Agriculture
Microbes and nanomaterials offer big yield gains for Africa’s stressed soils
Sub-Saharan Africa is running out of time and topsoil. A sweeping new meta-analysis synthesizing 317 peer-reviewed studies published between 2010...
Scientists Build Solid Fat Analogue to Cut Saturated Fat in Emulsified Sausages
Processed meat products occupy a curious position in the modern food supply. They are among the most widely consumed protein...
Sound Waves Could Pasteurize Milk Without Boiling It Away
Milk has a paradoxical reputation. It is one of the most nutritionally complete foods humans consume, delivering eighteen essential nutrients...
Meadow Rue Genus Shows Drug Promise, but Review Finds Evidence Gaps
A sprawling review of the meadow rue genus, Thalictrum, has catalogued a striking trove of biologically active plant chemicals across...
Drone Camera and AI System Reads Avocado Ripeness in Real Time
A team of researchers in Peru has built a system that can fly a drone over a Hass avocado orchard...
Hyperspectral Imaging and Machine Learning Detect Seed-Borne Virus in Faba Beans Without Damage
A team of researchers at the University of Saskatchewan has demonstrated that hyperspectral imaging combined with machine learning can detect...
Global Transgenic Crop Lessons Point India Toward Its Next Agricultural Leap
Transgenic technology has quietly reshaped agriculture across the world since the mid-1990s, moving desirable genes into crop plants across the...
Soil Chemistry Decides the Best Way to Keep Cadmium Out of Wheat
Cadmium is one of the most stubborn contaminants in the world’s farmland, and in China it has become a quiet...
Sorghum’s Rare Antioxidants Offer New Hope for Functional Foods
Sorghum has long lived in the shadow of wheat, rice, maize, and barley, ranking fifth among the world’s cereals with...
Sri Lanka’s Duckweeds Pack Protein, Omega-3s and Potent Antidiabetic Power, Study Finds
A family of tiny, free-floating aquatic plants that most people walk past without a second glance is emerging as one...
Sage-Made Zinc and Iron Nanoparticles Help Basil Survive Drought
Drought is one of the most punishing stresses a plant can face, and few crops feel that pressure more acutely...
Plant Sterol Bigel Rebuilds Fat Crystals for Healthier Cookies
Butter cookies may be about to get a structural makeover that could reshape how the baking industry thinks about healthier...
Ancient Honeycomb Stone Walls Slash Erosion and Boost Sorghum Yields in Benin
On the steep, rocky hillsides of Boukombé in northwestern Benin, farmers have spent generations arranging stones into patterns that resemble...
Microbes hold the key to healthier paddy soils, review finds
Rice paddies are among the most productive agricultural ecosystems on Earth, feeding billions of people across Asia and beyond. Yet...
USDA-Funded Soil Scientist Probes Hidden Carbon Reservoirs Threatened by Climate Extremes
Beneath every harvest in the United States lies an intricate microscopic economy, one that most consumers never see but every...
Roads, Education and Trust Drive Kenyan Cashew Farmers into Cooperatives
On Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, the cashew tree has long been more than a crop; it is a livelihood anchor...
Scientists Uncover Key Gene Module That Stops Quinoa Seeds From Sprouting Too Early
Quinoa has earned its reputation as one of the most resilient and nutritious crops on the planet, thriving in salty...
Feature-Optimized AI Tracks Crop Water Stress in Egypt’s Nile Delta
In the intensively irrigated farmland of Egypt’s Nile Delta, knowing exactly when crops begin to suffer from water stress can...
Scientists Pinpoint Wheat Genes That Fight Devastating Spot Blotch Disease
A sweeping genetic investigation of more than 1,200 elite bread wheat lines has delivered one of the clearest pictures yet...
Castration Reshapes Meat Quality and Muscle Metabolites in Black Tibetan Sheep
High on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where flocks of Black Tibetan sheep graze at altitudes of roughly 3,000 meters in China’s...