Month: June 2018

In the greenhouse, the genetically modified rice enriched sufficient quantities of iron and zinc in the grains. (Image: Navreet Bhullar / ETH Zurich) A team of researchers led by Navreet Bhullar from the Institute of Molecular Plant Biology at ETH Zurich has genetically modified one of the most commonly grown varieties of rice. The advantage… Continue reading New GM rice from ETH makes micronutrients transportation more efficiently

The study, led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), is the first systematically to examine the extent to which projected changes such as increases in temperature and reduced water availability could affect the production and nutritional quality of common crops such as tomatoes, leafy vegetables and pulses. If no action is… Continue reading Predicted environmental changes could significantly reduce global production of vegetables

Nigerian Farmers have asked the Federal Government to put in place measure that would check the proliferation of adulterated seeds across the Country. Speaking on behalf of the group at a media dialogue which held in Abuja, the National Vice President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Daniel Okafor, said, a majority of the… Continue reading Nigerian farmers want substandard seed dealers punished

Based on the research of Paula Bustos, Bruno Caprettini, Jacopo Ponticelli and Gabriel Garber As Brazil grew richer in the 2000s, its agricultural workers left their farms in droves and headed to work in the rapidly growing industrial sector. But what exactly was happening? Did new economic opportunities lure workers off farms or did changes… Continue reading How a genetically modified soybean helped modernize an economy

A team of researchers, led by a University of California, Davis, plant scientist, has identified a lettuce gene and related enzyme that put the brakes on germination during hot weather — a discovery that could lead to lettuces that can sprout year-round, even at high temperatures. The study also included researchers from Arcadia Biosciences and… Continue reading Gene discovery may yield lettuce that will sprout in hot weather

Rice fields prior to harvesting. (Photo is illustrative) Melissa Flickr Chinese scientists have successfully grown and harvested rice in the deserts of Dubai, achieving a top yield of 500 kilogrammes per mu, or 666 square metres. The team is from China’s Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, based in Shandong Province, and headed… Continue reading Chinese scientists successfully grow rice in Dubai desert

A new study by academics at the University of Hertfordshire, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, has shown that combining different types of crop resistance increases their efficiency at controlling a major plant pathogen which causes phoma stem canker on oilseed rape. Phoma stem canker causes losses to UK farmers of more than £95m… Continue reading Crop resistance works better together

Plant scientists at Iowa State University have completed a new study that describes the genetic pathways at work when corn plants respond to stress brought on by heat, a step that could lead to crops better capable of withstanding stress. The findings, published as a “large-scale biology” paper in the academic journal The Plant Cell,… Continue reading Plant scientists use big data to map stress responses in corn

Plants such as soybeans and wheat waste between 20 and 50 percent of their energy recycling toxic chemicals created when the enzyme Rubisco—the most prevalent enzyme in the world—grabs oxygen molecules instead of carbon dioxide molecules. Increasing production of a common, naturally occurring protein in plant leaves could boost the yields of major food crops… Continue reading Scientists boost crop production by 47 percent by speeding up photorespiration