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Agriculture.

‘Smart lighting’ might make vertical farming more affordable

A new computer program adjusts grow lights to cut down on electric bills without sacrificing photosynthesis.

Can solar farms and crop farms coexist?

Can scientists make fruits and veggies resilient to climate change, more stories in agriculture.

How powdered rock could help slow climate change

A method called enhanced rock weathering shows promise at capturing carbon dioxide from the air. But verifying the carbon removal is a challenge.

50 years ago, scientists ID’d a threat to California wine country

Fifty years after scientists identified the cause of Pierce's disease, which damages vineyards, there still isn't a cure.

Mixing up root microbes can boost tea’s flavor

Inoculating tea plant roots with nitrogen-metabolizing bacteria enhances synthesis of theanine, an amino acid that gives tea its savoriness.

Could a rice-meat hybrid be what’s for dinner?

A hybrid food that combines rice, animal cells and fish gelatin could one day be a more sustainable way to produce meat.

Berkley Walker wants to revamp photosynthesis for a changing climate

Finding ways to make plants work better could help feed a growing population, especially as the planet warms.

Camouflaging wheat with a wheat smell could be a new approach to pest control

Wheat fields coated in wheat germ oil confuse the noses of mice, reducing seed loss by more than 60 percent, a new study finds.

50 years ago, flesh-eating screwworms pushed scientists to mass produce flies

"Fly factories” dreamed up in the early 1970s have helped North and Central America keep screwworms in check for decades.

Martian soil may have all the nutrients rice needs

Experiments hint that in the future, we might be able to grow the staple food in the soils of the Red Planet.

Dry farming could help agriculture in the western U.S. amid climate change

Some farmers in the western United States are forgoing irrigation, which can save on water and produce more flavorful fruits and vegetables.

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Agriculture

Can Overpriced Peaches Convince Us That Fukushima Is Safe?

Years after a nuclear disaster wiped out Fukushima’s agriculture, peach growers are banking on Harrods to sell the area’s recovery story

Kate Graham-Shaw

‘Forever’ Pesticides Threaten Worse Environmental Harms Than DDT

A looming and poorly regulated PFAS threat comes from these chemicals’ common use in pesticides on farms nationwide

Nathan Donley, Kyla Bennett

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The Pitfalls of Houseplant Collection

A curator at the New York Botanical Garden explains what we can learn about the past and the present from houseplant trends.

Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Jeffery DelViscio

This Climate-Conscious Farming Practice Might Be Backfiring

Scientists say efforts to tame methane in agriculture can spur the output of another greenhouse gas: nitrous oxide

Francisco "A.J." Camacho, E&E News

Is It Time for U.S. Farmworkers to Get Bird Flu Shots?

Finland has decided to vaccinate farmworkers against bird flu—and experts say the U.S. should do the same

Amy Maxmen, Arthur Allen, KFF Health News

The Dairy Industry Must Act Faster to Keep H5N1 from Starting a Human Epidemic

H5N1 is running rampant through dairy cows, putting humans at risk of an epidemic

Kay Russo, Michelle Kromm, Carol Cardona

Avocado Farms Aren’t Sustainable Now, but They Could Be

Avocados are marketed as a superfood, but growing them for an expanding world market has turned a rural Mexican state into an unsustainable monoculture

Viridiana Hernández Fernández, The Conversation US

How Bird Flu Caught the Dairy Industry Off Guard

Understanding how avian influenza jumped into cows can help shape the path to stopping the virus’s spread

Meghan Bartels

Florida’s Beef with Lab-Grown Meat Is Evidence-Free

Lobbyists’ and politicians’ campaigns against lab-grown meat appeal to emotion, not logic and reason

Allison Parshall

Bird Flu Is Spreading in Cows. Here’s What That Means for Milk

H5N1 influenza virus particles have been detected in commercially sold milk, but it’s not clear how the virus is spreading in cattle or whether their milk could infect humans

Julian Nowogrodzki, Nature magazine

NASA’s Artemis Astronauts Will Help Grow Crops on the Moon—And Much More

When astronauts return to the moon later this decade, they’ll bring along science experiments to study moonquakes, lunar water ice and extraterrestrial agriculture

Robin George Andrews

‘Opportunity Crops’ Could Boost Nutrition across Africa

Cary Fowler, the U.S. State Department’s leading figure on global hunger, explains a new way to improve nutritious food supply

Richard Schiffman

Molecular Modeling Study and Proposition of Novel Diaryl Ether Derivatives as Protoporphyrinogen Oxidase Inhibitors

• Adriana C. de Faria
• Elaine F. F. da Cunha
• Matheus P. Freitas

Optimization, Development and Evaluation of Vegetable Seedlings Transplanter Using Inclined Magazine-Type Metering Device for Cylindrical Paper Pot Seedlings

• Ajit Pralhad Magar
• Balaji Murhari Nandede
• V. P. Chaudhary

A Global Estimation of Potential Climate Change Effects on Pollinator-Dependent Crops

• Ehsan Rahimi
• Chuleui Jung

Enhancing Forage Production and Nutrient Value through Cereal/Legume Mixtures in Hydroponic Systems: A Study on Barley, Triticale, and Fodder Pea

• Othmane Elghalmi
• Zaynab El Aadmoni
• Mohamed El Koudrim

A Comparative Study of Nutrient Composition, Proteolytic Activity, Phytochemical Profiles, Vitamin C Content, and Antioxidant Properties in the Peels of Selected Perennial Fruits

• Jhanani Gopalraaj
• Krishnakumar Velayudhannair

Influence of Supplementary Nickel on Minerals Balance, Hematobiochemical Parameters, Antioxidant Activity, Plasma Minerals and Hormones Status in Murrah Buffalo Calves

• Thamizhan P
• Chander Datt
• Raman Malik

Cultivating Tomorrow: A Comprehensive Review of Agricultural Innovations in the Philippines (2018–2023)

• Albino Taer

Recurrent Parent Phenome Recovery Analysis in Six Different Backcross Populations of Bell Pepper Having Genetic Male Sterile ms10 Gene

• Menisha Rani
• Salesh Kumar Jindal
• Om Prakash Meena

Seed Priming with Biosynthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Enhancing Seed Germination and Vigour through Promoting Antioxidant and Hydrolytic Enzyme Activity in Green gram ( Vigna radiata )

• M. Kathiravan

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure Analysis in Avocado ( Persea americana ) Accessions of India

• B. M. Muralidhara
• T. Sakthivel
• M. K. Honnabyraiah

Machine Learning Based Hybrid Approach for Estimation of Jute Area Using Optical and Microwave Satellite Imagery

• Rituparna Das
• Prabir Kumar Das
• Sharmistha B. Pandey

Effects of Dietary Energy Levels on Performance and Gene Expression in Indigenous Aseel Chickens

• Kumaravel Varadharajan
• Mohan Balasubramaniam
• Vasanthakumar Periyannan

Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as Potential Modulators of Hemato-Biochemical Indices, Digestive Enzymes and Disease Resistance in Labeo rohita

• Barsha Baisakhi
• Himanshu S. Swain
• Debasmita Mohanty

Screening of Economically Sustainable Strains of Bivoltine Silkworm, Bombyx mori L. by Assessing the Comparative Fibroin Gene Expression

• Ishfaq Ahmad Malla
• Khursheed Ahmad Sahaf
• Khalid Z. Masoodi

AMMI and GGE Biplot Analysis for Selection of Some High Yielding Terminal Heat Stress Tolerant Wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) Genotypes in Bangladesh

• Nur Un Nesa
• Anannya Das
• G. H. M. Sagor

Development of Potting Media from Composted Organic Food Waste Supplemented with Trichoderma asperellum and Talaromyces tratensis for Control of Root and Stem-End Rot in Chinese Kale ( Brassica oleracea )

• Chutima Kaewkrajay
• Tida Dethoup

Adoption of Drought-Tolerant Teff and Its Welfare Effect in Rainfall Stress Region, Northern Ethiopia

• Menasbo Gebru Tesfay

The Comparison of Machine Learning Techniques for Agricultural Land Use Classifications in the Prairies: A Case Study in Saskatchewan, Canada

Development of an Automatic Weather Station for Irrigation Management via IoT

• Angelo Tiago Azevedo
• Rubens Duarte Coelho
• Rubens Andre Tabile

N-AquaRAM: A Cost-Efficient Deep Learning Accelerator for Real-Time Aquaponic Monitoring

• Ali Siddique
• Muhammad Azhar Iqbal
• Sunbal Siddique

Identification of the Best Strategies for the Development of Healthy and Organic Production: A Study in Mazandaran Province, Iran

• Fatemeh Shafiee
• Omid Jamshidi

Diversity of Root Endophytic Fungi from Some Medicinal Plants of Papaveraceae in Iran

• Yasaman Tajik Gharibi
• Kamran Rahnama
• Afsaneh Graan

Development of a Technology Valuation Model for Commercial Licensing: An Empirical Case of PB 1718 Basmati Rice Variety

• Stanishkar Thevaruparambil Sunil
• Akriti Sharma
• Girish Kumar Jha

Morphological and Molecular Evidence of Fish Parasite Gyrodactylus kobayashi and Argulus japonicus Isolated from Ornamental Fish ( Carassius auratus )

• Basanta Kumar Das
• Souvik Dhar
• Bijay Kumar Behera

Application of Vegetation Indices to Determine the Reproductive Development of Açaí in the Eastern Amazon

• Jamile do Nascimento Santos
• Izadora de Cássia Mesquita da Cunha
• Fábio Júnior de Oliveira

Design, Development and Performance Evaluation of a Portable Battery-Operated Litter Agitator Installed with AI-Controlled Obstacle-Avoidance Robot with Sensors

• Rohit Bhojyareddy Gaddamwar
• Ajaya Kumar Dash
• Susant Kumar Dash

Specific Glycoprotein E ( gE ) Gene Based Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for Detection of Marek’s Disease Virus in Chickens

• Muskan Bhadok
• Adarsh Mishra
• Yashpal Singh Malik

Influence of Histology and Histomorphometry of Thigh Muscles on Thermal Stress-Related Physiological and Plasma Hormonal Responses in Three Broiler Strains

• Haresh Kashinathrao Popalghat
• Nrusingha Charan Behura
• Soubhagya Muduli

Characterization of Spreadable Goat Cheese from Animals Fed with Cactus ( Opuntia ficus-indica ) Cladodes as a Productive Alternative in Arid and Semiarid Areas

• Florencia Frau
• Jorge Nelson Leguizamón-Carate

Development of a Power Operated Fenugreek Thresher

• C. Naveen Kumar
• R. K. Rathod
• S. M. Mathur

Molecular Characterisation and Dynamics of the Fusion Protein of an Emerging Genotype VIIi of Newcastle Disease Virus

• Rafia Maqbool
• Sabia Qureshi

Comparative Metatranscriptomics of Rhizosphere Microbiomes in Survived and Dead Cocoa Plants Under Drought Condition

• Norasekin Tamchek
• Ping-Chin Lee

Problems and Its Related Factors Affecting the Hatchery Owners in Producing Fish Seeds in Rural Bangladesh

• Mohammed Nasir Uddin
• Arup Kumer Das
• M. Salim Uddin

Identification and Differentiation of Mustard Crop with Associated Other Land Cover Features Using Multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Multispectral Instrument (MSI) Data with Machine Learning Approach Over Haryana, India

• Sultan Singh

Soil Water Balance and Productivity of Different Maize-Based Crop Sequences Compared to Rice–Wheat System under Contrasting Irrigation Regimes in North–West India

• Navneet Kaur
• Krishan Kumar Vashist

Soil Erosion Assessment Using the RUSLE Model, Remote Sensing, and GIS in the Woybo Watershed, Ethiopia

• Mudesir Nesru

Soil Attributes Modulate the Fungal Population and Diversity of Phytopathogens and Biocontrol Agents

• Sumit K. Soni
• Poonam C. Singh

Exploring Oxyfluorfen's Environmental Fate: Soil Affinity, Persistence, Degradation Dynamics and Ecological Implications

• Khuram Shahzad Ahmad
• Abdulnasser M. Karami

Examining the Prevalence and Predictors of Stunting in Indian Children: A Spatial and Multilevel Analysis Approach

• Venkata Naga Sindhuja Padigapati
• Selvaprakash Ramalingam

Buzzing for Broccoli ( Brassica oleracea var. italica ): Exploring Insect Pollinators, Their Behaviour, Single-Visit Efficiency and the Significance of Honey Bees in Yield Enhancement

• Sunaullah Bhat
• Johnson Stanley
• Sandeep Kumar

Predatory Behavior of Wasp Species, Antagonistic Defense Mechanism of Apis mellifera Honey Bees and Effective Wasp Management in Apiaries

• Mohammad Ilyas Motmayen
• Surender Kumar Sharma

An Investigation on the Present Status of Wetlands in Majuli River Island; The World Largest River Island and Its Fishery Resources

• Moirangthem Kameshwor Singh
• Chandopal Saikia
• Prabin Payeng

Quantitative Analysis on Expression of Insecticidal Crystal Proteins in Different Plant Parts of BG-II Cotton Hybrids at Various Phenological Stages

• Debashis Paul
• Rishi Kumar
• Y. G. Prasad

Level of Awareness and Willingness to Pay for Safe Milk: A Study of Urban Consumers in North India

• Indrajit Mondal
• Gunjan Bhandari
• Udita Chaudhary

Variability in Seed Morphology, Germination, and Seedling Growth of Madhuca indica : Implications for Seed Source Selection

• Swati Shedage
• Dipika Aayate
• M. J. Dobriyal

Economic and Technical Assessment of the Chinese Plum Varieties Using Multi-Criteria Analysis Methods

• Miroslav Nedeljković
• Jonel Subić

Assessment of Production and Soil Conservation Potential of Aromatic Grasses Grown Under Shifting Cultivated Degraded Hill Slopes of Eastern Ghats, India

• H. C. Hombegowda
• P. P. Adhikary
• Md. Basit Raza

Genetic Analysis of a Recombinant Inbred Line Population Derived from Salt-Tolerant Rice Landrace Korgut under Coastal Ecology

• K. K. Manohara
• Yogini Shanbhag
• Nagendra Kumar Singh

Impact of Plant Density and Irrigation Regimes on Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Cumin ( Cuminum cyminum )

• Abolfazl Sardashti-Nahi
• Hamidreza Ganjali
• Ahmad Mehraban

Development of an IOT-Based Semi-Autonomous Vehicle Sprayer

• Mrutyunjay Padhiary
• Sunny V. Tikute
• Laxmi Narayan Sethi

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• Published: 23 December 2021

On-Farm Experimentation to transform global agriculture

• Myrtille Lacoste   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-1865 1 , 2 ,
• Simon Cook   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0902-1476 1 , 3 ,
• Matthew McNee 4 ,
• Danielle Gale   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3733-025X 1 ,
• Julie Ingram   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0712-4789 5 ,
• Véronique Bellon-Maurel 6 , 7 ,
• Tom MacMillan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2893-6981 8 ,
• Roger Sylvester-Bradley 9 ,
• Daniel Kindred   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7910-7676 9 ,
• Rob Bramley   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0643-7409 10 ,
• Nicolas Tremblay   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1409-4442 11 ,
• Louis Longchamps   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4761-6094 12 ,
• Laura Thompson   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5751-7869 13 ,
• Julie Ruiz   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5672-2705 14 ,
• Fernando Oscar García   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6681-0135 15 , 16 ,
• Bruce Maxwell 17 ,
• Terry Griffin   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5664-484X 18 ,
• Thomas Oberthür   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6050-9832 19 , 20 ,
• Christian Huyghe 21 ,
• Weifeng Zhang 22 ,
• John McNamara 23 &
• Andrew Hall   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8580-6569 24  

Nature Food volume  3 ,  pages 11–18 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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95 Citations

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Restructuring farmer–researcher relationships and addressing complexity and uncertainty through joint exploration are at the heart of On-Farm Experimentation (OFE). OFE describes new approaches to agricultural research and innovation that are embedded in real-world farm management, and reflects new demands for decentralized and inclusive research that bridges sources of knowledge and fosters open innovation. Here we propose that OFE research could help to transform agriculture globally. We highlight the role of digitalization, which motivates and enables OFE by dramatically increasing scales and complexity when investigating agricultural challenges.

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The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information (sources of Figs. 1 – 3 ).

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Premier’s Agriculture and Food Fellowship Program of Western Australia. This Fellowship is a collaboration between Curtin and Murdoch Universities and the State Government. The Fellowship is the centrepiece of the Science and Agribusiness Connect initiative, made possible by the State Government’s Royalties for Regions program. Additional support was provided by the MAK’IT-FIAS Fellowship programme (Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions – French Institutes for Advanced Study) co-funded by the University of Montpellier and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (co-fund grant agreement no. 945408), the Digital Agriculture Convergence Lab #DigitAg (grant no. ANR-16-CONV-0004) supported by ANR/PIA, and the Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust. Contributions toward enabling workshops were made by the USDA (USDA AFRI FACT Los Angeles 2017), the International Society for Precision Agriculture (ICPA Montreal 2018 OFE-C, On-Farm Experimentation Community), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0201303) and ADAS (Cambridge 2018), the European Conference for Precision Agriculture (ECPA Montpellier 2019) and the OECD Co-operative Research Program for ‘Biological resource management for sustainable agricultural systems – Transformational technologies and innovation’ towards ‘#OFE2021, the first Conference on farmer-centric On-Farm Experimentation – Digital Tools for a Scalable Transformative Pathway’. L. Tresh assisted with the design and preparation of Figs. 2 and 3. Members of the #OFE2021 Working Groups also contributed their experiences and insights.

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Centre for Digital Agriculture, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Myrtille Lacoste, Simon Cook & Danielle Gale

Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions (MAK’IT), University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France

Myrtille Lacoste

Centre for Digital Agriculture, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Department of Agriculture, Falkland Islands Government, Stanley, Falkland Islands

Matthew McNee

Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK

Julie Ingram

Technologies and methods for the agricultures of tomorrow (ITAP), University of Montpellier–National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE)–L’Institut Agro, Montpellier, France

Véronique Bellon-Maurel

Digital Agriculture Convergence Lab (#DigitAg), National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), Montpellier, France

Centre for Effective Innovation in Agriculture, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, UK

Tom MacMillan

ADAS, Cambridge, UK

Roger Sylvester-Bradley & Daniel Kindred

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Rob Bramley

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada

Nicolas Tremblay

School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Louis Longchamps

Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Falls City, NE, USA

Laura Thompson

Watershed and Aquatic Ecosystem Interactions Research Centre (RIVE), Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada

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Fernando Oscar García

Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, National University of Mar del Plata, Balcarce, Argentina

Montana Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA

Bruce Maxwell

Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA

Terry Griffin

Southeast Asia Group, International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), Penang, Malaysia

Thomas Oberthür

Business and Partnership Development, African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), Benguérir, Morocco

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Christian Huyghe

College of Resources and Environmental Sciences and National Academy of Agriculture Green Development, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

Weifeng Zhang

National Animal Nutrition Program (NANP), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Pullman, WA, USA

John McNamara

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Contributions

M.L. and S.C. developed the study concept. M.M., D.G., J.I., V.B.-M., T.M., R.S.-B. and A.H. contributed additional concept development. M.L. and D.G. obtained the data and prepared the results. M.L., M.M., L.T., D.K., F.O.G., B.M., V.B.-M., J.R., C.H. and W.Z. contributed data. M.L. wrote the manuscript with input from all other authors.

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Correspondence to Myrtille Lacoste .

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Lacoste, M., Cook, S., McNee, M. et al. On-Farm Experimentation to transform global agriculture. Nat Food 3 , 11–18 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00424-4

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Received : 13 August 2020

Accepted : 05 November 2021

Published : 23 December 2021

Issue Date : January 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00424-4

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