Collaborate Disseminate
Ammonia is commonly used in commercial crop fertilizers, which in turn can pollute waterways when they run off of fields. New research, however, suggests that engineered bacteria could one day take the place of such fertilizers.Continue ReadingCategory… Continue reading Engineered ammonia-producing bacteria could replace crop fertilizers
Not only are herbicides harmful to the environment, but they’re also one more expense for the farmers who use them. That’s where the Greeneye selective spraying system comes in, as it’s claimed to only dispense herbicide when weeds are detected.Continu… Continue reading Greeneye herbicide tech selectively sprays weeds only
While manually hoeing weeds out of crops can be very time- and labor-intensive, spraying those crops with herbicides is definitely not eco-friendly. A German consortium is developing a third choice, in the form of the AMU-Bot weed-killing robot.Continu… Continue reading AMU-Bot robot kills weeds as it makes its way through crops
If farmers know what sort of pest insects are present in their crops – and in what numbers – they can avoid excessive use of pesticides. The FarmSense system was created to provide that information, via a network of Smart Traps.Continue ReadingCategory… Continue reading FarmSense trap tech counts and identifies crop-killing insects
Although pest insects may decimate crops, the use of traditional pesticides can definitely harm the environment. Spanish scientists have now developed a possible alternative to those chemicals, in the form of plants that produce insect-confusing pherom… Continue reading Modified plants designed to save crops by producing insect pheromones
Climate change is expected to have a big impact on crop yields and food security over the coming decades, as farmers contend with rising temperatures and increasingly abnormal conditions. Scientists working on solutions to this problem continue to demo… Continue reading Gene-edited barley to bolster beer production in face of climate change
Uber Eats deliveries to Mars are going to be expensive, so the first colonists of the Red Planet will need to figure out how to grow their own food locally. A new study has shown that dosing plants with symbiotic bacteria can drastically improve their … Continue reading Crops grow better in Mars soil when given good bacteria, study finds
Food security is a major potential problem, especially in the face of climate change. Now, researchers have shown that manipulating RNA in plants can drastically boost the amount of food they produce, and make them more resistant to drought conditions…. Continue reading Simple RNA tweak boosts potato and rice yields by 50 percent
Sugarcane is an important food crop, but it’s large environmental impact means there’s plenty of room for improvement. Unfortunately it’s tricky and time-consuming to breed new varieties, but now researchers have used CRISPR gene-editing to do so quick… Continue reading World-first CRISPR-edited sugarcane helps reduce environmental impact
Although the use of conventional pesticides is harmful to the environment, farmers still need a way of keeping crop-damaging organisms at bay. According to a new study, an eco-friendly combination of agricultural and beer brewing waste products may be … Continue reading Beer brewing waste shown to help kill crop-harming parasites