Feature Channels: Agriculture

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Innovation needed to meet 21st century challenges

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) today announced the winners of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) Think-and-Do Challenge.

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Researchers at the University of Minnesota have engineered a new synthetic biopathway that can more efficiently and cost-effectively turn agricultural waste, like corn stover and orange peels, into a variety of useful products ranging from spandex to chicken feed.

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Florida hives are on the rise. According to statistics with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, as of Feb. 1, Florida has 3,957 registered beekeepers and more than 500,000 hives. That is a substantial increase from 10 years ago, when Florida reached an all-time low of only about 150,000 hives and just 650 registered beekeepers.

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Study analyzes 40 years of science against 4 areas of sustainability.

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Cotton's genetic history is full of surprises. From transoceanic travels to inter-species cross-breedings, cotton’s story is one of plant and seed survival, adaptation, and human cultivation. What started as a naturally tough, unspinnable fiber has been transformed into something most folks adore for its soft, comforting feel.

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A new University of Washington study looked at potential risks associated with growing vegetables in urban gardens and determined that the benefits of locally produced vegetables in cities outweigh any risks from gardening in contaminated soils.

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Researchers at NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute have discovered that super-hot chile peppers, those with more than one million Scoville Heat Units, are built differently than other peppers.

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UA mushroom experts are teaching a workshop on how to raise mushrooms — a highly lucrative crop.

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The future of many UK farming businesses looks uncertain, according to a new report on the agricultural implications of leaving the EU written by a University of Warwick academic.

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The "Green Industry" has recovered from the recession. It includes sod, flowers, bedding plants, tropical foliage, trees and shrubs, among other types of plants as well as many businesses that provide services such as landscape design, installation and maintenance, plus firms -- such as lawn and garden stores -- for wholesale and retail distribution of horticultural products

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UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher Ron Cherry and his team discovered that shallow flooding of rice fields can help reduce rice water weevil populations during Florida’s growing season, between April and September. Previous studies of the effect of flood depth on the pest have been inconsistent.

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UF/IFAS researchers say the main implication of their finding is that producers and retailers could take steps to improve consumer awareness of the promotional program, which in turn, would help to increase sales.

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Andean beans (for example, red kidney beans) were overlooked by researchers because other beans were easier to breed. However, researchers took notice of the Andean bean. They recognized its potential to play a role in feeding the world.

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The old proverbial saying, “Give a Man a Fish and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man to Fish and You Feed Him for a Lifetime,” aptly describes the newly-formed partnership between FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and Aquaculture without Frontiers. They will work jointly to support and promote responsible and sustainable aquaculture farming to help enhance food security and alleviate poverty and malnutrition in developing and impoverished countries.

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While abundant rainfall helped peanut farmers in New Mexico through the growing season, it became too much of a good thing during the fall harvest as rains persisted. Peanut expert Naveen Puppala outlines the challenges and economic impact of the peanut crop.

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A new analysis of ice-core climate data, archeological evidence and ancient pollen samples strongly suggests that agriculture by humans 7,000 years ago likely slowed a natural cooling process of the global climate, playing a role in the relatively warmer climate we experience today.

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This rare orchid is unique for several reasons. First, it resembles a ghost when its white flower moves at night; hence, it is known as the Ghost Orchid. It is also leafless, and its roots attach to the bark of the host tree. About 2,000 ghost orchids remain in Florida, all the more reason to step up efforts to stabilize the current populations. Ghost orchids became more famous through a popular book, “Orchid Thief,” about a man arrested for stealing them from trees in a forest in Collier County, near the Everglades.

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More than 100 industry executives, association leaders, elected local and state policy makers, private and public sector economists, and other allied professionals are expected to attend

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The inductees are Joe Joyce, Tom Braddock, Chip Hinton and Billy Kempfer

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Scientists now want to know how a real – meaning, imperfect – 10-day weather forecast will affect farmers’ decisions on when to plant and fertilize. They may apply their new findings on a fresh study that would predict crop yield based on 10-day forecasts in the United States.

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Saskatoon, Canada will play host to the 2019 International Wheat Congress, where scientists will discuss advances in research and the future of wheat in helping avert a global food security crisis.

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Changes in how land is used are inevitable. Those that work the land are making decisions about what rangeland to make into cropland--and vice versa. When it comes to these land use changes, the smartest decisions are driven by data. To assist, researchers have developed a "measurement approach...above dispute" for gathering land use data.

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Their work will concentrate on culturing - or growing - the greening bacterium in the laboratory in order to be able to conduct experiments on it.

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New insights into how phosphorus leaches into groundwater could help reduce its potential impact on water and the environment, a UF/IFAS scientist says. In a newly published study in the Vadoze Zone Journal, Gurpal Toor examined phosphorus that percolated into soils in Maryland and Delaware.

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The University of Florida Gator Collegiate Cattlewomen took second place in the recent College Aggies Online scholarship competition that recognizes outstanding use of social media and community involvement to promote agriculture.

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Research will focus on enhancing nitrogen use efficiency.

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Discerning consumers are turning to Old World grains like spelt, emmer, and einkorn. However, reviving ancient grains in modern times isn't without its challenges. Researchers hope to learn more about how to best grow these grains on modern farms, and how to best use them in modern baking.

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PLANT CAMP offers a unique, behind-the-scenes look at invasive plant management through hands-on activities that will keep participants moving from start to finish each day.

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University of Saskatchewan researchers have released a draft lentil genome assembly that will help develop new understanding and commercial applications of this ancient crop.

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An international consortium of scientists has announced it has been able to crack the code for understanding the order of about 90 per cent of the highly complex genome of bread wheat, the most widely grown cereal in the world.

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Researchers suspect that the cost is nearly an order of magnitude higher, and their next project will document that more precisely. Nationwide, feral swine damage and control costs more than $1.5 billion annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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As delegates from 195 nations meet in Paris to debate mankind’s response to global climate change, scientists from the University of Kansas and Rothamsted Research in England today issue a study of a major crop pest that underlines how “climate is changing in more ways than just warming.”

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In the course of three months, Kansas State University researchers were able to develop and test a new vaccine that protects chickens and other poultry from multiple strains of avian influenza found in the U.S., including H5N1, H5N2 and H5N8.

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The first national study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they’re disappearing in many of the country’s most-important farmlands.

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Drought and extreme heat events slashed cereal harvests in recent decades by 9% to 10% on average in affected countries – and the impact of these weather disasters was greatest in the developed nations of North America, Europe and Australasia, according to a new study.

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UF Citrus Research and Education Center scientists are developing genetically engineered limes containing anthocyanin, which are beneficial bioflavonoids that have numerous roles in human well-being, including treating obesity and diabetes.

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Typically, organic growers plant pulse crops solely for their nitrogen-fixing ability and use them as green manure. The research compared this green manure technique to a traditional program of growing the beans to maturity for harvest and sale. This research has multiple benefits: saving money on the cost of fertilizer, and reducing the chances that excess nitrogen fertilizer will run off into nearby water bodies.

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The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) announced today the production of a whole genome assembly of bread wheat, the most widely grown cereal in the world, significantly accelerating global research into crop improvement. The new data will help speed up the delivery of a high quality reference sequence of the bread wheat genome.

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Phytosanitary treatment maintains fruit quality for long-distance transportation, distribution, storage.

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Have you dined on Arapaima? South Americans eat the fish regularly, and University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are studying whether it could be a viable food fish in the United States. “It has lots of high-quality meat,” said Jeffrey Hill, a UF/IFAS associate professor of fisheries and aquatic sciences. “It’s an easy fish to sell. It’s a really good food fish.”

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A National University of Singapore study identified the rapid expansion of rice agriculture in Myanmar, as well as sustained conversion of mangroves to oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, as increasing and under-recognised threats to mangrove ecosystems in Southeast Asia. This is the first study to systematically quantify the conversion of mangroves to different land use types in the region and identify the key drivers of mangrove deforestation over the last decade.

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Potting soils not “soils at all” explains soil scientist

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New study offers recommendations for creating landscapes with year-round visual appeal.

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The SWFREC houses plant diagnostic labs, which analyze and diagnose diseases such as citrus greening, citrus canker, black spot on tomatoes and peppers, and watermelon vine decline. The agricultural economics team offers a Farm Labor Supervisor Training Program. SWFREC faculty also facilitate the Citrus Health Management Areas program, a coordinated pesticide program to help stave off citrus greening.

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Creating effective bioretention systems requires understanding, and being able to design, a living system. This has been one of the issues preventing more communities from installing these green systems.The researchers evaluated soil mixtures for their ability to rapidly filter water, filter contaminants, and support plant growth.

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This resulted in the commercial release of a new UF/IFAS grapefruit cultivar N2-28 ‘Summer Gold Grapefruit’ that can be harvested into August.

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The first national study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they're disappearing in many of the country's most important farmlands. If losses of these crucial pollinators continue, the new nationwide assessment indicates that, over time, the problem could destabilize the nation's crop production.

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Based on an annual survey of shrimp industry leaders, global farmed shrimp production fell 14 percent from 2011 to 2013, caused mainly by the devastating disease known as early mortality syndrome. The disease, caused by bacteria, was first reported in Asia in 2009, and has resulted in high mortalities in the shrimp-farming industry, especially in Thailand, China, Malaysia and Vietnam. But shrimp is bouncing back, with production expected to return to 2011 levels this year.