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?
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With the US honeybee population stable, what are the challenges going forward?
There is a common phrase that appears in the popular press, in grant proposals and as a fund raising theme ...
GLP Podcast: GMO grapes coming soon? Golden Rice is here; FDA’s dubious animal gene-editing rules
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‘Third way’ regenerative farming: Syngenta CEO calls for cooperation between organics and crop biotechnology to address food crises, sparking ‘grotesque’ rebuke from organic activist
Erik Fyrwald, the CEO of the Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta, has called for an end to organic farming to avoid ...
GM insect-resistant corn up for approval in Kenya could help fight devastating aflatoxin poisonings
Currently, [Kenya] is considering the approval and commercialisation of Bt maize. Although the intended purpose for Bt maize is insect ...
Viewpoint: ‘Higher yields and sustainable intensification’ — Russian aggression resets perceptions and policy of global agriculture
When Russia brutally invaded the Ukraine in February 2022, war in the world’s breadbasket could only forebode greater tragedies to ...
Salt-proof, drought-tolerant wheat developed in Egypt — but GMO ban remains in place
The Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, headed by Dr. Amr El-Hajj, announced that the agricultural research scientists in the authority have ...
Viewpoint: ‘We are paying for genetic engineering bashing by groups that have used fear to put forward organic-centric diet’, says Canadian agri-food professor
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Sustainable meat? Debate over the benefits (or drawbacks) of cell-based beef and chicken more nuanced than critics and supporters acknowledge
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‘Textbook case of how a government can cause a debt crisis’: Organic food mandate and agricultural chemical ban gutted Sri Lanka’s tea export market
Before 2019, Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in food. The government elected that year banned pesticides so that only organic farming ...
How genetically-engineered salmon could help preserve wild populations — if it isn’t blocked by anti-GMO activist groups
Salmon are iconic keystone species across the northern Pacific and Atlantic basins. Salmon is also a prized human delicacy. Wild ...
‘Consumers have finally become aware of certain realities’: Rising inflation and food crisis have cut organic produce sales in France
The increase in the prices of fuels, gas and foodstuffs has directly impacted the household budget to the point of ...
Kenyan cows produce 1/10th as much milk as those in Britain — If adopted, gene editing could dramatically improve quality and safety of African livestock
East Coast Fever (ECF) is rampant [in African countries]. ECF, which is caused by protozoan parasites spread by ticks, kills ...
Viewpoint: Guilt-tripping kids about meat consumption? Rancher mom challenges view that cell-based meat is preferable to real thing
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The world wastes billions of tons of food each year. Here’s how we can transform it into clean energy
Food waste is a growing problem in Canada and many other parts of the world — and it is only ...
Viewpoint: Europe’s organic-centered farm policy is a blueprint for what the United States should not do
The EU's "farm to fork" strategy has been in the works for some years; it represents the overall sustainability ambitions of the ...
Viewpoint: Can organic farming overcome its sizable yield lag and address climate change challenges?
Organic farming isn’t more climate-friendly than conventional agriculture when looking strictly at emissions. In a comparative analysis of the environmental impacts of ...
‘GMO debate controlled by non-scientific groups to the detriment of global hunger’, writes Harvard economist
Activists who mistakenly believe that GMOs are dangerous to consume have teamed up with pesticide and insecticide sellers to restrict ...
Battling climate change with carbon-sucking poplar trees
Is old-fashioned photosynthesis up to the task of managing the enormous amount of carbon (roughly 36 billion tons per year) ...
Precision fermentation: New genetic modification process could make anything from fossil-free biofuels to animal-free milk and cow-free cheese
Known as precision fermentation, the process is a hot topic because it can be used to make anything from fossil-free ...
GLP Podcast: Plant-based meat ain’t so ‘green’? Science of fasting; ‘Monoculture’ myths debunked
Plant-based and cell-based meats have been sold as sustainable alternatives to animal products, but are they really as good as ...
Fertilizer-reducing genetically modified barley trials greenlit in the UK
Defra has approved field trials of genetically modified barley that scientists say could reduce the need for synthetic fertilisers. The ...
How crop gene editing increases nutrition and sustainability
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were launched in 2015, with the top three goals being poverty eradication, improved food security ...
Insect-resistant GMO cowpea trials wow Nigerian farmers with jumping yields and lower costs — but other farmers remain hesitant
Last August, the farmers were given cowpea seeds genetically modified (GM) to resist the destructive pod-borer insect pest and improve ...
Renewable bioplastics offer sustainable alternative to petroleum-based products
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‘Gene edited crops are necessary to sustainably feed the world’ — German agroecology and organic advocate challenges his own community
Urs Niggli, long-time director of the Research Institute for Organic Farming FibL and now President of the Institute for Agroecology, ...
Sustainable GM farming innovation: How Argentina’s drought-tolerant genetically-engineered wheat reduces greenhouse gas emissions and increases yields
In October 2020, Argentina approved the world’s first genetically engineered wheat for cultivation and consumption. Production expanded dramatically in 2021, and will continue to ...
With animal feed and food prices soaring across Africa, Kenya relaxes GMO import ban
The persistent high cost of animal feeds and supply chain difficulties will continue to make eggs and milk expensive, manufacturers have said ...
