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Meet our #PlantSciStory2021 storytellers: Benedetta Gori

By | Blog, ECRi, Science communication

This is the fourth post of the series, celebrating the brilliant winners of the #plantscistory2021 contest and their stories. Benedetta Gori is a young scientist with a highly interdisciplinary background. After a degree in Food Science, and two Masters in Ethnobotany and Plant Taxonomy, she is now working as part of the Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia (UPFC) project, focusing on the conservation and revitalisation of neglected edible plants.

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Climate change: call to action

By | Blog, Climate change, Policy

The recent IPCC report has been called a wake-up call. It’s not. That was 30 years ago. Since then, we’ve been hitting the snooze button. We are starting to see the beginning of catastrophic climate change. This is already affecting our ability to feed everyone, the nutritional quality of plants and their interactions with animals (including us), human health and biodiversity. This is exacerbated by clearing of native forests and destruction of natural ecosystems for short term gain. The warming is not going to stop at 1.5 °C, or 2°C or even 5°C unless action is taken across the board. There is an urgent need to make it easier for individuals, industry, and agriculture to decarbonise the economy and preserve the environment.

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Climate change widespread, rapid, and intensifying – IPCC

By | Blog, Climate change

Scientists are observing changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and across the whole climate system, according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, released today. Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the changes already set in motion—such as continued sea level rise—are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years.

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Small Millets – for Food and Nutritional Security

By | Agriculture, Blog, ECRi, Fruits and Vegetables, Post

Considering the importance of these nutritious small grain crops the U.N. General Assembly recently adopted a resolution, sponsored by India and supported by more than 70 countries, declaring year 2023 as the International Year of Millets. The resolution is meant to extend public awareness on the health edges of millets and their suitableness for cultivation beneath robust conditions marked by global climate change.

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