FARM NEWS - BIOTECHNOLOGY DAILY

Europe urged to expand pesticide ban for bees' sake

Jan 12, 2017 (AFP)

Europe should expand a ban on bee-harming pesticides, environmental lobby group Greenpeace said Thursday, as it released a report warning of widespread risks to...

Russia's Vavilov institute, guardian of world's lost plants

Jan 12, 2017 (AFP)

Stacked high beneath vaulted ceilings in a tsarist-era building, cabinets store the seeds of thousands of plant varieties, many long gone from their original ar...

21 farmers granted bail in Myanmar army land-grabbing case

Jan 10, 2017 (AFP)

Twenty-one farmers were granted bail by a Myanmar court on Tuesday after being jailed over a land-grab dispute with the military that has highlighted acute chal...

How we shop hurts endangered species

Jan 04, 2017 (AFP)

The hidden danger to wildlife posed by imported consumer goods -- an espresso coffee in Beijing, a tofu salad in Chicago -- can now be pinpointed and measured, ...

A trip to the land of endangered ancient olive trees

Jan 04, 2017 (AFP)

The sun sets in eastern Spain and dozens of ancient olive trees cast long shadows on the ground. Once dug up and sold as luxury items for the wealthy, they are ...

Strip tillage, rowcovers for organic cucurbit production

Jan 03, 2017 (SPX)

Plasticulture systems, the use of polyethylene mulch on raised beds with drip irrigation, are common in the production of many cucurbit crops in the Northeaster...

Chickens are smarter and more complex than given credit for

Jan 03, 2017 (UPI)

The chicken isn't as dull or dumb as most people think, according to Lori Marino, senior scientist for the Someone Project -- a research effort focused on the p...

Britain gets creative in fighting rampant food waste

Dec 30, 2016 (AFP)

One of Europe's worst offenders on food waste, Britain is beginning to get its act together thanks to a surge in volunteer initiatives that help the poor as wel...

Zambia drafts in air force to combat pests

Dec 29, 2016 (AFP)

Zambia has ordered the national air force into action to fight a plague of pests that has invaded maize crops and threatened vital food supplies. The air force ...

After Asia, palm oil faces backlash in Africa

Dec 28, 2016 (AFP)

Its lower cost has made it popular in commercial food production, but after being blamed for deforestation in Asia, palm oil plantations are now getting a simil...

China's Sichuan cannot get enough spicy marinated rabbit heads

Dec 28, 2016 (AFP)

Chinese diners greedily crack open delicate rabbit skulls and slurp down their contents, tucking into a delicacy so popular in one province that it has to impor...

Research reveals movement and evolution of potato famine pathogen

Dec 28, 2016 (UPI)

The pathogen responsible for the Irish potato famine that killed more than a million people may have originated in South America. That's the conclusion of a tea...

Iran culls birds after avian flu outbreak

Dec 26, 2016 (AFP)

Iran has killed hundreds of thousands of birds in recent weeks as avian flu spreads across seven provinces of the country, officials have reported. More than 1,...

China's giant cow farms leave neighbours up milk creek

Dec 26, 2016 (AFP)

Giant piles of black manure towering over cornfields, while rancid-smelling effluent from thousands of cows spills onto the land -- this is the price of a glass...

Myanmar farmers reap rewards from 3D printing

Dec 23, 2016 (AFP)

Whizzing across a blue-lit platform with a whirr and a squeak, liquid plastic emanating from its chrome tip, the 3D printer seems a far cry from the muddy, crop...

Dust Bowl would obliterate modern crops

Dec 20, 2016 (UPI)

If the conditions of the Dust Bowl were replicated today, modern agriculture would be devastated, according to scientists at the University of Chicago. Research...

More exact, ethical method to tell the sex of baby chickens

Dec 19, 2016 (SPX)

Thanks to an imaging technique called optical spectroscopy, it is possible for hatcheries to accurately determine the sex of a chick within four days of an egg ...

In Benin, 'Smart-Valleys' bring rice bounty

Dec 18, 2016 (AFP)

Daniel Aboko proudly shows off the 11 hectares (27 acres) of paddy fields he shares with other farmers -- a small spread that produces a bounty of food thanks t...

Corn yield modeling towards sustainable agriculture

Dec 16, 2016 (SPX)

With an innovative modeling approach, researchers set out to examine corn and soybean yields and optimal nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates. In their study, recently...

Many GMO studies have financial conflicts of interest

Dec 16, 2016 (AFP)

Financial conflicts of interest were found in 40 percent of published research articles on the genetically modified crops, also known as GMO crops, French resea...