agriculture

Crop yields could be boosted up to 37 per cent by covering plants in red plastic

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A simple, cheap technology could help to boost food production and possibly allow crops to be grown in different places in order to cut down on food miles Environment 18 February 2022 By Alice Klein Trial of the LLEAF material in a greenhouse at Western Sydney University Alexander Soeriyadi/LLEAF Pty Ltd The yields of some … Read more

Gene-edited crops may be 5 years away from sale in the UK

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The UK parliament passed a law to help researchers do trials of gene-edited crops in England, and the chief scientist at the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says it would take at least five years for a product to go from research trials to market Environment 20 January 2022 By Adam Vaughan … Read more

Gene-edited crops may be 5 years away from sale in the UK

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The UK passed a law to help researchers do trials of gene-edited crops, and the chief scientist at the UK’s Department for Food, Rural Affairs & Environment says it would take at least five years for a product to go from research trials to market Environment 20 January 2022 By Adam Vaughan Stacks of wheat … Read more

Can electric fields help plants grow? New claims met with caution

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A study suggests that a small device powered by wind and rain can boost crop yield, but other researchers have cast doubt on the findings Life 13 January 2022 By Adam Vaughan Pea plants growing in a greenhouse Andreeshcheva Katerina/Shutterstock A team of researchers claims to have shown that a high-voltage electric field generated using … Read more

Plant science: ‘Near impossible’ grafting technique could revolutionise agriculture

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For the first time, grafting has been made to work in monocots, a type of plant including oats, wheats and bananas – and it might improve disease tolerance among these important crops Environment 22 December 2021 By Alex Wilkins A date palm two-and-a-half years after grafting. Inset shows a region at the base of the … Read more

Tropical forests: Some abandoned farmland reverts to forest within 20 years

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In the tropics, trees are cleared to make way for farmland that is abandoned once the soil is no longer productive – but these sites can become forest again surprisingly quickly Environment 9 December 2021 By Chen Ly Pasture and young secondary forest in Anhembi, Brazil Rens Brouwer Tropical forests can re-establish themselves quickly on … Read more