There is no shortage of interest or appetite for guacamole. When you consider the endless variety of recipes for dishes and dips that you can dig into, coupled with an annual designation of September 16 as National Guacamole Day, you might consider chanting “Viva la Guac.”
Societies celebrate the discovery of this important element in 1669
Researchers at Kansas State University's Olathe campus are testing Kansas growers' hemp samples for delta-9 THC and CBD levels.
Producers already use the software for many purposes. For example, many citrus growers want to take inventory of their trees, including the size of each tree. Gathering this data normally requires farmers to manually count trees and measure them. The software streamlines that process. They can also use the software to see which parts of their fields – or which fruit varieties -- perform better.
Machine learning could lead to automated processes that would allow soybean producers to diagnose crop stresses more efficiently. A multi-disciplinary team at Iowa State University recently received a grant to develop the technology, which could lead to unmanned aerial vehicles surveying fields and automatically analyzing crop images.
A new study published in nature Sustainability proposes alternative hunger eradication strategies that will not compromise environmental protection.
The crop has many uses as plant-based food and fiber
With support from the National Science Foundation, a team of researchers is developing a “citizen science” soil research project in Troy, New York and Tierra Amarilla, Chile that engages residents in greater understanding of contaminants in their midst and strategies for protecting public health.
Ember Morrissey, assistant professor of environmental microbiology in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, uncovered that nature significantly affects how the tiny organisms under our feet respond to their current surroundings.
Millions of dollars are spent fortifying dams to withstand earthquakes — but it may not be necessary. New research being conducted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is examining whether or not that spending actually contributes to public safety.
Danforth Center Principal Investigator, Andrea Eveland, Ph.D., will lead a multi-institutional project under to deepen the understanding of sorghum, a versatile bioenergy crop, and its response to drought.
A collaboration between scientists at the Danforth Center and Washington University in St. Louis have developed a four-year research project that garnered $3 million in support from the National Science Foundation to study how plants react to increased levels of CO2 over generations.
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Danforth Center Principal Investigator James Umen, Ph.D., to lead a multi-institutional collaboration that will predict functions for hundreds of uncharacterized plant genes that could be important to stress tolerance in a range of potential bioenergy crops.
Over-fertilization of agricultural fields is a huge environmental problem. Researchers from Boyce Thompson Institute uncovered the function of two genes that could help farmers improve crop uptake of phosphate fertilizer, potentially reducing the environmental harm associated with fertilization.
Iowans may notice combines harvesting corn deep into November due to the late start to planting last spring, according to Iowa State University agronomists. Much of the Iowa corn crop remains weeks behind schedule, and farmers will be paying close attention to temperature as their crop nears maturity and dries down.
A new map synthesized from more than 250 archaeologists worldwide, including from the University of Washington, argues that the human imprint on our planet's soil goes back much earlier than the nuclear age.
A newly published series of dates of grape harvest covering the past 664 years is the latest line of evidence confirming how unusual the climate of the past 30 years has been.
Temperate grasslands are the most endangered but least protected ecosystems on Earth. Grassland restorations are crucial for recovering this important but highly degraded ecosystem.
Better simulating soil’s processes helps better predict climate and land use effects
If the United States and Russia waged an all-out nuclear war, much of the land in the Northern Hemisphere would be below freezing in the summertime, with the growing season slashed by nearly 90 percent in some areas, according to a Rutgers-led study. Indeed, death by famine would threaten nearly all of the Earth’s 7.7 billion people, said co-author Alan Robock, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
A new species of gigantic tumbleweed once predicted to go extinct is not only here to stay -- it's likely to expand its territory.
Saliva from a tick’s bite can transmit pathogens that cause serious illnesses, such as Lyme disease, and significant agricultural losses.
In addition to their role in plant fertilization and reproduction, pollens and spores have another, hidden talent: With a simple treatment, these cheap, abundant and renewable grains can be converted into tiny sponge-like particles that can grab on to pollutants and remove them from water, scientists report.
Identifying and characterizing the proteins in the flexible skeletal structure in the trunk of a squid’s body can help scientists construct tissue scaffolds for repairing or replacing damaged cartilage, bones and ligaments.
In less than five years, Myanmar coffee went from a low-grade commodity to a high-value specialty sold for premium prices globally. Through training in farming, expertise and training itself — as well as attention to both the supply and demand sides of a market — Value Chains for Rural Development helped farmers and others across the value chain.
A new report from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business explores best practices and new technologies that hold promise for decarbonizing global agriculture.
With every unfinished meal since Band Aid, you've heard it: "people are starving in Africa, y'know". True, the UN estimates that rich countries throw away nearly as much food as the entire net production of sub-Saharan Africa - about 230 million tonnes per year.
Imagine getting an entire health workup just by having your picture taken—no invasive poking or prodding, not even a pinprick blood test. That’s a goal ecologists have for monitoring the health of plants. Their cameras would be high-resolution sensors mounted on drones or satellites, capable of capturing much more than what’s visible to the naked eye.
As many as eight species of a common soil fungus can cause root rot in South Dakota cornfields. Identifying the pathogens will help researchers test seed treatments and breeders develop resistant varieties.
Iowa State University researchers are trying to grow muskmelons of the perfect size. Smaller muskmelons that retain desirable flavor characteristics could result in less waste.
Study assembles canola root’s dose-response curves for nitrogen sources
In their quest for a tastier tomato, University of Florida scientists are finding traits they believe will tempt consumers with flavor that triggers their senses even more. They’re making significant progress on improving the UF-developed Tasti-Lee™ tomato – and it will feature improved flavor and aroma.
University of Florida scientists received a USDA-NIFA grant to research treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacteria in cattle. The researchers hope the newly developed antimicrobials could also hold possibilities for treating antibiotic-resistant bacteria in humans.
New research from the University of Warwick has pioneered an economic perspective on controlling livestock diseases. Focusing on Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), bovine TB (bTB) and bluetongue virus (BTV), the researchers draw striking conclusions about the role of movement bans in controlling an outbreak.
Climate change is threatening the world’s food supply and the risk of supply disruptions is expected to grow as temperatures rise, according to a new United Nations report co-authored by Rutgers human ecology professor Pamela McElwee. So, how would we feed everyone if the Earth’s population hits 9.7 billion in 2050 as projected? Duckweed, the world’s fastest-growing plant, which has more protein than soybeans and is a traditional food source for people living in parts of Southeast Asia, could be one of the key solutions, according to Eric Lam, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Biology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
Researchers have uncovered an unusual protein activity in rice that can be exploited to give crops an edge in the evolutionary arms race against rice blast disease, a major threat to rice production around the world.
Gathering soil samples is a challenge, but findings are important to seafood industry and more
By moving beyond the surface level and literally digging deep, scientists at the University of California, Davis, found that compost is a key to storing carbon in semi-arid cropland soils, a strategy for offsetting CO2 emissions.
Soil bedding increases microbial and termite decomposition activity
“Beauty and stress relief are probably the two most meaningful benefits trees bring to highways,” said Andrew Koeser, an assistant professor of environmental horticulture with the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
One quarter of the world's tropical land could disappear by the end of the century unless meat and dairy consumption falls, researchers have warned.
Xylella fastidiosa, subsp. pauca is a bacterial pathogen currently devastating the olive orchards in Southern Italy (Apulia). Due to the epidemic, local production of olive oil has dropped by 90%, olive mills are shut down, the regional economy is suffering, and an invaluable cultural asset is compromised.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Delaware (UD) have begun a two-year joint initiative to promote collaborative research in new areas of complementary strength and strategic importance.
For researchers with The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, the work to identify new flu strains and increase the effectiveness of the flu vaccine begins in an unlikely place – pig barns at state and county fairs nationwide.
A collaborative, multisector team, led by the University of Michigan's Water Center at the Graham Sustainability Institute and the School for Environment and Sustainability, has been awarded a five-year, $20 million cooperative agreement to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in overseeing research at a nationwide network of 29 coastal reserves.
Indiana University experts on sustainable agricultural and food production are available to comment on a special U.N.-commissioned report on land and climate. A summary of the report, released today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warns that the large amount of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from agricultural practices focused on meat and dairy production are a significant contributor to global warming.
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