A balanced research program should focus on good and rational peat management efforts that minimise environmental impacts, and on water regulation that reduces the risk of fire.
How do foods break into new niches and global markets? US cranberry growers, saddled with large surpluses and working to boost demand for their product, could take a lesson from soybeans.
Seeds and cereals are assessed in in laboratories to check the quality of the grains.
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African countries, like Nigeria and Ethiopia, increased their food production using a system-wide approach, and not the traditional reliance on isolated projects.
Whiteflies - Africa’s main cassava pest causes damage to crops.
Maurice/Flickr
We will one day grow food in conditions as extreme as Mars. Developing the controlled environments required will help not only space explorers but also support our own survival here on Earth.
Demonstration farms showcase agricultural techniques and technologies to improve crops.
Flickr/Remi Nono-Womdim, FAO
Many African countries are still searching for inclusive commercial farming models that can bring in private investment without dispossessing local people.
Scanned from 'The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Egypt'
Crop probiotics are natural, eco-friendly and could provide huge benefits for Australian farmers. But our loose regulations means genuine products are competing with snake oil.
Microbes are tiny microscopic organisms such as bacteria and fungi that interact with soils and plants.
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Every single Cavendish banana plant worldwide is genetically identical. This vast monoculture sets them up for disastrous disease outbreaks. But researchers have ideas on how to protect the crop.
Charcoal rot is a relatively unknown disease causing yield losses in crops across South Africa, including maize.
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Invasive species and diseases pose a major threat to agriculture – particularly in the countries that can least afford it.
Beefy problem: livestock emit methane, but the soils where they graze can be much more climate-friendly than cropland.
AAP Image/Caroline Duncan Photography
Eating meat means greenhouse emissions. But the emissions from growing crops may have been underestimated, meaning that a climate-friendly diet isn't as straightforward as simply going vegetarian.
PhD Candidate, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, and Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney