Organic insect deterrent for agriculture

Traditional insecticides are killers: they not only kill pests, they also endanger bees and other beneficial insects, as well as affecting biodiversity in soils, lakes, rivers and seas. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed an alternative: A biodegradable agent that keeps pests at bay without poisoning them. "It's not […]

Coastal wetlands excel at storing carbon

In the global effort to mitigate carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, all options are on the table — including help from nature. Recent research suggests that healthy, intact coastal wetland ecosystems such as mangrove forests, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows are particularly good at drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it for […]

Dead sperm whale found in Indonesia had ingested ‘6kg of plastic’

A dead sperm whale that washed ashore in a national park in Indonesia had nearly 6kg (13 lbs) of plastic waste in its stomach, park officials say. Items found included 115 drinking cups, four plastic bottles, 25 plastic bags and two flip-flops. The carcass of the 9.5m (31ft) mammal was found in waters near Kapota […]

Climate change is going to make life on Earth a whole lot worse, report predicts

Think recent climate disasters have been bad? Just wait, researchers at the University of Hawaii predicted Monday.Right now, one climate-linked disaster generally hits at a time, whether it’s forest fires destroying swathes of California, hurricanes flooding Texas and Louisiana and completely devastating Puerto Rico, or heat waves killing thousands in Europe. By 2100, unless something drastic changes, a new report […]

Current climate models underestimate warming by black carbon aerosol

Soot belches out of diesel engines, rises from wood- and dung-burning cookstoves and shoots out of oil refinery stacks. According to recent research, air pollution, including soot, is linked to heart disease, some cancers and, in the United States, as many as 150,000 cases of diabetes every year.Beyond its impact on health, soot, known as […]

Progress in hybrid rice research highlighted at the HRDC annual meeting

Forging partnerships with the private sector opens up opportunities to maximize our research-for-development impact. IRRI, through the Hybrid Rice Development Consortium (HRDC), facilitates a collaboration that would advance hybrid rice development and dissemination for smallholder rice farmers in Asia.Eighty-three HRDC members gathered at IRRI Headquarters, Los Baños, Laguna earlier this week to discuss achievements and […]

Vietnam stakeholders discuss ways to increase mechanization and sustainability of rice value chains

As Vietnam rapidly progresses towards sustainable rice production, there is an increasing need for the rice sector, such as farmers’ organizations, exporters, food companies, research institutes, and other development oriented groups, to work together for the common vision of the country in becoming a global supplier of sustainable rice. Since standards for sustainable rice management […]

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As climate and land-use change accelerate, so must efforts to preserve California’s plants

As the IPCC warns that we have only 12 years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half or risk significantly greater impacts from climate change, University of California, Berkeley, scientists are charting the best course to save California's native plants from these human threats. "We just have a decade or two given the rapid […]

Study: Replanting Trees After Wildfires May Not Be Necessary

New research is offering a way to potentially save money and resources on forest recovery after wildfire. After wildfire season ends each year, land managers start planning what comes next for the areas that burned.  Often, the strategy used to ensure the forests return is to salvage log and then replant. But a recent study suggests that in […]