Like an earlier blog about GM crops causing friction between neighbours, an item of news surfaces today in which a regional issue becomes a microcosm for a much wider clash of ideas. Fingers point and multitudes are gathering around battle standards.
How do we stop leaf-hopping insects from spreading the “flavescence Dorée" bacterial disease? To save the region's vineyards, local authorities in France ordered farmers to use pesticides. An organic farmer objects.
Find the story here.
Crop protection (specifically with the use of agro-chemicals) is covered in The Agri Handbook, as are organic farming, permaculture and biocontrol.
Tuesday 25 February 2014
Monday 24 February 2014
Event notification: East Coast Intensive Horticulture Symposium 13 March 2014
Intensive horticulture is seen as a crucial step in meeting the planet's demand for food. It has many things going for it, including the protection against temperature fluctuations and strong winds. Take a look at the Hydroponics & undercover growing and the Cut flowers chapters in The Agri Handbook.
Next month on the 13th March, the East Coast Intensive Horticulture Symposium will be hosted by the association representing this technology in Kwazulu-Natal (KZN), East Coast Intensive Horticulture, together with the KZN Flower Growers Association.
Find the agenda here, and the registration form here.
Next month on the 13th March, the East Coast Intensive Horticulture Symposium will be hosted by the association representing this technology in Kwazulu-Natal (KZN), East Coast Intensive Horticulture, together with the KZN Flower Growers Association.
Find the agenda here, and the registration form here.
Toys for pigs
Were you bored at school? From your own experience you may recall certain teachers -- the way they dressed, spoke, smiled (or did not smile). You may remember the smell of the classroom, the view through the windows ... worse, the whole experience might just be a blank!
Boredom will result in not performing well in tests and exams, but there can also be negative social interaction as children look elsewhere for something more entertaining, and vandalism, bullying, even drugs can be a consequence.
In the workplace, you will know what happens when colleagues have not bought into the job, the carrots and sticks required to monitor performance.
Like human beings, pigs can also get bored. Scientists have found that toys can stimulate these intelligent animals and make for a happier growing time. Cones and balls (made of pig-friendly material) mounted on the floor and on brackets engage their play instincts and keep them occupied, leading to a significant drop in fighting and tail-biting.
Find the video here, and the article on the WEDA website here.
A chapter on farming with pigs is included in The Agri Handbook.
Boredom will result in not performing well in tests and exams, but there can also be negative social interaction as children look elsewhere for something more entertaining, and vandalism, bullying, even drugs can be a consequence.
In the workplace, you will know what happens when colleagues have not bought into the job, the carrots and sticks required to monitor performance.
Like human beings, pigs can also get bored. Scientists have found that toys can stimulate these intelligent animals and make for a happier growing time. Cones and balls (made of pig-friendly material) mounted on the floor and on brackets engage their play instincts and keep them occupied, leading to a significant drop in fighting and tail-biting.
Find the video here, and the article on the WEDA website here.
A chapter on farming with pigs is included in The Agri Handbook.
Friday 14 February 2014
Farmer loses 65 cattle to lightning
The Afrikaans agricultural magazine, Landbouweekblad, reports on a farmer who lost 65 cattle in a lightning strike.
Watch the cellphone footage, taken by farmer Victor Badenhorst near Lichtenburg, as he walks around surveying the damage to his herd. Landbouweekblad posted the footage on Youtube.com.
Following the tragedy, fellow farmers donated 42 animals to help him get by.
Lightning is covered in the Weather & climate chapter in The Agri Handbook.
Watch the cellphone footage, taken by farmer Victor Badenhorst near Lichtenburg, as he walks around surveying the damage to his herd. Landbouweekblad posted the footage on Youtube.com.
Following the tragedy, fellow farmers donated 42 animals to help him get by.
Lightning is covered in the Weather & climate chapter in The Agri Handbook.
Thursday 13 February 2014
South Africa to get fracking
The State President, Mr Jacob Zuma, gave his state of the nation address (SONA) this evening. In the next few days there will be many responses but for now let us mention that the state seems hellbent on fracking in the Western and Eastern Cape.
We have blogged on fracking (hydraulic fracturing) before. See this December 2013 post.
Now, despite being hugely unpopular, the e-toll system was implemented in the business hub of South Africa (Johannesburg and Pretoria) late last year. Government gave the middle finger to business, NGOs, religious groups, consumers, the press, taxpayers, its own labour alliance partner COSATU, most people who drive cars, most people who don't drive cars ...
Perhaps it knows what it's doing? The point is that the state seems impervious to public opinion. If it could implement the e-tolls despite this being massively controversial and unpopular, the odds are that we'll be fracking sometime soon.
Fracking will be a "game changer" alright - let's hope for all the right reasons.
Read a related story from the Northern Hemisphere (France 24) this week.
Shale gas is one of the sources of energy on which you will find notes in the Energy chapter of The Agri Handbook. Solar and other renewable energy sources are looked at in a dedicated Renewable energy chapter.
We have blogged on fracking (hydraulic fracturing) before. See this December 2013 post.
Now, despite being hugely unpopular, the e-toll system was implemented in the business hub of South Africa (Johannesburg and Pretoria) late last year. Government gave the middle finger to business, NGOs, religious groups, consumers, the press, taxpayers, its own labour alliance partner COSATU, most people who drive cars, most people who don't drive cars ...
Perhaps it knows what it's doing? The point is that the state seems impervious to public opinion. If it could implement the e-tolls despite this being massively controversial and unpopular, the odds are that we'll be fracking sometime soon.
Fracking will be a "game changer" alright - let's hope for all the right reasons.
Read a related story from the Northern Hemisphere (France 24) this week.
Shale gas is one of the sources of energy on which you will find notes in the Energy chapter of The Agri Handbook. Solar and other renewable energy sources are looked at in a dedicated Renewable energy chapter.
Tuesday 11 February 2014
GM crops don't make for good neighbours?
Have you read the story about a farmer suing his neighbour for causing him to lose his organic farming status? Genetically modified (GM) canola (rapeseed) blew over from Michael Baxter's property onto Steve Marsh's and has divided former friends and the neighbourhood.
Both GM supporters and detractors are raising funds for the court case, reports the BBC. Read the story here.
Find out about the pros and cons of GM, international and South African role players - and more - in the Biotechnology & plant breeding chapter of The Agri Handbook.
Both GM supporters and detractors are raising funds for the court case, reports the BBC. Read the story here.
Find out about the pros and cons of GM, international and South African role players - and more - in the Biotechnology & plant breeding chapter of The Agri Handbook.
Monday 10 February 2014
Food wastage footprint
Isn't it a crazy world and economic system where food is wasted while human beings starve in other areas?
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has compiled a study Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources which shows that the waste of some 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year harms the very natural resources we rely on to feed ourselves. The direct economic costs are some $750 billion annually!
Do we have the courage to drop our causes and our concepts to address this scandal?
Food security is one of the chapters in The Agri Handbook, while there is a whole section covering natural resources. The opening chapter is Biodiversity and ecosystems services.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has compiled a study Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources which shows that the waste of some 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year harms the very natural resources we rely on to feed ourselves. The direct economic costs are some $750 billion annually!
Do we have the courage to drop our causes and our concepts to address this scandal?
Food security is one of the chapters in The Agri Handbook, while there is a whole section covering natural resources. The opening chapter is Biodiversity and ecosystems services.
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