Showing results for: agriculture research News
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Report highlights conflict in agricultural research
Efforts to increase food production are clashing with efforts to reduce agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions says a group of international scientists. Agricultural research to improve food security often depends on technology to increase yields and crop intensification -- resulting in greenhouse gas emissions that damage the environment and help increase climate change, an independent ...
By SciDev.Net
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Satellites help keep Chesapeake Bay clean
Space-age technologies to help Maryland implement and monitor an expanded winter cover crop program that is vital to the Chesapeake Bay's health are being developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Beltsville, Md. Soil scientist Gregory McCarty and colleagues Dean Hively, Ali Sadeghi and Megan Lang with the ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory in Beltsville are ...
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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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In organic cover crops, more seeds means fewer weeds
Farmers cultivating organic produce often use winter cover crops to add soil organic matter, improve nutrient cycling and suppress weeds. Now these producers can optimize cover crop use by refining seeding strategies, thanks to work by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist. In moderate climates, suppressing weeds in winter cover crops is important because weeds that grow throughout ...
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New crop of plant scientists emerges at CSIRO
Under the CSIRO Plant Industry Summer Student Program, 17 students are engaged in a range of important agricultural research projects designed to discover, for example, how high temperatures affect crops and the genetic bases of crop development. The Program, which runs from 6 December to 11 February, provides university students with real insights into the day-to-day working lives of some of ...
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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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Chile, India link up for rural development
Chile and India will work together to promote agricultural innovation and explore the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in improving rural livelihoods. The MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) signed an agreement on agricultural cooperation with Chile's Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA) in Chennai last month (20 March). MSSRF chairman M. 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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Fight against wheat rust needs sustained investment
Developing countries need help with crop surveillance and the development of strains resistant to wheat rust, say agricultural research leaders. Today's food security situation is being worsened by strains of wheat rust disease that are emerging more frequently and spreading much faster and to new areas — changes fuelled by climate change and conducive environments in increasingly fragile ...
By SciDev.Net
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Global wild seed hunt begins
An international project to collect seeds from the wild relatives of 23 of the world's major food crops including maize, rice, wheat and potato, has received its first funding. Last week (10 December) Norway, home to the world's largest seed bank, in Svalbard in the Arctic, pledged US$50 million towards the collection, which is expected to take ten years to complete. Research and planning will ...
By SciDev.Net
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India boosts budget for science, innovation, crops
Indiahas hiked funds for its ministry of science and technology by 20 per cent in its 2013-14 annual budget, with major initiatives in the agriculture sector and support for grassroots innovations. India’s finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram allocated US$ 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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Marrone Bio Innovations Sponsors Biopesticide Roundtable Hosted by Association of Applied IPM Ecologists
As part of an ongoing educational outreach effort, Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI) today sponsored a Biopesticide Roundtable at the University of California, Davis, examining the importance of biopesticides as effective tools in integrated pest management (IPM) programs. The interactive roundtable, hosted by the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists, featured university and industry experts who ...
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Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day To Be Held On July 9, 2015
Are you looking for a one stop shop for the latest and most pertinent Agricultural research and technologies? Look no further. The Sunbelt Expo Field Day is scheduled for July 9, 2015 at the Darrell Williams Research Farm, located at the Expo Show Site. The goal of the Darrell Williams Research Farm is to provide farmers and agribusinessmen with the opportunity to combine education and ...
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The realm of earthworms: NASA gets down to the nitty-gritty
When you hear the word 'NASA,' do visions of rocket ships dance in your head? Well think again. From now on, it's 'earthworms.' That's right. Using space technology, NASA is now studying the realm of earthworms, millipedes, and springtails -- the soil beneath your feet -- with a project called OMEGA (Observing Microwave Emissions for Geophysical Applications). Why would an agency whose cosmic ...
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American society of agronomy announces 2011 award recipients
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) will recognize the following individuals at the 2011 Awards Ceremony during their Annual Meeting on Oct. 16-19 in San Antonio, TX, www.acsmeetings.org. Drew Lyon, University of Nebraska-Lincoln - Agronomic Extension Education Award. Drew Lyon is the Fenster Professor of dryland agriculture and extension dryland cropping systems specialist at the ...
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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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A model to measure soil health in the era of bioenergy
One of the biggest threats to today’s farmlands is the loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil organic matter (SOM) from poor land-management practices. The presence of these materials is essential as they do everything from providing plants with proper nutrients to filtering harmful chemical compounds to the prevention of soil erosion. Sustainable management practices for crop residues are ...
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Effects of chemical fertiliser and animal manure on soil health compared
Fertilising crops with cattle manure can lead to better soil quality than when synthetic fertiliser is used, recent research indicates. The use of cattle manure in the study led to greater soil fertility by encouraging higher microbial activity, and the researchers suggest that it could potentially improve soil’s ability to cope with periods of difficult growing conditions. The complex ...
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The future of cover crops
Winter cover crops are an important component of nutrient cycling, soil cover and organic matter content. Although its benefits are well documented, cover crop use in farming systems is relatively low. Research has shown that time and money are the two primary reasons why farmers are hesitant to adopt the technique. Developing innovative and cost-effective crop cover systems could increase the ...
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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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