News by Subject Agriculture

A new study shows that damage inflicted on trees in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria was unprecedented in modern times, and suggests that more frequent big storms whipped up by warming climate could permanently alter forests not only here, but across much of the Atlantic tropics.

More and more products carry ethical labels such as fair-trade or organic, which consumers view positively. Nevertheless, the sales figures of these products often remain low, even though they offer advantages for the environment or for society. A team of scientists from the University of Göttingen investigated what factors influence consumers' purchasing intentions. The results were published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, an international scientific publication which covers environmental and sustainable research and practice.

Leaf-feeding caterpillars greatly enrich their intestinal flora by eating soil. It's even possible to trace the legacy effects of plants that previously grew in that soil through bacteria and fungi in the caterpillars. Researchers of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) have just published these findings in the journal Nature Communications. They are of interest not just to scientists, but also to plant growers and farmers.

The self-reported struggle of many countries to design effective plans to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals has inspired a new UN tool to guide such nations along a 6-step path towards the critical SDG 6: clean water and sanitation for all. The SDG Policy Support System launches March 22, World Water Day, on the website of UNU-INWEH. It draws on extensive research into a universal recipe for accelerating SDG-6 progress.

Weeds often emerge at the same time as vulnerable crop seedlings and sneak between plants as crops grow. How do farmers kill them without harming the crops themselves? In a new University of Illinois study, researchers identify genes and metabolic pathways responsible for safener efficacy in grain sorghum.

The first survey of methane vent sites off Washington's coast finds 1,778 bubble columns, with most located along a north-south band that is in line with a geologic fault.