which are needed to pollinate many important crops. This new potential culprit is a bizarre and potentially devastating parasitic fly that has been taking over the bodies of honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Northern California.
the Chicago tribune noted, proved that farmers were turning their backs on their crops for the same reason cocoa farmers are fading fast:
when to plant crops, where to find things, maps and histories and stories they were always good for a meal and company.
reducing the cultivation of cash crops in places where that practice hurts the environment, break our dependence on pesticides
What about the hundreds of thousands of small farmers who produce these crops now? Artemisinin is farmed by an estimated 100,000 people in Kenya, Tanzania, Vietnam and China and the vanilla plant by 200,000 in Madagascar, Mexico and beyond.
and crops like wheat and rice take a longer time to grow. Lettuce is an ideal choice for this project to figure out what s possible with space farming,
but NASA hopes that this research could give new insight into how crops behave in space.
self-irrigating crops, and even#oewaterless#cities. The earth s atmosphere is a far more elegant water distribution system than rivers, reservoirs,
Moisture is harvested out of the air to irrigate crops through an efficient system that produces large amounts of condensation.
and pumped to the roots of crops via sub surface drip irrigation hosing. A2wh http://a2wh. com/Developed by Joe Ellsworth in Seattle,
They grew row crops-grain and corn,#oehad a couple of horses, occasionally had some cattle, but not usually,#Oster explained.
This means there are fewer eyes inspecting crops, with less chance of catching problems like disease
and video. 2.)LP960 from Lehmann Aviation (Lehmannaviation. com) The LP960 is able to detect damaged crops by taking aerial images with a thermal camera
Phase 2#Protection Drones Some companies are already working on Phase 2 drones capable of proactively protecting the crops from bugs, birds, disease,
Prevent birds from destroying high value crops Identify insects, worms, and other unwanted plant devastation Precision pesticide, herbicide,
or damage crops Over time, protection drones may even be able to compensate for extreme weather conditions by applying warm foam during freezing conditions
As prices improve for specialty crops, farmers will invest heavily in automation to meet whatever unique foods consumers are demanding.
Cities needed crops. In the middle East, for example, einkorn wheat was cultivated first successfully around 11,000 years ago in the southeastern part of
Illinois Farmedhere grows crops within a city warehouse and uses aeroponics to grow plants. Today s cities are at risk from a different set of issues.
This new development promises to significantly reduce energy costs involved in growing such crops. In Cuba, food shortages created organoponicos growing food for city dwellers in spare plots.
Although most current vertical farming operations have chosen to specialise in cash crops consisting of leafy green vegetables (easy to grow and much in demand
Even infamously food-insecure Malawi and Ethiopia now grow record amounts of crops and even export surpluses to their neighbors.
and small-scale production of cash crops that can quickly and easily be sold in urban markets.
whose goods it then sells at Dutch flower auctions. 3. International demand for Africa s crops is soaring Global prices for African cocoa,
and improving their farms. 4. The#oelost crops#of Africa have been rediscovered Long ignored, Africa s#oeforgotten#crops, including cassava, sunflower seeds,
and cowpeas, have in the last two decades rapidly expanded in production, bringing unexpected benefits.#
whose heartiness has earned it the nickname#oethe Rambo of crops.##In Nigeria alone, output tripled from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s to reach 45 million metric tons per year, according to figures from the Food and agriculture organization of the united nations.
and when to deliver the harvested crops. In the last decade, sunflower seed production has tripled more than.#
but radio#ore popular than television in Africa#elivers basic information about how to choose crops,
farmers in central Malawi who had relied previously on rain to water their crops learned the benefits of spooning water directly onto their plants.
For years African governments opposed the genetic modification of crops, but recently some have backtracked and now promote its adoption, starting with a nonfood crop#otton.
such as the Gates Foundation, have been reluctant to promote the bioengineering of African crops. Yet because such crops require less water, fertilizer,
and pesticides and reap higher yields, African farmers are interested. The case of cotton in Burkina faso highlights biotechnology s potential.
Most African cotton farmers grow other crops, sometimes planting them between rows of cotton. So if they can spend less to grow more and better cotton
these other crops should benefit, too. 7. Government support for food producers is getting better Everyone agrees that African farmers remain heavily inhibited by poor governance.
#Climate change can also be managed by greater reliance on drought-tolerant crops. Here, hearty cassava is a natural choice.
#Precision agriculture moves farmers into the high tech age A variable rate irrigation system installed to water crops saves hundreds of thousands of gallons of water.
So, the The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has joined forces with America s beer brewers to change how farmer irrigate their crops.
ultra-nutritious crops that would bring exotic produce to the supermarket and help to feed a hungry world.
the technology has bestowed most of its benefits on agribusiness#almost always through crops modified to withstand weed-killing chemicals
who say that transgenic crops have concentrated power and profits in the hands of a few large corporations,
Some of these crops will tackle new problems from apples that stave off discoloration to Golden Rice
Other next-generation crops will be created using advanced genetic manipulation techniques that allow high-precision editing of the plant s own genome.
Whatever promise these crops may show in the laboratory they will still have to demonstrate their benefits in painstaking, expensive and detailed field trials;
and dogma and speculation begin in the debate over genetically modified (GM) foods and crops.
since Roundup-tolerant crops were introduced in 1996. But herbicide resistance is a problem for farmers regardless of
and no crops have been modified genetically to withstand it (see The rise of superweeds). Still, glyphosate-tolerant plants could be considered victims of their own success. Farmers had used historically multiple herbicides,
and interferon for multiple sclerosis and crops like Monsanto s Roundup Ready soybeans was based on relatively crude methods for inserting a gene from one organism into another.
with supermarkets that reject crops for appearance reasons, or consumers who buy too much and never use it.
and deficiencies in infrastructure mean that crops are handled frequently poorly and stored under unsuitable farm site conditions
#Robobees will pollinate crops instead of real bees As soon as 10 years from now these Robobees could artificially pollinate a field of crops.
The researchers believe that as soon as 10 years from now these Robobees could artificially pollinate a field of crops,
Honeybees alone contribute more than $15 billion in value to U s. agricultural crops each year. But Robobees are not yet a viable technological solution.
combines 3. Printed buildings (3d printing) 4. Packages delivered by drones 5. Farmers growing legal marijuana 6. Using vertical greenhouses for specialty crops above
and below ground crop production 7. Printed clothing 8. Farmers will be educated three times more than average farmer today.
and environmental controls that regulate temperature, humidity and light to produce vegetables, fruits and other crops year-round.
#Prescriptive planting technology is set to disrupt the farming industry Tractor-mounted computers help farmers make decisions about planting crops.
If everything checks out, future crops may be eaten. Photo credit: Modern Farmer Via Telegraph Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati r
and maintain crops at the plant level. Engineering involves technologies that extend the reach of agriculture to new means, new places and new areas of the economy.
predict, cultivate and extract crops from the land with practically no human intervention. Small-scale implementations are already on the horizon.
including year-round crop production, protection from weather, support urban food autonomy and reduced transport costs. Scientifically viable in 2023;
Human populations utilize water resources the equivalent of the size of South africa to tend to the needs of crops.
and analyzes the data collected on corn, soybean and other field crops. Farmersare going to be able to see things
and monitor their crops in ways they never have before. In the next 10 years almost every farm will be using it.
Today, satellites, manned planes and walking the field are the main ways farmers monitor their crops.
watering issues, assessing crop yields or tracking down cattle that have wandered off help farmers recover the investment, often within a year.
when to sell his crops. I m always looking for an advantage looking for how I can do said things better
Allowing crops to grow there that produce oxygen and scrub carbon dioxide there would make Mars a more livable environment.
Vermeulen set out to grow crops in a distant location that could not be accessed readily by the crew.
he was able to germinate the seeds of a host of crops, including arugula, two types of lettuce, two types of chard and spinach.
and mixed with Martian soil to make more effective crops, a similar process to what occurs in lava fields
and compared those crops to a control group that used soil from the nearby banks of the Rhine river.
and the use of GMO crops. Additionally, the state imports almost all of its fresh fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. While Purdue and other universities spend millions of dollars trying to find solutions for the state s agriculture challenges,
Sunrise Hydroponics produces a wide range of crops, including lettuces, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries, year-round.
Scientists in Australia have devised a way to pinpoint the causes of the global die off of bees that pollinate a third of the world s crops:
and investigate whether the crops and wildflowers in the area contain pesticides, and if so, how much.
t work for all crops so many regions will probably shift toward intermediate solutions such as sprinklers
and covering crops to prevent water evaporation.</</p><p>Lawns are one of the thirstiest water hogs in cities and towns.
t make sense for desert-dwellers to grow thirsty crops such as cotton or raise cattle which requires much more water than producing an equivalent weight of wheat or potatoes.</
>But simply switching which crops are produced may not be enough for some regions of the world.
</p><p>One way to do that is to water crops less during certain parts of the harvest.
That means farmers can grow more crops with less water. </</p><p>One of the biggest sources of usable water is treated wastewater.
re on the International Space station</a>)much of it could be put to use watering crops freeing up freshwater for drinking.
and don't work for all crops so many regions will probably shift toward intermediate solutions such as sprinklers
and covering crops to prevent water evaporation. Lawns Lawns are one of the thirstiest water hogs in cities and towns.
Poor crop choice As the population grows it doesn't make sense for desert-dwellers to grow thirsty crops such as cotton or raise cattle
which crops are produced may not be enough for some regions of the world Instead they may need to manipulate the plants own systems'for dealing with drought to increase production.
One way to do that is to water crops less during certain parts of the harvest. The plants then direct more growth into the fruit away from leaves and stems.
That means farmers can grow more crops with less water. Â Flushed down the toilet One of the biggest sources of usable water is treated wastewater.
(unless you're on the International Space station) much of it could be put to use watering crops freeing up freshwater for drinking.
growing crops in so-called vertical farms. Dickson Despommier an ecologist and professor at Columbia University said that food grown in skyscrapers would have many advantages.
and because the farms would be inside cities themselves crops would not need to be shipped thousands of miles Despommier wrote in an essay on his website.
Improve crop production worldwide Crop production in certain parts of the world is not very efficient said Jason Clay an expert in natural resources management at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) a conservation organization.
Efforts should be made to improve crop production in those areas using the foods that are grown already
Some native crops such as pigeon peas and pulses in South Asia and cowpeas and millet in Africa have not yet benefited from plant breeding techniques
Researchers have noted that the gathering of Sphenarium grasshoppers is an attractive alternative to spraying pesticides in fields of alfalfa and other crops.
By altering the genetics of crops and by using non-genetic strategies in farming such as crop rotation Gepts said noting that these methods have received less interest from private companies.
Modern industrial agriculture relies on just a few types of crops with few varieties grown in
Panel moderator Fred Kaufman an economic journalist noted that this issue is being tried in a case currently before the U s. Supreme court. A farmer is challenging the company Monsanto's right to prevent farmers from planting seeds from crops grown from its genetically modified soybeans.
Harvesting bugs such as grasshoppers from crops can be an easy way to reduce pesticide use.
and the beginning of the rains needed for crops to grow This is part of the indigenous groups'oral traditions handed down over hundreds of generations.
and resource management tool for millennia to clear forest to plant crops add nutrients to soil clear trails collect honey
and accumulated for nurturing crops. These initial conclusions from the first three seasons of BUPAP fieldwork promise more exciting discoveries about how the inhabitants of Petra cultivated the outlying landscape
when crops wither and die and forests burn. The United states continues to feel the aftereffects of the 2012 drought the most severe and extensive in nearly half a century during the hottest year on record.
The drought destroyed or damaged portions of major field crops in the Midwest particularly field corn and soybeans causing hikes in farm prices
This work and research through the NSF-funded Solanum Trichome Project will help agricultural planners devise new strategies to protect tomato crops.
Before artificial lighting farmers took advantage of the full moon's light to harvest their crops.
In late summer and early autumn many crops ripen all at once making lots of work for farmers who had to stay in the fields after sundown to harvest all the goods. Such moonlight became essential to their harvest
This type of gardening called horticulture required that people remain in one place to tend their crops
and ranching operation is looking out on a deep green field of sunflower vetch corn clover buckwheat savannah grass and other crops.
Brown is among a growing number of farmers who use a suite of techniques to build soil's natural capacity to retain moisture discourage weeds and pests and nurture crops.
No-till farming means that instead of plowing-under that rich soil ecosystem every planting season Brown plants directly onto the stubble of last year's crops.
Cover crops aren't grown for market. They're chosen for their ability to protect and enhance soil health.
Planting a mix of cover crops like winter wheat and hairy vetch increases soil nutrients and water retention and prepares the soil for the next planting rather than depleting it.
A recent USDA survey found that farmers who used cover crops in 2012 averaged higher yields than farmers who did not.
Reaping the Benefits of Cover crops (Op-Ed) Using techniques that protect and improve soil health provides a built-in buffer against weather extremes
or growing crops on marginal land that requires heavy use of chemical fertilizers that depletes soil health.
The grain can increase crop yields by 30 percent while also boosting wheat's drought tolerance and disease resistance.
Wet weather in 2012 lowered crop yields and forced The british to import wheat for the first time in decades.
Flowering plants and edible crops dominate the landscape in the later part of this era as humans cultivate the land h
In the past those impacts seemed like they might turn out to be mixed a bag across the globe some crops might do better in a warmer climate
and from extreme weather events that swamp cities to subtle shifts in temperature that threaten the survival of farms and crops.
There the fliers could revolutionize agriculture reducing the need for pesticides and improving crop production. Because drones can fly cheaply at a low altitude they can get highly detailed images of cropland said Chris Anderson the CEO of 3d Robotics
because they can provide high-resolution images of crops are cheap to make and can fly unregulated over private lands Anderson said.
what's happening on the ground Pinpointing problems One possible application is to pinpoint damage to crops early on.
and intelligence that is behind the patterns not in the form of hoaxers but some sort of global psychic power that manifests itself in wheat and other crops.
Reaping the Benefits of Cover crops (Op-Ed) Margaret Mellon is a senior scientist for food and the environment at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS.
Farmers planting crops that can't be sold doesn't sound like a sensible proposition does it?
buying planting and tending to so-called cover crops. No farmers can't sell cover crops but they do reap benefits from them including increased yields of cash crops like corn and soybeans.
Use of cover crops can also help farms survive the droughts expected to become more common in the era of climate change.
Cover crops which can be many species of grains grasses and legumes are planted usually in the interval between the harvesting and planting of cash crops.
Sending their roots down into bare soil cover crops can increase soil carbon provide slow-release nitrogen
and prevent erosion. But a cover-crop/cash-crop system is complex. If not managed properly cover crops can deprive cash crops of water
or even reduce yields. Although they make sense in theory many have wondered how cover crops would work in the real world.
Now a new survey of commercial farmers has confirmed that cover crops increase yields in corn and soybeans the most common crops in the U s. Moreover cover crops were especially effective under drought conditions.
The North Central Sustainable agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the Conservation Technology Information center conducted the survey of more than 759 commercial farmers from winter 2012 through spring 2013.
Farmers who responded reported average increases of 11.1 bushels of corn per acre and 4. 9 bushels of soybeans per acre over prior harvests.
In percentage terms the extra bushels represent an average 9. 6-percent-greater yield in corn planted after the planting of cover crops compared with crops not preceded by cover crops.
The increase in soybeans was 11.6 percent. That's pretty impressive. The growers reported yield information from fields comparable in conditions and rotation except for the cover crops.
And the advantages for cash crops planted after cover crops were even greater in states hit hard by drought.
The states most affected by the severe 2012 drought were Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska and South dakota.
The 141 respondents from those states reported an average corn yield of 11.3 bushels per acre
which represented an 11 percent increase in crops grown after cover crops compared with those grown without them.
an average increase of 5. 7 bushels per acre or 14.3 percent higher yields after cover crops.
The farmers responding to the survey grew cover crops on an estimated 218000 acres in 36 states mostly in the Mississippi river basin.
Farmers enjoyed better corn yields after cover crops in all but one of the states hardest hit by the drought.
Farmers expected to pay for the ecosystem services provided by cover crops and were willing to pay median costs of $25 an acre to purchase seeds and $15 an acre for cover-crop establishment (aerial distribution of seed and the eventual killing of the plants at the end of the growing season).
Farmers interested in cover crops need to decide which species to use how and when to plant them
If the wrong decisions are made cover crops might not deliver on their potential benefits or may even be detrimental.
and the risk of cover crops using too much soil moisture. Despite the challenges the surveyed farmers had increased steadily their use of cover crops over the last decade.
Last winter they reported planting cover crops on an average of 42 percent of their acreage
and planned to increase their cover-crop acreage this coming winter. The complexity of the system may explain the correlation between yield increases
and experience using cover crops. Growers with more than three years of experience working with cover crops saw a 9. 6 percent increase in corn yields
whereas growers with one to three years of experience reported a still respectable but lower 6. 1 percent boost in corn.
and specially bred varieties of crops as well as a drought-tolerant system. The crop-centered approach to drought was discussed by my colleague Doug Gurian-Sherman in hisrecent report High and Dry.
In addition to highlighting the availability of crops like sorghum and alfalfa that are inherently more drought-tolerant
Cover crops can do that and so much more. This article was adapted from Cover crops Dramatically Increase Corn Yields specially In Drought Conditionson the UCS blog The Equation.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
Causes of deforestation Deforestation is done typically to make more land available for housing and urbanization timber large scale cash crops such as soy and palm oil and cattle ranching.
This destructive practice entails cutting down a patch of trees burning them and growing crops on the land until the soil becomes too degraded from overgrazing and sun exposure for new growth.
Cash crops planted after clear cutting or burning like soy coffee and palm oil can actually exacerbate soil erosion
Pollinators like bees fertilize about one-third of crops worldwide scientists estimate. In the United states the number of colonies has been reduced by about 50 percent in the last year alone according to news reports.
By the end of the period people had begun cultivating truly domesticated crops such as emmer an early form of wheat.
Overgrazing by livestock is leading to significant environmental degradation as zebras compete with the ever-increasing livestock population and agricultural crops for water.
Farmers were ecstatic with the large cotton crops resulting from the cotton/peanut rotation but were less enthusiastic about the huge surplus of peanuts that built up
This organization was advocating that Congress pass a tariff law to protect the new American industry from imported crops.
Huge soy and corn crops displace a more naturally diverse farming system one that uses fewer resources is more sustainable in the long term
and corn two crops largely dedicated to processed foods? We should instead fill our fields with an array of fruits and vegetables!
There are pros to GM foods ncreased yield in staple crops can help to combat world hunger for example.
By far the biggest use of GMO technology has been in large-scale agricultural crops: At least 90 percent of the soy cotton canola corn and sugar beets sold in the United states have been engineered genetically.
The GMO crops that are used widely have for the most part been engineered genetically to control pests in one of two ways:
GMO crops that are modified with the Bt gene have a proven resistance to insect pests thus reducing the need for wide-scale spraying of synthetic pesticides.
In addition to pest resistance GMO crops can be engineered for disease resistance drought tolerance added nutrients hot or cold temperature resistance and other beneficial traits.
and there's been widespread resistance to the development and marketing of GMO crops and other organisms.
A large number of anti-GMO activists who refer to GMO crops as Frankenfoods believe GMOS can cause environmental damage and health problems for consumers.
and affirmed the safety of GM CROPS with 2497 approvals on 319 different GMO traits in 25 crops according to a statement on the website for Monsanto the world's largest manufacturer of GMOS.
The battle for and against GMO crops and the foods containing them isn't likely to end soon.
Consider the eye-opening case of the agribusiness firm Syngenta and its product atrazine a widely used agricultural pesticide on corn sorghum and sugar cane crops.
The crops were in and the livestock needed to be culled before the winter said Andrew Smith a culinary historian with The New School in New york city. 10 Things You Didn't Know About Food At a time
Cranberries and pumpkins which are northern crops likewise highlight this holiday's Yankee roots. In fact Thanksgiving was associated initially so with the North that Southerners embittered by the Civil war took some time to warm to the proceedings Smith said.
and crops would suffer from more pest damage. Other bat species feed on flowers and fruits acting act as pollinators and seed dispersers especially in deserts and rain forests.
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
Copyright Semantic-Knowledge, 1994-2011