Over-reliance on chemical fertilizers to feed a growing population has often led to soil degradation and a decline in microbial diversity. Scientists are seeking sustainable alternatives that can maintain crop yields while revitalizing the soil. A new field study from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences offers a promising solution by demonstrating how biogas slurry—a nutrient-rich liquid byproduct of anaerobic digestion—can significantly enhance soil health and its ability to sequester carbon.

The investigation was conducted over three years at a dryland agriculture research station in China. Researchers compared the effects of applying biogas slurry topdressing (BST) against conventional chemical fertilizer topdressing (CFT) on maize crops. By collecting soil samples at three different depths and three distinct crop growth stages, the team performed a comprehensive analysis of soil chemistry and used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to map the changes in the bacterial communities over time and space.

Soil salinization is one of the world’s most pressing threats to agriculture, especially in dry and semi-dry regions where salts and high pH can build up in the soil. These harsh conditions limit root growth, reduce nutrient uptake, and weaken crop productivity. Now, a new study shows that carefully designed biochar amendments can do more than improve soil chemistry. They can also guide plant metabolism and reshape beneficial microbial communities around the roots.

The use of historical art to see ecosystems of the past, owls as a pest-control strategy and more from ESA’s journals.

As cases of a deadly cattle disease rise in Arkansas, researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station are testing two treatments they hope will help ranchers protect their herds. No approved drugs or vaccines to treat or prevent the pathogen are currently available in the United States, but research on the two methods to control it is now underway at the experiment station thanks to a two-year, $492,218 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

A new study from Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences pitted ordinary pets, trained by their owners, against experienced human searchers in a hunt for spotted lanternfly egg masses. It was the first test of community dog-handler teams in real-world conditions, where egg masses occur naturally, scents compete, and target locations are unknown. The dogs outperformed the people by more than 2 to 1 in densely vegetated areas.

This study reports a labor-saving strategy for hybrid rice seed production using a small flag leaf mutant, ym66, derived from radiation-mutagenized indica rice 93-11. The mutant exhibits extremely short, narrow, and stiff flag leaves due to a 6-bp insertion in the OsGATA15 gene, which leads to cell death and reduced vascular development. Using this mutant, the researchers developed a novel restorer line, NP27, which requires no manual leaf cutting during hybrid seed production. Field tests showed that NP27 achieves seed yields comparable to traditional leaf-cutting methods, while reducing labor costs by approximately 150–180 CNY per mu. Additionally, NP27-derived hybrids display more compact plant architecture, uniform panicles, and improved grain quality. This work provides a "leaf-cutting-free" germplasm resource that simplifies hybrid rice seed production and lowers production costs.

A rapid, precise, on-site, portable, and naked-eye visualization method for genotyping the FecBB mutation in sheep has been established. A genotyping strategy for important SNP site in livestock breeding programmes is provided, theoretically applicable to any SNP site.