News: agriculture
Higher wheat yields and protein content on the horizon

A team of international researchers has discovered a way to produce higher quality wheat. The scientists from the University of Adelaide and the UK’s John Innes Centre have identified a genetic driver that improves yield traits in wheat, which unexpectedly can also lead to increasing protein content by up to 25 per cent.
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What will astronauts eat on Mars?

Forget rocket science: figuring out how crews of space explorers will access fresh healthy food is the real challenge.
Digging deep to unlock soil secrets

Researchers from the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the research division of the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), will examine soil DNA samples collected over the past 20 years to improve productivity, profitability and resilience for Australia’s agricultural sector.
Scholarships help agriculture students aim for the top

Four University of Adelaide students have been announced as recipients of the 2022 Horizon Scholarship. The scholarships aim to develop the next generation of rural leaders.
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SA Drought Hub announces appointment of Director

The South Australian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub has announced the appointment of the University of Adelaide’s Dr Stephen Lee as its Director.
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New inexpensive method to detect lime in soil

University of Adelaide scientists have developed a new simple, inexpensive and fast method to detect and measure very low concentrations of agricultural lime in soils, which is generally a time consuming and difficult exercise.
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A new dawn in plant breeding: Australian Plant Breeding Academy

The University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine is partnering with Australian Grain Technologies Pty Ltd (AGT) on a new academy to take Australia’s plant breeding into the future.
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Blasting the zombie out of water-saving tech

A team of scientists, including experts from the University of Adelaide, suggest that reliance on modern irrigation technologies as a water-use efficiency strategy is a ‘zombie idea’ – one that persists no matter how much evidence is thrown against it.
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Durum breeding to grow in commercial sector

Durum Breeding Australia (DBA) has announced that Australian Grain Technologies Pty Ltd (AGT) has been awarded the licence to take the durum breeding program forward.
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Minimising the impact of frost-bite on Aussie crops

Spring radiation frost is estimated to cost Australian grain growers $360 million in direct and indirect losses every year. In a paper published in Frontiers in Plant Science, researchers at the University of Adelaide and the University of Wollongong have ranked the susceptibility to frost damage in wheat and barley germplasm (seed and tissues) under frost prone landscapes across Australia.
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