We will never see "normal" times again - or at least not for many centuries - and agriculture, our food supply, is in the firing line. The ruin of the floods underlines the urgency of achieving national self-reliance in food crops Colin Tudge Tuesday July 31, 2007 The Guardian At a farm near my home in Oxfordshire, 50 sheep died in last week's floods. Statistics are presented to show that Britain's farming should go the way of its coal-mining, and it probably would have done already if it...

Other crops and sectors could begin displaying the impact in the near future if measures are not put in place to cope with the menace that has already begun unfolding itself. Under normal circumstances, the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in atmosphere (called the greenhouse effect) is deemed beneficial for several crops, including wheat, rice, pulses and oilseeds, because it improves photosynthesis (the process of utilisation of solar energy for economic, or edible, produce)...

Several teams of researchers from both organizations will make use of extensive genomics data, trait information and germplasm resources from Pioneer in the discovery research collaboration. This multi-project, multi-year effort will allow for a deeper sharing of information that aims to facilitate unique approaches to long-term agronomic challenges. Founded in 1890, CSHL is a private, non-profit research and education institution with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant genetics,...

Nigeria launched an ambitious programme in 2003 known as the "Presidential Initiative on Rice", to raise local output to 5 million tonnes last year and 6 million tonnes by end-2007. A top official said in January that Nigeria had cut its annual rice imports to half a million tonnes due to a significant rise in local production over the last three years due to the success of the government initiative. The association had said about a third of the rice imported into Nigeria was smuggled from...

Biotechnology holds promise for rice farmers, but only when this technology has received full regulatory approval in the United States and export markets and consumer acceptance. rice industry is still working to restore the international competitiveness and marketability of U. Today s announcement shows industry recognition of the critical importance of a detailed, hands-on stewardship program for the entire biotechnology chain, King said. Rice Federation Supports Biotechnology Industry's...

Idso and Idso (2000) have described how the aerial fertilization effect of the ongoing rise in the atmosphere's CO2 concentration can boost the yields of current crop varieties and help avert this disaster, as we discuss in more detail in our Editorial of 4 Sep 2002. Background There is growing concern that it will be difficult to feed the expanding human population of the planet just a few decades from now without the taking of great quantities of land (Waggoner, 1995; Tilman et al. CO2...