Month: March 2019

Salinity stress is considered one of the most important abiotic factors that limits the productivity of crop plants, and the estimated global cost due to salinity is more than $12 billion annually. This is due to the extensive use of irrigation and high rates of evapotranspiration, which result in increased salt accumulation in the soil.… Continue reading Not all carrot germplasm is the same — in terms of salinity tolerance

Scientists from The University of Western Australia have discovered two enzymes that explain the sensitivity of wheat plants to salty soils. The findings could lead to advances that strengthen crops against salinity, an issue costing WA farmers more than $500 million a year. Published in the journal New Phytologist the research from the UWA School of Molecular… Continue reading Discovery to help wheat cope with salty soils

Wild oats are a kind of grass weed and one of the greatest enemies of certain grains such as barley, rye and wheat. Wild oats compete with these crops by taking their water, light and nutrients and their density can double in just a year, causing production losses reaching up to 40%. The AGR124 research… Continue reading The growth of a wheat weed can be predicted to reduce the use of herbicides

Rumors that China would make a significant corn purchase finally panned out last Friday when the USDA announced an export sale of 300,000 metric tons to Chinese buyers. Chinese corn imports from the U.S. have dropped sharply over the past five years and a purchase this size during the trade war is a very good… Continue reading China makes significant purchase of US corn

An insect that can infest and damage hundreds of hectares of maize fields, literally overnight, is sweeping across Asia – alarming smallholder farmers and threatening livelihoods – but the damage can be limited, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported. Fall Armyworm is native to the Americas. However, since 2016 it has been aggressively… Continue reading Asia prepares for crop battle with Fall Armyworm

The findings could lead to new ways of preventing disease in crops – of great potential benefit to farmers. Led by the University of Sheffield (UK), the research team identified, for the first time, specific locations (loci) within a plant’s chromosomes that impart disease resistance to their offspring by undergoing a reversible biochemical modification known… Continue reading Breakthrough in fighting plant disease

The agriculture ministry has unveiled a plan to promote the spread of drones for agriculture to cope with the aging of farmers and shortages of successors of farms in the country. In the plan announced Monday, the ministry set a goal to introduce agricultural drones for more than half of the land area planted with… Continue reading Japan seeks to harness drones for agriculture

The Spanish citrus industry has demanded immediate steps to prevent the spread of an insect known to carry huanglongbing (HLB), a disease it claims could have “almost apocalyptic” impacts on the sector. Spain’s Citrus Management Committee (CGC) forecasts if HLB – also known as citrus greening – were to hit the industry, it could lead… Continue reading Spanish growers ring alarm bells over citrus huanglongbing

The U.S. organic industry continues to grow, with sales of organic food reaching $45 billion in 2017 and the number of organic farms estimated at over 14,200, an 11% increase in one year. Organic carrots increasingly make up a larger share of overall carrot production – 14% of the estimated 100,000 acres of carrots grown… Continue reading Organic carrot breeding delivers novel varieties, cutting-edge research

In the 22nd year of commercialization of GM crops in 2017, 24 countries grew 189.8 million hectares of GM crops – an increase of 4.7 million hectares (11.6 million acres) from 185.1 million hectares in 2016. Except for the 2015 adoption, this forms the 21st series of increases every single year. In 2018, there were… Continue reading 2018 Overview of Global GMO Development