The soil-dwelling bacteria that we walk on every day are working their way into technologies that could help feed the world. (National Geographic) — On a frigid day last February, Maren Friesen drove eight hours across...
Read More(phys.org) — The colonization of land by the first land plants was a key step in the evolution of life on Earth. The exact circumstances of this shift, however, have not been fully explained. Taku Demura and colleagues at...
Read More(INRA) — Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas that is also responsible for destroying the ozone layer. France’s INRA research scientists in Dijon have shown that the ability of soils to eliminate N2O can...
Read More(The Japan News) — An agricultural research center in western Japan has developed and commercialized a ladybug as a biological. The development by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization’s Western Region...
Read More(Greenhouse Management) — When it comes to battling plant diseases in greenhouses and nurseries, chemicals remain the clear weapon of choice among greenhouse growers, though the emergence of fungicide-resistant strains of...
Read More(The Independent) — Scientists have created the first “semi-synthetic” micro-organism with a radically different genetic code from the rest of life on Earth, according to a story in the British publication The Independent....
Read More(phys.org) — Scientists from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have identified a benign bacterium that shows promise in blocking Salmonella from colonizing raw tomatoes. Their research is published ahead of print...
Read MorePresentations Pests of the Northeastern US & Hints for Efficacy Trials Exploring the market perspective of biologicals (panel discussion) * Dr. David Holden, Holden Research and Consulting, Panelist * Richard Jones, Group...
Read More(UC Davis News Service) — Long before nations devised complex military strategies, plants had their own built-in systems for thwarting potential attacks by disease-causing microbes. Two new players in this mutual...
Read More(Phys.Org) — Injecting crop protection products into the root zone of the plant creates possibilities for effectively dealing with difficult to control pest insects. This was shown in an exploratory practical test by...
Read More(VOA) — “That insect’s dead.” Shawn Semones holds up a little plastic cup in which a little worm-like insect lies in repose, sprouting a fine white coat of mold. That fungus not only killed the insect pest, the white coat...
Read More(University of Georgia) — A University of Georgia researcher is using two new traps and the beetle’s sex drive to trap and control the pest that damages the roots of pecan trees. Prionus root borers, the larval stage...
Read More(phys.org) — The Chrysodeixis chalcites moth is regarded as one of the most serious pests in horticultural, ornamental and fruit crops. On the Canary Islands they can be responsible for losses of up to 30 percent in the...
Read More(science2.0) — As scientists try to forecast the effects of climate change, one of the missing pieces of the puzzle is what will happen to the carbon in the soil and the microbes too. Scientists studying grasslands in...
Read More(phys.org) — Grasshoppers may be small, but the damages they are causing to the U.S. agriculture industry are anything but. Every year, they feed on crops and on rangelands needed for raising livestock, costing landowners...
Read More(phys.org) — Plants sustain bacterial communities in their roots that are beneficial to them. Klaus Schläppi and Paul Schulze-Lefert from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne have shown that...
Read More(EurekaAlert!) — To safely use bacteria in agriculture to help fertilize crops, it is vital to understand the difference between harmful and healthy strains. The bacterial genus Burkholderia, for example, includes...
Read MoreWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University researchers have discovered a microbial-like pathway in plants that produces phenylalanine, an amino acid that is a vital component of proteins in all living organisms. Plants...
Read MoreIn a unanimous vote at a special board meeting held December 6, the Biopesticide Industry Alliance (BPIA) elected Rick Melnick of Valent BioSciences Corporation (VBC) as its new board chairman and director. Effective January 1, Melnick succeeds Eda Reinot of BASF Corporation, who served as chair since 2009. Reinot was elected to remain on the board and serve as vice-chairman.
Read MoreA Montana State University (MSU) professor has developed a unique technique to fighting weeds, according to a story in The Prairie Star newspaper.
“There are several ways to kill weeds,” said David Sands, a professor of plant pathology at MSU told The Star. “One is by having 55 women in Kenya hoe them out.”
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