A mushroom epidemic in Brazilian cacao trees, which has cut the production of cacao by 25 percent in 5 years, may be treatable with another fungus. (p. 184)

On Sept. 10, scientists in Kabul reported the loss of Afghanistan's principal agricultural insurance policy: two stores of carefully collected seeds, materials selected to represent the genetic diversity of native crops.It was a looting of the worst kind—a theft of that agrarian country's stockpiled agricultural heritage. In it were seeds to help that nation's 22 million people rebuild the capacity to feed themselves.Ironically, the stores were not plundered for those plant materials; the seeds were dumped in disarray onto the floor of ransacked buildings in two cities. The looters merely ran ...

Even self-pollinating coffee plants benefit substantially from visits by insect pollinators. (p. 13)

Anyone who has raised tomatoes in a moist environment knows the tell-tale sign: Overnight, a ripe, juicy orb sustains a huge, oozing wound. If you arrive early, you might catch the dastardly culprit: a slug.Who would have thought that a defense was as close as your coffee cup?Federal scientists have discovered that the same chemical that provides the pick-me-up in a cup of java is a deadly turn-off to snails and slugs. Caffeine renders their food unpalatable. Applied to their soil, the stimulant causes snails and slugs to writhe uncontrollably. At the proper dose, these mollusks succumb to the...

Anyone who has raised tomatoes in a moist environment knows the tell-tale sign: Overnight, a ripe, juicy orb sustains a huge, oozing wound. If you arrive early, you might catch the dastardly culprit: a slug.Who would have thought that a defense was as close as your coffee cup?Federal scientists have discovered that the same chemical that provides the pick-me-up in a cup of java is a deadly turn-off to snails and slugs. Caffeine renders their food unpalatable. Applied to their soil, the stimulant causes snails and slugs to writhe uncontrollably. At the proper dose, these mollusks succumb to the...

The world's first genetically engineered salt-tolerant tomato plant may help farmers utilize spoiled lands. (p. 68)