Could biological clocks in plants set the time for crop spraying?

Dr Antony Dodd, Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences and senior author of the paper, said: "This proof of concept research suggests that, in future, we might be able to refine the use of some chemicals that are used in agriculture by taking advantage of the biological clock in plants.

Diet change needed to save vast areas of tropics

If the global demand for animal products continues to grow, large swathes of natural land will vanish potentially leading to widespread loss of species and their habitats.

Scent brings all the songbirds to the yard

Chickadees can smell! That is the news from a study out of Lehigh University, the first to document naturally hybridizing songbirds' preference for the scent of their own species.

Flavonoid-rich diet protects against cancer and heart disease, study finds

Consuming flavonoid-rich items such as apples and tea protects against cancer and heart disease, particularly for smokers and heavy drinkers, according to new research from Edith Cowan University (ECU).

Novel strategy uncovers potential to control widespread soilborne pathogens

Soilborne pathogens are a major issue worldwide as they can infect a broad range of agricultural plants, resulting in serious crop losses devastating to farmers.

Road verges provide refuge for pollinators

With many pollinator species in decline, the University of Exeter study shows verges can provide food and a home for pollinators such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies.

Make varieties available for multiplication within one year, committee advises breeders

The National Committee on Improved Varieties Release on Crops and Livestock has insisted that breeders must make their registered candidates available as foundational seeds for multiplication within one year after registration. This was the agreement reached at a meeting held recently in National Centre for Genetic Resource and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Ibadan.

Missing link in algal photosynthesis found, offers opportunity to improve crop yields

Photosynthesis is the natural process plants and algae utilize to capture sunlight and fix carbon dioxide into energy-rich sugars that fuel growth, development, and in the case of crops, yield.

Seaweed farming as a versatile tool in effort to mitigate climate change

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), addressing carbon emissions from our food sector is absolutely essential to combating climate change. While land and agriculture took center stage in the panel's most recent report, missing was how the oceans at large could help in that fight.

Groundnut association congratulates ministers, solicits support

·         Wants proper monitoring of supply and allocation of inputs

The National President of Groundnut Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (GROPPMAN) Hon. Aimu Foni has congratulated the four ministers in charge of Agriculture and Rural Development,  Alhaji Sabo Nanono and his state counterpart Mustapha Baba Shehuri, and Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo and Ambassador Mariam Katagun for their choice by President Mohammadu Buhari as members of his executives. This was said in a statement made available to foodfarmnews in Abuja.

Researchers determine pollen abundance and diversity in pollinator-dependent crops

A new study provides valuable insights into pollen abundance and diversity available to honeybee colonies employed in five major pollinator-dependent crops in Oregon and California, including California's massive almond industry.

Synthesis of UV absorbers from cashew nut shell liquid

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in South Africa and the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, succeeded in using cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) as a substitute for petroleum in organic synthesis. Their aim was the development of a sustainable synthesis of soluble organic UV filters.

Scent brings all the songbirds to the yard

*Odor might play a role in mate selection among naturally hybridizing songbirds

Chickadees can smell! That is the news from a study out of Lehigh University, the first to document naturally hybridizing songbirds' preference for the scent of their own species.

Discovery of a bottleneck relief in photosynthesis may have a major impact on food crops

Scientists have found how to relieve a bottleneck in the process by which plants transform sunlight into food, which may lead to an increase in crop production. They discovered that producing more of a protein that controls the rate in which electrons flow during photosynthesis, accelerates the whole process.

Wild ground-nesting bees might be exposed to lethal levels of neonics in soil

In a first-ever study investigating the risk of neonicotinoid insecticides to ground-nesting bees, University of Guelph researchers have discovered at least one species is being exposed to lethal levels of the chemicals in the soil.

Suggested move to plant-based diets risks worsening brain health nutrient deficiency

The momentum behind a move to plant-based and vegan diets for the good of the planet is commendable, but risks worsening an already low intake of an essential nutrient involved in brain health, warns a nutritionist in the online journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health.

Lifezgreen unveils e-commerce for agribusiness

In an effort to deepen the development of agricultural business through efficient innovation to enhancing food distribution across the nation and entire globe, the Lifezgreen Diamond Acres Limited has officially launched an e-commerce technology that will fast track means of food accessibility from the point of production to the market.

NAERLS, Farmers hail FAO 40 years existence

As Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) celebrates forty years anniversary in Nigeria, the Executive Director, National Agricultural Extension Research Liaison Office (NAERLS), Prof. Mohammed Uthman together with farmers’ representatives have commended the international agency for its impact on agriculture through capacity building of stakeholders towards ensuring food security in the country.

A Banana-Killing Fungus Has Reached Latin America. Does This Spell the End for Bananas?

Bad news for banana lovers: A fungus that's particularly adept at killing the fruit has finally reached Latin America — a major supplier of the world's bananas — as scientists long feared it would.

Climate change could shrink oyster habitat in California

Ocean acidification is bad news for shellfish, as it makes it harder for them to form their calcium-based shells. But climate change could also have multiple other impacts that make California bays less hospitable to shelled organisms like oysters, which are a key part of the food web.

Ancient feces reveal how 'marsh diet' left Bronze Age Fen folk infected with parasites

New research published today in the journal Parasitology shows how the prehistoric inhabitants of a settlement in the freshwater marshes of eastern England were infected by intestinal worms caught from foraging for food in the lakes and waterways around their homes.

Discovery could pave the way for disease-resistant rice crops

Researchers have uncovered an unusual protein activity in rice that can be exploited to give crops an edge in the evolutionary arms race against rice blast disease, a major threat to rice production around the world.

Green chemists find a way to turn cashew nut shells into sunscreen

A team of international scientists has found an environmentally friendly way of producing potential sunscreens by using cashew nut shells, a waste material.

ICO, others ask for coffee policy

FMITI promises rebirth

The visiting Executive Director, International Coffee Organization (ICO), Mr. Jose Sette has joined other stakeholders in Nigeria to demand for national policy on coffee that will galvanise the neglected crop towards wealth and more economic empowerment of farmers just as  the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) immediately promised to call for a rebirth conference in order to reposition the crop to more economy viability.

CORAF, NASC others ponder on low quality inputs for farmers

 The West and Central Africa Council for Agriculture Research and Development (CORAF), National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) and relevant stakeholders in the agricultural sector have expressed deep concern on how to step up the quality of inputs being given to farmers at accessesable and affordable prices saying this was the only way to avert imminent food shortage in view of the geometric population growth in the West African region.      

Compost key to sequestering carbon in the soil

By moving beyond the surface level and literally digging deep, scientists at the University of California, Davis, found that compost is a key to storing carbon in semi-arid cropland soils, a strategy for offsetting CO2 emissions.

Asian longhorned beetle larvae eat plant tissues that their parents cannot

Despite the buzz in recent years about other invasive insects that pose an even larger threat to agriculture and trees -- such as the spotted lanternfly, the stink bug and the emerald ash borer -- Penn State researchers have continued to study another damaging pest, the Asian longhorned beetle.

images speak @ the National workshop for analyzing Agri-input supply chains in West Africa and Sahel sub-region

 
images speak @ the National workshop for analyzing Agri-input supply chains in West Africa and Sahel sub-region... see more images below.

Artificial intelligence helps banana growers protect the world's most favorite fruit

Artificial intelligence-powered tools are rapidly becoming more accessible, including for people in the more remote corners of the globe.

Where are the bees? Tracking down which flowers they pollinate

Bees are in vast decline in the UK and across Europe, as are the wildflowers on which they rely. Bees have an essential role in our ecosystems and a third of all our food is dependent on their pollination; just in economic worth, pollination by bees is annually estimated at £265 billion, worldwide.

Scientist accuses non-scientists of antagonism to GMOs products

A scientist and director of planning at Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Mr. Yarama Ndirpaya has accused non scientists of being the major antagonists of Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) in Nigeria and advised that agricultural research institutes must integrate biotechnology mechanism into enhancing agricultural modification towards food security.

AfCFTA: stakeholders want policies for agric produce reinforced

 Ask research to generate more technologies against dumping

 Stakeholders have advised government to as a matter of urgency  quickly reposition its agricultural policies  so as to be able to properly harness the economic potentials in the new African Continental-free Trade Areas (AfCFTA) pact that President Mohammadu Buhari signed recently.

Eating more plant-based foods may be linked to better heart health

Eating mostly plant-based foods and fewer animal-based foods may be linked to better heart health and a lower risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular disease according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

Discovery of a bottleneck relief in photosynthesis may have a major impact on food crops

Scientists have found how to relieve a bottleneck in the process by which plants transform sunlight into food, which may lead to an increase in crop production. They discovered that producing more of a protein that controls the rate in which electrons flow during photosynthesis, accelerates the whole process.

National livestock movement bans may prove economically damaging

New research from the University of Warwick has pioneered an economic perspective on controlling livestock diseases. Focusing on Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), bovine TB (bTB) and bluetongue virus (BTV), the researchers draw striking conclusions about the role of movement bans in controlling an outbreak.

U.S. CORN, SOYBEAN CROPS ARE STILL GOING BACKWARD, USDA SAYS

More than half of U.S. farm operators say they do business over the internet, a 13-point increase in six years, as ownership of computers and access to the internet blossomed, according to USDA.

Interview- CBN is passionate to develop oil palm plantation through stakeholders- Engr Adeyinka

Let meet you sir?

My name is Engr. Samuel Ajayi Adeyinka. I am the chairman Oil-palm Grower Association of Nigeria farmers in Ogun state.

New GMO Controversy: Are the Herbicides Dangerous?

Although genetically modified organisms (GMOs) don't appear by themselves to have ill effects on human health, the herbicides used on these crops could be an overlooked health threat, some researchers say in a controversial new opinion piece.

New Farm Maps Offer In-Depth Picture of Global Agriculture

All farmers on the ground know their land as well as their own wrinkled hands, but totaling up all the world's cropland is a difficult task.

Message to the new Ministers of Agriculture

A visit to all research Institutes will properly give an insight to why we are food deficient. The Moorplantation Cereal Research Institute at Ibadan that house many Federal government projects is

Research environment turned party ground

It is Friday party time right inside a venue that is called Agricultural research Institute managed by Nigeria Cereal Research Institute ( NCRI).

NAIC cautions farmers against flood alert

The Managing Director (MD)/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigerian Agricultural Corporation (NAIC) Mrs. Folashade Joseph has warned all farmers to take very serious the red alert  on flood as issued  by the Federal Government in about 15 states of the federation.

Images speak @ the 6th APRNet/ IFPRI/USAID/MSU Multistakeholders forum themed ' Towards a sustainable Agricultural led for Growth Economic Growth and Recovery in Nigeria' @ Abuja

Images speak @ the 6th APRNet/ IFPRI/USAID/MSU Multistakeholders forum themed ' Towards a sustainable Agricultural led for Growth Economic Growth and Recovery in Nigeria' @ Abuja. See more images below..

Engineering a Better Food Bank

For the past few years, a team of engineers has spent long hours poring over data files and complex computer models.

We’ll strengthen research institutes for better seeds says Sabo Nanono

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, has said that the ministry under his stewardship would ensure that agricultural research institutes are strengthened to promote improved seedlings and seeds that will galvanise food production in the country.

Seed companies in trouble as low incentive, insecurity demoralize farming

There are indications that the seed companies are facing hard times on the sales of their certified seeds to farmers, reason being low inputs incentive from government coupled with insecurity situation in the country that had made many to leave farming activities for fear of being kidnapped or killed by armed bandits.

FG releases new improved wheat variety for demand quality

LCRI promises to tackle plantable material

The Federal Government (FG) National Crop Varieties and Livestock Breeds Committee domiciled at the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) has just released and registered a new improved wheat variety (LACRI WHIT-11) (IMAM (ATTILA 7). The official release of the seed took place in Ibadan, recently.

Institute’s new boss determined to attract grants for research

The new Executive Director for Institute for Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Prof. Veronica Obatolu has promised to supplement the epileptic research funding in the system by attracting more grants and donors through an established office for the purpose.

How Despots Arose With Agriculture (Op-Ed)

For hundreds of thousands of years humans lived in hunter-gatherer societies, eating wild plants and animals. Inequality in these groups is thought to have been very low, with evidence suggesting food and other resources were shared equally between all individuals.