Feature Channels: Agriculture

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Trained Cornell Cooperative Extension agents teamed with New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets personnel across the state to offer free and confidential on-farm readiness reviews to insure that farmers can meet new produce safety standards.

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Alfred Ozimati is breeding the latest in disease-resistant cassava that meets the needs of subsistence farmers, thanks to the NextGen Cassava project run by Cornell University.

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The Danforth Center today announced that Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and founder of Impossible Foods will give the keynote address on Tuesday, May 5 at the inaugural AgTech NEXT, the bold new food and agtech innovation summit to be held May 4 - 6 at the Danforth Center.

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Soil gets more than just “cover” from cover crops.

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A USDA fellowship that took Dillon Nelson, an Oglala Lakota College senior, out of his comfort zone has led him to pursue a doctoral degree in bioinformatics.

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Researchers from Cornell and Pennsylvania State Universities are developing a high-tech, portable imaging system that will increase profits and yields by making winter grapevine pruning more efficient.

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New research from the National University of Singapore showed that between 1996 and 2016, substantial mangrove forests have been converted to agricultural use in Myanmar.

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A new study shows irrigation of cattle feed crops is the greatest consumer of river water in the Western United States, implicating beef and dairy consumption as the leading driver of water shortages and fish imperilment in the region.

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New York University biologists captured highly transient interactions between transcription factors—proteins that control gene expression—and target genes in the genome and showed that these typically missed interactions have important practical implications. In a new study published in Nature Communications, the researchers developed a method to capture transient interactions of NLP7, a master transcription factor involved in nitrogen use in plants, revealing that the majority of a plant’s response to nitrogen is controlled by these short-lived regulatory interactions.

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Protecting the permafrost after a record fire season

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Four of the largest potato producers in Australia want to convert 100% of their potato waste into commercial benefit.

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Enhanced spreading, improved efficiency and reduced environmental impact will be the focus of continuing fertiliser research under a new five-year partnership agreement between the University of Adelaide and US-based fertiliser producer The Mosaic Company.

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The ever-increasing price of fertilizers and environmental concerns about nutrient runoff make development of a rugged continuous electronic monitoring device to detect soil fertility a possible boon to agriculture in the United States and the United Kingdom (UK).

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Scientists have developed a computed tomography (CT) scanning method for screening large samples of wheat for drought and heat tolerance. They believe the new system will allow more accurate and much more rapid analysis of wheat heads, speeding up the process of breeding for plants better adapted to climate change

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Study investigates plant behavior when exposed to higher carbon dioxide levels.

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A natural experiment created by an active volcano gives new insight into the long-term negative impacts of human colonisation of tropical forest islands. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal, Journal of Ecology.

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Aphea.Bio has joined the International Phytobiomes Alliance as a sponsoring partner, both organizations announce today

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The UK Vegetable Genebank (UKVGB) at the University of Warwick is to make their second and largest deposit at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Arctic Norway on the 25th February

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Every action counts – no food is impact-free.

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Researchers have decoded the genetic map for how maize from tropical environments can be adapted to the temperate U.S. summer growing season. They’re attempting to expand the genetic base by using exotic varieties, which could help counter stresses associated with growing corn in a changing climate.

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Advanced leaf-out, or early sprouting and opening leaves, is a direct response to climate change.

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Technology lends a hand during tedious seed counting process

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Unique soils provide many beneficial values to society.

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Cornell University researchers analyzed farmer preferences and found that the softness of cooked cassava is a major influence on what kinds of varieties farmers actually adopt.

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A Cornell University researcher has developed a new, flavorful and highly productive cherry tomato – that ripens green. The new variety, dubbed Jaded, was created by Phillip Griffiths, associate professor of horticulture at Cornell Agritech, who bred it from four heirloom tomato varieties.

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Global warming will making farming possible in regions important for biodiversity and carbon storage

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New findings suggest soils exposed to salt release more greenhouse gas

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Some of the antibiotics we use end up in sewage sludge, together with a variety of antibiotic resistant bacteria present in feces.

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The Woodroofs developed methods still used today to grow, harvest and store crops. Also pioneers in their own right, they faced Depression-era economic difficulties, and later traveled to underdeveloped countries around the world to teach others how to process and preserve food.

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Engaging civil society and policy makers is essential for the future and mutual well-being both of people and insects.

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Genetic engineering makes cotton seeds safe for human consumption

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Currently, re-growing forests comprise roughly 21% of previously deforested areas in the Brazilian Amazon. However, these forests, referred to as secondary vegetation, have been little studied, despite occupying a total area similar to that of the United Kingdom.

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Scientists from the University of La Serena, Newcastle University, UK, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile surveyed ranchers to find out what they thought were the drivers of conflict between people and guanacos (a wild camelid species closely related to the Llama).

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Five years ago, onion growers in New York state started reporting large incidents of premature leaf death in their fields. It affected nearly 75% of growers’ crops and put a dent in the state’s onion industry, which has a four-year average value of $44.7 million, based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Researchers identified the culprit as Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB), a relatively new and increasingly devastating disease. In a recent study, researchers at Cornell AgriTech have identified better ways to manage SLB and use fungicide more effectively.

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Using an innovative genome sequencing technology, researchers assembled the complete genetic blueprint of two basmati rice varieties, including one that is drought-tolerant and resistant to bacterial disease. The findings, published in Genome Biology, also show that basmati rice is a hybrid of two other rice groups.

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Study shows improvement of soils and streams in the southern Appalachians

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The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced the preliminary lineup of presentations and panel discussions by innovative thinkers for AgTech NEXT, the bold new food and agtech innovation summit will be held May 4 – 6, 2020 at the Danforth Center in St. Louis, MO.

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New research from the University of Notre Dame is shedding light on the unexpected effects climate change could have on regional instability and violent conflict.

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Wildfires significantly impact the health of economies in the western United States that are highly dependent on tourism, agriculture, and timber. David Blunck, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Defense to spearhead a $2.1 million study examining the burning behavior of live fuels in order to better predict and manage wildfires.

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Agricultural advances are primary culprit of the lost prairie

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Over the past few decades, Iowa’s agriculture has experienced a period of consistently high yields. The perfect distribution and timing of humidity, rainfall and heat have led to bumper crops of corn and soybeans. This “Goldilocks” period is partly due to global warming, but experts believe farmers shouldn’t expect it to last. In Physics Today, scientists Eugene Takle and William Gutowski describe the challenges farmers could expect to see to maintaining high yields if global warming continues along predicted trends.

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Soil scientists from Cornell and Rice Universities have dug around and found that although adding carbon organic matter to agricultural fields is usually advantageous, it may muddle the beneficial underground communication between legume plants and microorganisms.

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For the first time in more than 50 years, a joint team of Cuban and U.S. field scientists studied the water quality of twenty-five Cuban rivers and found little damage after centuries of sugarcane production. They also found nutrient pollution in Cuba’s rivers much lower than the Mississippi River. Cuba’s shift to conservation agriculture after the collapse of the Soviet Union—and reduced use of fertilizers on cropland—may be a primary cause.

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As the hemp industry grows, producers face the risk of cultivating a crop that can become unusable – and illegal – if it develops too much of the psychoactive chemical THC. Cornell University researchers have determined that a hemp plant’s propensity to ‘go hot’ – become too high in THC – is determined by genetics, not as a stress response to growing conditions, contrary to popular belief.

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The Southwest Harvest for Health pilot study pairs cancer survivors with local master gardeners who have been trained in gardening techniques that address New Mexico’s growing challenges. The pair will create a vegetable garden at the survivor’s home .

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Nearly everyone on Earth is familiar with corn. Literally. Around the world, each person eats an average of 70 pounds of the grain each year, with even more grown for animal feed and biofuel.

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It sizzles on the grill. But does it fizzle in terms of nutrition? That’s the question when it comes to the new burgers made of plant-based meat substitutes that are flying off grocery store shelves and restaurant tables.