Professor Odd Magne Harstad and his colleagues at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences have sent Daisy out to summer pasture outfitted with advanced monitoring equipment. (Credit: Photo by Sverre Jarild) ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2010) — Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Norwegian agriculture is a stated objective, and proper cattle feed is one means of [...]
Brazil (Reuters) – For nearly five centuries, the classic image of sugar production in Brazil has been one of workers setting cane fields on fire and then descending on the crop with their machetes for harvest. No longer. More than half of the cane in Brazil's main sugar-producing area of Sao Paulo state was harvested [...]
Image: NASA Mars explorers could use complicated mechanical systems to produce oxygen and filter waste, and eat food carried from Earth. Or they could just save a lot of hassle and plant crops. A model of Martian gravity’s effects on water flow, nutrient dynamics and root-feeding microbes suggests it’s possible to farm in the Red [...]
This story is part of a special series that explores the global water crisis. For more, visit National Geographic's Freshwater website. Stranded Pakistanis head for safety after major flooding that has displaced 20 million people. Minor floods are normal for the region, but the recent larger, less frequent floods are a result of poor river [...]
Nitrates that leach into the soil can affect Iowa communities that depend on the rivers for clean drinking water. They can leach into the soil and are carried downstream. These nitrates are believed to contribute to a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where few plants or animals survive. (Credit: ISU photo by Bob [...]
WSU entomologist David Crowder looked at insect pests and their natural enemies in potatoes and found organic crops had more balanced insect populations in which no one species of insect has a chance to dominate. (Credit: Shelly Hanks, Washington State University) ScienceDaily (June 30, 2010) — There really is a balance of nature, but as [...]
Giraffes and other African hoofed animals are only slowly returning to the former grounds of the Mkwaja Ranch. (Credit: Judith Sitters / ETH Zurich) ScienceDaily (June 30, 2010) — The Swiss wanted to rear cattle in Tanzania and in so doing completely disturbed the ecosystem: the example of the Mkwaja Ranch shows how dependant agriculture [...]
A plan is afoot to bring genetically modified crops – mostly resisted for a decade – into Europe's fields. Soon to be surrounded by GM friends? (Image: Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty) Currently, European Union countries opposed to GM crops use a voting system that can delay a variety from being grown anywhere in Europe even after it's [...]
Activists protest against a request by US biotech giant Monsanto against Germany's decision to ban a type of genetically modified maize, in Braunschweig, northern Germany, in 2009. The US Supreme Court has overturned a decision to ban biotech giant Monsanto's sale of genetically modified alfalfa despite farmers' fears that other crops could be contaminated.… Read [...]
This hairy vetch is establishing through small grain crop residues in April of 2008 in Rock Springs, Pa. Credit: Robert Gallagher, 2008. Scientists are exploring ways to reduce non-point pollution from agriculture. A new study finds that using straw residue in conjunction with legume cover crops reduces leaching of nitrogen into waterways, but may lower [...]
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