crop yield News
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Crop yields stall in China, India
China and India, the world's two most populous countries, are beset by stagnation in the production of staples like rice, wheat, soybean and maize (corn), says a new study on crop yield growth. Based on statistics from around the world during the 1951– 2008 period, the study 'Recent patterns of crop yield growth and stagnation', says that for some crops in China and India the spatial ...
By SciDev.Net
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Fertiliser can offset heat for African farmers
[NAIROBI] African smallholders in dry areas can overcome climate change and even double crop yields if they invest in fertiliser use and harvest rainwater, researchers have found. Farmers in arid and semi-arid areas usually protect themselves from climate-related losses by investing as little as possible in farm inputs such as fertilisers. But in doing so they fail to grab opportunities for ...
By SciDev.Net
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Where is your soil water? Crop yield has the answer
Crop yield is highly dependent on soil plant-available water, the portion of soil water that can be taken up by plant roots. Quantitative determination of the maximum amount of plant-available water in soil using traditional methods on soil samples remains challenging, especially at the scale of an entire field. However, a map of plant-available water capacity for a field would be instrumental in ...
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Straw covering on soil can increase crop yields and improve the efficiency of water use
Straw from previous harvests can be used to help increase crop yields and improve the efficiency of water use in arid regions, finds a new study from China. By testing different techniques to improve water efficiency, the researchers found that the most effective method involved using straw to cover the soil when growing maize and wheat together in the same growing season. In north-western ...
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Measuring calcium in serpentine soils
Serpentine soils contain highly variable amounts of calcium, making them marginal lands for farming. Successful management of serpentine soils requires accurate measurement of the calcium they hold. Research published this month in the Soil Science Society of America Journal shows that multiple measurement techniques are needed to accurately measure calcium content in serpentine soils. To make ...
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Soil Moisture Probes as a management tool for broadacre cropping enterprises
Are you interested in being involved in a 'Cutting Edge' Agronomic Project and Discussion Group? SANTFA and Rural Directions Pty Ltd, are kicking off a project focussing on Soil Moisture Probes as a management tool for broadacre cropping enterprises, which will run from July 2009 through to May 2010. The project is about using soil moisture monitoring as a guide for making informed decisions in ...
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New mobile robot to support agri-tech experiments in the field
Scientists at the University of Lincoln, UK, have taken delivery of an advanced new mobile robot to support agri-tech experiments at the University’s agricultural field station. The Thorvald agricultural robot, developed with scientists from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, is the latest piece of technology added to the facilities of the Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology ...
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Squeezing more crop out of each drop of water
Studies in China and Colorado by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators have revealed some interesting tactics on how to irrigate with limited water, based on a crop’s critical growth stages. Laj Ahuja, research leader at the ARS Agricultural Systems Research Unit in Fort Collins, Colo., and colleagues conducted the studies. As one example, with wheat in China, they ...
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Brazil Soybean Production and Weather
Over the past 20 years, Brazil has emerged in the global agriculture industry as both a major producer and exporter of agricultural products. Agricultural production in Brazil has exploded over this time and its impact on global markets has been significant. As shown below, Brazil has become the number two producer of soybeans by 2017, according to the UN FAO. Brazil is in the southern hemisphere ...
By CropProphet
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New Report Shows Agriculture Productivity Consistently Up
Ohio farmers have been producing more and, on average, earning slightly more too. Improved technology, rising crop yields, farmer ingenuity and lower prices for farm inputs have led to higher agricultural productivity, specifically annual increases of 1.6 percent since the 1950s, according to a report produced by a team of agricultural economists from the College of Food, Agricultural, and ...
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Ozone pollution reduces tomato fruit yield and viability
Ozone harms pollen viability of tomatoes, leading to reduced fruit weight, size and quality, a recent study has revealed. The researchers suggest the effect of ozone on pollen could be a useful way to rapidly test for pollution-induced stress on crop plants in risk assessments. Ground-level ozone damages plants as well as posing a risk to human health. It negatively affects crop yields and ...
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Can simple measures of labile soil organic matter predict corn performance?
Organic matter is important for soil health and crop productivity. While an indicator of soil quality, a lot of organic matter is in extremely stable forms, and the nutrients in such forms are difficult for plants to use. The active, labile fraction, however, is a modest but important part of the organic matter. “The labile fraction is small – usually less than 20 or even 10 percent, ...
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Avirtech collaborates with Astrocast & advances Satellite IoT connectivity to boost the Southeast Asia AgriTech system
Avirtech is a precision AgriTech leader in Southeast Asia, and Astrocast, a leading global nanosatellite IoT network operator, collaborates to advance Satellite IoT connectivity (SatIoT) for Avirlink BIOTA. BIOTA is a remote sensing and crop monitoring product that offers insights into plantation health. Using advanced sensor and analysis tools, BIOTA helps reduce crop failure and increase ...
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Cropin in Association with Hsbc and Thinkag Conducted A Webinar on Digitizing Crop Insurance
CropIn, in association with ThinkAg and HSBC, conducted a webinar on “Digitizing Crop Insurance” as a part of the AgFin Tech Series, Digitizing Agri-Finance & Insurance. The primary focus of the series is to advance the importance of technology in the agriculture space. CropIn’s tagline “Re-imagining Agriculture With Data”, outlines how technological innovation ...
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Crop water use efficiency
Crop water use efficiency (WUE), or yield per unit of water used, can be improved through irrigation management and methods, including deficit irrigation (irrigating less than is required for maximum yields) and supplemental irrigation (irrigating to supplement precipitation so as to avoid crop failure or severe yield decline). Thus, WUE is key for agricultural production with limited water ...
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Crop-mapping drones win MIT $100K
Original story at MIT News Drones are positioned to change people’s lives, with tech giants building unpiloted aerial vehicles to deliver packages to homes or provide Internet access across the globe. Using that idea as a jumping-off point, RaptorMaps, an MIT team designing drones that monitor crop health to boost yields, cast the winning pitch at last night’s MIT $100K ...
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Factors affecting farmers’ adoption of Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to reduce pesticide use and risks of adverse effects on human health and the environment. However, its adoption by European farmers cannot be based only on mandatory regulation by the European Union, a new study suggests. The research identified four key factors driving IPM adoption; including market forces, policy instruments and ...
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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 climate, breeders have turned to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also known as drones for precise gathering of data from the field to enable more efficient maize breeding in ...
By SciDev.Net
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Nitrogen soil tests - Do they always reflect what is going on?
Do soil tests always reflect what’s going on? Emphatically, NO. The usefulness of nitrogen (N) soil testing is frequently a topic of discussion in both academic and farming circles. Those for the negative generally cite variability involved in sampling, lack of analytical laboratory accuracy and/or precision and lack of response calibration as factors that influence their position. While they ...
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Philippine coconut farmers struggling to recover from typhoon
Coconut farmers in the Philippines are in urgent need of assistance to recover their livelihoods nearly three months after Typhoon Haiyan tore through the country, FAO warned today. The typhoon flattened millions of trees when it made landfall in November and the country’s second largest coconut-producing region, Eastern Visayas, was one of the areas most affected. In this region alone ...
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