Categoria: Internacional

[Fonte: GLP] As a growing population and climate change threaten food security, researchers around the world are working to overcome the challenges that threaten the dietary needs of humans and livestock. A pair of scientists is now making the case that the knowledge and tools exist to facilitate the next agricultural revolution we so desperately…

[Fonte: GLP] Early this year, 85-year-old Bonipak Produce unleashed an orange, 8,000-pound autonomous robot upon its California vegetable fields. It was one of the first farms to begin using the machinery to take over their farm’s weeding responsibilities. Today, the company behind the orange behemoths, San Francisco-based FarmWise, raised a $14.5 million Series A led…

[Fonte: GLP] Washington State University researchers have for the first time grown the bacteria in a laboratory that causes Citrus Greening Disease, considered the world’s most harmful citrus disease. Being able to grow the elusive and poorly understood bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), will make it easier for researchers to find treatments for the disease…

[Fonte: GLP] In South Korea, the National Center for GM Crops (NCGC) aims to enhance national food security and to turn agriculture into a major national leading industry by utilizing technological pipelines. NCGC has been developing GM crops that have been enhanced by agricultural useful traits as well as those that can be used as high value-added industrial materials.…

[Fonte: ISAAA] Researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Sainsbury Laboratory (SLCU) and Department of Plant Sciences have discovered that drought stress can trigger the activity of a family of jumping genes (Rider retrotransposons) previously known to contribute to fruit shape and color in tomatoes. Their research revealed that the Rider family is also present and active in other…

[Fonte: BBC] Wild relatives of food crops, such as wheat, host an abundant array of genetic material to help the plants cope with a changing climate. In a study over 28 years showed that populations of wild wheat accumulated “beneficial mutations” such as a tolerance to temperature increases. Researchers say the results improve our understanding…

[Fonte: AGDAILY] When Hennig Brandt discovered the element phosphorus in 1669, it was a mistake. He was really looking for gold. But his mistake was a very important scientific discovery. What Brandt couldn’t have realized was the importance of phosphorus to the future of farming. Phosphorus is one of the necessary ingredients for healthy crop growth and…

[Fonte: GLP] Achieving an adequate, healthy diet in most low- and middle-income countries will require a substantial increase in greenhouse gas emissions and water use due to food production, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The paper [was]…

[Fonte: Embrapa] Pesquisadores desenvolveram um novo fertilizante à base de hidrogel modificado, capaz de reunir em um único produto água e nutrientes e fazer a liberação de forma gradual. Seu uso racionaliza o emprego dos nutrientes, que são disponibilizados às plantas paulatinamente, ação obtida por meio de nanotecnologia. Desse modo, o produto reduz as perdas…

[Fonte: Fast Company] As they leave their hives, the bees get coated with a beneficial fungus that they spread to plants, which protects things like strawberries from disease. Bees are great at retrieving tiny cargo: their main job is to visit flowering plants in order to gather pollen and nectar for their hive. Now one…

[Fonte: Embrapa] A Organização das Nações Unidas para Alimentação e Agricultura (FAO) lançou, na última semana, um manual com diretrizes sobre o uso da água nos sistemas de produção animal e nas cadeias produtivas pecuárias. A publicação contou com a participação da Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste (São Carlos – SP), que desenvolve pesquisas na área desde…

[Fonte: Science News for Students] These resilient plants can use nanoparticles to build their own defences against radiation and more This is one in a series presenting news on technology and innovation, made possible with generous support from the Lemelson Foundation. Plants typically endure long, blazing-hot days to produce the fruits and vegetables that growers desire. The incoming sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can be intense — enough to damage some crops. Such…

[Fonte: GLP] Honey bees forage across a large area, continually scouting the local landscape for ephemeral food resources. Beekeepers often rely on flowering plants in and around irrigated farmland to maintain their colonies during dry seasons, despite the potential risk of pesticide exposure. Recent declines in pollinator abundance and diversity have focused attention on the…

[Fonte: GLP] If you wanted to really mess with the world’s food production, a good place to start would be in Morocco. They don’t grow much here, but it is home to mines containing most of the world’s known reserves of phosphate rock, the main source of the nutrient phosphorus. Most of us across the…

[Fonte: Newshub] Scientists working on a genetically modified grass which could help reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions say results from field-trials are encouraging. Work is being carried out by a team of scientists, led by AgResearch, into genetically modified High Metabolisable Energy (HME) ryegrass.  Studies so far have shown the GE-modified ryegrass offers environmental and…

We asked six experts in land use for their thoughts on priorities for the future. We need circular fertilisers – Professor Erik Meers, Ghent University, Belgium After the Second World War, the increasing world population has made it more and more challenging to provide food security for everybody. Agriculture had to be intensified and production…

[Fonte: Embrapa] A mastite também é um problema na ovinocultura de corte. Apesar do foco não ser produção comercial de leite, a redução da qualidade e quantidade afeta o ganho de peso dos cordeiros. Ainda, há prejuízos com medicamentos, abate prematuro, desvalorização comercial das matrizes devido a anomalias na mama e até perda do animal.…

INTERVIEW – Le Dr Caroline Semaille, directrice générale déléguée à l’Anses, explique comment les scientifiques enquêtent sur la nocivité des pesticides et dresse un bilan de l’état actuel des connaissances. Une expertise collective de l’Inserm a mis en évidence, en 2012, une augmentation du risque de malformations congénitales – cardiaques, urinaires – chez les enfants de femmes vivant…

[Fonte: Ars Technica] In dry places, photovoltaic shade can even reduce water use. Solar panels might seem like they’re in direct competition with plants. One is catching sunlight to do photosynthesis, the other wants to take it to push electrons. Surely Highlander rules apply, and there can be only one on a plot of land, right? In…

INFOGRAPHIE – Une très grosse étude élucide les mouvements de populations qui ont accompagné l’émergence de l’agriculture. Comment connaître le quotidien des hommes et des femmes vivant il y a plus de cinquante siècles? L’Égypte se préparait à édifier ses plus belles pyramides tandis qu’en Mésopotamie, les monuments sumériens s’annonçaient et que les premières roues…

[Fonte: AGDAILY] No one wakes up in the morning and thinks of ways to create an unsustainable process. We all want a sustainable future, whether we are on a farm, running a business, or raising a family. Advocacy for sustainable agriculture has increased in the past few years. I argue that agriculture has always been…

A million species are under threat of extinction, according to a global landmark report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) – and the crisis is expected to worsen unless drastic action is taken. ‘I don’t think people actually realise the implications of this in their daily lives,’ said Dr Hilde…

[Fonte: GLP] A new study provides valuable insights into pollen abundance and diversity available to honeybee colonies employed in five major pollinator-dependent crops in Oregon and California, including California’s massive almond industry. The study, a collaboration between OSU and Texas A&M University, found that almond, cherry and meadowfoam provide ample pollen to honeybees, but highbush…

FOCUS – Dans le magazine Forbes, un célèbre mais hétérodoxe écologiste américain critique la vague d’émotion estivale qui a entouré les feux de forêts au Brésil. Il argue que les incendies sont moins nombreux dans le monde et que la forêt y progresse. Le Figaro fait le point sur ces arguments. Portée par de nombreuses…

[Fonte: Embrapa] As práticas de correção de solos conhecidas como calagem e gessagem são importantes para assegurar índices mais altos de produtividade tanto para o plantio de pastagens e florestas, quanto para o cultivo de grãos como soja, milho e sorgo. As medidas são indicadas para os solos ácidos, mais comuns no Cerrado brasileiro, e…