News tagged with crop production

U.S. Crop Yields Could Wilt in Heat

(PhysOrg.com) -- Yields of three of the most important crops produced in the United States - corn, soybeans and cotton - are predicted to fall off a cliff if temperatures rise due to climate change.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 24, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (54) | comments 5

New Breakthrough in Global Warming Plant Production

Researchers at the universities of Leicester and Oxford have made a discovery about plant growth which could potentially have an enormous impact on crop production as global warming increases.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 30, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (41) | comments 8

Agriculture's next revolution -- perennial grain -- within sight

Earth-friendly perennial grain crops, which grow with less fertilizer, herbicide, fuel, and erosion than grains planted annually, could be available in two decades, according to researchers writing in the current issue of ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 24, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (15) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

Food crops damaged by pollution crossing continents

(PhysOrg.com) -- Man-made air pollution from North America causes Europe to lose 1.2 million tonnes of wheat a year, a new study has found.

Biology / Other

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (17) | comments 21 | with audio podcast

Chinese researchers say early climate changes responsible for human crisis

(PhysOrg.com) -- David Zhang of the University of Hong Kong and several of his Chinese colleagues have published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where they say they have proven that climat ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 04, 2011 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (16) | comments 14 | with audio podcast report

New discovery could help feed millions (w/Video)

When scientist Loretta Mayer set out to alleviate diseases associated with menopause, she didn't realize her work could lead to addressing world hunger and feeding hundreds of millions of people.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created May 27, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (16) | comments 31

Climate-driven heat peaks may shrink wheat crops

More intense heat waves due to global warming could diminish wheat crop yields around the world through premature ageing, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Climate Change.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 29, 2012 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (14) | comments 22

Man-made photosynthesis to revolutionize food and energy production

Improving natural photosynthesis to make new fuels and boost crop production is the focus of new research presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting today. It could see us one ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 17, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

If GMO genes escape, how will the hybrids do?

GMOs, or Genetically Modified Organisms, may raise concerns of genes escaping from crops and having unknown effects on natural, wild species. But what is the real risk that traits associated with GMOs will actually migrate ...

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 01, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Agricultural methods of early civilizations may have altered global climate, study suggests

Massive burning of forests for agriculture thousands of years ago may have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide enough to alter global climate and usher in a warming trend that continues today, according to a new study that ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Aug 17, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (11) | comments 8

Researchers study potential effects of geoengineering on global food supply

Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and gas have been increasing over the past decades, causing the Earth to get hotter and hotter. There are concerns that a continuation of these trends could have catastrophic ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 22, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Growing Roundup-resistant weed problem must be dealt with, expert says

(PhysOrg.com) -- When Penn State weed scientist David Mortensen told members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee this summer that the government should restrict the use of herbicide-tolerant crops and impose ...

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 14, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 12

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

Modified crops reveal hidden cost of resistance

Genetically modified squash plants that are resistant to a debilitating viral disease become more vulnerable to a fatal bacterial infection, according to biologists.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Small clique of nations found to dominate global trading web of food, water

It's not easy, or economically feasible, to ship freshwater across the globe. But when scientists use food as a proxy for that water - taking into account how much crops are irrigated and livestock are fed - they can get ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 22, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 0