Latest Plants News

Angry farmers in a once-lush Mexican state target avocado orchards that suck up too much water

Apr. 24, 2024 05:27 AM EDT

VILLA MADERO, Mexico (AP) — As a drought in Mexico drags on, angry subsistence farmers have begun taking direct action on thirsty avocado orchards and berry fields of commercial farms that are drying up streams in the mountains west of Mexico City. Rivers and even whole lakes are...

AP PHOTOS: In northeastern Argentina, yerba mate is more than the national drink, it's a way of life

Apr. 23, 2024 10:34 AM EDT

ANDRESITO, Argentina (AP) — For millions across the heartland of South America, bitter-tasting yerba mate tea is a beloved staple of social gatherings and morning routines. But here, in the steamy grasslands of Argentina’s northeast Misiones Province, mate is also a way of life — literally. ...

US advances review of Nevada lithium mine amid concerns over endangered wildflower

Apr. 23, 2024 00:07 AM EDT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The Biden administration has taken a significant step in its expedited environmental review of what could become the third lithium mine in the U.S., amid anticipated legal challenges from conservationists over the threat they say it poses to an endangered Nevada wildflower. ...

Your morning coffee may be more than a half million years old

Apr. 15, 2024 12:35 PM EDT

That coffee you slurped this morning? It’s 600,000 years old. Using genes from coffee plants around the world, researchers built a family tree for the world's most popular type of coffee, known to scientists as Coffea arabica and to coffee lovers simply as “arabica.” ...

Editorial Roundup: Texas

Apr. 08, 2024 07:13 AM EDT

Austin American Statesman. April 4, 2024. Editorial: The harsh consequences of the Texas GOP’s fervor to crush DEI at UT The work of public universities – communal investments in the thinking skills and innovation needed to build a healthy society – needs to...

Extreme drought in southern Africa leaves millions hungry

Mar. 31, 2024 03:32 AM EDT

MANGWE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Delicately and with intense concentration, Zanyiwe Ncube poured her small share of precious golden cooking oil into a plastic bottle at a food aid distribution site deep in rural Zimbabwe. “I don't want to lose a single drop,” she said. ...

Editorial Roundup: Iowa

Mar. 25, 2024 07:14 AM EDT

Dubuque Telegraph Herald. March 22, 2024. Editorial: Upper Mississippi refuge has been protecting Driftless region for a century Happy 100th birthday to the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and its century of conservation efforts. ...

Maple syrup from New Jersey: You got a problem with that?

Mar. 25, 2024 00:11 AM EDT

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Welcome to New Jersey, known around the world for Tony Soprano, Turnpike tolls, chemical plants, and ... maple syrup? If a university in the southern part of the state has its way, the sticky sweet brown stuff you put on your pancakes might one day...

Frederik Andersen stops 31 shots in 6th straight victory as Hurricanes top Maple Leafs 2-1

Mar. 24, 2024 21:33 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brady Skjei and Sebastian Aho scored as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Sunday night for their sixth win in seven games. Frederik Andersen made 31 saves and earned his sixth straight win since returning from injury on March 7 as the...

In Uganda, bamboo has government's backing as a crop with real growth potential

Mar. 23, 2024 23:05 PM EDT

ALONG RIVER RWIZI, Uganda (AP) — Along a stretch of bush by a muddy river, laborers dug and slashed in search of bamboo plants buried under dense grass. Here and there a few plants had sprouted tall, but most of the bamboo seedlings planted more than a year ago never grew. Now,...