332. Noorka IR, Taufiqullah, Heslop-Harrison JS, Schwarzacher T. 2017. The agriculture-nutrition-health nexus at the cost of water availability in maize diverse genotypes to ensure food security. International Journal of Water Resources and Arid Environments 6(2): 242-251, 2017 ISSN 2079-7079 publisher site: https://psipw.org/attachments/article/401/13e.pdf Originally published as: 2016. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Water Resources and the Arid Environments (ICWRAE…
Category: Sustainability
Saffron crocus, cooking and Iran on the radio
The spice Saffron is valued worldwide for its flavor, aroma and color. I’ve just broadcast an interview with Robin Young produced by Jill Ryan for NPR’s Here and Now program which let me tell you something about my enjoyment of saffron both as a consumer and scientist. Saffron is unusual in that it is equally…
Agriculture and Climate Change in Southeast Asia and the Middle East: Breeding, Climate Change Adaptation, Agronomy, and Water Security
313. Noorka IR, Heslop-Harrison JS 2014. Agriculture and Climate Change in Southeast Asia and the Middle East: Breeding, Climate Change Adaptation, Agronomy, and Water Security. In: Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, Ed Leal Filho W. 1-8. Springer Berlin Heidelberg http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40455-9_74-1 Link to NoorkaHeslopHarrisonBreedingClimateChangeAuthorVersion with colour figures. Link to typeset first page of publication. The agriculture of Southeast Asia and the Middle East…
From vegan to meat: human diet and trophic levels
Where are humans in the food chain? Bonhommeau et al. address this question in PNAS, apparently for the first time, in detail across all countries and over the period from 1961 that FAO statistics on food consumption and production are available (FAOstat.FAO.org). If we ate only the primary producers – plants – we would have a…
Aquaculture, farming and development: an FAO consultation
Aquaculture has major prospects for providing high quality, palatable protein for people. Compared to other animals, the conversion of plants into animal protein in fish, shellfish and crustaceans is very efficient: the ratio of input food to output is less than 2:1 (typically 1.6 to 1.8:1), compared to 2.5 to 3:1 for pigs and poultry,…
Fertilizer statistics: changes and usage
Fertilizer has been critical to crop yields from the start of agriculture, and the application of artificially fixed nitrogen has been fundamental to crop yield increases since the 1970s. However, finding definitive data about absolute amounts, costs, effects on yields and changes in application is tricky – with dispersed literature, many units, confusion with sales…
Food and nutrition security in dry areas: ICARDA 2012 report and research-for-development obstacles
ICARDA_2012_Annual Report ICARDA – the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas http://www.icarda.org – is an international organization targeting crops for these critical regions. It’s annual report for 2012 has just been published and highlights their genetic, breeding and agronomy research. Their headquarters in Aleppo, Syria, was taken over – there are shocking YouTube…
Preserving genetic resources in agriculture: saffron and other EU projects
Maintaining and developing sustainable uses for agricultural genetic resources is essential for ensuring food security in a sustainable manner. In this report, the outcomes of 17 EU projects on genetic resources in animals, arable crops, forest trees and “fruits, vegetables and spices” is discussed. We were involved with the project on the Saffron Crocus, reported on pages…
Dr Ijaz Rasool Noorka – Collaborator from University of Sargodha, Pakistan and Visiting Research Fellow
Dr Ijaz Rasool Noorka has broad interests in the development of productive and sustainable agriculture for Pakistan and developing countries. His interests complement those of the Molecular Cytogenetics Group, and have enabled us to extend our consideration of the outcomes and impact of our work on exploitation of biodiversity by chromosome engineering. Ijaz has been…
New views on fixed nitrogen and other nutrients in crops and the environment
Two works have been published which substantially update long-standing views about nitrogen and crops. The first, Bender et al. (2013), points out that the whole nutrient balance of maize, and applications of NPK (nitrogen, phosphate and potassium) and micronutrients may well not have kept pace with their removal from fields – because of yield and…
Molecular cytogenetics, genome evolution and agricultural genomics 