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Agriculture and Food Security in Virginia

Agriculture and Food Security in Virginia. Virginia’s Major Row Crops. Crop Acres harvested – 2007 Soybeans = 480,000 Corn = 405,000 Wheat = 205,000 Cotton = 59,000 Barley = 30,000 Peanuts = 21,000 Tobacco = 20,600 Apples = 12,000 Tomatoes = 5,400 Potatoes = 5,400

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Agriculture and Food Security in Virginia

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  1. Agriculture and Food Security in Virginia

  2. Virginia’s Major Row Crops • Crop Acres harvested – 2007 • Soybeans = 480,000 • Corn = 405,000 • Wheat = 205,000 • Cotton = 59,000 • Barley = 30,000 • Peanuts = 21,000 • Tobacco = 20,600 • Apples = 12,000 • Tomatoes = 5,400 • Potatoes = 5,400 • Source: Data from 2007 Acreage Report, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

  3. Scientists Find Ozone Levels Already Affecting Soybean Yields • Current atmospheric ozone levels are already suppressing soybean yields, according to a new study from ARS and cooperators. • ARS stands for Agriculture Research Service

  4. SoyFACE • ARS plant physiologists Don Ort and Carl Bernacchi, molecular biologist Lisa Ainsworth and geneticist Randall Nelson have been working with University of Illinois scientists on a project called “SoyFACE”—short for Soybean Free Air Concentration Enrichment—to measure how the projected increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone will affect soybean production. • This research supports the U.S. Department of Agriculture priority of responding to climate change.

  5. Future • In their studies, the scientists found that soybean yields increase by about 12 percent at the elevated CO2 levels predicted for the year 2050 (550 parts per million)—only half of what previous studies estimated. • They also found that increased ozone is quite harmful to soybean yields, reducing them by about 20 percent in the future.

  6. Current • In addition, current levels of ozone are already suppressing soybean yields by up to 15 percent. • These results led the scientists to examine the combined effects of CO2 and ozone changes on soybeans. • They found that elevated CO2 partially offsets the ozone damage, confirming general results obtained with open-top chamber studies conducted at other ARS laboratories.

  7. Crop Genetics Group uses plant breeding and genomics to improve food security and reduce prices • Virginia’s agricultural operators depend on the latest crop variety releases to ensure high yields and other desirable traits. • Researchers in Virginia Tech’s Crop Genetics Group develop new lines of soybeans, wheat, and barley to raise agricultural profitability and sustainability and, therefore, reduce food prices.

  8. The Solution • Virginia soybean producers harvest more than 15 million bushels of the crop each year, contributing between $75 million and $100 million to the state’s economy. • One ARS leader in Virginia also leads one of the only soybean-breeding programs in the country that targets adaptation to no-till farming systems, which sequester carbon, increase water-holding capacity and filtration, protect soil, and reduce fuel consumption.

  9. Sources • http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/news/releases-b/033109agritourism.shtml • http://farmsandfieldsproject.wordpress.com/tag/conventional-agriculture/ • http://www.fao.org/biotech/doc.asp • http://www.vt.edu/spotlight/innovation/2009-05-25_plant_breeding/2009-05-25_plant_breeding.html • http://www.physorg.com/news177670316.html

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