Ethiopia’s agriculture is complex, involving substantial variation in crops grown across the country’s regions and ecologies. And although there has been significant growth in the cultivation of cereal crops over the last decade, by international standards, yields are low, and overall production is highly susceptible to weather shocks, such as …
The first science-based diet that tackles both the poor food eaten by billions of people and averts global environmental catastrophe has been devised. It requires huge cuts in red meat-eating in western countries and radical changes across the world.
The “planetary health diet” was created by an international commissionseeking to draw up …
In this video by Robert Hazen of the Alliance for Science, scientists from the Engineering Nitrogen Symbiosis for Africa (ENSA) project discuss how they are using genetic engineering to transfer the nitrogen-fixing capabilities of legumes (peas and beans) into cereal crops. Their work could help small-holder farmers in Africa and elsewhere realize higher yields, …
Legumes food crop farming can end Kenya’s perennial food insecurity and generate income for farmers. This follows the coming up of resolutions by researchers and scientists that will help African countries gain food security and sustainable development at the seventh international food legume research conference in Marrakech, Morocco recently.
Scientists said …
The humble chickpea (Cicer arietinum) has its own genetic atlas, following a five-year long effort by researchers from International Crops Research Institute for the Semi‐Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, India. The researchers say that genetic information mapped in the atlas could be harnessed to boost productivity and climate resilience in chickpea and …
The high-iron beans are a special type of conventionally bred biofortified beans that contain high levels of iron and zinc. Biofortification enhances the nutritional value of staple food crops by increasing the density of vitamins and minerals in a crop through either conventional plant breeding, agronomic practices or biotechnology. Examples …
Farmers in seven Districts of the Upper East Region–Bongo, Builsa North, Builsa South, Pusiga, Nabdam, Binduri and Garu-Tempane–are to increase their incomes from legumes cultivation, with the introduction of a new biological fertilizer, simply known as ‘inoculant’.
The inoculant, a product of Ghana’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), its …
Scientists from the University of Kentucky led by Professor Hongyan Zhu have discovered a more efficient way for legumes to fix nitrogen. Zhu and his team found two antimicrobial peptides in the legume Medicago truncatula that kill certain rhizobial bacteria as nitrogen fixation begins. M. truncatula is closely related to …
The Smart Food Project is hoping to popularize nutrient-rich, drought-tolerant crops in an effort to diversify diets and ensure global food security. An initiative by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Smart Food Project is promoting the consumption of sorghum, millets, and grain legumes like …
Smallholder farming systems in southern Africa are faced with challenges such as declining soil fertility, low productivity and profitability and the increased need to adapt to climate variability and change. Sustainable intensification of both legume- and maize-based farming systems is needed to increase food, nutrition and income security for smallholders.
Since …
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