crop yield News
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Warming Threatens to cut Crop Yields
Projecting the impact of climate change on global food production is no easy task. A warming climate might result in better crop yields in one region, but cause drought and crop failure in another. A new US study, published in the journal Environmental Letters, assesses the odds of a major slowdown in global food production over the next 20 years. Overall, the study’s authors say, the ...
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Choice of winter cover crop mixture steers summer crop yield
Scientists from Wageningen University & Research demonstrate that the productivity of a next main crop can be manipulated through the choice of species in a preceding winter cover crop mixture. They report their latest findings in the Journal of Applied Ecology of 2nd of June. With their publication, the scientist agree with recommendations of FAO to included cover crops in rotations, on ...
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Compost made by worms from livestock manure yields benefits when applied to maize
Vermicomposting livestock manure with maize can increase agricultural benefit by 304%, shows a new study. The combination of increased crop yield and the additional earthworms produced as a result of the process led to a substantial increase in output compared to a traditional composting system. As intensive agriculture and livestock production both increase, unique problems emerge. Heavy use of ...
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Growing Sorghum for Biofuel
Conversion of sorghum grass to ethanol has increased with the interest in renewable fuel sources. Researchers at Iowa State University examined 12 varieties of sorghum grass grown in single and double cropping systems. The experiment was designed to test the efficiency of double cropping sorghum grass to increase its yield for biofuel production. The author of the report, Ben Goff, found that ...
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Growing sorghum for biofuel
Conversion of sorghum grass to ethanol has increased with the interest in renewable fuel sources. Researchers at Iowa State University examined 12 varieties of sorghum grass grown in single and double cropping systems. The experiment was designed to test the efficiency of double cropping sorghum grass to increase its yield for biofuel production. The author of the report, Ben Goff, found that ...
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Energy crops and their environmental implications
Interest in producing cellulosic ethanol from renewable energy sources is growing. Potential energy crops include row crops such as corn, perennial warm-season grasses, and short-rotation woody crops. However, impacts of growing dedicated energy crops as biofuel on soil and environment have not been well documented. This review article looks at the impacts of growing warm-season grasses and ...
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Ceres Receives $3.5 million from USAID for Trait Stacks
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERE) today announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has expanded its grant to the company to develop traits in rice for Asia. Based on Ceres' success to date, USAID will provide an additional $3.5 million to Ceres over the next four years to extend field trialing and development of the company's biotech traits and trait ...
By Ceres
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Biofuel and crop research grows by AUS$1.6m
The research team will identify the genes associated with key plant properties responsible for growth, flowering and grain-filling in grasses. They will use the advanced robotic and imaging plant research tools of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) to conduct the research. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has recognised the unique, world-class capability that the APPF affords by ...
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Abandoned farmlands are key to sustainable bioenergy
Biofuels can be a sustainable part of the world's energy future, especially if bioenergy agriculture is developed on currently abandoned or degraded agricultural lands, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University. Using these lands for energy crops, instead of converting existing croplands or clearing new land, avoids competition with food production and preserves ...
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FAO Director-General asks private sector to support anti-hunger trust fund
"Many of the companies that are here today are present in many countries. This is important because what you do locally against hunger can quickly become global", said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva in a private sector partnerships meeting held today. At the meeting, Graziano da Silva announced that FAO has set up a multi-donor trust fund to allow private sector companies to ...
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Corn out earns energy crops—for now
Corn stover is the most profitable cellulosic biofuel feedstock on cropland in the Great Lakes Region at current prices. For perennial biomass crops to earn farmers more than corn, prices or yields would have to change. At biomass prices of US$110–US$130 per metric ton or yield gains of 50–60%, poplar, switchgrass, and mixed grasses would become attractive. If prices of expensive U.S. miscanthus ...
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Potato battery could help meet rural energy needs
The holy grail of renewable energy research may lie in the cooking pot, according to scientists. The search for a cheap source of electricity for remote, off-grid communities, has led to batteries that work on freshly boiled potatoes. One slice of potato can generate 20 hours of light, and several slices could provide enough energy to power simple medical equipment and even a low-power ...
By SciDev.Net
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ARPA-E Provides $300,000 In Third Round Funding For PETROSS Project
In May of 2016, the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) awarded the University of Illinois and the University of Florida $300,000 to continue researching ultra-productive biofuel crops. The research project is called Plants Engineered To Replace Oil in Sugarcane and Sweet Sorghum (PETROSS), and this is the third round of funding that it will receive from ARPA-E. PETROSS is ...
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CoolPlanetBiofuels Gets Series B Funding from Google Ventures
Imagine a world where fuel doesn't have to be pumped, dug out or extracted from the ground, and can be locally sourced. CoolPlanetBiofuels, located in Camarillo, Calif., is developing an innovative solution to address the energy problem and has received funding from Google Ventures to accelerate the development of its technology. CoolPlanetBiofuel's technology converts low-grade biomass — ...
By Cool Planet
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Chronica Horticulturae 54 number 1 (March 2014)
Chronica Horticulturae 54 number 1 (March 2014) is available now. To download your copy go to http://www.ishs.org/chronica-horticulturae/vol54nr1 Table of contents: News & Views from the Board: ISHS Core Activities: Major Tribute to Global Financial Crisis?, G.J. Noga Postcard, A. Monteiro ISHS Governance Meetings at the Brisbane Congress Important Announcements and Information ...
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Europe’s new protein strategy needs fortifying
Commission proposal should have highlighted crop-based biofuel production’s role in reducing Europe’s need to import soybean meal and other animal feed BRUSSELS, 22 November 2018 – The European Commission’s new proposals for reducing the EU’s so-called ‘protein deficit’ have missed a golden opportunity to highlight an important domestic producer of ...
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Ceres and Syngenta to Collaborate on Sweet Sorghum Market Development
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERE) today announced that its Brazilian subsidiary Ceres Sementes do Brasil Ltda., has signed a sweet sorghum market development agreement with Syngenta (NYSE: SYT). The companies will work together to support the introduction of sweet sorghum as a source of fermentable sugars at Brazil's 400 or more ethanol mills. Sweet sorghum is a hardy crop that can ...
By Ceres
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Limiting bioenergy crops to marginal land would not work, says study
Large-scale cultivation of bioenergy crops on marginal land is unfeasible, according to a recent study. While limiting bioenergy crops to less productive land could cut the sector’s impact on food prices, the financial incentive to grow crops on more productive land may be too strong for landowners to ignore, the researchers suggest. During recent decades, there has been a growing interest ...
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BIO Applauds Strengthening of the USDA BioPreferred Program
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today applauded President Obama’s directive to expand and strengthen the USDA BioPreferred program. BIO President & CEO Jim Greenwood said, “The USDA’s BioPreferred program provides important federal leadership that can expand consumer demand for renewable products made from biomass, such as agricultural ...
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Why eating less can help the environment
An estimated 19% of total energy used in the USA is taken up in the production and supply of food. Currently, this mostly comes from non-renewable energy sources which are in short supply. It is therefore of paramount importance that ways of reducing this significant fuel consumption in the US food system are found. In a paper1 just published in the Springer journal Human Ecology, David Pimentel ...
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