Tag: Crop Yields

A year ago, graduate student Merritt Khaipho-Burch Tweeted a reaction to an article about a gene described as enhancing yield, which led to lively on-line and in-the-lunchroom discussions about how to realistically measure yield, and, maybe more importantly, where to draw the line between potential and…

The circadian cycle affects almost all eukaryotic cells. In the case of plants, circadian rhythms affect many processes including the supply of carbon during the night for respiration and growth, and many other agricultural traits. The use of this knowledge for adapting agronomic practices or to alter…

Zhang, Zhu, Shen, Ji et al. discover a way to enhance nitrogen use efficiency and grain yield in rice. The Plant Cell (2020) https://bit.ly/3s3bLb3  Background: Nitrogen (N), an essential element for crop growth, is provided to plants by external fertilizer application. However, the excessive use…

When I think of vertical farms, I imagine baby lettuces and basil: small, leaf crops that benefit from growing close to the consumer. Here, Asseng et al. evaluate the potential to grow wheat, a staple seed crop, in a vertical farm system. Previous studies have demonstrated that wheat can be grown successfully…

Crop production is greatly influenced by the duration of the last stage of plant life cycle, senescence, through degradation of resources in leaves and remobilization of nutrients to developing seeds. Indeed, higher grain yield of important cereals such as maize and sorghum can be achieved by using stay-green…

Is it possible to simultaneously increase two incompatible features like grain yield and stress tolerance? Yin et al. suggest that optimizing cytokinin distribution in plant tissues is a promising strategy for that. ARGONAUTE2 (AGO2) and BIG GRAIN3 (BG3) genes work together promoting at the same time…

If you want a great plant, select for a strong, vigorous, high-yielding individual; this is also the outcome of natural selection. But if you want a great field of plants, these traits may not be as suitable, because the plants will expend energy competing between themselves. When seeds from many plants…