An international team of researchers conducting a long-term study has found that climate-friendly farming practices could lead to higher crop yields, reduced costs and improved local ecosystems. In their paper, the group describes 30 long-running farming experiments designed to improve farming practices in Europe and Africa.
Although about 20% of Illinois cropping systems are planted to continuous corn, it’s nearly impossible to find fields planted this way for decades at a time. Yet long-term experiments, including over 40 years of continuous corn under different nitrogen fertilizer rates, provide incredible learning opportunities and soil management lessons for researchers and farmers alike.
Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is a devastating insect, which is known for its polyphagous nature. That is, its ability to feed on various kinds of food sources. This insect can migrate up to 100 km in a single night and therefore, it becomes a devastating pest in many countries that demands proper management. Recent research has develped a new and innovative technique of managing the larvae on maize plants.
An international team of researchers, has successfully unravelled the genomes of 418 unique samples of rapeseed from across the globe to identify traits that breeders can use to improve crop yield.
Hybrid agricultural and horticultural crops can play an important role in supporting global food security. They produce higher yields and are often more resistant than non-hybrid varieties to diseases and climate stress. But for many crops, no hybrid varieties are available. Why is that?
Recent research opens up the prospect of breeding for aphid resistance by crossing cultivated and wild potatoes.
Flowering time in chickpeas’ wild relatives is influenced by one to three major genes, according to new research.
Witchweed is considered by the United Nations to be a major impediment to poverty alleviation in Africa. The parasite attacks major cereal crops such as maize, sorghum, millet, sweetcorn and rice, latching on to their roots and draining the host of moisture and nutrients. Witchweed can lead to significant crop losses and can sometimes wipe out entire harvests. Damage to agriculture in Africa caused by the plant is estimated at approximately US$9 billion a year, with infestations affecting the lives of over 100 million people in 25 countries.
A team of researchers affiliated with a large number of institutions in China and one in Germany has found that turning off a certain gene in corn and rice can lead to improvements in crop yields. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes mapping the genomes of both plants as a way to search for genes associated with grain yield using CRISPR gene editing to improve yields in test crops.
The exclusion of women in the digital world is hurting agricultural productivity in low- and middle- income countries, according to global technology experts.
