Pollinnation News
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Poison pulled: bee toxic pesticide removed from store shelves
After rounds of legal wrangling in federal court, a bee-toxic pesticide may no longer be sold or distributed because it entered the marketplace illegally. Bayer CropScience’s pesticide spirotetramat (trade-named Movento, Ultor, and Kontos) is now illegal to buy, sell, or transport in the United States after NRDC and Xerces Society successfully argued that it was approved through a flawed ...
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Flexible management better for coexistence of GM and non-GM crops
Flexible measures, such as pollen barriers, for regulating the cultivation of GM and non-GM crops in the same landscape are more likely to encourage the adoption of GM technology by farmers than rigid measures, such as isolation distances, according to a recent study. The EU has recommended guidelines1 for developing national strategies by all Member States for the coexistence of genetically ...
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Wild insects could take over the pollinating role of honeybees
Scientists have identified several wild insects that could undertake the crop pollination function of honeybees. By comparing a range of pollinating insects they found three wild species that appear to be as efficient as the honeybee in pollination but may need management to increase their numbers. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is in rapid decline worldwide. While it is important to understand ...
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Impact of volunteer GM maize on conventional crops is low
A recent EU-supported study has analysed the development of volunteer or 'rogue' GM (genetically modified) maize plants in a conventional crop field. It finds that their numbers are low and do not exceed the EU's threshold of 0.9 per cent for incidental GM content. Scientific data on the role of maize volunteers on cross-pollination is limited. The most detailed studies have been conducted in ...
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Protecting farmland biodiversity
A new study describes the rate of loss in plant diversity in intensively farmed fields. The authors recommend that measures to protect biodiversity should focus on low-intensity farmland, due to difficulties associated with rebuilding lost biodiversity in intensively farmed land. Intensive agriculture is one of the main drivers of the decline in worldwide biodiversity. The rate of species ...
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The bigger picture: GM contamination across the landscape
Ensuring the purity of conventional crops grown in the vicinity of genetically modified (GM) crops depends on understanding both short and long distance pollen flows. New research shows that current guidelines on the safe isolation distances for GM maize may not adequately prevent cross pollination of conventional crops. Contamination of conventional crops can occur where GM pollen ...
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GM crops could reduce need for herbicides
Analysis of large-scale European field trial data reveals that lower quantities of herbicides are applied to crops genetically modified for herbicide-resistance compared with conventionally grown crops. However, the data also suggest that biodiversity may be reduced if genetically modified (GM) crops are grown widely. Transgenic crops are currently grown in 22 countries across the world, ...
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GM seeds can remain in fields longer than previously thought
Despite management practices designed to reduce the risk of genetically modified (GM) volunteer plants setting seed, new research shows that rogue GM plants occur in fields which were planted with GM oil seed rape 10 years earlier. Volunteer plants (plants that have not been planted deliberately) arise because some seed is spilled during harvest and remains in the field to germinate in a ...
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Making agriculture sustainable
Agriculture is possibly the most important sector of global activity. It is a source of foods, fibers and, increasingly, fuel. It provides livelihoods and subsistence for the largest number of people worldwide. It is vital to rural development and therefore critical to poverty alleviation. Up to 40% of the land’s surface is used for agriculture, along with 70% of the world’s fresh water supply. ...
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Global orchard of decision trees needed to address greenhouse gas problem
Actions taken to address global warming will have impacts on most human activities. By the same token, most human activities impact global warming. Robert McIlvaine of the McIlvaine Company says the ubiquitous nature of this problem demands a new approach. Rather than individual decision trees focused on narrow aspects, there is a need for a global orchard of synergistically juxtaposed and ...
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