A recent study of an ancient growing medium has implications for advancing growth and yield of greenhouse crops grown in soilless conditions.

Agricultural expansion rather than shrimp farming is the major factor responsible for the destruction of tropical mangrove forests in the tsunami-impacted regions of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, according to a new study published in the Journal of Biogeography.

A novel MIT study concludes that increasing levels of ozone due to the growing use of fossil fuels will damage global vegetation, resulting in serious costs to the world's economy.

Agricultural soil erosion is not a source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, according to research published online today (25 October) in Science. The study was carried out by an international team led by researchers at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, the University of Exeter, UK, and the University of California, Davis.

A renewed focus on agricultural development is critical to successfully reducing global poverty and hunger, according to a new World Bank report co-authored by economists at the University of California, Berkeley.

A new service, developed in the framework of an ESA-supported project, is using satellite images to compare agricultural crop sites across Europe in order to ensure the more efficient use of pesticides.

Scientists are predicting there could be a global food crisis in this century if climate change continues unabated. Buddy Hanse has been farming on land south of Washington, DC, his entire life. He is also deputy secretary of agriculture for the state of Maryland.

Nitrogen pollution from agriculture and fossil fuels is known to be seriously damaging grasslands in the UK. A new European study is starting to show that the effect is Europe-wide, confirming that current policies to protect ecosystems may need a re-think.

In the face of growing pressure on one of Asia’s most important food production systems, experts are warning that farmers must get more help to make them more efficient.

Cornell researchers and Sathguru Management Consultants of India have successfully led an international consortium through the first phase of developing a pest-resistant eggplant. By about 2009 this eggplant is expected to be the first genetically engineered food crop in South Asia. Farmers have grown genetically altered cotton in India since 2002.

New help may be on the way for beleaguered growers of popular cucurbit crops like cucumbers and watermelons. Many varieties of the widely grown bottlegourd (Lagenaria siceraria) appear to have resistance to Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), a scourge of commercial cucurbits that includes pumpkins, squashes and other kinds of melons, including watermelons.

Aging rural populations, reduced water for irrigation and rising fuel prices are long-term threats