During empirical research in Benin, Dutch-sponsored researcher Esaïe Gandonou demonstrated that farmers in underdeveloped parts of developing countries make little extra effort to control soil erosion if the market to which they sell their products becomes more accessible. Although the incomes of the farmers improve, this does not lead to substantial increase in erosion control measures.
Benin is one of the poorest countries in the world. Sustainable land use is therefore even more imp
The University of Liverpool is offering a new form of equine cataract removal surgery on a routine basis, which could save the sight of thousands of horses.
Professor Derek Knottenbelt from the University’s Division of Equine Studies and Professor David Wong from the Ophthalmology Research Unit, have developed a unique approach to cataract removal operations combining techniques used on humans and animals. The new surgery is proving consistently successful in restoring complet
A prototype system designed to help consumers, farmers and other interested parties trace the geographic origin of food at all stages of production from ‘farm to fork’ – storage, processing and distribution – has been developed by researchers.
In the wake of successive outbreaks of food-borne disease in the past decade (think mad cow disease, E.coli, salmonella, etc) and the current fear over the possible spread of avian flu, public demand for tighter safeguards on the entire
Photographic images captured by radar satellites enable the superficial humidity of agricultural basins to be estimated with great precision, although it is important to have knowledge of the rugosity of the surface. This is the conclusion of Jesús Álvarez Mozos in his PhD thesis, Evaluation of the applicability of radar teledetection in estimating the superficial humidity of agricultural basins, defended recently at the Public University of Navarre.
Roughness of the terrain
Researchers at Penn State have devised a novel way to clean and disinfect milking equipment, using little more than salt water. The new method could be a safer and cheaper alternative to conventional cleaning systems.
“Concentrated chemicals used in the conventional cleaning are stored on the farm and on contact, they can cause serious burns in the eyes and on skin,” says Dr. Ali Demirci, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering. And, he says the chemicals
We may well be shivering through an unusually chilly winter, but the dip in temperature is not all bad news, at least for your lawn. Researchers at Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, believe a cold winter leads to a better crop of summer grass.
Dr Peter Kettlewell, a crops specialist at the university college, says grass growth in the summer varies greatly from year to year because of differences in the amount of water in the soil. The team he has headed has discovere
An increased demand for meat in Afghanistan could play an important role in stemming the international flow of heroin, according to a new study led by the Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen.
The price of meat in urban markets is now high enough that livestock production could provide an alternative source of income if Afghani farmers are forced to give up growing opium poppies, says the report, which looked at meat, wool, skin and hide production.
Project leader Iain Wright, Ch
The 2005 soybean growing season provided researchers, growers, and industry representatives with valuable information for 2006, yet there is still a great deal of information needed to understand soybean rust development and management, say plant pathologists with The American Phytopathological Society (APS).
Questions remain on how destructive the disease will be and how it will affect soybean production areas of the Midwest.
“Although soybean rust developed slowly in th
Scientists in Sheffield working on the fundamental biological processes of plants could make significant difference to the lives of farmers in many parts of the world. Using model plant species, such as the tiny weed Arabidopsis, the researchers have uncovered one of the processes used by the plants to protect themselves from potentially lethal environmental conditions. Their discoveries are now being applied to improve the productivity of bean farmers in South America and rice producers in Asi
Almost half of the Paraguay River Basin that includes vast Pantanal wetlands already transformed into grazing and crop lands
Deforestation from increased grazing and agriculture has destroyed 17 percent of the native vegetation in Brazil’s Pantanal, considered the world’s largest wetland.
A new study published by Conservation International sounds an alarm for the Paraguay River Basin, which includes the Pantanal. Continued deforestation at the current rate would cause
Older trees may have less capacity for taking in carbon dioxide
Trees in the Amazon tropical forests are old. Really old, in fact, which comes as a surprise to a team of American and Brazilian researchers studying tree growth in the world’s largest tropical region.
Using radiocarbon dating methods, the team, which includes UC Irvine’s Susan Trumbore, found that up to half of all trees greater than 10 centimeters in diameter are more than 300 years old. Some of the tree
New tomato research has its roots in yielding more food to feed more people, according to Dr. Kendal Hirschi about results announced today.
His team’s study appears in today’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The team made tomato plants over-express the gene, AVP1, which resulted in stronger, larger root systems and that resulted in roots making better use of limited water, said Hirschi, a researcher at Texas A&M University’s Vegetable and Fruit Improvemen
We are regularly confronted with genetically modified foods, be it in the news or on our plates. In what way are GM crops different from conventional crops? What is known about their possible risks for human health or the environment?
– Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report summarised by GreenFacts –
GreenFacts has faithfully summarised FAO’s “State of Food and Agriculture in 2003-2004” and published it in a reader-friendly Three-Level Structure of increasing detail at:
“Making Living Mountains”
The European Charter for Mountain Quality Food Products was launched on Wednesday 7 December under the protection of Joseph DAUL, Chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament and in presence of Jacques BARROT, Commissioner for Transport and Vice-President of the European Commission.
The Charter was signed by 48 states, regions and organisations from 11 countries, among the signatories present at the Europe
A unique European meeting for sustainable aquaculture development that confirmed the health benefits of seafood consumption.
More than 100 stakeholders met between 21st and 23rd November 2005 in a special European Workshop dedicated to sustainable aquaculture development, including consumer groups, sectoral representatives of European aquaculture, scientists and institutional interests.
Held in Ostend (Belgium), within the work programme of the “Consensus” project, th
The application of conservation agriculture techniques to cereal crops in the semiarid zones of Navarre – 57% of the surface area given over to crop cultivation in Navarre, is most profitable for conventional agriculture and improves the quality of the soil, apart from contributing to the sustainability of the environment. This was the conclusion of the agricultural engineer, Mª José Imaz Gurruchaga in her PhD thesis recently defended at the Public University of Navarra.
The study w
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