Aquaponics has become all the trend. The combination of aquaculture, the practice of fish farming, and hydroponics, the cultivation of plants in water without soil, aquaponics is one example of recirculating systems generally called Integrated Aquaculture Agriculture (IAA). Some integrated farms can reduce water consumption by 90% compared to traditional agriculture. This is very good news for the agriculture sector, which worldwide, uses about 70% of available freshwater.

A new study conducted by a research team from John Innes Centre (JIC) has isolated a gene that controls the shape and size of wheat spikelets. The study focused on the genetics behind a specific mutant trait in bread wheat known as paired spikelets, where a wheat inflorescence is formed of two spikelets instead of the usual one. This trait, which bears resemblance to flower production in corn and rice, is a variation that could lead to increase in yield.

A research group from Nagoya University and Tohoku University has discovered new compounds that can control stomatal movements in plants. The research team found compounds that show stomata closing activity, which is expected to be useful for drought tolerance to suppress withering of plants, and also stomatal opening activity, which would lead to increased carbon dioxide uptake by plants.

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have discovered a small hormone that helps plants retain water even when none is available in the soil. The study, published in Nature, shows how the peptide CLE25 moves from the roots to the leaves when water is scarce and helps prevent water loss by closing pores in the leaf surface.

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory revealed the biomolecules that can put brakes on oil production of plants. When these biomolecular brakes are disabled, oil production could be boosted which may lead to more biofuels and plant-derived bioproducts. The results of the study are published in Plant Physiology.

As climate patterns become more unpredictable, rice farmers are relying on a modern way of to forecast the monsoon rains. Central Lombok is one of the districts in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, where rainfed rice is the dominant system of rice production. Farmers in Segala Anyar Village grow rice relying solely on rainfall as their source of water.

More with less. This is the challenge and the mantra for our future. There will be many more of us in the years to come. We will go from a population of 7.6 billion today to 9.8 billion in 2050; yet, with our current rate of usage, there will be less fresh water, less arable soil, less available land for agriculture or clean, fruitful seas for fisheries. This is calling into question how we are doing things now and pushing us to find solutions for the future.

Genetic modification is being preferred by several researchers over traditional methods such as selective breeding to improve the genetics of food-producing cattle. These researchers include Jon Oatley, director of the Center for Reproductive Biology at Washington State University. "What we can do now is we can use sophisticated tools, molecular tools, to really refine and enhance the genetics of an animal for them to have the traits that we want," Oatley said.

The UK public is cautiously optimistic about the use of technologies such as DNA sequencing, gene therapy and genome editing to help tackle global challenges like improving human health, reducing inequality and responding to the impacts of climate change. The Royal Society commissioned a public dialogue to explore UK views on genetic technologies applied to people, plants, and animals, and to probe some of the dilemmas and debates around their use.

Auxin is present in varying concentrations in plant cells and tissues. The speed of plant growth, especially at the top, development of lateral shoots and roots, leaves, flowers and fruits are set in motion by the hormone auxin. It's still a mystery how all these processes are made possible by this age-old molecule, and how such a complex system came about.