There are ‘jewels’ among the piles of ash that remain once sugarcane’s fibrous material is burned.
Satellite imagery monitors environmental changes to inform agricultural decisions. Agricultural patterns are distinctly visible in this near-vertical false colour infrared photography of farmland south of Khartoum, Sudan.
(JSC/NASA)
A regulatory approach will place an unnecessary burden on bio-innovators. This will discourage local investment for in-house R&D, as well as projects in the public sector.
Permaculture practitioners manage their gardens or farms in ways inspired by the sustainability and resilience of healthy natural ecosystems.
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Permaculture – a mashup of ‘permanent’ and ‘culture’ – is a way of doing agriculture that’s inspired by the resilience and biodiversity of healthy natural ecosystems.
Zimbabwe’s 2021 bumper harvest is a welcome development but, it’s important to know what’s behind this success and what challenges remain.
You can plant a seed from a delicious Honeycrisp apple from the grocery store — but the fruit that comes from that tree will not be Honeycrisp.
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Apple breeders have created crisp, juicy and tasty fruits, but the limited varieties leave crops vulnerable to diseases, pests and climate change. Introducing new traits could improve crop resilience.
Ghana’s Green Revolution has not been as successful as portrayed.
Wikimedia Commons/Flickr
James Boafo, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Kristen Lyons, The University of Queensland
Realities on the ground tell a different story from the claim that a Green Revolution ensures food security and increased income for smallholder farmers in Ghana.
Moringa as a crop is on the rise in South Africa. But more must be done to make use of this versatile, climate resilient plant.
A prairie strip filled with flowers and wild rye grass between soybean fields on Tim Smith’s farm near Eagle Grove, Iowa, reduces greenhouse gases and stores carbon in the soil.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Farmers can help slow climate change by mixing native grasses into croplands, restoring wetlands and raising perennial crops. These strategies also conserve soil and water and build new markets.
Cultivating traditional plants is a way of creating a space that is familiar within a new and often alienating environment.
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Seedkeeping can create a sense of home, reconnect communities with ancestral crops and preserve biodiversity and culturally significant crops for future generations.