Agriculture Research News
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Bayer CropScience Hosts Third Sustainability in Agriculture: A Bayer Executive Course
With the global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, agricultural sustainability has become a pressing issue for researchers at Bayer CropScience. In order to promote collaboration on responsible agricultural processes, for a third year, the crop science company teamed with NC State University’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Poole College of Management for ...
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Kansas senator honored with soil stewardship award
A long-time champion for agriculture, research, and the United States’ soil resources, Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, will be presented today (Mar. 18) with the 2013 Excellence in Soil Stewardship Award by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). The award recognizes policy makers whose exemplary leadership has strengthened the U.S. agricultural enterprise and the natural ...
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Coffee pest spreading to other crops in East Africa
East Africa's horticulture could face a severe crisis due to 'species jump' — whereby a disease moves from a known host to new and unusual ones — affecting fruits, vegetables, and medicinal and ornamental plants. Researchers in Uganda have discovered that the Black Coffee Twig Borer, a devastating coffee pest, has crossed over from Robusta coffee to about 40 plant species including ...
By SciDev.Net
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India boosts budget for science, innovation, crops
Indiahas hiked funds for its ministry of science and technology by 20 per cent in its 2013-14 annual budget, with major initiatives in the agriculture sector and support for grassroots innovations. India’s finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram allocated US$ 1.15 billion (62.7 billion rupees) for the ministry of science and technology in a 22 per cent hike. The department of atomic ...
By SciDev.Net
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Patches of flowers boost pollinator diversity and lead to higher crop yields
Falling levels of insect pollination are causing declining yields of important agricultural crops. However, new research from South Africa now indicates that planting small patches of native flowers in agricultural fields can be a profitable and sustainable method of increasing pollination and yield. Insect pollination is a vital ecosystem service as animal-pollinated crops form an essential ...
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Desert bacteria could help boost crop yields
Desert soil microbes could help halt desertification and boost agriculture in arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa, according to a study. Scientists from the United Arab Emirates [UAE] have isolated local salt- and drought-tolerant strains of Rhizobia, soil bacteria that fix nitrogen when they become established inside the root nodules of legumes. Rhizobia bacteria establish a ...
By SciDev.Net
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India Protected Cultivation Industry Outlook to 2017 - Government Initiatives Paving the Way for Future Growth
Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: India Protected Cultivation Industry Outlook to 2017 - Government Initiatives Paving the Way for Future Growth ...
By ReportLinker
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Insect diversity improves crop pollination
The decline in numbers of wild bees has caused concern regarding falling levels of pollination for important agricultural crops. Researchers have now demonstrated that the diversity of the pollinator community can significantly affect pollination. Insect pollination is a vital ecosystem service; a large proportion of the human diet either directly or indirectly depends on animal-based ...
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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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New report tracks progress in responsible pig farming
The U.S. pork industry is releasing its first-ever farming responsibility report: 2012 Pork Industry Progress Report, Responsible Farming. Our Heritage. Our Future. The 36-page report details the evolution of modern pig farming over generations and tracks advancements that have been made in vital areas such as food safety, animal well-being, environmental stewardship and worker safety. ...
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Climate data `has helped African farmers boost production`
Farming communities in Africa are benefitting from an exchange programme to improve access to, and understanding of, climate science, according to a report presented at a seminar. The seminar, held in in Dakar, Senegal, last month (20–21 November), discussed the results of the programme — which encompassed two demonstration studies in Kenya and Senegal — and identified the ...
By SciDev.Net
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Rising emissions may double sweet potato size
Rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere caused by human-driven emissions might lead to larger sweet potatoes, a staple food for many African and Asian countries, research reveals. Sweet potatoes could double in size with the increase in CO2 levels currently forecasted for the end of this century, according to research by a team from the University of Hawaii, United States. The ...
By SciDev.Net
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ASA, CSSA and SSSA applaud PCAST for agricultural research enterprise report
Today (Dec. 7) the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a new report on Agricultural Preparedness and the Agriculture Research Enterprise. The report represents an important analysis of the public and private agricultural research structure and current levels of investment. “We are pleased that PCAST focused on the unique challenges and goals of ...
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Antibiotic-eating bug unearthed in soil
It’s well known how bacteria exposed to antibiotics for long periods will find ways to resist the drugs—by quickly pumping them out of their cells, for instance, or modifying the compounds so they’re no longer toxic. Now new research has uncovered another possible mechanism of antibiotic “resistance” in soil. In a paper publishing this week in the Journal of ...
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BIO Applauds EPA Response to RFS Waiver Requests
The Environmental Protection Agency’s logic-based decision to uphold the Renewable Fuel Standard will protect America’s energy security and maintain the industry’s progress in commercializing advanced biofuels, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) said today. BIO previously submitted comments to the agency noting that any waiver of the RFS would certainly harm biofuel ...
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Rural India left out of S&T system
Scientific research in India needs to integrate better with rural development issues say Rajeswari S. Raina and Kasturi Mandal. India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised in January 2012 a massive expansion of funding and facilities for Indian science. The 12th Five-Year Plan (2012–2017) pledges inclusive development through scientific knowledge and technological interventions ...
By SciDev.Net
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Global alliance to strengthen research–farmer links
An international alliance of research institutions will try to implement the results of agricultural research and to communicate findings to smallholder farmers in developing nations. The Association of International Research and Development Centres for Agriculture (AIRCA) was launched last month (30 October) at the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development in Uruguay. ...
By SciDev.Net
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Ag scientists and community members speak out in support of science research
More than 1350 scientists and members of the agricultural community signed a petition asking lawmakers to avoid sequestration Late yesterday (Nov. 14), the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), the American Society of Plant Biologists, and the National Association of Plant Breeders urged lawmakers to act to avoid the ...
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Growing Better Bee Habitats
General Mills investing in pollinator habitats, research SOURCE: General Mills DESCRIPTION: General Mills’ work to help honey bees is growing, thanks to $50,000 in grants from The General Mills Foundation to Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota. Conservation Marketplace of Minnesota has identified and awarded grants to 10 farms to establish bee-friendly habitats in rural areas of Minnesota. ...
By 3BL Media
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Benefits of collaborative research highlighted in ASA, CSSA, SSSA webinar
In these fiscally constrained times, federally-funded researchers face more pressure than ever before to show the greater societal benefits of their research. To that end, many researchers are now working in multidisciplinary teams that combine agricultural, environmental, economic, and social science research in order to better understand the economic and social benefits associated with basic ...
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