FARM NEWS - BIOTECHNOLOGY DAILY

Weatherford: The worst is over for the oil sector

Jul 28, 2016 (UPI)

Mirroring sentiments expressed by its peers, oilfield services company Weatherford said the market, particularly in North America, has bottomed out. Weatherford...

Towards smarter crop plants to feed the world

Jul 28, 2016 (SPX)

Plant scientists at Lancaster University, with support from the University of Illinois, have made an important advance in understanding the natural diversity of...

To keep soil health, scientists say mix up plant species

Jul 28, 2016 (UPI)

Soil health is deteriorating around the globe. A combination of commercial agricultural practices, global warming and pollution are draining nutrients and encou...

Ancient rice DNA data provides new view of domestication history

Jul 28, 2016 (SPX)

Rice, or Oryza sativa as its scientifically known, feeds more than a third of the globe. Yet the majority of rice crops that supply 90 percent of the world come...

Nottingham Dollies prove cloned sheep can live long and healthy lives

Jul 28, 2016 (SPX)

Three weeks after the scientific world marked the 20th anniversary of the birth of Dolly the sheep new research, published by The University of Nottingham, in t...

Measure of age in soil nitrogen could help precision agriculture

Jul 28, 2016 (SPX)

What's good for crops is not always good for the environment. Nitrogen, a key nutrient for plants, can cause problems when it leaches into water supplies. Unive...

Plasma technology can be tapped to kill biofilms on perishable fruit, foods

Jul 28, 2016 (SPX)

Seeing fruit "turn bad and going to waste" inspired a team of researchers in China to explore using atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasma - already widely ...

Grain drain, Laos' sand mining damaging the Mekong

Jul 27, 2016 (AFP)

Grain by grain, truckload by truckload, Laos' section of the Mekong river is being dredged of sand to make cement -- a commodity being devoured by a Chinese-led...

Ivory Coast banana growers on the comeback trail

Jul 27, 2016 (AFP)

Two years after devastating floods, banana planters in Ivory Coast have staged a comeback, eyeing an increase in production and new markets for the popular frui...

Top cocoa grower I.Coast stung by caterpillar invasion

Jul 22, 2016 (AFP)

Cocoa crops in the world's top producer, Ivory Coast, are being ravaged by caterpillars but authorities are playing down the new scourge, saying they have it un...

More for less in pastures

Jul 22, 2016 (SPX)

Getting more for less is an attractive concept. But it isn't that easy when it comes to producing more food on less land with fewer resources. R. Howard Skinner...

ANU leads effort to develop drought-proof crops

Jul 21, 2016 (SPX)

International research led by The Australian National University (ANU) has found how plants, such as rice and wheat, sense and respond to extreme drought stress...

How plants can grow on salt-affected soils

Jul 19, 2016 (SPX)

It is common knowledge that salt consists of the cation sodium and the anion chloride. However, the substance used to season food has been a cause of great conc...

Scientists sequence genome of 6,000-year-old barley

Jul 18, 2016 (UPI)

Ancient barley recently became the oldest plant to have its genome sequenced. Scientists recovered 6,000-year-old barley seeds from a cave in Israel. They split...

Crop roots enact austerity measures during drought to bank water

Jul 14, 2016 (SPX)

With a growing world population and a changing climate, understanding how agriculturally important plants respond to drought is crucial. New work from a team le...

Subtropical Cornwall climate could mean exotic new crops

Jul 14, 2016 (SPX)

The subtropical weather in Cornwall means new exotic crops such as quinoa and Japanese persimmon are now more likely to succeed, according to a new technique de...

Researchers build trenches to curb nitrogen runoff, algae growth

Jul 13, 2016 (UPI)

Researchers in the Midwest are working on solutions to the problem of agricultural runoff -- a problem with a number of troublesome consequences, including mass...

ChemChina extends $43 bn offer for agri-giant Syngenta

Jul 11, 2016 (AFP)

State-owned China National Chemical Corp. said Monday it was extending its $43 billion agreed takeover for Swiss pesticide and seed giant Syngenta until Septemb...

EU limits glyphosate use during 18-month extension

Jul 11, 2016 (AFP)

EU member states on Monday approved limiting use of the weedkiller glyphosate during an 18-month extension Brussels granted ahead of a report on whether the che...

Feeding the world by rewiring plant mouths

Jul 08, 2016 (SPX)

Plants have tiny pores on their leaves called stomata - Greek for mouths - through which they take in carbon dioxide from the air and from which water evaporate...