Agricuture News - June 2009 Archives

New crops needed for new climate (6/30/2009)

Plants grown under high CO2 and drought conditions show an increase in toxic compounds, a decrease in protein content and a decrease in yield. Dr. Ros Gleadow will present her findings at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29, where she will discuss these results and the consequent requirement for new cultivars in order to sustain food production in a future environment. ...> Full Article

Trees and farms working together: Agroforestry comes of age (6/27/2009)

From water and air quality issues to diversifying farm operations, agroforestry has the potential to help farms and the environment, according to a new book published by the American Society of Agronomy ...> Full Article

Researcher looks at the future of agriculture (6/26/2009)

Wallace Huffman, professor in agricultural economics and Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University, presented research to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris last month, and is very optimistic about the future. ...> Full Article

Plant communication: Sagebrush engage in self-recognition and warn of danger (6/24/2009)

Sagebrush engaged in self-recognition and communicate danger to their "clones" or genetically identical cuttings planted nearby, UC Davis research shows. ...> Full Article

Midget plant gets makeover (6/23/2009)

A tiny plant with a long name helps researchers design new crops to help meet increasing demands for food, biofuels, industrial materials and new medicines. The genes, proteins, and other traits of this plant reside in the Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) database. TAIR just released a new version of the genome sequence, which includes an array of improvements and novel features that promise to accelerate this critical research. ...> Full Article

New study finds that sharing genetic resources key to adaptation to climate change in Africa (6/19/2009)

As rapidly rising temperatures in Africa threaten to scorch local varieties of maize and other food staples, the food security of many Africans will depend on farmers in one country gaining access to climatically suitable varieties now being cultivated in other African nations, and beyond, according to a peer-reviewed study published in Global Environmental Change. ...> Full Article

Protecting the food crops of the future (6/18/2009)

Biologists in Leeds, UK, are investigating how to control when plants flower -- to help farmers reap a bumper harvest. ...> Full Article

Abrupt global warming could shift monsoon patterns, hurt agriculture (6/15/2009)

At times in the distant past, an abrupt change in climate has been associated with a shift of seasonal monsoons to the south, a new study concludes, causing more rain to fall over the oceans than in the Earth's tropical regions, and leading to a dramatic drop in global vegetation growth. ...> Full Article

Researchers describe 'implausible' chemistry that produces herbicidal compound (6/14/2009)

A soil microbe that uses chemical warfare to fight off competitors employs an unusual chemical pathway in the manufacture of its arsenal, researchers report, making use of an enzyme that can do what no other enzyme is known to do: break a nonactivated carbon-carbon bond in a single step. ...> Full Article

Protein that triggers plant cell division revealed by researchers (6/13/2009)

Stanford biologists have found a plant protein that appears to play a key role in asymmetric cell division. The presence of the protein, called BASL, is vital to such division. In plant cells where it was absent, the cells did not divide. "This is crucial information if we really want to understand plants' unique ways of making the different types of cells in their bodies," said Dominique Bergmann, an assistant professor of biology. ...> Full Article

Milk goes 'green': Today's dairy farms use less land, feed and water (6/12/2009)

Dairy genetics, nutrition, herd management and improved animal welfare over the past 60 years have resulted in a modern milk production system that has a smaller carbon footprint than mid-20th century farming practices, says a Cornell University study in the Journal of Animal Science. ...> Full Article

Is this the beginning of the end of plant breeding? (6/11/2009)

Clonal reproduction of crop species took a step closer to being realized with new research published in PLoS Biology this week. The advantage of clonal reproduction is that it produces an individual exactly like an existing one -- very useful for farmers who could replicate the best of their animals or crops without the lottery of sexual reproduction. ...> Full Article

Improving livestock productivity in Honduras (6/5/2009)

Honduras is poised to bring a set of integrated laboratory-based services for the benefit of cattle farmers, as an IAEA-supported project to improve livestock productivity moves into its third phase. ...> Full Article

Ethanol production could jeopardize soil productivity (6/3/2009)

Crop residues are viewed as a low cost and readily available source for ethanol production, but are we jeopardizing the long-term productivity of prairie soils? ...> Full Article

Is cherry juice a new 'sports drink?' (6/1/2009)

New research suggests natural anti-inflammatory power of tart cherries may help relieve post-exercise muscle pain ...> Full Article