• share
• favorite_border

World Health Day is commemorated annually on 7 April under the sponsorship of the World Health Organisation and other related organisations. As the global conversation around sustainable farming and healthier food options grows louder, Moringa oleifera 鈥� a fast-growing, nutrient-rich tree native to tropical and subtropical regions in India and Africa 鈥� is emerging as a promising solution that could help address both these critical issues.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have identified a key gene that regulates sugar metabolism and dramatically improves tomato fruit quality and resilience after harvest. The gene, known as SlVI, encodes a vacuolar invertase that plays a critical role in converting sucrose into glucose and fructose during fruit ripening. By knocking out SlVI, researchers achieved higher fruit sucrose levels, enhanced firmness, increased resistance to fungal infections, and an extended shelf life. These findings not only reveal new insights into sugar's dual role as both an energy source and signaling molecule but also open avenues for developing tastier and more durable fruits, addressing critical challenges in agriculture and food storage.

• share
• favorite_border

Thousands of hectares of Chornobyl-affected farmland, long deemed too dangerous for cultivation in northern Ukraine can safely return to production, according to new research.

• share
• favorite_border

Some plants produce oils with properties that are particularly good for biofuels, but not all of these plants are suitable for being grown on a large scale. To solve this dilemma, scientists modified the seeds of camelina and pennycress to produce the same type of oil made by the burning bush plant. The result is plants that produce nearly pure, high-quality oil with improved biofuel properties.

• share
• favorite_border

New UF blackberry varieties could provide a boon for farmers looking to rebound after the decline of Florida citrus and who see an opportunity to meet the growing demand for blackberries, which have soared in popularity in recent years.

• share
• favorite_border

In February, the USAID-funded Feed the Future Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was told to stop work, bringing an abrupt end to 12 years of progress toward developing a global soybean value chain supporting Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. SIL director Pete Goldsmith cobbled together funding from the university to keep the lab afloat until April 15, which was to be its last day.

• share
• favorite_border

Mapping soybean cultivation with high precision is crucial for maximizing agricultural productivity and ensuring food security. However, conventional methods often struggle with regional inconsistencies and require extensive datasets. A breakthrough study has introduced the Spectral Gaussian Mixture Model (SGMM), a novel approach that leverages key physiological traits鈥攕uch as chlorophyll content and canopy greenness鈥攖o dramatically enhance classification accuracy. Validated across four major soybean-producing regions, SGMM sets a new standard for global crop monitoring, offering a scalable, efficient, and highly adaptable solution.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study examines the symbiotic relationship between mycorrhizal fungi in plant roots and bacterial communities in the soil.

• share
• favorite_border

A study has shown that a dangerous game of 鈥榖rinkmanship鈥� between rival genes in mammals could help explain why many fertilised eggs don鈥檛 result in a new life.

• share
• favorite_border

University of Florida researchers are testing a new type of cattle feed that could help dairy cows release less methane gas from burps and flatulence and use nutrients more efficiently. Because methane traps heat in the atmosphere, reducing these emissions could make dairy farming more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

• share
• favorite_border

Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research led by Binghamton University, State University of New York.

• share
• favorite_border

Should farm fields be used for crops or solar? MSU research suggests both

• share
• favorite_border

Farmers apply nitrogen fertilizers to crops to boost yields, feeding more people and livestock. But when there鈥檚 more fertilizer than the crop can take up, some of the excess can be converted into gaseous forms, including nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that traps nearly 300 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. About 70% of human-caused nitrous oxide comes from agricultural soils, so it鈥檚 vital to find ways to curb those emissions.

• share
• favorite_border

As Earth Day is marked on April 22, a collaborative effort between Israeli researchers is driving the development of environmentally-friendly pesticides that promise to reduce the harmful impact of traditional chemical alternatives. The ongoing research is focused on combating plant pathogens, particularly those responsible for widespread crop diseases, through innovative, sustainable approaches.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study co-authored by an Iowa State University professor opens new avenues for combatting soybean cyst nematodes, the most damaging pest for U.S. soybean crops.

• share
• favorite_border

Texas A&M study predicts long-term drop in chicken fertility rates

• share
• favorite_border

A recent study shows that low-oxygen storage significantly enhances the health-promoting compounds in broccoli rabe, such as 纬-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and lactic acid (LA). These metabolites, known for their stress-relief and dietary benefits, are produced in higher quantities due to metabolic shifts induced by modified atmosphere packaging (MAP).

• share
• favorite_border

In a new development, researchers have successfully created an efficient two-line system for hybrid seed production in Brassica napus (rapeseed) using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing combined with the RUBY visual reporter. By targeting the BnaMS1 and BnaMS2 genes, they directly generated male-sterile lines from elite breeding materials, overcoming the traditional hurdles of propagation and sorting.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Nebraska鈥揕incoln鈥檚 next Heuermann Lecture will focus on the theme 鈥淣ourishing a Healthy Future: The Role of Irrigation in a Changing World.鈥�

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Nebraska鈥揕incoln is joining a new $27.4 million global initiative to reduce methane emissions from livestock by harnessing natural variation in how animals digest food. Backed b