257 News & Press Releases found
SciDev.Net News
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App ‘trained’ to spot crop disease, alert farmers
Researchers win grant to further test app for smallholders App diagnoses deadly cassava diseases in field, sends alerts Roll-out in Africa needs engagement with farmers, says expert A team of scientists has received US$100,000 ...
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Method that cuts sugarcane emissions gets global prize
A Brazilian scientist who developed a method that reduces greenhouse gas emissions from sugarcane cultivation has been awarded a prize that each year recognises a researcher whose work has excelled in the area of fertiliser use. Heitor ...
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Grafting helps pepper plants deal with drought
Joining a high-yield pepper plant sapling to the roots of a strong and resistant variety could help pepper farmers cope with lower rainfall, a study has found. An experiment using the technique of merging two plants, known as grafting, resulted in ...
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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 ...
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Egyptian invention cuts rice irrigation water by haf
Experts and stakeholders in Egypt warn of imminent water poverty as a result of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is about to become operational. Meanwhile, agricultural production consumes about 85 per cent of the country’s water ...
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Mobile app for rain forecasts raising farmers’ yields
A mobile phone-based innovation that can predict rain is helping farmers in six Sub-Saharan Africa countries sow, fertilise and harvest crops at the optimum time. The innovation is being used in Cote d`Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, ...
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Patents fail to boost crop yields
Policies that secure intellectual property rights (IPRs) for agricultural innovations often fail to encourage technology transfer to developing countries or increase crop yields, a study shows. “Intellectual property rights are not all they ...
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Edible insects inch one step closer
Farming insects on a large scale is no more of a biological or chemical hazard than other livestock farming, says a report by a European food safety body. The report, which looks at the potential of insects as food or animal feed, says the ...
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Grazing land has scope for biofuel surge
Converting grazing land into fields to grow crops for biofuels could provide up to 30 per cent of the world’s energy needs, according to a report. The report says at least 500 million hectares are available for sustainable biofuel production ...
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Fisheries indicators ‘too narrow’ to show real impact
Global monitoring of fisheries must be improved to understand the mismatch between protecting marine life and the vital role fishing plays in many economies, according to a study. Using so-called ‘multi-dimensional fisheries performance ...
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A worldwide network of seed information is taking root
As an increasingly bloody civil war raged around them, a team of scientists in the Syrian capital Aleppo quietly packaged and shipped a series of nondescript cardboard boxes to an island not far from the North Pole. The boxes bore no sign of the ...
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Q&A: A plant lab in the palm of your hand
PhotosynQ, a project based at the University of Michigan in the United States, aims to help plant scientists around the world gather data through a cheap hand-held device called MultispeQ for scanning plant material. By connecting the device ...
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How Laos’s major dam on the Mekong is taking shape
The Xayaburi Dam now being built on the Mekong River is part of the Laos government’s strategy to become the ‘battery of South-East Asia’. A further eight dams are proposed along the river in Laos, with two more planned on this ...
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Vietnam eyes water-saving technology for its rice farms
Agriculture experts say application of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technology in Vietnam’s rice farms, one of South-East Asia’s largest rice-producing countries, holds great promise in cutting water use ...
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Sowing the seeds of stable agriculture
In a country with a precarious history of food insecurity, one award-winning research institution is driving change in Senegal by focusing on training farmers and helping them to diversify their products. The Institute of Food Technology (ITA) has ...
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UN ‘matchmaker’ to foster South-South tech transfer
The UN has launched a new knowledge-sharing platform aimed specifically at private companies in low-income countries to help foster the spread of technology, assets and financing. The scheme is dedicated to the least developed countries (LDCs) as a ...
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Solar ammonia process may spur fertiliser revolution
Low-energy ways to make ammonia — a vital constituent of fertiliser — could enable developing countries to manufacture their own fertiliser instead of importing it. One such technology published last month (8 August) in Science produces ...
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ASEAN’s economic integration: how science can help
Plans for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to achieve economic integration by 2015 have had its ten member countries in a state of confusion, excitement and fear for several months. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will come ...
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Genetic modification’s potential in Africa impeded by ‘dysfunctional debate’
Opportunities to enhance crop yields and reduce poverty in Africa are being lost because of a “polarised public debate” on the continent, according to a report released this week (21 July) by international policy institute Chatham ...
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What`s wrong with GM?
SciDev.Net is hosting a live text debate on genetically modified (GM) organisms on this page on Wednesday 11 June. For details on how to get involved, please see below. The arguments about GM continue to rage in farming, research and development ...