Tag: agriculture
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Agricultural Gene Technology Licensed to Dow Chemical
The John Innes Centre (JIC), a plant biology research institute in Norwich, U.K., announced today an exclusive licensing agreement with Dow AgroSciences, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company, for technology that enhances the root systems of plants. The technology was developed at JIC by Dr. Liam Dolan and his colleagues. JIC says the team cloned…
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Cornell Gets $80 Million Gift for Sustainability Research
Cornell University alumnus David R. Atkinson and his wife Patricia Atkinson (pictured right) have given the university an $80 million gift to turn a three-year-old pilot program that they funded into a permanent, research center on challenges in the global energy, environmental, and economic development arenas. The university says the contribution represents the largest gift…
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Researchers Process Tobacco Into Organic Pesticide
Tobacco may be the plant we all love to hate, but researchers at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London have confirmed properties of tobacco that make it a potential natural alternative to traditional commercial pesticides. This potential as a pesticide can also provide tobacco farmers with another, more benign, use for their crops.…
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Report: Large-Scale Fish Farming Increases Enviro Damage
Fish farming on an industrial scale can inflict environmental damage, even when the industry’s best practices are being applied, according to the first global assessment of marine fin fish aquaculture released today. Fin fish include species such as salmon, cod, and turbot. John Volpe, a marine ecologist, and his team at the University of Victoria…
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NSF Grant Funds Research on Drought-Resistant Crops
University of Maryland in College Park has received a $5 million grant from National Science Foundation to lead a multi-institutional research partnership to help develop crop plants able to withstand drought conditions. The project will focus on guard cells in the canola plant (Brassica napus) — pictured right. Canola is an important oilseed crop grown…
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New Vaccines Developed for Farm-Raised Catfish
Scientists from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are developing vaccines to help protect against common diseases faced by healthy farm-raised catfish. Biologists and aqua pathologists from ARS labs in Auburn, Alabama and Chestertown, Maryland are focusing on protections for catfish against against the bacteria Streptococcus (S.) iniae, S. agalactiae, and other pathogens. The scientists…
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NGOs: Technique Boosts Rice Production with Less Water
International relief and development organizations Oxfam America, Worldwide Fund for Nature, and Africare reported an improved method of rice farming known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) that the groups say has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of millions of poor people around the world. The report released Wednesday is based on…
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Agriproducts Manufacturer Plans R&D Expansion
Kemin Industries in Des Moines, Iowa said the company plans in the next five years to add six new manufacturing facilities, three new research facilities, and a new corporate headquarters building in Des Moines. The company develops nutritional ingredients for foods, animal feeds, and pharmaceuticals based largely on its own research. The $30 million expansion…
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Research Improves Canola Yields, Adds Benefits for Farmers
Canola, a flowering plant known for its low saturated-fat cooking oil, can also help winter wheat farmers in the Pacific Northwest control weeds, as well as convert into biodiesel, and produce cattle feed supplements. Those are the results and impacts of research conducted by Frank Young, an agronomist with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) office…
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Fishery Byproducts Can Become Fish Food
Research aided by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, indicates that fishery byproducts can be converted into feeds for commercially farmed seafood. The work was done by the Oceanic Institute in Waimanalo, Hawaii, with help from food technologist Peter Bechtel of ARS’s unit in Kodiak, Alaska. The scientists…