New summer program offers ACES undergrads hands-on rice research in the Philippines
A new summer program will allow College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) undergraduates to spend six weeks in the Philippines conducting hands-on research in rice science at the International Rice Research Institute.
Nitrogen calculators not created equal, according to Illinois study
URBANA, Ill. – When deciding how much nitrogen fertilizer to apply, farmers have options. The standard tool for the Midwest – the maximum return to nitrogen (MRTN) calculator – offers a static recommendation. It is based on hundreds of field trials, but doesn't vary much year to year.
Latin American rice breeding gets a boost from genomic tools
URBANA, Ill. – How do you like your rice? Sticky, fluffy, brown, or white? These qualities, in addition to grain length, width, appearance, and other traits, are hugely important predictors of rice sales and consumption worldwide. And region matters. Rice preferences in Latin America, for example, are very different from those in West Africa, Japan, India, and elsewhere.
Comparing photosynthetic differences between wild and domesticated rice
URBANA, Ill. -- Millions of people in Asia are dependent on rice as a food source. Believed to have been domesticated as early as 6000 BCE, rice is an important source of calories globally. In a new study from the RIPE project, researchers compared domesticated rice to its wild counterparts to understand the differences in their photosynthetic capabilities. The results can help improve future rice productivity.
Sweet corn yield gain over 80 years leaves room for improvement
URBANA, Ill. – New research from the University of Illinois shows sweet corn, when planted at high densities, has steadily increased in yield since the 1930s. The historical view underscores the importance of planting modern density-tolerant hybrids at their optimal densities, and suggests an opportunity to improve density tolerance even more.
Weed goes off script to resist herbicides
URBANA, Ill. – Cementing waterhemp’s reputation as a hard-to-kill weed in corn and soybean production systems, University of Illinois researchers have now documented the weed deviating from standard detoxification strategies to resist an herbicide that has never been commercialized.
Machine learning reveals genes for nitrogen use efficiency in corn
URBANA, Ill. – Machine learning can pinpoint genes of importance that help crops grow with less fertilizer, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.
Think climate change is bad for corn? Add weeds to the equation
URBANA, Ill. – By the end of the century, scientists expect climate change to reduce corn yield significantly, with some estimating losses up to 28%. But those calculations are missing a key factor that could drag corn yields down even further: weeds.
Wetter springs and hotter, drier summers, already becoming the norm in the Corn Belt, put stress on corn during key reproductive stages, including silking and grain fill. But those same weather conditions can benefit the scrappy weeds that thrive in tough environments.
Dynamic photosynthesis model simulates 10-20 percent yield increase
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Plants use sunlight to generate their food through photosynthesis. When the sun rises each morning, plants must prepare themselves to receive nutrients from the sunlight, which takes time. Decreasing the prep time in plants could hold the key to improving yields in many crop varieties.
Herbicide resistance no longer a black box for scientists
URBANA, Ill. – When agricultural weeds evolve resistance to herbicides, they do it in one of two ways. In target-site resistance, a tiny mutation in the plant’s genetic code means the chemical no longer fits in the protein it’s designed to attack. In non-target-site resistance, the plant deploys a whole slew of enzymes that detoxify the chemical before it can cause harm.