Two-fifths of the world's plants are at risk of extinction, scientists have warned. Researchers say they are racing against time to name and describe new species, before they disappear.

Plants hold huge promise as medicines, fuels and foods, says a report by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. But opportunities are being lost to use plants and fungi to address global issues such as food security and climate change.

A new Centre in Cambridge, designed to fast-track technologies to sustainably improve farmers’ yields worldwide, has been launched.

The Crop Science Centre is an alliance between the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and NIAB.

The Centre will serve as a global hub for crop science research and a base for collaborations with research partners around the world, to ensure global agricultural impact from the ground-breaking science happening in Cambridge.

The extent to which drones could be helpful as a monitoring aid when checking sheep is being investigated as part of a trial in Australia.

Seeking to establish the value of drones in a sheep farming system, the Boort BestWool/BestLamb Group in Australia is trialling their use on a number of sheep farms.

While there is evidence to suggest drones are being used more frequently in agriculture for monitoring crops and pasture to using them to herd sheep in some parts of the world, project coordinator Erica Schelfhorst felt there was little information about their use for checking livestock.

Two scientists have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the tools to edit DNA. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna are the first two women to share the prize, which honours their work on the technology of genome editing.

Their discovery, known as Crispr-Cas9 "genetic scissors", is a way of making specific and precise changes to the DNA contained in living cells. Biological chemist Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede commented: "The ability to cut DNA where you want has revolutionised the life sciences."

Argentina has become the first country to approve the growth and consumption of genetically modified wheat, the Agriculture Ministry announced Thursday.

In a statement released by the portfolio, the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina (National Commission for Science and Technology, CONICET) said that it had approved a drought-resistant variety of wheat in the world's fourth-largest exporter of the crop.

CONICET said the genetic modifications to Argentina's wheat crop would have to be approved in Brazil, historically the country's biggest export market, to be commercially viable. Some 45 percent of Argentina's wheat exports in 2019 went to Brazil. Other key markets are Indonesia, Chile and Kenya.

Potential investment in new breeding techniques such as gene editing is being stifled by current EU rules, plant breeding firms say.

The survey of 62 European and UK companies confirmed very strong commercial interest in using new techniques across a wide range of crop species and traits.

However, it also showed the negative impact on EU-based research and investment of a July 2018 European Court ruling which classified varieties developed using these techniques as GMOs.

Cereals offer greater health and nutrition benefits than commonly acknowledged, despite often being considered ‘nutrient-poor’, a study has found. Cereal crops like maize and wheat deserve greater consideration as part of a healthy, nutritious diet, according to the authors of a new paper.

A review of agri-nutrition research and dietary guidance found that the potential health benefits provided by cereals were often overlooked or undervalued as part of nutritious diets, including their role in reducing non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

Moves to facilitate the development of gene editing once the UK is free from EU regulation at the end of the year will provide a real boost to researchers and farmers, says the British Society of Plant Breeders (BSPB).

The government is due to launch a consultation on the subject in the next few weeks, but recent comments from Defra secretary George Eustice suggest he is keen to encourage such new breeding techniques (NBT).

A partial ban on the use of the weedkiller glyphosate has been announced in France. The French government plans to phase out the use of glyphosate-based products by 1 January, 2021 – except where there are no viable alternatives to the herbicide.

The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) published the rules of its assessment of non-chemical alternatives on Friday (9 October).

ANSES said glyphosate will be banned for use on arable crops, including cereals, oilseed rape and sunflowers, when the land has been ploughed between crops.

US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has warned global adherence to rules set out in the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy would double world food prices and plunge millions more people into food insecurity.

The EU strategy is part of the European Green Deal, which sets out a roadmap to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

It includes targets to reduce the use of pesticides by 50 per cent, fertiliser by 20 per cent and sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals by 50 per cent by 2030.

A consortium of nine UK universities and research institutes, including Rothamsted, are to create a joint PhD training centre focused on developing the next generation of interdisciplinary food systems experts.

Part of £47.5 million of UK Government funding earmarked to transform the UK’s food chains, the £5 million Centre for Doctoral Training will be led from the National Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich.

A farm-lab experimenting with some of the latest agri-tech has been opened by Barclays as part of its network of co-working spaces to help start-ups develop.

The farm, located at Lincoln University's Riseholme research campus, will offer entrepreneurs and researchers access to some of the latest technology.

The partnership between Barclays and the university aims to support farmers as they tackle ongoing challenges in applying agri-tech.