Rice researchers, scientists and funding partners from the Philippines and the United Kingdom, along with those from China, Thailand and Vietnam, converged early this month at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, to collaborate and share issues in sustainable rice production.

Thirteen projects funded through the Newton Fund UK-Philippines-China-Thailand-Vietnam Sustainable Rice Programme presented the current outputs of their research which address real-world problems as varied as lowering the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases for rice consumers, to increasing rice plant drought tolerance.

The three-year research projects began in 2016 and will continue until 2019. The Newton Fund Sustainable Rice Programme showcases an innovative mix of regional and country approaches that aim to help solve core challenges in global food security.

About 60 researchers, joined by representatives from the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and each of the country’s funding partners came together to explore ways to collaborate further, including sharing resources, lessons learned and data that can add value to their current projects and strengthen links with their counterparts from participating countries.

Deputy Ambassador to the Philippines Nigel Boud, in his welcome remarks to the delegates, said: “This is the first regional research program that we are running under the Newton Fund and it brings together countries to collaborate on work that is so important, like the sustainable production of rice. It demonstrates the kind of work that we want to be doing in the Newton Programme in the years ahead.”

Together with Dr. Bruce Tolentino, deputy director general of IRRI, the delegates noted the significance of rice research to the country and the region, noting the importance of rice and the regional collaboration being achieved through the projects.

Of the 13 projects, four involve scientists from the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). Two projects are working on improving the nutritional quality of rice and the other two focus on creating greater resilience of the rice plant to diseases and environmental stresses due to climate change.

One PhilRice researcher involved in the projects, Dr. Riza G. Abilgos-Ramos, said: “Our work will help to provide part of the solution in preventing type 2 diabetes and other chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular diseases, by increasing dietary fiber and enhancing rice-grain properties that would help to manage or prevent spikes in blood sugar increase after meals.

“The Newton Fund gives us the chance to do this with experts from different countries and allow us to expand our network in the UK and Southeast Asia.” Ramos is a supervising science research specialist in the Rice Chemistry and Food Science Division of PhilRice. The IRRI visit was highlighted by a tour of the research facilities, group presentations, poster-sharing sessions and clinic sessions.

Representatives from partners DA-PhilRice, Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Philippine Council for Agriculture Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Science, and Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency were among the delegates.

The Newton Fund builds scientific and innovation partnerships with 16 partner-countries to support their economic development and social welfare, and to develop their research and innovation capacity for long-term sustainable growth. It has a total UK government investment of £735 million up until 2021, with matched resources from the partner countries.

In the Philippines the program is known as the Newton Agham (Science) Programme to reflect the collaboration between the UK and the Philippines in science, research and innovation.

The UK delivery partners and the UK government, through its embassy, works with Philippine science and innovation institutions and funders, such as the DOST and the Commission on Higher Education, to codevelop and implement program that strengthen science and innovation capacity and create solutions to development challenges in the Philippines and in the region.

-Published in BusinessMirror. See original article link here.

By Joseph Byrum, Ph.D., MBA, PMP, is a Strategic Marketing Executive in Global Product Development and Head of Soybean Seeds Product Development at Syngenta. He writes on agricultural innovation.

Thinking of chicken soup as a remedy for our ills is so much a part of our cultural identity that “Chicken Soup for the Soul” was used as the title for a series of best-selling inspirational books. More than that, there is medical research backing up the claim that chicken soup can be beneficial when you’re sick.

While it may seem like grandma’s favorite recipe would be the ultimate low-tech cure for this common ailment, it’s quite the opposite. Today’s chicken soups are a marvel of advanced technology — a technology that’s bringing consumers a product that is cheaper, safer and tastier than ever before.

Recipes will differ, but the most common ingredients in chicken soup involve some combination of chicken, pasta (made from egg and wheat), celery, carrots, broth (made from chicken stock) and spices that can include items like chives, onion, parsley, garlic or parsnips. Modern agriculture has poured tens of billions of dollars into perfecting each of these individual ingredients. The impact of all this effort is reflected on supermarket shelves.

Back in 1950, a can of Campbell’s chicken soup cost 16 cents, which in today’s dollars amounts to $1.60 a can. Nearly 70 years later, a can of Campbell’s chicken soup sells for half as much, 82 cents, at America’s top retailer.

Behind the scenes, agricultural technology has been at work, slashing the cost of all those ingredients. Consider, for example, the effort that goes into producing chicken, the main ingredient.

Poultry is a $48 billion industry that has invested a massive amount of resources into the production of stronger, healthier and tastier meat. Perhaps the greatest advance began around the 1950s when the industry began to specialize its breeding of chickens. One variety of chicken would be bred solely for the purpose of laying eggs, and another for meat production. This made sense, since it turns out that the genetic traits that assist egg production are at odds with those needed to produce meat. Once breeding efforts were focused, the industry saw a rapid improvement in the quality of eggs and meat, while costs plunged. The 1960 wholesale price for a chicken was 29.9 cents per pound, which is $2.43 in 2016 dollars. Today’s prices are a fraction of that, averaging 85 cents per pound. So why hasn’t the price of chicken followed the inflation curve?

One reason is that technology has created the perfect environment for raising chickens and eggs. Real-time sensors watch over buildings with precisely controlled climate, nutrition, water and food safety monitoring. A modern henhouse can maintain a temperature throughout the building to within a degree or two, no matter how hot or cold it might be outside.

Systems also ensure the chickens have exactly as much water and nutrition as they need for optimal growth. Chicken feed, typically made from corn and soybean meal, provides a nutrient-rich diet, including protein. Getting the mix right for chicken feed is a science unto itself, involving a vast amount of plant breeding technology that pays off in measurable quality improvement — the modern chicken is much less prone to disease and 85 percent meatier than its 1960s counterpart.

In at least one respect, the work that goes into making those ingredients for feed is more complex than raising chickens. It’s impossible to breed plants at scale in a climate-controlled environment. Certainly greenhouses and hydroponic gardens can be useful tools, but feeding a planet with 7.4 billion people requires the use of 1.5 billion hectares of land exposed to the elements. The results of breeding experiments that matter most are the ones gathered outside, in the elements. Unfortunately, that’s a very messy environment, where weather, insects and disease all wreak havoc on row crops, skewing results.

From the moment a seed is planted, some of nature’s players are working to kill it for their own survival. Weeds, insects and disease, along with natural weather patterns that can be destructive or constructive for that seed’s survival, all play into the yield and quality equation for a farmer.

For instance, how can you know whether a given soybean plant, which is one of the main ingredients used to feed chickens, grew taller than its peers because of its inherently superior genetics, as opposed to a quirk in the test field that gave it a more fertile space, more sunlight or other advantages? Only in the past few years have we taken advantage of computing power and data analytics to sift through the environmental noise to identify the best genetics. We use that mathematical insight in plant breeding to produce inherent disease resistance so that plants can grow to their fullest potential all the way to harvest — before it makes its way into the ingredients used in the soup cans on supermarket shelves.

Advanced mathematics is revolutionizing how we grow plants, and that’s not just good news for chicken feed. It will play into all the other ingredients in chicken soup, such as celery, carrots and onions.

These elements of precision agriculture are just part of the story. Soup companies are using advanced processing technologies to extend the shelf life and flavor of their products. On the cutting-edge, for instance, are high-tech microwaves that are being used for drying spices that cut down on energy use. These aren’t your typical consumer devices used to cook a bag of popcorn. Rather, they’re sophisticated, high-power units that promise to heat the product faster and more uniformly. The idea is to kill pathogens while better retaining nutrients and flavor over traditional methods of drying.

Modern agricultural techniques have unlocked a wealth of benefits for consumers, but we have only scratched the surface. We’re still in the early stages of harnessing the power of advanced data analytics in the breeding of plants. So you can expect in the decades ahead that modern agricultural technology will continue improving chicken soup. From the spices, chicken, and all the other ingredients that go into each can, companies will never stop in the quest to perfect each individual component. Ultimately, this is all done for the future generations who turn to chicken soup as a form of relief from the sniffles.

-Published in GMO Answers. See original article link here.

From simple statements to simplifying complex concepts, CropLife International’s infographics make an impact in social media. Check out the 10 most popular graphics from 2016 that we encourage you to share.

1.  What does the world #eat? Mostly #plants. How do we improve plant performance? Mostly science. @FAOstatistics pic.twitter.com/bH8HB933Yx

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2. #Soil stores 10% of the world’s carbon dioxide – more than the atmosphere and vegetation combined. pic.twitter.com/Aw0279kEJo  #plantscience

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3. #Agriculture is a $2.4 trillion industry led by 1.3 billion farm workers. It’s worth protecting! goo.gl/pC4QJC

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4. #PlantScience has helped preserve 500 million hectares of biodiverse land since 1975. goo.gl/G3MwEv

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5.  DYK 40% of #apples are wasted globally? @ArcticApples aim to reduce the waste with science! goo.gl/eqRWnF pic.twitter.com/Uu0fTEXYPD

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6.

What happened when #farmers started growing #biotech crops? Yields increased 22%. Learn more: tablefortwenty.org.  pic.twitter.com/IOkNFS9LID

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7. #Crops provide fiber for textiles, not just food. #Bamboo T-shirt, anyone? http://bit.ly/1XBVQLp

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8. Empowering #women in #agriculture is vital to sustainable food production. http://goo.gl/lHSaeY

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9. Why do we need #herbicides? Because weeds destroy our food crops. https://goo.gl/7Cm8Jc

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10. Herbicides improve your golf game by preventing weeds from blocking your shots! http://bit.ly/2g1jUYd

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Which dastardly disease, weed thief and bug thug topped the popularity chart in 2016? Learn about these villains and how plant science arrests them below.

Dastardly Disease: Rice Blast, The Virulent Villain: Rice blast destroys enough rice to feed 60 million people each year. And it can affect any part of the rice plant. Catch it with crop protection! See More

Weed Thief: Giant Ragweed, The Towering Troublemaker: Crop protection products help fight losses from weed thieves like giant ragweed, which can cut maize and soybean production in half. Growing up to 15-feet high, this weed is giant indeed. See More

Bug Thug: Corn Rootworm, The Maize Muncher: Have you seen this pest? It’s wanted for $800 million in damage to U.S. corn! See More

Article by: CropLife International