Oslo | Reuters — The El Nino weather phenomenon that is likely to strike this year damages world maize, rice and wheat yields but boosts soybeans, according to a study on Thursday that could help farmers plan what to grow. The Japanese-led report gave what it called a first global set of maps linking yields […] Read more
El Nino weather hits many crops, boosts soybeans: study
Global warming, trade helps crop pests spread
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters / Crop-damaging pests are moving towards the Poles at a rate of more than 25 km (16 miles) a decade, aided by global warming and human transport, posing a potential threat to world food security, a new study shows. The spread of beetles, moths, bacteria, worms, fungi and other pests in a warming world […] Read more
Global warming linked to more floods along key rivers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters / Climate change is likely to worsen floods on rivers such as the Ganges, the Nile and the Amazon this century while a few, including the now-inundated Danube, may become less prone, a Japanese-led scientific study said June 9. The findings will go some way to help countries prepare for deluges that have killed […] Read more
Decline in biodiversity of farmed plants, animals gathering pace
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters / A decline in the diversity of farmed plants and livestock breeds is gathering pace, threatening future food supplies for the world’s growing population, the head of a new United Nations panel on biodiversity said May 27. Preserving neglected animal breeds and plants was necessary as they could have genes resistant to future diseases […] Read more
Decline in biodiversity of farmed plants, animals gathering pace
A decline in the diversity of farmed plants and livestock breeds is gathering pace, threatening future food supplies for the world’s growing population, the head of a new United Nations panel on biodiversity said Monday. Preserving neglected animal breeds and plants was necessary as they could have genes resistant to future diseases or to shifts […] Read more
World seed banks get funds to tackle climate, other threats
Reading Time: 2 minutes Scientists have agreed on a $109-million plan to strengthen the world’s biggest seed banks of crops such as rice and wheat to help protect and develop new varieties resistant to climate change and other threats. The Global Crop Diversity Trust and the CGIAR Consortium of agricultural researchers said on Jan. 31 that a five-year plan […] Read more
‘Peak farmland’ is here, crop area seen diminishing
The amount of land needed to grow crops worldwide is at a peak, and a geographical area more than twice the size of France will be able to return to its natural state by 2060 as a result of rising yields and slower population growth, a group of experts said on Monday. Their report, conflicting […] Read more
Climate change brings far-reaching changes in northern climes
clues Researchers study 10,000-year-old spruce in hopes of finding ways to deal with a warming planet
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters / On a windswept Swedish mountain, a 10,000-year-old spruce with a claim to be the world’s oldest tree is getting a new lease on life thanks to global warming, even as many plants are struggling. Scientists are finding the drift of growing areas for many plants out toward the poles is moving not in […] Read moreAfrica can easily grow wheat, says new study
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters / Wheat production in sub-Saharan Africa is at only 10 to 25 per cent of its potential and nations can easily grow more to limit hunger, price shocks and political instability, says a new study. The report, examining environmental conditions of 12 nations from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, said that farmers south of the Sahara […] Read more
Wheat scientists seek to slow Ug99 in Africa, Asia
Wheat experts are stepping up monitoring of a crop disease first found in Africa in 1999 to minimise the spread of a deadly fungus that is also a threat in Asia, experts said on Friday. A "Rust-Tracker" using data supplied by farmers and scientists could now monitor the fungus in 27 developing nations across 103 […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
