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"Monsanto, whose name is synonymous with GM crops, confirmed that it is withdrawing all of its EU applications for approval for new crops. The decision is understood to affect as many as 10 applications for approval for new GM crops. It is understood that Monsanto is pulling all of its applications for crops in frustration at delays over clearing existing crops at EU level."

"Several studies have shown that global crop production needs to double by 2050 to meet the projected demands from rising population, diet shifts, and increasing biofuels consumption. Boosting crop yields to meet these rising demands, rather than clearing more land for agriculture has been highlighted as a preferred solution to meet this goal."

"The decline of wild bees and other pollinators may be an even more alarming threat to crop yields than the loss of honeybees, a worldwide study suggests, revealing the irreplaceable contribution of wild insects to global food production."

"The issue of food waste has become a hot topic over recent years, with claims that up to half of the world's food is wasted on the journey from field to fork. The growing gleaning movement aims to make an impact in cutting crop waste by gathering unharvested crops in British fields."

"Buried in a little-noticed rule on microwave ovens is a change in the U.S. government's accounting for carbon emissions that could have wide-ranging implications for everything from power plants to the Keystone XL pipeline. The increase of the so-called social cost of carbon, to $US38 ($A40) a metric ton in 2015 from $US23.80, adjusts the calculation the government uses to weigh costs and benefits of proposed regulations. The figure is meant to approximate losses from global warming such as flood damage and diminished crops. (That figure also compares with the $A23 per tonne carbon tax in Australia.)"

"Materials scientists and electrochemists the world over are joining forces to create new types of batteries that perform better and last longer, are more reliable and demand less of the environment. The latest in a line of promising developments plugs into the properties of certain plants, crops and biological wastes."

Agriculture giant Monsanto may be best known for genetic modification-like creating corn that resists the effects of Monsanto's weed killer Roundup. But when it comes to fruits and vegetables you buy in the store, genetic modification is off the menu. Monsanto thinks no one will buy Frankenfoods, so the company is tweaking its efforts-continuing to map the genetic basis of a plant's desirable traits but using that data to breed new custom-designed strains the way agronomists have for millennia. Here's how it works-and how the results differ from GMO crops. Thanks to this cross between high and low tech, a new era of super-produce may be upon us. -Victoria Tang

"Chileans call the fruit "green gold" for its popularity stateside, but as Eilis O'Neill writes for Civil Eats, the crop is doing all sorts of damage to the country's groundwater supply, especially as it continues to face ongoing drought:"

"On that cold day, we were told not to get our hopes up. Carbon farming was not going to be the great solution for boosting lean incomes. Boost your soils because it will be good for your land and your crops, we were told, not to make a motza out of carbon farming."