Category: Industry News

Rice fields prior to harvesting. (Photo is illustrative) Melissa Flickr Chinese scientists have successfully grown and harvested rice in the deserts of Dubai, achieving a top yield of 500 kilogrammes per mu, or 666 square metres. The team is from China’s Qingdao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center, based in Shandong Province, and headed… Continue reading Chinese scientists successfully grow rice in Dubai desert

A new study by academics at the University of Hertfordshire, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, has shown that combining different types of crop resistance increases their efficiency at controlling a major plant pathogen which causes phoma stem canker on oilseed rape. Phoma stem canker causes losses to UK farmers of more than £95m… Continue reading Crop resistance works better together

Plant scientists at Iowa State University have completed a new study that describes the genetic pathways at work when corn plants respond to stress brought on by heat, a step that could lead to crops better capable of withstanding stress. The findings, published as a “large-scale biology” paper in the academic journal The Plant Cell,… Continue reading Plant scientists use big data to map stress responses in corn

Plants such as soybeans and wheat waste between 20 and 50 percent of their energy recycling toxic chemicals created when the enzyme Rubisco—the most prevalent enzyme in the world—grabs oxygen molecules instead of carbon dioxide molecules. Increasing production of a common, naturally occurring protein in plant leaves could boost the yields of major food crops… Continue reading Scientists boost crop production by 47 percent by speeding up photorespiration

Few of us would recognize a sorghum field in bloom and fewer still would be able to distinguish a corn seedling from a sorghum seedling. Yet, this old-world crop is slowly transforming our bioenergy economy. Sorghum is a member of the grass family and a close relative of maize. It traces its origins to Africa,… Continue reading Sorghum-based biofuels key to sustainable bioenergy economy

Farmers are curious people, and they are relentless in their conservation of natural resources and pursuit of improvement. Crop protection is one area in particular where they are always looking to learn how to be more effective, more precise, and more efficient. Customized crop protection The precision of modern crop protection applies to both planning… Continue reading Chemical, biological, digital technology integrated crop protection solution

Keywords:rice GR2E Golden Rice, a provitamin-A biofortified rice variety, completed its third positive food safety evaluation, this time from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). In an official response received by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on 24 May (EST), the US FDA concurred with IRRI’s assessment regarding the safety and… Continue reading Golden Rice meets food safety standards in three global leading regulatory agencies

Keywords: tomato Controlled greenhouse environments and hours of testing have made growing this brand-new tomato variety in the UK possible A brand new type of tomato has been created in British soil to mirror the qualities of its sweet Mediterranean counterparts. The Goutini, to be made available in Asda stores this summer, has been created… Continue reading Growers create new tomato type following four-year trial

Keywords: GM crop The United States is seeking better access for imports of genetically modified crops into China as part of a trade deal currently under discussion between the two sides, said two people familiar with the matter. Genetically modified corn are seen cultivated at a greenhouse in Syngenta Biotech Center in Beijing, China, February… Continue reading U.S. wants China to approve more biotech crops under trade deal

Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide are associated with reductions in protein and multiple key nutrients in rice, according to a new field study by an international team of scientists. The study, published May 23 in Science Advances, showed for the first time that rice grown at concentrations of atmospheric CO2 expected by the end of… Continue reading Increasing CO2 levels reduce rice’s nutritional value