Plants communicate through volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that help them respond to herbivorous pest attacks. This review explored the mechanisms behind these plant communications and their applications in sustainable agriculture. The study emphasized how integrating VOC-based technologies with companion planting and biostimulants can enhance pest control strategies. This approach has the potential to reduce reliance on harmful chemicals in farming practices, paving the way for more eco-friendly agricultural solutions to protect plants and increase yield.

A new study shows that increasing plant diversity in agriculture can be used to improve the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural soils. As the agricultural sector strives to reduce its carbon footprint, promoting biodiversity in agricultural practices could be the key to more sustainable and climate-friendly food production systems.

- The diversity patterns are taxon-specific and fluctuate seasonally.

- Multiple taxa should be included in the biomonitoring of high-altitude rivers.

- More conservation attention should be given to the upstream region and the estuary.

Photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables almost all life on Earth, is extremely inefficient at capturing energy—only around 1% of light energy that a plant absorbs is converted into chemical energy within the plant. In a perspective paper publishing October 23 in the Cell Press journal Joule, bioengineers propose a radical new method of food production that they call “electro-agriculture.” The method essentially replaces photosynthesis with a solar-powered chemical reaction that more efficiently converts CO₂ into an organic molecule that plants would be genetically engineered to “eat.” The researchers estimate that if all food in the US were produced using electro-agriculture, it would reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture by 94%. The method could also be used to grow food in space.

Studying how species diversity influences forest productivity through structural diversity in speciose subtropical forest is crucial for effective ecosystem management and for climate change mitigation. Here, we quantified external structural diversity, an overlooked aspect of structural diversity, showing a much stronger influence than internal canopy structural diversity in the positive species diversity-productivity relationships.