Rice with few stomata requires less water
Reading Time: 2 minutesRICE plants engineered to have fewer stomata — tiny openings used for gas exchange — are more tolerant to drought and resilient to future climate change, a new study has revealed. Scientists from the University of Sheffield have discovered that engineering a high-yielding rice cultivar to have reduced stomatal density, helps the crop to conserve […]
Blocking sunlight won’t reduce crop damage
Reading Time: < 1 minuteINJECTING particles into the atmosphere to cool the planet and counter the warming effects of climate change would do nothing to offset the crop damage from rising global temperatures, according to a new analysis by University of California, Berkeley, researchers. By analysing the past effects of Earth-cooling volcanic eruptions, and the response of crops to […]
Climate change will make rice less nutritious, putting millions of the world’s poor at risk
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY KRISTIE EBI- Professor of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington RICE is the primary food source for more than three billion people around the world. Many are unable to afford a diverse and nutritious diet that includes complete protein, grains, fruits, and vegetables. They rely heavily on more affordable cereal […]
Twice as predicted
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFUTURE global warming may eventually be twice as warm as projected by climate models under business-as-usual scenarios and even if the world meets the 2°C target sea levels may rise six metres or more, according to an international team of researchers from 17 countries.The findings published recently in Nature Geoscience.
ISAAA: The ‘green’ way forward with biotech crops
Reading Time: 3 minutesBIOTECH CROPS offer enormous benefits to the environment as well as contribute to the enhancement of both, human and animal health. They also largely contribute to improving and upgrading the socioeconomic status of famers and crop producers everywhere, and more so in third world countries in Africa and Asia. This was the take home message […]
Experts laud inclusion of ‘Climate Change’ in ministry
Reading Time: 4 minutesPETALING JAYA: The creation of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology, Science, Climate Change and Environment by the new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government has caught the attention of two world-renowned scientists. In an email message to The Petri Dish, both scientists lauded the creation of the ministry – which includes critical and related components such […]
Zero-waste palm oil industry on the horizon with new technology
Reading Time: 3 minutesENGINEERS at The University of Nottingham Malaysia have developed new technology to help the global palm oil processing industry reduce CO2 emissions and create renewable energy from its waste. Malaysia is the second-largest crude palm oil producer in the world and fulfils nearly half of all demand for the oil, which is now used in […]
Gene boosts rice growth, yield in salty soil
Reading Time: 2 minutesIN A NEW study published in The Plant Cell, a team of researchers identified a gene that limits yield losses in rice plants exposed to salt stress and deciphered the underlying mechanism. Around 20% of the world’s irrigated land is considered to contain elevated concentrations of salt, and the soil continues to get saltier as […]
Global warming is transforming the Great Barrier Reef
Reading Time: 2 minutesA NEW study published online recently in Nature shows that corals on the northern Great Barrier Reef experienced a catastrophic die-off following the extended marine heatwave of 2016. “When corals bleach from a heatwave, they can either survive and regain their colour slowly as the temperature drops, or they can die. Averaged across the whole […]
Inclusive bioeconomy
Reading Time: 2 minutesFAO calls for a bioeconomy that does not leave anyone behind BERLIN: If done right, in particular with and for family farmers, bioeconomy can help efforts to tackle pressing global problems such as hunger, poverty and climate change. This was the message FAO Deputy Director-General Climate and Natural Resources, Maria Helena Semedo delivered recently at […]