Agriculture

  1. Agriculture

    Bt corn variety OK for black swallowtails

    The first published field study of butterflies and genetically altered corn finds no harm to black swallowtail caterpillars from a common corn variety.

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  2. Agriculture

    Downtown Fisheries?

    Advances may make fish farming a healthy prospect, even for inner cities.

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  3. Agriculture

    Toxic bugs taint large numbers of cattle

    U.S. cattle have dramatically higher rates of infection with a virulent food-poisoning bacterium than had been realized, a factor that leads to widespread carcass contamination during slaughter.

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  4. Agriculture

    A Dairy Solution to Mildew Woes

    Milk may prove the savior of some organic wines. Gray areas on these untreated grapes at Temple Bruer Wines reflect heavy powdery mildew damage. The grapes show splitting and “are useless,” notes Peter Crisp. Crisp This vine, treated with whey sprays, shows minimal mildew. Its grapes are acceptable for winemaking. Crisp This milk-sprayed vine also […]

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  5. Agriculture

    Apple pests stand up to antibiotics

    Scientists are concerned about new forms of antibiotic resistance cropping up in fire blight—a deadly disease of apple trees.

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  6. Agriculture

    Cocoa yields are mushrooming—downward

    A mushroom epidemic in Brazilian cacao trees, which has cut the production of cacao by 25 percent in 5 years, may be treatable with another fungus.

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  7. Agriculture

    Afghanistan’s Seed Banks Destroyed

    On Sept. 10, scientists in Kabul reported the loss of Afghanistan’s principal agricultural insurance policy: two stores of carefully collected seeds, materials selected to represent the genetic diversity of native crops. Here, some of the wheat seed brought into the country by a convoy, this spring, is being stored pending redistribution to Afghan farmers. USAID […]

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  8. Agriculture

    Sprawling over croplands

    Satellite imagery indicates that sprawling urban development has been disproportionately gobbling up those lands best able to support crops.

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  9. Agriculture

    Killer bees boost coffee yields

    Even self-pollinating coffee plants benefit substantially from visits by insect pollinators.

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  10. Agriculture

    Slugging It Out with Caffeine

    Anyone who has raised tomatoes in a moist environment knows the tell-tale sign: Overnight, a ripe, juicy orb sustains a huge, oozing wound. If you arrive early, you might catch the dastardly culprit: a slug. In one test, scientists sprayed soil with dilute caffeine and then watched as slugs, like this one, made haste to […]

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  11. Agriculture

    Moos, microbes, and methane

    A feed additive could reduce methane emissions from cows.

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  12. Agriculture

    Journal disowns transgene report

    The journal Nature now says it shouldn't have published a report that genetically engineered corn is leaking exotic genes into the traditional maize crops of Mexico.

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