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.