Food and Agriculture News

March 30, 2025

Top Headlines

Human Urine, a Valuable Resource as Fertilizer for Sustainable Urban Agriculture, Study Concludes

Mar. 27, 2025 — The reuse of human urine would allow for the production of sustainable fertilizers for urban agriculture, with significant environmental benefits, a new study concludes. The research evaluates the ...

Using Cover Plants to Remove Pollutants from Arable Soil

Mar. 25, 2025 — Nitrate, pesticides, metals, plastic -- agricultural soils often contain pollutants. But are there sustainable and climate-friendly ways to restore and promote soil health in agricultural land? Yes, says a research team. Specific plant species could ...

Technology Makes Pesticides Stick to Plant Leaves

Mar. 25, 2025 — Technology makes pesticides stick to plant leaves. With the system, farmers could significantly cut their use of pesticides and fertilizers, saving money and reducing ...

Insecticides May Contribute to Bigger Problems With Certain Weeds

Mar. 25, 2025 — Insecticides may help growers hoping to protect their crops from harmful insects, but they also may contribute to a larger amount of some weeds, according to a new ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:13pm EDT

Tax Sugar and Salt in Food to Improve Health?

Mar. 17, 2025 — Introducing a new salt levy is another proposal put forward in a comprehensive set of recommended regulations for the food ...

New Discovery in Plant-Pest Warfare Could Lead to Sustainable Farming Solutions

Mar. 17, 2025 — Overuse of chemical pesticides has driven resistance in agricultural pests, including the adaptable two-spotted spider mite. Researchers have ...

Study: 'Sustainable Intensification' on the Farm Reduces Soil Nitrate Losses, Maintains Crop Yields

Mar. 13, 2025 — A nine-year study comparing a typical two-year corn and soybean rotation with a more intensive three-year rotation involving corn, cereal rye, ...

How Agave Plants Survive Extreme Droughts

Mar. 5, 2025 — Researchers used terahertz spectroscopy and imaging to gain new insights into how agave plants are so remarkably adept at retaining water in extremely dry ...

Climate Change Threatens Future of Banana Export Industry

Mar. 6, 2025 — New research has found it will be economically unsustainable by 2080 for many areas across Latin America and the Caribbean to continue growing bananas for export, because of rising temperatures ...

Iconic Australian Bird Reveals Hidden Farming Talent

Mar. 5, 2025 — The beloved Australian lyrebird best known for its stunning tail and powers of mimicry may have a cunning hidden ...

New Computer Vision System Can Guide Specialty Crops Monitoring

Mar. 4, 2025 — Soilless growing systems inside greenhouses, known as controlled environment agriculture, promise to advance the year-round production of high-quality specialty crops, according to an ...

World's Critical Food Crops at Imminent Risk from Rising Temperatures

Mar. 4, 2025 — A new study offers a more precise picture of exactly where and how warming will affect our ability to grow ...

Ideal Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates in Corn Belt Have Been Climbing for Decades

Mar. 3, 2025 — The amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed to maximize the profitability of corn production in the Midwest has been increasing by about 1.2% per year for the past three decades, a trend driven by ...

Discovery of a Common 'Weapon' Used by Disease-Causing Fungi Could Help Engineer More Resilient Food Crops

Feb. 27, 2025 — The discovery of a powerful 'weapon' used by many disease-causing fungi to infect and destroy major food crop staples, such as rice and corn, could ...

Select Corn Lines Contain Compounds That Sicken, Kill Major Crop Pest

Feb. 26, 2025 — The corn earworm causes the loss of more than 76 million bushels of corn in the United States annually, and there is mounting evidence that increasingly extreme weather events and temperatures will ...

Feeding Anemone: Symbiote Fish Actively Feed Hosts in Wild

Feb. 26, 2025 — A research team observing anemonefish in the field found they engage in interesting feeding behavior with their host sea ...

Plant-Rich, Low Saturated-Fat Diet Associated With Reduced Psoriasis Severity

Feb. 21, 2025 — A diet of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy foods and lean meats, low in salt and sugar, is associated with reduced psoriasis severity, new research ...

Feed Additives Can Reduce Campylobacter in Free-Range Broilers

Feb. 19, 2025 — New research has yielded promising results in the fight against campylobacter in free-range chicken flocks. Trials demonstrate that adding biochar to chicken feed can reduce campylobacter in chickens ...

Biomedicine Shows the Way to Future Food Crops

Feb. 18, 2025 — Researchers have introduced genetic material into plants via their roots, opening a potential pathway for rapid crop ...

Climate Change Threatens Global Cocoa Production: New Study Highlights Pollination-Based Solutions

Feb. 14, 2025 — This Valentine's Day, millions of pounds worth of chocolate will be exchanged as gifts, but climate change and biodiversity loss imperil future global supplies of this treat. A new research ...

Killing H5N1 in Waste Milk -- An Alternative to Pasteurization

Feb. 14, 2025 — Researchers have found that acidification can kill H5N1 in waste milk, providing dairy farmers an affordable, easy-to-use alternative to ...

Value-Added Pancakes: Using Science to Improve Nutrition of Breakfast Staple

Feb. 5, 2025 — Food scientists are working to make pancakes healthier by boosting the popular morning favorite's nutritional value while enhancing its taste and texture. Generally, pancakes are made with ...

New Study Assesses Impact of Agricultural Research Investments on Biodiversity, Land Use

Feb. 4, 2025 — New, groundbreaking research shows how, at a local scale, agricultural research and development led to improved crop varieties that resulted in global benefits to the environment and food system ...

High-Yield Rice Breed Emits Up to 70% Less Methane

Feb. 3, 2025 — Rice cultivation is responsible for around 12% of global methane emissions, and these emissions are expected to increase with global warming and as the human population continues to grow. Now, ...

Potential in Cultivation of a Special Nutritious Microalga

Jan. 30, 2025 — The microalga Nannochloropsis oceanica holds potential as a valuable source of sustainably produced nutrients such as protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin K2. A new study shows that cultivation ...

Suboptimal Dietary Patterns May Accelerate Biological Aging as Early as Young Adulthood

Jan. 30, 2025 — Humans do not always age biologically at the same rate as their chronological age. Faster biological aging compared to chronological age has been linked to higher risks of disease and mortality. ...

Complexity of Tree-Planting Schemes

Jan. 28, 2025 — Research with smallholder farmers in Kenya shows that tree-planting schemes must account for complex local issues and ...

Damage Caused to Crops by Barnacle Geese Can Be Mitigated With Designated Set-Aside and Repelling Fields

Jan. 28, 2025 — A team of researchers examined the foraging behavior of barnacle geese in Northern Karelia, Finland. In this region, geese feeding on agricultural fields cause large economic damage to farms. The ...

Scientists Predict What Will Be Top of the Crops in UK by 2080 Due to Climate Change

Jan. 23, 2025 — While climate change is likely to present significant challenges to agriculture in coming decades, it could also mean that crops such as chickpeas, soyabeans and oranges are widely grown across the ...

Little Birds, Little Poops, Little Food Safety Risk

Jan. 21, 2025 — Smaller poops from smaller birds carry very low risk of foodborne pathogens on farms, finds a new ...

Dung Data: Manure Can Help to Improve Global Maps of Herbivore Distribution

Jan. 16, 2025 — Detailed livestock models are important for land-use planning, disaster relief and food ...

Diversified Cropping Systems Boost Nitrogen Supply but Not Soil Carbon

Jan. 15, 2025 — Longer, more diverse rotations of crops fertilized with livestock manure have many environmental benefits, but carbon sequestration isn't one of them, according to a new ...

Small-Scale Fisheries Essential to Global Nutrition, Livelihoods

Jan. 15, 2025 — Small-scale fisheries play a significant but overlooked role in global fisheries production and are key to addressing hunger and malnutrition while supporting livelihoods around the world, according ...

Could This Fundamental Discovery Revolutionize Fertilizer Use in Farming?

Jan. 15, 2025 — Researchers have discovered a biological mechanism that makes plant roots more welcoming to beneficial soil ...