
Science for Sustainable Agriculture
@SciSustAg
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Think-tank promoting science-based info, comment & debate on sustainable agriculture & food production.
Cambridge. UK
Joined May 2021
“Growing less food per acre is leaving less land for nature.”. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug, 1970
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Agronomy expertise and AI combine to deliver real-time, actionable insights. Smartphone app to detect deadly potato blight before it strikes will make disease management more targeted, benefiting both the environment and productive agriculture.
farminguk.com
Blight-busting tech is on the horizon as Welsh scientists develop a ground-breaking mobile app to detect deadly potato disease before it strikes.
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". in light of climate change, sustainability and food security, Europe urgently needs a science-based, fit-for-purpose legal framework to govern NGT plants and products to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of EU agriculture and supply chains.".
thepoultrysite.com
Industry groups call for science-based legal framework
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Global adoption of GM crops reached a new record high of 210 million hectares in 2024. Leading GM crops are soybeans, (105.1m ha) corn (68.4m ha), cotton (24.8 m ha), and canola (10.4a ha). 28 countries approved new GM varieties in 2024.
seedworld.com
Global adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops continues to grow, led by the U.S. with 75.4 million hectares and Brazil with 67.9 million. South America saw the highest regional growth, while...
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Climate impact of different farming systems must be assessed in terms of usable output, not area farmed, and must also account for indirect Land Use Change (iLUC) effects where food production is displaced by the adoption of lower yielding practices.
scienceforsustainableagriculture.com
Organic farming better or worse for the climate?
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On NGTs:. “The organic community is not a homogenous group. The official policies of some organic associations are one thing, but some researchers in the organic field and also some of the organic farmers themselves are more open than one might expect.”.
anthropocenemagazine.org
Methods that tweak genes without transferring new material into crops sit in regulatory limbo in the EU. Could legalizing their use could transform organic agriculture?
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"Of course, there is an economic model where you produce less, but at a premium price. However, I can’t shake my concerns over whether this is ethically the right thing to do, when so many people cannot afford to buy food.".@FarmersWeekly .
fwi.co.uk
I was back at Groundswell again this year. It’s unrecognisable from the first one in its scale and the breadth of stands and speakers, and I don’t imagine
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Further evidence of why real-time, farm-level data is needed to understand the environmental impact of different farming systems. In relying on US-based estimates, Australians have been over-estimating the methane emissions of their feedlot cattle by 56%!.
thescottishfarmer.co.uk
Australia’s methane emissions from grain-fed cattle have been revised—revealing a major overestimation in previous climate impact data.
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Planted in disease-heavy plots, field trials of gene edited disease-resistant rice showed an impressive yield, producing five times more grain than the control plants affected by the rice blast fungus.
rudebaguette.com
IN A NUTSHELL 🌾 Researchers at the University of California, Davis, used CRISPR-Cas genome editing to create disease-resistant rice. 🧬 The new rice variety shows high yields and resistance to the...
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Encouraging report on a recent @FAO conference on agricultural biotechnology from @stuartsmyth66 . “Upon hearing their [pro-agroecology] arguments soundly and thoroughly refuted by expert scientists, the activists abandoned the conference.”.
producer.com
After 20 years, the UN's FAO is re-embracing ag biotech and gene-editing to improve food sustainability, marking a significant shift in its messaging.
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"We’re using gene editing to improve canola yield - eg seed pods up 40% and a total seed yield per plant increase of 35% - but it’s also enabled us to protect that yield and increase stress tolerance in the plants that we’ve produced.”.
manitobacooperator.ca
Gene editing techniques and maize genetic material may be the seed for more robust and stress tolerant canola plants. Canadian research is trying to make it happen.
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There is no effective vaccine for PRRS, which can kill piglets, trigger miscarriages and weaken pigs’ immune systems, leaving them vulnerable to infection. In the US alone, PRRS costs the industry around $1.2bn a year. Now gene editing offers a solution.
sciencefocus.com
The FDA has just approved gene-edited disease-resistant pigs fit for sale and consumption. But is everyone ready for CRISPR bacon?
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RT @dp_booty: @SciSustAg Surely then it is better for regulators and end users is to incentivise growers to adopt practices likely to reduc….
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New study questions reliability of 'carbon farming' claims made for soil carbon sequestration, which cannot be accurately measured, and which can rapidly be reversed by changes in land use, climate fluctuations, or soil disturbances.
phys.org
Agriculture is a major contributor to the climate crisis. Large agribusiness corporations are pursuing a range of agricultural innovations to increase carbon sequestration in soils. However, accord...
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RT @PeterCowlrick: An excellent expose - far too many exemptions authorised & the inflated SFI payments also make no sense for what is stil….
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Farming businesses must focus on factors within their control to be as productive as possible. Relying on income from government, BNG and dodgy carbon markets is no basis on which to build the nation’s future food security, warns former NFU economist.
scienceforsustainableagriculture.com
AHDB must help levy-payers focus on what they can control
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RT @AgBioWorld: Organic blueberries recalled, can cause death! FDA says Alma Pak International has voluntarily recalled organic blueberries….
thepacker.com
The company recalled 400 of its 30-pound organic blueberry boxes due to a positive test result for Listeria monocytogenes during routine testing.
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7 key CRISPR benefits. Drought-Resistant Crops.Disease-Resistant Crops & Livestock.Pest-Resistant Crops.Yield-Boosting Traits for Major Crops.Improved Nutritional Content.Climate-Resilient Forestry and Carbon Sequestration.Shelf Life & Waste Reduction.
farmonaut.com
Explore the US agriculture crisis—economic, climate, and technological challenges—and how CRISPR and innovation are reshaping farming and forestry in 2025.
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In some vegetables, up to 90% of the UK certified organic crop is produced from non-organic seed, grown using the same synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilisers banned and demonised by the organic lobby. At a hefty 75% premium, who pays for organic?.
scienceforsustainableagriculture.com
Who pays for organic?
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US researchers say new gene gun design delivers 10-to-20 fold improvement in GM transformation efficiency in plants .
phys.org
Plant scientists have used a standard "gene gun" since 1988 to genetically modify crops for better yield, nutrition, pest resistance and other valuable traits.
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