This study systematically evaluates the effects of straw returning practices—specifically the timing, depth, and amount—on the occurrence of major maize diseases (northern leaf blight and ear rot), the infestation by Ostrinia furnacalis, and grain yield in dryland farming. It provides practical guidelines for tailoring straw management strategies to differentially manage airborne diseases, soil-borne pathogens, and overwintering pests.

Carbon materials are essential to modern technologies, from batteries and water purification to pollution control and wireless communication. A new review published in Sustainable Carbon Materials shows that microwave assisted pyrolysis could dramatically improve how these materials are produced, making the process faster, cleaner, and far more energy efficient.

A liquid byproduct generated during the treatment of wastewater sludge could help recycle nutrients for agriculture, but new research shows it may also subtly disrupt key ecological processes at the soil water interface.

China has moved from patchy, post-crisis biosafety rules to a unified legal regime anchored by the 2020 Biosecurity Law, yet fragmentation, weak risk intelligence and poor inter-agency coordination still leave gaps that could be exploited by novel pathogens, synthetic biology or geopolitical tension.  Historical review shows three phases: 1949-2002 built basic disease reporting and plant-quarantine systems but relied on paper records; 2003-2019 introduced internet-based surveillance, BSL-3/4 laboratories and alignment with WHO’s International Health Regulations after the SARS shock; 2020-present elevated biosafety to national-security status, enacted the Biosecurity Law and poured funds into diagnostics, vaccines and bio-economic R&D during COVID-19.  These steps created the skeleton of a modern system, but four structural weaknesses persist: strategic plans lack operational road-maps and AI-enabled foresight; the legal framework offers no clear dispute-resolution or accountability mechanisms; organisational silos among health, agriculture, science and military agencies hamper horizontal coordination; and public awareness plus professional training remain patchy, weakening compliance culture.

A research team has developed a new model, PlantIF, that addresses one of the most pressing challenges in agriculture: the accurate and timely diagnosis of plant diseases.

Researchers find that diversifying crops and integrating livestock improves farm efficiencies and ecosystem services in the US Midwest. 

Penn geophysicists Hugo Ulloa and Douglas Jerolmack and colleagues have uncovered Earth-sculpting processes that result from the formation of snowball-like aggregates they call “sandballs” that take on two shapes: peanut-shaped structures with liquid cores and stable, donut-shapes—with airy centers—that behave like rigid solids. Their findings provide fundamental insights into erosion and will broaden scientific understandings of landscape change, soil loss, and agriculture.

A land-based Benizake (sockeye salmon) aquaculture project in Fukushima—jointly led by Okayama University of Science, NTT East, and local retailer Ichii Inc.—is moving from pilot operations toward full-scale commercialization in Namie Town after being selected for a national subsidy program supporting recovery and job creation in areas affected by the 2011 disaster. About 1,500 fish are currently being raised in a 20-ton tank, with initial shipments expected after next summer and a new facility targeted for completion by 2026.