Showing results for: plant breeding News
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Rubisco activase best clue for better photosynthesis in fluctuating light
Scientists and plant breeders who are aiming to improve food production by improving photosynthesis in crop plants, would make a good choice if they chose to change the composition and concentration of the protein Rubisco activase. In conditions where light intensity changes often and strongly, Rubisco activase is an important limiting factor in boosting the photosynthesis process when light ...
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Maize breeders benefit from using drones
Using drone technology could cut labour and costs spent in collecting data for maize breeding by at least ten per cent, preliminary findings of a project shows. With increased demand for better seeds to adapt to changing climate, breeders have turned to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also known as drones for precise gathering of data from the field to enable more efficient maize breeding in ...
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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Genetic makeup of thousands of rice varieties placed in global seed data pool
Genome sequences of more than 3,000 rice varieties have been placed with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) by the world's leading rice research institute in a move boosting plans to set up a global data exchange system for crop genetic resources. The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Treaty (ITPGRFA) made ...
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Preparing Plants for our Future Climate
Planning is something we all do. As individuals, we may be planning for next weekend or our future retirement. Farmers and plant breeders are also planning for a future. The crops we currently depend on will need grow under different conditions – due to climate change. Some weather conditions are easy to control. Scientists can set the temperature in a greenhouse and control how much ...
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Peanuts: more genetically diverse than expected
Virginia-type peanuts, the big ones sold in the shell or used in cocktail nut mixes, are more genetically variable than previously assumed, according to a new study from North Carolina State University. Before now, cultivated peanuts showed very little variability for molecular markers, leading some to conclude that there was virtually no genetic variation in the species. However, anyone who has ...
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Cotton’s global genetic resources
A multinational collaborative effort among cotton scientists produced a report on the status of the global cotton genetic resources. According to the report, cotton production relies primarily on two species, with 48 other species catalogued in the various seed collections that have largely been poorly characterized and under-utilized in crop improvement efforts. Based on the findings of this ...
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Crop Science Society of America Presents Awards in Long Beach
The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) will recognize the following individuals at the 2010 Awards Ceremony on Oct. 31-Nov. 3 during their Annual Meetings in Long Beach, CA, www.acsmeetings.org. The annual awards are presented for outstanding contributions to crop science through education, national and international service, and research. Jianming Yu, Kansas State University –Early ...
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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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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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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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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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Breeders and soil scientists join training fellowship on sustainable rice production systems in the midst of climate change
IRRI Training Center, in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), conducted a Regional group fellowship on phenotyping and integrated plant mutation breeding with best fit soil and water management practices for climate change adaptation from 01 to 25 July at IRRI Headquarters. The knowledge gained from the fellowship can help rice workers in creating sustainable rice ...
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Can GM crops feed the hungry?
Golden Rice burst into the public imagination a decade ago, in the form of a cover article in Time magazine that claimed the genetically modified (GM) rice could 'save a million kids a year'. The rice gets its golden hue from an excess of beta carotene, a precursor to vitamin A that could help half a million children who go blind each year from an often-fatal vitamin A deficiency. But ten ...
By SciDev.Net
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Better water management could improve global crop production
A new global study is the first to quantify the potential of water management strategies to increase crop production. It indicates that a combination of harvesting run-off water and reducing evaporation from soil could increase global crop production by 20 per cent. The EU has recognised the impact of climate change on water and the subsequent effects on agriculture in its white paper on ...
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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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Global map of seeds, food and biodiversity launched
A recently launched (15 October) website aims to provide news and resources on crop seeds and biodiversity threats for researchers, policymakers, educators and farmers. The site’s interactive map presents more than 375 case studies from around the world that address issues of food diversity, its threats and potential solutions. But some experts say that, while on the right track, the site ...
By SciDev.Net
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SG Biofuels Ramps Seed Production and Corporate Development With Key Hires
SG Biofuels, Inc. (SGB), an energy crop company delivering high performance bioenergy solutions for the renewable fuel, biomass and chemical markets, has expanded its seed production and corporate development units with the addition of Michael Pereira as director of seed supply chain and Andre Basbaum as director of corporate development. Pereira will drive a significant expansion of SGB's ...
By SG Bio Fuels
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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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American society of Agronomy announces award recipients
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) will recognize the following individuals at the 2010 Awards Ceremony on Nov. 2 during the scientific society’s Annual Meeting in Long Beach, CA, www.acsmeetings.org. The annual awards are presented for outstanding contributions to agronomy through education, national and international service, and research. Alan Blaylock, Agrium Advanced ...
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