Food and Natural Resources

Which potato varieties can withstand a changing climate? Field trials in Austria’s main potato growing regions are providing the answer.

An EU-backed initiative has joined forces with other like-minded projects to promote the benefits of agro-biodiversity and develop solutions to more effectively incorporate them into farming practices and policy measures.

A warming world spells trouble for our staple crops. Can scientists breed resistant varieties, or should we update our menus? Plant geneticist Etienne Bucher sorts the wheat from the chaff.

An EU-backed project is calling for innovative solutions to make urban food systems more sustainable.

An EU-backed project is offering external researchers the chance to use top-quality European pig research installations. The second call for proposals is now open.

EU-backed researchers are exploring potential food sources up to 1 000 metres below sea level to decide if they can be sustainably exploited.

A new study looks at 15 Member States’ plans to implement the EU’s new payment schemes aimed at nudging farmers towards sustainable practices.

The textile and food industries are among the most profitable but also environmentally draining. Blockchain architecture addresses the issue via a scalable, flexible platform allowing access to secure product data.

A cutting-edge diagnostic system limits disease spread in modern animal production systems using photonics biosensors, promoting animal and food safety.

Scientists have identified the supergene that makes efficient cross-pollination possible in flowers.

An estimated 22 000 km and 370 days later, a mission to collect critical ocean data from the tropical Atlantic ends with success.

‘Friendly bacteria’ are key to human health. But is this relationship seen elsewhere? Our expert Tania Galindo puts plant microbes under the microscope.

Alsatian, boxer, chihuahua – the list runs on and on. Why did breeding dogs catch our fancy so much more than cats? Our expert Tom Gilbert helps sniff out the answer.

In 2019, the Skyx project developed technology allowing farmers to push a button and send a swarm of autonomous drones to spray their fields. Three years later, the innovation has penetrated the United States (US) market, and the start-up behind it all is on its way to becoming a world leader in agriculture spraying after a new funding round.

Our warming planet will lead to more frequent extremes in hot or dry weather. But what happens to make both droughts and heat waves occur together, and how does precipitation affect this? A recent study explains.

EU backing has helped to scale up production of a new microalgae strain with a higher protein content and better organoleptic properties than the wild type.

A potentially invaluable resource for forest biodiversity and bioeconomy policymakers, a new data set shows current distributions of 67 European tree species and predicts their future distribution under two emissions scenarios.

An NGO is using school presentations and beach clean-ups to reduce plastic pollution on Dutch Caribbean island territory Sint Maarten.

Insects don’t have time to laze about – that’s probably why we say someone is “as busy as a bee”. But would an overfed and underactive bug find itself putting on weight like we do? We put this question to insect expert Erlend Sild.

Plants come in all shapes and sizes, and even the mighty oak tree can be convinced to grow no larger than a house cat. Our expert Robert Sablowski reveals whether there’s a towering giant waiting to burst out of your bonsai.