Technology to boost agricultural efficiency

Boost Converter Efficiency Through Accurate Calculations

P ortable battery-operated electronic equipment is becoming packed with more features requiring larger amounts of power, leading to decreased operating times between battery charges. Innovations such as dynamic backlight control, where the liquid crystal display’s (LCD) backlight power is reduced based on screen content, and automatic voltage scaling, where a microprocessor’s frequency and supp...

Nutrient supplements boost yeast transformation efficiency

Efficiency of yeast transformation is determined by the rate of yeast endocytosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of introducing amino acids and other nutrients (inositol, adenine, or p-aminobenzoic acid) in the transformation medium to develop a highly efficient yeast transformation protocol. The target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) kinase signalling complex influences th...

Energy Efficiency in Agricultural Equipment

The population/biodiversity paradox. Agricultural efficiency to save wilderness.

“I know of no time which is lost more thoroughly than that devoted to arguing on matters of fact with a disputant who has no facts but only very strong convictions” (Simon, 1996). The comment aptly summarizes a common experience (including my own) in dealing with technophobes. In one sense, the genetic manipulation (GM) debate can only be conducted on a level in which the participants are prepa...

Increasing agricultural water use efficiency to meet future food production

With the world’s population set to increase by 65% (3.7 billion) by ∼2050, the additional food required to feed future generations will put further enormous pressure on freshwater resources. This is because agriculture is the largest single user of fresh water, accounting for ∼75% of current human water use. At present ∼7% of the world’s population live in areas where water is scarce. This is p...