crops

Known as "digging machines," some 4 million wild hogs are thought to be roaming, and destroying crops, in 25 states.

Bees have the potential to mediate the escape of transgenes (genetically engineered material) from crops to their wild relatives over several kilometers.

The findings bear significant implications for the introduction of genetically modified crops in Africa.

Plants in a forest respond to stress by producing a chemical form of aspirin, scientists have discovered. The finding opens up new avenues of research into the behavior of plants, and it has the potential to give farmers an early warning signal about crops that are failing.

Scientists hope crops of cattails will enable farmers to rebuild sinking islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, combat global warming and make a profit at the same time.

(Iowa State University) A little more than one year ago ConocoPhillips and Iowa State University announced an eight-year, $22.5 million research program.

That collaboration began 14 research projects in 2007 and another 12 in 2008. Those projects include studies of various biofuel production technologies, technical and economic analyses of different types of biorefineries, production of crops for conversion to biofuels, sustainable growing of crops and biomass, the harvest, storage and transportation of biomass, and the combustion performance of biofuels in engines.

Plants are not only smart, but they also wage a good fight, according to one biochemist. Previous studies have shown that plants can sense attacks by pathogens and activate their defenses.

However, it has not been known what happens between the pathogen attacks and the defense activation, until now.

A new study revealed a very complex process that explains how plants counter attack pathogens. This discovery could potentially lead to crops with enhanced disease resistance.

A destructive spring freeze that chilled the eastern United States almost a year ago illustrates the threat a warming climate poses to plants and crops, according to a paper just published in the journal BioScience.

The study was led by a team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.