Agricuture News - March 2009 Archives

Researchers examine use of native southern African plants in veterinary medicine (3/31/2009)

When animals in southern Africa are sick, often the first place their caretakers look for help is from native plants. That's what makes understanding and conserving these plants so important. ...> Full Article

Study explores effects of herbicide drift on white oak (3/30/2009)

'Leaf tatters' linked to herbicides ...> Full Article

Alternatives to pine bark and peatmoss identified for commercial, home gardens (3/29/2009)

Landscape annuals can flourish in ground pine tree, pine bark substrates ...> Full Article

Keeping golf courses green when fresh water is limited (3/28/2009)

Researchers indicate 'reuse water' effective in golf course maintenance ...> Full Article

New wheat disease could spread faster than expected (3/27/2009)

Both plant and human diseases that can travel with the wind have the potential to spread far more rapidly than has been understood, according to a new study, in findings that pose serious concerns not only for some human diseases but also a new fungus that threatens global wheat production. ...> Full Article

Ice storms devastating to pecan orchards (3/27/2009)

Study shows economic impact of storm damage, recovery efforts ...> Full Article

Wild bees can be effective pollinators (3/26/2009)

3-year study finds possible alternatives to honey bees ...> Full Article

Small investments to battle soybean pest paying off big, says researcher (3/25/2009)

The small amount of money put toward fighting the tiny, yet destructive soybean aphid will pay big dividends in the coming years, said a Michigan State University economist, thanks to a research and outreach system developed during the last 50 years. ...> Full Article

New 'green' pesticides are first to exploit plant defenses in battle of the fungi (3/24/2009)

Exploiting a little-known punch/counterpunch strategy in the ongoing battle between disease-causing fungi and crop plants, scientists in Canada are reporting development of a new class of "green" fungicides that could provide a safer, more environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional fungicides. Their study is scheduled for presentation in March at the 237th National meeting of the American Chemical Society. ...> Full Article

Wild grass became maize crop more than 8,700 years ago (3/24/2009)

Probably domesticated in the Mexican tropical forest ...> Full Article

'Delicious' new grape debuts (3/21/2009)

New muscadine grape for fresh fruit, wine markets ...> Full Article

Flies may spread drug-resistant bacteria from poultry operations (3/20/2009)

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found evidence that houseflies collected near broiler poultry operations may contribute to the dispersion of drug-resistant bacteria and thus increase the potential for human exposure to drug-resistant bacteria. The findings demonstrate another potential link between industrial food animal production and exposures to antibiotic resistant pathogens. ...> Full Article

Historical increase in corn yield - it's in the roots (3/19/2009)

A new study published in Crop Science details the importance of the changing root structure of corn crops in the historical yield increases in the US Corn Belt ...> Full Article

No consistent advantage for planting soybean early (3/18/2009)

While there may be no particular advantage for planting soybean early, there was a clear disadvantage for planting late ...> Full Article

Researchers developing clean, renewable energy for ethanol industry (3/17/2009)

Researchers from Iowa State University, Frontline BioEnergy and Hawkeye Energy Holdings are using a $2.37 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund to develop new burner and catalyst technologies. The technologies will use gas made from biomass to efficiently produce ethanol and provide clean, renewable power for heating and drying equipment. ...> Full Article

Researchers identify a process that regulates seed germination (3/15/2009)

Purdue University researchers have determined a process that regulates activity of genes that control seed germination and seedling development. Mike Hasegawa and Kenji Miura discovered the step involved in keeping seeds from germinating in adverse conditions such as freezing temperatures or drought, a factor in the survival of plant species. ...> Full Article

Researchers work to make wood a new energy source (3/14/2009)

Is wood the new coal? Researchers at North Carolina State University think so, and they are part of a team working to turn woodchips into a substitute for coal by using a process called torrefaction that is greener, cleaner and more efficient than traditional coal burning. ...> Full Article

Greatest thing since sliced bread: New data offer important clues toward improving wheat yields (3/13/2009)

New article in the journal Genetics shows that gene expression in wheat is more than just the sum of its parts ...> Full Article

Scientists gather to protect global food security from return of devastating wheat fungus (3/12/2009)

The sudden and unexpected re-emergence of a fungus that could cripple wheat production in Africa, Asia and, eventually, Europe and the Americas, has prompted wheat experts from around the world, led by Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, to gather March 17-20 in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, to map out a strategy for averting agricultural disaster for a crop that provides food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people. ...> Full Article

How increased UV exposure impacts plants (3/11/2009)

Studying the effects of ultraviolet radiation on bryophytes can help scientists understand its impacts on crops, ecological systems and humans ...> Full Article

Lobster traps going high tech (3/10/2009)

New England lobstermen have gone high tech by adding low-cost instruments to their lobster pots that record bottom temperature and provide data that could help ocean circulation modelers better understand processes in the Gulf of Maine, such as how lobster larvae and other planktonic animals and plants, including those that cause harmful algal blooms, drift and settle. This information may also help determine how ocean currents disperse pollutants, invasive species, and food for whales in portions of the Gulf of Maine. ...> Full Article

Summer burning may be option for pasture maintenance (3/9/2009)

The greater duration of heat in a summer-prescribed burn provides more effective management of encroaching woody or cactus species on rangeland, a Texas AgriLife Research scientist said. Controlling encroachments of prickly pear, mesquite, juniper and other rangeland plants that compete with grass can be pretty expensive without the use of fire in controlled burn situations, said Dr. Jim Ansley, AgriLife Research range management expert. ...> Full Article

Evidence of earliest known domestic horses found in Kazakhstan (3/8/2009)

The use of horses for milk and food offers clues to the animals' social significance ...> Full Article

Prawnography shows captive bred prawns lack lust (3/8/2009)

A Queensland University of Technology researcher has filmed hours of prawn "sex tapes" to find out why prawns bred in captivity did not go on to breed well. ...> Full Article

Danger lurks underground for oak seedlings (3/7/2009)

Scientists trying to understand why oaks are starting to disappear from North American forests may need to look just below the surface to find some answers. Purdue University researcher Robert Swihart found that pine voles, small rodents that live underground, prefer oak roots to those of other commonly growing seedlings. ...> Full Article

Inactivity of proteins behind longer shelf life when freezing (3/7/2009)

Frozen biological material, for example food, can be kept for a long time without perishing. A study by researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, is close to providing answers as to why. ...> Full Article

Doubling a gene in corn results in giant biomass (3/6/2009)

University of Illinois plant geneticist Stephen Moose has developed a corn plant with enormous potential for biomass, literally. It yields corn that would make good silage, Moose said, due to a greater number of leaves and larger stalk, which could also make it a good energy crop. ...> Full Article

200,000 rice mutants available worldwide for scientific investigation (3/6/2009)

Researchers have estimated the number of different rice mutants needed to have a mutant for every gene as somewhere between 180,698 and 460,000. Two hundred thousand rice mutants are now available and have been mapped. ...> Full Article

2008 Oregon and Washington lumber exports increase (3/5/2009)

A total of 293.0 million board feet of softwood lumber was exported from Oregon and Washington in 2008. ...> Full Article

Understanding natural crop defenses (3/4/2009)

Ever since insects developed a taste for vegetation, plants have faced the same dilemma: use limited resources to out-compete their neighbors for light to grow, or, invest directly in defense against hungry insects. Now, an international team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and IFEVA has discovered how plants weigh the tradeoffs and redirect their energies accordingly. ...> Full Article

Antioxidants in Midwestern black raspberries influenced by production site (3/4/2009)

Study finds nutritional level in fruit depends on growing location ...> Full Article

Research drip irrigation project yields promising results (3/4/2009)

More water doesn't necessarily mean more cotton ...> Full Article

Georgia goes bananas (3/3/2009)

Best ornamental bananas identified for nursery production in southern Georgia ...> Full Article

Global seed vault marks 1-year anniversary with 4-ton shipment of critical food crops (3/3/2009)

With new evidence warning climate change threatens food production, scientists gather in Svalbard to discuss crop diversity and the vault's role in averting agricultural disaster ...> Full Article

Color test enhances tomato analyzer software (3/3/2009)

Along with texture, size, and flavor, color plays an important role in the business of horticultural crop production and marketing. Researchers from Ohio State University's Agricultural Research and Development Center describe the use of a new tool they implemented in the Tomato Analyzer (TA) software called Color Test (CT). This tool allows scanning devices to be calibrated using color standards. ...> Full Article

Biodegradable mulch films on the horizon (3/2/2009)

Eco-friendly alternatives to plastic mulch films prove effective in tomato production ...> Full Article

This grass is still greener (3/2/2009)

Bentgrass putting greens damaged during winter months recover by summer ...> Full Article

US shiitake market mushrooming (3/2/2009)

Mushroom growers report increased consumer demand ...> Full Article

'Biological control of tropical weeds using arthropods' (3/1/2009)

University of Guam research scientist Dr. Gadi V. P. Reddy has spent much of his career finding environmentally safe methods to control invasive plants. A chemical ecologist and entomologist, Dr. Reddy is the coeditor and coauthor of the book Biological Control of Tropical Weeds using Arthropods, which is to be published by the Cambridge University Press and available to the public in March 2009. ...> Full Article

Analysis of fresh strawberries reveals consumer preferences (3/1/2009)

Sensory, chemical analysis links harvest dates, sweetness to consumer favorites ...> Full Article