Scientists at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden (1) and the University of Reading have been able to recover DNA from crop diseases on wheat samples stored as part of a Victorian field experiment (2). Using this DNA, they have discovered how changes in air pollution over the last 160 years have affected fungal diseases on our wheat crops.
The most damaging wheat disease in Europe is leaf blotch, caused by two different fungal species, Phaeosphaeria nodorum and Mycosphaerella gram
Scientists have developed a method of determining whether eggs labelled as ‘free-range’ or ‘barn’ have in fact been laid under battery conditions. The procedure, published in Journal of the Science of Food & Agriculture this month, means eggs can be tested without the need to visit farms.
The give-away is the dust that the eggs pick up from the surface on which they are laid.
Because the eggs are wet when freshly-laid, the dust attaches to the shell surface
Bacteria that produce lactic acid have been used for thousands of years to preserve food. Some lactic acid bacteria also produce several other mold-inhibiting substances and are therefore of special interest to agriculture and the foodstuffs industry. This is demonstrated in a dissertation by Jörgen Sjögren from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU. One of the bacteria strains studied has been patented and will be part of a new biological conservation preparation.
Researchers from the College of Forestry at Oregon State University have developed a new group of adhesives that may revolutionize a large portion of the wood products industry, and have important environmental and economic benefits.
The discovery has already resulted in three pending patents and should lead to a wide range of new products. But it was originally based on the aroused curiosity of Kaichang Li, an OSU assistant professor, who was harvesting mussels one day from thei
ECM of France has launched Agroscan – a complete range of ultrasound scanners for veterinary use, suitable for performing ultrasounds on sows, cows, mares, ewes and goats. The Agroscan L is completely innovative as it is the only portable device to use both sector and linear probes.
ECM will be present at several upcoming trade fairs, including the VIV trade fair in Moscow, Russia, from 1 to 3 June 2005.
Agroscan scanners can be used to detect pregnancy and to diagnos
Archaeologists from the University of Toronto, the Field Museum, and Shandong University announce the results of the first intensive investigation of early agriculture in Liangchengzhen, Shandong in Northern China. The results are published in the April 2005 issue of Current Anthropology. Several thousand crop and weed seeds were recovered by the team at the 4000 year-old Liangchengzhen site, a regional political center in Shandong.
Prior to the investigation, Longshan agricultur
Scientists have developed a method of determining whether eggs labelled as ‘free-range’ or ‘barn’ have in fact been laid under battery conditions. The procedure, published in Journal of the Science of Food & Agriculture this month, means eggs can be tested without the need to visit farms.
The give-away is the dust that the eggs pick up from the surface on which they are laid.
Because the eggs are wet when freshly-laid, the dust attaches to the shell surfaces. The pattern
In the late 1980s, Dr. Leonard Pike stood at a roadside vegetable market in Russia and watched a produce man chop, chop, chop much like a butcher slicing deli meat. When he was finished, the thin, yellow medallions under his knife were gathered up like poker chips, weighed in a bag, and handed to the customer.
“He was cutting carrots. They sold them sliced, even back then. I thought that was fascinating,” said Pike, a horticulturist who was in Russia on a seed-collecting missio
New dehydration method ensures inexpensiv granulated food of high quality
The Norwegian company Dtech AS – a spin-off of SINTEF and NTNU – is in the process of building a large factory on the basis of the results obtained by the three scientists.
The new plant will supply the international food industry with dried maize and dried peas – ingredients which will end up in dried soups and powdered casserole dishes all over the world.
High quality at low price
Scientists with The Woods Hole Research Center are analyzing the surprising results of the first phase of a drydown experiment occurring in the Amazonian rainforest.
From January 2000 to July 2004, rainfall was excluded from a one-hectare (2.2 acre) plot in the middle of the Tapajós National Forest, in Brazil. A total of 6 feet of rainfall was diverted with six thousand 2’ by 6’ clear plastic panels suspended 3 to 12 feet above the soil. The panels were removed during the five-mon
Genetically modified (GM) plants are to be used to grow vaccines for use in the worldwide fight against HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and rabies thanks to a grant of 12 million euros from the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).
‘Pharma-Planta’ draws on the expertise and experience of 39 scientists from 11 European countries and South Africa to address significant health problems affecting Europe and the developing world – although the primary aim is to provide medicines for poore
Virginia Tech’s Small Grains Breeding Program is developing a new type of barley that lacks the fibrous covering. This new hulless barley offers producers an alternative grain for both traditional and new markets, including food, feed, and ethanol.
The price for winter barley has declined since 1996. Even though winter barley was an integral component of the region’s cropping system, growers stopped producing it because it was not profitable. The Small Grains Breeding P
A team in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is leading the development of the Pastureland Management System (PLMS), a free, practical, and portable computer-based aid program that helps livestock farmers compare different strategies for managing their land and livestock.
The system’s goal is to seasonally balance forage produced on the farm and forage needed by livestock. John Galbraith, assistant professor of crop and soil environmental sciences,
Virginia’s soybean growers are worried that a devastating problem — Asian Soybean Rust — will strike Virginia’s crop, valued at $81 million in 2003. Agricultural leaders, including those in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, have been working with Virginia growers to ensure they are well prepared to deal with the disease if it occurs.
The disease, which extensively reduced soybean yields in Brazil, was identified in Louisiana last fa
If farmers talk big about 2004 crops as they get ready to head out into the fields this spring, let them talk. Believe them. Last year’s crop season saw record yields in every major crop amid the closest-to-perfect weather conditions of the last century, scientists say.
“Never before have corn, soybeans, sorghum, and alfalfa hay all achieved record yields in the same year,” said Stanley A. Changnon, chief emeritus of the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) and an adjunct prof
A new CSIRO Plant Industry bred soybean variety, ’Snowy’, is set to enhance the profitability of the Australian soybean industry due to higher yields and better quality soybeans.
Developed by CSIRO Plant Industry’s Dr Andrew James, Snowy (name pending approval with Plant Breeder’s Rights) combines good tofu making qualities with good agronomic traits one of the first soybeans to do so. “Snowy is highly suited to the Riverina region of NSW and northern Victoria
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