Month: September 2019

Nearly 10,000 farmers in Ernakulam district were severely affected by the heavy south-west monsoon, while crop losses were put at around ₹1,28 bln (€16,13 mln). According to the Department of Agriculture, nearly 3,000 hectares of farmland were affected. The crops that were damaged include banana, pineapple, ginger, turmeric, tapioca, rubber, coconut, paddy, pepper, areca nut,… Continue reading Soybean rust may appear later this year in Southern Brazil

A global team including scientists from The University of Western Australia has assembled the first genome of the field pea, which provides insight into how the legume evolved and will help aid future improvements of the crop. The study, published today in Nature Genetics, has important implications for global nutrition and the sustainability of crops, with… Continue reading First pea genome to help improve crops of the future

During the summer monsoon season this year, many regions of India saw spells of floods and droughts. In a country that predominantly depends on rain for irrigation, loss of crops due to such disruptive weather continues to be a source of distress to farmers. With about half of the country’s land under cultivation being rain-fed,… Continue reading Researchers design salt-tolerant varieties of Indian rice

BTI researchers used Brachypodium distachyon (left) and Medicago truncatula (right) to discover the roles of two genes in root colonization by symbiotic fungi. Over-fertilization of agricultural fields is a huge environmental problem. Excess phosphorus from fertilized cropland frequently finds its way into nearby rivers and lakes. A resulting boom of aquatic plant growth can cause… Continue reading Plant gene discovery could help reduce fertilizer pollution in waterways

An incredible transition occurs in plants after flowering and successful pollination that has long fascinated those working in plant biology and crop production. In most species, the developing and maturing seed would initially be killed by drying just as the mother plant would be, but later in their development the seeds of most plant species… Continue reading Secrets of the perfect seed – and its vulnerability to future climate change

It is supposed that forced by the trade war with the US, the Asian giant will redirect its purchases to the Mercosur soybean offer, and, that is probably that a minor share of the purchases is soybean meal from Argentina. But from JCI China they show skeptical about this possibility. “Great respect that the Argentina… Continue reading Argentine soybean: the better option for the Chinese feed industry, but with a limited offer

Africa continues to make steady progress in the adoption of biotech crops with Nigeria becoming the first country in the world to approve biotech cowpea, thus, adding a new biotech crop to the global biotech basket, according to ISAAA’s latest report, Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops in 2018. The Kingdom of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland)… Continue reading GM crop adoption continues to move forward in Africa