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.
‘Imposing expansion of organic farming by decree counterproductive’: Farmer, ag industry executive challenges Europe to rethink its anti-biotech, anti-nuclear ideology
In the midst of the Farm to Fork (F2F) debate and the renegotiation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the ...
Genetically modified Bt cotton helped eradicate pink bollworm — and saved US farmers $200 million over five years. Now, scientists and farmers are deploying technology to target other pests
A recent study from the University of Arizona shows that farmers were able to eradicate [pink bollworm] with the help ...
Is there a difference between a gene-edited organism and a ‘GMO’? The question has important implications for regulation
The controversy over genetically engineered organisms (sometimes called “genetically modified organisms,” or “GMOs”) is genuine, not faux — but only ...
Viewpoint — ‘By 2050 agricultural land will increase by an area twice the size of India’: The US should use its ‘influence’ to encourage adoption of crop biotechnology
If crop and pasture yields continue to grow as projected, by 2050 agricultural land will need to increase by an ...
Climate change is roiling the African continent. With cutting-edge biotech solutions largely blocked, governments rely on tweaks of more traditional technologies to boost output
While Africa is currently responsible for a negligible amount of total global greenhouse gas emissions, the continent is under significant ...
Hacking plants’ circadian clock: How watering and applying pesticides at the most effective time of day can boost yields
Like humans, plants have an ‘internal clock’ that monitors the rhythms of their environment. The authors of a study published ...
Gene editing ‘could make a very real and positive difference’ in farming — but will regulating it as a GMO stunt its potential? Here’s a guide
What is gene editing and what does the process actually entail? According to [a UK Department of Food, Environment and ...
China to restrict reliance on foreign seed companies to foster lagging innovation in genetic engineering and advanced breeding
China will encourage technological innovation to boost domestic supplies of high-quality seeds, dubbed "agriculture microchips," officials said at a seed ...
Viewpoint — ‘It is wrong to leave Africans at the mercy of organic farming’: Western activists should not force ‘unproductive agroecology’ on developing farmers
Because of GM technology, crop-protection tools, and more, farmers are growing more food and cotton on less land than ever ...
Viewpoint: ‘Is an ethical diet enough?’ Veganism has become mainstream — but is it really more sustainable?
A vegan diet contains very low amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol, high amounts of micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, ...
Podcast: ‘GMOs’ are more natural than you think; CRISPR mosquitoes fight malaria; Dating apps and syphilis
A growing body of research shows that dozens of naturally transgenic plants have existed for millions of years, undermining a ...
Viewpoint: Organic farming offers some sustainability benefits, but ‘fear-driven marketing campaigns’ exaggerate advantages and demonize acceptable alternatives
When the “Risk-Monger’s Dirty Dozen” list of pesticides used in organic farming was published, I had broken a taboo. Before ...
‘It’s simply difficult to grow crops organically, on a large scale’: Gigantic organic farm failure in South Dakota underscores challenge of scaling up production
The food company General Mills, maker of Cheerios, announced in 2018 that it would convert [Gunsmoke Farms, located northwest of Pierre, ...
A race against time: One biologist’s mission to ‘fight climate change with plant genetics’ before her Parkinson’s disease advances
People needed to find new ways to grow plants — and soon. The scientist’s urgency came not only from what ...
The Green Revolution was built on manipulating genes to breed higher-yielding, disease resistant crops. Here’s an ode to one of its pioneers, Sanjaya Rajaram
Few people are aware of the heroes behind the surge in yields of wheat and other crops that began in ...
Over 2,000 Nigerian farmers ready to grow GM cowpea this year
More than 2,000 Nigerian farmers are planning to plant Bt cowpea, the country’s first genetically modified food crop, in July ...
In ‘urgent plea’ for organic farming to allow biotechnology, researchers say Europe’s Farm to Fork program ‘will likely fail’ without it
An international research team, including scientists from Wageningen University & Research [WUR] in the Netherlands, says that unless the EU ...
Viewpoint: ‘Genetically modified crops are not deadly mutants produced in a lab. Consider them pest-resistant, famine-fighting Avengers’
The wild version of the banana plant had inedible fruit filled with tons of seeds. Humans have, through a meticulous ...
Viewpoint: ‘Feel-good purchases’: This farmer believes the ‘regenerative agriculture movement’ is the latest fad promoting misconceptions about conventional farming
The public’s fascination with regenerative agriculture is relatively new. But many people seem to think it’s a way to “fix” ...
Viewpoint: Why technology alone cannot solve world hunger and food insecurity
Among technologies expected to aid the production of more and safer food in the future are cultured meat, precision agriculture, ...
Viewpoint: ‘Deep structural flaws’ plague Nigeria’s food system: ‘Gene-editing and the use of genetically modified organisms need to be mobilized’
During the lockdown in Lagos, Nigeria, I joined a humanitarian team to distribute food to poor people in the urban ...
Viewpoint: Can European Commission reverse 20 years of backward, precautionary regulation of crop biotechnology? CRISPR presents an opportunity
The expected report of the European Commission on “new genomic techniques” was published as announced before the end of April ...
Coffee is good for you. There are dozens of carcinogens in coffee. What are the real facts about whether coffee is healthy or not?
Moderate coffee intake is linked to a lower likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancers, Parkinson’s disease and depression. ... For years, researchers linked ...
Viewpoint: Higher food prices, increased food insecurity, trade impacts? The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy has devastating potential outcomes
A recent study by the USDA Economic Research Service shows potential negative impacts to the global market if the European ...
Robotic farming: How artificial intelligence (AI) is taking precision farming to another level
Labor costs, climate change and growing food demand are ushering in an era of machine modernization across the nation’s agricultural ...
‘Little crop of horrors’? Genes harvested from carnivorous plants and genetically engineered into tomatoes and other crops could fend off pests
They won’t devour insects with leafy jaws, but with help from carnivorous plant genes, tomatoes, tobacco and other crops could ...
Blocking innovation: How Canada’s novel plant-breeding rules hinder progress in food production
You’ve heard it before on SAIFood: Canada’s plant breeding sector is facing regulatory barriers to innovation. Today’s blog provides further ...
