Rice production in constant challenges
Reading Time: 2 minutesSERDANG: An adverse weather pattern that may come with climate change will be a major concern for rice growers in the country. Mohammad Hariz bin Abdul Rahman, Deputy Director of Climate Change Programme at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), says prolonged dry spells unleashed by impending climate change will severely impact national […]
Climate change to hit local rice production
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMALAYSIAN Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) expects rice production in Malaysia to fall by 30-percent once global temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius. Climate Change Programme Deputy Director Mohammad Hariz Abdul Rahman told BFM News, the country is already experiencing weakened rice productivity, especially on agricultural lands in the east coast. CLIP: “For sure, […]
US tells EU to make science-based decisions
Reading Time: < 1 minuteUNITED STATES Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue urges European policymakers to make science-based decisions if they want to help their farmers tackle concerns over sustainability. Perdue said that decisions on food should be based on science. Secretary Perdue spoke to a group of journalists in Brussels, Belgium, and said that EU policymakers are aware of […]
Newly-developed edible cotton seeds are packed with protein – not poison
Reading Time: < 1 minuteCOTTON is a widely-grown crop and its seeds are full of protein, so you might think they’d be a great source of food. Unfortunately, though, they’re toxic to humans. That said, such is not the case with a newly-developed variety of the plant. Ordinarily, cotton plants (including the seeds) contain a toxic organic compound known […]
Precise base editing of acetolactate synthase genes confers herbicide resistance in maize
Reading Time: < 1 minuteRESEARCHERS from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and other institutions reported precise based editing of maize genes using CRISPR-Cas9, leading to development of sulfonylurea herbicide resistance. The results are published in The Crop Journal. A CRISPR-Cas9 nickase-cytidine deaminase fused with uracil DNA glycosylase inhibitor was used for targeted conversion of cytosine (C) to thymine (T) […]
Research Identifies Protein for Plant Growth
Reading Time: < 1 minuteResearch conducted at the University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside) has identified a protein that controls plant growth. The protein, IRK, was found in the root cells of a plant related to mustard while researchers were looking for clues to the ways plant cells divide or expand. The research shows that turning off the gene […]
Golden Rice moves towards full cultivation
Reading Time: < 1 minuteON BEHALF of the 151 Nobel Prize winners and 13,292 cosigners supporting GMOs, we were delighted to hear of the recent announcement of the approval by the Philippine Department of Agriculture to authorize the direct use of Golden Rice as Food and Feed or for Processing (FFP). This brings the cultivation of Golden Rice in […]
Bountiful surprise
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, which surprised agricultural analysts. It was anticipated that yields for corn and soybeans would decrease, but USDA reported “a slightly higher production, reduced food, seed, and industrial use, larger feed and residual use, lower exports, and smaller ending stocks” for […]
China announces plan for biosafety certs
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced their plan to release biosafety certificates to domestically grown, genetically modified (GM) soybean and corn, as they move forward to commercializing GM grain production in the global market. The announcement was released after no objections were received by the Ministry during the 15-day period for soliciting […]
Seventy countries adopt biotech crops
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSince the first year of commercial planting of biotech crops in 1996, more than 70 countries from all over the world have either planted or imported biotech crops. In 1996, the six founder biotech crop countries, the USA, China, Argentina, Canada, Australia, and Mexico, planted these crops in a total of 1.7 million hectares. In […]