76 / SEEDWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2018 Exploring ideas and views on all aspects of the seed industry. ARE BEES LOSING THEIR BUZZ? The news that the UK government has reinstated the ban on the use of neonicotinoids as a pesticide couldn’t have come at a more timely juncture, with a new study revealing yet more damaging effects of the substance on the health of the world’s bee population. Conducted at the University of Stirling and published in the journal Scientific Reports, the study found that exposure to neonicotinoids could have debilitating effects on a bee’s ability to buzz. While that not may sound serious, the implications for its pollination abilities could be severe. While buzzing might sound like a superficial characteristic of the bee, it has more importance than you might have suspected. The vibrations of the bee’s wings are instrumental in dislodging pollen from the anthers of a flower and onto its body. Similarly, when the bee moves onto its next target, the wingbeats are again key in shedding the previously gathered pollen onto the new flower, thus resulting in cross-pollination. Evidence against neonicotinoids has been mounting for some time now, though the challenges facing pesticide analysis and monitoring mean that the industry (including the vast majority of farmers) have opposed scientific studies and denounced them as inconclusive. SPACE AGE PLANT BREEDING LIGHTS THE WAY FOR FUTURE CROPS NASA experiments to grow wheat in space were the inspiration for University of Queensland scientists to develop the world’s first ‘speed breeding’ procedures here on planet Earth. UQ Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) Senior Research Fellow Dr Lee Hickey said the NASA experiments involved using continuous light on wheat, which triggered early reproduction in the plants. “By using speed breeding techniques in specially modified glasshouses we can grow six generations of wheat, chickpea and barley plants, and four generations of canola plants in a single year – as opposed to two or three generations in a regular glasshouse, or a single generation in the field,” Dr Hickey said. “Our experiments showed that the quality and yield of the plants grown under controlled climate and extended daylight conditions was as good, or sometimes better, than those grown in regular glasshouses.” Dr Hickey said information on how to use speed breeding was increasingly in demand from other researchers and industry. 20 SOUTH CAROLINA FARMERS SELECTED TO GROW HEMP FOR RESEARCH PILOT PROGRAM More than a dozen farmers in South Carolina will be Guinea Pigs for a new pilot program in the state that would grow hemp for research purposes. The applicants for the hemp pilot program had to go through a rigorous application process. Only 20 farmers were chosen out of 131 applicants. They had to have a background check, present research and even a marketing plan. Neal Baxley is a 7th generation farmer. He’s worked beside his dad and brother since he was a small child growing sweet potatoes, corn tobacco, and cotton. But now Baxley Farms is adding another crop to its land… hemp. “It’s a great crop it has a lot of different uses. A lot of people will grow it for the fibers, which can be used in textiles,” explains Baxley. The Industrial Hemp Pilot Program allows selected farmers to grow up to 20 acres of hemp in South Carolina. It will be a brand new crop in the state so this pilot program will help farmers learn more about it. The farmers will report that information to help the state determine if hemp could be a crop used in the future. Even though this program is a state initiative the farmers have to put up 100 percent of the cost themselves for the crop and growing operations.