Waitrose working to encourage sustainable food production
New research from North Carolina State University (NC State; USA) delves into the movement and evolution of the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s, which set down roots in the United States before attacking Europe.
Each year, around 88 million tonnes of food is discarded in the EU. This is something that Kristina Liljestrand, researcher at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), wants to do something about. She is now giving companies in the food supply chain specific tools that can reduce both food waste and the environmental impact of food […]
As Britain voted for Brexit amid furious debate over migration, trillions of migrants were coming and going, unseen by all but the sharpest eyes. For the first time, scientists have measured the movements of high-flying insects in the skies over southern England – and found that about 3.5 trillion migrate over the region every year.
The Waitrose Postgraduate Professional Training Programme ‘Food Challenges for the 21st Century’ is now open for enrolment.
The Global Food Security (GFS) programme has published a new report considering healthy food systems that could function within the boundaries of the Paris Agreement, following a workshop in September 2016. Key findings include the high importance of mainstreaming messaging on the connection between food and climate change to encourage positive food system change, and […]
A new video has been uploaded to the Sustainable Agriculture Comms Portal – click here to learn about Savid Organic Bananas, a Waitrose Demonstration Farm in the Dominican Republic.
Researchers have sequenced the genome of the whitefly (Bemisia tabici), an invasive insect responsible for spreading plant viruses worldwide, causing billions of dollars in crop losses each year. The genome study, led by Associate Professor Zhangjun Fei of the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI; USA), offers many clues to the insect’s remarkable ability to resist pesticides, […]
With an innovative modeling approach, researchers set out to examine corn and soybean yields and optimal nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates. In their study, recently published in Frontiers in Plant Science, they uses a 16-year long-term dataset from central Iowa, USA, with a state-of-the-art simulator that modeled corn and soybean yields, improving predictions of optimal N […]
Scientists have developed a new improved method for capturing longer DNA fragments, doubling the size up to 7000 DNA bases that can be analysed for novel genes which provide plants with immunity to disease.
A new review indicates that flowers may be able to manipulate the laws of physics, by playing with light, using mechanical tricks, and harnessing electrostatic forces to attract pollinators. The New Phytologist review describes the latest advances in our understanding of how plants use their flowers to ensure reproductive success. Flowers use light to attract […]
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