CEOs need to accelerate their action plans to safeguard the production of commodities critical to the global population and economy as heat stress and drought risk rise around the world, according to PwC's report, Climate Risks to Nine Key Commodities: Protecting People and Prosperity, published. The report, which analysed nine …
Hybrid seeds, including biotech seeds, represent new business opportunities in India based on yield improvement, according to Usha Barwale Zehr, chief technology officer of Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company. “Approximately 7,000 plant species are estimated to be used for human consumption, of which just four crops - wheat, maize, rice and …
The storm of scientific criticism over claims that a genetically modified (GM) maize causes severe disease in rats shows no signs of abating. Gilles-Eric Séralini, a molecular biologist at the University of Caen, France, is under intense pressure to report the full data behind his team’s finding that rats fed …
In the coming decades, a crucial challenge for humanity will be meeting future food demands without undermining further the integrity of the Earth’s environmental systems. Agricultural systems are already major forces of global environmental degradation, but population growth and increasing consumption of calorie- and meat-intensive diets are expected to roughly …
Balancing productivity, profitability, and environmental health is a key challenge for agricultural sustainability. Most crop production systems in the United States are characterized by low species and management diversity, high use of fossil energy and agrichemicals, and large negative impacts on the environment. We hypothesized that cropping system diversification would …
But they are likely to affect higher-level species such as birds, says ornithologist The long-term environmental impacts of Genetically Modified Organisms need intensive study, but they are very likely to have impacts on higher-level species such as birds. Dr. P.A. Azeez, director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and …
New Delhi Global food prices rose by 1.4 per cent in September due to strengthening of cereals,dairy and meat prices, United Nation's body FAO said today. "Following two months of stability, the FAO Food Price Index rose slightly in September 2012, up 1.4 per cent, or 3 points, from its …
Passionate arguments were heard on Wednesday for and against GM or genetically-modified technology in an event that was held on the sidelines of the CoP MoP 6. Scientists from Europe and Africa presented their studies on the observed health effects of GM foods and the resistance that insects are developing …
The use of genetically modified crops has not led to any substantial increase in food production, Dr Hans Herren, the president of the Millenium Institute and a World Food Prize laureate said here on Thursday. Speaking at an international scientific conference in the city on ‘Can GM crops meet India’s …
Europe has never been particularly fond of genetically modified (GM) foods, but a startling research paper looks set to harden public and political opposition even further, despite a torrent of scepticism from scientists about the work. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, looked for adverse …
The health effects of a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize (from 11% in the diet), cultivated with or without Roundup, and Roundup alone (from 0.1 ppb in water), were studied 2 years in rats. In females, all treated groups died 2–3 times more than controls, and more rapidly. This difference was …
Biological control provided by natural enemies play an important role in integrated pest management. Generalist insect predators provide an important biological service in the regulation of agricultural insect pests. Our goal is to understand the explicit process of oviposition preference, habitat selection and feeding behavior of predators in farmland ecosystem …
Farm income expectations in key Midwestern states for the third quarter have been badly dented by the harsh drought, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Thursday. Crops have been stunted by withering heat across the U.S. heartland, with corn and soybean yields …
Climate change may pose a much more serious threat to the world's poor than existing research has suggested because of spikes in food prices as extreme weather becomes more common, Oxfam said on Wednesday. More frequent extreme weather events will create shortages, destabilize markets and precipitate price spikes on top …
Nestlé, the world's largest food company, has added its weight to calls by the UN and development groups for the US and EU to change their biofuel targets because of looming food shortages and price rises. "We say no food for fuel," said Paul Bulcke, chief executive of Nestlé, at …
Joint statement on international food prices from the three Rome-based UN Agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP): Tackling the root causes of high food prices and hunger.
Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy which plays the most decisive role in the socioeconomic development of the country. Indian agriculture is a miscellaneous and extensive sector involving a large number of actors. India has one of the largest and institutionally most complex agricultural research systems in the …
The nations of the world urgently need to adopt drought-management policies, as farmers from Africa to India struggle with lack of rainfall and the United States endures the worst drought it has experienced in decades, top officials with the UN weather agency said on Tuesday. The World Meteorological Organisation says …
Two U.S. states that depend on the livestock industry are adding their voices to a string of states asking Washington to ease pressure on corn prices by suspending rules that send a large share of the crop to produce ethanol. Georgia, the center of U.S. poultry production, and New Mexico, …
