Crops Content / Crops Content for ٺƵ en Growing Crops with Less Groundwater /food/news/growing-crops-less-groundwater Learn about ٺƵ’ innovative approach to growing crops with less groundwater in drought-prone regions like California. Farm sustainably for a better future. April 25, 2023 - 12:08pm Amy M Quinton /food/news/growing-crops-less-groundwater Rice Breeding Breakthrough to Feed Billions /news/rice-breeding-breakthrough-feed-billions <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>An international team has succeeded in propagating a commercial hybrid rice strain as a clone through seeds with 95% efficiency. This could lower the cost of hybrid rice seed, making high-yielding, disease resistant rice strains available to low-income farmers worldwide. The work was <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35679-3">published</a> Dec. 27 in Nature Communications. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> January 10, 2023 - 2:28pm Andy Fell /news/rice-breeding-breakthrough-feed-billions Maximizing Use of Water Stored in Soil Could Result in Savings for Farmers /food/news/maximizing-use-water-stored-soil-could-result-savings-farmers <p>As California faces more frequent and severe droughts, agriculture, which relies on irrigation from surface water and groundwater, could become expensive and unsustainable. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, looked at using a “free” resource — rain water stored in the soil — and found that optimizing its use could go a long way to help meet demand for five California perennial crops. Their findings appear in the journal <em>Environmental Research Letters</em>.</p> May 14, 2019 - 10:00am Amy M Quinton /food/news/maximizing-use-water-stored-soil-could-result-savings-farmers Rice Plants That Reproduce as Clones From Seed /food/news/rice-plants-reproduce-clones-seed <p>Plant biologists at the University of California, Davis,&nbsp;have discovered a way to make crop plants replicate through seeds as clones. The discovery, long sought by plant breeders and geneticists, could make it easier to propagate high-yielding, disease-resistant or climate-tolerant crops and make them available to the world’s farmers.&nbsp;</p> <p>The researchers published their findings Dec. 12 in the journal&nbsp;<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0785-8"><em>Nature</em></a>.&nbsp;</p> December 12, 2018 - 1:21pm Andy Fell /food/news/rice-plants-reproduce-clones-seed Study Finds Indigenous Mexican Variety of Corn Captures the Nitrogen It Needs From the Air /news/study-finds-indigenous-mexican-corn-captures-nitrogen Researchers from ٺƵ, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Mars, Incorporated have found that an indigenous variety of corn can "fix nitrogen" from the atmosphere, instead of requiring synthetic fertilizers. If this trait could be bred into conventional varieties of corn, it may reduce the need for added fertilizer. August 07, 2018 - 11:01am Amy M Quinton /news/study-finds-indigenous-mexican-corn-captures-nitrogen ٺƵ Students Breed Beans for Organic Farming /food/news/students-breed-beans-organic-farming <p>Breeders at the University of California, Davis, have begun field tests on high-yield, disease-resistant organic bean varieties.</p> April 11, 2018 - 3:14pm Amy M Quinton /food/news/students-breed-beans-organic-farming Tracking Down the Jumping Genes of Maize /news/tracking-down-jumping-genes-maize <p>The “jumping genes” of maize have finally been mapped by an international team led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The discovery could ultimately benefit the breeding and production of maize, one of the world’s most important crops.</p> August 23, 2017 - 2:46pm Andy Fell /news/tracking-down-jumping-genes-maize Breeding Crops Today for an Uncertain Tomorrow /news/breeding-crops-today-uncertain-tomorrow <p>Variable weather is creating extreme challenges for crop breeding in California. How do you develop crops that will thrive under certain conditions when you can no longer predict what those conditions will be?</p> March 09, 2017 - 2:57pm Patricia Bailey /news/breeding-crops-today-uncertain-tomorrow Diversity as Natural Pesticide /news/diversity-natural-pesticide <p>Monoculture crops provide the nutrient levels insect pests crave, explains a&nbsp;study&nbsp;led by the University of California, Davis, in the journal <em>Nature.&nbsp;</em>Returning plant diversity to farmland could be a key step toward sustainable pest control.</p> October 12, 2016 - 11:50am Katherine E Kerlin /news/diversity-natural-pesticide $2 Million Grant Funds Organic Farming Study of Manure and Food Safety /news/2-million-grant-funds-organic-farming-study-manure-and-food-safety <p>A new USDA grant of nearly $2 million will fund studies of how organic farmers should handle animal-based manure applications in leafy greens and vegetable crops fields in order to minimize the risk of food-borne illnesses.</p> October 03, 2016 - 9:57am Patricia Bailey /news/2-million-grant-funds-organic-farming-study-manure-and-food-safety