Crops & Food
We eat to live. Humans use approximately 11% of Earth’s land for the cultivation of crops for food, but also for clothing, medicine and biofuels. Globally, major crops include sugarcane, pumpkin, maize (corn), wheat, rice, cassava, soybeans, hay, potatoes and cotton.
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Viewpoint: Anti-technology activists claim coronavirus outbreaks could be exacerbated by intensive farming. Here’s why they are dead wrong
It is often asserted that intensive livestock systems increase the risk of zoonotic diseases, and this argument is used to ...
Climate Action Farming: What farmers need to do to adapt as our planet heats up—and why organic and ‘regenerative agriculture’ cannot meet the challenge
There are a number of practices that farmers could use to manage their land in ways that would optimally remove ...
Wine story: From Stone Age seed domestication to new age fermentation, here is the evolutionary history of wine
Over the millennia, humans have radically transformed viticulture from a happy accident to a scientifically precise art form and global ...
A single kilo of saffron is worth up to $10,000. Here’s the genetic history of the world’s most expensive spice
When and where was saffron first domesticated by our ancestors? In a review in Frontiers in Plant Science, researchers conclude that ...
Viewpoint: Food shortage crisis — There are two ways to address the food shortage crisis: Farm more land or increase yield. Let’s compare their sustainability impacts
As the planet’s population continues its relentless march towards 10 billion, more food is going to need to be produced ...
Do agri-businesses ‘control’ agriculture? The emerging gene-editing revolution in Latin America is challenging that belief
Small actions can create such huge differences. We see that ‘butterfly effect’ playing out in Latin America. where the development ...
Viewpoint: DNA diets—Can knowing your genes help you nutritionally optimize your meal choices?
Recently several companies have been offering to examine your genome and figure out what you should eat based on your ...
Viewpoint: No, trace pesticides do not make fruits and vegetables unhealthy
A recent article in the French daily Le Monde speaks of a study with “impressive” conclusions. Reading it, there is reason to ...
GLP Podcast: Why non-smokers get cancer; Spotting diseases during pregnancy; Earth-friendly industrialized farming?
Many smokers don't get lung cancer. But why do so many non-smokers end up with the disease? A preliminary study ...
From the Environmental Working Group to the Pesticide Action Network, food activists claim we face killer risks from chemicals. Here’s why scientists don’t agree
E coli in ready-to-eat salads? Salmonella in seafood? Spoiled ground beef? Listeria in vegetables? Pesticide traces in… everything? Each year ...
Public comments reveal overwhelming support for GM cowpea in Ghana
Public comments submitted to Ghana’s National Biosafety Authority (NBA) show overwhelming support for approving pod borer-resistant cowpea, the country’s first ...
With climate change accelerating spread of aflatoxin mold in Midwest corn, farmers look to genetically modified seeds as key solution
Climate change is expanding the reach of aflatoxin, a chemical produced by a gray-green mold that infects corn crops and ...
As Ukrainian conflict continues to disrupt global food imports, Kenya gives okay for farmers to import GMO cotton seed, a first for the country
At least 10 manufacturers including Bidco East Africa have been allowed to import 28 million kilogrammes of genetically modified organism ...
Is conventional ‘industrialized’, technology-driven farming ‘destroying biodiversity’ as critics claim — or saving it?
Well over 90% of food, produce and grains in the United States is grown on conventional farms. Critics stigmatize this ...
What are the Challenges Facing Modern Farming Around the World?
Mary Boote, Chief Executive Officer of the GlobalFarmer Network | June 12, 2018Highlights: Agricultural biotech solutions are being denied to ...
Viewpoint: Is Russia undermining global food security by funding European-based environmental activists opposed to genetically modified crops?
Why is Europe's political class questioning the effectiveness of modern agricultural practices and the legitimacy of nuclear power when the ...
Viewpoint: Toxic fruits and vegetables? Inspired by Environmental Working Group’s chemical scare fundraising gimmick in the US, Pesticide Action Network brings disinformation to Europe
Would you feed fruits and vegetables to your family after reading these headlines? Many European consumers may not, and they’d ...
Viewpoint: Europe’s rejection of biotechnology in favor of organics has played an unfortunate role in today’s global food crisis. ‘Precision agriculture’ can help
Leading officials including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are sounding the alarm over the alarming state of global food security. The war in ...
Viewpoint: Popular Science is the latest ‘mainstream’ news source to fall into the anti-glyphosate disinformation rabbit-hole
“This Roundup ingredient might cause cancer—but the EPA won’t ban it,” Popular Science told its readers in a terribly misleading January ...
How the Green Party-Led Anti-Biotechnology Movement Captured German Policy and Why it Endangers Germany’s Future Innovation in Gene Editing
Wolfgang Nellen, Emeritus Professor of Genetics, University of Kassel | June 27, 2018Highlights:Green Party’s opposition to biotechnology innovation began with its ...
GLP Podcast: Will we ever solve the obesity crisis? Science writer Mark Schatzker
Americans are getting heavier and experts aren't sure what to do about it. Cutting fat and carbs out of our ...
Gene editing crops: Pros and cons
There are few food-related areas of discussion more emotive than that of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Public debate often takes ...
Organic fresh strawberries potentially linked to hepatitis outbreak in US and Canada
The US Food and Drug Administration is investigating a potential link between a hepatitis A outbreak and fresh organic strawberries. The FDA ...
Part 1: Viewpoint — Anti-GMO activists conjure up new scare messages as their influence wanes
It's been ten years of downhill sledding for advocacy groups and activists campaigning to throttle the burgeoning biotechnology revolution transforming ...
Edible metamaterials: The world’s most ‘perfect chocolate’ was 3-D printed
Think about biting into a piece of chocolate. What makes it enjoyable? Is it the sweetness? The way it melts ...
Did Russia’s destruction of Ukrainian plant genetic resource center also demolish the country’s National Seed Bank?
Earlier this year, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and while Vladimir Putin's forces have largely retreated from the north ...
How long and how much? Bringing a biotech crop to market costs $116 million and takes 16.5 years
Farmers are increasingly faced with the need to produce more food from fewer resources and under less predictable growing conditions ...
