crop sampling News
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Smart crop sampling and forecasting
Work is progressing well with our latest innovation on capturing crop measurements in the field on smart phones and using this for some pretty cool forecasting and analysis. We are excited to be working with Villa Maria on this. Sample requests, say for bunch counts or disease incidence, are sent to sampling staff members' smartphones in the field. After they record measurements in the field ...
By Vinea
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Greek olive oils contain no harmful levels of pesticides
There are concerns that pesticides which make their way into food products can have harmful effects on health. However, Greek researchers have tested a range of olive oils for pesticide residues and concluded that levels were sufficiently low in these samples and do not pose a health risk. Olive oil production is a major agricultural activity in Mediterranean countries and a variety of ...
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New test can detect plant viruses faster, cheaper
A new test could save time and money diagnosing plant viruses, some of which can destroy millions of dollars in crops each year in Florida, says a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher. In a newly published study, Jane Polston, a UF/IFAS plant pathology professor, examined several ways to detect the DNA genome of begomoviruses. These viruses have emerged ...
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A worldwide network of seed information is taking root
As an increasingly bloody civil war raged around them, a team of scientists in the Syrian capital Aleppo quietly packaged and shipped a series of nondescript cardboard boxes to an island not far from the North Pole. The boxes bore no sign of the conflict that had surrounded them or the precious material they contained. The scientists, from an International Centre for Agricultural Research in the ...
By SciDev.Net
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Pakistan needs a new crop forecasting system
Pakistan's outdated crop yield forecasting system needs a revamp, says Ibrar ul Hassan Akhtar. Like most developing countries, Pakistan is staring at the spectre of food insecurity, with its food production out of sync with population growth. The food availability scenario is further complicated by changing weather patterns with recurring severe droughts and floods that affect crop production. ...
By SciDev.Net
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ARS helps preserve indigenous crops in Ecuador
An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist is working with an international group of researchers on a project to improve the livelihoods of people in rural Ecuador by promoting the conservation and use of indigenous crops. People in and around Cotacachi, in the northern Andean highlands, have been farming for thousands of years, and the result is a stunning diversity of crops, some of them ...
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Increasing diversity through crop rotation boosts soil microbial biodiversity and productivity
Planting a variety of crop species in rotation in agricultural fields increases the diversity of soil microbes below ground, recent research has found. This in turn positively affects soil organic matter, soil structure and aids the healthy functioning of the soil. The researchers say that rotational diversity can help farmers to grow crops in a more sustainable way that promotes soil stability. ...
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