skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Robots Help Fight Hunger by Watching Corn Grow

play audio
Play

Monday, April 10, 2017   

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Severe weather brought on by climate change is threatening crops in Minnesota and across the U.S., and a study is underway at the University of Missouri to determine how corn grows in drought conditions.

It's part of a grant by the National Science Foundation. University engineers have built robots to monitor soil and air temperature, humidity and light levels. Gui DeSouza, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the university, said many crops are struggling to adapt to the changing weather, and they likely won't be able to produce enough food for a global population of 9 billion by 2050.

"Last year, for example, we were trying to plant [and] a sequence of very intense rain came and we had to start over from scratch,” DeSouza said. "So, plants are subjected to a lot more stress than they used to be."

He said the goal is to find plants that can resist the changing climate - and that may mean developing new genotypes. Minnesota's largest crop is corn, with growers producing a record amount - more than 1.5 billion bushels - in 2016.

Explaining how the technology works, DeSouza said measurements are taken from a mobile sensing tower in the field, and if plants are under stress, the robots are sent out.

"So, we study different types of corn, different types of sorghum, and we're looking at those areas and trying to identify when the plants are not responding well, or responding better than the other areas,” he said. "And the mobile robot can go inspect individual plants."

DeSouza said the sensing towers are less expensive than aerial drones and have fewer government regulations. They also can generate more data than the aerial vehicles.

Science has to adapt to the changing conditions, DeSouza said, and the end goal is to produce crops that are able to feed as many people as possible. But for that to happen, there's much more work to be done.

"We want to collect more and more data and be able to address those issues, but we don't expect those questions to be answered completely,” he said. "Every time in research you ask one question, you find a few more that you don't understand, that you have to pursue."

Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska account for more than half of the corn grown in the U.S.

More information on the project is available at Missouri.edu.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021