Farming and Agriculture

With global population growth and climate change posing escalating threats to crop production, the current food system is unlikely to be sufficient to meet future demand. Although more than 12,000 plant species are edible, global agriculture remains reliant on a narrow set of crops, with roughly 30 species supplying 95%... Read more

Plants have an extraordinary ability to sense tissue damage and quickly rebuild their protective outer layers, a process vital for survival amid environmental stresses. The periderm—a specialized protective tissue found in many woody plants—serves as a crucial barrier against water loss, pathogens, and mechanical injury. However, understanding how gaseous molecules... Read more

Researchers from the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have proposed a structured framework to evaluate the nitrogen (N) status and nitrogen balance of forest ecosystems amid rapid global environmental change.... Read more

From morning glories spiraling up fence posts to grape vines corkscrewing through arbors, twisted growth is a problem-solving tool found throughout the plant kingdom. Roots "do the twist" all the time, skewing hard right or left to avoid rocks and other debris.... Read more

Ever wondered why your mango tree drops fruit before it's ripe? Each season, mango growers across Australia watch helplessly as millions of mangoes fall to the ground too early.... Read more

If you think something is off with added smoke flavoring in salmon, you're not alone. Many consumers are skeptical of salmon that hasn't been smoked in the traditional way.... Read more

Researchers find that diversifying crops and integrating livestock improves farm efficiencies and ecosystem services in the US Midwest. The work is published in PNAS Nexus.... Read more

UC Riverside scientists have created a small-scale system that transforms food waste into high-protein animal feed and fertilizer using black soldier flies, offering a sustainable solution to a major environmental problem.... Read more

Parasitic plants are notorious agricultural pests that drain nutrients from crops and cause economic losses of more than USD 1 billion due to yield losses every year. Yet these plants almost never attack themselves or closely related plants. Scientists have long suspected that parasitic plants can recognize "kin," but the... Read more

Using insects such as wasps to control agricultural pests remains a resilient method, despite increasing resistance, a new University of Stirling study has shown.... Read more

As sea levels rise and soils grow saltier, even the iconic Sabal palmetto—the official state tree of Florida also known as the cabbage palm—may be in danger. But a new study in HortScience suggests a simple, widely available amendment could help young palms survive in salty conditions.... Read more

The bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas citri, which causes canker disease in citrus trees, activates selected parts of the fruit ripening program inside infected leaves. Normally, this program makes citrus fruits soften and sweeten as sugars are released. But the bacterium hijacks this fruit-specific machinery in infected leaf tissue, causing the host... Read more

Agriculture, from the outset, has been made possible by humans tweaking the genes of plants to make them grow faster, produce more of what we want, and survive drought, pests, and infection. For millennia, we did it with selective breeding. More recently, we advanced to genetic engineering. But even with... Read more

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a spray-on polymer coating that could help plants resist harmful bacterial infections and survive drought. The advance, published in ACS Materials Letters, could help strengthen global food security as increased environmental stresses continue to intensify plant disease pressures.... Read more

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign corn breeders know profitability is about more than yield. By tweaking kernel composition, they can tailor corn for lucrative biotech applications, industrial products, overseas markets, and more. But to efficiently unlock these valuable traits, breeders must first understand their genetic underpinnings.... Read more