Agriculture & 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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
EU may block import of GMO crops from Britain if country allows biotech crops post-Brexit
Plans to grow genetically modified crops in Britain could result in the EU blocking imports of the produce after Brexit, ...
Chinese scientist convicted of stealing GMO rice seeds from Kansas research facility
A federal jury on [Feb. 16, 2017] convicted a Chinese scientist in Kansas of conspiring to steal samples of a ...
Insect-resistant GMO cowpeas speed toward commercialization in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan African farmers will soon have access to improved cowpea varieties that will lead to increases in yield. This follows ...
Asian Agrobiotechnology Slowed By Private-Public Sector Tensions And NGO Activism
Asian food security challenged by population growth and rising calorie demands that non GE farming cannot meet. Foreign funded anti-GE ...
Farmers in 10 states file lawsuit alleging Monsanto responsible for crop damage from drift of dicamba herbicide
[Editor's note: In November 2016, the EPA approved a formulation of dicamba that contains an additive that reduces volatility. This ...
‘Oregon prohibition on local GMO restrictions should remain’
[Editor's note: The following is an editorial by Capital Press, an independent news website that covers the agriculture industry in and ...
Indian farmers can benefit tremendously from planting GM crops, new book says
Former director of [the] Centre for Plant Molecular Biology at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University [in India,] S Sadasivam on [Feb ...
Corn catalog: Crop’s climate adaption genes identified to help breeders speed up improvements
Over many thousands of years, farmers have bred maize varieties so the crops are optimally adapted to local environments. A ...
Talking Biotech: Shoppers may soon be able to buy pre-sliced, tastier and more nutritious pears
Choosing when to eat a pear is notoriously difficult, for it quickly turns bad. Horticultural genomicist Amit Dhingra is working ...
What factors shape women’s perceptions of GMOs?
[Editor's note: Heather Bray is a senior research associate and Rachel Ankeny is a professor of history, both at the ...
Did EU abuse emergency authorizations of neonicotinoids?
The EU has been criticised after a new legal analysis showed it had allowed scores of “emergency authorisations” of banned ...
US producers struggling to keep up with rising demand for organic, non-GMO grains
Increasing consumer demand for organic and non-GMO foods led to a sharp rise in organic grain imports in 2016 — ...
Pediatrician debunks claims that GMOs and chemicals used with them are bad for the environment
[Editor’s note: Emiliano Tatar is a pediatrician at the Einstein Healthcare Network Roxborough Plaza. The following is an interview with ...
Drought-tolerant genetically engineered maize poised to help African farmers adapt to changing climate
[Editor's note: Mark Lynas is an author and journalist who reports on crop biotechnology around the world.] Tanzania's first-ever genetically ...
Food, farm and anti-pesticide groups ask US attorney general to block 3 agri-business mergers
Nearly 325 consumer, food, farm and anti-pesticide groups sent a letter [on February 13] to newly confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions ...
Shared Values Must Come Before Science in Winning Consumer Trust On Today’s Farming Practices
Science isn’t enough. Science tells us if we can do something while society tells us if we should. Farmers need ...
‘Clean food’ is a marketing ploy and offensive to hard-working scientists, farmers
[Editor’s note: Kevin Folta is a molecular geneticist and chair of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.] When ...
Europe appears poised to overturn neonicotinoid pesticides ban
[Editor's note: Matt Ridley is a columnist for the Times (UK), a member of the House of Lords and the ...
Organic industry fears Republicans are targeting National Organic Program
Back in December [2016], the Freedom Caucus [a group of US House Republicans] released a "recommended list of regulations to ...
Is Organic Farming Better for the Environment?
Many consumers believe buying organic is “voting with their dollars” for environmentally sustainable farming. Is that science or myth? There ...
Former UK chief scientist: Europe’s opposition to GMOs ‘dangerously naive’ in the face of climate change
A former UK chief scientist has warned that politicians around the globe are ignoring science for the sake of short-term ...
Nigeria faces drought, famine, malnutrition and hunger, but GMOs offer hope
A report recently published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says a total of 8.1 million people ...
More nutritious and tastier vegetables? CRISPR gene editing could dramatically boost consumption
Spinach. Tomato. Watermelon. Broccoli. Besides being good for you, these four vegetables are just a few that could benefit — ...
Tough times on the farm: US profit squeeze expected to continue for fourth straight year
This year, U.S. farmers are expected to net profits of $62.3 billion, or one-half of the record $123 billion they reaped ...
Can Europe reform its GMO regulatory sausage-making mess?
Jean-Claude Juncker has had enough of EU states scapegoating Brussels for their failures. Over his first two years as president ...
Post-modernism fans world-wide skepticism of modern technology, endangering biotech revolution
[Editor's note: Marcel Kuntz is Research Director at the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)] Postmodernism is an ...
Shareholders reject proposal to curb antibiotic use at third largest US chicken producer–Sanderson Farms
A Sanderson Farms Inc shareholder proposal requesting the third-largest U.S. poultry producer phase out the use of medically important antibiotics ...
