Agricultural and Forestry Science
Researchers arming farms to halt increases in greenhouse gases
New farm practices and new breeds of crops might someday add to mankind’s toolbox for controlling greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
Research under way at Purdue University seeks to control the most prominent of these greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, by corralling carbon on the farm in a process known as carbon sequestration.
The research is being supported with a grant of nearly $1 million to Purdue from the Consortium for Agricultural Soil Mitigation
New witchweed-fighting method, presented by CIMMYT and Weizmann Institute scientist
Technique could dramatically diminish hunger in Africa
Corn harvests on experimental plots and in farmers’ fields in four East and Southern African countries have yielded striking results in long-term trials of an innovative witchweed-fighting technology developed by a Weizmann Institute scientist in collaboration with researchers at CIMMYT (the Spanish acronym for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center). The new technology will be presented to seed producers, governmen
Efficient plastic nuggets key to agricultural plastic waste disposal
A process that would be a plastics recycler’s nightmare may help farmers deal with the disposal of agricultural and domestic plastics by creating burnable, energy-efficient plastic nuggets, according to a Penn State agricultural engineer.
“In plastics recycling there are two unbreakable rules,” says James W. Garthe, instructor in agricultural engineering and cooperative extension specialist. “You cannot mix types of plastic, and the plastics must be clean. This process does both since
A Yeast Useful For Pollutant Removal Processes
Sugar refineries and distilleries produce effluent which is harmful for the environment. The sugar industry produces two tonnes of sugar cane bagasse (a straw-like material) for every tonne of refined sugar. For Cuba this translates into 10 to 20 million tonnes of bagasse per year.
Distilleries, often associated with sugar cane production, emit copious amounts of polluting volatile components (especially volatile organic compounds, VOCs). In Cuba, an estimated annual 1 600 tonnes of ethanol
Caught On Film – TB Risk Of Badgers Visiting Farm Buildings
Using camera surveillance and radio tracking equipment, scientists have provided potential evidence showing how badgers could pass on bovine tuberculosis to cattle in UK farms.
In a paper published in a forthcoming Proceedings B, a Royal Society journal, researchers from the University of Sussex and the Central Science Laboratory have discovered that badgers regularly forage in farm premises such as cowsheds, feed sheds and cattle troughs, thereby making frequent contact with cattle, both di
Gene discovery suggests that plant breeders may be able to produce nitrogen-fixing crops more easily than previously thought
Scientists at the Sainsbury Laboratory (SL)[1], Norwich, have today reported the discovery of a plant gene that is essential in controlling the interactions between plants and microorganisms that enable them to establish intimate associations, which are of benefit to both partners. Published in the international science journal Nature, the report’s findings suggest that it may be easier than previously imagined to design plants that are able to make their own nitrogen fertiliser.
The roots