Tag

Crop Yield

All articles tagged with #crop yield

science-and-technology2 years ago

"Breakthrough: Plant hormone found to increase growth by 30%"

Scientists have discovered that a plant hormone called methyl jasmonate (MeJA) serves as a communication tool between plants and microorganisms in the soil. The release of MeJA by plant roots triggers the formation of biofilms in bacteria, which in turn release volatile compounds that can boost plant growth by up to 30%. This discovery has significant implications for sustainable agriculture, as harnessing these agricultural microbes can enhance crop productivity, reduce the need for synthetic inputs, and mitigate the environmental impact of modern farming practices. Agro-microbials are emerging as a promising strategy to address the challenges of food security and agricultural productivity in the face of climate change and land degradation.

agriculture2 years ago

Bioactivated nematicides selectively kill parasitic nematodes.

Researchers have developed a new class of bioactivated nematicides that selectively target parasitic nematodes, which cause significant crop yield losses. The nematicides are activated by the nematodes themselves, reducing the risk of harm to non-target organisms. The study used the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to identify compounds that were toxic to nematodes but not harmful to other organisms. The bioactivated nematicides could help reduce the use of conventional pesticides and promote sustainable agriculture.

agriculture2 years ago

Revolutionary tech reveals secrets of alfalfa seeds.

Scientists at China Agricultural University have used multispectral imaging technology to identify the characteristics of alfalfa hard seeds, which have low value and pose major challenges from an economic standpoint. The team found that alfalfa dormancy is structured by the PY+PD pattern, rather than the PY pattern alone, and that abscisic acid (ABA) responses played a key role in hard alfalfa seeds. The study provides a theoretical and technical framework for exploring alfalfa hard seed dormancy, which could guide the optimal processing of these seeds in the agriculture industry.

agriculture2 years ago

Revolutionizing Agriculture: The Power of Computational Tools.

Barath Raghavan, an associate professor of computer science at USC Viterbi, is developing computational tools to help farmers design, develop, and manage sustainable farming methods. Raghavan calls this new area of research "computational agroecology," uniting technology and farming expertise to develop diverse agricultural landscapes based on natural ecosystems. In a new paper published in PNAS Nexus, Raghavan and his colleagues propose "a totally new way to think about agriculture and the benefits it can have for research and farming." They reconceptualize agriculture as a search through a "state space," which represents all possible configurations of a system—in this context, agricultural land. This allows agricultural researchers and farmers to explore the different paths and strategies available to increase crop yield, improve sustainability, and discover entirely new combinations of crops that grow well together.