Plant Science
Farmers pay attention to many aspects of their crops. They carefully track how much water they are giving them and the amount of fertilizer they are using. But what about how many bees and butterflies are visiting?
Climate change is a global issue. It affects our environment and our food supply.
Increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events influence crop yields and where crops can live. These events limit the number of crops humans can use.
Renewable energy demand and consumption is at an all-time high in the United States.
Shrub willow – a quick-growing woody crop – can be an excellent source of renewable bioenergy. The crop is harvested and turned into wood chips, which can be used for heat, mulch, animal bedding, biochar, and biofuel.
It’s a fact - humans love sugar. For those of us who also like to watch our calories, sugar substitutes can help.
Some zero-calorie or low-calorie sweeteners have attracted bad reputations for containing unnatural ingredients. But there are also natural sweeteners derived from plants, like stevia.
In recent years, hummus has become a pop culture food phenomenon, drawing praises from dieticians for the health benefits and chefs for the flavor.
However, the core ingredient, the chickpea, has had its production threatened.
Your morning cereal or oatmeal. The bread on your sandwich. The corn chips for your snack, and the cookies for dessert. Not one would be possible with the humblest of ingredients: the seed.
Seeds such as wheat, rice and corn directly provide about 70% of the calories eaten by people every day. And they ultimately provide nearly every morsel of food, either by providing feed for livestock or by being grown into fruits and vegetables. It’s no overstatement to say that without seeds, civilization would be impossible.
Yams are a staple food in West Africa, which produces over 90% of the world’s yams each year. Yams play a key role in the food security, economic income, and traditional culture for the region.
The United States Department of Agriculture identifies a group of “big eight” foods that causes 90% of food allergies. Among these foods are wheat and peanuts.
Plant breeders are constantly working to develop new bean varieties to meet the needs and desires of the food industry. But not everyone wants the same thing.
Agriculture accounts for more than a third of water use in the United States. In drier parts of the country, like the southwestern U.S., that fraction can be much higher. For example, more than 75% of New Mexico’s water use is for agriculture.
