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| 08/09/08 | Organic vegetables being sold at Onam market (Hindu) |  |
Published 08/09/08 02:21:40
PALAKKAD: Deputy Speaker Jose Baby has said that organic food is getting more popular as foodgrains and vegetables cultivated using chemical fertilizers and pesticides cause diseases. He was inaugurating the Onam Nadan Pachakari Mela ... | | 08/09/08 | ?Kaipad? farming being revived in Kannur (Hindu) | |
Published 08/09/08 02:21:39
Efforts on to expand the farming system in Ezhome panchayat | | 08/09/08 | Green activists 'are keeping Africa poor' (Times Online) | |
Published 08/09/08 01:00:15
Western do-gooders are impoverishing Africa by promoting traditional farming at the expense of modern scientific agriculture, according to Britain's former chief scientist. | | 07/09/08 | Agricultural extension services being reformed (Hindu) | |
Published 07/09/08 23:55:05
THANJAVUR: The State government has embarked upon reforming the agriculture extension services as part of the measures to upgrade the agriculture sector which is in crisis, said Surjeet K. Chaudhry, Principal Secretary and Special ... | | 07/09/08 | Organic farming brings rich yield to paddy growers (Hindu) | |
Published 07/09/08 22:52:07
Vadakkencherry (Palakkad dist.): A group of farmers in Vadakkencherry is elated by the high yield from their farms after they switched over to organic paddy cultivation last year. The crops are more resistant to pest attack and water usage is ... | | 07/09/08 | Alliance Targets Lawmakers for Education Efforts (Domestic Fuel) | |
Published 07/09/08 22:05:49
The Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy is out to inform the nation?s policy makers that American agriculture is fully capable of producing both food and fuel with no trade off. The alliance was formed in July and includes Archer Daniels Midland, DuPont, John Deere, Monsanto, and the Renewable Fuels Association. ADM Vice President for [...] | | 07/09/08 | Home & Garden Calendar ; ONGOING (Red Orbit ) | |
Published 07/09/08 22:00:24
Display Garden Soiree, Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum, 101 Ferry Rd., Route 114, Bristol. 253-2707; www.blithewold.org. Stroll the grounds, chat with staff horticulturists, bring picnic dinner. Music by Mark and Beverly Davis Guitar Duo; Oregon Wine. Wed 5 pm-dusk. | | 07/09/08 | Come Hurricane or Storm, USDA Prepares (EuroInvestor.co.uk) | |
Published 07/09/08 21:59:00
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today said USDA´s many agencies have deployed personnel and resources to federal, state and local authorities in preparation of landfall for Hanna as e.. - Read more | | 07/09/08 | Come Hurricane or Storm, USDA Prepares (The Earth Times Online Newspaper) | |
Published 07/09/08 19:59:27
WASHINGTON - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today said USDA's many agencies have deployed personnel and resources to federal, state and local authorities in preparation of landfall for Hanna as either tropical storm or hurricane, as well as the approach of Hurricane Ike. | | 07/09/08 | Come Hurricane or Storm, USDA Prepares (Business Wire) | |
Published 07/09/08 19:59:00
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today said USDA's many agencies have deployed personnel and resources to federal, state and local authorities in preparation of | | 07/09/08 | Modern Jean de Florette exposes dark heart of French farming (The Telegraph) | |
Published 07/09/08 19:22:54
A modern Jean de Florette is the victim of a hate campaign in a case which is gripping France and raising a wider debate about farming. | | 07/09/08 | Benefits of Kenyan ban on export of raw cashew hampered by lack of processing capacity (African Agriculture) | |
Published 07/09/08 18:37:00
Kenyan f armers have criticised a ban on raw cashew nut exports by the government, saying it would have no impact due to lack of processing capacity. Agriculture minister William Ruto imposed the ban recently, arguing that farmers would fetch better prices if the nuts were processed before export. ?At the moment we sell nuts at Sh55 a kilo, but with few buyers prices will fall,? said Ms Fauzia Kassim, a Kwale farmer. She said there were no cashew nut processing factories in Kwale. However, farmers in Lamu are hopeful that the ban would encourage small-scale processors, but asked the minister to intervene in addressing other challenges facing the sector. According to Mr Gathende Gachanja, a consultant on agriculture who has done extensive research on cashew nut and coconut production at the Coast, Mr Ruto erred in issuing the ban without first building capacity and supportive infrastructure. ?We are all for value addition and we agree that farmers should be able to fetch better prices for their produce. But what is the rationale in banning export of raw cashew if there is no processing capacity'? he asked. He said that there was need to set up a committee to determine the challenges farmers faced, including cost of farm inputs and production levels before even thinking of effecting the ban. The country has the potential of producing over 30,000 tonnes of cashew nuts per year, but the current production stands at barely 10,000 tonnes per year, Col (rtd) J K Nzioka, the operations director of Kenya Nut Company said. There are no high yielding and early maturing varieties in research centres, he said. The region relies on cashew nut trees that are over 40 years old, well beyond their optimal production levels. Other factors contributing to the low production include poor crop husbandry leading to high disease and pest incidents, inadequate training of farmers, lack of extension agents on nuts management, high cost of farm inputs and equipment and competition from other crops, Mr Nzioka said. When the Kilifi cashew nut factory collapsed in the 1990s, farmers were left with no option other than to sell raw nuts to agents who export them to Tanzania and India for processing. Business Daily Africa | | 07/09/08 | Nigeria to spray against quela birds, locusts (African Agriculture) | |
Published 07/09/08 18:35:00
Nigeria will spend 251 million naira ($213,339) to spray farmlands in its arid northern region that are being ravaged by thousands of tiny grain-eating quela birds and locusts, the agriculture minister said on September 7. Massive swarms of the black, red-beaked migratory birds and desert locusts have destroyed swathes of millet, maize, sorghum and rice farms in about a dozen arid states just before harvest. "To ensure food security ... the federal government has approved a total of 220 flight hours and over 60,000 litres of pesticides to be utilised immediately to control the quela birds and grasshoppers in the affected frontline states," Minister of State for Agriculture Ademola Seriki told a news conference. Aerial spraying of farms will start on Wednesday, while the affected states will also be provided with ground spraying equipment like manual and motorised sprayers, Seriki said. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and top crude oil producer, loses about 40 percent of its annual crop output to pests, according to experts. Seriki said Nigeria, the world's eighth biggest oil exporter, was examining more cost-effective and sustainable strategies, such as a public-private partnership to check the menace of agricultural pests in the future. Quela birds and locusts, which move in large numbers and can devour a field of crops overnight, traditionally scourge the Sahara and the Sahel every year, moving eastwards towards Arabia, but rarely enter Nigeria in serious numbers. Last year, swarms of locusts hit Nigeria after causing havoc in Mauritania, Mali and Niger, then headed towards Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region. Reuters | | 07/09/08 | Vietnam sounds optimistic about H5N1 vaccine (H5N1) | |
Published 07/09/08 17:35:11
Via VietNamNet Bridge: H5N1 vaccine effectively prevents bird flu. Excerpt: The current H5N1 vaccine has been good in preventing avian influenza virus, including the newly-found clade (clade 7) of H5N1, according to the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture... | | 07/09/08 | Botswana to invest $1.5 billion in agriculture over next seven years (African Agriculture) | |
Published 07/09/08 15:35:00
Botswana will invest 10 billion pula ($1.5 billion) in its agriculture industry over the next seven years to secure food supplies and boost farming's contribution to the economy, Agriculture Minister Christian De Graaf said. The money will be spent on improving farm infrastructure and securing water supplies for irrigation, De Graaf said in an interview in the capital, Gaborone, today. "The underlying principle is that we want to produce enough crops for the nation,'' he said. "We want to steer the agricultural sector, but we don't want this to be government driven.'' The contribution of agriculture to Botswana's gross domestic product has fallen from more than 80 percent when the southern African nation gained independence in 1966 to just 2 percent today. The country produces just 15 percent of its national cereal requirement, De Graaf said, and the government wants to increase this to more than 50 percent. As much as 400,000 hectares of new or underutilized land will be brought into production between April next year and March 2016, the minister said. Subsidies will be introduced to encourage farmers to take part. Under the plan, known as Integrated Support for Arable Agricultural Development, De Graaf said the government will also ensure water for irrigation. One of the major water projects being undertaken is the Zambezi river project, which aims to construct a 3 billion pula ($442.5 million) pipeline from the Chobe River to the Pandamatenga district in northwestern Botswana. The pipeline will irrigate as much as 40,000 hectares of land, De Graaf said. "Another 2 billion pula will be used on the development of infrastructure,'' he added. Botswana wants to source 2.8 million cubic liters a year from the Chobe for the project, and is in discussions with neighboring Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe about securing water rights, De Graaf said. Bloomberg | | 07/09/08 | Nigeria to expand 38 irrigation projects country-wide (African Agriculture) | |
Published 07/09/08 14:53:00
Nigeria's Federal Government said it has concluded plans to expand farmimg activities in 38 irrigation projects across the country this year. A Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources official told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the expansion would cover more than 25,000 hectares. He said 23 states in the six geo-political zones would benefit from the expansion and listed them to include Balyelsa, Kogi, Ebonyi, Cross River, Benue, Abia and Enugu. Others are Nasarawa, Akwa Ibom, Ogun, Ekiti, Imo, Gombe, Borno, Taraba, Bauchi, Sokoto, Edo, Delta, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi and Adamawa. The official said that the projects would be embarked upon in partnership with the state governments. ''Some of these projects are ongoing; we want to develop additional land of more than 1.2 million hectares by 2020. ''It is important we start by putting what is in existence into use,'' he said. According to the official, the Federal Government will focus more on the development of small and medium irrigation projects. ''The idea is for easy management by farmers. It will be easier for farmers to manage 100 or 200 hectares than 1,000 hectares that require complex management. ''We are looking at community-based irrigation schemes to enable us to carry all the stakeholders along in achieving greater results,'' he said. This Day | | 07/09/08 | Breakfast Dilemma Solved (mAss Backwards) | |
Published 07/09/08 14:21:00
I was trying to decide between bacon and sausage this morning, when I came across this article that helped me make up my mind. It's gonna be both . People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming, says the UN's top climate scientist. "The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions," he told BBC News. [...] The FAO figure of 18% includes greenhouse gases released in every part of the meat production cycle - clearing forested land, making and transporting fertiliser, burning fossil fuels in farm vehicles, and the front and rear end emissions of cattle and sheep. Three words: Pass the A-1. Following this rationale, any commercial/industrial activity that involves fossil fuel-burning vehicles to perform job-related tasks or to transport material goods should be curtailed to help combat climate hopenchange. Of course, implementing such a vision to the extent desired by these impassioned "environmentalists" would put millions out of work, and irreparably cripple the economies of every industrial nation on earth. But, then again, seeing how such "economic justice" is one of the two main goals of the Cult of Global Climate Warming Change (the other, enriching the leaders of said cult via the peddling of carbon-ponzi credits), is anyone surprised by this? As far as the ridiculous cow fart alarmism is concerned, I'll just leave it at this (my favorite paragraph ever to be inscribed in the Congressional Record). I would like to point out that before the introduction of cattle, millions upon millions of buffalo dominated the Great Plains of America. They were so thick you could not see where the herd started and where it ended. I can only assume that the anti-meat, manmade global warming crowd must believe that buffalo farts have more socially redeeming value than the same flatulence emitted by cattle. Yes, this is absurd, but the deeper one looks into this global warming juggernaut, the weirder this movement becomes and the more denial is evident. | | 07/09/08 | Seven Montana Stocks (Seeking Alpha) | |
Published 07/09/08 12:23:49
Stockerblog submits: Ranked 48th in population when compared nationally, Montana has plenty of room to accommodate tourists and visitors, as well as plenty of natural wonders, including Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park. Tourism, agriculture, and mining are Montana?s primary sources of income. Below are some interesting facts about Montana: The mining industry's contribution to the state economy in 2005 was $2.3 billion. It ranks number six in coal production in the United States. Montana currently requires that public utilities companies obtain 5% of its energy from renewable sources, with a goal of 15% by the year 2015. Wind power is of major importance to the state; Montana potential wind power generation ranks it number five nationwide. Montana?s main crop is wheat. Montana is rich in gas, oil, and coal. Montana?s gross state product for 2007 was $34,253 million. Copper is becoming increasingly important in Montana due to its rising value. Approximately 8.6% of income goes to state income tax in Montana, well under the national average of 9.7%. Montana corporate income tax is based on a flat rate of 6.75% on all corporate income. The following companies are connected to the state of Montana: Complete Story » | | 07/09/08 | North Dakota Stocks (Stockerblog - The Stock Market Blog) | |
Published 07/09/08 09:46:00
North Dakota?s economy is mainly dependant on agriculture, 25% of its economic base to be more precise. Natural resources are the most valuable asset this state possesses. Consider the following key facts about North Dakota: 1. It ranks number one nationally for its potential to produce wind power. 2. The state also produces biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. 3. There are more than 160 certified organic farms in the state. 4. North Dakota lowered its corporate income tax beginning January 1, 2007. North Dakota corporate taxable income percentages vary from 2.6 to 6.5%. 5. The state individual income tax varies from 2.1% to 5.5%. 6. North Dakota allows a corporate tax exemption of up to 5 years for new or expanding technology based businesses. 7. North Dakota is one of the safest states in the country. 8. North Dakota produces about 2.7% of the total U.S. oil production. 9. The state population is only 635,867 10. North Dakota produce approximately 45 million barrels of oil in 2007 The following companies are connected to North Dakota: MDU Resources Group Inc. (MDU) is a distributor of electricity and natural gas, and is also involved in construction services segment in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The stock has a PE of 12, a PEG of 0.98, and it pays a yield of 1.9%. Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET) is an investment trust focused in real estate properties that generate income in the United States. The stock has a PE of 55, a PEG of 2.53, and it pays a yield of 6.6%. Titan Machinery, Inc. (TITN) runs agricultural stores in North America. It is also a retailer of construction equipment. The stock has a PE of 30, and a PEG of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $400 million. Continental Resources Inc. (CLR), although not based in North Dakota, is an oil and natural gas explorer and developer which is the largest land leaseholder in the North Dakota part of the Bakken shale. The stock has a PE of 24, and a PEG of 0.41. EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG), the oil and gas company, although not based in North Dakota, has successfully drilled in the Bakken Formation in North Dakota where they own approximately 320,000 net acres. The stock has a PE of 24, a PEG of 0.89, and a yield of 0.6%. Check out stocks from some other states: Arizona stocks, Oregon stocks, and Nevada stocks. Author does not own any of the above. By Stockerblog.com | | 07/09/08 | Study finds California can cut farm water use (San Fransisco Chronicle) | |
Published 07/09/08 09:00:00
By growing less thirsty crops and investing in more efficient irrigation technology, California farmers could save billions of gallons of water each year - the equivalent of 3 dams to 20 dams, according to a controversial new report by an influential water... | |
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