Maximum Yield USA July 2018 | Page 22

max FACTS Higher CO 2 Levels Reduce Nutritional Value of Rice Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide will reduce the nutritional value of rice, says an international research team after analyzing rice samples from field experiments started by a University of Tokyo professor. Specifically, iron, zinc, protein, and vitamins B1, B2, B5, and B9 were reduced in rice grown under the higher carbon dioxide concentrations expected in the second half of this century (568-590 parts per million). “Rice is not just a major source of calories, but also proteins and vitamins for many people in developing countries and for poorer communities within developed countries,” says professor Kazuhiko Kobayashi of the University of Tokyo, co-author of the recent study. Populations in countries with both the highest rice consumption and lowest gross domestic product may face more malnutrition as the nutritional value of low-cost foods like rice declines. Not all varieties of rice responded in the same way, so future research projects may examine the idea of finding varieties of rice that can stay nutritious despite atmospheric changes. —sciencedaily.com Disease-carrying Pests Carried by Winds to Australia New research out of Australia shows foreign, disease-carrying pests were blown hundreds of kilometers across the ocean from East Timor and Papua New Guinea to northern Australia. The University of Western Australia’s Institute of Agriculture did the research. It was discovered that a disease strain found in the Kimberley’s Ord Valley was not found anywhere else on the Australian continent. Adjunct professor Roger Jones says the match between zuccini yellow mosaic virus in Australia and East Timor shows plant diseases can by carried to Australia by monsoonal winds. “They’re tiny things like aphids, they can be seen with the naked eye, if they get up high with the winds, they just get blown across,” says Jones. “It has been recorded before these kinds of aphids; in the US, they have been recorded blowing from the south to the north in jet stream winds and settling down and being deposited in crops which are huge distances away from where they originated.” —freshplaza.com New GM Foods Designed with Consumers in Mind There is a new generation of genetically modified (GM) foods, designed with the consumer in mind. While many cringe at the idea of GM foods, they can actually provide health benefits, more flavor, and longer shelf life. For example, Arctic apples, which hit US stores in November 2017, are non-browning. There is also the humble Innate potato, which is less prone to bruising. If you fry it, the Innate potato produces less acrylamide (a substance suspected of being a carcinogen) than conventional taters. And there are blood oranges, which are very beneficial since they contain antioxidants called anthocyanins. Not to mention lower-saturated fat rapeseed oil, which has only 3.5 per cent saturated fats — half the amount in conventional rapeseed oil. —­freshplaza.com 22 Maximum Yield