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Results 1 - 13 of 13.


Environment - 12.12.2019
Plant Advanced Technologies - PAT launches a new bio-herbicide discovery program awarded under the
Plant Advanced Technologies - PAT launches a new bio-herbicide discovery program awarded under the "Programme d’Investissement d’Avenir III"
Plant Advanced Technologies - PAT announces the allocation of exceptional funding of ¤ 660,000 by the office of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, as part of the national innovation contest "Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir III"*. The project associating INRA and ITEPMAI, entitled HerbiScan, enters the category "Innovative Agriculture" and aims to discover and develop new herbicides of plant origin, which will be in adequacy with the stakes of the current agriculture (new active molecules more respectful of the environment).

Environment - Life Sciences - 27.11.2019
Neonicotinoids: despite EU moratorium, bees still at risk
Neonicotinoids: despite EU moratorium, bees still at risk
Since 2013, a European Union (EU) moratorium has restricted the application of three neonicotinoids to crops that attract bees because of the harmful effects they are deemed to have on these insects. Yet researchers from the CNRS, INRA, and the Institut de l'Abeille (ITSAP) have just demonstrated that residues of these insecticides-and especially of imidacloprid-can still be detected in rape nectar from 48% of the plots of studied fields, their concentrations varying greatly over the years.

Environment - 27.11.2019
Neonicotinoids: despite EU moratorium, bees still at risk
Neonicotinoids: despite EU moratorium, bees still at risk
Since 2013, a European Union (EU) moratorium has restricted the application of three neonicotinoids to crops that attract bees because of the harmful effects they are deemed to have on these insects. Yet researchers from the CNRS, INRA, and the Institut de l'Abeille (ITSAP) have just demonstrated that residues of these insecticides-and especially of imidacloprid-can still be detected in rape nectar from 48% of the plots of studied fields, their concentrations varying greatly over the years.

Environment - Agronomy / Food Science - 15.11.2019
Weed diversity mitigates crop yield losses
Weed diversity mitigates crop yield losses
Scientists from Inra and the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Italy) have shown that not all weed communities (spontaneous vegetation) generate crop yield losses, even in unweeded conditions, and that high weed diversity is associated to a reduced risk of important crop yield losses. Published in Nature Sustainability , these results provide new grounds for sustainable weed management.

Earth Sciences - Environment - 09.10.2019
Bee pollination boosts the profitability of oilseed rape
Bee pollination boosts the profitability of oilseed rape
Researchers from INRA and CNRS have shown for the first time that bee pollination surpasses the use of pesticides in yield and especially in profitability of oilseed rape. The team of researchers analysed data collected over four years in farmers' fields in an agricultural plain in Deux-Sèvres (Nouvelle Aquitaine, western France).

Environment - 02.08.2019
More complex crop mosaics produce greater biodiversity in agricultural landscapes
More complex crop mosaics produce greater biodiversity in agricultural landscapes
Researchers from INRA and CNRS 1 , in collaboration with German, Spanish, English and Canadian teams, have examined the effect of field size and crop diversity on biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Published in PNAS , their work shows that increasing the complexity of the crop mosaic produces a considerable (and largely under-exploited) benefit in conserving and restoring the biodiversity of farm landscapes, while maintaining areas of land under agricultural production.

Environment - Life Sciences - 29.07.2019
Aboveground vegetation biomass in the tropics no longer has a positive impact on carbon stocks
Aboveground vegetation biomass in the tropics no longer has a positive impact on carbon stocks
Scientists from INRA, CEA, CNRS, CNES and several international universities 1 have quantified - over the 2010-2017 period ' the time changes in the carbon stocks of aboveground vegetation biomass in the tropics. One main result is that over the studied time period, these stocks are almost constant: gains in biomass carbon stocks in some regions of the tropics are compensated by losses due to deforestation or diebacks linked to climate impacts (in particular the El Niño events).

Environment - 26.06.2019
Organic farming enhances honeybee colony performance
Organic farming enhances honeybee colony performance
A team of researchers from the CNRS, INRA, and the University of La Rochelle is now the first to have demonstrated that organic farming benefits honeybee colonies, especially when food is scarce in late spring. The scientists analysed six years of data collected through a unique system for monitoring domesticated bees that is unparalleled in Europe.

Environment - Health - 13.06.2019
Better air quality: what should the target values be for improving health?
Better air quality: what should the target values be for improving health?
To produce a significant reduction in mortality due to fine particulates, their average level should be reduced by at least 3 micrograms per m3 as a yearly average, concludes an interdisciplinary study led by researchers from Inserm, the CNRS, INRA, Atmo Auvergne Rhône-Alpes and the Université Grenoble Alpes.

Environment - Life Sciences - 20.05.2019
A model to guide seed choices according to climate
A model to guide seed choices according to climate
How do you know if a seed is well suited to a given environment? How can you predict its yield for a particular climate? Farmers need to know the answers to these questions when choosing their seeds because yields depend on complex interactions between seed genotype and environmental conditions. Researchers at INRA and Wageningen University & Research (WUR, Netherlands) have developed a model to predict the yield of any maize hybrid based on its genes and environmental conditions.

Environment - 17.05.2019
Rising atmospheric CO2 levels: plants are working hard for the planet
Rising atmospheric CO2 levels: plants are working hard for the planet
Atmospheric CO2 levels have risen by 30% in a century. A Franco-Australian study by scientists from INRA, James Cook University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has evaluated the global impact of rising atmospheric CO2 levels on the terrestrial vegetation that uses this gas as a source to drive its growth.

Environment - Life Sciences - 08.04.2019
Biodiversity matters: rare species play an essential role in ecosystem multifunctionality
Biodiversity matters: rare species play an essential role in ecosystem multifunctionality
An international research team that included INRA and CNRS scientists has revealed the key role played by rare plant species in maintaining ecosystem "multifunctionality": both species and evolutionary diversity is important. This work was recently been published in PNAS . Based on data from 123 sampling sites around the world, the results show that taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic biodiversity matters for ecosystem functioning.

Health - Environment - 20.03.2019
Encouraging a holistic approach in the fight against infectious diseases
Infectious diseases, the main causes of human mortality according to the WHO, have always been a particular concern for society. In a context of global change, the fight against infectious diseases remains a major challenge for the future and especially for Dominique Pontier and François-Loïc Cosset, researchers at the Université de Lyon.