Global warming puts wheat crops vulnerable to disease

There's a danger that harshness of outbreaks of some wheat illnesses may increase over the following ten to two decades because of the impacts of global warming based on research by worldwide scientists brought through the College of Hertfordshire.

The scientists completed market research in China to determine a hyperlink between weather and the seriousness of outbreaks of fusarium ear blight around the wheat crops. This weather-based model ended up being accustomed to predict the outcome on harshness of the condition of future weather situations for that period from 2020 to 2050.

Professor Bruce Fitt, professor of plant pathology in the College of Hertfordshire's School of Medical and Existence Sciences, stated: "There's considerable debate concerning the impact of global warming on crop production -- and ensuring we've sufficient food to give the ever-growing global human population is answer to our future food security."

Wheat, among the world's most significant crops for human food, is milled to be used in bread, breakfast cereal products, cakes, pizzas, confectionery, sauces and lots of other food products. Fusarium ear blight is really a serious disease affecting wheat across many areas around the globe. Throughout severe outbreaks, wheat crop deficits is often as almost as much ast 60 percent. These deficits may become bigger as, under certain conditions, the fusarium virus produces toxic chemicals referred to as mycotoxins. The amount of mycotoxins contained in the grain may render it unacceptable for either human or animal consumption -- the mycotoxin safe levels being controlled by legislation.

Professor Fitt ongoing: "We all know the weather plays a large part in the introduction of the condition around the wheat crops -- the incidence from the disease is dependent upon temperature and the appearance of wet weather in the flowering or anthesis from the wheat crops."

Once the weather-based model developed at Rothamsted Research was utilized to calculate how global warming may modify the wheat crops, it had been predicted that wheat flowering dates will normally be earlier and also the incidence from the ear blight disease around the wheat crops will substantially increase.

The study indicates that global warming will raise the chance of serious ear blight outbreaks on winter wheat in Central China by the center of this century (2020-2050).

Similar conclusions were arrived at about impacts of global warming on wheat within the United kingdom, where global warming models are predicting warmer, wetter winters for that country. This indicates the United kingdom too are affected a larger incidence of fusarium ear blight on wheat crops -- greatly affecting our greatest staple crops.

Inside a world where several billion people don't have sufficient to consume, and our future food security is threatened by global warming as well as an ever-growing population, it is important to enhance the charge of crop illnesses like fusarium ear blight around the world.

View the original article here

System developed for assessing how effective species are at pollinating crops

From tomatoes to pumpkins, most fruit and vegetable crops rely on pollination by bees and other insect species -- and the future of many of those species is uncertain. Now researchers from North Carolina State University are proposing a set of guidelines for assessing the performance of pollinator species in order to determine which species are most important and should be prioritized for protection.

"Widespread concerns over the fate of honey bees and other pollinators have led to increased efforts to understand which species are the most effective pollinators, since this has huge ramifications for the agriculture industry," says Dr. Hannah Burrack, an associate professor of entomology at NC State and co-author of a paper on the new guidelines and related research. "However, various research efforts have taken a wide variety of approaches, making it difficult to compare results in a meaningful way.

"We've developed a set of metrics that we think offers a comprehensive overview of pollination efficiency, which would allow researchers to compare data from different crops and regions."

The new comprehensive approach looks at four specific metrics. First is single-visit efficiency, which measures the number of seeds produced when one bee visits one flower. Second is abundance, which measures the number of each type of bee observed in a study area. Third is inclement weather behavior, which tracks how active a bee species is during cool, cloudy and/or windy weather. Fourth is visitation rate, or the number of flowers that a bee visits while foraging, and the amount of time it spends at each flower.

"The perfect bee would produce a lot of seeds and visit a lot of flowers, even in poor weather -- and there would be a lot of them," Burrack says. "But as far as we know, the perfect bee doesn't exist."

The researchers conducted a pilot study using their comprehensive approach to assess the pollination performance of various bee species on economically important highbush blueberry crops in North Carolina. They found that small native bees had extremely high single-visit efficiency rates and were active during inclement weather. However, small native bees did not have high abundance nor appear to have high visitation rates.

"This highlights the importance of incorporating multiple metrics," says Dr. David Tarpy, an associate professor of entomology at NC State and co-author of the paper. "Because researchers looking only at visitation rates or abundance may think the small native species are unimportant, when they actually appear to be important pollinators for blueberry growers."

The paper, "Multiple Criteria for Evaluating Pollinator Performance in Highbush Blueberry (Ericales: Ericaceae) Agroecosystems," was published online Nov. 25 in the journal Environmental Entomology.

View the original article here

USDA, FDA Provide Aid to Farmers for Flood-Damaged Crops (ContributorNetwork)

The Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration announced today that both departments will be offering assistance and resources to farmers who have been impacted by intense flooding as a result of Tropical Storms Irene and Lee.

The assistance will specifically target flood-damaged crops and will provide compensation to farmers who are unable to bring their crops to market due to this damage. Floodwaters are especially harmful to crops as they can be a health hazard to those who consume them. Floodwaters often bring contact with animal waste, sewage and other pathogens and contaminants.

Michael Scuse, acting under-secretary for farm and foreign agricultural services, commented on the assistance announced by the USDA and FDA: "We are working closely with FDA to protect people and livestock from damaged crops, while not penalizing the farmer whose crops are affected. I want to assure insured farmers that they are covered under the federal crop insurance program for crops not harvested due to flood damage. America's farmers and rural communities are vitally important to our nation's economy, producing the food, feed, fiber and fuel that continue to help us grow and out-compete the rest of the world."

FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael R. Taylor also spoke about the storm damages to farms on the East Coast and the available aid: "We empathize with the farmers who are dealing with the loss of crops due to recent flooding. We all share the goal of protecting the food supply. We are working directly with USDA on damage response and will consult with them on assistance for farmers following our guidance to keep damaged crops out of the food supply."

The USDA has also recently announced other types of aid for farmers and agriculture affected by the storms. According to the World Dairy Diary, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pledged aid for dairy farms hit hard by Irene and Lee and flooding afterward, especially since three of the top 10 dairy states were impacted. Vilsack has already pledged immediate aid of $15 million to New York dairy farms.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Irene hit the East Coast hard in late August and estimates show that the damage could cost insurers up to $5.5 billion. Delmarva Now reported Lee also caused a significant amount of destruction in the Northeast when it hit late last week. Lee caused large amounts of flooding, especially in Pennsylvania where there were evacuations after heavy rains.

The USDA is reminding farmers and ranchers to contact their local USDA Farm Service Agency Service Centers to report damages and losses and find further information on available aid.

Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.

View the original article here