News & Events
Potato prices in India started rising in December 2019 due to the delay in harvesting the early rabi crop (Figure 1). Although they fell a bit in February and March with the arrival of the new harvest, they have remained higher than average prices during the same period in previous years due to less area planted, lower yields and transportation issues.
In Malawi—the warm heart of Africa—a constantly changing climate poses a threat to the food, nutrition and income security of small-scale farmers, taking away their smiles. Such farmers, who rely on agriculture entirely for their livelihoods constitute about 80% of the economically active population. Recurrent droughts and floods, declining soil fertility, desertification, and outbreak of pests and diseases are now more rampant.
Many mental health disorders first manifest in adolescence, and early treatment may affect the course of the disease. Using a large national database of insurance claims, this study focuses on variations in the type of care that adolescent patients receive when they are treated for an initial episode of mental illness. We found large variations in the probability that children receive follow-up care and in the type of follow-up care received across zip codes.
A speedy transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) preparation protocol was developed based on widely used Golden Gate TALEN and TAL Effector Kit 2.0. This new protocol can be used to prepare any custom 18-bp binding TALENs in about 12 hours, which is faster than CRISPR. The results of the study are published in ACS Publications.
A study conducted by a research and knowledge transfer team from Teagasc—the Agriculture and Food Development Authority of Ireland—and the National Centre for Men's Health, Institute of Technology, Carlow indicates that the farming community is highly vulnerable to COVID-19 due mainly to their age and poor health status.
The LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES DOMAIN (LBD)-containing genes are plant-specific genes that play important roles in lateral organ development. In this study, we identified LBD40 (Solyc02g085910), which belongs to subfamily II of the LBD family of genes in tomato. LBD40 was highly expressed in roots and fruit. LBD40 expression was significantly induced by PEG and salt.
Scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of the State of Paraná in Brazil have discovered that widespread fungal disease in plants can be controlled with a commercially available chemical that has been primarily used in medicine until now. In a comprehensive experiment, the team uncovered a new metabolic pathway that can be disrupted by acetohydroxamic acid, a substance used to treat harmful bacteria in the human stomach, which also inhibits urea breakdown.
A new international survey conducted by Pew Research Center scientists and their research are widely viewed in a positive light across global publics, and large majorities believe government investments in scientific research yield benefits for society. The international survey, conducted in 20 publics across Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Russia finds broad agreement about the value of scientific research
Mr Hoang Van Bang officially presented his final report on “Developing DTM14-258 rice genotype adapted to Dong Thap Muoi” to MARD Scientific Board on September 4 2020.
Mr Nguyen The Nhuan submitted his PhD preliminary thesis on “NPK influences associated with photoperiod on growth and development of free-pathogen G0 potato seeds (minitubers) at Da Lat”, Crop Science Section, at the IAS, in September 5 2020.
Cells are faced with various stresses during their growth and development, and autophagy is a degradative process in which cells can break down their own components to recycle macromolecules and provide energy under these stresses. For pathogenic fungi that utilize cell wall as the first barrier against external stress, the cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway also provides an essential role in responding to these stresses. However, the specific connection between autophagy and CWI remains elusive in either the model fungi including budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae or the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
Dr Rajeev Varshney from the Center of Excellence in Genomics and Systems Biology, ICRISAT, sheds light on his recent research in an interview with BioTechniques, a MEDLINE peer-reviewed, open access journal. Accelerating and delivering genetic gains in smallholder farmers’ fields is high on international agricultural research agenda, especially in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This will help in improving crop productivity, better yield and higher income for farmers and most importantly achieving food and nutrition security in developing countries.
Two pearl millet varieties with 7.0% and 5.4% higher green forage yields as compared to national check Giant Bajra, were released for cultivation in five south India states. These have significantly higher dry fodder yield and superior/or at par forage quality compared to checks. The release is significant given that India has a shortage of 284 million tons of green fodder and 122 million tons of dry fodder. This demand is likely to grow further and India would require 400 and 117 million tons of green and dry fodder, respectively, by 2025*.