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.
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Farmers know switch to organic means lower yields, but expect price premium to make up for losses
For decades, the conventional wisdom surrounding organic farming has been that it produces crops that are healthier and better for ...
Viewpoint: World must embrace CRISPR, synthetic biology to boost food production in the face of climate change
New breeding technologies may hold the key to preventing a global “push into poverty.” ...
Severe drought threatens food security in sub–Saharan Africa
The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly severe in sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of people are facing severe food ...
Sterile GMO grass could provide sustainable biofuel, cut water use on golf courses
As representatives from agri-chemical and seed companies seek ways to feed a world population that is projected to balloon during ...
Genetic tweak doubles yields of sorghum, globally important food source, in new study
Plant scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), in their search for solutions to ...
Viewpoint: Developing countries need GMO, gene-edited crops to solve food security challenges
With a ballooning population and climate change, genetic engineering is needed now more than ever ...
78% of soybean, 76% of cotton grown globally in 2018 were GMO, as farmers continued adopting biotech crops
The four major biotech crops — soybeans, maize, cotton, and canola — were the most adopted biotech crops by 26 ...
Video: ‘Blood on their hands’—Greens’ resistance to biotechnology blocks sustainable agriculture, climate change innovation, says GLP’s Jon Entine
Green advocacy groups are the single biggest impediment to sustainable agriculture ...
FDA-approved edible cotton seeds show how GMO, CRISPR-edited crops can battle global hunger
We can't eliminate hunger overnight, but this breakthrough cotton variety will combat a lot of needless suffering ...
The Beepocalypse that wasn’t? Colony collapse disorder had ‘very small’ effects on commercial pollinators, study finds
Though colony collapse disorder has generated a great deal of concern, the phenomenon has had “very small effects” on commercial ...
Viewpoint: On GMOs, energy production, ‘fear of progress’ is Europe’s main attribute
Shale gas, GMOs: here are two topics that usually arouse the public's worst fears. [Europe] has managed to ban the ...
Engineered molecule could protect key food crops from intensifying droughts as climate changes
An engineered small molecule called opabactin that targets the receptor for the hormone abscisic acid (ABA), which plants release in ...
CRISPR crops, precision medicine could fuel 17.2% annual growth in North American gene-editing research
"The growth of the genome editing market is primarily attributed to the rise in the production of genetically modified crops ...
Viewpoint: ‘There are no long-term GMO safety studies,’ and 9 other biotech myths debunked
Can salt be a GMO? Is it true that no long-term studies have been done on GMOs? There are many ...
Rodale Institute lashes out at Swedish study that finds yield shortfall, increased land use, ‘huge climate change downside’ in organic farming
Not surprisingly, the debate over organic versus conventional farming is heavily polarized in academic circles .... In December 2018, researchers ...
Viewpoint: How agroecology can improve life for Africa’s smallholder farmers
The gravity of the numerous problems faced by smallholders is too great to allow for scientifically promising alternatives like agroecology ...
Podcast: Plant diseases destroy $220 billion worth of crops annually. Meet the scientists fighting to protect our food supply
Looking at the massive selection of goods available in US grocery stores, most consumers likely don't realize just how hard ...
Simple test could speed development of drought-tolerant wheat as climate change accelerates
Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU), ARC Center of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, and CSIRO Agriculture and Food ...
Netflix ‘Unnatural Selection’ gene editing miniseries focuses on extreme examples, ignores potential food sustainability impact of CRISPR
I watched dumbfounded. That is not how genetic engineering works ...
If Britain and Wales went 100% organic, crop yields would crash by half and carbon emissions would double, UK study shows
Greenhouse gas emissions would go up if all farms in England and Wales went organic. Though the emissions of individual ...
Dunkin’ launching Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich at more than 9,000 US stores in November 2019
Dunkin' is launching its Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich nationally in November, two months ahead of schedule, after a highly successful ...
‘The Martian’: More science than fiction? Crops could grow in space, study suggests
Whoever is going to survive on the Moon and Mars is going to have to eat. There’s just one problem ...
Beyond Meat pea supplier mulls lentils, oats, rice as beef substitutes to meet plant-based burger demand
One of the world’s biggest pea processors is considering expanding into fava beans as the boom in alternative proteins fuels ...
Genetic engineering, CRISPR and food: What the ‘revolution’ will bring in the near future
Genetic engineering and gene editing have the potential to radically transform our lives if they can overcome the objections of ...
New ‘superfood’ makes bees better pollinators—boosting crop yields up to 90%
Argentina-based startup Beeflow has developed a special nutrient-packed formula for bees meant to boost their immune systems and make them ...
Delayed GMO Bt rice approval costs China $12 billion annually, study finds
To maintain self-sufficiency in rice production and national food security, the Chinese government strongly supports research that aims at increasing ...
‘Big meat’ vs. scrappy startups: Nestlé, Tyson, Hormel roll out plant-based products to compete with Impossible, Beyond
Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, scrappy start-ups that share a penchant for superlatives and a commitment to protecting the environment, ...
