news 2022

New research published in Science shows how the rise of modern agriculture turned a North American native plant, common waterhemp, into a problematic agricultural weed. An international team led by researchers at the University of British Columbia with colleagues at the University of Toronto, compared 187 waterhemp samples from modern farms and neighbouring wetlands with more than 100 historical samples dating as far back as 1820 that had been stored in museums across North America.

A new chemical compound under development at Simon Fraser University could give beekeepers an edge in the fight against varroa mites, a deadly parasite that affects honeybees. At her apiary in South Surrey, SFU Chemistry professor Erika Plettner is in the third year of field trials of a new treatment for managing these pests, which have become a serious problem for beekeepers around the world.

Food recalls could be a thing of the past if artificial intelligence (AI) is utilized in food production, according to a recent study from UBC and the University of Guelph. The average cost of a food recall due to bacterial or microbial contamination, like E. coli , is US$10 million according to study co-author Dr. Rickey Yada (he/him) , a professor and the dean of the UBC faculty of land and food systems.

Greenhouse gas production is significantly less when biobased residues like compost replaces widely used nitrogen fertilizer during spring freeze-thaw events in cold temperate regions. A new study led from the University of Waterloo discovered greenhouse gas production is significantly less when biobased residues like compost replaces widely used nitrogen fertilizer during spring freeze-thaw events in cold temperate regions.

Study shows that the more producers sell directly to consumers, the more they enjoy their work and the more economically satisfied they are A major Leger survey has already revealed that dentists and hairdressers are among the happiest workers in Quebec. What about farmers? Sometimes they are really happy, for example in terms of recognition in society, sometimes it is very difficult in terms of remuneration.

A study of nearly 9,000 children has found those who eat a vegetarian diet had similar measures of growth and nutrition compared to children who eat meat. The study, led by researchers at the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital of Unity Health Toronto, also found that children with a vegetarian diet had higher odds of underweight status - emphasizing the need for special care when planning the diets of vegetarian kids.

A new study from the Netherlands has revealed breastfeeding infants may not have been standard practice among mothers in the 1800s, as common perception would suggest. Led by Western biological anthropologist Andrea L. Waters-Rist , the study found unusually low rates of breast-fed infants at a 19th century rural Dutch village, likely because the mothers then were busy working.