Better water management could halve the global food gap
Improved agricultural water management could halve the global food gap by 2050 and buffer some of the harmful climate change effects on crop yields. Investing in crop water management could substantially reduce hunger while at the same time making up for population growth
Pollinators vital to our food supply under threat
Between US$235 billion and US$577 billion worth of annual global food production relies on direct contributions by pollinators. 16 per cent of vertebrate pollinators are threatened with global extinction
The effect of light intensity and duration on vitamin C concentration in tomato fruits
Practical cultivation systems can be developed to increase the vitamin C concentration, enabling growers to give their products an added value.
Eating less meat might not be the way to go green
Reduced meat consumption might not lower greenhouse gas emissions from one of the world’s biggest beef producing regions, new research has found. The finding may seem incongruous, as intensive agriculture is responsible for such a large proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions
How LED lighting treatments affect greenhouse tomato quality
Tomato plants received supplemental lighting from high-pressure sodium lamps or from intracanopy (IC) LED towers. Results showed that tomato quality was largely unaffected by the type of light treatment
Optimize water usage and improve irrigation
70% of the world’s water is used for agriculture and food production. Irrigated agriculture accounts for 20% of the total cultivated land but contributes 40% of the total food produced worldwide
How to protect from Listeria monocytogenes?
According to Western Daily News, one such pathogen is Listeria monocytogenes, the causative organism for listeriosis in livestock. It is also capable of causing significant disease in humans
Conventional, compost, organic production compared for strawberry
Compost, organic systems effectively reduce environmental, human health impacts. The scientists said that the report can be a guide for strawberry growers who want to improve soil management practices
Scientists produce beneficial natural compounds in tomato
One tomato can produce the same quantity of Resveratrol as exists in 50 bottles of red wine, suggest researchers who have learned how to produce this compound naturally.
How to increase wheat yield during drought in rainfed environments
Researchers investigated the use of film-forming antitranspirants, which are emulsions of wax or latex that reduce water loss through transpiration, by forming a thin film on foliage
The mycorrhizal fungi to decrease the amounts of fertilizers
While mycorrhizal fungi typically only grow on the roots of plants, recent bio-technological breakthroughs now allow scientists to produce massive quantities of the fungus that can be suspended in high concentrations in a gel for easy transportation
The pollinator's decline could harm health of millions
Pollinators play a key role in roughly 35% of global food production and are directly responsible for up to 40% of the world’s supply of micronutrients such as vitamin A and folate
Cancer drug makes fruit flies live longer
Death still seems to be inevitable, but we now have evidence to suggest it is possible to develop pharmacological treatments to keep us healthier for longer
Gene may help reduce GM contamination
The researchers found a gene making a protein that naturally allows a small handful of plants to self-pollinate and make fruit before the flower opens
When exposed to nitrogen fertilizer over a period of years, nitrogen-fixing bacteria called rhizobia evolve to become less beneficial to legumes
The researchers found that the plants grown with the nitrogen-exposed rhizobia produced 17 to 30 percent less biomass and significantly less chlorophyll than plants grown with rhizobia from the unfertilized plots
New crop production guide aimed at helping farmers tap growing organic markets
If you are an organic-crop producer in the Northeast, or a farmer interested in transitioning to organic, there is a new resource available to provide the research-based information you need to be successfu
Climate change may dramatically reduce wheat production
A recent study involving Kansas State University researchers finds that in the coming decades at least one-quarter of the world's wheat traded will be lost to extreme weather from climate change if no adaptive measures are taken