If we could make the process more efficient, scientists estimate we could increase yields by 36 to 60 percent.
What if we ended up with 50% more rice and wheat by using the same amount of water and fertilizer? Sound impossible? No, just some chemistry and genetic engineering. Scientists have recently figured out the second of three steps to make photosynthesis a whole lot more efficient in plants.
Continue reading… “Scientists reinventing photosynthesis to feed the world”
As soon as 10 years from now these RoboBees could artificially pollinate a field of crops.
Honeybees pollinate nearly one-third of the food we eat but they have been dying at unprecedented rates because of a mysterious phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD). The situation is so dire that in late June the White House gave a new task force just 180 days to devise a coping strategy to protect bees and other pollinators. The crisis is generally attributed to a mixture of disease, parasites, and pesticides.
Continue reading… “RoboBees will pollinate crops instead of real bees”
Farmers will own more than 1 drone by 2030.
On Monday, Iowa Farm Bureau’s Economic Summit included a speech outlining big coming changes to agriculture in the years ahead. Futurist Thomas Frey told Farm Bureau members his predictions at the summit on the Iowa State University campus in Ames.
Continue reading… “8 big changes coming to agriculture by 2030”
LED growing lights, delivering sunlight whatever the weather.
This century, the challenges of growing enough food to feed the world have grown more severe. We need to feed more people with limited agricultural land and resources. We need to make better use of land, light and logistics for an increasingly urban population. And we need to incorporate zero-waste and low-energy technologies into the task of food production. (Video)
Continue reading… “New LED light technology sheds light on the future of food”
Tractor-mounted computers help farmers make decisions about planting crops.
The word innovation usually brings to mind small startups doing clever things with cutting-edge technology. But it is also vital in large, long-established industries—and they do not come much larger or older than agriculture. Farmers can be terrible managers, so it is no surprise that they are nervous about a new idea called prescriptive planting, which is set to disrupt their business.
Continue reading… “‘Prescriptive planting’ technology is set to disrupt the farming industry”
Toshiba plant factory
When you hear the name Toshiba, you probably think about electronics products like televisions and computers. Thanks to its CT and other diagnostic imaging machines and technology, Toshiba has made a name for itself in the healthcare industry, too. Now, the company wants to go further to promote their healthcare initiatives, by introducing 100 percent pesticide-free vegetable factories in Japan.
Continue reading… “Toshiba’s new vegetable factory to bring perfect produce to Japan”
Automation will help agriculture via large-scale robotic and microrobots.
Below are 15 emerging technologies related to agricultural and natural manufacturing under four key areas of accelerating change: Sensors, Food, Automation and Engineering.
Continue reading… “Top 15 emerging agriculture technologies that will change the world”
Soradofarms
When you think of Tokyo you you think of smog and skyscrapers, and people, lots of people – you don’t really think of green spaces. But in an effort to ‘green the city’, officials have given up the space on the roof train stations to make community gardens.
Continue reading… “Tokyo’s urban train stations turned into farms in an effort to ‘green the city’”
80% of the commercial market for drones will eventually be for agricultural uses.
Drones are moving quickly from the battlefield to the farmer’s field. They are on the verge of helping growers oversee millions of acres throughout rural America and saving them big money in the process.
Continue reading… “The future of drones expected to transform agriculture”
Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, or “doomsday vault,” on a remote Norwegian island in the Arctic Circle took its first deposits in March 2008. The vault’s builders had spent some $7 million and 12 months blasting a tunnel and three chambers into the mountainside’s hard permafrost. To be stored within? Treasure.
Continue reading… “‘Doomsday vault’ keeps over 800,000 plant species on ice”
Toro-bots
No matter how pretty your garden may be it only gets that way because of all of the hard work you put into it. But, in the future gardens might not need your help at all, reordering themselves at a robotic whim. (Video)
Continue reading… “Toro-bots: Walking robotic lamps reorganize garden landscapes”
Greenhouse at Sunrise Hydroponics.
There is an Amish farm in Topeka, Indiana that supplies all-natural, sustainable produce, using 90% less water and 90% less land, and that utilizes the most advanced vertical aeroponic technology on earth. You cannot get produce that is more local, fresh, healthy, and sustainable — even in the middle of an Indiana blizzard — like you can get at Sunrise Hydroponics, an Amish farm.
Continue reading… “Indiana Amish farm leads the way to local food security”