Agriculture

Researchers Sniff Out the Genes Behind the Smell of the World's Stinkiest Fruit

The DNA of the durian, it turns out, is very complex and optimized for producing a wretched stench

The Fountaingrove Round Barn burned on Monday Oct. 9 in one of the 17 wildfires that erupted across California.

As Wildfires Rage Across California Wine Country, a Historical Structure Turns to Ash

The iconic Round Barn was destroyed at Fountaingrove, once home to a Utopian community and one of America’s first Japanese immigrants

A rhino sculpture made from wara (rice straw) from the 2017 Wara Art Festival.

Check Out These Massive Straw Art Sculptures on Japan's Honshu Island

Art students are giving leftover rice wara a second life

An October Harvest Moon Rises Tonight

The full moon closest to the equinox rises soon after sunset, casting a glow early evening that helps farmers bring in their crops

Easter Island's famed statues could be remnants of a populous civilization

Lots of Sweet Potatoes Could’ve Made Easter Island a Bustling Place

A new agricultural analysis of the island finds that the crop could have supported more than 17,000 people

Mount Hora, the site in Malawi where an 8,100-year-old skeleton was found, yielding the oldest-known DNA from Africa.

Ancient DNA Helps Scientists Shed Light on How Ancient Africans Moved and Mixed

New techniques help explain why there is little genetic overlap between modern and ancient Malawi people—and promise much more

How Agriculture Came to Be a Political Weapon—And What That Means for Farmers

In his new book, Ted Genoways follows a family farm and the ways they’re impacted by geopolitics

A new startup is making it easy for customers to shop their local family farmers—right from their homes.

New Startup WildKale Lets Farmers Sell Directly to Customers Through an App

Yes, it's like "Uber for farmer's markets."

Costa Rica's Guanacaste region is among the country's many beautiful ecological zones—and the waste from local juice company is helping keep it that way.

Costa Rica Let a Juice Company Dump Their Orange Peels in the Forest—and It Helped

How a controversial experiment actually bore fruit

This protein powder is made of bacteria that use hydrogen as their energy source. Not the most appetizing thought for some, but the researchers who developed this say using this as livestock feed could free up land for other purposes.

Scientists Make Food From Bacteria, Water, Electricity, and a Whole Lot of Patience

You may have heard that Finnish scientists had made food from electricity, but the truth is more complicated

Is This Where Humanity Decided to Settle Down?

Plant analysis of ancient wild cereals from Göbekli Tepe reveal a remarkable similarity to modern strains

If you've eaten an avocado lately, chances are it was a Hass.

Holy Guacamole: How the Hass Avocado Conquered the World

Why one California postman's delicious mistake now graces toast and tacos from California to New Zealand

Amelia Ceja is breaking boundaries at Ceja Vineyards, which was founded by Amelia, Pedro, Armando and Martha Ceja.

¡Salud! to the Mexican-American Wine Revolution

Ceja Vineyards breathes new life into Napa Valley’s wine industry

Gwen Johnson, 11, and other members of the 4-H club in Pleasant Hill, CA, planted lettuces at a public park this past spring.

The Complicated Growth of 4-H

4-H boasts a far more complicated backstory than those blue ribbons would have you believe

Genetically Modified Moth May Soon Be Coming to New York Crops

The move is an attempt to limit crop damage by the diamondback moth

Basket of Gulf Shrimp

Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone" May Grow to the Size of New Jersey This Year

Shrimp and fish may suffer as excess rain and nutrients produce one of the largest oxygen-poor zones to date

Baskets of local fruit for sale in Niagara, Ontario. Peaches are more frequently being grown in cold-weather climates like Canada as climate change affects the viability of crops.

Canadian Peaches and California Coffee: How Farmers Are Being Forced to Innovate in the Face of Climate Change

As the climate changes and global temperatures rise, farmers are having to change cultivation techniques and sometimes even crops.

Early shoots of thale cress sprout in their case of transparent gel on the space station. This is the same type of plant examined in this latest study for its "brain."

Seeds May Use Tiny "Brains" to Decide When to Germinate

Two clumps of cells send hormone signals to each other to help determine when the time has come to sprout

Terrace rice fields in Yunnan Province, China.

Domestic Rice Was Grown in China 9,400 Years Ago

A new study offers evidence that prehistoric villages in the area of Shangshan were growing half-domesticated rice

The historical marker in Enterprise, Alabama describing the significance of the statue.

Why an Alabama Town Has a Monument Honoring the Most Destructive Pest in American History

The boll weevil decimated the South's cotton industry, but the city of Enterprise found prosperity instead

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