sustainable agriculture News
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Sustainable Agriculture to Promote Biodiversity
• Biodiversity affects key ecosystem services, such as the primary production of food for humans and the rest of nature, plus the recycling of nutrients and water. • One hectare of land contains a lot of biodiversity in the soil – equivalent to the weight of one cow of bacteria, two sheep of protozoa, and four rabbits of soil animals such as earthworms. The INSPIA* project is ...
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FAO’s State of the World’s Forests Calls for Positive Interactions Between Agriculture and Forestry
It is not necessary to cut down forests to produce more food. Promoting more positive interactions between agriculture and forestry can stop deforestation, build sustainable agricultural systems and improve food security. This is the key message of 'The State of the World's Forests' (SOFO), the flagship publication of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), presented at the opening ...
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A call for nominations: Glynwood`s 8th national harvest awards
Glynwood is calling for nominations for its eighth annual Harvest Awards. The Awards recognize farmers, individuals, organizations, and businesses across the United States that demonstrate innovation and leadership in support of regional agriculture and sustainable food systems. Please help us recognize outstanding work from around the country by nominating someone whose work you admire. This ...
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Making agriculture sustainable
Agriculture is possibly the most important sector of global activity. It is a source of foods, fibers and, increasingly, fuel. It provides livelihoods and subsistence for the largest number of people worldwide. It is vital to rural development and therefore critical to poverty alleviation. Up to 40% of the land’s surface is used for agriculture, along with 70% of the world’s fresh water supply. ...
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UN agency explores potential benefits of organic agriculture in Eastern Europe
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said this week it is partnering with an organic farming organization to examine the potential economic, employment and environmental benefits of greater investment in sustainable agriculture in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia region. The study by UNEP, in partnership with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements ...
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EPA administrator addresses Farm, Ranch, and Rural communities ffederal advisory committee / agency announces new committee members (HQ)
Today U.S. Environmental Protection Administration Administrator Lisa P. Jackson addressed the newly-appointed members of the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee (FRRCC) during their first official meeting since being appointed. The FRRCC is an independent committee, established by EPA in 2008, that advises the agency on a wide range of environmental issues of importance ...
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NRDC and Berkeley Food Institute Announce Winners of the 2014 Growing Green Awards
Today, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI) celebrate four remarkable leaders who are advancing sustainable food and agriculture at the sixth annual Growing Green Awards. Chosen from hundreds of nominations submitted across the country by a renowned panel of judges, the 2014 winners are changing the way America eats and farms. They have helped ...
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Loss of wild pollinators would hit crops, finds study
The loss of wild pollinators from agricultural landscapes could threaten global crop yields, a study has found. Led by Lucas Garibaldi, an assistant professor at the National University of Río Negro inArgentina, a team of researchers compared fields containing many wild pollinators — mostly insects — with those containing few. They studied 41 crop systems across all continents ...
By SciDev.Net
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Putting family farmers first to eradicate hunger
Nine out of ten of the world's 570 million farms are managed by families, making the family farm the predominant form of agriculture, and consequently a potentially crucial agent of change in achieving sustainable food security and in eradicating hunger in the future, according to a new U.N. report released today. Family farms produce about 80 percent of the world's food. Their prevalence and ...
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New Book Release Designing Urban Agriculture: A Complete Guide to the Planning, Design, Construction, Maintenance and Management of Edible Landscape
In the past quarter century, food production has been pushed to the periphery of the city. Today the trend is to connect it back to the heart of the city and grow food in urban centers. This resurgence is in response to concerns about rising food prices, food miles, and the environment. Wiley today announced the publication of Designing Urban Agriculture: A Complete Guide to the Planning, ...
By Wiley
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Traditional farming methods in India protect birds
Under the right conditions, traditional agricultural practices can support significant biodiversity in farmed areas over the long term. A new study shows that arecanut plantations combined with forest areas support bird life. The researchers studied bird communities in arecanut plantations found in southwest India to assess whether biodiversity could be sustained in an agriculturally developed ...
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New PED Talks Video Series Digs into Soil Health
A series of 10-to-15-minute, science-centered “PED Talks” on soil health has been posted on YouTube. Soil peds are aggregated particles of sand, silt, clay, and organic matter. Like their namesake, PED Talks combine soil-related topics including explanations of soil health, how we can improve it, and the progress that’s being made to ensure we have the healthy soils necessary to ...
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Ecosystem-based farming comes of age
A new FAO book out today takes a close look at how the world's major cereals maize, rice and wheat - which together account for an estimated 42.5 percent of human calories and 37 percent of our protein - can be grown in ways that respect and even leverage natural ecosystems. Drawing on case studies from around the planet, the new book illustrates how the "Save and Grow" approach to agriculture ...
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Significant progress made in first year of The Good Growth Plan
Syngenta has published the first update on progress towards meeting the six ambitious commitments in The Good Growth Plan, which was launched in 2013 to support the future sustainability of agriculture and rural communities. Syngenta established a global network of over 3,500 reference and benchmark farms in 2014. Around 860 reference farms are using tailored protocols to raise productivity ...
By Syngenta
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Wild Bee Decline Threatens U.S. Crop Production
The first national study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they’re disappearing in many of the country’s most important farmlands — including California’s Central Valley, the Midwest’s corn belt and the Mississippi River valley. If losses of these crucial pollinators continue, the new nationwide assessment indicates that farmers will face increasing costs — and ...
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Transformations required in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and water management to halt biodiversity loss
Although international efforts to halt biodiversity loss are producing results in some areas, they have not yet been able to improve the current state of biodiversity worldwide. Agriculture, forestry, fishing and water management are the main causes of biodiversity loss, but they also could play a key role in the solution. In an underlying study for the fourth Global Biodiversity Outlook, which ...
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Populations of grassland butterflies decline almost 50 % over two decades
Grassland butterflies have declined dramatically between 1990 and 2011. This has been caused by intensifying agriculture and a failure to properly manage grassland ecosystems, according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The fall in grassland butterfly numbers is particularly worrying, according to the report, because these butterflies are considered to be representative ...
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Leave no farmer behind: IWMI and partners prioritize inclusivity at Africa Food Systems Forum 2023
Prioritizing farmers and ensuring their active participation in shaping the future of agriculture was a unifying call at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AGRF) 2023. A diverse group of policymakers, farmers, entrepreneurs and thought leaders from across the continent gathered to critically discuss the complex challenges facing Africa’s agriculture sector, highlighting innovative solutions, ...
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Pollinators vital to our food supply under threat
A growing number of pollinator species worldwide are being driven toward extinction by diverse pressures, many of them human-made, threatening millions of livelihoods and hundreds of billions of dollars worth of food supplies, according to the first global assessment of pollinators. However, the assessment, a two-year study conducted and released today by the Intergovernmental ...
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Challenges in soil and water conservation
Productive soils and clean water are essential elements for economic and social prosperity and environmental sustainability. Throughout history, civilizations have thrived or collapsed based on the availability of these vital resources. The lack of arable land and evidence of soil degradation have been identified as causes for the fall of many ancient civilizations, such as those in Mesopotamia, ...
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