Food and Agricultural Sciences News and Research

Latest Food and Agricultural Sciences News and Research

Cornell researchers aim to help vineyard growers identify nutrient deficiencies

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a $676,000 grant to a pair of Cornell University researchers aiming to use high resolution sensors to help vineyard growers identify nutrient deficiencies.

14 Oct 2020

Study shows how droughts are threatening the health of wetlands

University of Adelaide scientists have shown how droughts are threatening the health of wetlands globally.

14 Oct 2020

Study shows lasting immunity offered by SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

One of the most significant questions about the novel coronavirus is whether people who are infected are immune from reinfection and, if so, for how long.

14 Oct 2020

Researchers discover new gene involved in the architecture of grass inflorescence

The “spikelet meristem,” or SM for short, has a crucial role to play during the development of the grass inflorescence.

14 Oct 2020

Two proteins compete to give shape to plants

In an elegant choreography, plants take cues from their environment and channel them into flowers, roots, or branches.

13 Oct 2020

Scientists develop UK Crop Microbiome Cyrobank to facilitate sustainable yield improvement

Scientists from the UK's foremost agricultural research institutes have teamed up to create a new UK Crop Microbiome Cyrobank (UK-CMCB) to safeguard future research and facilitate the sustainable yield improvement of the UK's six major food crops including barley, oats, oil seed rape, potato, sugar beet and wheat.

12 Oct 2020

Genomes provide insights into fig-wasp coevolution

Banyan trees are fig trees that begin their life as an epiphyte. The most noticeable feature of banyan Ficus species is their extraordinary aerial roots, which enable them to live as hemi-epiphytes, as do the strangler figs often seen in tropical forests.

12 Oct 2020

Researchers investigate how mining activities affect deep seafloor food web

The deep sea is far away and hard to envision. If imagined it seems like a cold and hostile place. However, this remote habitat is directly connected to our lives, as it forms an important part of the global carbon cycle.

9 Oct 2020

Phosphorus supply chain dynamics may affect regional food security

Phosphorus is essential in agriculture to maintain higher production levels, where it is applied as a fertilizer. Some of the world regions are experiencing high population growth rates, which means more phosphorus will be needed to produce an increasing amount of food needed in the next decades.

8 Oct 2020

Urban air pollution may make COVID-19 more severe for some

In a recent study, researchers at Emory University found that long-term exposure to urban air pollution may have made COVID-19 more deadly.

8 Oct 2020

Global food production poses an increasing climate threat

According to a new study, rising nitrous oxide emissions are putting reaching climate goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement in jeopardy.

8 Oct 2020

Climate change could mean fewer sunny days for hot regions banking on solar power

While solar power is a leading form of renewable energy, research suggests that global warming could be less viable in the future.

8 Oct 2020

Grant awarded to study how plants affect microbiomes

For centuries, scientists have worked above ground, studying plants and their effect on biodiversity.

7 Oct 2020

Are online grocery stores being designed to support consumer nutrition information needs?

With steady growth in online grocery shopping, a new study examines the availability of nutrition-related information on leading grocery store websites.

7 Oct 2020

Cyanobacteria As "Green" Catalysts In Biotechnology

Cyanobacteria are known as "blue-green algae", and convert light energy into chemical energy effectively thanks to their active photosynthetic cells.

7 Oct 2020

Dried plum diet prevents bone loss associated with spinal cord injury

Findings from a new study among mice show a diet high in dried plum (prunes) completely prevents bone loss associated with spinal cord injury (SCI), while also restoring some of the bone lost following SCI.

7 Oct 2020

Scientists fine-tune plasma treatment to optimize plant growth and yield

Ever since scientists discovered that plasma treatment leads to faster growth and higher yields of some agricultural crops, physicists, chemists, and biologists have been working together to tease out the mechanisms driving this phenomenon.

7 Oct 2020

Food scarcity and pesticide exposure reduce blue orchard bee reproduction

The loss of flowering plants and the widespread use of pesticides could be a double punch to wild bee populations. In a new study, researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that the combined threats reduced blue orchard bee reproduction by 57 percent and resulted in fewer female offspring.

From The University of California, Davis 7 Oct 2020