Centuries of crop diversification are at risk of being lost forever, warns Jeff Bentley. In this week’s Green Room, he says a growing dependency on just a few modern, high-yielding varieties is leaving the world’s food supplies exposed.

A potato is not just a potato; there are thousands of local varieties still grown in their […]

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(Jan. 6, 2009) — Interest in organic crop production is increasing around the world. Organics are healthy for consumers while adding environmental benefits and decreasing the amount of synthetic herbicides in foods, soil, and water. While organics gain popularity with consumers, organic farmers are faced with new production challenges, especially managing and reducing invasive weeds.

Synthetic […]

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(Jan. 4, 2009) — Sinalbin, the same compound that gives white mustard its pungent flavor, could also prove useful in fighting weeds. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) studies suggest sinalbin and other compounds released into soil by applications of white mustard seed meals can kill or suppress certain weedy grasses and annual broadleaf weeds.

Agronomist Rick Boydston, […]

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Diversity is valuable socially, economically and now environmentally. Research by Michigan State University scientists has found that growing more corn to produce ethanol – creating less diverse landscapes – reduces the ability of beneficial insects to control pests, a loss valued at about $58 million per year in the four states studied (Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota […]

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Anton, a hard white winter wheat cultivar developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Nebraska (UN) scientists, is now available for production in the Northern Plains region as a source of high-quality flour for bread, noodles and other baked goods.

Anton is the product of 15 years of selective breeding and evaluation by scientists […]

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Two new sugarcane cultivars specifically developed for Florida’s sand soils have been released by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators.

he new cultivars, CP 00-1446 and CP 00-2180, were developed at the ARS Sugarcane Field Station in Canal Point, Fla., as part of an effort to provide growers with more cultivars that yield well on […]

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In the face of climate change, being able to increase crop yields by enabling plants to take up nutrients and water more efficiently becomes increasingly important, as fertiliser and water supplies incur significant energy and environmental costs.

New research from the University of Bristol, published December 14 in Nature Cell Biology, has shown how to increase […]

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Global warming will likely put enormous strain on California’s water supply and energy systems and have a devastating impact on certain crops.

Stanford researchers predict this outcome based on projections from two different emission scenarios. One assumes a continuing moderate increase in greenhouse gas emissions until 2100; the other assumes emissions would increase until mid-century and […]

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Non-target insects are probably affected more by conventional insecticides than by crops that contain genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), according to the findings of a study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators.

Bt crops such as maize and cotton are genetically engineered to produce insect-specific toxins. They target specific insect pests, […]

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The wild pea pod is big and heavy, with seemingly little prayer of escaping the shade of its parent plant.

And yet, like a grounded teenager who knows where the car keys are hidden, it manages – if it has a reasonable chance of escape.
University of Florida researchers working at the world’s largest experimental landscape devoted […]

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