Farm Management News
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Night warming threatens rice output in Asia
Hotter nights arising from climate change will put a brake on the rise in rice production in Asia over the coming decades, with the effect worsening as the century progresses, scientists said yesterday (9 August). The first study to use 'real-world' data from farmer-managed rice farms has shown that, while hotter days may boost productivity, hotter nights more than compensate by reducing it. ...
By SciDev.Net
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Plant and soil science conference emphasizes food, energy and environmental security
A conference is coming to Long Beach Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 that presents the latest research in plant and soil science, emphasizing the security of food, energy and the environment in the next green revolution. More than 3,000 international scientists, professionals, educators, and students will present new technologies and discuss emerging trends in food security, bioenergy, climate change, soil ...
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Bion Confirms Participation in SUNY Oswego`s Forum
NEW YORK - Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BNET) today confirmed its participation at a public issues forum on July 14, hosted by SUNY Oswego's Office of Business and Community Relations at their Campus Center auditorium. The forum, sought by Bion along with Operation Oswego, Oswego County's economic development group, will address Bion's proposed beef cattle ...
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World Cocoa Foundation launches Cocoa livelihoods program in Cameroon
At a ceremony held in Yaoundé, the World Cocoa Foundation launched the Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP) in Cameroon. The ceremony was timed to coincide with Cameroon's celebration of 50 years of independence. The program is managed by the World Cocoa Foundation and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 15 chocolate industry companies. CLP is expected to significantly improve the ...
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Students call on Sodexo to follow suit as Aramark agrees to work with CIW
Responding to an escalating campaign waged by students on campuses across the country, Aramark has agreed to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to directly improve farmworker wages and working conditions in the tomato fields of Florida. The agreement comes a year into the Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA)'s 'Dine with Dignity' campaign, which calls on major food service providers ...
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Nutrient levels on the decline in many Estonian rivers
A new study has analysed the impact of industrial and agricultural changes on nutrients in Estonian rivers. The results indicated that there were significant reductions in nitrogen in one third of the sites, significant reductions in phosphorus in a quarter of sites and significant reductions in both nutrients in nearly a tenth of sites. High levels of nutrients, such as nitrogen and ...
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China`s clever water use boosts food yields
China produces more food for the same amount of water than other countries in Africa and Asia, researchers have found. The report, completed by Li Baoguo and colleagues from the China Agricultural University, found that China produces 1–1.5 kilograms of wheat and corn per cubic metre of water, compared with Ethiopia's 0.1–0.2 kilograms, India's 0.2–0.7 and Kazakhstan's 0.2–0.3. The ...
By SciDev.Net
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Promotion of EU agricultural products outside the EU
The European Commission has approved measures to provide information on, and to promote agricultural products in third countries. Member States submitted 20 programmes to the Commission to be examined. The 10 programmes that have been accepted are from France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Romania. The products covered are PGI and PDO, wine, fruit and vegetables, meat, spirits, ...
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Third world climate conference
With climate change increasing the incidence and severity of weather events, agriculture, one of the most climate dependent of all human activities, depends heavily on effective meteorological services which are vital to climate change mitigation and adaptation, said an FAO expert today. “The economic costs associated with natural disasters, including extreme weather events, have increased ...
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CSIRO aiming to lead the world in agricultural modelling
The joint venture has been formed to further develop the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) – a computer simulation model which takes into account many of the factors affecting a farm’s success, including different plant, soil and management approaches, to inform on-farm management decisions. APSIM has a broad range of applications including: farming systems design, assessment of ...
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EUR 28m EU support for the promotion of agricultural products
The European Commission has approved 16 programmes in 12 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom) to provide information on and to promote agricultural products in the European Union. The total budget of the programmes running between one and three years is € 62.1 million, of which the EU will ...
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Do agri-environmental policies support mixed farming systems?
The Large Scale Grazing Systems (LSGS) of the EU are governed by legislation at regional, national and European levels. New research investigates an LSGS in Spain and suggests that the area's traditional mix of sheep and cereal farming needs improved, better co-ordinated regulatory support to survive. LSGSs are large areas of countryside used for grazing in the EU, characterised by cultural ...
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Cassava disease monitoring goes mobile
Mobile phones are the unlikely weapons being used to fight cassava disease in Tanzania, in a collaboration between scientists and farmers. As part of the Digital Early Warning Network (DEWN) farmers from ten districts in the Lake Zone region of Tanzania will be trained to recognise the symptoms of Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) and Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD). They will then send monthly ...
By SciDev.Net
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Embedding environmental practices into farming behaviour
A Dutch study has investigated the process by which farmers incorporate environmental policy into their thinking and behaviour, a process known as 'internalisation'. It indicates that internalisation is helpful for successful policy. Agri-environment schemes were introduced into EU agricultural policy in the late 1980s to support farming practices that help to protect the environment and ...
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How much are consumers willing to pay to reduce pesticide use?
Many countries would like to decrease their pesticide use but are concerned about the accompanying cost. A recent study reveals that consumers are willing to pay more for food produced with fewer or no pesticides. The impact of pesticides continues to be a subject of political debate at both a national and European level. In 2006, the European Commission launched a strategy to improve the use ...
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Forests and the global economy: 10 million new jobs - FAO
Ten million new “green jobs” can be created by investing in sustainable forest management, according to FAO. “As more jobs are lost due to the current economic downturn, sustainable forest management could become a means of creating millions of green jobs, thus helping to reduce poverty and improve the environment,” said Jan Heino, Assistant Director-General of FAO’s Forestry Department. Since ...
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Satellites help keep Chesapeake Bay clean
Space-age technologies to help Maryland implement and monitor an expanded winter cover crop program that is vital to the Chesapeake Bay's health are being developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Beltsville, Md. Soil scientist Gregory McCarty and colleagues Dean Hively, Ali Sadeghi and Megan Lang with the ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory in Beltsville are ...
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New practical workshops to help UK farmers prevent nitrate pollution
Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) workshops and farm walks that provide hands-on help for farmers and land managers are now taking bookings across the East Midlands. Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) workshops and farm walks that provide hands-on help for farmers and land managers are now taking bookings across the East Midlands. Following the extremely popular national NVZ seminars that ran between ...
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EPA cites pesticides practices of Puerto Rico agency
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has cited the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture’s (PRDA) Crop Protection Program for allegedly violating federal pesticide and worker protection regulations. The EPA complaint, issued under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), comes after a series of investigations conducted by EPA revealed that PRDA was using pesticides ...
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CAP post 2013 - last call for sustainability?
On September 23rd an informal Agriculture Council meeting will be held in Annecy, dedicated to the future of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013. BirdLife International, EEB and Pesticide Action Network warned Ministers that the issue of food and energy security - and prices - can only be addressed effectively through a new model of agriculture that emits less greenhouse gases, ...
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