Food security news: 2012

May
- Plans for China-UK Centre of Excellence for plant research - Press release - 16 May
  A new centre of excellence for plant research is planned in China following a joint symposium in Shanghai between researchers from…
- Barley takes a leaf out of reindeer’s book in the land of the midnight sun - Press release - 10 May
  Barley grown in Scandinavian countries is adapted in a similar way to reindeer to cope with the extremes of day length at high latitudes…
April
- Fine mapping wheat genes - Press release - 25 April
  The use of new genomic techniques and increased sequencing power promise to help breeding crops, but for wheat the pipeline from the laboratory to the field…
- Plant perfumes woo beneficial bugs - Press release - 25 April
  Scientists funded by BBSRC have discovered that maize crops emit chemical signals which attract growth-promoting microbes to live amongst their roots…
- Science and industry club together to deliver better crops - Press release - 24 April
  Today, BBSRC is announcing nine new industry-relevant crop science projects as part of the Crop Improvement Research Club (CIRC)…
- Findings on aphid symbiosis could provide new insecticide targets - Press release - 18 April
  Research led by biologists at the University of York reveals potential new targets for aphid-specific insecticides…
- New global assessment on soil biodiversity - Press release - 16 April
  The Department for Sustainable Soils and Grassland Systems at BBSRC-funded Rothamsted Research is launching a new global scientific sssessment…
- Feeling the heat - Feature - 16 April
  Plant scientists are gathering evidence on the precise ways in which plants are affected by rising temperatures and falling rainfall levels…
- Pan-European programme launches first food security initiative - Press release - 12 April
  Impacts of climate change on European agriculture and food security…
- Tackle fungal forces to save crops, forests and endangered animals, say scientists - Press release - 12 April
  More than 600 million people could be fed each year by halting the spread of fungal diseases in the world's five most important crops, according to research funded by BBSRC and others published today in the journal Nature…
- Feeding wild birds shown to reduce insect pests - Press release - 4 April
  The common British past-time of feeding wild birds has been shown to reduce…
- Exposure to stomach acid primes Campylobacter for intestinal infection - Press release - 4 April
  Campylobacter is a major cause of foodborne gastroenteritis, with an estimated 500,000 infections annually in the UK…
March
- Aphid-resistant wheat trial begins - Press release - 30 March
  Rothamsted Research are conducting a controlled experiment to test whether wheat that can repel aphid attack works in the field…
- Puzzle solved as maize pest reveals its Achilles heel - Press release - 23 March
  Scientists identify crucial controls of population cycles of the European corn borer pest…
- Why spring is blooming marvellous (and climate change makes it earlier) - Press release - 22 March
  Scientists have unpicked why temperature has such a powerful affect on how plants flower…
- Ideas Lab aims to reduce reliance on fertilizers - News - 16 March
  Joint BBSRC and NSF ‘Ideas Lab’ in development to provide new approaches to producing crops with minimal input of nitrogen fertilizers…
- New £15M programme to stimulate food industry sector growth - Press release - 14 March
  Invested in major R&D projects that aim to increase the efficiency, sustainability…
- New research could make it easier to grow health-promoting blood oranges - Press release - 13 March
  Researchers at JIC have identified the gene for blood orange pigmentation…
- Clock gene helps plants prepare for spring - Press release - 9 March
  University of Edinburgh researchers tested computer models of gene…
February
- BBSRC funding at forefront of fight against livestock disease - News - 27 February
  IAH contributes to national response to Schmallenberg threat…
- Joining forces to defeat wheat disease - Feature - 24 February
  UK-South Africa collaboration to tackle global threat…
- Farm ‘weeds’ have crucial role in sustainable agriculture - Press release - 24 February
  Plants often regarded as common weeds such as thistles, buttercups…
- New research to help eliminate most common food poisoning bug - Press release - 15 February
  New research funded by BBSRC and world-leading poultry breeding…
- £7M public funding available for research to deliver better fruit and veg - Press release - 9 February
  New initiative to bring academic researchers together with industry…
January
- Discovery of plant ‘nourishing gene’ brings hope for increased crop seed yield and food security - Press release - 13 January
  University of Warwick, with the University of Oxford, identify gene…
- Predators hunt for a balanced diet - Press release - 12 January
  University of Exeter and Oxford-led study shows for the first time that…
- World-class facilities for virus research - Feature - 5 January
  IAH's new high-tech interim laboratory is packed with…

Food security news: 2012

May

April

March

February

January