Science News
What bean has double the protein of wheat, triple that of rice, and also contains beneficial amino acids, B-vitamins, and micronutrients? The unassuming faba bean, of course.
It’s an ancient grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years. Yet you may not even have heard of it.
Sorghum was first grown more than 6,000 years ago in northeastern Africa. Many varieties of this drought-resistant, hardy crop are cultivated in other tropical and temperate areas, including India, China, and Australia. Farmers in the southern plains of the United States have been growing this hardy cereal since the 1800s.
Have you ever cut into a potato to find a dark spot or hollow part? Early research shows that these defects are likely the result of calcium deficiencies in the potato -- and that tuber calcium is genetically linked to tuber quality.
Pinto beans are the most common type of bean cultivated in the United States, accounting for more than a third of all edible, dry bean production. Harvesting them, however, has been a complicated ordeal--until now.
If I presented you with a bowl of steaming purple rice, would you eat it?
Most of us are accustomed to white or brown rice as a staple in our diet. But according to plant breeder Anna McClung, we are missing out. “It’s all about what we’re used to,” says McClung. “If what we’ve known is white, uniform rice, that’s what we will want.”
Using switchgrass to produce biofuel is one way to decrease the United States’ dependence on oil, but growing it and making it profitable can be complicated.
A new approach to wastewater treatment may be key in efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Moreover, it can be profitable.
Recent research in Mexico suggests rotating the use of a local cover crop can improve soil fertility and yields of maize (corn) harvests.
There’s nothing more disappointing than discovering that your carefully stored corn harvest has been gnawed apart by insects. After harvest, corn (or maize as it’s called in much of the world), can last for months and is a crucial element of the diets of many people across Africa, America, and Asia. However, the hard work of growing and harvesting the crop can be severely curtailed by pest infestation during storage. Small farmers in developing countries lose an incredible portion of their maize to insects like the large grain borer and the maize weevil.
Recent research has found ways to produce soybean seeds that have improved yields under drought conditions. A group of researchers published their research in the November-December issue of Agronomy Journal. The researchers were M. Jyostna Devi and Thomas Sinclair, North Carolina State University; Pengyin Chen, University of Arkansas; and Thomas Carter, Jr. USDA-ARS, Raleigh, NC.