Are crops really losing their nutrients, or do we simply need to eat more of them?
Many crops have lost significant amounts of key nutrients since the 1960s, according to a new report warning that climate change, soil degradation and the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs could worsen ‘hidden hunger’. But with many consumers already failing to eat enough fruit, vegetables and fibre, is nutrient density really the problem agriculture needs to solve?
Agriculture has become remarkably good at producing more food from the same amount of land. But has something been lost along the way?
A new report from Deep Science Ventures (DSV) argues that decades of breeding and farming crops primarily for yield have quietly reduced the concentration of essential nutrients in some of the foods we eat.
‘A new day for Corteva,’ The ag giant’s split is official
Corteva relaunches with a tighter focus, and Vylor is a separate company officially
Exactly a year after announcing its corporate split, ag supplier Corteva has spun out its seeds and genetics company, following months of preparation and work to lay out the vision and leadership for each company.
Announced on Oct. 1 last year, Corteva decided to split the company because “the seed and crop protection markets have evolved,” and that market opportunities were diverging, legacy Corteva CEO Chuck Magro said during the initial spin-off announcement.
“This is a new day for Corteva, and we couldn’t be more excited as we move forward with greater focus, agility and a renewed commitment to innovation and operational excellence. As the challenges facing agriculture continue to evolve, we’re ready to meet the needs of the future with the industry’s best people, portfolio and pipeline — advancing safe, effective and sustainable solutions that deliver for farmers, our channel partners and our shareholders,” said Corteva CEO Luke Kissam.
TIME names six agriculture innovations in Best Inventions of 2026 list
TIME magazine has unveiled the agriculture category of its annual Best Inventions list, recognising six technologies spanning crop genetics, robotics, pollinator management, circular agriculture and nutrient recycling
The winners form part of TIME’s broader 2026 Best Inventions ranking, which highlights 300 products and ideas the publication believes are making the world “better, smarter and more fun”.
TIME described the agriculture category as highlighting technologies that are “transforming farming, crop cultivation, and animal rearing”.
Among the winners is BioLumic, whose xTraits platform improves crop performance through light-activated trait development in seeds. TIME highlighted the technology for “giving crops a stronger start”, underscoring growing interest in seed innovations that can boost productivity and resilience amid climate pressures.
Agtech must abandon the unicorn fantasy, says Syngenta Ventures’ Michael Lee
Start-ups need to stop building for billion-dollar exits and start building for realistic acquisition outcomes, according to Syngenta Ventures managing director Michael Lee. Speaking at World Agri-Tech London, Lee argued that inflated valuations and unicorn ambitions have distorted founder behaviour, while highlighting biologicals, robotics and water management as some of the sector’s most promising investment opportunities
Venture capital remains an important driver of innovation in agriculture, but the sector must adopt a fundamentally different model from mainstream tech, according to Michael Lee, managing director at Syngenta Ventures.
Speaking to AgNavigator at World Agri-Tech London, Lee said too many investors and founders continue to benchmark agtech against software markets that routinely produce billion-dollar exits.
“Not everything is venture-backable, and that’s particularly true in agtech,” he said.
Could gene editing open the door to broader GMO acceptance in Europe?
Bayer suggests Europe’s embrace of gene editing could help soften opposition to GM crops, as the company calls for faster approvals of agricultural innovations to boost competitiveness and resilience
Bayer has hinted that growing acceptance of gene-edited crops in Europe could eventually pave the way for broader acceptance of agricultural biotechnology, including some genetically modified (GM) traits.
Speaking during a webinar to discuss a new report on agricultural competitiveness, Bayer’s head of public affairs, Matthias Berninger, suggested that successful deployment of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) could help shift attitudes towards biotechnology after decades of political and public resistance.
Asked whether increasing regulatory acceptance of gene editing both in the UK and EU could act as a gateway to wider acceptance of agricultural biotechnology in Europe, Berninger said: “I think we need to prove the difference we can make with the new breeding technologies. As we demonstrate the benefits of new breeding technologies, I think the conversation on biotechnology will soften.”
Syngenta sued over alleged link between atrazine herbicides & cancer
The agrichemical giant faces another lawsuit, this time for its atrazine-based herbicides
Syngenta is being sued by California resident Apostolos Panayiotou (represented by Wisner Baum LLP), who is alleging that he developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after routine use of the company’s atrazine-based herbicides.
The lawsuit alleges that Panayiotou developed cancer after routinely mixing, loading, and spraying atrazine products over three decades in Los Angeles County. Also, the suit alleged that Syngenta failed to properly warn consumers and provide training and communications beyond federally approved pesticide labels.
The lawsuit distinguishes between the chemical itself and formulated products, with the lawsuit focusing on finished products that can enter a person’s body through skin contact, inhalation, and ingestion while handling the chemical.
7 insights from Bayer that reveal the unmet needs and future demand of Europe’s farmers
From climate resilience and crop protection to gene editing and AI, Bayer’s latest research offers a window into what farmers across Europe say they need most to remain productive, profitable and competitive
European farmers are too often portrayed as cautious adopters of new technologies. But Bayer’s latest research paints a very different picture.
Drawing on interviews with around 90 farmers across eight European markets, alongside economic analysis by Oxford Economics and consumer polling, the report highlights a sector wrestling with shrinking margins, climate volatility and a diminishing crop protection toolbox. It also reveals where future demand is likely to emerge, from climate-resilient crop genetics and gene editing to biological crop protection, automation and AI-powered decision-making.
Kubota continues sub-compact tractor innovation, adds 5 BX90 models to lineup
Kubota continues to invest in its bread and butter in North America – the sub-compact tractor
Original equipment manufacturer Kubota Tractor Corporation is building on top of more than 25 years in the sub-compact tractor space by adding five new BX90 models across three trims to its portfolio, designed for property management and small hobby farms.
Back in 2000, Kubota revealed its first sub-compact tractors, which were designed as a hybrid between a garden tractor and a large-frame compact tractor, and featured a three-point hitch, a PTO, a loader, and mid-mounted mower, Matt McDonald, senior product operations manager for Kubota, told AgNavigator.
‘Generating more candidates can make the bottleneck worse’: Soilytix targets biologicals’ validation problem with genomic AI
Hamburg-based Soilytix has launched a family of genomic AI models designed to help crop-protection companies narrow the growing number of potential biological products discovered in soil before they reach costly laboratory, greenhouse and field trials
Artificial intelligence promises to dramatically expand the number of potential biological crop-protection products researchers can discover. But for Soilytix co-founder and chief scientific officer Tim Rajakumar, that presents the industry with a problem as well as an opportunity.
“One of the biggest problems we hear is the validation bottleneck,” he told AgNavigator.
“AI is producing very large numbers of potentially testable candidates. But if they all still have to pass through expensive laboratory, greenhouse and field experiments, simply generating more candidates can make the bottleneck worse.”
Heritable and Kagome enlist AI to hunt for tomato disease-resistance genes
The US agtech company will use AI to identify genes linked to resistance to a major, undisclosed tomato pathogen, with the ultimate goal of helping Japan’s Kagome breed new, more resilient varieties
Heritable Agriculture has teamed up with Japanese food giant Kagome on a research programme aimed at finding genes that could help protect tomatoes against a major disease threat and introducing that resistance into commercial varieties.
The collaboration, which for now is exclusively focused on tomatoes, will combine Kagome’s germplasm, breeding expertise and research data with Heritable’s AI-powered genomic analysis technology.
The specific objective is to identify genes associated with both disease resistance and susceptibility, before using promising resistance genes in Kagome’s breeding programmes.
