Maximum Yield Australia/New Zealand November/December 2018 | Page 24

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FACTS
Healthy Soil Can Mitigate Effects of Climate Change on Crops
Food production needn’t be a victim of climate change. Research from Michigan State
University (MSU) suggests crop yields and the global food supply chain can be preserved
through soil management. The research, led by MSU Foundation Professor Bruno Basso
and published in Agriculture and Environmental Letters, found that carbon dioxide
compensated for the climate-caused yield losses because it acted as a natural fertiliser to
help crops grow. But when soil organic carbon losses were included in the analysis, the
increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was not sufficient to prevent yield losses.
“So, through agronomic management, which is ‘doing the right thing at the right time
for your crops,’ soil quality and health can be improved,” says Basso. He explains how
farmers can practice better agronomic management to protect soil against the effects of
climate change by using cover crops, conservation tillage, adding organic carbon to soil,
or by increasing yields through advanced genetics and agronomy.
— sciencedaily.com
BC Wine Makers May Turn to Samurai Wasp to Slay Stink Bugs
With stink bugs working their way through British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley,
researchers are turning to the tiny samurai wasp to take out the pests before they descend
en masse on B.C.’s orchards. In downtown Kelowna, more than 1,000 brown marmorated
stink bugs were counted in the summer. The stink bug is a destructive agricultural pest
that attacks tree fruits, berries, grapes, vegetables, corn, and ornamental plants.
The species caused $37 million in damage to the mid-Atlantic US apple industry
in 2010 and could do the same in the Okanagan. One possible weapon
against the stink bugs is the tiny samurai wasp, which is the size of a sesame
seed. Susanna Acheampong, an entomologist with the BC Ministry of
Agriculture, says the wasps attack the stink bug eggs. The wasps are not
native to North America.
— cbc.ca
How Plants Signal Danger Over Long Distances
Botanists have shown how glutamate, a neurotransmitter in animals, activates a wave of calcium
when a plant is wounded — the best look yet at how plants communicate. Videos show a plant being
attacked by a caterpillar. The plant then sends a signal (seen via fluorescent light) to other leaves
to prepare for another attack. The fluorescent light tracks calcium as it moves across the plant’s
tissues, giving a chemical and electrical threat signal. University of Wisconsin-Madison professor
of Botany Simon Gilroy did the research, which was published in the journal Science. The plant’s
communication system uses a protein that only fluoresces around calcium, letting Gilroy
track it. As the signal moves across the plant (at one millimetre per second), it take
a few minutes for defence-related hormone levels to spike in distant leaves. These
defence hormones help prepare the plant for future
threats by, for example, increasing the levels of
noxious chemicals to ward off predators.
— sciencedaily.com
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