Hi, All! Hope you've had productive business week.
Today we are bringing to you the freshest AgTech news. Hope you'll enjoy it!
#1 Article: How the yield mapping increases high-value crops.
There are many ways to increase yields, from soil and humidity management to the variation of the seeds used. Yield mapping or yield monitoring should be undertaken as a matter of priority. This method of data collection and analysis has been used since the 90s of the past century. However, it still is one of the best ways to help farmers develop crop plans for the highest success.
Yield mapping uses various tools to verify land quality. These results are then combined with GPS data to create a digital crop map. This data is a significant advantage for farmers, as they can use it to maximize returns on their yields and crops.
#2 Atmospheric drying will lead to lower crop yields and shorter trees worldwide.
A new paper published in Global Change Biology — a study by the University of Minnesota and Western University in Ontario, Canada, describes a global atmospheric drying that significantly reduces crop productivity, as well as uncultivated plants, even in well-wetted conditions.
New results were obtained from large-scale analyses covering 50 years of research and 112 plant species.
“An increase in vapor pressure deficit places greater demand on the crop to use more water. In turn, this puts more pressure on farmers to ensure this water demand is met — either via precipitation or irrigation — so that yields do not decrease,” said senior author Walid Sadok, an assistant professor in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota.
#3 Three Herbicide-Tolerant Sorghum Technologies Finally Reach Farmers.
About two decades ago, sorghum producers began to ask for a product that would control the seasonal grasses. In 2021, they finally received a response in the form of three new herbicide-resistant technologies, said Brent Bean, director of agronomy in the United Sorghum Checkoff Program. But he notes that farmers interested in testing any new technology this season are likely to have access to only one hybrid technology, and the rest are part of a limited launch for 2021 by their respective companies.
#4 Research into onion center rot is the path for a new herbicide class.
Since 1983, Pantoea ananatis bacteria have been known to infect several important crops, including onions, rice, and maize. However, it was not clear which molecules were involved. A new study published in mBio identified one of the culprits as pantaphos. Researchers have found that pantaphos can also act as a herbicide and is toxic to glioblastoma cells, making them a promising candidate for agricultural use.
“Herbicide-resistant weeds are an issue in agriculture,” said William Metcalf, a professor of microbiology. “Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a new class of herbicide for over 30 years. If we can understand how pantaphos causes onion rot, we can solve a big problem.”
#5 The virtual 2021 World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit USA took place on March 9–10
The Summit welcomed 1,500 participants & 120 speakers from 46 countries for what has been the biggest event to date. SoilMate Team attended the event as well.
At the Summit, we discussed the cornerstones of modern agriculture like climate changes, sustainability, digital future, carbon farming, nitrogen&phosphorus crisis, and other problems that are major for feeding the planet. Participants and speakers shared insightful perspectives on traceability, machine learning, ESG.
The company that won the Start-Up Challenge at WorldAgriTech was EarthOptics. The startup itself delivers meaningful insights on soil mapping. Our congratulations to the EarthOptics Team!
