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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Drought in US creates more interest in biotech corn
AMERICAN farmers continue to demonstrate unprecedented confidence in biotech or genetically modified crops, Dr. Clive James, chairman of International Service ...
No danger? GM plants represent low risk, say Swiss scientists
Genetically modified (GM) plants present little danger for the environment or people’s health, according to Swiss researchers. Also, while they ...
Key genetic mechanism in plant hormone signaling may help protect crops from stressors
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered a key genetic switch by which plants control their response ...
Yes on Prop 37? No on Prop 37? Writer says no matter what the outcome, everyone loses
It doesn’t matter whether you support Prop 37 or oppose it; whatever happens in November when Californians vote on whether ...
Africa: Ghana sets up Biosafety Authority to regulate GM foods
A national bio-safety authority, to regulate and oversee the application of modern biotechnology, is to be established soon in Ghana, ...
No letup on Roundup Ready alfalfa and other GMOs, says pro-GM blogger
Last month I talked to a PCA in the southern San Joaquin Valley who was surprised at an alfalfa grower’s ...
Genetically engineered goats produce human breast milk
This Spring brought news of goats engineered to lactate the building blocks of a malaria vaccine. Now Co.Exist reports on ...
Proposition 37 in California: A high-stakes food fight?
California’s crowded November ballot includes white-hot measures to raise taxes, amend the state’s Three Strikes Law and repeal the death ...
GM foods unlikely to concern Wal-Mart shoppers, says industry expert
Despite a media storm and several petitions asking Wal-Mart Storesnot to sell genetically modified sweet corn, industry experts say the ...
GM food campaign is now million dollar fight
When one million Californians signed a petition for proposition 37 to be put up for a state-wide vote, nobody thought ...
Big steps towards GM for India: Plans to set up institution for ag biotechnology
India is a country that continues to struggle with the adoption of genetically modified crops. Some groups within the country ...
New Zealand: ‘GE Jamboree’ upsets the Greens
The Greens are outraged by the Government spending $100,000 to host an international agricultural biotechnology conference ...
Discovery of plant gene lays groundwork for improved biofuel processing
Since 2007, researchers at the BioEnergy Science Center, one of three U.S. Department of Energy-funded research centers, have partnered to ...
Chinese scientists crack the genome of diploid cotton
The international research team led by Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and BGI have completed the genome sequence and analysis ...
GMOs: Is food science growing up in Europe as America goes backwards?
For more than a decade, Europe has been as anti-science as can be imagined regarding genetically modified organisms — consumer ...
Gene helps rice grow in phosphorus-poor soils
Rice, like all plants, needs phosphorus to grow. But there's a problem for this crop, the most important calorie source ...
As climate hurts cattle, ranchers turn to genetics
For years researchers have been studying how to develop cattle that are heat and drought tolerant. And while crossbreeding isn't ...
Genetically altered corn targets worldwide food demand
Purdue researchers aim to ensure global food security by genetically altering corn to be more drought resistant ...
Plant genetics’ role in challenging year
The cold, wet weather has affected both early and late-sown crops across the varietal spectrum. In 2011, most crops were ...
Brazil court supports consumers’ resistance to GMO in food items
A Brazilian court has demanded that multi-billion dollar food giant Nestle label all of its products as genetically modified that ...
Monsanto eyes 2013 launch for new soybean seeds in Argentina
Monsanto aims to start selling the new seeds--which have the combined traits of resistance to insects and the herbicide glyphosate--in ...
GMOs and California: To label or not to label?
Steve Savage, a plant pathologist working with agricultural technology, gives his explanation of why voters should absolutely vote 'no' on ...
GMO crops: To label or not to label?
This fall, California voters will be asked to vote on Proposition 37, a law which would require that all foods ...
Controversy simmers over allergies and genetically modified food
Over the last 18 years, genetically modified food has become quite common in the United States. During that same period, ...
Anti-GM acitivists say spread of genes from GM rice “slow but unavoidable”
GM crop genes, such as those designed for insect resistance, can spread through cross-pollination with wild plants surrounding farmers' fields ...
U-turn on GM in Turkey
Turkey's Food and Beverage Associations Federation (TGDF) has withdrawn applications to import 29 genetically modified (GM) food items due to ...
New research shows more approval of GM food consumption
Genetically Modified Organisms are playing a major role in the economic transformation of developing countries despite the emergence of pest-resistant ...
