A new study suggests in-season nitrogen monitoring can reduce overall fertilizer use
Many producers currently base nitrogen fertilizer applications on the results of soil nitrate tests. According to a recent article in the Soil Science Society of America Journal, farmers can reduce in-season nitrogen use for irrigated crops without sacrificing yield potential by using commercially available nitrogen sensing tools.
The typical spring soil nitrate tests do not account for nitrate l
Agriculture is responsible for 8% of the total emissions of greenhouse effect gases and so, given the EU adhesion to the 1997 Kyoto protocol, it is obliged to assume a certain percentage in the reduction of these emissions. 41% of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions of human origin in Europe comes from agriculture. The soil, through microbic processes of nitrification and denitrification, is deemed to be mainly responsible for these N2O emissions, contributing to NO emissions also.
Meadowlands fo
A CSIRO Livestock Industries researcher, Dr Caroline Kerr, will use an award from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to ascertain whether certain immune system molecules can be used to reduce livestock stress levels.
Dr Kerr is the Australian Wool Innovation winner and one of 18 researchers and innovators to be awarded the 2003 Science and Innovation Award for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Presented in Canberra by the
Poor farmers in developing countries could soon be using a range of ’biofumigant’ plants to help increase tropical vegetable yields.
CSIRO is part of a research team from Australia and the Philippines which has found that brassica species such as radish, mustard or broccoli can be used to help reduce yield losses from Bacterial Wilt – the major pathogen of vegetables in tropical farming.
“Brassicas contain compounds that suppress pests and pathogens, principally isothiocyanates (ITC
It was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, was said to keep vampires at bay, and is good for keeping you healthy.
Scientists from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne have now found the pungent herb garlic could win the costly worldwide war against slugs and snails as an environmentally friendly pesticide.
The findings are published in the current edition of the academic journal, Crop Protection*. Lead researcher Dr Gordon Port will speak about the effective alternatives
In the VIIth International Conference on Agri-Food Antibodies that is going to be held in September in Uppsala (Sweden), AZTI is going to present immnunosensors to detect pesticides.
AZTI has a great deal of experience in this area, since it has worked several years in projects related to research and development of biosensors adapted to the needs of the food industry. Biosensors or rapid monitoring tools are great potentials for the food industry, because in contrast to conventional analyti
Potato blight causes worldwide losses of £3 billion every year, but scientists are only just discovering how it infects potato plants, according to research due to be presented tomorrow, Thursday 11 September 2003, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST in Manchester.
“In the past potato blight, Phytophthora infestans, was always thought to be a member of the fungal family, but now we know that it is more closely related to golden brown algae, which are commonly known as kelp
Thousands of breathless trekkers each year gratefully stop to admire the stunning high altitude scenery as they pass through the village of Landruk on their way to Nepal’s famous Annapurna mountain range.
As their gaze shifts from the famous ‘Fish Tail’ mountain to the brilliant green sloping terraced foot hills 6,000 ft up the Himalayas they could be forgiven for thinking it was all mother nature’s work.
It isn’t. In fact it’s all down to novel relationships being forged between l
On the slopes of Mt. Kenya and the terraced hills of Nepal local farmers are using their cattle in much the same way as scientists use test tubes.
They may be illiterate and continents apart. And there isn’t a laboratory for hundreds of miles. But when it comes to animal nutrition they can teach western scientists a thing or two about the feeding value of the diverse range of tree species found in the hills around them.
While western laboratories break down and then analyse the sep
As U.S. consumers seek reassurance that their hamburgers and steaks are free of deadly mad cow disease, researchers at the University of California-San Francisco say they may have found a promising solution. They’ve developed a faster, more reliable test for identifying the disease, possibly even in living cows. Current tests can only detect the disease after the cow dies.
The test was described today at the 226th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s larg
Scientists are examining which genetic characteristics of rice best control the growth of a common weed.
The growth of rice (Oryza sativa L.) is of great agricultural importance but it is affected by the common weed, barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli). Scientists from the Department of Crop Science at Konkuk University examined the use of rice allelopathic potential for weed control.
A laboratory bioassay using water extracts was conducted to determine the alleopathic p
Purdue University researchers have discovered a faster, less expensive method to test the quality and purity of dietary supplement oils, such as flax seed, borage seed and grape seed oil, often touted as cures for many human maladies.
The research results are published in the September issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and on the journal’s Web site.
“This study brings analytical chemistry, food science, nutritional sciences and consumer interest together,” sai
The use of antibiotics in animal feeds may soon be banned in the European Union. Despite positive effects on pig health and growth, there are growing concerns about bacterial resistance to antibiotics. This includes the risk of cross-resistance, with bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics used in human medicine.
In response to these concerns EUREKA project ANTIBIOTICS IN FEED has developed safe and healthy piglet feeds which are free from antibiotics. Crucially the new feeds can be qu
New agricultural crops stand a better chance of helping to fill the world’s bread baskets, says a University of Maine economist, if plant breeders take farmers’ needs into account early in the crop development process. A new research report by Timothy J. Dalton, assistant professor in the Dept. of Resource Economics and Policy, is one of the first to demonstrate farmers’ preferences using a quantitative approach.
Dalton’s research could help agricultural research organiz
USDA Forest Service researchers at the Southern Institute of Forest Genetics (SIFG) in Saucier, MS are mapping genes in the pathogen that causes fusiform rust to provide future forest managers with more insurance against the damaging disease.
Fusiform rust, a fungus that forms spindle-shaped galls on the branches and stems of pine trees, is endemic to the southern U.S., occurring from Maryland to Florida and west to Texas and southern Arkansas. Attacking several southern pine species, the f
Over the last decade the market has had a tendency to value food products that are healthy and safe and encourage healthy lifestyles, with the added parameter that their associated production processes are environmentally sound. In the case of systems of cattle production the current and future aim is the obtaining of a quality product within an environmentally and economically sustainable framework.
Both objectives ultimately depend on animal feeding. The composition of the diet can have r
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