The quest for a holistic pesticide policy

Bans and simple measures alone won't solve the problems in plant protection. Robert Finger presses for a comprehensive pesticide policy.

Plants' defense against insects is a bouquet

Michigan State University scholar Andrea Glassmire and her colleagues have revealed how the mixture of chemical weapons deployed by plants keeps marauding insects off base better than a one-note defense. This insight goes ...

Antibiotic-eating bug unearthed in soil

It's well known how bacteria exposed to antibiotics for long periods will find ways to resist the drugs—by quickly pumping them out of their cells, for instance, or modifying the compounds so they're no longer toxic.

Monarch butterflies drop ominously in Mexico (Update)

The number of Monarch butterflies making it to their winter refuge in Mexico dropped 59 percent this year, falling to the lowest level since comparable record-keeping began 20 years ago, scientists reported Wednesday.

Pesticides contaminate frogs from Californian National Parks

Pesticides commonly used in California's Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions, have been found in remote frog species miles from farmland. Writing in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, ...

Researchers use 'banker plants' to help battle whitefly pests

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist is showing growers how to combat whiteflies and other crop pests by using plants as storehouses for predatory insects that can migrate to cash crops and feed on the pests ...

Drainage ditches can help clean up field runoff

Vegetated drainage ditches can help capture pesticide and nutrient loads in field runoff, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists report. These ditches—as common in the country as the fields they drain—give farmers ...

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