Agriculture

A new study indicates that ants can be very effective at protecting crops from diseases. It's even being suggested that ant-derived antibiotics could be applied on a commercial scale.

A new laser "scarecrow" is helping farmers to protect their sweetcorn crops from marauding birds.

Much of the world's soil is too salty for crops. There's hope, though, as scientists have developed a method of growing plants in "unusable" soil.

Herbicides hurt the environment, and they're costly. A new device could drastically reduce the need for them, while also providing crops with mulch.

Spraying crops with weed-killer is not only harmful to the environment, but it's also costly for farmers. With those problems in mind, scientists have conducted a study which suggests that less herbicide could be used for the same results, if applied at the right time of day.

A new artificial intelligence (AI) app developed by researchers from Bioversity International allows banana​ farmers to identify and combat outbreaks of pests and diseases. Designed to be used with a smartphone, both on and offline, it's claimed to operate with an average success rate of 90 percent.

​As crop plants "breathe" through the pores in their leaves, they release an assortment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. A new smartphone-connected device analyzes those chemicals within a matter of minutes, detecting and identifying any diseases that may be indicated.

​Living in the soil, roundworms can infect plants via their roots, which is why many plants have evolved to produce an immune response when the worms are detected. Now, scientists have harnessed that response to create an eco-friendly form of crop protection.

Are there any animal products in that veggie burger? To avoid confusion several states in America have passed new food labeling laws to make sure only animal products can be called meat, burgers or sausages. But a torrent of lawsuits are pushing back arguing these regulations are unconstitutional.

It looks like it was designed for the zombie-apocalypse, but the TF-19 Wasp from Ohio-based Throwflame is a serious piece of kit with potentially life-saving applications. From clearing critical infrastructure to pest management and forest fire back-burns, this modern-day dragon is nobody's toy.

Engineers have developed a vegetable-picking robot that can autonomously harvest iceberg lettuce, a manually demanding crop for human pickers. Vegebot was trained using a machine-learning algorithm that helped it distinguish healthy lettuces ready for harvest, in a variety of weather conditions.

Livestock like sheep and cows are responsible for huge amounts of methane emissions. Now, an international team of researchers has analyzed the gut microbes of different sheep and found clues that may help us curb the problem.