climate change crop News
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3rd Agriculture and Climate Change Conference
From March 24 to 26, the 3rd Agriculture and Climate Change Conference will take place in Budapest, Hungary. International researchers will present their works focusing on the impact of climate change on crop production and propose solutions to maintain and increase crop productivity in this new context. Various topics will be discussed, like effects of CO2 on plant growth, abiotic stress, ...
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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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Population has bigger effect than climate change on crop yields, study suggests
Population pressure will be as significant a factor as climate change in reducing crop yields — and thus increasing food insecurity — in West Africa, according to a modelling study. The authors inserted different climate change, land use, and demographic change scenarios, into an internationally validated model to estimate maize yields in Benin from 2021–2050. They found that, ...
By SciDev.Net
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Showcase
Celebrating Research Centre’s Third Anniversary with Notable Accomplishments & Milestones
Urban Crop Solutions (UCS) launched its research centre in 2020. The fully equipped state-of-the-art research centre, housed at its HQ in Belgium, boasts multiple controlled environment growth chambers for crop cultivar screening, nutrient formulations, plant cultivation techniques, LED light spectrum research, hydroponic irrigation, and cultivation development. The research centre is operated by ...
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Safety first: India gives Monsanto a moratorium
Following nationwide protests against the introduction of India's first commercial genetically engineered (GE) food crop -- the Indian government has made a giant step towards charting a path for sustainable agriculture and food security. When India's Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) approved the crop back in October, without proper tests, there was national outrage among ...
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Variable crop sowing dates `produce higher yields`
Cropping systems with variable sowing dates adapted to changing climatic conditions — as opposed to those with fixed sowing dates — will result in increased mean future crop yields, a modelling study has found. Multiple cropping systems, including growing two or more crops at the same time on the same plot (intercropping); after each other in a sequence (sequential cropping); or with ...
By SciDev.Net
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Simulating Agricultural Climate Change Scenarios using Controlled Growth Chambers
Extreme weather, believed to result from climate change and increased atmospheric CO2 levels, is a concern for many. And beyond extreme events, global warming is also expected to impact agriculture.1,2 Although it is expected that climate change will significantly affect agriculture and cause decreases in crop yields, the full effects of climate change on agriculture and human food supplies ...
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Global wild seed hunt begins
An international project to collect seeds from the wild relatives of 23 of the world's major food crops including maize, rice, wheat and potato, has received its first funding. Last week (10 December) Norway, home to the world's largest seed bank, in Svalbard in the Arctic, pledged US$50 million towards the collection, which is expected to take ten years to complete. Research and planning will ...
By SciDev.Net
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2009 ASA–CSSA–SSSA meetings emphasize sustainability
The 2009 ASA–CSSA–SSSA International Annual Meetings are just around the corner, 1–5 November in Pittsburgh, PA. The theme of the meetings, “Footprints in the Landscape: Sustainability through Plant and Soil Sciences,” together with the location, emphasize sustainability. The meeting theme runs throughout the technical program that is built around daily plenary sessions, nine distinguished ...
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Simulating the effect of climate change on agriculture
Increased atmospheric CO2 levels and climate change are believed to contribute to extreme weather conditions, which is a major concern for many. And beyond extreme events, global warming is also predicted to affect agriculture.1,2 While climate change is expected to affect agriculture and reduce crop yields, the complete effects of climate change on agriculture and the resultant human food ...
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India-UK fund to boost agro-innovation in Africa and Asia
The Indian and UK governments are tapping into agricultural innovation outside the traditional international development community with the launch of a £20 million (US$32 million) programme for food security. Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development (SCPRID) will allow scientists to research stressors, ranging from pests to climate change, on five key crops ...
By SciDev.Net
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Rapid action needed to help protect food supplies in vulnerable regions
Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change, and in order to protect food security, food production will have to adapt to rising temperatures and unpredictable changes in rainfall. Agriculture in poorer countries with harsh climate conditions is likely to be most affected. New research predicts how these vulnerable areas are likely to be affected by climate change in the next 20 years. The ...
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Ranking Member Stabenow Opening Statement at Hearing on Agriculture Research
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement at the hearing titled “Agricultural Research and Securing the United States Food Supply.” Stabenow’s statement, as prepared for delivery, follows: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing. And ...
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Sub-Saharan Africa news in brief
Namibia urged to invest more in science and technology Increasing investment in science and technology could help Namibia reduce poverty, hunger, disease and unemployment, said former president Sam Nujoma last week. Launching the country"s National Science, Engineering and Technology Week, Nujoma said: "If Namibia has to turn around the slow rate of economic development, which is currently ...
By SciDev.Net
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Better water management could improve global crop production
A new global study is the first to quantify the potential of water management strategies to increase crop production. It indicates that a combination of harvesting run-off water and reducing evaporation from soil could increase global crop production by 20 per cent. The EU has recognised the impact of climate change on water and the subsequent effects on agriculture in its white paper on ...
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Farming must change to feed the world
The world's farmers must quickly switch to more sustainable and productive farming systems to grow the food needed by a swelling world population and respond to climate change, FAO's top crops expert told an international farm congress here today. In a keynote speech to 1,000 participants at the IVth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture (CA) in New Delhi, Shivaji Pandey, Director of FAO's ...
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Healthy soil is essential for a biobased & circular economy
The soil is the ground beneath our feet and the growth place for biomass. For a biobased & circular economy it is crucial to preserve this ‘pantry’ storage function of the soil. This is why Wageningen University & Research is performing dedicated research into various aspects of the soil, such as nutrients and organic material, smarter cultivation systems of a larger diversity ...
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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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Farmers Urged to Consider Impact Of Pesticides on Insect Numbers
Farmers are continually urged to store pesticides safely and securely in order to minimise their impact on the environment and to reduce leakage into water supplies and systems. A study by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), with support from Natural England, examined 40 year’s worth of data collected on farmland on the Susses Downs. Examining the effect of climate and ...
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International crop breeding programme needed for African farming
Climate change poses a large threat to African agriculture, but there is little research on how to respond. A recent study indicates that traditional adaptation methods are not enough and international collaboration is needed in 'planned adaptation' by collecting and conserving certain crops for the future. A large proportion of the African population - mainly the poor - depend on agriculture ...
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