Three years ago, biotechnologists demonstrated in field trials that they could increase the productivity of maize by introducing a rice gene into the plant that regulated the accumulation of sucrose in kernels and led to ...
Biotechnology
Feb 7, 2018
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The western corn rootworm continues to be on the rise in Europe. Why attempts to biologically target this crop pest by applying entomopathogenic nematodes have failed, can now be explained by the amazing defense strategy ...
Ecology
Nov 27, 2017
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3
The US Corn Belt and European maize owe their existence to a historic change: the ability of this plant, originally from the tropics, to flower early enough to avoid winter. Research led by Cornell University in New York ...
Biotechnology
Aug 4, 2017
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An international team of researchers has used mathematical modelling to understand new ways of combating maize lethal necrosis, an emerging disease that poses a serious threat to food security in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ecology
Jun 20, 2017
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176
The phrase "a double-edged sword" describes something that is beneficial in some ways but problematic in others. One example is removing maize stover (the husks, stems and leaves of corn plants) from fields. Maize stover ...
Environment
Apr 26, 2017
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12
Variations in Latin American and Caribbean maize populations may be linked to anthropological events such as migration and agriculture, according to a study published April 12, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by ...
Biotechnology
Apr 12, 2017
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5
Peeling back the maize plant's leaves reveals a small brown caterpillar—an armyworm that writhes as it burrows into the heart of the crop, producing a sticky dark paste.
Environment
Feb 15, 2017
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16
Under the scorching Zimbabwean sun, cattle seek shade among stunted thorn bushes in the drought-prone district of Zaka, where crops wither due to increasing temperatures and changing weather patterns.
Environment
Nov 10, 2016
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10
With the onset of climate change and changes in irrigation, adapting food crops to grow in diverse environments could help feed the world. Now University of California, Davis, scientists are leading a major new project, funded ...
Biotechnology
Sep 15, 2016
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58
In East Africa, the caterpillars of two butterflies, Busseola fusca and Chilo partellus , represent a major threat for maize, the main food crop in the region. As recently borne out by the work of IRD researchers and their ...
Ecology
Jul 29, 2016
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