Waitrose working to encourage sustainable food production
Choosing different crops, building soil organic matter and planting more trees could allow farmers to reduce the risk of nearby rivers from bursting their banks miles downstream, according to an innovative new research project. Researchers in a collaborative project led by the University of Reading will work with farmers, advisors, communities and local authorities across […]
Abandoned sugarcane plantations across the tropics could offer us a realistic, sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. Ethanol produced from sugarcane has been one of the most successful short-term strategies to date in decarbonising energy supply, particularly in Brazil where the sugarcane ethanol system results in just 14% of the CO2 emissions of petroleum. In 2012 Brazil […]
A new study finds that even low levels of logging in the Amazon rainforest may lead to great losses in biodiversity. More than 403 million hectares of tropical forests worldwide have been earmarked for timber concessions with selective logging a common economic activity. The Brazilian Amazon alone holds around 4.5 billion m³ of commercial timber volume, […]
Ancient peoples began to systematically affect evolution of crops up to 30,000 years ago – ten millennia before experts previously thought, says new University of Warwick research Rice, wheat and barley were used so much that their evolution was affected – beginning the process that eventually turned them from wild to domesticated – as long […]
Honey bees love the invasive plant Himalayan balsam and eat it like ‘fast food’ but, like humans, they thrive better on a varied diet. A study of honey bee bread in Lancashire and Cumbria bee hives showed that in some samples nearly 90% of the pollen came from the invasive plant Himalayan balsam. Bee bread […]
Not luck of the draw exactly but it was a random mutation in a convenient host that led to the discovery of a gene responsible for fungal disease that wrecks up to one fifth of the world’s cereal production, or hundreds of millions of tonnes of crops. Near identical genes are also present in the […]
The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) has launched its new vision and announced the appointment of Prof Nicholas Talbot FRS as executive director. Based at Norwich Research Park (NRP), TSL is a world-leading research institute working on the science of plant-microbe interactions.
Researchers reported in the journal Science this week that tests for five neonicotinoid compounds found at least one in 75% of honey samples from 198 sites around the world.
Paul Walker is to become responsible for all fresh buying at Waitrose. Paul, who has been with Waitrose for 30 years, starts the role on Monday 9 October. The position reports to Rupert Thomas, the supermarket’s Commercial Director.
UK crop researchers could boost yields of a vitally important global food crop by going back to its wild relatives to find new sources of disease resistance. Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important staple for over 500 million people worldwide, grown for food and known in its dried form as tapioca, as animal feed and […]
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