b'A look at seed industry developments around the globe.Virginia Tech awardedSTATUS BANGLADESH civil societyto apply suchagro-ecological zones in two $3 million to strengthenVirginia Techs Feed themeasures. seasons during the short rains Future Innovation Lab forThe IPM Innovation Labunder the trials.ag in Bangladesh againstIntegrated Pest Managementwill collaborate with theIn Bt maize, the gene of emerging crop pests byhas won a $3 million awardInternational Maize andinterest has been taken from to strengthen agriculture inWheat Improvement Centerthe bacterium to make the improving the availabilityBangladesh and improve the(CIMMYT)to address cropcrop resistant to maize borers, and affordability of pestcountrys resilience to currentthreats such as the invasiveeliminating the need to spray and emerging crop threats. fall armyworm, an insect thatthe plant with pesticides.management approaches.Improving the availability,wreaks havoc on maize andSource: All AfricaMeanwhile, Kenya makesaffordability and adoption ofhundreds of other critical leaps and bounds in termsenvironmentally sensitive pestcrops.management approaches isThe program will alsoSTATUS SINGAPOREof legislation: the countrya major priority of the three- coordinate with the Food andAn interdisciplinary team is close to adoptingyear project, named theAgriculture Organization ofof scientists from Nanyang Feed the Future Bangladeshthe United Nations to developTechnological University, genetically modified maizeIntegrated Pest Managementpreventative measuresSingapore (NTU Singapore) for use in fields. activity. Another goal is toagainst emerging crop threatshas identified, for the first enhance the capabilities ofby developing improved quar- time, a key mechanism by those involved in agricultureantine regulations and provid- which a dangerous plant dis-in Bangladeshfrom farm- ing pesticide safety training toease can infect crops. ers to private companies tofarmers. Ecological measuresThe Xanthomonas bacte-will be introduced to protectria, known as the crop killer, rice, mango, potato, lentil, andis a globally prevalent bacte-other crops from pests andrium capable of infecting 400 disease. different plant species. The NTU researchers iden-tified the exact cellular-level STATUS KENYA mechanism by which the bac-Kenya is two steps closer toteria can penetrate and hijack adopting genetically modifieda plants immune system, maize after researchers sub- therefore leaving them vulner-mitted their filed trial reportable to infection. to the Ministry of Agriculture. The advance sheds light on Last year, the Nationalthis longstanding mystery and Biosafety Authority (NBA),provides new insights on how the state agency mandatedto stop bacterial infections to regulate geneticallythat can lay waste to impor-modified organisms (GMOs)tant crops such as rice, wheat, in the country, approved thesoybean, and tomato.varieties to be grown in sixXanthomonas is a plant counties the under Nationalpathogen that infects a vari-Performance Trials (NPT)ety of plants, including food from October. crops, so understanding this The biosafety agency andmechanism is important for the National Environmentalcontrolling crop diseases, Management Authoritysaid Associate Professor Miao. (Nema) had given the greenThis is relevant to Singapores light for the Bt (Bacillus thur- and the worlds goals of grow-ingiensis) maize varieties to being more food. SWgrown in six maize growing 64/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2021'