Ancient Egyptian Cotton Unveils Secrets of Domesticated Crop Evolution   Science Daily - April 3, 2012
Scientists studying 1,600-year-old cotton from the banks of the Nile have found what they believe is the first evidence that punctuated evolution has occurred in a major crop group within the relatively short history of plant domestication. The findings offer an insight into the dynamics of agriculture in the ancient world and could also help today's domestic crops face challenges such as climate change and water scarcity.

Study shows genetic rice breeding goes back 10,000 years   PhysOrg - June 8, 2011
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Masanori Yamasaki and colleagues from Kobe University in Japan, describe how they analyzed the genomes of several types of rice and discovered that the lengths of the stems on the plants grew shorter over time as rice was first being domesticated, resulting in sturdier plants and increased grain output. They conclude that due to the type of mutant genes seen in the early plants that caused the shorter stems, intentional breeding of rice must have occurred as far back as 10,000 years ago.

Why the switch from foraging to farming?   PhysOrg - March 7, 2011
Thousands of years ago, our ancestors gave up foraging for food and took up farming, one of the most important and debated decisions in history.

Rare, unique seeds arrive at Svalbard Vault, as crises threaten world crop collections   PhysOrg - February 25, 2011
he Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV) celebrated its third anniversary today with the arrival of seeds for rare lima beans, blight-resistant cantaloupe, and progenitors of antioxidant-rich red tomatoes from Peru and the Galapagos Islands. The arrival of these collections, including many drought- and flood-resistant varieties, comes at a time when natural and man-made risks to agriculture have reinforced the critical need to secure all the world's food crop varieties.

Smallest Farmers Found? Amoebas Carry, Plant "Seeds"   National Geographic - January 20, 2011
Social network allows single-celled life-forms to be migrant "farmers."

Wheat's Genetic Code Cracked: Draft Sequence Coverage of Genome to Aid Global Food Shortage   Science Daily - August 27, 2010

The genome sequences released comprise five read-throughs of a reference variety of wheat and give scientists and breeders access to 95% of all wheat genes. This is among the largest genome projects undertaken, and the rapid public release of the data is expected to accelerate significantly the use of the information by wheat breeding companies.

The impact of the diffusion of maize to the Southwestern United States   PhysOrg - December 8, 2009

Bolivians look to ancient farming   BBC - August 18, 2009

The Pyramid Farm   National Geographic - June 30, 2009

1st Farm in Eastern U.S. Grown for Taste, Not Hunger?   National Geographic - April 10, 2009
Three thousand eight hundred years ago, long before U.S. plains rippled with vast rows of corn, Native Americans planted farms with hardy "pioneer" crops, according to new evidence of the first farming in eastern North America

Anthropologist Finds Earliest Evidence Of Maize Farming In Mexico Science Daily - April 11, 2007

Goats Key to Spread of Farming, Gene Study Suggests National Geographic - October 11, 2006
Goats accompanied the earliest farmers into Europe some 7,500 years ago, helping to revolutionize Stone Age society, a new study suggests.

Ancient fig clue to first farming BBC - June 2, 2006
Ancient figs found in an archaeological site in the Jordan Valley may represent one of the earliest forms of agriculture, scientists report.

Scotland: Monster mushroom found in field BBC - June 2004

Farming began 23,000 years ago BBC - June 2004
Stone Age people in Israel collected the seeds of wild grasses some 10,000 years earlier than previously recognized.

Korea: World's 'oldest' rice found - 15,000 years BBC - October 2003