Agriculture

Taste-based feeding traps can keep away pests like the poplar leaf beetle. Image credit – Dr Pentzold / ChemoSense project

agriculture | environment | open innovation

30 October 2017

Plaguing insects with bittersweet tastes to protect crops

Herbivorous insects are estimated to be responsible for destroying one-fifth of the world's total crop production annually, but a new, natural approach to pesticides that turns insects' taste and smell preferences against them could help reduce this toll.

Cristina Amaral says we must improve food security in migrants home countries to help manage food-related migration. Image credit - Cristina Amaral

interview | agriculture | health

16 October 2017

World hunger on the rise due to conflict and climate change - UN’s Cristina Amaral

The number of undernourished people rose for the first time in over a decade in 2016 due to conflict and climate change, and more research is needed into how to increase the security of people’s food supply and manage migration, according to Cristina Amaral, Director of the FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) liaison office with the European Union and Belgium. She is due to speak about investing in food systems and rural development to change the future of migration on 16 October at the Harnessing Research and Innovation for FOOD 2030 conference in Brussels, Belgium.

Dr Panagiotis Zervas wants to make European agriculture data available to all researchers. Image credit — Dr Panagiotis Zervas

interview | agriculture | environment | open science

11 October 2017

Open data can secure our food supply – Dr Panagiotis Zervas

We live in an era where open data can pave the way to a more sustainable, secure and safe food system, according to Dr Panagiotis Zervas, senior project manager at Agroknow, a company that finds, connects and delivers agricultural and food information worldwide.

Leftover straw from wheat harvests could be the building blocks for greener chemicals. Image credit – Pixabay/ ArnoBeauvois

agriculture | environment | transport

10 October 2017

Wheat straw waste could be basis for greener chemicals

The straw leftover from harvested wheat could be turned into bio-based chemicals that offer high greenhouse gas savings and do not compete with food supplies or damage ecosystems.

Farmers could protect the environment and cut down on fertiliser use with swarms of drones. Image credit - 'Aerial View - Landschaft Markgräflerland' by Taxiarchos228 is licenced under CC 3.0 unported

ict | agriculture | environment

24 August 2017

EU’s future cyber-farms to utilise drones, robots and sensors

Bee-based maths is helping teach swarms of drones to find weeds, while robotic mowers keep hedgerows in shape.

Food makes up a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions. Image credit: Pixabay/ mccright

agriculture

02 June 2017

Changing the way we get our food is key to global warming fight

Our food accounts for a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, yet shorter supply chains, food maps, and sharing leftovers could help cities put cheaper and more climate-friendly produce on citizens’ plates, a conference on food security heard.

Dr Manoj Dora is looking into so-called lean agriculture to make European farming more productive and competitive.

agriculture | interview

23 May 2017

Secret to cheaper food may be to copy Toyota - Dr Manoj Dora

An on-demand style of farming inspired by the Toyota car manufacturing lines of the 1950s could be the key to improving efficiency on farms, which would in turn lead to cheaper food in European supermarkets, according to Dr Manoj Dora from Brunel University London in the UK.

Researchers in Norwich, UK, are hoping to make crops more resistant to disease. Image credit: Kamoun Lab @ TSL

agriculture

18 May 2017

Can CRISPR feed the world?

As the world’s population rises, scientists want to edit the genes of potatoes and wheat to help them fight plant diseases that cause famine.

Research on finger millet crops aims to boost essential vitamins to tackle malnutrition. Credit: ‘A Scene of Ragi’ by Thamizhpparithi Maari is licenced under CC BY-SA 3.0

agriculture | open to the world | health

10 May 2017

New strains of staple crops serve up essential vitamins

More nutritious versions of staple crops could increase daily vitamin and mineral intake for millions of people with poor diets, helping to overcome undernourishment that can cause blindness, brittle bones, feeble muscles and brain damage.