Agriculture Management News
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Czech and Korean researchers clinch biomass patent
A Czech-South Korean research team has obtained a patent on a new method supporting plant biomass production which will also allow the cultivation of plants with a bigger biomass production. Both the food-processing and pharmaceutical industries can, in theory, use the patent, according to the team. 'The invention, which enables the cultivation of plants with an increased production of mass, ...
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250+ pesticides banned for cosmetic uses in Canada
Ontario’s cosmetic pesticides ban takes effect April 22, 2009. The ban protects Ontario families and children from the unnecessary risks of cosmetic pesticides by only allowing the use of certain lower-risk pesticides for controlling weeds and pests in lawns and gardens. The ban prohibits the sale and use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes on lawns, gardens, parks and school yards, and ...
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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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Big bucks from carbon sequestration - fact or fiction?
With carbon credits in the news and Australia developing policies to meet its Kyoto targets, many farmers are intrigued by soil carbon’s potential to not only boost soil productivity but put money in the bank by selling carbon credits. But just how realistic is that goal? Dr Jeff Baldock of CSIRO Land and Water, SA, will address this and other aspects of soil carbon in the Grains Research and ...
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Could sun-reflecting crops help keep us cool?
Temperatures in central Europe, central Asia and North America could be reduced by 1°C in the summer, if crops with extra-reflective foliage were chosen, according to a new study. Such crops could reflect sunlight back into space and reduce regional warming by one fifth of projected temperature rises. Many suggestions have been proposed to curb rising temperatures under a changing climate. These ...
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Predicting the spread of plant invasions across Europe
For the first time, a map has been produced that can be used to predict the level of invasion by alien plants across Europe, which could help policy makers design conservation policies suited to different habitats and landscapes. Areas dominated by farming and urban land are among those identified as particularly at risk. Alien plants are non-native species introduced into foreign areas, ...
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AUS$2m fast-tracked for healthy headwaters program
Funding will be accelerated for irrigation planning and infrastructure in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, and Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Water, Craig Wallace announced today. A sum of $2 million has been fast-tracked for activities relating to Queensland's Priority Project, the Healthy HeadWaters Program, ...
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AUS$5.6m for on-farm water efficiency
Three water management projects will share in $5.6 million in funding under the Rudd Government’s On-Farm Irrigation Efficiency (Pilot Projects) Program, Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, said today. Senator Wong made the announcement in Moree, on day one of a three-day tour of the northern Murray-Darling Basin. “These pilot projects will provide the Government with a ...
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Soil carbon storage is not always influenced by tillage practices
The practice of no-till has increased considerably during the past 20 yr. Soils under no-till usually host a more abundant and diverse biota and are less prone to erosion, water loss, and structural breakdown than tilled soils. Their organic matter content is also often increased and consequently, no-till is proposed as a measure to mitigate the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide ...
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Saving wheat crops worldwide
In a paper published in the prestigious journal Science, scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry, the University of Zurich and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center have identified a wheat gene sequence which provides protection against leaf rust, stripe rust and powdery mildew. “Genetic disease resistance is highly desirable in plants as it is more environmentally friendly and ...
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Preventing rangeland erosion: Developing better management practices in Iran
The rangelands of Iran have one of the world’s longest history of agriculture development, with a deep tradition of technological developments and knowledge of the soil that has produced centuries of fertile crops. Currently, however, new pressures to feed an increasing population of humans and livestock in the region has taken its toll on the land, as evidence now suggests that the soil is ...
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Will large amounts of soil carbon be released to the atmosphere if grasslands are converted to energy crops?
Grasslands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in the United States may be increasingly converted to growing bioenergy grain crops. Questions abound regarding the fate of carbon sequestered in the soil during the CRP program by perennial grasses if the land is converted to grain crop production and the potential effectiveness of no-till production systems to conserve the sequestered soil ...
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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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New practical workshops to help UK farmers prevent nitrate pollution
Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) workshops and farm walks that provide hands-on help for farmers and land managers are now taking bookings across the East Midlands. Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) workshops and farm walks that provide hands-on help for farmers and land managers are now taking bookings across the East Midlands. Following the extremely popular national NVZ seminars that ran between ...
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New ORNL tool gets handle on cropland CO2 emissions
For the first time, farmers have data that tracks at the county level on-site and off-site energy use and carbon dioxide emissions associated with growing crops in the United States. This information is vital for examining changes in cropland production and management techniques and could play an even bigger role as more land is devoted to bioenergy crops, said Oak Ridge National Laboratory's ...
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The impact of pesticides on freshwater creatures
A recent study has concluded that, although spray drift of pesticides can have short-term effects on individual stream-dwelling invertebrates, there is no evidence to suggest that there is an impact on populations as a whole. However, to reduce the impact of the pesticides on these organisms, a no-spray buffer zone is shown to be a simple and effective measure. Pesticides play an important role ...
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Understanding phosphorus in soils is vital to proper management
Phosphorus is one of the key nutrients that can cause algal blooms and related water quality problems in lakes, rivers, and estuaries worldwide. Phosphorus entering waters originates from a variety of sources. Agricultural land receiving long term applications of organic by-products such as animal manure is one of the major contributors. Such soils often become enriched with P, leading to ...
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Engineering rice that needs less fertiliser
Genetic modification (GM) of crops is one of the more recent technological advances in agriculture designed to meet increasing demand for food. New research reveals that rice can be modified to use nitrogen more efficiently, thus reducing the need for nitrogen fertilisers while increasing yields. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has estimated that food production ...
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Farming must change to feed the world
The world's farmers must quickly switch to more sustainable and productive farming systems to grow the food needed by a swelling world population and respond to climate change, FAO's top crops expert told an international farm congress here today. In a keynote speech to 1,000 participants at the IVth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture (CA) in New Delhi, Shivaji Pandey, Director of FAO's ...
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Floating vegetative mats may help clean fishery wastewater
The feasibility of using floating vegetation to remove nutrients from fishery wastewater is being tested by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. The researchers' long-term goal is to develop a system to treat the wastewater, return it to ponds for reuse, and use the nutrients to produce biomass or plant material. The floating mats act as filters to remove the nutrients from the water. ...
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