crop water News
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How much water is needed to grow bioenergy crops?
A Dutch study has assessed the water requirements of 13 bioenergy crops across the world. The findings could help select the best crops and locations to produce bioenergy. The EU climate action and renewable energy package has set a target of increasing the share of renewable energy to 20 per cent of energy used by 20201. This includes a minimum 10 per cent share for transport, which could ...
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Crop Science Society of America announces the 2010 class of fellows
The CropScience Society of America(CSSA) will continue a time-honored tradition this year with the presentation of the following individuals as 2010 CSSA Fellows at a special Awards Ceremony during their Annual Meeting on Oct. 31-Nov. 3 in Long Beach, CA, www.acsmeetings.org. Members of the Society nominate worthy colleagues based on their professional achievements and meritorious service. Only ...
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Desert plantations could help capture carbon
Planting trees in coastal deserts could capture carbon dioxide, reduce harsh desert temperatures, boost rainfall, revitalise soils and produce cheap biofuels, say scientists. Large-scale plantations of the hardy jatropha tree, Jatropha curcas, could help sequester carbon dioxide through a process known as 'carbon farming', according to a study based on data gathered in Mexico and Oman that was ...
By SciDev.Net
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Making agriculture sustainable
Agriculture is possibly the most important sector of global activity. It is a source of foods, fibers and, increasingly, fuel. It provides livelihoods and subsistence for the largest number of people worldwide. It is vital to rural development and therefore critical to poverty alleviation. Up to 40% of the land’s surface is used for agriculture, along with 70% of the world’s fresh water supply. ...
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Seaweed study boosts prospects for marine biofuels
Seaweed biofuel farms have come a step closer to reality with an improvement in the way seaweed sugars can be converted to ethanol. Dried seaweed can be fermented to produce ethanol but breaking down galactose, the dominant sugar in seaweed, is a slow process. Now, researchers have modified the expression of three genes of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is used in the fermenation ...
By SciDev.Net
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Fertilizer run-off killing Gulf of Mexico marine life
Improved management of crops and perennials could go a long way toward alleviating the problem of hypoxia, which claims thousands of fish, shrimp and shellfish in the Gulf of Mexico each spring. An assessment by a team led by Virginia Dale of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Environmental Sciences Division concludes that low oxygen levels in water, or hypoxia, causes problems throughout the ...
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American society of agronomy announces 2011 award recipients
The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) will recognize the following individuals at the 2011 Awards Ceremony during their Annual Meeting on Oct. 16-19 in San Antonio, TX, www.acsmeetings.org. Drew Lyon, University of Nebraska-Lincoln - Agronomic Extension Education Award. Drew Lyon is the Fenster Professor of dryland agriculture and extension dryland cropping systems specialist at the ...
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Significant progress made in first year of The Good Growth Plan
Syngenta has published the first update on progress towards meeting the six ambitious commitments in The Good Growth Plan, which was launched in 2013 to support the future sustainability of agriculture and rural communities. Syngenta established a global network of over 3,500 reference and benchmark farms in 2014. Around 860 reference farms are using tailored protocols to raise productivity ...
By Syngenta
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As seas rise, saltwater plants offer hope farms will survive
On a sun-scorched wasteland near India's southern tip, an unlikely garden filled with spiky shrubs and spindly greens is growing, seemingly against all odds. The plants are living on saltwater, coping with drought and possibly offering viable farming alternatives for a future in which rising seas have inundated countless coastal farmlands. Sea rise, one of the consequences of climate change, ...
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