As fertilizer resources continue to be depleted and soar in prices, the use of farmyard manure derived from locally available organic materials is attracting attention to achieve increased food production in infertile soils widely distributed in Africa. In order to use farmyard manure to efficiently improve crop growth, it is important to know where and what kind of farmyard manure to apply. A research team from JIRCAS and the University of Antananarivo conducted rice cultivation trials in a poor-nutrient paddy field in Madagascar to determine the characteristics of the paddy soil and the farmyard manure that are more likely to increase yield when applied to the paddy fields.

The resilience and sustainability of food systems depend heavily on crop diversity. Many breeding scientists use crop diversity to develop new varieties and farmers to diversify risk. On March 27, PNAS published a special issue on conservation of crop genetic resource diversity.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released on April 7 the World Food Price Index for March 2023, averaging 126.9 points, down 2.1% from the previous month, the 12th consecutive monthly decline, and 32.8 points (20.5%) lower than the high reached a year ago in March 2022. The decline reflected fall in cereal, vegetable oil, and dairy price indeces. On the other hand, depending on developments in international logistics for Russian grains and fertilizers, the impact of the food supply chain disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine may be prolonged.

Dr. Marcy Wilder, Project Leader in the Fisheries Division, received the "2023 Japan Prize of Agricultural Science/Yomiuri Prize of Agricultural Science" and delivered a commemorative lecture at the Award Ceremony on April 5, 2023. 

The JIRCAS-Erianthus database on morphological and agronomic characteristics of native Erianthus germplasm in Thailand, jointly collected by JIRCAS and the Khon Kaen Field Crops Research Center of Thailand, has been released. This database is expected to promote the use of Erianthus in sugarcane breeding, research, and biomass utilization in Thailand and other countries.

Temperatures have been fluctuating wildly of late. For the first time in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic, people looking forward to cherry blossom viewing and the food service industry may have been affected. Today, we look back at a paper published in Nature Climate Change, which we have mentioned before, that evaluates the relationship between daily temperature fluctuations and economic growth.

Agriculture and food systems are one of the major sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and a paper published this month in Nature Climate Change estimates that food consumption could increase warming by 1°C by 2100, with 75% of this increase coming from methane emission sources (ruminant meat, dairy products, rice), The paper also showed that 55% of the projected greenhouse effect could be avoided by implementing measures such as improved production practices, healthier diets, and reduced food waste at the consumption and retail levels.

On March 20, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which addresses the current and projected status of climate change and outlines measures needed to curb global warming in accordance with the Paris Agreement. This report, which synthesizes the findings published in the AR6, has had a significant impact on international public opinion on climate change and has been described by UN Secretary-General Guterres as “a survival guide for humanity to defuse the climate time-bomb”.