Record oil prices and incentives to find alternative fuel sources are lighting a fire under research to turn biomass materials such as manure into energy.
Texas Senate Bill 20, signed this week by Gov. Rick Perry, compliments research under way to determine how and where biomass can be used. The new law requires more renewable energy to be developed and used in the next 10 years.
Combining consumer energy needs and agriculture industry trends with the legislation wi
America’s national forests are beginning to resemble “islands” of green wilderness, increasingly trapped by an expanding sea of new houses, a forestry researcher will report today at the 90th annual Ecological Society of America (ESA) meeting in Montreal, Canada.
The widening circle of development around forests such as the Cleveland National Forest in Southern California is serving to block natural corridors, or wild “highways” that enable plants and wildlife to move easily be
“Have you ever driven down the road and seen someone mowing the lawn wearing a mask? This is an example of the relationship between allergies and mold spores in lawns. Dr. Phil Colbaugh, research plant pathologist at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Dallas, cites a common image seen in Texas throughout the warm weather months.
Colbaugh is studying the relationship between landscaping choices and practices, seasonal weather and potential exposure to allergenic m
Breaking up families can be sad, but in a new method for selecting passive livestock animals, that’s a main ingredient for better long-term productivity, according to a Purdue University geneticist.
The new breeding program, designed to get the best out of the animals, is the first major advance in classical breeding in 20 years, said William Muir of the Purdue Department of Animal Sciences. By picking less aggressive individual animals from a broad range of families, t
How fast a lineage divides may explain why some areas contain more species than others. The Cape of South Africa is one of the most floristically diverse regions on Earth and many species are found nowhere else. There are two broad explanations for high species richness in the Cape: either the Cape represents an old, relatively undisturbed area that has accumulated species richness gradually over time or the recent onset of its Mediterranean-type climate triggered rapid diversification.
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Novel system uses polarized light pulses to reveal crop health
By firing rapid pulses of polarized light at corn, spinach and other crops, researchers have uncovered a picture of plant health that is invisible to the naked eye. Using a portable light source and detector technology, the researchers can differentiate minute differences in leaf colors – indicators of over- or under-fertilization, crop-nutrient levels and perhaps even disease.
The researchers hope their tra
After an interval of six weeks 60 scientists from ten countries returned to the parched heart of Spain to complete testing a new type of sensor intended to yield new insights into global vegetation growth, as well as gather data for the design of a next-generation ESA Earth Observation mission and support efforts to use satellite data for irrigation management.
In Cervantes’ comic tale the central Spanish region of La Mancha was where Don Quixote undertook a series of knightly
Scientists at the University of Bath will be taking part in an international £4.2 million ($7.5 million) research project that could help millions of people avoid starvation.
The BioCassava Plus project will improve the nutritional and storage properties of cassava (Manihot esculenta), the primary food source for more than 250 million Africans and a substantial portion of the diet of nearly 600 million people worldwide.
The research is funded by the Bill and Melinda Ga
The AZTI-Tecnalia laboratories have launched new methodologies for analysing parameters that, up to now, have not usually been analysed for wines – ocratoxine A and histamine. The design of these new analysis methodologies arose from the need for adaptation to new market demands in the wine-producing world.
To make an analytical determination of Ocratoxine A, AZTI has launched a HPLC technique based on fluorescence detection for wines. Ocratoxine A (a mycotoxin produced by various
Detailed scientific analysis by the European Commission, through its advanced crop yield forecasting system, shows that this year’s production will be at least 28 million tonnes below last years’ record numbers (about 10% less), but total EU cereal harvest remains in line with the average of the last five years.
The main reason for this drop is the impact of drought on crop yields. Production areas most affected are in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Central Greece. The forecas
1 million tonnes of waste cuttings (external leaves, stems, etc.) from vegetables prior to processing are generated every year in Europe and 3.4 million of barley husks as a result of beer brewing processes. These sub-products are currently thrown away or managed by means of techniques that are not very environment-friendly, despite the fact that they contain considerable quantities of high-value components.
It is within this context that the REPRO (Reducing Food Processing Waste) has arise
Organic farming produces the same yields of corn and soybeans as does conventional farming, but uses 30 percent less energy, less water and no pesticides, a review of a 22-year farming trial study concludes.
David Pimentel, a Cornell University professor of ecology and agriculture, concludes, “Organic farming offers real advantages for such crops as corn and soybeans.” Pimentel is the lead author of a study that is published in the July issue of Bioscience (Vol. 55:7) analyzing t
A new way to monitor the effects of climate change on rainforests is being investigated at Cambridge University. Researchers are using biomarkers in the shape of epiphytes (‘air-plants’ which grow on other plants) to find out how their photosynthesis and water evaporation have been affected by climate change over the last 50 years.
Using types of epiphytes known as bromeliads, Monica Mejia-Chang from Professor Howard Griffiths’ lab in Cambridge has been measuring the levels of two s
Is your cup of coffee suffering from fertility problems? If you’re drinking the instant variety it may very well be! The Robusta crop (Coffea canephora), which is the main variety for producing instant coffee, suffers from ‘self-incompatibility’ so can’t pollinate itself. This presents a dilemma for coffee farmers who have to grow it in mixed plantings so that cross-pollination takes place – but which varieties to cross with which?
Sylvester Tumusiime (University of Nottingham, UK) wil
Research into the genetics of barley could lead to improved varieties of the crop most commonly used in the production of whisky and beer. Scientists funded in part by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) are beginning a new programme to uncover key genes that control the specific characteristics of different barley varieties.
The research, being carried out at the Scottish Crop Research Institute, Birmingham University and NIAB, involves almost a
Cattle move, dirt stirs, dust rises – it’s an inevitable part of the livestock industry.
But it’s something feedlot management and researchers are working to minimize and control.
The Texas Beef Cattle Air Quality Emphasis, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service as a part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, is a partnership with Texas A&M University and Texas Cattle Feeders Association. “W
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