Showing results for: agriculture practice News
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Common Agricultural Policy reform – reducing the impact of farming
Today, the European Commission launched its proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013. The key objective is ‘to strengthen the competitiveness, sustainability and permanence of agriculture throughout the EU in order to secure for European citizens a healthy and high-quality source of food, preserve the environment and develop rural areas’. The proposals tie ...
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Bee and wasp extinctions in UK driven by historical agricultural changes
Changes in agricultural policy and practice, such as increased intensification and fertiliser use, are responsible for many historical extinctions of pollinator populations in the UK, suggests new research. The study looked at bee and wasp extinction rates in relation to agricultural practices since the mid-19th century. The pollination services provided by insects, such as bees and ...
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Indian Ocean islands link up via agriculture web portal
As part of a new project to improve biodiversity and agriculture science reporting within the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), a group of 11 press officers were trained last month (24–25 May) in Mauritius. The press officers come from the agriculture ministries of the IOC islands — Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion and the Seychelles — as well as Zanzibar. The ...
By SciDev.Net
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Growing crops in the city
A case study published in the 2010 Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education by professors at Washington State University studies the challenges one organization faced in maintaining an urban market garden. The journal is published by the American Society of Agronomy. Since 1995, Seattle Youth Garden Works (SYGW) has employed young homeless individuals or those involved in the ...
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Farmers struggle to adopt climate-smart methods
Preliminary results from a project aimed at helping Malawi, Vietnam and Zambia make the transition to a "climate-smart" approach to agriculture show that some farmers are struggling to adopt the new methods, while others are finding ways to cope well with climate-change problems like late rains. "To broaden the options available to farmers, we believe that increased investment, coming from both ...
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The effects of agricultural land use change on farmland birds in Sweden
The effects of changing agricultural practices on farmland birds are explored in a recently published study from Sweden. Overall abundance of 16 common species declined by 23% between 1994 and 2004, which may be partly caused by changes in land use, such as an increase in the amount of wheat cropland. However, effects vary between species, and some species increased or stayed stable in number. ...
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Swaziland is moving towards commercial farming
In a major effort to revitalize agriculture here, the government, the European Union and FAO have helped over 20,000 smallholder farmers produce more, higher-quality food and connect with new markets. Agriculture is on its way to become a key driver of Swaziland’s development. The vast majority of Swaziland’s 1.2 million people depend on subsistence farming. But years of economic ...
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Compost and climate change: a novel mitigation strategy?
Native soils are thought to take up more of the greenhouse gas methane than land used for farming. This study shows that, while agriculture can exert an adverse impact on soil methane uptake, the application of soil conditioners like compost may compensate for loss of the methane sink function. The researchers propose new land management strategies based on this finding. Agriculture has become ...
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How Grazinglands influence greenhouse gas
Grazinglands represent one of the largest land resources in the world, yet their role as net sinks or sources of greenhouse gases is essentially unknown. Previous research has emphasized the role of grazing management on the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide as soil organic carbon. However, there is a lack of information regarding how grazing management impacts the flux of two potent ...
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Feeding a growing population that relies on ecosystem services (Part II of II)
The future of farming, food supply, and protection of natural resources are utterly interdependent. While all economic sectors depend to some degree on ecosystem services, agriculture has the most intimate relationship with nature. Agriculture depends on healthy ecosystems for services such as pollination for nearly 75% of the world’s crop species, freshwater, erosion control, and climate ...
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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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SC Johnson grows sustainability around the world
SC Johnson believes a flower can change a community. The company’s latest ad, titled 'Flower,' highlights the company's work with partners in Rwanda. For more than 40 years, SC Johnson, A Family Company, has purchased pyrethrum (py), a botanical insecticide that is extracted from chrysanthemums, from East Africa for use in some of its pest control products sold around the world under the Raid and ...
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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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The common agricultural policy (CAP) and agriculture in Europe – Frequently asked questions
Farming in Europe – an overview How rural is the EU? Over 77% of the EU's territory is classified as rural (47% is farm land and 30% forest) and is home to around half its population (farming communities and other residents). How many farmers are there in the EU? 12 million (full-time). Overall, agriculture and the agri-foods industry - which is heavily dependent on the agricultural ...
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OSU Extension Conferences to Help Small Farm Owners March 7-8 and March 21-22
Small farmers wanting to expand or make their farms work more efficiently, or landowners who are new to agriculture and are looking for ways to utilize acreage, can learn entrepreneurial tips from agricultural experts with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences during a series of small farms conferences in March. The “Opening Doors to ...
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Growing Climate Solutions Act set to be introduced in U.S. Senate
Today, U.S. Senators Mike Braun (R-IN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will introduce the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which will break down barriers for farmers and foresters interested in participating in carbon markets so they can be rewarded for climate-smart practices. The bill has the support of the American Farm Bureau Federation, National ...
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CAP Reform – an explanation of the main elements
The Commission, the Council and the European Parliament (EP) have reached a political agreement on the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy – subject to formal approval by the Council and the EP as a 1streading Agreement. Most elements were agreed in trilogue on June 26, and the last remaining issues (linked to the Multi-Annual Financial framework package) were finalised on September 24. ...
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$139 Million Obligated for California Conservation in Fiscal Year 2010 - Funding amount equals a record setting year for NRCS California
DAVIS, Calif. - The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) California State Office is pleased to announce that approximately $139 million in federal funding was invested this fiscal year for conservation activities throughout the State of California. The funding was distributed through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), ...
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Rooftop farming: The next steps for development
Urban agriculture is becoming increasingly popular. A recent assessment of rooftop farming in Barcelona shows differing attitudes towards the practice, and provides important recommendations for the development of agricultural policy for the 21st century, such as including food production as a potential use of rooftops in planning legislation. Urban agriculture, defined by the Food and ...
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EU and FAO help six countries achieve Millennium Development Goal on hunger
Less than two years before the deadline set to achieve international development goals, the European Union (EU) and FAO step up their efforts to reduce world hunger assisting two million people in six countries with agricultural development activities worth nearly €60 million. The funding comes from a €1 billion EU initiative that aims to foster speedier progress towards the Millennium ...
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