First evidence that weed killers improve nutritional value of a key food crop
Scientists are reporting for the first time that the use of weed killers in farmers’ fields boosts the nutritional value of an important food crop.

Urban Trees Enhance Water Infiltration
Global land use patterns and increasing pressures on water resources demand creative urban stormwater management.

A Model to Measure Soil Health in the Era of Bioenergy
A team of scientists report in SSSAJ that they developed a model to measure soil quality and the loss of organic matter due to increased use of crop residues.

Nitrous Oxide Emissions Respond Differently to No-Till Depending on the Soil Type
Authors report that within the first 5 yr of adopting a no-tillage practice in a heavy clay soil, nitrous oxide emissions could offset the soil carbon dioxide sink.

Agriculture in the developing world: Connecting innovations in plant research to downstream applications
Enhancing agricultural productivity in those areas of the world bypassed by the Green Revolution will require new approaches...

Mechanisms underlying plant resilience to water deficits: prospects for water-saving agriculture
Water scarcity imposes huge reductions in crop yield and is one of the greatest limitations to crop expansion outside present-day agriculture areas.

Sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley, California
The sustainability of irrigated agriculture in many arid and semiarid areas of the world is at risk because of a combination of several interrelated factors

Possibilities for the Use of Oil Contaminated Solids for Agricultural Purposes
All phases of oil exploitation, from the start of oil-drilling works to construction of
the transport system (underground pipeline network) are accompanied by interventions
and procedures hazardous to the environment.

Dioxin risk in soil and plant tissues after long-term biosolids application
Scientists address dioxin concerns and report their findings in the July-August issue of Journal of Environmental Quality

CO2 increase in the atmosphere augments tolerance of barley to salinity
Higher CO2 has some positive effects on the physiology of barley plants and increases its tolerance to salinity

New study points to agriculture in frog sexual abnormalities
A farm irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot.

An impossible coexistence: Transgenic and organic agriculture
First field study in Europe carried out by a researcher from the UAB Institute of Environmental Science and Technology

Report -- adapting farming to climate change
Bringing together the latest science from research groups around Australia, the report includes chapters on each of Australia's major agricultural sectors, with a focus on steps that can be taken to adjust to the ongoing changes in our climate.

Improving Swine Waste Fertilizer
Research in Soil Science Society of America Journal shows that changing the availability of phosphorous in swine diet leads to a slower accumulation of phosphorus in the soil.

Speciation of Phosphorus in Phosphorus-Enriched Agricultural Soils Using X-Ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure Spectroscopy and Chemical Fractionation
X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy was used in conjunction with sequential chemical fractionation to characterize the dominant solid-phase species of P in selected soils.

Interpreting Science in the Real World for Sustainable Land Application
Today's land application practices are designed to effectively treat wastes, and have evolved from earlier practices that centered on cheap disposal with less regard for environmental protection.

Hyperspectral field reflectance measurements to estimate wheat grain yield and plant height
Hyperspectral crop reflectance data are useful for several remote sensing applications in agriculture, but there is still a need for studies to define optimal wavebands to estimate crop biophysical parameters.

Farmers' perception on the importance of variegated grasshopper (Zonocerus variegatus (L.)) in the agricultural production systems of the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon
Zonocerus variegatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae) is known as an agricultural pest in West and Central Africa.

New regulation ensures farm buildings used for agriculture
A farm building is a farm building — and it shouldn’t be used for anything else, Douglas County commissioners say.

Assessment of Metal Availability in Smelter Soil Using Earthworms and Chemical Extractions
The earthworm bioassay was able to assess reductions in metal bioavailability and evaluate chemical immobilization amendment effectiveness.