news 2021

Making food more affordable for ethnic minority groups is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our diets, scientists have suggested. According to a new study of food habits in the US, a healthy diet with lower environmental impacts is achievable for a large portion of the population. But it is unaffordable for up to 38% of Black and Hispanic individuals in the lowest income and education groups, twice the percentage of white individuals in the same group.

Global grasslands are a source of biodiversity and provide a host of benefits to humans, including food production, water supply, and carbon storage. But their future looks bleak without action to halt their degradation and promote their restoration, according to the authors of a new paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment .

New research from the University of Oxford's Departments of Plant Sciences and Engineering, as well as collaborators at VU Amsterdam, uses both mathematical modelling and experimental validation to study the metabolic processes controlling how bacteria provide ammonia to legumes, which is vastly important for sustainable agriculture Ammonia-based fertiliser is commonly used in industrial agriculture, and since the early 20 th  C.

Scientists have created plants whose cells and tissues 'blush' with beetroot pigments when they are colonised by fungi that help them take up nutrients from the soil. We can now follow how the relationship between the fungi and plant root develops, in real-time, from the moment they come into contact.

'Precision agriculture' where farmers respond in real time to changes in crop growth using nanotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) could offer a practical solution to the challenges threatening global food security, a new study reveals. Climate change, increasing populations, competing demands on land for production of biofuels and declining soil quality mean it is becoming increasingly difficult to feed the world's populations.

Radical changes to the food system are needed to safeguard our food supply and combat malnutrition in the face of climate change, environmental degradation and epidemics, says new report. Advances in technology open up many possibilities for alternative food supply systems that more risk-resilient, and can efficiently supply sustainable nutrition to billions of people Catherine Richards Researchers at the University of Cambridge say our future global food supply cannot be safeguarded by traditional approaches to improving food production.

Researchers at the have shown that pea plants are able to make smart investment decisions when it comes to interactions with their symbiotic bacterial partners. Better understanding of how plants manage these interactions could help with the move towards sustainable agriculture. Researchers at the have shown that pea plants are able to make smart investment decisions when it comes to interactions with their symbiotic bacterial partners.

Cambridge plant scientists say circadian clock genes, which enable plants to measure daily and seasonal rhythms, should be targeted in agriculture and crop breeding for higher yields and more sustainable farming. Plants grow much better when their internal clock is matched to the environment they grow in.

Substantial cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions could be achieved by raising water levels in agricultural peatlands, according to a new study. Peatlands occupy just three per cent of the world’s land surface area but store a similar amount of carbon to all terrestrial vegetation, as well as supporting unique biodiversity.

A new study analysing changing attitudes to meat-free diets finds growing support for plant-based alternative products in Belgium. Last updated on Tuesday 30 March 2021 Increasing numbers of people in Belgium are turning away from meat in favour of plant-based alternatives, according to new research from psychologists at the University of Bath, in collaboration with Belgian animal welfare organisation GAIA.

Eating processed meat has been linked with an increased risk of developing dementia. Scientists from the University’s Nutritional Epidemiology Group used data from 500,000 people, discovering that consuming a 25g serving of processed meat a day, the equivalent to one rasher of bacon, is associated with a 44% increased risk of developing the disease.

New research suggests sugar taxes only slightly changed consumer behaviour, arguing that a combination of different policies is fundamental to tackle obesity. Last updated on Friday 19 March 2021 The introduction of a sugar tax, increasing the price of fizzy drinks and other products high in sugar content, has had only a limited, moderate effect in shifting people's dietary habits and behaviours, according to a new study.

Scientists based at Rothamsted and the University of Bristol Veterinary School have found a clear link between the weight of lambs early in their life and meat quality - which is good news for consumers, farmers, and the environment. Currently, 35 per cent of lambs going to market have meat that is considered too fatty, but this new study, published in the journal Animal , shows that it's the lambs which are heaviest at the point of weaning - when they switch from their mother's milk to grazing - that go on to produce the leanest, most sought-after meat at market.