Crop Genetics News
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Overcoming obstacles to GM crop adoption
This policy brief, published by the UK's Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), examines the potential benefits and challenges of using genetically modified (GM) crops for agricultural development in the developing world, and highlights policy approaches that could support a positive contribution to food security. With the majority of the workforce in developing countries ...
By SciDev.Net
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Global Crop Protection Industry Outlook to 2016 - Bio-pesticides: The Next Generation Crop Protection Products
Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Global Crop Protection Industry Outlook to 2016 - Bio-pesticides: The Next Generation Crop Protection Products ...
By ReportLinker
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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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New research reveals challenges in genetically engineered crop regulatory process
Experts are available for interviews on this topic! A new innovation can completely reshape an industry-- inspiring both optimism and debate. The development of genetically engineered (GE) crops in the 1980's ignited a buzz in the agricultural community with the potential for higher crop yields and better nutritional content, along with the reduction of herbicide and pesticide use. GE crops ...
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Pakistan debates GM cotton’s success
Pakistan is beset by conflicting claims over the success of genetically modified (GM) cotton, now grown in over 90 per cent of the 2.5 million hectares under cotton. The GM cotton variety — also called Bt cotton because it contains a gene taken from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis that resists the bollworm pest — was originally developed and patented by the US agricultural ...
By SciDev.Net
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Asia–Pacific Analysis: Launching a second Green Revolution
Feeding South-East Asia's rapidly growing population requires a second Green Revolution, says Crispin Maslog. The Day of Seven Billion was proclaimed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on 31 October 2011 as a historic milestone — the day the world's population reached seven billion people. And the world is on a steep growth curve for the rest of this century. More than half ...
By SciDev.Net
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Agroforestry can fix Pakistan’s depleting tree cover
Using a mix of trees and crop species can help rejuvenate Pakistan's deteriorating forests, a study reported. The study is based on physical and chemical analyses of 400 soil samples, collected during a survey of farms and plantations to compare the four agro-ecological zones of the Punjab province. Results of the findings published in the African Science Journal of Environmental Sciences and ...
By SciDev.Net
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US–Nepal hybrid maize project runs into criticism
Uncertainty hangs over a proposed partnership between US and Nepalese scientists to promote hybrid maize in the Himalayan country, after the project sparked local concerns over the potential loss of traditional local varieties and weak biotechnology regulation. The pilot project of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Nepal's Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and US ...
By SciDev.Net
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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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A kaleidoscope of restorative food and farming programs at the 2011 bioneers conference
As always, the 2011 Bioneers conference will highlight the growing edges of the global movement to transform our food systems. One major theme is Food and Education. Keynotes will include Karen Brown, Creative Director of the Center for Ecoliteracy, on "Revolutionizing K-12 Education with Sustainability in Mind," and Anim Steel, Director of National Programs at Boston's famed The Food Project, ...
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The J.R. Simplot Company Announces Innate™ All-Native Plant Technology
The J. R. Simplot Company's Plant Sciences business announces Innate™ Technology, the all-native biotechnology platform for improving crops, leading to new, better and healthier foods. Innate™ Technology is a patented plant biotechnology process that works with a plant's own genes to enhance desirable traits and to decrease less desirable traits. Traditional plant breeding is a ...
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Disaster relief seeds `should be more diverse`
African farmers who lose their seeds in floods and droughts could restore their crop biodiversity quicker by trading local seed varieties at markets and through informal social links than by receiving seeds from aid agencies, a study suggests. The genetic diversity of crops allows plant populations to adapt to changing environments and provides the raw materials for crop improvement programmes. ...
By SciDev.Net
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GM rice `spreading illegally in China`
Illegal genetically modified (GM) rice seeds have been found in several Chinese provinces by a government investigation, according to an environment ministry official. A joint investigation by four government departments discovered the seeds, attributing their presence to "weak management", according to the news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP). China has allowed GM crops such as cotton, ...
By SciDev.Net
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SG Biofuels Signs Customers for 250,000 Acres of Hybrid Jatropha Seed
SG Biofuels, a bioenergy crop company using breeding and biotechnology to develop elite hybrid seeds of Jatropha, today announced it has signed customers for the deployment of 250,000 acres of Jatropha using its JMax™ hybrid seeds. Jatropha is a non-edible energy crop that produces large volumes of sustainable plant oil used for biodiesel, bio jet fuel and specialty chemicals. The JMax™ hybrid ...
By SG Bio Fuels
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New project will collect vital knowledge about tree genetic resources to support conservation
A workshop in Nairobi, Kenya last week saw representatives from 43 African nations participate in an ambitious project to document the status of the world's forest genetic resources; a vital step in conserving and sustainably managing forests. "Forest genetic resources are unique and irreplaceable; from plants that provide timber and essential nourishment when crops fail to those that may be ...
By SciDev.Net
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Peru relaxes GM rules … for now
After nine years of discussions, Peru's government has passed an agricultural biosafety regulation intended to promote biotechnological research and help the country's researchers catch up with other Latin American nations. The Biosafety Rules for the Agriculture or Forestry Sectors will regulate the research, production and trade of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), activities that were ...
By SciDev.Net
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GM maize contaminates non-GM crops in Uruguay
Contamination of traditional maize crops planted near genetically modified (GM) maize fields may be common in Uruguay, where the cultivation of GM maize has been permitted since 2003, scientists have said. A study published in Environmental Biosafety Research (25 March) has found GM seedlings in three traditional maize fields. It is said to be the first report of cross-fertilisation between GM ...
By SciDev.Net
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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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Mexican trial of GM maize stirs debate
Mexico has authorised a field trial of genetically modified (GM) maize that could lead directly to commercialisation of the crop, sparking debate about the effects on the country's unique maize biodiversity. Although Mexico already commercially grows some GM crops, such as cotton, GM maize is controversial because the country is home to thousands of the world's maize varieties that originated ...
By SciDev.Net
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Organic dairy farmer albert straus speaks out against USDA’s decision on GM alfalfa
As an organic farmer, I protest the USDA’s recent decision to approve the unregulated planting of genetically modified alfalfa. This is a ruling that seriously jeopardizes the integrity of the organic food chain, and could cause irreparable harm to organic farmers by ruining our ability to supply organic dairy foods to customers. I believe that allowing genetically modified alfalfa to be ...
By 3BL Media
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