Maximum Yield USA October 2017 | Page 32

max facts Scientists say Viruses and Aphids Could One Day Help Crops Scientists believe viruses and aphids could be engineered to help crops instead of being the bane of farmers. Researchers are considering how they could engineer insect-transmitted plant viruses to deliver genes to aid crops during times of stress. Essentially, an aphid would feed on the plant and infect it with a virus that activates genes that help the plant fight stress. The team hopes this would be a faster way of responding to threats such as drought and disease within a growing season. “Viruses are well-suited for this purpose because they are natural mobile gene packages that express proteins in plants, but they’re not inherited in the plant seed,” says researcher W. Allen Miller. The research is still in its infancy, however. “Regardless of the end result, we will learn a lot about how viruses interact with insect vectors and plants,” Miller says. “We expect the research will shed new light onto how to safeguard food production from evolving threats.” - sciencedaily.com Non-profits Provide Long-term Security Pittsburgh Urban Farms Grow Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Land Trust are teaming up as The Three Rivers Agricultural Land Initiative to provide long-term support to some of Pittsburgh’s urban farms. The Initiative will buy land off existing projects to ensure the land will be protected from future developments. “There’s no formal land agreement in many of these cases, and at any time the developer or private owner of the land could say, ‘We have another use for this land now, and we want you off,’” says CEO Chris Beichner. “By being able to come in and permanently protect these lands and give the volunteers and farmers the support to grow these farms, they can turn to their families and neighbors and offer these fresh foods.” The initiative will ask the community for input as to which piece of land it should buy, though it will probably prioritize farms currently feeling development pressure. - wesa.fm 30 tapped in