Showing results for: crop farming Articles
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Extreme Makeover: Photosynthesis Edition
Plants are far better than humans at turning sunlight into food. But they’re not nearly as good as they could be: Thanks to quirks in the systems that have evolved to capture solar energy and use it to build sugars from carbon dioxide and water, the conversion efficiency of photosynthesis is but a few percent at best. With the need to produce more crops growing even faster than human ...
By Ensia
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Self-seeded cereal cover crop effects on interspecific competition with corn
Perpetuating cereal cover crops through self-seeding may increase adoption by reducing risk and cost. Winter rye (Secale cereale L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack) were used to develop self-seeding cover crop systems in a soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]–corn (Zea mays L.) rotation. Cereal cover crops were planted in varying row spacing configurations and ...
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Leaching and utilization of nitrogen during a spring wheat catch crop succession
An experiment covering a 2-yr spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) catch crop succession was conducted in lysimeters to account for the losses of N due to leaching. We sought to relate these losses to the N uptake of the main crop and to integrate the estimated N loss and uptake into a balance. The non-winter hardy catch crops [yellow mustard (Sinapis alba L.), Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia ...
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Blending and Bagging at Sungro Production Facility
What’s In The Bag? A recent visit by FibreDust to the Sun Gro Horticulture blending facility, located just outside of Orlando, Florida, gave a glimpse into the business of soilless media and blending. The facility had a massive mixing and bagging line with 14 huge hoppers that added essential ingredients to soilless blends. Numerous tidy bunkers of various additives were scattered ...
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Chaff and straw spreader for a plot combine
Uniform distribution of crop residue is critical in long-term no-till and conservation-till cropping systems experiments. Many farm-scale combines utilize factory or aftermarket chaff and straw spreaders, but most plot combines for research lack this capability. We fabricated a high volume air system to evenly distribute chaff and straw behind a plot combine. The combine engine powered a ...
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The problems with the arguments against GM crops
New evidence shows that arguments against GM crops are unfounded, says Margaret Karembu. The year 2013 marked the 18th consecutive year of commercial cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or now commonly referred to as biotech crops. And in just under two decades, the volume of land on which biotech crops are grown has increased from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 — the first ...
By SciDev.Net
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Toxicity of biosolids‐derived triclosan and triclocarban to six crop species
Biosolids are an important source of nutrients and organic matter, which are necessary for the productive cultivation of crop plants. Biosolids have been found to contain the personal care products, triclosan and triclocarban, at high concentrations relative to other pharmaceuticals and personal care products. The current study investigates whether exposure of six plant species (radish, ...
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The impact of using GM insect resistant maize in Europe since 1998
Genetically Modified (GM) insect resistant (Bt) maize crops have been grown commercially in the European Union (EU) since 1998, and in 2006, there were plantings in seven EU member states. This paper reviews the specific economic impacts on yield and farm income as well as the environmental impact in respect of insecticide usage (where data exists). The analysis shows that there have been ...
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Influence of organic fertilizer production line equipment in present life
With the development of clothing industry, the nuclear products of clothing organic production line equipment are also entering a new stage of development. Organic production equipment plays an important role in the field of clothing industry. With the market demand, it is also pursuing deeper development. Most of the organic fertilizer materials produced by the organic fertilizer production ...
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An overview of preharvest factors influencing postharvest quality of horticultural products
Postharvest product quality develops during growing of the product and is maintained, not improved by postharvest technologies. Available genetic material allows discrimination of external and internal quality attributes that must satisfy consumer requirements and indulgences. Farmers face challenges in utilising technologies for producing high quality crops; meaningful manipulation of light, ...
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Science for Environment Policy
The economic impact of climate change on European agriculture A new study has estimated how changes to climate might affect the value of European farmland. Based on data for over 41 000 farms, the results suggest that their economic value could drop by up to 32%, depending on the climate scenario considered- Farms in southern Europe are particularly sensitive to climate change and could ...
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Getting seed to smallholders needs a business approach
A locally owned, alternative model of supplying affordable seed is working for Africa’s framers, says Joe DeVries. Smallholder farmers in Africa — mostly women — wage silent battles against the elements and other forces beyond their control to feed their families, their villages, their countries. They have historically taken the lead in feeding Africa and are destined to ...
By SciDev.Net
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Locust Swarms Emphasise the Need for Controlled Environment Agriculture
Outbreaks of locust swarms in Africa, Asia and the Middle East have epitomised the essential need for indoor farming. Unseasonal rains caused by global warming, have aided the spread of desert locusts which would normally have died out in the dry season. Ethiopia and Somalia are currently experiencing their worst outbreak in twenty-five years, while Kenya is experiencing its worst infestation in ...
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A Saline Duper Wheat that Tolerates Higher Salt Concentrations!
In the past few decades, agricultural land has been largely lost, and increased salinity in soils around the world has received much attention. Nowadays, nearly 8% of the world's arable land can no longer be used for crop cultivation due to salt pollution, and more than half of the world's countries are affected. Wheat is the second largest grain grown after corn and grows more on Earth than any ...
By Lifeasible
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Application of Agricultural Biotechnology for High Nutritious Food Products
Abstract Agricultural biotechnology has some controversy impacts on global economy and international regulations. But, it has enhanced the production of crops and foods with high nutritious. Some time, it has not secured human and environmental safety, intellectual property rights, consumer choice, ethics, food security, poverty reduction and environmental conservation. Even though, it has ...
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Family farms can be competitive by focusing on conservation and stewardship
While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports a 40 percent decline in U.S. cropland soil erosion rates from 1982 to 2007, recent trends appear to challenge this progress. Record prices for corn and soybeans have diverted acres out of conservation programs and encouraged intensive production on a wide scale. Tree lines are cleared and wet areas drained, turning 120-acre farms into ...
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Creating the Perfect Environmental and Atmospheric Conditions for Vertical Farming
The global population is rapidly expanding, and new technologies are required to enable us to keep up with rising food demands. Vertical farms provides a secure supply of food year-round while using minimal space, water, and energy. Creating the perfect environment, and especially the perfect CO2 atmosphere, in vertical farms is essential for optimizing crop yields and farm economics. ...
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Asia–Pacific Analysis: Plan for growth in biotech crops
South-East Asian nations should follow the Philippines down the path to biotech crops for food security, argues Crispin Maslog. Since biotechnology-derived crops were introduced in 1996, they have been adopted at an unprecedented rate, according to the 2011 annual report of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) released earlier this year. [1] There ...
By SciDev.Net
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Indian government still ‘flip flopping’ on GM trials
In August, India’s ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stopped its legislators from accepting Monsanto sponsorship to attend a farm exhibition in the US state of Iowa. On the surface this might seem strange: attending the Farm Progress Show should be innocuous, as Monsanto routinely takes farmers, industry experts, media and MPs from various countries to visit the show and ...
By SciDev.Net
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How `open source` seed producers from the U.S. to India are changing global food production
Around the world, plant breeders are resisting what they see as corporate control of the food supply by making seeds available for other breeders to use. Frank Morton has been breeding lettuce since the 1980s. His company offers 114 varieties, among them Outredgeous, which last year became the first plant that NASA astronauts grew and ate in space. For nearly 20 years, Morton’s work was ...
By Ensia
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