News tagged with agriculture

Related topics: food security

Report suggests biomass energy won't harm food production

(PhysOrg.com) -- Biomass could cover 20% of the global energy supply without harming production of food, a new report released in the United Kingdom says. Reviewing over 90 international studies, the report was produced by ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 02, 2011 | popularity 1.7 / 5 (3) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Honey bee mystery protein is a freight train for health and lifespan

Why are bee colonies worldwide suffering mysterious deaths? A unique study describes a single bee protein that can promote bee health and solve a major economic challenge.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 29, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

UN warns 25 pct of world land highly degraded

(AP) -- The United Nations has completed the first-ever global assessment of the state of the planet's land resources, finding in a report Monday that a quarter of all land is highly degraded and warning the trend must be ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 28, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Blossom end rot: Transport protein identified

Poor calcium distribution in agricultural crops causes substantial loss of income every year. Now a Korean-Swiss research team under the co-leadership of plant physiologists at the University of Zurich identified ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

The globe-trotting turkey: Genetic research promises to improve upon a multi-continent breeding effort

The great majority of today's domesticated turkeys may not be able to fly, but their ancestors sure got around. The quintessential New World bird, Meleagris gallopavo, was already an Old World favorite by ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New projection shows global food demand doubling by 2050

Global food demand could double by 2050, according to a new projection by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology in the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences, and colleagues, including ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 21, 2011 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (5) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Researchers moving closer to a soluble solution to Haber-Bocsh process

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Haber-Bosch process, known throughout the world as the means by which ammonia is made for use in fertilizer, has been under study for at least as long as the agricultural revolution has ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 11, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 4 | with audio podcast report

Study shows how parasites manipulate plants to attract insects

Pathogens can alter their hosts, for example malaria parasites can make humans more attractive to mosquitoes, but how they do it has remained a mystery. Scientists from the John Innes Centre on Norwich Research ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 07, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genomics of wood for biofuels production investigated

A team of Virginia Tech researchers is working to characterize the genes involved in wood formation in poplar trees with the goal of improving the quality and quantity of wood as a feedstock for biofuels production.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 07, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Excess heavy metals in 10% of China's land: report

About 10 percent of China's farmland contains excessive levels of heavy metals due to contaminated water and poisonous waste seeping into the soil, state media said Monday, citing a government survey.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 07, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

First renewable energy exchange opens in Amsterdam

Dutch-Belgian energy market provider APX-Endex launched a "biomass exchange" Thursday specialising in trading wood pellets as a source of renewable energy, a venture it said was a world first.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2

Biologists identify light-regulated mechanism in cyanobacteria as aid to optimizing photosynthesis

(PhysOrg.com) -- Indiana University biologists have uncovered how a control system works in producing the important light-harvesting antennae that power photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, the microorganisms ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 4

A new species of a tiny freshwater snail collected from a mountainous spring in Greece

A new minute freshwater snail species belonging to the genus Daphniola was found by a researcher from University of Athens (Canella Radea) in a spring covered by snow on Mt. Parnassos, central Greece. This study was publis ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 01, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New rice varieties offer benefits to growers

New rice varieties that offer new options for U.S. growers and expanded market opportunities for the U.S. rice industry have been developed by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and cooperators.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 31, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Stalemate over organic farming slows progress in effort to combat food insecurity in Central Africa

The polarized debate over the use of organic and inorganic practices to boost farm yields is slowing action and widespread farmer adoption of approaches that could radically transform Africa's food security situation, according ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 28, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0