Insect populations are declining worldwide at a rate of almost 1% per year. This decline is alarming. Insects play a crucial role in pollinating crops, controlling crop pests and maintaining soil…Read More >
farming
A common framework for Global Agricultural Sustainability Assessments
As an industry that occupies 36.5% of global land mass agriculture plays a key role in how the natural world is managed. It also supplies the food we need to…Read More >
Global economy 2023: why there will still be plenty of pressure on food prices in the year ahead
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the closely watched food price index of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reached its highest recorded level, stoking consumer prices across the world. In the UK,…Read More >
Zero Budget Natural Farming: a low-cost farming system that could achieve similar yields to organic and conventional techniques
In response to rising challenges for farmers in India, the Government of Andhra Pradesh a state in southeast India, have been encouraging farmers to adopt Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)…Read More >
COVID fallout hit farmers hard – they need better mental health support
A farmer’s lot is not an easy one. A difficult and demanding way of life, farming involves a huge range of challenges and stresses – among them isolation, climate change, and disease…Read More >
EIT Food Impact Award won by University of Reading project
An EIT Food project that the University of Reading is involved in, ‘Integrating Precision Farming into Computer Games’, has won an EIT Food Impact award. The Impact Awards were developed…Read More >
Earthworms Count: How Healthy is Your Soil?
By Jeremy Lelean, Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading Soil, from being an overlooked area of research, is now considered an area of vital interest in the solution to…Read More >
Exploring the impact of drought on 2017 wheat crop
By Professor Donal O’Sullivan, Professor of Crop Science in the School of Agriculture, University of Reading Unfavourable weather patterns and their impact on crop production have again been a major…Read More >