For the first time, a crop that produces an RNAi-based pesticide has got the green light.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved a genetically modified corn known as SmartStax Pro. In addition to producing two Bt toxins to kill any western corn rootworm larvae that try to eat it, the …
Scientists have identified a unique mechanism that the soil dwelling bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens uses to effectively exploit nutrients in the root environment.
The breakthrough offers multiple new applications, according to the team of John Innes Centre scientists behind the discovery: for the study of human pathogens, for synthetic biology, and for …
Amidst all the conflict and confusion around food safety and nutrition, how do we make the best decisions about how to feed ourselves? What choices do we need to make when it comes to feeding a planet that will, by 2050, more than 9 billion hungry people?
These questions — …
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government has promised to construct 57 dams, buy half of its food requirements from small scale farmers and improve forest cover from seven to 10 per cent in a bold food security plan, if re-elected.
The Jubilee team is also promising to put under irrigation at least one …
An international alliance was formed to speed up crop improvement in sub-Saharan Africa, which was launched at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK on June 16, 2017.
The Alliance to Accelerate Crop Improvements in Africa (ACACIA) aims to support African scientists in their efforts to find ways to address food security …
Practical information from B4FA Fellow Michael Ssali:
Agriculturalists describe drip irrigation as a system of providing moisture around the roots of plants by letting water to trickle into the soil.
Some people put water in plastic bottles and make a tiny hole at the bottom of each bottle to allow the water …
Farms that are used to teach agricultural techniques and technologies – known as demonstration farms – are a smart investment that can help accelerate the adoption of game-changing innovations. Farmers can learn new ways of doing things without having to do it on their farms.
Demonstration farms are used to teach …
Making agriculture profitable and “cool” for young people in Africa is key to lifting millions out of poverty and stemming migration to Europe, said the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Akinwumi Adesina was named the winner of this year’s World Food Prize on Monday for his decades-long work to …
The science of soil is easy!
Well actually, no. That’s not really true. The principles of a healthy, correctly functioning soil are though.
Once you start to consider, even at a very basic level, some of the relationships and manner in which the different components of soil interact with one another, things …
ARE biotech crops, which are spliced with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), safe to eat?
Opponents, mostly composed of private individuals, non-governmental organizations and international activists, say they are not. Proponents—who are mostly scientists (including Nobel Prize winners), health officials and United Nations agencies—claim they are!
Now, the International Service for the Acquisition …
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