farmland News
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Comparing farmland changes in China, the Netherlands and Germany
Converting agricultural land for non-agricultural use has implications for food security and environmental degradation, and concerns many countries across the world. How different nations address these issues has been examined in a recent study which compares the governance structures for farmland conversion in the Netherlands, Germany and China. Working within the RECREATE project1, partly ...
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Abandoned farmland widespread in central and eastern Europe
A new study suggests that abandoned farmland is widespread in Europe and that not all land that has been abandoned is unsuitable for farming. Understanding how abandoned farmland is distributed may be important for making land management decisions – for instance, recultivation versus reversion to forest. To meet the future demands of a growing population, it may be necessary to increase ...
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Birds could provide a simple means of identifying high nature value farmland
New research from central Italy shows that high nature value farmland in the region can be accurately identified by the presence of just four bird species. Once such groups of species have been identified for different regions, they can provide a quick and inexpensive tool for assessing the ecological value of farmland, the researchers say. Agriculture is a major land use across Europe and ...
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Protecting farmland biodiversity
A new study describes the rate of loss in plant diversity in intensively farmed fields. The authors recommend that measures to protect biodiversity should focus on low-intensity farmland, due to difficulties associated with rebuilding lost biodiversity in intensively farmed land. Intensive agriculture is one of the main drivers of the decline in worldwide biodiversity. The rate of species ...
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Balanced approach to restoring farmland biodiversity shares and separates land
It is possible to balance agricultural production with improved biodiversity on farmland, according to researchers. A new study suggests using a combination of land sharing techniques, which enhance biodiversity on existing farmland, with land separation techniques, which designate separate areas for conservation and farmland production. The expansion of agriculture and intensification of ...
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Agri-environment Schemes: Call for more landscape connectivity
A popular way to improve biodiversity is to provide financial rewards for environmentally friendly methods of managing farmland. A recent study investigates how the benefits of these schemes can be optimised and made more cost-effective. The findings highlight the importance of hedgerow trees in the survival of farmland wildlife. By 2010, the European Commission aims to halt the decline of ...
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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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2012 Conservation Easement Applications Due February 15
Private landowners interested in protecting their grassland or farmland with this year's funding are encouraged get their applications in soon. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California has set Feb. 15, 2012, as the deadline for accepting applications for both the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) and Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP). "These programs ...
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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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5 challenges that will influence food production towards 2050
Today there are 7.7 billion people inhabiting the earth. It is expected that this will increase with another 2.2 billion people till 2050, meaning that 10 billion people need to be fed in 2050. How can we feed all these people and what will food producers all over the world have to face in the upcoming years? Increase food production per acre To feed the 10 billion people that will ...
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Land acquisitions could add tension to transboundary waters
Millions of hectares of farmland in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America have been leased to foreign countries, sovereign wealth funds, and private corporations over the past half-decade with little to no explicit legal agreement on how water can and will be used on the acquired properties. A new report from the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), Land acquisitions: How will they ...
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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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FAO warns of the risk of a double tragedy in the Philippines
Immediate assistance from the international community for Philippine farmers is critical to avoid a double tragedy befalling rural survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, FAO announced today. FAO is calling on the donor community to urgently step forward and provide more than $11 million to get money to rural people to help clean and clear agricultural land and de-silt irrigation canals in the aftermath of ...
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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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Climate change to shift global spread and quality of agricultural land
New areas of land suitable for agriculture will open up under climate change’s effects, new research predicts, particularly in far northern regions of the world. However, the overall quality of land for farming will decline and many regions, including Europe, could lose large areas of suitable land. Demand for agricultural products is expected to rise by 70–110% by 2050. This is ...
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New Jersey forest and farmland to be preserved under EPA settlement with home builder
New Jersey forest and farmland to be preserved under EPA settlement with home builder The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with the homebuilder D.R. Horton, LLC for violations of federal regulations that protect against pollution from stormwater runoff. Under the agreement, D.R. Horton will pay a $99,000 penalty. The company will also pay $104,420 to The Land ...
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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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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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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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How to feed the world without destroying the planet
By 2050, there will be another two to three billion people on Earth, and the planet's population will consume twice as much food as now. For 50 years farmland has grown at the cost of natural habitat and biodiversity, and already more than two-thirds of agricultural land is either in use or protected. As a result, we need to develop the technology to double the output of the 10–15 main ...
By SciDev.Net
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