Month: August 2018

The Access to Seeds Index, 2018 has found that famers’ groups and cooperatives are an integral part of seed production in Nigeria, like other countries in Africa, and need to be formalised in order for better standards to be achieved. Access to good seeds is a nagging issue, which ranks high among factors responsible for… Continue reading Africa: Farmers’ groups, cooperatives chart new course for seed production

As first adopters in other industries have embraced the expense of trial and error to improve workflows, production efficiencies, and bottom lines with analytics, farmers are doing what all growers must do with their crops: watch, and wait. However, data-driven agriculture is taking root and the benefits for indoor growers are tremendously attractive. Increased efficiency,… Continue reading Big data and the future of agriculture

The village of Gowa in the South Sulawesi province of Indonesia has an agrarian history that dates back to the fourteenth century – an agricultural prominence it still maintains, in part due to the top-grade fertile soil in the region. In fact, the area is now serving as a centre for the introduction of new… Continue reading Mutant rice varieties help Indonesia reduce rice imports

Published in Genome Research, based on a novel method developed by Earlham Institute, UK, an international research team have uncovered the hidden genetic secrets that give wheat its remarkable ability for local adaptation – revealing a previously untapped resource for breeding better, more resilient wheat. Globally, wheat, together with maize and rice, provides the most… Continue reading Epic genetic: the hidden story of wheat

Sugar-rich mucilage, a gel-like substance, found in an indigenous corn from the Sierra Mixe region supports nitrogen fixation. (Mars, Incorporated) Corn variety growing in nitrogen-depleted fields derived 28-82 percent of nitrogen it needed from atmosphere Sugar-rich, gel-like substance on the corn’s aerial roots, called mucilage, attracts bacteria and other microbes that fix nitrogen Team from… Continue reading Study finds that indigenous Mexican variety of corn captures the nitrogen it needs from the air

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Albany, California, have found a way to streamline the process that scientists use to insert multiple genes into a crop plant, developing a reliable method that will make it easier to breed a variety of crops with vastly improved traits. The technology is expected to speed up the process… Continue reading Innovative approach to breeding could mean higher yields and better crops

Potato blight, caused by the water mould Phytophthora infestans, is the major disease of potatoes worldwide and is thus a threat to food security. New research from the Birch lab in the University of Dundee’s Division of Plant Sciences, based at the James Hutton Institute, has discovered a mechanism that could combat late blight disease… Continue reading Scientists discover new knowledge in fight against potato blight disease

Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) is one of the most important crops, providing more than half of global oilseed production and more than a quarter of the world’s protein for food and animal feed. Studies have indicated that the cultivated soybean was domesticated in China approximately 5,000 years ago and then disseminated worldwide. During the… Continue reading A new released Chinese soybean genome facilitates soybean elite cultivar improvement

Just as grass lawns regrow after they are mowed, rice fields can regrow after they are harvested. This second harvest – known as a ratoon crop – has traditionally yielded only a small fraction of the first harvest. But farmers in China are now benefitting from laboratory and field studies conducted by the Joint FAO/IAEA… Continue reading Rice fields in China double yields by “ratooning”

An international team of researchers has come up with an innovative solution to the HIV pandemic – genetically modified rice. GMO rice has already been developed to tackle malnutrition and climate change. Now scientists from the US, UK, and Spain have developed a new strain to manage HIV symptoms in countries where traditional medicines can… Continue reading Scientists develop a strain of genetically modified rice that neutralizes HIV