No soil left behind: How a cost-effective technology can enrich poor fields

Smallholder poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is often linked to sandy soils, which hold little water and are low in nutrients. A new technology may be able to enrich fields and farmers without massive investments in irrigation and fertilizer

Pesticide companies leverage regulations for financial gains

PRINCETON, N.J.–Pesticides are present in many food products and play a central role in the production of traded agriculture, giving them global and economic significance — and necessitating proper regulation. Yet, some pesticide companies may put profit ahead of protecting…

Complete genome of devastating soybean pathogen assembled

An international research collaboration has successfully assembled the complete genome sequence of the pathogen that causes the devastating disease Asian soybean rust. The research development marks a critical step in addressing the threat of the genetically-complex and highly-adaptive fungus Phakopsora…

Biologists track the invasion of herbicide-resistant weeds into southwestern Ontario

TORONTO, ON (Canada) – A team including evolutionary biologists from the University of Toronto (U of T) have identified the ways in which herbicide-resistant strains of an invasive weed named common waterhemp have emerged in fields of soy and corn…

Turning up the heat for weed control

Weeds are thieves. They steal nutrients, sunlight and water from our food crops. In the case of sugarcane, yield refers to the amount of biomass and the sucrose concentration of the cane, which ultimately determines the amount of sugar produced.…

Discovery of sorghum gene that controls bird feeding could help protect crops

A single gene in sorghum controls bird feeding behavior by simultaneously regulating the production of bad-tasting molecules and attractive volatiles, according to a study publishing September 23 in the journal Molecular Plant . This gene, called Tannin1, controls the synthesis…

How nitrogen-fixing bacteria sense iron

Researchers at the University of East Anglia have discovered how nitrogen-fixing bacteria sense iron – an essential but deadly micronutrient. Some bacteria naturally fix nitrogen from the soil into a form that plants can use. In nature, most plants get…

Fungicides as an underestimated hazard for freshwater organisms

Fungicides are worldwide used in agriculture. Large amounts of applied fungicides leak into nearby surface waters. The effects of these substances on aquatic organisms are poorly understood and not specifically addressed in the EU regulatory frameworks with respect to the…

Palmer amaranth’s molecular secrets reveal troubling potential

URBANA, Ill. – Corn, soybean, and cotton farmers shudder at the thought of Palmer amaranth invading their fields. The aggressive cousin of waterhemp – itself a formidable adversary – grows extremely rapidly, produces hundreds of thousands of seeds per plant,…

Machine learning in agriculture: scientists are teaching computers to diagnose soybean stress

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University scientists are working toward a future in which farmers can use unmanned aircraft to spot, and even predict, disease and stress in their crops. Their vision relies on machine learning, an automated process in…

Aphid-stressed pines show different secondary organic aerosol formation

Plants emit gases, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that enter the atmosphere, where they can interact with other natural and human-made molecules to form secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). These tiny, suspended particles influence atmospheric processes, such as cloud formation and…

Revolutionizing water quality monitoring for our rivers and reef

New, lower-cost help may soon be on the way to help manage one of the biggest threats facing the Great Barrier Reef. That threat is pollution from land making its way downstream by way of the many rivers and streams…

New way to bump off ticks: Dry up their saliva (video)

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 26, 2019 — Saliva from a tick’s bite can transmit pathogens that cause serious illnesses, such as Lyme disease, and significant agricultural losses. Current insecticides have drawbacks, so scientists have been seeking new ways to prevent these…

Fishing leads to investigation of environmental changes in waterways

A fisherman’s curiosity led to identification of the correlation between microbial communities in recreational freshwater locales and seasonal environmental changes, according to a team of researchers from Penn State. Zachary Weagly, a 2018 graduate of Penn State Berks and an…