drought News
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Scientific publication in Nature Biotech including WIWAM xy
Although drought tolerance is a central concern of plant research, the translatability for crop improvement is relatively low. Here we report on a major contributing factor to this lack of success. Drought tolerance is predominately scored based on an improved survival rate under lethal conditions that, as demonstrated… Read ...
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Slurryquip Test Review & Editorial
Farm Trader headed to the deep south to see the Slurryquip umbilical system in action. Despite the icy temperatures, Jaiden Drought was impressed by what he saw. As farming – and dairying in particular – intensifies, the amount of effluent created particularly in housing and feed pad situations dramatically increases and the can quickly escalate into a costly issue. This month we ...
By Slurryquip
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Scientific publication in Plant Physiology including WIWAM xy
Although the response of plants exposed to severe drought stress has been studied extensively, little is known about how plants adapt their growth under mild drought stress conditions. Here, we analyzed the leaf and rosette growth response of six Arabidopsis thaliana accessions originating from different geographic regions, when exposed to mild drought stress. The automated phenotyping platform ...
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New maize could prepare farmers for climate change
New varieties of drought-tolerant maize could deliver a US$1.5 billion gain in food and income in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as helping smallholders cope with the effects of climate change, according to a study carried out in 13 countries in the region. Researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture ...
By SciDev.Net
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We have the tools to prevent another famine in Africa
Long-term investments in agriculture and a focus on helping smallholder farmers with existing tools are crucial for avoiding another food crisis on the scale of that seen in the Horn of Africa, argues Sam Dryden, programme director for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Famines are not forces of nature, he says, but complex events rooted in factors that can be controlled, such as ...
By SciDev.Net
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NFU Thankful for Farm Bill, Livestock Disaster Programs
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s announcement to expedite assistance to farmers and ranchers suffering through the California drought and other recent calamities: “The purpose and benefits of the recently enacted farm bill are evident once again with the extreme drought in California. Farmers, ...
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Selective breeding could save trees from drought
Trees with high wood density tend to survive better under drought conditions. In a new study on Douglas-fir tree populations, research suggests that the trees could be selectively bred for high density wood to increase resistance to drought. With predictions that the frequency of droughts could increase over the coming century, such strategies to protect tree populations could aid climate change ...
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Cactus could feed East African livestock, say scientists
A succulent, wild-growing cactus that has been widely dismissed as a noxious weed could sustain African livestock during drought, according to scientists at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). A paper by John Kang"ara and Josiah Gitari, animal nutritionists at KARI, concludes that Opuntia species — the prickly pear or paddle cacti — have extreme tolerance to drought and ...
By SciDev.Net
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Weather extremes slash cereal yields
Climate change may have already begun to take its toll of agriculture. New research suggests that drought and extreme heat in the last 50 years have reduced cereal production by up to 10%. And, for once, developed nations may have sustained greater losses than developing nations. Researchers have been warning for years that global warming as a consequence of rising levels of carbon dioxide in ...
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Uganda`s tea trade threatened by rising temperatures
Some of Uganda's most lucrative tea plantations could be "wiped off the map" under the 2.3 degree Celsius temperature rise predicted for 2050, a study has said. Even with the expected one degree Celsius rise by 2020, the 60,000 small farmers who grow Uganda's high-quality tea could face a 30 to 48 per cent decline in output, scientists at the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical ...
By SciDev.Net
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Assessing stressed crops from the sky
In Peru, the International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, uses drones to aerially assess crop performance under different stresses, such as pests, diseases, drought and frost — all of them widespread phenomena in the Andes, one area where CIP works. Having tested this technique, CIP submitted it to the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Now they work together on using drones to assist in ...
By SciDev.Net
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Better grazing practices hold key to Kenyan droughts
The current drought in northern Kenya has deep roots in the current practices of pastoralists that need to be addressed, says conservationist David Western. Failed rains have tipped the balance from poverty to starvation for 12 million in the Horn of Africa. But they don't explain the depth of the tragedy, any more than the growing threat of climate change explains the recent decades of ...
By SciDev.Net
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Water plan rolls on say MPs
Calls for a pause to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan may be growing around the region, but the Federal Government won’t be joining the chorus. That was the clear message delivered by Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud and Federal Member for Murray Damian Drum during a visit to the Goulburn Valley in March. Speaking to a drought summit at Valley Pack in Mooroopna, Mr Drum said ...
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Fast-Growing Plants Adapt Quickly to Climate Change
IRVINE, California (ENS) - Plants with short life cycles can adapt in just a few years to climate change, University of California-Irvine, UCI, scientists have discovered. This finding suggests that plants that grow rapidly such as weeds may cope better with global warming than slower-growing plants such as redwood trees. 'Some species evolve fast enough to keep up with environmental change,' ...
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Free webinar: Managing nutrients after the drought
Join a panel of experts as they discuss how to practice good nutrient management in the wake of this year's drought Sponsored by the Agricultural Nutrient Policy Council and hosted by the American Society of Agronomy The drought of 2012 will long be remembered for its devastating effects on crops across a huge swath of North America's most productive soils. And while late summer rains eased ...
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Zambia in a good position to take full advantage of its agricultural assets in the future
“It is an over-worn cliché to say that Zambia will one day become the ‘bread basket’ of the region but there is no doubt that, despite of current challenges, the future of Zambia’s farmers, both small and large scale, as suppliers of food products to the region and as drivers of Zambian economic growth is very positive.” This is according to Rob Munro, ...
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How to stop the sand in the Inner Niger Delta
Sobé and other villages in the Mali Inner Niger Delta are threatened by the desert's sand. Communities are forced to rebuild their homes every two years to avoid burial by sand dunes, which are moving as a result of degradation of the Savannah. The sand is also blowing into Debo Lake, a major resource for fresh water, fish and other wetlands products for the communities surrounding the ...
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Maize seedlings predict drought Tolerance
Scientists have developed a new method for measuring drought tolerance in maize. By comparing the shoot-to-root ratio in seedlings stressed by low water, scientists can predict whether a plant has the right mix of genes for adapting to drought conditions. The ideal drought-resistant maize should have a higher ratio of root surface area compared to leaves and stems. Developing enough adult plants ...
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Micro-insurance scheme pays off for Kenyan farmers
Some of the farmers who lost their crops in the Horn of Africa drought this year may be able to afford farming next season, with the help of a 'micro-insurance' scheme. Kilimo Salama — Swahili for 'safe farming' — was launched last year, providing small-scale farmers in Kenya with crop insurance by combining mobile phone payment with the data from automated weather stations. Farmers ...
By SciDev.Net
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Reduced humidity seriously restricts leaf growth of beech trees
Beech trees are extremely sensitive to drought and are known to be one of the European tree species most at risk from climate change. New research found a dramatic reduction in the leaf growth of young beech trees growing in Central European forests when air conditions were dry, even where there was sufficient moisture in the soil. While previous experiments have shown the damaging effect of ...
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