Agriculture Archives - The Westside Story

Soil damage threatens to fuel climate change, says new report

Apr 29, 2019

Poor farming practices and deforestation are threatening to compound climate change by degrading the soil, according to a report set to be formally published next week. Soil erosion both limits the growth of ca...

How Agtech can deliver global agriculture from its impending crisis

West Side Story

Mar 8, 2019

Innovation

Japan’s innovation hothouses have a new focus - tractors. The Japanese government will be testing self-driving tractors at 50 model farms this year in a push to develop “smart agriculture” capabilities. Compani...

Insects are vital to human life – and researchers now say they’re going extinct

West Side Story

Feb 13, 2019

Environment, Opinion, Science

The decline of insect species might seem to some like a step in the right direction, or at least like a minor concern. But in reality, the looming extinction of many insect species, described in a new report, i...

Using CRISPR gene editing, researchers develop self-cloning hybrid rice

West Side Story

Dec 13, 2018

Innovation, Science

After decades of efforts, scientists have managed to modify a hybrid rice strain so that it passes on its favorable traits in its own seeds, according to ScienceDaily. By producing clones from its seeds, instea...

The lettuce outbreak shows we need quick decisive action on food safety

West Side Story

Nov 25, 2018

Health, Opinion, Policy, Science

Two days ahead of Thanksgiving, the most food-oriented holiday on the US calendar, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) called for a massive recall of all romaine lettuce. Consumers, retailers, and restaurants...

Farming of The Future Is Here

Platonium

Jun 4, 2018

Innovation

British entrepreneur and fourth-generation farmer Sam Watson-Jones believes that the robots his company has created will farm up to 5 percent of the UK’s wheat crops in the next five years. This may seem like a...

Food giants and advocates to explore livestock reforms at UK conference

West Side Story

Oct 5, 2017

Business, Environment, Science

The upcoming Extinction and Livestock Conference in the UK will bring together a wide range of interests to consider how changes to the global livestock industry can transition to more sustainable practices. Sp...

Industrial livestock agriculture accounts for more than its fair share of emissions, pollution

West Side Story

Aug 8, 2017

Environment, Opinion, Science

Industrial meat production, once celebrated as a way to feed the growing population of the post-war world, is increasingly under fire from scientists and conservationists for its role in climate change, polluti...

Vanuatu agriculture experts develop food crops designed to withstand the effects of climate change

West Side Story

Jun 25, 2017

Environment, Innovation, Science, World

Agriculture experts in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu are developing drought-resistant crops to address extreme temperatures and droughts stemming from global climate change. Temperatures in Vanuatu ha...

Reuters scoop signals an end to questions over glyphosate

Platonium

Jun 20, 2017

Opinion

Has the embattled debate over glyphosate – the active ingredient in the world’s most widely used weed killer– come to a conclusion? After seemingly endless back-and-forth over the substance’s safety, that’s wha...

Tagged Agriculture