
Vitamin A Breakthrough
A new discovery will accelerate maize biofortification
and help ensure the early release of provitamin A varieties in
Africa, where maize is the preferred staple.
Help
at Hand
Researchers combine farmers’ existing knowledge with advanced
analysis to manage pests and diseases using crop genetic
diversity.
Markets of Biodiversity
Grain markets in Mali provide farmers with informal but critical
access to seed.
Branching Out
Researchers seek to save forests by looking beyond them to the
biodiversity and livelihood dimensions of the surrounding
landscape mosaics.
Seasoned for Salt
Rice farmers hampered by saline soils and water in
Bangladesh are set for relief as researchers breed salinity
tolerance into locally popular cultivars.
River
Run Dry
Managing the Great Ruaha River to meet the needs of people and
nature alike requires a deep understanding of benefits,
alternatives and the river itself.
Cold
Feat
New chickpea lines that tolerate cold allow farmers to
boost yields by growing the traditional spring crop over the
rainy months of the Mediterranean winter.
What's Bad for Yam...
Irish potato is shown to be threatened by a pest
previously thought to infest only yam, suggesting the need for
quarantine measures to control its spread.
INSIDE THE CGIAR
An
Update on Reform
The forward-looking Change Management Initiative aims to enhance
efficiency and effectiveness in confronting major challenges for
world agriculture.
Progress with the Independent Review
Findings on the effectiveness of the CGIAR in confronting new
challenges should help donors make better decisions about their
investments.
Ninth
Meeting of the CGIAR Science Council
While considering recent Center and program reviews and plans,
participants also take a look at CGIAR research in sub-Saharan
Africa.
MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
Riding a Wave of Interest in Agriculture
By stepping up media outreach, the CGIAR is reaffirming the
relevance of its work to new challenges and drawing attention to
important outcomes of collaborative research. |
