Chinese scientists who inserted a gene from desert moss into cotton say their innovation can boost yields by nearly a quarter through protection against a pervasive fungal disease that threatens crops worldwide. The team, led by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG), inserted a stress-resistance gene from a species of steppe moss that thrives in the deserts of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region into cotton plants. The resulting...
The insect, which has been found in America for the first time since 1966, is a growing concern in the southern US.
The US Department of Agriculture says New World screwworm has been detected in a Texas calf.
Scientists in China are growing towering hybrids of wheat and rye – taller even than some humans – in the deserts of its western Xinjiang region. The hybrids, known as triticale, can adapt more easily than wheat to challenging conditions and, in addition to providing food for humans, their stalks and leaves can be used for animal feed. “It is tolerant of poor soil, cold, drought, salinity, and wind and sand,” Kuang Feiting, the executive director of Xinjiang Maishengdao Biotechnology, the firm...
A couple of new lotus varieties developed by her -- Mayoori and Paneer Rose -- have now received registration from the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority of the Government of India