Agriculture | Science News for Students

Agriculture

a photo of an Ethiopian farmer's hands holding wheat grown in his field against a blue sky

Melese Tsegaye, a farmer in Kulumsa, Ethiopia, holds seed heads taken from stalks of wheat. Wheat is one of many crops that have suffered from disease outbreaks.

Peter Lowe/CIMMYT/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Agriculture
 
Aug 15, 2019
As infections ravage food crops, scientists fight back
a sign warning of pesticide useage in English and Spanish in a crop field

The United States lags behind other agricultural nations in banning potentially harmful pesticides, a new study suggests.

Pgiam/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Agriculture
 
Jul 11, 2019
U.S. farmers still use many pesticides that are banned elsewhere
a sack full of sorghum grain

With climate change, people may have to depend on grains such as the sorghum (shown here) that are not now commonly found on our plates.

Leonid Eremeychuk/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Agriculture
 
May 23, 2019
Get ready to eat differently in a warmer world
Tarzan the robot swinging over a field of crops

Tarzan, shown here, travels over crop fields with an energy-efficient swinging motion. One day, such robots might help with farm work.

Georgia Tech Research Institute

Robotics
 
Aug 31, 2018
Tarzan the robot was actually inspired by a sloth
feral pig

A feral pig looks similar to the domestic pig from which it has descended. Each year, these animals are blamed for causing large and amazingly costly damage in the United States alone.

taviphoto/iStockphoto

Animals
 
Apr 19, 2018
Can anything stop the big pig invasion?
plant tattoo
This corn leaf sports a “plant tattoo” made from patterned graphene on tape. Graphene is a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon that is great at conducting electricity. Measuring changes in the electrical current can tell scientists how fast a plant soaks up water.
Liang Dong/Iowa State University
Agriculture
 
Feb 16, 2018
New ‘tattoo’ could lead to drought-tolerant crops
cacao tree
Chocolate is made from the pods (shown here) that grow from the trunk of the tropical cacao tree. To reproduce this tree rapidly, scientists clone it.
bedo/istockphoto
Agriculture
 
Feb 8, 2018
How to grow a cacao tree in a hurry
farmer deploying drone
Some farmers have begun to enlist drones — robotic aircraft — to precisely map their fields, their crops and crop threats (such as insects and excessive thirst). One day soon, robots may also be picking crops, driving them to market and more.
ilze79/iStockphoto
Agriculture
 
Jan 25, 2018
Robots will control everything you eat
algae bubbles
These green bubbles are an algal bloom caused by too much fertilizer in the water. When the algae die, the organisms that break them down can suck up much of the oxygen in the water. This can potentially harm other aquatic life.
F. lamiot/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)
Plants
 
Jan 4, 2018
Explainer: The fertilizing power of N and P
bee hotel

The Edmonton & Area Land Trust’s staff placed this bee hotel in a park in Alberta, Canada.

Edmonton & Area Land Trust

Animals
 
Jul 13, 2017
Bee hotels are open for business