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586. Role of Healthy Soils

The important role of healthy soils in crop production to support human and livestock nutrition has been the focus of much attention in recent years. There is a growing need to assess soil fertility status and the challenges it faces from both a scientific and policy perspective, and the international community has been working to educate the public through various events. JIRCAS is also planning a series of events on science, technology, and development topics to improve soil health and fertility on the occasion of TICAD 8. We hope you will join us.
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585. The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets

On July 22, the United Nations and Turkey brokered an agreement to resume grain shipments from the Black Sea to Ukraine, but within 24 hours an attack on the port of Odessa was reported, casting a pall over the situation. The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2022 (SOCO 2022), released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at the end of June 2022, addresses the geography of food and agricultural trade and demonstrates that efforts to promote multilateral and regional trade are essential to increase food system resilience to shocks such as conflict, pandemics, and extreme weather events, and to achieve sustainable development.
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584. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022

 

The United Nations released The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 on July 7, providing a global overview of progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, using the latest available data and estimates.

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583. TICAD8 Side-Event Poster: “Healthy Soils for Food Security in Africa - Potential of Regenerative Agriculture”

As recently announced in Pick Up, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and JIRCAS will co-host a TICAD 8 side-event “Healthy Soils for Food Security in Africa - Potential of Regenerative Agriculture” online via Zoom on August 5 (Fri), 2022. The poster of the event is now available. Please take a look.
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582. The Need for a Multifaceted Assessment of the Value of Nature

Biodiversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate due to human economic activities. On July 11, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a comprehensive review of methodologies for assessing biodiversity values (The Value Assessment), which raised the issue that the value of nature is undervalued in policy and economic decision-making.

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581. Drought Risk for Almost Half of EU and UK

For the first time, the UK Met Office has issued the Red alert warning of health risks due to an extreme heatwave predicted for the week of July 18/19. This is the first time that temperatures above 40°C have been predicted in the U.K., a tenfold increase in probability under anthropogenic climate change. The EU also issued a warning that nearly half of the EU and the U.K. are at risk of drought, citing concerns over the impact on crop production.

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580. Online Event: Healthy Soils for Food Security in Africa ― Potential of Regenerative Agriculture

For too long, African agriculture has suffered from chronically low soil fertility and nutrient deprivation, resulting in low agricultural productivity and a food security crisis. Now, more than ever, the need for "healthy soils for healthy crops" is critical to Africa's agricultural development, and on Friday, August 5, the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and JIRCAS will co-host an online TICAD 8 side-event "Healthy Soils for Food Security in Africa - Potential of Regenerative Agriculture”. We look forward to your participation.
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579. Key Messages of The State Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022

The State Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 by UN agencies (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO) has recently been released. Today, with the permission of the FAO Liaison Office in Japan, we would like to share with you excerpts of the key messages regarding the food and nutrition situation.

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578. World Population Prospects 2022: Reaching 8 Billion on November 15

The United Nations has released its World Population Prospects 2022 report on the occasion of World Population Day on July 11. The report predicts that the world population will reach 8 billion on November 15, 2022. The report states that reaching 8 billion people is both a cause for celebration and a call to find solutions to the challenges humanity will face in the future.

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577. Year-round Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) Improves Farmers' Profits and Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions ― Promising mitigation and adaptation measures for climate change to be deployed in the Asia-Monsoon region―

The Mekong Delta, located in southern Vietnam, is the country's largest paddy rice cropping region, with fertile lowlands and abundant rainfall. In recent years, the area planted with rice has been expanding, and measures to cope with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including methane, and water demand are required. Using farmer survey data, JIRCAS evaluated the effects of year-round implementation of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technology on farmers’ profits and GHG emissions reduction, and showed that it is an agricultural system with co-benefit that both increases farmers' profits and reduces environmental impacts from agriculture.
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576. June Food Prices 20% Higher Than Last Year Despite 3 Consecutive Months of Decline

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported on July 8 that world food prices averaged 154.23 points in June 2022, 2.3% lower than in May and the third consecutive monthly decline since the record high in March, but still 29.0 points (21.1%) above the level a year ago. The June decline reflected lower international prices for vegetable oils, grains, and sugar, while dairy and meat prices rose.
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575. World Population Day ー A Look at Population Trends in Countries Around the World

The United Nations Population Fund reports that the world's population in 2022 will be 7.954 billion, an increase of 79 million from last year.To coincide with World Population Day on July 11, we have created a dashboard that shows the population trends of countries around the world. Check out the past and future population trends of countries around the world.

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574. SOFI 2022: Repurposing Food and Agricultural Policies to Make Healthy Diets More Affordable

On July 6, the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022, jointly prepared by fFAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, was released. The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) was estimated to have worsened from 8.0% to 9.3% during 2019-2020, then slowed but increased to 9.8% in 2021, with 702 - 828 million affected by hunger. Meanwhile, inflation meant that 3.1 billion people did not enjoy a healthy diet in 2020, and the report called for a review of policies to make healthy diets more accessible.

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573. Trends in International Framework for Conservation of Biodiversity

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which was to discuss an international framework for biodiversity conservation, has been postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has finally been announced that the conference will be held in December in a different venue. The success of the international agreement depends on a scientific approach to identify the direct and indirect drivers of nature loss, and a fundamental rethinking of human behaviors behind them.

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572. Using Rice Early-Morning Flowering Trait to Reduce Sterility Due to High Temperature

It is known that rice is most sensitive to high temperatures during flowering, and that even one hour of exposure to temperatures above 35°C will cause sterility (empty grains) due to lack of fertilization. Based on the unique idea of making rice plants bloom in the cool morning hours to avoid high temperatures during flowering, JIRCAS is conducting research on early-morning flowering (EMF), which makes this possible.

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571. Causes and Effects of Extreme Weather and Climate Change

Japan experienced a series of hot days in late June, and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has announced preliminary estimates that the rainy season has ended record early in various parts of eastern and western Japan and in the southern Tohoku region. Heat waves have been reported in many parts of the world since the beginning of this year, especially in India, Pakistan, and most of South Asia since March, with some estimates suggesting that the probability of heat waves has increased 30-fold due to human-induced climate change. In recent years, methods for rapidly estimating the causal relationship between extreme weather events and climate change have improved.

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570. Climate Change and Green Water

A paper published in the journal Earth's Future reported that by 2050, more than 80% of the world's agricultural area is expected to suffer from agricultural water shortages. To mitigate the effects of water scarcity in future warming, it will be necessary to improve the use of green water, which is brought directly to agricultural lands by rainfall and stored in the soil, through the installation of small reservoirs.

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569. Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries for Humanity and the Planet

Professor Cheryl L. Hendriks of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, contributed an article to the June 23, 2022 issue of Nature journal titled “Sustainable small-scale fisheries can help people and the planet”. Also on June 29, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the 2022 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA).
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568. International Day of the Tropics: Initiatives to Utilize Genetic Resources and the Island Environment of TARF

June 29th is designated by the United Nations as the “International Day of the Tropics” to celebrate the extraordinary diversity and highlight the challenges of the tropics. The tropical regions account for 40% of the world's total surface area, approximately 80% of the world's biodiversity, and the majority of the world's diverse languages and cultures. The tropics have experienced significant economic development in recent years, but with the accompanying population growth and urbanization, coupled with climate change, the region faces challenges such as the degradation of the natural environment and ecosystems and a rapid decline in biodiversity. The rich natural environment and diverse biological resources of tropical regions need to be protected as common assets of the Earth.

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567. Nature Food: Innovation in Fruit and Vegetable Supply Chains

Vegetables and fruits are beneficial to the health of people and the planet. However, they also face challenges such as food loss, food miles, and climate change. This issue features an editorial from Nature Food.