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Seeking Africa's green revolution
By applying a mixture of crop breeding, soil management, irrigation and diversification, agro-science experts are helping subsistence farmers to cope with climate change and buck the trend in neighbouring African countries.
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Biotechnology 'no cure-all' for food insecurity
[NAIROBI] Biotechnology is no panacea to the food insecurity and poverty problems in Africa and other developing countries, warned scientists at the first All Africa Congress on Biotechnology in Nairobi, Kenya, this week (23 September).
"This is no silver bullet to the food insecurity in Africa and the rest of the developing world, but it must be looked at as one of the most important tools that will contribute to increased food production and thus, poverty reduction," said Clive James, chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications.
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Indian farmers should go organic: Prince Charles
With a view to mitigate the ongoing climate change Prince Charles of UK appealed the Indian farmers to join the global organic club.
Delivering the Albert Howard lecture to the Indian audience through video-conferencing, he said that worldwide organic farming has proved to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the extent of 35%, both directly and indirectly.
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U.S. City Dwellers Flock to Raising Chickens
In the backyard of a suburban home in Denver, Colorado, 22 chickens are hiding out from the law.
They arrived when a member of BackyardChickens, an online forum, ordered the birds in the mail this past May. "I actually get my chicks in today hopefully, and I am worried that animal control will be at the post office waiting for me with hand-cuffs," the new poultry farmer wrote.
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90,000 Homes To Be Powered By Chicken Manure
The world’s largest biomass power plant running exclusively on chicken manure has opened in the Netherlands. The power plant will deliver renewable electricity to 90,000 households. It has a capacity of 36.5 megawatts, and will generate more than 270 million kWh of electricity per year.
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VIETNAM: Heeding Climate Change Warnings
With a predicted sea level rise of one metre by 2100, Vietnam may end up being one of the nations worst hit by climate change. Such a rise would affect five percent of the land area, 11 percent of the population and seven percent of the agriculture.
With worsening storms and flooding already lapping at its shores, this South-east Asian country is heeding the dire warnings.
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Biofuels in India
OUTSIDE his village in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Sudarshan Dhrube inspects a field of jatropha, planted in rust-red soils, heavy with iron.
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FDA issues rules for genetically modified animals
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Genetically engineered animals moved closer to the dinner table on Thursday as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made the process it will use to review new proposals public.
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Ethanol makers hit by cash crunch
SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of U.S. ethanol makers took a beating on Wednesday as they wrestle with unpredictable corn prices and dwindling cash piles at a time when capital markets look unlikely to provide easy financing.
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Old-growth forests important carbon sinks, says study
EurActiv.com, 16 September 2008 - The Commission has rejected the notion that farmers should implement river basin management schemes in exchange for agricultural subsidies, despite increasing fears over water shortages and droughts.
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New Law Requires Labels on Meat - Country-of-Origin Labels to be Required
WASHINGTON - In a few weeks, American shoppers will be able to look at a cut of meat or a pound of hamburger and see something they've never seen before-a label that says where the meat came from.
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Organic Farming - The Way Forward
Sustainable agriculture was far from farmer Peter Desisto’s mind when he went to an organic farming seminar organised by the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) ten years ago. He and other farmers attended because they heard that PRRM was giving out loans.
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Saltwater solution to save crops
Technology under development at the University of New South Wales could offer new hope to farmers in drought-affected and marginal areas by enabling crops to grow using salty groundwater.
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Tell Congress to Protect Funding for Organic Ag Research
After months of your letters, phone calls and hard work, organic farmers and activists won a much-needed boost to the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative
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California revives program to buy water from farmers
SACRAMENTO -- -- Saying California's water reserves are all but gone, state officials on Thursday announced the revival of a dormant 17-year-old program to buy water from Sacramento Valley farmers and sell it to the thirstiest Southern California agencies in case this winter brings a third year of skimpy precipitation.
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What Does a Sustainable Can of Beans Look Like?
Two years ago Truitt Brothers decided to figure that out, and added two products, green beans and pears,sourced and prepared sustainably, to their more traditionally packaged goods which they had been producing for over 30 years. While the sustainability-focused line is still less than 5% of their whole business it has quadrupled in growth in those two years, and that growth is projected to continue. In fact, they have already doubled their offerings by adding kidney and garbanzo beans.
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Slow Food Movement Picks Up Momentum in the USA
A lush, under-the-stars spread of handmade bread, gourmet olives and fine wine makes an unlikely launch for a weekend dedicated to ending hunger, empowering poor nations and transforming farming as we know it. A sign points the way to a display of apples at a farmer's market during Slow Food Nation in San Francisco, Friday, Aug. 29, 2008.
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Drought in Australia food bowl worsens
Drought in Australia's main food growing region of the Murray-Darling river system has worsened, with water inflows over the past two years at an all-time low, the government's top water official said on Tuesday.
The drought will hit irrigated crops such as rice, grapes and horticulture the hardest, but would have less impact on output of wheat, which depends largely on rainfall during specific periods and is on track to double after two years of shrunken crops.
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Small farmers to join Brazil sustainable cane move
Dozens of small and medium-scale farmers in Brazil's Sao Paulo state will grow sugar cane certified as meeting strict social and environmental standards, the region's cane producers association said late on Thursday.
Several ethanol companies like Cosan and Louis Dreyfus signed deals to produce and export verified sustainable ethanol in the last couple of months to address consumers' concerns over the impact of ethanol which powers almost all the country's new cars.
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Water Corruption Prevents Progress
Africa's largest water transfer effort, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, plans to supply water to the industrial heartland of South Africa and to generate energy for impoverished Lesotho. The multi-billion dollar investment offers economic growth and greater water security for underserved communities in the region.
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'Best Hope At Sustainable Fisheries' Short-changed By Conservation Efforts, Researchers Argue
Small scale fisheries produce as much annual catch for human consumption and use less than one-eighth the fuel as their industrial counterparts, but they are dealt a double-whammy by well-intentioned eco-labelling initiatives and ill-conceived fuel subsidies, according to a University of British Columbia study.
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Roundtable Reveals International Biofuel Standard
Biofuels offer the promise of a low-carbon fuel that could power vehicles and stimulate the world's rural economies. Yet biofuels are also among the most vilified of environmental technologies. Ethanol refineries are not always clean. The labor on biofuel farms is not always fair. The diversion of feedstocks from food to fuel may be driving up global commodity prices.
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A New Biopesticide For The Organic Food Boom
With the boom in consumption of organic foods creating a pressing need for natural insecticides and herbicides that can be used on crops certified as "organic," biopesticide pioneer Pam G. Marrone, Ph.D., is reporting development of a new "green" pesticide obtained from an extract of the giant knotweed in a report scheduled for presentation here today at the 236th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.
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Uruguay: Organic Wool Has Become the Great Challenge
There is a strong growing demand in the world for "organic" wool and consumers are willing to pay a bonus, which is a promising advantage for Uruguay and its textile industry, said Pedro Otegui, one of the country's leading wool and textile exporters.
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Wastewater fears for urban farms
Urgent action is needed to remove pollutants from urban wastewater, which is often used in cities to grow food, an international study has warned.
Data collected by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) found that 85% of cities discharged the water without any appropriate treatment.
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