soil research News
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Rediscovering sound soil management
At the same time that demand for food is soaring along with the world’s population, the soil’s ability to sustain and enhance agricultural productivity is becoming increasingly diminished and unreliable. Fortunately, it’s not too late to restore our soil resources. What it will take, say the editors and contributors to a new book, Soil Management: Building a Stable Base for ...
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Workshop Discusses Whether Agriculture Can Significantly Reduce Off-Site Movement of Soluble Nutrients
Growers who plant cover crops and vegetative systems in agriculture will find that it can tie up phosphorus in a stable phosphorus form that remains in the soil which can increase phosphorus use efficiency, according to a soil researcher from Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. The question of whether agriculture can significantly reduce off-site ...
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New research relationships developing due to dwindling dollars
It's the vicious cycle of funding-- dollars dropping, in this particular case, for ag-related research. The drop leads to declines in faculty and staff. Those declines ultimately impact student enrollment, leading to a shortage in qualified graduates. "Obviously if you've had a 30% reduction in funding, you don't have the support staff or the operating budget. And so programs are affected," ...
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Less nitrogen could increase profit & sustainability
More fertilizer doesn't always mean more profit. That's one conclusion from a 10-year study conducted by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the agency’s Soil Plant Nutrient Research Unit in Fort Collins, Colo., and colleagues at Colorado State University. From 1998 to 2008, the researchers evaluated and compared potential management strategies for reducing nitrogen and nitrate ...
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Soil science society of America announces 2010 award recipients
The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) will present the following 2010 Awards during their Annual Meetings on Oct. 31-Nov. 3 in Long Beach, CA, www.acsmeetings.org. Kirk Scheckel – Marion L. and Chrystie M. Jackson Soil Science Award. Kirk Scheckel is a research soil scientist in the National Risk Management Research Laboratory of the U.S. EPA. He is an adjunct faculty member at the ...
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Dutch university uses PlantCare technology
Dutch university Wageningen UR uses PlantCare equipment for soil moisture research in their greenhouse horticulture facilities in Bleiswijk, The Netherlands. 6 PlantCare wireless sensors, for recording soil moisture and soil temperature, and a PlantControl CX wireless data logger with modem, for sending the data to an email address, are being used. PlantCare’s worldwide patented sensor ...
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Increasing diversity through crop rotation boosts soil microbial biodiversity and productivity
Planting a variety of crop species in rotation in agricultural fields increases the diversity of soil microbes below ground, recent research has found. This in turn positively affects soil organic matter, soil structure and aids the healthy functioning of the soil. The researchers say that rotational diversity can help farmers to grow crops in a more sustainable way that promotes soil stability. ...
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Project eagle rock
On Nov. 2, 50 students from Eagle Rock High School in the Los Angeles School District will participate in a large scientific-agriculture conference in Long Beach to get a first-hand look at the science of agriculture, including careers, college admission, research opportunities, and minority outreach. The conference is the Annual Meeting of more than 3,000 scientists and professionals, hosted by ...
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Plant and soil science conference emphasizes food, energy and environmental security
A conference is coming to Long Beach Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 that presents the latest research in plant and soil science, emphasizing the security of food, energy and the environment in the next green revolution. More than 3,000 international scientists, professionals, educators, and students will present new technologies and discuss emerging trends in food security, bioenergy, climate change, soil ...
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Haiti’s Young Agronomists
In this past fiscal year, SOIL hosted six interns in the agricultural department. The interns were all agriculture students at local universities who come to SOIL to fulfill their internship requirement during their last year of schooling. In SOIL’s agricultural intern program, students gain practical hands-on experience in lab work, research and compost production, and then design and ...
By SOIL Haiti
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Mapping and modeling eastern US food production
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are mapping an array of county-level data from Maine to Virginia on weather, soil, land use, water availability and other elements. Then they'll use their map to model potential crop production and find out where local food production could meet current and projected demand—and where it won't. Until recently, low fuel prices have contributed to the ...
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Agronomy, Crop, and Soil Science Societies urge congress to avoid devastating budget cuts
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) joined with 3000 other organizations in warning Congress-- any automatic budget cuts set for January of 2013 will have devastating effects on the nondefense discretionary (NDD) community-- especially research and education funding for food, agriculture, and environmental ...
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New book challenges statistics for agricultural sciences
A new and first of its kind book provides a practical guide for the use of modern statistical methods within agricultural and natural resources sciences. Analysis of Generalized Linear Mixed Models in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences is being released world-wide at an important time of change in the research community. It demonstrates, through examples, the design and analysis of ...
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Science societies support current Farm Bill recommendations
Movement on the 2012 Farm Bill, as previously planned by the Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, April 25 is currently being rescheduled. But the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is applauding Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member Pat Roberts for crafting the ...
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Controlling resilient plant viruses with steam
Combining steam with heat-producing chemicals could control pathogenic viruses in soil, finds new research. The study examined how effective different forms of heat sterilisation of soil were at inactivating three plant viruses. While steam alone was enough to eradicate two of the viruses, the highly resilient tobacco mosaic virus required the addition of exothermic chemicals to reduce it by 97%. ...
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President`s budget proposal includes increase to Ag-related sciences
The Obama Administration rolled out a multi-trillion-dollar budget proposal Monday, February 13, which includes an increase in funding for agriculture related research and development. The $3.8 trillion federal budget proposal shows the U.S. Department of Agriculture would endure cuts of $32 billion over 10 years, largely through the elimination of direct payments, as well as cuts of subsidies ...
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Horn of Africa `should grow more climate-hardy cassava`
Farmers in the Horn of Africa should focus on growing more improved cassava varieties, which are high-yielding and resilient to drought, according to researchers. The improved varieties developed by the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and tested in Ethiopia, may help tackle famine in the Horn of Africa, an area that was severely hit by drought and hunger in ...
By SciDev.Net
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Africa, India to boost agricultural technology cooperation
[CHENNAI] Africa and India will boost cooperation in agricultural technologies for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a view to achieving food security by 2015. The Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the European Market Research Centre (EMRC) this month, to facilitate ICRISAT's ...
By SciDev.Net
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Statistical analysis can estimate crop performance
Scientists at Rothamsted Research, United Kingdom, in collaboration with the International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Syria have developed a method of accounting for spatial trend in single crop field trials. Spatial trend refers to the variations in crop yield and other characteristics observed when repeating this single crop field trial. Usually plant breeders ...
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Science societies commend senate action on farm bill
It sets the next five years of farm policy, including important research programs related to the production of food, feed, fuel, and fiber. Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Senate passed the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, a move applauded by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). Leaders of the ...
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