EurekAlert! News by Subject: Agriculture - Home

Agriculture

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Oct-2026 00:16 ET (21-Oct-2026 04:16 GMT/UTC)

SUNY Chancellor King visits the Great New York State Fair

SUNY The State University of New York
Business Announcement

Albany, NY – State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. today visited the Great New York State Fair on Student Youth Day. For the first time, current SUNY students with a valid student ID card or incoming SUNY students with an admission letter are receiving free admission on Student Youth Day. SUNY campuses are also showcasing agriculture, battery technologies, healthcare, and more.

Indonesia’s forest-zone oil palm dilemma needs more than stricter laws, Hasanuddin study finds

Hasanuddin University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Indonesia’s policies on oil palm cultivation within state forest zones have shifted from gradual rehabilitation to stricter enforcement. However, a Hasanuddin University study finds that neither approach addresses the underlying drivers of forest conversion effectively. Drawing on field observations, stakeholder engagement, and policy analysis, the researchers identify gaps between forest restoration and smallholder livelihoods. The study calls for integrated governance that strengthens land rights and balances ecological protection with economic and social needs.

Journal: Forest Policy and Economics
Funder: Hasanuddin University

Parasitic plants act like genetic engineers by stealing and remodeling useful genes

Osaka Metropolitan University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Parasitic plants can take genes from their host, structurally remodel them and ultimately assimilate then into their own genome. Despite remodeling over millions of years, the gene continued to perform the same biochemical job.

Journal: PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Ohsumi Frontier Science Foundation, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

How plants evolved a molecular switch to cope with heat

Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie
Peer-Reviewed Publication

As climate change drives more frequent and intense heat waves, plants face growing challenges to survive and remain productive. Researchers at VIB, Ghent University, KU Leuven, and their international collaborators have now uncovered an evolutionary innovation that helps plants cope with high temperatures. Published in Nature Plants, the study uncovers a molecular mechanism that helps plants stay cool under heat stress and could help researchers identify new ways to strengthen crop resilience.

Journal: Nature Plants
Funder: Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO), Taiwanese Government Scholarship to Study Abroad, Ghent University Special Research Fund, China Scholarship Council, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation

Climate-driven water scarcity increases wheat prices globally

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study by an international team of researchers connects drought across the world’s wheat-growing regions with global markets and suggests that 3°C of warming could triple average wheat prices relative to 2010.

Journal: Earth's Future

3D imaging and machine learning improve noncontact weight estimation of frozen skipjack tuna

University of Tsukuba
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A joint research team, including researchers from University of Tsukuba, Ishida Tec Co., Ltd., and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, has demonstrated a noncontact method for estimating the body weight of frozen skipjack tuna by combining three-dimensional (3D) time-of-flight imaging with machine learning. In a proof-of-concept study involving 207 frozen skipjack tuna, the researchers acquired 3D point-cloud data on a conveyor belt and extracted fork length, body height, and body width. A random forest model using all three measurements estimated body weight with a mean absolute error of 0.20 kg for fish weighing up to 7 kg, and agreement with the measured weight classes reached 80.7%, compared with 73.9% for classifications made by experienced market graders.

Journal: Fisheries Research

Researchers zap microbe DNA in the name of food safety

University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and collaborating institutions found that electron beam (eBeam) technology shows promise as a way to improve the safety of poultry products by reducing harmful foodborne pathogens while maintaining meat quality.

Journal: Poultry Science
Funder: National Institute of Food and Agriculture

A single lever could ease India’s twin agricultural pressures of fertilizer pollution and groundwater stress

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has shown that redesigning India’s cereal cultivation patterns around nitrogen management could significantly reduce environmental damage while maintaining calorie production and improving agricultural sustainability.

Journal: Nature Communications

Researchers find no connection between pesticide exposure and social difficulties common in autism

NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Prenatal exposure to certain insecticides used in agriculture does not appear to be linked to social communication problems and other traits related to autism, a new study shows.

Journal: JAMA Pediatrics

13
14
15
16
17