Month: June 2019

USDA has confirmed the presence of Monsanto’s MON 71800 variety in the genetically modified volunteer wheat plants recently discovered in Eastern Washington. MON 71800 is known by the trade name Roundup Ready wheat. It was previously found in an Oregon wheat field in 2013. According to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the… Continue reading USDA/APHIS identifies type of GMO wheat

Stem rust, which occurs mainly in warm and humid conditions, is a serious biotic threat to wheat that can destroy healthy plants just a few weeks before harvest, resulting in huge yield losses to farmers. Along with leaf rust and stripe rust, it is the among the world’s most threatening wheat fungal diseases, dreaded by… Continue reading CIMMYT global partnership fights mutating wheat rust

Understanding the steps in metabolic pathways is important for understanding health and disease, whether in people or plants. But figuring out these biochemical pathways is difficult and time consuming. So why not have a machine do it?   Scientists at UC Davis and Ben-Gurion University in Israel have applied machine learning (artificial intelligence) techniques to… Continue reading Using machine learning to predict metabolic pathways in tomatoes

Recent rains have slowed the harvest of soybeans and corn in Argentina as well as the planting of the winter wheat crop. According to the Grain Exchange of Buenos Aires, the 2018/19 soybean crop is 99.1% harvested with 150,000 hectares left to harvest in southern Buenos Aires province and in northern Chaco province. In the… Continue reading Rains slows corn harvest and winter wheat planting in Argentina

Wheat plants with fewer pores on their leaves make more efficient use of water Study grew crops in climate breakdown conditions with more CO2 and less water Findings could help farmers facing more frequent droughts and increased demand for staple foods from a growing population  Wheat plants engineered to have fewer microscopic pores – called… Continue reading University of Sheffield scientists develop climate-ready wheat that can survive drought conditions

Scientists of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) have invented three new high-yielding varieties of paddy, in addition to the existing 94 Aman and Boro varieties. The three varieties—BRRI Dhan-90 and BRRI Dhan-91 of Aman varieties and BRRI Dhan-92—will reach farmers from the next monsoon with high hopes of producing additional crops, according to sources… Continue reading Bangladesh Rice Research Institute releases three new high-yielding varieties of paddy

On World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, FAO’s head stresses need to use both “simple solutions” and hi-tech tools to prevent a drought from turning into famine. Unlocking the potential of agricultural innovations, be it simple solutions or satellite-based technologies, will help prevent a drought from turning into famine and forced displacement and to… Continue reading Unlocking the potential of agricultural innovation to improve farmers’ resilience to drought

In a paper published in Environmental Research Letters, Kyle Davis from Data Science Institute of Columbia University found that in India, the yields from grains such as millet, sorghum, and maize are more resilient to extreme weather; their yields vary significantly less due to year-to-year changes in climate and generally experience smaller declines during droughts.… Continue reading Columbia University researcher studies how climate change affects crops in India

Research suggests that microbes in the soil, roots and leaves have important impacts on plant health and productivity. Now, new interdisciplinary research at North Carolina State University and three Danish universities will examine the roles of plant-associated microbes and their interactions with plants. The goal is to help make crops more resilient against environmental stresses… Continue reading New interdisciplinary research focuses on crop resilience

China has been expanding the amount of land used to grow soybeans and diversifying its source of imports to reduce reliance on imports from the US  – its second-largest supplier – amid a yearlong trade war between the world’s two largest economies. In Northeast China, the soybean planting season is nearing an end. In Heilongjiang… Continue reading Northeast China expands soybean cultivation, reduces reliance on US imports