Laboratory Equipment

Agriculture in China Pre-Dates Rice

Univ. of Leicester archaeologist used new analysis techniques to shatter conventional ideas of how agriculture emerged.

Archaeologists have made a discovery in southern subtropical China which could revolutionize thinking about how ancient humans lived in the region.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/agriculture-china-pre-dates-rice

LED Lamps Double Vitamin C in Tomatoe

Tomatoes can contain more vitamin C if they are exposed to extra light from LED lamps while growing. This has been proven by research by Wageningen Univ. and Research Centre Greenhouse Horticulture in collaboration with Philips. The partnership will be continued in a joint facility for research into the application of LED lamps in horticulture (IDC LED), which will be opened on May 16.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/led-lamps-double-vitamin-c-tomatoes

Agriculture Started in China 23,000 Years Ago

Stanford-led research pushes back origins of agriculture in China by 12,000 years. The discovery pushes back the roots of agriculture in China by 12,000 years. The global emergence of similar practices around 23,000 years ago hints that agriculture evolved independently around the world, perhaps as a response to climate change.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/agriculture-started-china-23000-years-ago

Today in Lab History: May 3, 1844- Wilbur Atwater

Wilbur Atwater was an American agricultural chemist who developed agricultural chemistry. Atwater received his PhD from Yale in 1869 for studies on the chemical composition of corn. At Wesleyan College he studied the effects of fertilizers in farming and established the first agricultural experimental station in the U.S. at Wesleyan in 1875 (which in 1877 became part of the famous Sheffield Scientific School at Yale Univ.).

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/09/today-lab-history

Plant Discoveries Could Ease Global Food, Fuel Demands

New discoveries of the way plants transport important substances across their biological membranes to resist toxic metals and pests, increase salt and drought tolerance, control water loss and store sugar can have profound implications for increasing the supply of food and energy for our rapidly growing global population.

That’s the conclusion of 12 leading plant biologists from around the world whose laboratories recently discovered important properties of plant transport proteins that, collectively, could have a profound impact on global agriculture. They report in today’s issue of the journal Nature that the application of their findings could help the world meet its increasing demand for food and fuel as the global population grows from seven billion people to an estimated nine billion by 2050.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/plant-discoveries-could-ease-global-food-fuel-demands

LEDs Reduce Costs for Greenhouse Growers

Tomatoes grown around LED lights in the winter can significantly reduce greenhouse energy costs without sacrificing yield, according to a Purdue Univ. study.

Cary Mitchell, a professor of horticulture, says the average tomato is shipped about 1,500 miles from warmer climates where they’re grown to cooler climates that cannot produce the fruit cost-effectively in the winter. That journey is costly, however, because tomatoes are picked green and ripen during shipping, decreasing quality and flavor. The lengthy shipping distance also adds to the industry’s carbon footprint.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/leds-reduce-costs-greenhouse-growers

Fertilizers Were Used 5,000 Years Ago

Researchers from the Univ. of Gothenburg have spent many years studying the remains of a Stone Age community in Karleby outside the town of Falköping, Sweden. The researchers have tried to identify parts of the inhabitants’ diet. Right now they are looking for evidence that fertilizers were used already during the Scandinavian Stone Age, and the results of their first analyses may be exactly what they were seeking.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/fertilizers-were-used-5000-years-ago

Deadly Gas Can Boost Food, Biofuel ProductionHydrogen sulfide, the pungent stuff often referred to as sewer gas, is a deadly substance implicated in several mass extinctions, including one at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago that wiped out more than three-quarters of all species on Earth.

But in low doses, hydrogen sulfide could greatly enhance plant growth, leading to a sharp increase in global food supplies and plentiful stock for biofuel production, new Univ. of Washington research shows.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/videos/2013/04/deadly-gas-can-boost-food-biofuel-production

Potential Food Source Springs from Non-Food Plants

A team of Virginia Tech researchers has succeeded in transforming cellulose into starch, a process that has the potential to provide a previously untapped nutrient source from plants not traditionally thought of as food crops.

Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, led a team of researchers in the project that could help feed a global population expected to swell to 9 billion by 2050. Starch is one of the most important components of the human diet and provides 20 to 40 percent of our daily caloric intake.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/potential-food-source-springs-non-food-plants

Intermittent Flooding, Draining Affects CO2 Flux from Soils

Farmland ecosystem is an important part of the terrestrial ecosystem, accounting for 10.5 percent of the global land area, its carbon dioxide flux accounted for 21-25 percent of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore, measuring the soil CO2 efflux is crucial for accurately evaluating the effects of soil management practices on global warming and carbon cycling.

With the supervision of Prof. Chen Fang, Dr. Liu Yi of Wuhan Botanical Garden, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, examined the diurnal and seasonal soil carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes pattern in rice paddy fields in central China and assessed the role of floodwater in controlling the emissions of CO2 from soil and floodwater in intermittently draining rice paddy soil.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/intermittent-flooding-draining-affects-co2-flux-soils

Corn Stover is Important to the Ecosystem

Removing corn stover from agricultural fields to produce cellulosic ethanol requires careful management to avoid adding greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion to the environment, say Purdue Univ. researchers.

Environmental impacts from stover removal can be reduced by switching to no-till corn or adding winter cover crops, but these practices likely would increase production costs, researchers reported in a study.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/corn-stover-important-ecosystem

Chemical Trick May Thwart Potato Pest

The pale cyst nematode, Globodera pallida, is one bad roundworm. Unchecked, the pest burrows into potato roots to feed, obstructing nutrients and causing stunted growth, wilted leaves and other symptoms that can eventually kill the plant. Severe infestations can cause tuber yield losses of up to 80 percent.

Now, however, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and cooperating scientists are evaluating new ways to control G. pallida using naturally occurring chemicals called egg-hatching factors.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/chemical-trick-may-thwart-potato-pest