News brief

Malawi's next harvest at risk

National assessments coordinated by the Southern African Development Committee indicate that over 10 million people are likely to face food shortage in the region before April 2006. Up to half of this number could be in Zimbabwe, with erratic rains, bad governance and HIV/AIDS the main causes. A similar number are at risk in Malawi, where maize prices are rising sharply following the worst drought in a decade. There are also fears that maize harvests in 2006 could also be low, due to inadequate supplies of affordable fertilizer. The government of Malawi has introduced a system of coupons, enabling farmers to buy fertilizer at subsidised prices. However, both the number of coupons distributed and the amounts of fertilizer available have been described by aid workers as inadequate. Further criticism of the government has come from a recent USAID-commissioned report, which highlights inconsistencies in policy, including pre-election promises of subsidy for fertilizer in 2004, which were never honoured. The World Food Programme (WFP) plans to feed up to 2.9 million people in the worst affected southern districts until January 2006, but warns that up to 5 million could need food aid during the coming months.

Under threat in Brazil: beef exports...

A fresh outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was recently confirmed in Brazil, which is jeopardising exports to some of its key markets. This latest case, confirmed in the Mato Grosso do Sul, was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture in Brasilia. The region is in the south west of the country and is the second biggest beef producing state. The infection was confirmed in 153 animals and immediately emergency procedures were adopted, which included the isolation and disinfection of the ranch involved, the slaughter of 582 cattle and eight pigs, and the imposition of a 25 km surveillance zone. Checkpoints were set up to prevent the movement of animals in and out of the area.

In accordance with international procedures, the outbreak was reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris and to Brazil 's trading partners. Russia, which is Brazil's major customer, taking over 20% of beef exported, imposed a ban on imports from the Mato Grosso do Sul. The European Union also imposed an immediate ban on imports of beef from the area. Brazilian beef producers are hoping that the outbreak can be contained and that exports from other beef-producing regions will continue unaffected. Annually beef exports are worth US$2 billion to the Brazilian economy.

...and new data on deforestation of Amazonian rainforests

New satellite images show that selective logging is causing more far greater damage to the Brazilian rainforest than previously thought. According to new high resolution images, the data has revealed 'hidden' logging activities resulting in deforestation at more than twice the known rate, and scientists believe it may be contributing to the region's worst drought in 40 years. By combining data from three satellites, a research team from the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in Stanford, California have been able to distinguish forest canopy from soil and ground clutter, whilst also filtering out the effects of smoke, water vapour and other atmospheric conditions. The results have revealed the impact of singling out individual high value trees, activities which were previously hidden by the remaining forest canopy. The resulting gaps caused by the removal of these selected trees is causing greater sunlight to reach the ground and more moisture to be lost. Drying out of the forest floor has resulted in an unprecedented number of forest fires and Brazilian officials have declared 16 cities within the Amazon region as disaster areas.

The new data, which was reported in Science, may have implications for other developing countries, such as Indonesia, Peru and Bolivia, where selective logging is also taking place.

Rice seedling blight: bacteria to blame

Rice seedling blight, a major disease in rice, was believed to be the result of a toxin released by certain Rhizopus fungi that attack it. The Rhizopus fungi live in soil, and it has long been held that the fungal toxin kills the roots of rice plants, causing millions of dollars of loss in yield each year. However, a surprise finding by German scientists has revealed that symbiotic bacteria living within the fungus produce the rhizoxin toxin. The discovery, which is reported in Nature, came about when the researchers realised that the fungi did not have the right gene to produce the toxin. The poison breaks down the rice roots and this allows the fungus to digest the dead cells. Future control of seedling blight may mean that antibiotics rather than antifungal agents should be used to treat the disease. The discovery that rhizoxin can also stop the growth of some human cancer cells may also lead to a potential cancer treatment.

Related threats to cocoa

credit: Scott Bauer

Despite physical differences between two of the worst fungal diseases that affect cocoa, researchers in the US have recently determined that the pathogens are actually closely related. Witches' broom (Crinipellis perniciosa) and frosty pod rot (Moniliophthora roreri) are the two greatest threats to the world's chocolate supply. Despite widespread applications of fungicides and other control methods, the diseases continue to invade new areas of South America, which impacts severely on smallholder farmers growing cacao as a cash crop. Building on work done by mycologist Harry Evans of CABI Bioscience in the UK during the 1980s, Cathie Amie of the ARS Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland in the US sequenced several genes from the two cocoa pathogens. Almost immediately, she could see that witches' broom and frosty pod both belonged to the order Agaricales, the mushroom-forming fungi. Further genetic analysis revealed evidence that indicated a sister-species relationship between the pathogens. The revelation of this new relationship is that biocontrol methods currently used to keep witches' broom in check may also work for frosty pod. For further information see ARS news

Organic congress call

Over 1000 delegates from 72 countries attended the 15th Organic World Congress of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), in Adelaide, Australia in September. The Congress produced a declaration calling on governments worldwide to endorse and support organic agriculture. Andre Leu, Chair of the Organic Federation of Australia, noted, 'There are not too many good news stories in agriculture. In Australia we have lost over 20,000 farmers in the last decade and it is similar in most countries. However, the number of organic farmers continues to increase and we have proven that we can provide the most important of commodities, healthy food.' The declaration urges individual governments to allocate funds for investment into organic agriculture, proportionate to the organic sector's production in their country, to internalise social and environmental costs in the prices of agricultural products and to remunerate organic farmers for the ecosystem services they provide.

Centre for protecting banana diversity

The genetic diversity of bananas - economically the world's fourth most important crop - is to be safeguarded by the creation of an international centre for research and training at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium - as reported by SciDev.Net. This was recently agreed by the university and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). For 20 years, the university has hosted the world's largest collection of bananas - with samples today of some 1175 varieties. Scientists can use this resource to develop bananas with traits desired by both farmers and consumers. Bananas are a major crop throughout the developing world, but conserving the genetic diversity of different varieties is difficult because most are seedless and reproduce by sprouting shoots directly off a parent plant. This means that samples of these varieties cannot be stored in conventional seed banks. Scientists from the University of Leuven have overcome this problem by freezing parts of the banana plant in a way that does not damage them.

Drought resistant and early maturing pigeonpea for Africa's arid areas

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has unveiled two pigeonpea varieties that enhance yields by between 250 and 400 per cent and cut maturity time by more than half. At a press briefing in Nairobi, ICRISAT introduced the drought-resistant and early-maturing varieties, which are suitable for use in Kenya 's arid and semi arid regions (ASALs). ICRISAT regional director Dr. Said Silim said that the new varieties have increased farmers' yields by between 1,500 kgs to 2,000 kgs per hectare compared to the 400 kgs per hectare traditional varieties realised. Silim also said that the varieties meet the criteria of appearance and taste that pigeonpea consumers prefer and withstand the harsh conditions in ASALs. The varieties were developed by ICRISAT and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

credit:S Cunningham

New approach to 'common pool' fisheries

New knowledge about how to manage common pool resource (CPR) fisheries is emerging from a project financed through the DFID-funded Fisheries Management Science Programme (FMSP). On behalf of FMSP, IDDRA (an EU-based research institution) has prepared four keysheets, which address the problems of CPR fisheries. They are based on a review of the extensive research conducted by the FMSP over the past 11 years, and include information from coastal, inland, industrial and artisanal fisheries in the South Pacific, West and East Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean.

Information covered includes: the importance of CPR fisheries to the poor in the developing world; the factors that affect the performance of fisheries management in a CPR context; new 'best practice' approaches for improving the management of such fisheries; and future research priorities in this important field. Written for fisheries practitioners, professionals, policy makers and fund raisers, the key sheets will prove useful also to those working on the management of other natural resource CPRs. They will be available in digital and paper formats in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese from end of October 2005, and available to download from www.fmsp.org.uk and www.onefish.org.

Fungal boost for barley

Infecting plant roots with the soil borne fungus Piriformospora indica has been found not only to stimulate growth, but has recently been shown to give barley plants increased resistance to fungal diseases and greater tolerance of salinity. The research, by a team of scientists from Germany, Hungary and the US, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, challenges the idea that introducing greater resistance to disease or stress leads to a reduction in yields. In fact, barley infected with the fungus, which was discovered recently in India's Thar desert, yielded up to 11% more than uninfected plants, and showed resistance to two fungi (Fusarium culmorum and Cochliobolus sativus) which are a major cause of disease in barley crops worldwide. According to Frank Waller of the University of Giessen, Germany, who led the study, the fungus can easily be propagated on a large scale, and could be particularly useful in improving resistance to stresses and disease in plants that are difficult to modify genetically.

Scrapie threat to European flocks

EU plans to eradicate scrapie, (ovine spongiform encaphalopathy), from European sheep flocks face a new challenge. A monitoring programme in operation since 2002 has found that 20 per cent of sheep and goats that test positive for scrapie, have an unusual form of the disease. The findings support Norwegian research which, since 1998, has also detected brain changes and prions (thought to be the infectious agent of scrapie) different from normal scrapie. Tests at the French National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA) have confirmed the European and Norwegian findings, and worryingly these tests suggest that the new strain can cause disease in sheep with a form of prion protein that was previously thought to be resistant. This raises doubt about the likely success of the EU eradication plan, which has been based on breeding sheep with the resistance genes.

Partnerships offer market access

New ways to connect small-scale farmers to good quality markets are the subject of a recent publication from the Crop Post-Harvest Programme (CPHP), a research programme funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Behind the market profiles five innovative partnerships that have identified and addressed obstacles to marketing for farmers in Uganda, Kenya and India. The examples include a coalition formed in Andhra Pradesh to link sorghum farmers to the poultry feed industry, with coalition members including sorghum farmers, crop breeders, the poultry feed industry and poultry farmers. Another successful partnership, from Uganda, has introduced solar drying techniques to pineapple, mango and banana growers. These have enabled the growers to overcome the problem of seasonal glut, and also permitted export of the dried fruit through a company established by project partners. The publication includes both descriptions of the partnerships and interviews (text and a CD of audio files) with farmers and other partnership members.
For further information see http://www.cphp.uk.com.

1^st November 2005