agriculture development News
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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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Study finds that residential lawns release more carbon dioxide than corn fields
More carbon dioxide is released from residential lawns than corn fields according to a new study. And much of the difference can likely be attributed to soil temperature. The data, from researchers at Elizabethtown College, suggest that urban heat islands may be working at smaller scales than previously thought. These findings provide a better understanding of the changes that occur when ...
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Harnessing carbon financing to boost sustainable farming
Some 100 experts from five continents have met to chart the way to harnessing a large new flow of funding – carbon finance – to agricultural development and to improving the lives of poor farmers the world over. Billions of dollars are available every year under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism to finance initiatives helping reduce the amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions into ...
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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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Irrigation with treated waste water: A growing fact
There is a serious problem of lack of water worldwide, so much in quantity as in quality, due to different facts as low rainfall, high evaporation or the increase in the demand of water for different uses. This fact is favouring the search and use of non-conventional sources of water, which guarantee the continuous availability of water to its use in agriculture and landscaping. The use of the ...
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Abandoned farmlands are key to sustainable bioenergy
Biofuels can be a sustainable part of the world's energy future, especially if bioenergy agriculture is developed on currently abandoned or degraded agricultural lands, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University. Using these lands for energy crops, instead of converting existing croplands or clearing new land, avoids competition with food production and preserves ...
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Engaging youth in agripreneurship calls for a shift in the “dirty” industry mindset
Youth is key in Malawi. According to the 2018 census, half of the population falls in the 10–35-year bracket, an age that is full of energy, creativity, and innovation and that is transitioning into the labor market. But agriculture is not generally seen as an opportunity, particularly among the youth. Rather, they perceive it as a “dirty job” that only those without any options ...
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New EPA requirements for controlling wastewater from large animal feeding operations
EPA has finalized a rule helping to protect the nation’s water quality by requiring concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to safely manage manure. EPA estimates CAFO regulations will prevent 56 million pounds of phosphorus, 110 million pounds of nitrogen, and 2 billion pounds of sediment from entering streams, lakes, and other waters annually. “EPA’s new regulation of animal feedlots ...
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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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Indonesia forests still dwindle despite reforms
At home and abroad, Indonesia is highlighting its progress in curbing the environmental destruction that has depleted forests and made the Southeast Asian nation a leading source of greenhouse gases. But environmentalists are unconvinced. They say pulp and palm oil plantations are still expanding at an alarming rate in Sumatran forests, despite efforts by the government and industry. That ...
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Private investment in trees could replenish Africa`s land
Africa's severe land degradation could be reversed by private sector investment in tree-based restoration technologies, a meeting heard. Poor agricultural practices and deforestation are some of the causes of land degradation, which has led to a massive loss of biodiversity on the continent, experts said at the international investment forum Mobilising Private Investment in Trees and Landscaping ...
By SciDev.Net
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High-yield crops have curbed agricultural land expansion, but care needed to avoid negative biodiversity effects
The widespread use of higher-yielding improved varieties of crops as part of the Green Revolution’ has averted the conversion of between 18 to 27 million hectares of forests, woodlands and pastures in the period 1965 to 2004, according to a recent study. However, its authors caution that the relationship between these crops and land use change is complex, and good governance is needed to ...
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Rural development programmes 2007-2014 approved by the EC
Country profile GERMANY Size: 357,000 km² Population: 82.31 millions inhabitants (density: 231 inhabitants/ km²) GDP per capita: € 23,702 (year 2003; source: national strategy plan for rural development) Rural areas cover 80% of the German territory and about 40% of the population live in these areas. The German situation is characterized by important regional discrepancies such ...
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€2.13bn rural development plan for Scotland
Aid of €2.13 billion, of which €676.3 million is EU-financed, including €317 million from voluntary modulation (47%), has been allocated to the Rural Development Programme for Scotland for the period 2007- 2013. Main priorities are: organic farming; forests; rural heritage; tourism; water quality; landscaping; and environmental management. Some of the key projects include the modernisation of ...
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A further set of rural development programmes for the period 2007-2013 agreed
Today the Rural Development Committee (consisting of representatives of the 27 Member States) gave a positive opinion to the Rural Development programmes of Belgium (Wallonia), Estonia, France (Martinique, Réunion), Germany (3 Länder), Greece, Italy (4 regions), Portugal (Mainland and Azores) Slovakia and Spain (Navarra) for the financial period 2007-2013. These programmes are defined to ...
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Irish Minister for Trade and Development visits FAO agriculture recovery projects in the Philippines
Irish Minister for Trade and Development Joe Costello visited an FAO rice seed project funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and witnessed the positive impact of Ireland's financial support on the livelihoods of typhoon-affected farmers in Barangay Olotan, municipality of Jaro, Leyte. Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) damaged 600 000 hectares of agricultural ...
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Paying farmers to protect the environment?
Carefully targeted payments to farmers could serve as an approach to protect the environment and to address growing concerns about climate change, biodiversity loss and water supply, FAO said today in its annual publication The State of Food and Agriculture. The report however cautions that payments for environmental services are not the best solution in all situations, and that significant ...
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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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FIERAGRICOLA: An increasingly international event covering animal farming, markets, sub-contracting and bio-energy
The VeronaFiere exhibition dedicated to the primary sector is second on a European scale for its cost/contact ratio, immediately behind Agritechnica in Hannover. Fieragricola this year expects more than 250 buyers from 35 countries. All the mainstays of the event are stronger than ever: Agrimeccanica, Zoosystem, Multi-function Exhibition, Agriservice, Bioenergy Expo. Not to forget precision ...
By Veronafiere
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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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