Applied Research and Method Development

Coordinated Research Projects

The Animal Production and Health Sub-programme of the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture cooperates and collaborates in research and development (R&D) activities with more than 150 institutions in Member States through Coordinated Research Projects (CRP) and other scientific collaborations. Each project focuses on specific topics to find sustainable solutions relevant to the application of nuclear and related techniques in the areas of animal nutrition, reproduction and breeding, and animal health.

CRP's are research networks that stimulate and coordinate research, and foster the exchange of scientific and technical information by bringing together research institutes from both developing and developed Member States. The Animal Production Unit's laboratory at Seibersdorf is involved in the transfer of basic and developmental research to applied and implemental research, including the development of guidelines and harmonization of methodologies. Every CRP has a jointly developed research work plan, which is managed and coordinated by the Animal Production and Health Sub-programme and the participating institutes. These projects commonly last for five to six years, during which normally four Research Coordination Meetings are held to evaluate the progress made and to coordinate future research.

The results are freely available to Member States and the international scientific community through dissemination in relevant international journals, and IAEA and FAO technical publications. The knowledge gained through CRP and other scientific collaborations and its incorporation into mathematical modelling approaches, particularly involving climatic change, is a powerful indirect tool for assessing animal husbandry and production requirements as well as disease patterns for the sustainability of the livestock sector.

Information on the IAEA Coordinated Research Programme and how to apply for research contracts and research agreements can be found at http://www-crp.iaea.org/.

Information on current and previous CRP can be found here.

Animal Production Laboratory

The Animal Production and Health Sub-Programme primarily address the challenges imposed by highly infectious animal diseases on livestock production in FAO and IAEA Member States (MS). Our goal is to minimize the risks to livestock by the application of nuclear and nuclear-related techniques that will enable the diagnosis and control of infectious diseases thereby increasing food security and improving the livelihoods of the resource poor in MS. This objective relies on a number of strategies inherent to our philosophy. Firstly, we provide the means for MS to develop the capacity to manage the risks to livestock production by training scientists and establishing an infrastructure that can give early warning and rapid, effective action to any threat imposed by disease, especially those of a trans-boundary nature that are, essentially, global problems. Secondly, we develop, promote, transfer and implement technologies encompassing the development of improved diagnostic tests and vaccines that will enable a more efficient response to disease risk. Thirdly, we develop gene-based technologies that enable the identification of beneficial productive traits related to disease resistance or livestock productivity.

Present activities focus on:

These activities are implemented through Co-ordinated Research Projects, Technical Co-operation Projects and Training Courses in collaboration with FAO Animal Production and Health Division (AGA) and collaborating research institutes, as well as in the Animal Production Unit’s laboratories of the FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory at Seibersdorf.