One grain to rule them all: History of rice as a global food
Rice is the most popular food in the world, providing sustenance to more than 3.5 billion people each day.
Agriculture
Jul 28, 2026
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Page 4: Research news on Poaceae (family)
Poaceae is a large monocotyledonous plant family encompassing the true grasses, characterized by herbaceous, often culm-forming stems with hollow internodes, leaves composed of sheaths, ligules, and linear blades, and a distinctive inflorescence of spikelets bearing reduced, wind-pollinated florets. Flowers are typically subtended by glumes and lemmas, with lodicules facilitating anthesis, and produce single-seeded dry fruits (caryopses) in which the seed coat is fused to the pericarp. Poaceae exhibits C3, C4, and intermediate photosynthetic pathways, occupies diverse terrestrial habitats worldwide, and plays central roles in primary productivity, biogeochemical cycling, and the evolution of grass-dominated ecosystems.
Trimming rice genes boosts yields up to 25% and improves drought tolerance
The way to make a plant grow more may be to take something away. Trimming a section off a plant gene raised rice harvests by up to 25% in new tests by University of Chicago scientists. The plants also showed a better tolerance ...
Biotechnology
Jul 27, 2026
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Trace molecules emerge as chemical 'keystones' that steer life's communities
In nature, the rarest ingredient can be the one that holds everything together. In a new article published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Dr. Erika C. Freeman of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries ...
Ecology
Jul 26, 2026
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Soil organic carbon increases crop yield but can't help with extreme drought
In cases of extreme drought, soil organic carbon does not improve crop yields, Colorado State University research has found. The finding contradicts the commonly held belief that soil organic carbon benefits yields most during ...
Ecology
Jul 23, 2026
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112
Genome tool places large genetic sequences precisely in rice and tobacco without DNA breaks
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have developed a new way to add large pieces of genetic information to plants, overcoming a challenge that has limited plant biotechnology for decades. ...
Biotechnology
Jul 22, 2026
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Envisioning the next 150 years of crop research with the Alma Mater Plots
A couple of miles south of the main quad at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a remarkable agricultural experiment is taking shape. The so-called Alma Mater Plots are unique in their setup—with 64 plots of 1 acre ...
Agriculture
Jul 20, 2026
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Aboriginal people harvested this native grass for millennia: Scientists find an odd trait in its DNA
Seen from the air, Channel Country resembles a vibrant, vast tapestry, with a network of waterways crisscrossing the land. Spread across more than 280,000 square kilometers (108,000 square miles) in outback Australia, it ...
Ecology
Jul 17, 2026
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161
Tennessee canola acres increased in 2026
With high input costs and volatile crop markets affecting profitability, many Tennessee row crop producers are looking to diversify their farming operations in coming years. Canola, a cool-season crop, could serve as an alternative ...
Agriculture
Jul 17, 2026
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27
Glyphosate ban could cost Illinois farmers millions annually
A new analysis from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Soybean Association finds that Illinois corn and soybean farmers could lose up to $609 million per year—representing a 3.6% revenue loss—if ...
Agriculture
Jul 16, 2026
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45
Tiny gene edit cuts cadmium in rice by 48% without reducing yields
Cadmium (Cd) contamination poses a serious threat to global food safety. As a toxic and carcinogenic heavy metal, cadmium can accumulate in agricultural soils through industrialization and urbanization before entering the ...
Biotechnology
Jul 16, 2026
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