82 / SEEDWORLD.COM FEBRUARY 2019 Agrotechnology Transfer, or DSSAT, suite of crop computer models. Anti-GMO sentiment holds back agricultural advancement in the developing world, but an Iowa State University agronomist hopes his research will clarify the scientific consensus and spark wider acceptance of the technology in Africa. A paper recently published analyzed dozens of previous scientific studies on the safety of Bt corn, a genetically modified, or GM, crop capable of resisting pests. The study upheld the conclusion that the GM crop is safe for humans and the environment. Walter Suza, an adjunct assistant professor of agronomy at Iowa State and a co-author of the study, said Bt corn could help farmers in Africa to combat an emerging pest capable of devastating their crops, but fear of GM crops in Africa has slowed adoption of the technology. Plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, have discovered a way to make crop plants replicate through seeds as clones. The discovery, long sought by plant breeders and geneticists, could make it easier to propagate high-yielding, disease-resistant or climate-tolerant crops and make them available to the world’s farmers. A new Cornell-led study shows that Midwest agriculture is increasingly vulnerable to climate change because of the region’s reliance on growing rain-fed crops. Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, assistant professor of applied economics and management and CoBank/Farm Credit East Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in Production Economics and Sustainability, set out to assess the impact extreme weather is having on agricultural productivity in the United States. The resulting paper pinpoints the specific regions in the U.S. that are growing more sensitive to extreme climate shocks. The area of greatest concern is the Midwest, where rain- fed field crops like corn and soybeans have become increasingly vulnerable to warmer summers. Researchers from Aarhus University have contributed to creating new knowledge about resistance to yellow rust, which is a serious fungal disease in wheat. The results can have global importance. For more than 20 years, a large international group of researchers, including from Aarhus University, has worked purposefully to investigate the function and genetics of Yr15 resistance, a gene that protects wheat against yellow rust. Yellow rust is a widespread and serious fungal disease that causes many losses in wheat globally. The researchers’ new knowledge is an important piece in the jigsaw regarding the development of new cultivars of wheat that are resistant to yellow rust. BUSINESS NEWS Boeing provided the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center with a $80,000 grant in support of Green Means Grow, a centerpiece of the Danforth Center’s STEM education and outreach. Boeing provided its first $85,000 grant to support Green Means Grow in 2017 and was one of the Danforth Center’s earliest partners to support its education and outreach programs in plant science, agriculture and technology through Tech Trunks. Hudson River Biotechnology (HRB) opened up a state-of-the-art laboratory in Wageningen to facilitate its ground-breaking research in precision plant breeding. Following the global surge in CRISPR investments and research, HRB is pleased to announce the opening of its new 150m2 laboratory. As one of the few European companies fully dedicated to gene-editing and precision plant breeding, HRB stated they are pleased to take this next important step in the evolution of the company and strengthen the agricultural R&D eco-system in Europe. Evogene Ltd. announced a collaboration for the development of non-GMO nematode resistant soybean utilizing genome editing technologies on TMG’s commercial soybean lines. Pursuant to the collaboration, Evogene will utilize its Computational Predictive Biology (CPB) platform to identify the required genome edits to attribute nematode resistance in soybean and will perform such edits on TMG’s proprietary commercial soybean germplasm. Douglas Products formed a new Plant Health Division following the addition of two companies known for innovation in biological plant nutrition and soil health. Growth Products and AgriEnergy Resources are the two new companies. La Crosse Seed has acquired the inventory and brands of Heritage Seed Company and has also agreed to take over the service and support of Heritage customers. Nucelis, the microbial strain development subsidiary of agriculture biotech company Cibus, announced a partnership agreement with Nanjing Darwingenetech Co (Darwin) to jointly identify and enter into agreements with China based customers for Nucelis’ proprietary gene-editing and advanced fermentation expertise to improve fermentation yields and reduce costs. PEOPLE NEWS IRRI is pleased to announce that starting February 1, 2019, Dr. Arvind Kumar will serve as the Director of