Testing local weather knowledge in the Bolivian Altiplano
Researchers compared traditional Aymara weather signs with decades of meteorological data and found that some local indicators are strongly…
Category: How do we feed people now and in the future?
How do we make farming more sustainable? What does sustainable even mean? What kinds of farming do researchers study and what are the improvements?
Viruses help plants obtain nitrogen
Scientists discovered soil viruses that help legume plants convert atmospheric nitrogen into biologically available nutrients.
Using bacteria to fight fungal brown rot
Scientists compared the effectiveness of traditional chemical fungicides and newer biological fungicides in killing the fungus responsible…
Biofertilizers change plants’ natural microbes
Scientists tested how mixtures of plant-growth-promoting bacteria affect the microbial communities of different sunflower varieties for use…
Is the most profitable fertilizer level also safe for the environment?
Researchers in the midwestern US measured how much nitrogen corn plants used versus how much remained in the soil, to help farmers maximize…
City waste could support urban farming
Researchers found that adding city waste products to local farms promoted a healthy soil microbiome and improved how tomatoes taste.
Anchovy-lovers, your favorite pizza topping may get harder to find!
Back when the Earth was warmer, a part of the ocean called the Humboldt Current used to be dominated by goby-like fish instead of the…
Could quantum dots reduce the cost of indoor farming?
Why does this help plants? Plants can capture energy from many colors of light, but they cannot use energy from ultraviolet radiation. By…
New rice growing method is environmentally friendly and more effective
Growing rice using an alternating wet and dry method can boost plant health and the amount of nutrients it carries thanks to…
Future telescopes could search for alien farms
Simulations suggest that the light observed from a distant planet around another star might be able to show evidence of ammonia and nitrous…