Agricuture News - August 2009 Archives

Scientists identify gene for resistance to parasitic 'witchweed' (8/31/2009)

Scientists at the University of Virginia have identified a gene in cowpea (black-eyed pea) that confers resistance to attack from witchweed, a parasitic plant. This discovery will help researchers better understand how some plants can resist Striga, while others, such as corn and sorghum, are susceptible. ...> Full Article

Reject watermelons - the newest renewable energy source (8/30/2009)

Watermelon juice can be a valuable source of biofuel. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open-access journal, Biotechnology for Biofuels, have shown that the juice of reject watermelons can be efficiently fermented into ethanol. ...> Full Article

New tools for sustainable farming (8/29/2009)

Scientists have developed new indicators and models to analyze, assess and optimize the sustainability of agricultural enterprises -- with the aim of improving their environmental balance without compromising operating efficiency or social performance. A software application integrating multiple model components has been field tested at 80 farms across Germany. Making the multi-faceted concept of sustainability quantifiable could benefit farmers, food manufacturers, and consumers alike. ...> Full Article

US crop yields could wilt in heat (8/28/2009)

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Genomic study yields plausible cause of colony collapse disorder (8/27/2009)

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New genomic research to tackle supply and demand issues in emerging forestry biofuels industry (8/26/2009)

In order to reduce the Province's greenhouse gas emissions, the BC Bioenergy Strategy is calling for greatly increased production of renewable biofuels such as ethanol, from biomass grown in BC. ...> Full Article

New study: Farmers protecting and growing significant amount of world's trees (8/25/2009)

Scientists use detailed satellite images to reveal the vital role of trees on 1 billion hectares of agricultural lands in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe ...> Full Article

Innovative spout will increase maple production up to 90 percent (8/23/2009)

An innovative spout for maple syrup tapping developed by researchers at the University of Vermont will increase sap production by 50 to 90 percent per tree. The spout blocks bacterial backflow into the tree's tap hole, a pervasive phenomenon. Bacterial backflow stimulates the tree's wound response system and closes off the tap hole, ending sap flow. The new spout, which has over 1 million advance orders, will also mitigate the impact of global warming on the maple sugaring season. ...> Full Article

Cape tulips - pretty but pests in pastures (8/22/2009)

CSIRO and the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia are collaborating to try to outwit one of southern Australia's worst agricultural weeds. ...> Full Article

Breeding their horns off - a winner (8/21/2009)

A team of scientists led by CSIRO's Dr. Kishore Prayaga has been awarded a prestigious Australian Museum Eureka Prize for its work to develop a simple genetic test which has the potential to end the need to dehorn cattle in Australia. ...> Full Article

Lab gives researchers the tools to study porcine circovirus associated diseases (8/20/2009)

Porcine circovirus associated diseases cost pig producers around the world hundreds of millions of dollars each year. That's why K-State virologists Dick Hesse and Bob Rowland have been working to create new vaccines to tackle such complex diseases. Hesse and Rowland say that because these viruses continue to adapt, the quick development of effective countermeasures like vaccines is critical, as is having the facilities in which to test the vaccine in a timely fashion. ...> Full Article

Study finds higher pathogen loads in collapsed honeybee colonies (8/19/2009)

Honeybees in colonies affected by colony collapse disorder (CCD) have higher levels of pathogens and are co-infected with a greater number of pathogens than their non-CCD counterparts, but no individual pathogen can be singled out as the cause of CCD, according to a study by an international team of researchers. ...> Full Article

Stressed crops emit more methane than thought (8/18/2009)

Scientists at the University of Calgary have found that methane emission by plants could be a bigger problem in global warming than previously thought. Research published in the advanced online journal Physiologia Plantarum ...> Full Article

See no weevil: researcher tracks rice bugs to help farmers, consumers (8/17/2009)

When something's bugging rice farmers, a large segment of the world's population will know. That's because a big bite of the supply is taken by hungry insects every year.One of the worst is the rice water weevil. Its gray snout has chomped through the world making a sizable dent in rice supplies.A Texas researcher is splashing through rice paddies with his net to discover news ways of controlling the rice-craving insect. ...> Full Article

Biological clocks of insects could lead to more effective pest control (8/16/2009)

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered that the circadian rhythms or biological "clocks" in some insects can make them far more susceptible to pesticides at some times of the day instead of others. ...> Full Article

Dissecting the dining habits of prawns (8/14/2009)

The secret feeding habits of farmed prawns will be investigated as a part of a new CSIRO research collaboration with an Australian company to develop aquaculture technologies that could revolutionize the prawn farming industry. ...> Full Article

Potato blight plight looks promising for food security (8/12/2009)

Over 160 years since potato blight wreaked havoc in Ireland and other northern European countries, scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council finally have the blight-causing pathogen in their sights and are working to accelerate breeding of more durable, disease resistant potato varieties. ...> Full Article

Discovering soybean plants resistant to aphids and a new aphid (8/11/2009)

This year farmers in the Midwest are growing a new variety of soybeans developed by University of Illinois researchers that has resistance to soybean aphids. However, in addition to the resistant plants, U of I researchers also discovered a new soybean aphid which is not controlled by this resistance. ...> Full Article

Mary had a lot of lambs: Researchers identify way to accelerate sheep breeding (8/10/2009)

Mary had a little lamb, but only once a year. However, Cornell Sheep Program researchers have discovered an unusual form of a gene that prompts ewes to breed out of season as well as conceive at younger ages and more frequently. ...> Full Article

Novel mechanism revealed for increasing recombinant protein yield in tobacco (8/10/2009)

Elastin-like polypeptides cause plants to store GM proteins in special "protein bodies," insulating them from normal cellular degradation processes and increasing the overall protein yield. Researchers writing in the open-access journal BMC Biology have visualized the mechanism by which the synthetic biopolymer increases the accumulation of recombinant proteins. ...> Full Article

Understanding how weeds are resistant to herbicides (8/9/2009)

In a little over seven hours, University of Illinois weed scientist Patrick Tranel got more genetic information about waterhemp than in two years time in a lab. The genetic information was obtained using pyrosequencing technology in the Keck Center at the U of I. The genetic sequence will allow scientists to study herbicide resistance in waterhemp. ...> Full Article

Geneticists release new citrus variety (8/8/2009)

Citrus researchers at UC Riverside have released a new mandarin (or tangerine) for commercial production. Named "DaisySL" for Daisy seedless, the new fruit is finely textured and juicy, with a rich, sweet and distinctive flavor when mature. Its rind is smooth and thin, and bears a deep orange color. In September 2009 UCR will release "DaisySL" for propagation by California citrus nurseries that have purchased licenses to propagate and sell the variety in the state. ...> Full Article

Agricultural research key to food security (8/7/2009)

Boosting agricultural research in the developing world is the key to ensuring food security for the world's poorest, says Adel el-Beltagy, chair of the Global Form on Agricultural Research. ...> Full Article

Scientists devise efficient way of learning about complex corn traits (8/7/2009)

There's no "silver bullet" gene or gene region that controls so-called complex traits in maize, commonly known as corn. Instead, in two research papers published this week in the journal Science, North Carolina State University crop scientists and colleagues show that lots of small changes in a number of gene regions affect complex traits -- like flowering time or reproductive ability -- in corn. ...> Full Article

Restoring a natural root signal helps to fight a major corn pest (8/6/2009)

Field trials in the US show that enhancing the attractiveness of maize roots to insect-killing nematodes can effectively fend off Western corn rootworm ...> Full Article

Big cattle - the genes that determine carcass weight (8/5/2009)

An area of chromosome 6 that affects cattle carcass weight has been identified using two different Japanese species. Knowledge of this four-gene region, described in the open access journal BMC Genetics, should be useful in breeding beef cattle. ...> Full Article

Gene developed through conventional breeding to improve cowpea aphid resistance (8/4/2009)

The cowpea or black-eyed pea, as it is more commonly known, is a New Year's tradition for good luck. But disease and particularly aphids, which can wreck a crop within a few a days, are especially bad luck for the cowpea, according to scientists. Several new lines of cowpeas with genes that are aphid-resistant and less susceptible to disease are currently being tested by researchers with Texas AgriLife Research and other Texas A&M System entities. ...> Full Article