Month: January 2019

Why are South Africa and Sudan ahead of every other country on the continent when it comes to biotech? The answer is simple. The nations realized early on that they needed to embrace new technologies to develop faster maturing and better yielding disease-resistant and drought-tolerant crop varieties to counter a changing climate and soils rapidly… Continue reading Why South Africa and Sudan lead the continent in GMO crops

A new bioengineering approach for boosting photosynthesis in rice plants could increase grain yield by up to 27%, according to a study publishing January 10 in the journal Molecular Plant. The approach, called GOC bypass, enriches plant cells with CO2 that would otherwise be lost through a metabolic process called photorespiration. The genetically engineered plants were… Continue reading Rice plants engineered to be better at photosynthesis make more rice

Researchers from the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Plant Biology of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Superior Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) have shown that an aroma emitted by tomatoes can protect other crops from infections or drought. According to the study, which has been published in the journal “Frontiers in Plant… Continue reading A tomato aroma could protect the crops against bacteria

When it gets hot outside, humans and animals have the luxury of seeking shelter in the shade or cool, air-conditioned buildings. But plants are stuck. While not immune to changing climate, plants respond to the rising mercury in different ways. Temperature affects the distribution of plants around the planet. It also affects the flowering time,… Continue reading Scientists identify how plants sense temperature

China approved five genetically modified crops for import on Tuesday, the first in about 18 months, as representatives from the Asian country and the United States met in face-to-face talks to try to resolve trade disagreements. Five other products, whose makers are known to be seeking approval of, were not given the green light by… Continue reading China approves new GMO soybean, corn and canola traits

China customs has announced it will allow imports of U.S. rice and industry leaders are waiting for the first orders. The move is part of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Protocol signed between the United States and China from July 2017. USA Rice CEO and President Betsy Ward told Talk Business & Politics the ongoing trade… Continue reading China inches towards allowing U.S. rice sales

A unique high-yielding cereal grains project in Tasmania is expected to generate a ripple effect across Bass Strait to where mainland grain growers are following the project’s progress with interest. The Grains Research and Development Corporation’s ‘Hyper Yielding Cereals Project’, focused on bridging the gap between actual and potential grain yields, is producing results that… Continue reading Australia: Cereals project opening doors to new high yield possibilities

University of Adelaide researchers have discovered a new complex carbohydrate in barley. The first of its kind to be discovered in over 30 years, the cereal polysaccharide has potential applications in food, medicine and cosmetics. The research by the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, has been published in the American Chemistry… Continue reading New complex carbohydrate discovered in barley

The chili pepper, from an evolutionary perspective, is the tomato’s long-lost spitfire cousin. They split off from a common ancestor 19 million years ago but still share some of the same DNA. While the tomato plant went on to have a fleshy, nutrient-rich fruit yielding bountiful harvests, the more agriculturally difficult chili plant went defensive,… Continue reading Should researchers engineer a spicy tomato?

Plants convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis; however, most crops on the planet are plagued by a photosynthetic glitch, and to deal with it, evolved an energy-expensive process called photorespiration that drastically suppresses their yield potential. Today, researchers from the University of Illinois and U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service report in the journal Science that… Continue reading Scientists engineer shortcut for photosynthetic glitch, boost crop growth 40%