Sustainability/Climate Change
Food production needs are expected to roughly double over the next 35 years as the world population grows and people in under developed countries become more affluent and demand more calories. Healthy ecosystems are vital to the survival of all organisms. How can we grow crops without harming the environment? How can we balance technology and global food security? What is the right balance of organic and conventional farming? What role can genetics and biotechnology play without compromising the needs of tomorrow?
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Talking Biotech: Winning the disease resistance ‘arms race’ against plant pathogens to ensure food security
The disease resistance arms race between plants and pathogens continues. But scientists have entered this war on the side of ...
Scientists recruit wheat microbes to halt devastating plant fungal disease
Fusarium head blight is a devastating fungal disease affecting wheat and barley crops worldwide. According to the American Phytopathological Society, ...
Precision drones, driverless tractors bring automated agriculture closer to fruition in the UK
Farming drones from China may soon be buzzing across British fields as a result of a new partnership between Chinese ...
Viewpoint: Farmers turn to social media to educate public about exaggerated benefits of organic and non-GMO labeled foods
Years ago, before I fell in love with a farmer and became one myself, I was a big-city girl who ...
Viewpoint: Why saving seeds is an unproductive farming practice that locks in poverty
Farmers mired in farming systems in which saving and cleaning old seed is an economical use of their time is ...
Protect your pets: Many agriculturally necessary plants are naturally toxic to animals
Not all plants are wholesome for foraging animals. Certain species of milkweed, for example, that are highly valued as host ...
As honeybee population grows, scientists question link between neonicotinoids and bee health
Some argue that an increase in insecticide use and a much-publicized Colony Collapse Disorder [CCD] issue have caused honey bees ...
Viewpoint: Organic vs GMO debate distracts from real food security issues
.... For several years now, GMOs and organic have consumed America’s attention. It isn’t our interest in these topics that is ...
FDA approves sugar made from Brazil’s first Bt insect resistant sugarcane variety
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that it is safe to consume sugar produced from the genetically ...
Success of insect resistant Bt eggplant in Bangladesh opened door to GMOs in the developing world
Bt brinjal is the first genetically engineered crop to be commercially released in Bangladesh, and other GE crops are in ...
13 African countries have biotech crops in different stages of development, but approvals are slow
A new report published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) shows that GM crop cultivation ...
Grapes genetically resistant to mildew rot could cut pesticide use and French wine prices at the same time
French wineries have to use a lot of pesticide to keep their grapes healthy, and that's both expensive and costly ...
Agricultural firm Simplot receives first commercial license for CRISPR gene editing, focusing on cutting waste
A multinational agricultural company based in Idaho has acquired gene editing licensing rights that could one day be used to ...
Stopping gene flow: ‘Containment genes’ could prevent GMO seeds from spreading in the wild
The largest field-based study of genetically modified forest trees ever conducted has demonstrated that genetic engineering can prevent new seedlings ...
Agricultural innovation raises thorny ethical questions about overconsumption in the western world
Scientists at the Department of Agrobiotechnology research facility in the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Tulln, ...
Ghanaian farmers enlist drones to combat fall armyworm invasion
Farmers at Janga in the West Mamprusi municipality of the Northern Region [in Ghana] are learning how to use drones ...
Regulators reverse Obama-era ban on GMOs, neonicotinoid pesticides in wildlife refuges
The Interior Department announced plans [August 3rd] to reverse a rule that banned the use of pesticides in national wildlife ...
Video: New education campaign gives ‘farmer moms’ a voice in the GMO debate
A Fresh Look is one of the newest efforts to give farmers a voice about GMOs and speak directly to the ...
Viewpoint: Eliminating pesticides from farming isn’t realistic—or desirable
In about 1980, I visited several International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) research sites in Mexico. The trip included ...
Ratooning: Nuclear technology helps Chinese rice farmers double their yields—and their incomes
Just as grass lawns regrow after they are mowed, rice fields can regrow after they are harvested. This second harvest ...
Kenya, Ethiopia show neighboring Uganda how to revive its dying cotton industry with pest-tolerant technology
Cotton, once a cash cow in Uganda where growers aspired to outcompete each other in the acreage covered and income ...
Humans have never lived ‘in balance with nature,’ and we shouldn’t try to today
Before the agricultural revolution .... life was hard .... And there was no question of living in "harmony with nature." ...
Fish feed enhanced with omega-3 oil? UK scientists developing more nutritious food for farmed salmon
Researchers .... are giving farmed salmon feed made from genetically modified crops. The aim of the scientific trial is to ...
Video: Biochemist Myles Power dresses down Indian anti-GMO philosopher and ‘green revolution’ critic Vandana Shiva
Anti-GMO activists have attacked innovation in agriculture since the start of the Green Revolution in the mid-20th century. Assuming everyone ...
‘Rice 2.0’: GMO grain could neutralize HIV virus before it does any harm
An international team of researchers .... plans to fight HIV using only cereal; namely, rice. In a new paper, they ...
Organic, grass-fed beef: Nutritious food choice or marketing hype?
.... Organic farming and grass feeding are promoted as having some social and environmental benefits compared with conventionally produced red ...
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue redoubles effort to promote gene editing, risk-based regulations
The USDA plans to double down efforts to work with partners globally towards science-based regulatory approaches. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture ...