South Africa urgently needs to rethink its existing agricultural model.
‘Silent Spring’ author Rachel Carson testifies before a Senate Government Operations Subcommittee in Washington, D.C. on June 4, 1963. Carson urged Congress to curb the sale of chemical pesticides and aerial spraying.
AP
Did Rachel Carson catalyze the organic farming movement, as many advocates claim? Or would she reject their ban on synthetic fertilizer and see organic as an inefficient way to feed the world?
Women looking for water in Sudan. Climate change can play a role in forcing people to migrate.
Shutterstock
Chemical companies touted synthetic insecticides and herbicides as miracle products in the 1940s and 1950s. But farmers and cropdusting pilots didn’t always buy the sales pitch.
Wild bumble bees provide natural pollination for blueberries in North America.
John Flannery
Honeybees receive a lot of attention, but the first North American bee to be listed as an endangered species is a wild bumble bee. Wild bees are vital pollinators, and some are declining rapidly.
The lighter citrus plants have been edited using CRISPR to alter the phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene which gives them a white color.
Yi Li
GMO crops have been rejected by many countries and consumers. Now, an international team of researchers are creating better crops using DNA editing–without inserting foreign genes into the plant.
Ammonia production is one of the most energy-intensive industrial processes on the planet.
By saoirse2013/shutterstock.com
Producing ammonia, which is a key ingredient in fertilizers, is one of the world’s most energy-intensive chemical manufacturing processes. Now there’s a new low energy option in development.
Farmers need support, investment and knowledge to thrive.
Giulio Napolitano/Shutterstock
Daniel Rodriguez, The University of Queensland; John Dixon, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research e Mulugetta Mekuria, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
Africa’s declaration to boost agriculture on the continent has seem some progress but a lot still needs to be done.
A woman harvests groundnuts in Malawi. Land ownership does not automatically empower women.
ILRI/Flickr
The submission recommends an increase in the space allocation for each animal of at least 30% for sheep weighing 40-60 kilograms – the weight range of the typical sheep sent to the Middle East.
Shadow agriculture minister Joel Fitzgibbon said farmers could actually benefit from the end of live sheep exports.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Canada’s reputation as a land of opportunity is challenged by Migrant Dreams, a documentary that explores the lives of migrants as they navigate dangerous and exploitative working conditions.
In this file photo from 2010, members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers take part in a march through the streets of Tampa, Fla., to try to persuade the supermarket chain Publix to take a stand against abusive work conditions in the fields.
(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Female migrant farm workers across North America are vulnerable to sexual abuse and assault because the systems set up to temporarily employ them offer no protections or access to citizenship.
Small-scale farmers produce about 90% of Nigeria’s food.
ILRI/Stevie Mann/Flickr
Managing Director, Triple Helix Consulting; Chief Executive Officer, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; Professorial Fellow, ANU Fenner School for the Environment and Society, Australian National University