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There are rich communities of beneficial insects, spiders, and diseases that attack insect pests of rice. The beneficial species often control insect pests, especially in places where use of broad-spectrum pesticides is avoided. Without these beneficial species the insect pests would multiply so quickly that they would completely consume the rice crop.

Pests have high reproductive capacities to offset the naturally high mortality that they face in nature. For example, a brown planthopper female produces many offspring, but because of the action of predators, parasites, and diseases, only about 1 or 2 will survive after one generation. It is not unusual for 98-99% mortality to occur; otherwise, a pest population explosion can be expected.

Natural enemies also have enemies of their own. Parasites and predators each have predators, parasites, and pathogens. Most predators are cannibalistic, a behavior which ensures that, in the absence of prey, some will survive.

The natural balance between insect pests and their natural enemies is often disrupted by indiscriminate use of chemical insecticides. Although insecticides are needed in some cases, they must be used judiciously to save these vulnerable natural control agents.

The livestock sector of Uganda is growing fast in response to the Government’s Policy on Poverty Eradication and the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA). To enhance the process, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and various development agencies have introduced different pasture improvement technologies in an effort to increase and broaden the livestock feed resource base. Some farmers have adopted various technologies, which they have tested on-farm. However, such information has not been documented and thus achievements in this area have not been shared among the livestock keepers.

In order to successfully disseminate agroforestry technologies, various hurdles that currently limit the scaling-up process must be tackled. The lack of tree seed, seedling and other planting materials (tree germplasm) is a major constraint to the scaling up of agroforestry innovations. Sustainable production of high-quality germplasm for a wide range of agroforestry species is the basis of a successful scaling-up process. Institutional and organizational procedures that are adequate and conducive to large-scale production and distribution of agroforestry seed are also needed.

A gliricidia–maize  simultaneous intercropping agroforestry system has shown to be a suitable option for soil fertility improvement and yield increase in highly populated areas of sub Saharan Africa where landholding sizes are very small and inorganic fertilizer use is very low.

The Forestry Compendium was conceived to meet the need for the improved dissemination of knowledge on forest trees. The pilot phase in Compendium development in 1994-95 resulted in a demonstration version of a PC-based multimedia system. This interactive demonstration version was produced by CABI in collaboration with the Oxford Forestry Institute (OFI; now part of the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, UK) in a project sponsored by the Forestry Research Programme of the UK Overseas Development Administration (now the Department for International Development - DFID). In 1995 CABI conducted a comprehensive survey of user needs for a Compendium for the Asia-Pacific Region, the results indicating an urgent need for the Compendium among a wide range of user groups.

This manual is primarily a working guide (Part I) for diagnosing, treating and preventing common food animal diseases, for proper feeding of food animals and for useful husbandry practices for raising healthy and productive food animals. It also contains guidelines (Part II) addressed to primary animal health care worker's trainers and supervisors and Part III contains guidelines for adapting the manual to different conditions in various countries.

This edition of The State of Food and Agriculture addresses Women in agriculture: closing the gender gap for development. The agriculture sector is underperforming in many developing countries, and one of the key reasons is that women do not have equal access to the resources and opportunities they need to be more productive. This report clearly confirms that the Millennium Development Goals on gender equality (MDG3) and poverty and food security (MDG1) are mutually reinforcing. We must promote gender equality and empower women in agriculture to win, sustainably, the fight against hunger and extreme poverty. I firmly believe that achieving MDG 3 canhelp us achieve MDG 1.

This module provides guidance and a comprehensive menu of practical tools for integrating gender in the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of projects and investments in climate-smart agriculture (CSA). The module emphasizes the importance and ultimate goal of integrating gender in CSA practices, which is to reduce gender inequalities and ensure that men and women can equally benefit from any intervention in the agricultural sector to reduce risks linked to climate change. Climate change has an impact on food and nutrition security and agriculture, and the agriculture sector is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. It is crucial to recognize that climate change affects men and women differently. The content is drawn from tested good practice and innovative approaches, with an emphasis on lessons learned, benefits and impacts, implementation issues, and replicability. These insights and lessons related to gender in CSA will assist practitioners to improve project planning, design, monitoring, and evaluation; to effectively scale up and enhance the sustainability of efforts that are already underway; or to pursue entirely different solutions. This module contains five thematic notes (TNs) that provide a concise and technically sound guide to gender integration in the selected themes. These notes summarize what has been done and highlight the success and lessons learned from projects and programs.

INPhO, the Information Network on Post-harvest Operations, aims at promoting good practices in post-harvest activities for agri-food products and to assist in the expansion of agribusinesses by providing access to technical data and information.  The site is currently undergoing a review to improve user-friendliness. This information resource is managed by the FAO Nutrition and Food Systems Division.

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Sourcebook comprises a wide range of knowledge and expertise on the concept of CSA to better guide policy makers, programme managers, sectoral experts, academics, extensionists, as well as practitioners to make the agricultural sectors (crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry) more sustainable and productive, while responding to the challenges of climate change and food security.