Feature Channels: Agriculture

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Important topic covered during Sustainable Agronomy Conference

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Herbivorous insects are a threat to gardeners’ hard work, and are increasingly resistant to pesticides. Today, scientists report they have bottled the “smell of fear” from predators to repel destructive insects without the need for harsh substances. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2021.

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For those with backyard poultry, like chickens or ducks, a Texas A&M AgriLife expert encourages taking precautions against salmonella exposure as cases spike across the U.S.

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In Journal for Renewable and Sustainable Energy, researchers share their work on the physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of wood vinegar and tar fraction in bio-oil produced from hazelnut shells pyrolysis at 400 degrees Celsius to 1,000 C. The researchers found the wood vinegar and tar left over after burning the shells contained the most phenolic substances, which laid a foundation for the subsequent research on antioxidant properties.

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The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced a $12.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish the New Roots for Restoration Biology Integration Institute (NRR-BII).

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Recently published research by Burlington Industries Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management Aleda Roth introduces and compares two types of food chains – Conventional Food Supply Chains (CFSC) and Regenerative, Organic Food Value Chains (ROFVC).

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Harvesting wild mushrooms requires an expert eye, making products containing wild fungi expensive. Due to minimal food regulations, it’s nearly impossible to know what species are actually contained within. Sequencing revealed food products labeled with wild mushrooms mostly contained cultivated fungi and some mushrooms poisonous to humans.

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A new scoring method to identify the risk of forced labor in fruits and vegetables sold in the U.S. has been developed by researchers. Limited, scattered data serve as a call to action to build the evidence base and address accompanying equity issues.

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Increasing genetic diversity protects against total crop failure

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Expert Q&A: Do breakthrough cases mean we will soon need COVID boosters? The extremely contagious Delta variant continues to spread, prompting mask mandates, proof of vaccination, and other measures. Media invited to ask the experts about these and related topics.

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Researchers test new, inexpensive device to provide critical information

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A new study has found that United States would face intensifying nitrogen and phosphorus pollution and increasing irrigation water usage in agricultural production as a result of persistent US-China trade tension, such as China’s retaliatory tariffs on US agriculture.

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Duckweed, a tiny freshwater floating plant, is an excellent laboratory model for scientists to discover new strategies for growing hardier and more sustainable crops in an age of climate change and global population boom, a Rutgers-led study finds.

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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi benefit crops in many ways

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Solutions to help pollinators can be tested using a “virtual safe space” tool created by scientists at the University of Exeter in collaboration with farmers and land managers.

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A new Cornell University-led study describes a significant step toward improving photosynthesis and increasing yields by putting elements from cyanobacteria into crop plants.

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Getting a full understanding of how genes are regulated is a major goal of scientists worldwide. Now, a Florida State University professor and his research partners have developed a technique that can map out nearly all of the likely regulatory switches across a genome.

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New technology, using robotics and AI, is supercharging efforts to protect grape crops and will soon be available to researchers nationwide working on a wide array of plant and animal research.

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Important contribution to the ongoing climate policy discussion

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The cabbage butterfly, voracious as a caterpillar, is every gardener’s menace. Turns out, these lovely white or sulfur yellow butterflies started trying to take over the planet millions of years before humans ever set foot on it.