As solar energy becomes more affordable and widespread, farmland has emerged as a prime location for large-scale solar development. But with this expansion comes a persistent question: Do nearby property values suffer when solar farms move in? In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers in Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences looked at millions of property sales and thousands of commercial solar sites to shed some light on one of the mostly commonly cited downsides of large-scale solar adoption. 

Bananas are a staple for millions, yet their production is threatened by limited genetic diversity and breeding challenges.

A study published by Associate Professor Yanfei Li’s team from Hunan Agricultural University in Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering provides an innovative solution to this challenge (DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2025613).