Jeff Tomberlin’s research could lend a whole new meaning to the phrase “grub for a living.”
Tomberlin, a Texas A&M entomologist, is looking into the possibility that black soldier fly larvae – “grubs” to the uninitiated – could be used to turn livestock manure into high-protein feed.
The concept itself has been proven practical for reducing poultry litter: The flies lay their eggs in the animal manure without much encouragement. The eggs hatch into larvae that eat
A new agricultural research project is looking for ways to prevent phosphorus in manure from running off into the Bosque and Leon Watersheds. The challenge is to do so without sinking the region’s dairy industry.
Funded by $800,000 in grant monies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, the project pools the efforts of experts from the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas Cooperative Extension and Tarleton State University.
At
Milk prices dairy farmers received in 2004 were higher than in recent years but dairying, like all forms of agriculture is a vicious treadmill, demanding ever more increased efficiency to stay in place, said a dairy nutritionist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.
“And an accelerated calf growth program is one way they are looking to increase efficiency and productivity,” said Dr. Barry Lambert, who has a joint appointment with the Experiment Station and Tarleton
It’s common knowledge that the high price of crude oil has driven up fertilizer prices. But studies here have shown cattle can gain 3 pounds per day grazing spring pastures of a new disease-tolerant clover.
“That’s with no added nitrogen, as you’d have to do with ryegrass pastures,” said Dr. Ray Smith, legume breeder with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.
Commercial nitrogen fertilizer costs have increased to 40 cents per pound from about 35 cent
It’s the news they have all been waiting for. After years of living under the threat of another devastating epidemic of downy mildew, a disease similar to that which caused the Irish potato famine, India’s poorest farmers have been offered a lifeline in the form of a new disease-resistant hybrid. The hybrid has been produced in record time using modern biotechnology techniques.
In February 2005, India released its first hybrid using modern DNA techniques. “This is something
An Agricultural Mechanisation team from the Department of Rural Projects and Engineering at the Public University of Navarre have designed a new anti-rollover structure for pre-1980 registered tractors. It involves a double arch protection system located at both the front and behind the driver’s seat and anchored to the chassis of a Massey Ferguson 178 Ebro tractor, the model for which the basic safety structure was designed and that can also be fitted, with adaptations, to the other makes an
In drought conditions, the capacity for retaining carbon in legume nodules is limited and this may be the reason why there is a drop in nitrogen-fixing in legumes under these conditions. This was the conclusion of María Dolores Gálvez in defending her PhD thesis at the Public University of Navarre. Her PhD was entitled, “Nodule metabolism in Pisum sativum L. in response to water stress: carbon/nitrogen interactions and the possible molecules involved in the modulation of the response”.
In the first field trial of plants genetically tweaked to absorb more contaminants, researchers found that the transgenic plants handily beat out their wild-type counterparts. The results raised hopes that the plants might become a viable alternative for cleaning up polluted soil.
The new research findings, published today (Tuesday, Feb. 1) in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, show that three transgenic lines of the Indian mustard plant, Brassica juncea, absorbed
Organically and conventionally grown potatoes may be told apart by flavour, say researchers in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture this month – but only if the potato skins are left on.
A panel of fifteen taste testers was asked to evaluate boiled samples of potatoes that had been grown organically with compost, organically without compost or conventionally.
Dark Red Norland potatoes – the most popular redskin potato in the US – were evaluated.
Th
EU agricultural policy has its roots in the post-war food shortages and is completely outmoded today. The problems of colossal surpluses of meat and butter and dramatically rising costs indicate that something must be done. But this requires planning models and methods to make it possible to carry out the necessary reforms in a sensible way.
What would happen, for example, in various European countries if the EU were to eliminate its subsidies for sugar or grain? How would vari
The European Commission asked for the development of an integrated computer toolkit for an ex ante assessment for effective and efficient agricultural and environmental policies for the EU-25 in a changing Europe and world. Thirty research institutes from thirteen European countries are involved in this project ‘Seamless’. The project is coordinated by Wageningen University. The project, with a total budget of 15 million Euro, plans to deliver a first prototype within 18 months and in four year
Iron-sulfur nanosystem isolated from bacterium is more reactive than catalysts in use
Those seeking to design more efficient catalysts for the production of hydrogen and the control of air pollutants might do well to take a closer look at how chemistry works in nature, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory say. Their theoretical investigations of a bacterial enzyme reveal a catalytic complex with higher predicted chemical reactivity than that o
Within the framework of the “CRAFT” programme for the development of technological programmes for small and medium-sized companies, the European Union have recently approved a new proposal from CIDEMCO in the field of protection treatment for wood: “Innovative green wood treatment to achieve Risk 4 protection (SURFASAM)”. The main aim of this project is the development of a new, non-toxic protection treatment.
In this project those involved in R+D are commissioned by business
The Institute of Food Science & Technology, through its Public Affairs and Technical & Legislative Committees, has authorised the following Information Statement, dated January 2005. This cancels and replaces that dated June 2000.
Summary
The term “phytosterols” covers plant sterols and plant stanols. Plant sterols are naturally occurring substances present in the diet principally as minor components of vegetable oils. Plant stanols, occurring in nature at a lower l
Cotton plantations are highly important in Egypt, covering between 400 000 and 500 000 ha, 1/6 of all cultivated land. These crops are a vital source of foreign currency revenue through exports, and their state of health is therefore permanently under close surveillance. Cotton plants are indeed the target of a leaf-eating insect, the noctuid Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera), or Egyptian Cotton Leafworm.
Known to be the main pest of cotton, it also attacks the leaves of cereal
Shoppers throughout Europe are enjoying a greater variety of organic potatoes at more affordable prices, according to researchers who publish an international study today.
Several varieties of organic potato, suitable for a range of national palates and cuisine, are adorning supermarket shelves across the continent for the first time.
A European study, led by Nafferton Ecological Farming Group at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, found up to ten varieties of potatoes, w
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