https://phys.org/biology-news/agriculture en-us Agriculture, livestock, farming and food processing news With the aid of innovative statistical methods, researchers explore the complex interplay between life cycle, environmental factors and genetic information using wheat as an example. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-insights-crop-climate.html Agriculture Fri, 20 Oct 2023 12:37:03 EDT news617024221 For tens of thousands of years, evolution shaped tomatoes through natural mutations. Then, humans came along. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-genome-natural-mutation-variations-tomato.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Thu, 19 Oct 2023 14:00:01 EDT news616926610 Bird populations are in rapid decline across North America. While climate change is just one of the many factors influencing North American birds, its effects are significant and can interact with other stressors, such as habitat loss. A team of University of California, Davis, researchers found that the effects of extreme temperatures on avian reproduction can vary depending on the type of environment that birds call home. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-bird-reproduction-agricultural.html Ecology Agriculture Thu, 19 Oct 2023 14:00:01 EDT news616926619 Humanity must cut carbon emissions and use farmland more efficiently to protect our planet's remaining wilderness, new research shows. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-high-latitude-wilderness-threatened-agriculture-climate.html Ecology Agriculture Thu, 19 Oct 2023 11:00:01 EDT news616924554 Every so often, cicadas emerge above ground and blanket the Earth with their exoskeletons while emitting a high-pitched chirp from sunrise to sunset. The periodical cicadas in the genus Magicicada come every 13 or 17 years, though other types of cicadas emerge much more frequently in our neighborhoods. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-adult-periodical-cicadas.html Ecology Agriculture Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:00:06 EDT news616842005 Increasingly limited land and water resources have inspired the development of precision agriculture, which is the use of remote sensing technology to monitor air and soil environmental data in real time to help optimize crop output. Maximizing the sustainability of such technology is critical to proper environmental stewardship and cost reduction. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-sustainable-smart-agriculture-biodegradable-soil.html Biotechnology Agriculture Tue, 17 Oct 2023 13:38:03 EDT news616768682 The growing global population needs sufficient food. Its production causes overfertilization and increased nitrogen concentration in agriculture, which negatively affects the population, climate, and ecosystems. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-sustainable-agriculture-global-redistribution-nitrogen.html Ecology Agriculture Mon, 16 Oct 2023 09:59:03 EDT news616669142 Tropical crops such as coffee, cocoa, watermelon and mango may be at risk due to the loss of insect pollinators, finds a new study led by UCL and Natural History Museum researchers. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-coffee-cocoa-pollinator-loss.html Ecology Agriculture Thu, 12 Oct 2023 14:00:01 EDT news616320034 A novel biomaterial developed at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in Brazil can help solve two problems at once. As a bioparticle, it can act as a drug carrier, delivering medication directly to the gastrointestinal tract of fish in order to circumvent resistance to conventional antibiotics, for example. In addition, it is administered orally in powder form and is highly palatable to fish, increasing the probability of effective treatment while at the same time reducing the waste and pollution inherent in the medication of these animals. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-biomaterial-medication-fish-gut.html Biotechnology Agriculture Wed, 11 Oct 2023 12:53:03 EDT news616247581 Wine quality is notorious for varying from year to year, but what makes for a "good year"? In a paper publishing October 11 in the journal iScience, researchers show that weather plays an important role in determining wine quality. By analyzing 50 years' worth of wine critic scores from the Bordeaux wine region in relation to that year's weather, the researchers showed that higher quality wine is made in years with warmer temperatures, higher winter rainfall, and earlier, shorter growing seasons—conditions that climate change is predicted to make more frequent. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-summers-winters-yield-wine-vintages.html Agriculture Wed, 11 Oct 2023 11:00:01 EDT news616236722 Scientists have used gene editing techniques to identify and change parts of chicken DNA that could limit the spread of the bird flu virus in the animals. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-gene-edited-chickens-bird-flu.html Biotechnology Agriculture Tue, 10 Oct 2023 12:46:04 EDT news616160761 A new study led by the University of Oxford has found that natural evolution of antibiotic resistance genes has maintained resistance in bacteria despite a reduction in the use of antibiotics. The findings demonstrate the importance of understanding the regulatory evolution of resistance genes to strategically combat AMR. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-antibiotic-usage-animal-combat-resistance.html Cell & Microbiology Agriculture Fri, 06 Oct 2023 10:34:03 EDT news615807241 Grass may transfer genes from their neighbors in the same way genetically modified crops are made, a new study has revealed. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-natural-genetically-crops-grasses-evolutionary.html Evolution Agriculture Thu, 05 Oct 2023 14:24:03 EDT news615734642 For reasons of food security and economic incentive, farmers continuously seek to maximize their marketable crop yields. As plants grow inconsistently, at the time of harvesting, there will inevitably be variations in quality and size of individual crops. Finding the optimal time to harvest is therefore a priority for farmers. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-ai-drones-successfully-crops-ideal.html Biotechnology Agriculture Wed, 04 Oct 2023 10:02:06 EDT news615632522 The reuse of abandoned croplands should be considered by governments as a way to tackle climate change and reduce the environmental impacts of agricultural expansion. This was a key takeaway from a new study led by the National University of Singapore's Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions under the Faculty of Science, which was published recently in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-abandoned-croplands-chance-boost-climate.html Ecology Agriculture Mon, 02 Oct 2023 10:48:13 EDT news615462485 Teff, a gluten-free grain historically grown in East Africa but increasingly available in the United States, seems to have antioxidant properties in human cells, say UNC Greensboro (UNCG) researchers. Their study, which examined the effects of Eragrostis teff extracts on human cells, was published in Antioxidants. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-gluten-free-african-grain-teff-antioxidant.html Cell & Microbiology Agriculture Thu, 28 Sep 2023 10:19:06 EDT news615115142 Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, but the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is not sustainable. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-genetically-associations-diazotrophs-lessen-synthetic.html Cell & Microbiology Agriculture Tue, 26 Sep 2023 11:00:01 EDT news614937988 Earthworms are important drivers of global food production, contributing to approximately 6.5% of grain yield and 2.3% of legumes produced worldwide each year, according to new work published by Colorado State University scientists in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-earthworms-contribute-global-grain-production.html Plants & Animals Agriculture Tue, 26 Sep 2023 11:00:01 EDT news614932651 A 1% increase in unbroken rice kernels after milling could mean millions more servings of this critical staple grain, increased food security around the globe and improved producer profitability, a study from two Arkansas researchers suggests. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-unbroken-rice-millions-boost-profit.html Agriculture Tue, 26 Sep 2023 10:19:01 EDT news614942336 Accurate estimates and forecasts of crop area and yield play an important role in guiding policy decisions related to food security, especially in light of the growing impacts of climate change. IIASA researchers and colleagues highlight the value of integrating remote sensing and data sharing for timely agricultural information critical for food security and sustainability planning in a new paper. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-satellite-global-food.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 21 Sep 2023 11:46:03 EDT news614515561 According to a study published in Nature Plants, Chinese scientists have elucidated the mechanism of fruit shape formation in tomatoes and have developed fresh tomatoes for mechanical harvesting. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-scientists-fresh-tomatoes-suitable-mechanical.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 21 Sep 2023 11:27:03 EDT news614514421 Scientists have found a plant gene that drives the growth of root hairs, the tiny structures that help plants find water and nutrients in the soil. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-gene-required-root-hair-growth.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Tue, 19 Sep 2023 06:18:03 EDT news614323075 North Carolina State University researchers have successfully transferred an important gene from one compartment of a plant cell to another to produce tobacco plants that lack pollen and viable seeds, while otherwise growing normally. Their findings could lead to better ways of producing hybrid seeds to maximize crop productivity, or to introduce seedlessness in fruit species lacking the often-desired trait, such as raspberries, blackberries or muscadine grapes. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-hard-reality-pollen-seeds.html Cell & Microbiology Agriculture Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:19:58 EDT news614006392 Farmers across the United States will be able to monitor their crops in real time, thanks to a novel algorithm from researchers in South Dakota State University's Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-algorithm-farmers-crops-real.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Fri, 15 Sep 2023 13:21:04 EDT news614002861 To obtain the biggest cherry harvest, trees should be pollinated by both honey bees and mason bees. A new study led by a researcher at the University of Gothenburg shows yet another benefit of biodiversity. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-pollination-bee-species-cherry-harvest.html Ecology Agriculture Thu, 14 Sep 2023 13:10:11 EDT news613915808 Many of the bacteria that ravage crops and threaten our food supply use a common strategy to cause disease: they inject a cocktail of harmful proteins directly into the plant's cells. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-mysterious-family-microbial-proteins-hijack.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Wed, 13 Sep 2023 11:00:01 EDT news613812486 Growing several plant varieties in the same field for disease resistance is a longstanding agricultural practice, but can have unpredictable results. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-disease-resistant-rice-wheat-modulate-disease.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Tue, 12 Sep 2023 14:00:01 EDT news613727504 Peppers are a versatile, flavorful, and widely popular crop, used not only as a healthy food source but also for their medicinal properties. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-genetic-code-peppers-reveals-insights.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Tue, 12 Sep 2023 12:55:59 EDT news613742157 Biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have found evidence for evolutionary "syndromes"—sets of traits that occur together—that help to explain how tomatoes first evolved their distinctive blend of color, sweetness, acidity and aroma. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-tomato-scientists-evolutionary-mystery.html Evolution Agriculture Mon, 11 Sep 2023 16:37:04 EDT news613669021 The sun and the sea—both abundant and free—are being harnessed in a unique project to create vertical sea farms floating on the ocean that can produce fresh water for drinking and agriculture. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-sea-farms-solution-world-freshwater.html Biotechnology Agriculture Mon, 11 Sep 2023 13:04:04 EDT news613656241