crop disease News
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ARS scientists develop self-pollinating almond trees
Self-pollinating almond trees that can produce a bountiful harvest without insect pollination are being developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. This is good news for almond growers who face rising costs for insect pollination because of nationwide shortages of honey bees due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and other factors. ARS geneticist Craig Ledbetter, at the agency’s ...
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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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First raisin grape that dries naturally on vine developed
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in California have developed a new raisin grape that dries naturally on the vine, making it unnecessary for growers to cut into the woody “canes” connecting the grapes to the mother vine weeks before harvest. For mechanically harvested raisin grapes like Thompson Seedless, growers have to cut the canes each summer, usually about 2 weeks ...
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New crop of plant scientists emerges at CSIRO
Under the CSIRO Plant Industry Summer Student Program, 17 students are engaged in a range of important agricultural research projects designed to discover, for example, how high temperatures affect crops and the genetic bases of crop development. The Program, which runs from 6 December to 11 February, provides university students with real insights into the day-to-day working lives of some of ...
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Crossbreeding GM crops may increase fitness of wild relatives
A new study has investigated the effects of interbreeding a genetically modified squash crop with its wild relative. The findings demonstrate that it could cause wild or weedy relatives to become more resistant to disease. Genetic Modification (GM) can be used to develop crops that are resistant to specific pests. However, there are concerns that if a GM crop interbreeds with its wild or weedy ...
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Feeding a growing population that relies on ecosystem services (Part II of II)
The future of farming, food supply, and protection of natural resources are utterly interdependent. While all economic sectors depend to some degree on ecosystem services, agriculture has the most intimate relationship with nature. Agriculture depends on healthy ecosystems for services such as pollination for nearly 75% of the world’s crop species, freshwater, erosion control, and climate ...
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Biodiversity is the basis for Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is now the norm in agriculture and horticulture. All stakeholders – national and European government agencies and public bodies, agriculture and horticulture organisations, businesses, universities and research institutes – agree with this statement. "More biodiversity and the use of resistant plants are crucial to the successful implementation of ...
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Fight against wheat rust needs sustained investment
Developing countries need help with crop surveillance and the development of strains resistant to wheat rust, say agricultural research leaders. Today's food security situation is being worsened by strains of wheat rust disease that are emerging more frequently and spreading much faster and to new areas — changes fuelled by climate change and conducive environments in increasingly fragile ...
By SciDev.Net
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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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German soil monitoring programme could assess impacts of GM crops
Effective regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) calls for monitoring of the potential environmental risks. This study explored whether the German permanent soil monitoring programme could be a useful tool for this purpose. The researchers say the programme has potential to monitor the effects of GMOs on local soil communities, but that adaptations would be necessary. The first ...
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Time is ticking for some crop`s wild relatives
New edge of extinction research is creating a revival of conservation and interest in what these old plants mean to the future Experts and photos available on this topic! A botanist brings a species of alfalfa from Siberia, to the United States. His hope? The plant survives, and leads to a new winter-hardy alfalfa. But what also happened during this time in the late 1800's, isn't just a story ...
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Europe rejects GM crops as new report highlights 20 years of failures
All 19 government requests for bans of GM crop cultivation have gone unchallenged by biotech companies, pathing the way for two thirds of the EU’s farmland and population to remain GM-free [1]. The growing opposition to GM crops coincides with a new Greenpeace report reviewing evidence of GM environmental risks, market failures, and increased pesticide use [2]. Greenpeace EU food policy ...
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