The 2015 ongoing drought in Cuba has now severely affected about 87 000 tons of country's year rice production, the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) stated on December 14, 2015. The drought conditions of this year have now been regarded as the worst over the last...
December 18, 2015
In the US, farmers have been cultivating GMOs since the 1990s and their consumption is by today widespread across the country. In the EU, on the other hand, usage of GMOs has taken a revolutionary turn after a directive passed in April 2015, which now allows EU...
November 30, 2015
Newly published research, investigating the relationship between increased food production and soil drying issues in northern China, suggest the increase in agricultural activities may be responsible for the strong decreasing trends of soil moisture. The research sugges
July 23, 2015
If humans continue destroying plants at the current pace, the lack of irreplaceable biomass may soon endanger present human civilization and make it unsustainable - according to a paper published recently by University of Georgia researchers in the Proceedings of the Na
July 17, 2015
In two new studies led by the University of California, Irvine (UCI), scientists mapped 37 of the world's largest underground basins using NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites and concludes that humanity is rapidly depleting one
July 12, 2015
North Korea is facing its worst drought in a century, according to state media. South Hwanghae, North Hwanghae, South Pyongan and South Hamgyong, the country's main rice growing provinces are already heavily affected, and the fear of food shortages is increasing.&qu
June 18, 2015
For the first time, satellite mapping of Latin America shows that the continent's agricultural expansion has waned in the wake of the global economic downturn, according to UBC research."Nearly every agricultural region across Latin America slowed down in
May 14, 2015
A plant scientist from The Australian National University (ANU) has called for the United Nations to guarantee free and open access to plant DNA sequences to enable scientists to continue work to sustainably intensify world food production. Dr Norman Warthmann, a plant
March 23, 2015
A systematic overview of more than 100 studies comparing organic and conventional farming finds that the crop yields of organic agriculture are higher than previously thought. The study, conducted by UC Berkeley researchers, also found that certain practices could furth
January 16, 2015
New study from Boston University, the University of Michigan and other institutions identifies a new, direct fingerprint of human activity on Earth as agricultural crops play a big role in seasonal swings of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.Modern agricultural
November 25, 2014
Salt-spoiled soils worldwide: 20% of all irrigated lands — an area equal to size of France. Extensive costs include $27 billion+ in lost crop value/year. UNU study identifies ways to reverse damage, says every hectare needed to feed world’s fast-growing popu
October 28, 2014
In a public ceremony on April 16, a coalition of farmers, scientists and sustainable food advocates launched the Open Source Seed Pledge, a parallel licensing system designed to keep seeds in the hands of the public and prevent them from being patented by private intere
May 04, 2014
Sri Lanka, the large island south of India, is home to more than 20 million people who are now saying "no" to Monsanto's Roundup. Sri Lanka's president has suddenly issued a ban on glyphosate herbicide, as new studies suggest that the chemical is a
March 18, 2014
The era of large-scale monoculture, with all of its toxic pesticides and untested genetically modified organisms (GMOs), could finally be coming to an end. Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) discovered recently that yield expansion rates for most
January 24, 2014
University of Calgary's Aidan Hollis advocates user fees on non-human antibiotics use Citing an overabundance in the use of antibiotics by the agriculture and aquaculture industries that poses a threat to public health, economics professor Aidan Hollis has
December 30, 2013
From the looks of an average produce section in a typical American supermarket, it might seem like modern society has access to basically every major type of fruit, vegetable and herb one could want. But a survey conducted by the U.S. National Seed Storage Laboratory
December 07, 2013
If there weren’t any pesky practical limitations, what world-changing device would you invent? In the second installment of Babelgum and GOOD’s new Big Ideas competition, Columbia professor Dickson Despommier imagines filling New Yorks skyscrapers with
September 22, 2013