agriculture

Happy Honeybees: U.Va. Student Applying Engineering Research to Agriculture

March 25, 2013

Rowan Sprague is seeking a method of trapping small hive beetles and saving honeybee colonies in the process.

First Global Assessment of Land and Water ‘Grabbing’ Published in National Journal

January 15, 2013

A new study currently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science provides the first global quantitative assessment of land and water “grabbing” for food production by wealthier nations in generally poorer countries.

University of Virginia Student Rowan Sprague to Receive Udall Scholarship

April 3, 2012

Matt Kelly

April 3, 2012 — Rowan Sprague, a civil and environmental engineering major in the University of Virginia's School of Engineering and Applied Science, has received a 2012 Udall Scholarship.

Farmer Joel Salatin Puts 'Nature's Template' To Work

September 21, 2009

H. Brevy Cannon

September 21, 2009 — Joel Salatin and his Polyface Farm, 550 acres of rolling hills less than 60 miles west of Charlottesville, have become icons of local food, alternative agricultural practices and sustainability, thanks in part to their prominent role in Michael Pollan's 2006 best-seller, "The Omnivore's Dilemma."

U.Va. Scientists Identify Gene for Resistance to Parasitic 'Witchweed'

August 27, 2009

Fariss Samarrai

August 27, 2009 — The parasitic flowering plant Striga, or "witchweed," attacks the roots of host plants, draining needed water and nutrients and leaving them unable to grow and produce any grains. Witchweed is endemic throughout sub-Saharan Africa, causing crop losses that surpass hundreds of millions of dollars annually and exacerbating food shortages in the region.

Among the crops heavily parasitized by witchweed is black-eyed pea, known in Africa as "cowpea" or "niebe" in Francophone countries.