Waitrose working to encourage sustainable food production
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 […]
Tighter controls on timber and plant movements into Europe are necessary to prevent further disastrous effects of plant diseases, a new study of the ash dieback pathogen advises. The call to action follows detailed investigations carried out in British woodlands into the population makeup of the Hymenoscyphus fraxineus fungus that causes ash dieback.
New research is set to change the textbook understanding of how plants breathe. In research published in Plant Journal, a team led by Professor Richard Morris from the John Innes Centre, Norwich, Professor Silke Robatzek of The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, and collaborators from the University of Madrid, developed the first ever full 3D model of a […]
An international collaboration involving the Earlham Institute, Norwich, UK, and the Iwate Biotechnology Research Centre, Japan, has for the first time provided a genome sequence for the white Guinea yam, a staple crop with huge economic and cultural significance on the African continent and a lifeline for millions of people.
Combining methods of disease control rather than relying on a single resistance strategy can extend the durability of crops by many years, confirms computer modelling that draws on classical population genetics theory.
A non-renewable resource, phosphorus (P) is essential for crop and food production. However, due to inefficient use and limited global reserves, inorganic P fertilisers will become less economically viable and there are concerns about future supplies and the environmental consequences of mismanagement. Without action, this situation could undermine agricultural productivity and sustainability.
Research seeking ways to increase yields for farmers worldwide has received $45 million to build on pioneering work in plant science to help feed the world The five-year reinvestment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) will enable the researchers to continue their work […]
Though it may look haphazard, the network of intertwining plant roots snaking through the soil actually represents a deliberate process. Root growth is guided by chemical snapshots taken by the young roots, allowing them to detect obstructions and coordinate the paths they take, new research led by Florida Institute of Technology finds.
Michigan State University‘s (MSU; USA) Robert Last studies tomatoes. Specifically, he researches their hair, or trichomes. For this study, he focused on a single type of molecule in trichomes – acyl sugars. The secrets Last and a team of MSU scientists found from studying these specialized metabolites open an evolutionary window for the emerging field of […]
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