These pests use bacteria to keep plants clueless
What looks like a caterpillar chewing on a leaf or a beetle consuming fruit is likely a three-way battle that benefits most, if not all of the players involved, research shows. “Plants are subject to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Transgenic corn keeps toxic fungus under control
Scientists have developed a new way to prevent the loss of millions of tons of crops to a fungus each year. The work could improve food security, especially in developing countries. Researchers used...
View ArticleWandering pesticides end up in ‘beebread’
Lingering, wandering pesticides can put honey bees—which pollinate crops in the growing season—in danger, according to a new study of their own food. Researchers placed 120 pristine honey bee colonies...
View ArticleCancer-causing toxin turns up in sunflower seeds
Sunflower seeds and products made from them are often contaminated with a toxin produced by molds, report researchers. This poses an increased health risk in many low-income countries worldwide. In a...
View ArticleThis tool could let companies make greener choices
Researchers have devised a more accurate way to predict and measure the impact products have on the environment. Using a process called life-cycle assessment, companies often test the environmental...
View ArticleHybrid plants could reverse pest resistance to GMOs
Mixing genetically engineered cotton with conventional cotton to create hybrid plants reduces—or even reverses—resistance in the pink bollworm, a new study shows. The research is of particular...
View ArticleClimate change is likely bad news for wheat
Climate change will likely cause wheat and barley yields to decline by 17 to 33 percent by the end of the century, according to a new statistical model. The study, based on 65 years of weather records...
View ArticleCertain crops prompt more insecticide use
Landscape characteristics including crop diversity or field size have less effect on the amount of insecticide used than the kind of crop, a new study shows. Over the past half century, food production...
View ArticleMore and more pests are defeating biotech crops
Pest resistance to genetically engineered crops increased by more than fivefold in the past decade, yet some pests remain suppressed. Now scientists are discovering why they adapted quickly in some...
View ArticleHumans pushed crops toward domestication earlier than we thought
Ancient people may have altered the evolution of crops around 30,000 years ago, about 10,000 years before experts previously thought, new research suggests. “This study changes the nature of the debate...
View ArticleWheat genome comes together like jigsaw puzzle
Researchers have sequenced the genome of the species of wheat most commonly grown for making bread, Triticum aestivum. “After many years of trying, we’ve finally been able to produce a high-quality...
View ArticleThese genes could save soybeans from sudden death
Researchers have found a gene in the plant Arabidopsis that could protect soybeans from diseases, like sudden death syndrome, that plague the plant. “We think we may find that multiple genes working...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Drone view discovers ancient Silk Road irrigation system
Using satellite imaging and drone reconnaissance, archaeologists have discovered an ancient irrigation system that once allowed a farming community in arid northwestern China—one of the world’s driest...
View Article‘Agroforestry’ may be new weapon in climate change fight
Agroforestry could play an important role in mitigating climate change because it sequesters more atmospheric carbon in plant parts and soil than conventional farming, report researchers. An...
View ArticleThis tool could let companies make greener choices
Researchers have devised a more accurate way to predict and measure the impact products have on the environment. Using a process called life-cycle assessment, companies often test the environmental...
View ArticleHybrid plants could reverse pest resistance to GMOs
Mixing genetically engineered cotton with conventional cotton to create hybrid plants reduces—or even reverses—resistance in the pink bollworm, a new study shows. The research is of particular...
View ArticleClimate change is likely bad news for wheat
Climate change will likely cause wheat and barley yields to decline by 17 to 33 percent by the end of the century, according to a new statistical model. The study, based on 65 years of weather records...
View ArticleCertain crops prompt more insecticide use
Landscape characteristics including crop diversity or field size have less effect on the amount of insecticide used than the kind of crop, a new study shows. Over the past half century, food production...
View ArticleMore and more pests are defeating biotech crops
Pest resistance to genetically engineered crops increased by more than fivefold in the past decade, yet some pests remain suppressed. Now scientists are discovering why they adapted quickly in some...
View ArticleHumans pushed crops toward domestication earlier than we thought
Ancient people may have altered the evolution of crops around 30,000 years ago, about 10,000 years before experts previously thought, new research suggests. “This study changes the nature of the debate...
View Article