breeding research News
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Scientists find four-leaf clover gene
Ending a period of “bad luck” for clover researchers, scientists report finding the gene that turns ordinary three-leaf clovers into the coveted four-leaf types. Masked by the three-leaf gene and strongly influenced by environmental condition, molecular markers now make it possible to detect the presence of the gene for four-leaves and for breeders to work with it. The results of the ...
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Lifeasible Enlarged Its Offerings for Plant Breeding Services
Lifeasible, a biotechnology company specialized in agricultural science, recently enlarged its offers for plant breeding services which now cover a wide range of plant species including major food crops, economic plants, and bio-energy feedstock plants. Plant breeding is the science of creating new varieties by modifying plant genomes, which can accelerate the production of plants with desired ...
By Lifeasible
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Crop breeding gets boost from sweet potatoes
In Uganda, the sweet potato is a major staple crop. Behind China and Nigeria, Uganda produces the most sweet potatoes in the world. Nationwide, families grow the crop to feed themselves, their livestock and to use as a source of income. Small scale agricultural operations use a large number of sweet potato varieties in their planting. These varieties are steadily being lost due to weevils, sweet ...
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Genetics not enough to increase wheat production
The deep gene pool that has allowed wheat to achieve ever increasing gains in yield may be draining. Crop scientists estimate that 50% of the gain in wheat production over the past century has been due to breeding. According to a new study, however, that improvement has been slowing since the late 1980s, with little chance that future increases in yield can be met by breeding efforts alone. The ...
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Predicting disease and improving crops through genetics
Can scientists accurately predict when an individual will develop a disease? What if we could predict how to increase drought resistance in plants? Or offer patients personalized medicine? Researchers are looking for answers to these questions and more using a plant or animal’s obvious traits, called phenotype prediction, a field that will be discussed in a free workshop presented by the ...
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Plant Genebanking: Investing Seeds for the Future
For many years, the agricultural sector has worked on the continuous development of sustainable practices to provide sufficient food and medicine supply for a growing population. Among the many challenges they aim to resolve are the issues inflicted by plant disease outbreaks and upsurge, pests, and climate change. The conservation and increase of diversity of plant species are recognized ...
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Soil gives away soybean pathogen’s presence
New research reveals that soil pH is a useful guide for farmers and agronomists to detect and manage soybean cyst nematode, a devastating soybean pathogen. The investigation uncovered a relationship between high soil pH, which is already outside the ideal growing conditions for soybean, and high populations of cyst nematodes. Scientists from Iowa State University and University of ...
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International crop breeding programme needed for African farming
Climate change poses a large threat to African agriculture, but there is little research on how to respond. A recent study indicates that traditional adaptation methods are not enough and international collaboration is needed in 'planned adaptation' by collecting and conserving certain crops for the future. A large proportion of the African population - mainly the poor - depend on agriculture ...
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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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New Greenhouses Boost Research, Competitive Edge
The new Williams Hall greenhouse complex on the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s Wooster campus is much more than a replacement for the greenhouse lost to a tornado almost five years ago: It’s a state-of-the-art facility that will help advance plant research and strengthen Ohio agriculture. The original Williams Hall greenhouse complex was leveled by a September ...
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New European Oilseed Processing Center will help drive Bayer’s Seeds business
On Tuesday, Bayer CropScience inaugurated its new European Oilseed Processing Center in Monheim at a ceremony attended by industry representatives, authorities, agricultural stakeholders and customers. With this facility, the company has substantially expanded its excellent platform to offer oilseed rape growers a fully integrated system from field production to delivery. “We see future ...
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ASA, CSSA, and SSSA present 2011 scholarships and fellowships
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) annouce the 2011 recpients of several scholarships. These scholarships will be formally presented to the recipients at the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meetings in San Antonio, TX, Oct. 16-19. For more information about the Annual Meetings, visit www.acsmeetings.org. American ...
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