legume plant News
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Which seeds to sow for bees?
Farmers could help to maintain populations of bees and other pollinators by sowing inexpensive seed mixes on their land, a new study suggests. Researchers surveyed pollinators visiting study plots in Berkshire, UK, and explored how sowing different seed mixes and using different management techniques affected the flowers produced and the pollinators visiting them. Overall, 84% of the crop ...
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World Soil Day hails symbiotic role of pulses to boost sustainable agriculture
Soil and pulses can make major contributions to the challenge of feeding the world's growing population and combating climate change, especially when deployed together, according to Soils and Pulses: Symbiosis for Life, a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization released on World Soil Day. "Soils and pulses embody a unique symbiosis that protects the environment, enhances ...
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Nitrogen fixation helps double some African farm yields
A large-scale research and development project has shown that giving farmers resources and advice on nitrogen fixation through legume plants can double yields and boost incomes in Africa. But not all farmers are benefiting from this practice due to a lack of access to inputs, such as fertilisers says Ken Giller, the leader of the N2Africa project, as a second phase to widen access to the ...
By SciDev.Net
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Soil nitrogen increased through greater plant biodiversity
Increased plant biodiversity improves grassland soil quality by boosting its nitrogen levels, even in the absence of nitrogen-fixing plants, recent research has found. Previous research has shown that grasslands with higher biodiversity had higher levels of carbon and nitrogen. However, in the case of nitrogen it has been suggested that this was purely a result of increased numbers of ...
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Intercropping `boosts maize yields by 50 per cent`
Growing leguminous trees on maize farms — a form of agroforestry — can boost and stabilise maize yields, a 12-year study in Malawi and Zambia has found. The researchers behind the study, from the Kenya-based World Agroforestry Centre and the University of Pretoria, South Africa, say this is the first analysis of long-term crop yield trends in cereal-legume agroforestry systems in ...
By SciDev.Net
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Bringing nitrogen out to pasture
Cows in Brazil might start bellowing "leguuume" rather than "moo." That's because Jose Dubeux Jr. wants to plant more legume trees in cow pastures. Dubeux is an assistant professor of Agronomy at North Florida Research & Education Center. Growing up, Dubeux spent a lot of time on his grandparents' farm in Brazil. There he developed a passion for livestock operations and the grasslands on ...
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In organic cover crops, more seeds means fewer weeds
Farmers cultivating organic produce often use winter cover crops to add soil organic matter, improve nutrient cycling and suppress weeds. Now these producers can optimize cover crop use by refining seeding strategies, thanks to work by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist. In moderate climates, suppressing weeds in winter cover crops is important because weeds that grow throughout ...
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Fertilizer Use to Surpass 200 Million Tonnes in 2018
Global fertilizer use is likely to rise above 200.5 million tonnes in 2018, 25 percent higher than recorded in 2008. World fertilizer consumption will grow by 1.8 percent a year through 2018, according to FAO's new report "World fertilizer trends and outlook to 2018." At the same time "the global capacity of fertilizer products, intermediates and raw materials will increase further," the report ...
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