News Stories - Page 46

While many people know that the microbes in our guts are an important part of our health, many are unaware that microbes are just as important to our crops.

Georgia farmers scored what many view as a significant victory when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extended the registration of the controversial weed killer dicamba for two years. The herbicide can be used for over-the-top weed control in cotton and soybean fields, according to Stanley Culpepper, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension weed specialist.

Agricultural advocates and educators topped this year’s list of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association’s best and brightest alumni.

Groundnut producers face challenges in the field, from unpredictable rainfall to acidic soils to a particularly difficult menace, groundnut rosette disease. These types of challenges are the reason that plant breeders systematically create new varieties, targeting the genetic traits that carry resistance or improve yield. A project funded by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut is equipping plant breeders from across East and Southern Africa with innovative software to make that work quicker and more efficient.

The University of Georgia’s 86 weather stations record data 24 hours a day, seven days a week across Georgia. Farmers use this data to help them determine when to plant and treat their crops. During Hurricane Michael, the system helped the National Weather Service to track the storm and save lives.

Author and international development expert Robert Paarlberg has spent years dismantling the oversimplified narratives surrounding global hunger and its remedies.