Crops
Sciences & Technology
Going back to the future for food crops
New sensing techniques can detect drought tolerance in ancient relatives of wheat and barley. Making it possible to use these traits to breed new food crops for a warmer world
Sciences & Technology
Drugging plants to learn their secrets
Discovering chemicals that affect plant circadian rhythms could improve crop yields – bringing us a step closer to ‘chronoculture’
Sciences & Technology
Tackling a global crop pandemic - from the air
The spread of Xf bacteria is a huge threat to global agriculture, but research is enhancing our capacity to detect it in crops using airborne monitoring
Sciences & Technology
Smaller plants show promise for future food crops
Researchers have bred smaller soybean plants with the same yield, raising the possibility that smaller crops could grow more food from less land in our changing climate
Sciences & Technology
Food to fight hidden hunger
University of Melbourne researchers are redesigning wheat to create healthier versions of one of the world’s favourite foods – bread
Sciences & Technology
A question of quinoa
Traditional knowledge from the Andes is inspiring research on quinoa flowering to develop future breeding programs
Environment
Planning for climate extremes in global farming
A new study finds that climate extremes, like heatwaves and droughts, are impacting the food we get from crops. By understanding these effects we can better plan for climate change
Environment
Podcast
Making friends with fronds: understanding plants’ feelings
How do plants sense and respond to the world around them - and do they listen when we talk?
Sciences & Technology
The power of recycled poo
An international study has calculated how much good old-fashioned animal poo increases crop growth and reduces pollution, benefiting the bank balance and the environment
Sciences & Technology
Go Figure
Silage: Rocket-fuel for cows
Smelly, pickled grass wrapped in plastic is actually a super food for cows. Silage is full of goodness, but it also gives farmers an extra tool for managing resources