agriculture

Insect pollinators that have survived the impacts of agricultural intensification may have a greater ability to resist future environmental changes than previously thought, MARIANNE BROOKER reports

Michael Gove's agriculture bill ignores the problems local farmers face in producing healthy and sustainable food, argues NATALIE BENNETT

The first part of our FAKENOMICS series opens with our Antony Fisher, the founder of the Institute of Economics, experiencing a harrowing experience during the Battle of Britain and the war against totalitarianism

The Institute of Economic Affairs has long kept the identity of its funders secret. The oil company BP still gives the climate denying charity cash, it has been confirmed. LAWERENCE CARTER and ALICE ROSS investigate

The Institute of Economic Affairs arranged meetings with ministers for US donors. LAWRENCE CARTER and ALICE ROSS report

The Institute of Economic Affairs offered a potential US agribusiness donor the chance to influence a report on 'green Brexit'. ALICE ROSS and LAWRENCE CARTER report

The Institute of Economic Affairs' Shanker Singham took visitors from Oklahoma into the heart of government. ALICE ROSS and LAWRENECE CARTER investigate

Campaign groups have welcomed the government’s promise of an environment bill, but have stressed the need for speed as data shows continuing decline in UK biodiversity. CATHERINE EARLY reports

'Climate smart agriculture' has become the buzz phrase at high level international policy discussions. But now there is a struggle over its definition. Is it the latest manifestation for corporate social responsibility or the title of a manifesto for real, grassroots led, change, ask PETER NEWELL, JENNIFER CLAPP and ZOE BRENT

On 20th May 2017, the Animal Legal Defense Fund hosted its third annual Animal Law Symposium in Los Angeles, California. It brought together legal professionals and animal advocates from all around the nation to focus on the latest answers to a very important question: How can we best protect wild animals when human activity increasingly runs counter to the interests of wildlife? One of those advocates, STEPHEN WELLS, says we can no longer afford to ignore the devastating impact of animal agriculture

Though the Earth loses forests at an alarming rate, the EU has yet to take decisive action against the most severe causes of deforestation. The EU must now act swiftly to ensure its consumption no longer drives forest destruction, writes SÉBASTIEN RISSO

From sheep food to chili peppers - the new seed stores being deposited this week at the Arctic Vault take the world a step closer to future food security say the participating organisations

BASF are to halve their GM research and development and reduce the time spent on developing these technologies, writes Peter Melchett. Given the many problems that GM agriculture is facing, and that new non-GE technologies offer such valuable benefits as increased crop yields, does BASF's announcement spell the beginning of the end of GM crops?

The Gates Foundation has received a 57,000 strong petition denouncing its support for a 'biopirated' GM banana program in Africa, and calling on it to suspend a feeding trial on US students, writes Vanessa Amaral-Rogers. The banana threatens both the health of the students, say campaigners, and the future of African agriculture.

The global use of glyphosate has rocketed over the last decade thanks to the introduction of 'Roundup ready' GM crops, writes Vanessa Amaral-Rogers. But since IARC classified the chemical a 'probable carcinogen', and with the spread of resistant superweeds, the tide may finally be turning.

As delegates prepare for the Bonn climate talks, India is being struck by extreme heat with a long-delayed monsoon season and a death toll of thousands, writes Liz Hanna. If this is an indicator of the warming world to come, it's giving us all the reasons we could possibly want to act decisively before it's too late.

You can help save our bees with 'citizen science', writes Paul de Zylva - recording those you spot in your local area to help build up a long term picture of their changing numbers. Today we publish an identification guide to the 'top ten' bees, so you can get started right away. But be quick - the Great British Bee Count 2015 ends on Sunday.

A simple agricultural technique could release farmers from the grip of agrochemical corporations. With no patents, no royalties and no licensing fees, this system just benefits the farmers.

The claims made for GM agriculture are a transparent fraud. The real purpose of GM foods is to give giant corporations legally-enforceable monopoly powers over the entire global food chain.

Evolution favours diversity and decentralisation. GM food favours monoculture and monopoly. So, in my view, this so-called scientific food revolution is anti-evolution ...

In the first of a three part analysis of the ongoing UK badger cull Lesley Docksey examines current and historical data and concludes that the government are simply ignoring the science of epidemiology..........

Peter Baker argues that finding solutions to the challenges facing modern agriculture will not be found in market-based mechanisms or further intensification of land, but by harnessing the diversity of human ingenuity.....

In the midst of the US domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil-and-gas drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying. Elizabeth Royte reports

In her new weekly column, the Ecologist's Lorna Howarth reports on the stories that show standing up for what we believe in can and does make a real difference.