Tag Archives: drought

Monsanto Admits: 1. We Don’t Need Genetic Engineering, 2. We Don’t Need Monsanto

Posted on March 26, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Volatility:
> Recently Wired magazine ran a Monsanto infomercial touting its alleged change of strategic course on vegetables. Monsanto, through its subsidiaries Seminis and others, is selling a line of high-end conventional vegetables dolled up as some kind of high-tech breakthrough. Contrary…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged allergy, America, Asia, biofortification, biotechnology, brassica, breeding, broccoli, Bt crop, commodity crop, corn, cotton, crop, crop variety, DNA, drought, Europe, evolution, farmer, feed, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, germplasm, glucoraphanin, glyphosate, Golden Rice, grain, grocery, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, human, insecticide, knowledge, label, lettuce, maize, marker assisted selection, melon, Monsanto, nitrogen, nutrition, onion, organic, pepper, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, potato, research, rice, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, salt, seed, selective breeding, Seminis, soya, tomato, trade, transport, vegetable, vegetable variety, watermelon, weed, wild vegetable | Leave a comment

Agricultural biodiversity and climate change

Posted on November 22, 2013 by argylesock

Smallholders around the world favour diversity as they face changing, unpredictable climates. Bioversity International tells us how smallholders use biodiversity to adapt. ‘Given the prevalence and effectiveness of planting new crops and varieties as a coping mechanism, ensuring access to … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer, weather and climate | Tagged agroforestry, America, Asia, barley, biodiversity, biotechnology, breeding, cañahua, climate, climate-ready crop, conservation, crop, crop diversity, crop variety, disease, drought, farmer, finger millet, food, fruit, genetic modification, grain, isaño, kodo millet, late blight, legume, local variety, lychee, millet, neglected crop, nut, oca, papalisa, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, potato, potato Double H, potato Luki, pseudocereal, quinoa, rice, rice 1442, selective breeding, small millet, smallholder, spice, staple food, temperature, tradition, tuber, vegetable, water, weather, wheat, wheat NL297 | 9 Comments

Climate change did not cause 2012 US drought, says government report

Posted on April 13, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on LEARN FROM NATURE:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Scientists blame Central Great Plains drought on failure of Gulf jet stream but critics say study was too narrow. The Guardian reports…

Posted in weather and climate | Tagged climate, drought, history, politics, research | Leave a comment

Livestock herders in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia insured against drought for first time

Posted on February 20, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on ILRI Clippings:
Cattle herders at Goraye in Ethiopia’s lowland Oromiya region (photo on Flickr by Andrew Heavens). ‘The drylands of East Africa are home to millions of pastoralists, herders who move from place to place in search…

Posted in agriculture | Tagged climate, drought, farmer, finance, livestock, pastoral, poverty, technology | Leave a comment

Genetically modified rice

Posted on February 13, 2013 by argylesock

Rice (Oryza sativa) is a staple food for many millions of people. No surprise, then, that rice is of interest for research into genetic modification (GM). GM rice isn’t yet grown commercially but that time may come. Adam Barclay and … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, knowledge transfer | Tagged biofortification, biosafety, biotechnology, crop, development, disease, drought, food, genetic modification, glyphosate, Golden Rice, grain, herbicide, herbicide resistance, International Rice Research Institute, Monsanto, nitrogen, nutrition, pest, pesticide, plant_monocot, research, rice, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, salt, staple food, Syngenta | 7 Comments

International Year of Water Cooperation

Posted on February 2, 2013 by argylesock

The United Nations (UN) has named 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation. This is huge. Without water none of us would be here. Last year, didn’t we notice water? Or the lack of water? We in Britain suffered terrible … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology, human health, weather and climate | Tagged arthropod, bird, climate, conservation, development, drought, ecosystem, flood, habitat restoration, insect, vertebrate, wader, water, weather, wetland, wildlife | Leave a comment

Food for Britain when in drought

Posted on January 3, 2013 by argylesock

Here’s my entry for last year’s Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. The deadline was 25 April 2012. As you can see, I wrote about the way things were in the spring and I assumed that when my article would win, … Continue reading →

Posted in food, knowledge transfer, weather and climate | Tagged climate, drought, egg, farm, flood, food, fruit, garden, grain, grassland, human, irrigation, meat, milk, politics, polytunnel, prosperity, reservoir, vegetable, water, waterway, weather | 4 Comments

The year that was and the years that will be

Posted on December 25, 2012 by argylesock

Today many people in the rich world will tear single-use wrapping paper and plastic from unwanted gifts. They’ll look at plates of unwanted food. Most of this stuff will go to landfill. If you enjoy the magic of a perfect … Continue reading →

Posted in food, money and trade, weather and climate | Tagged climate, drought, farmer, flood, food, food waste, politics, poverty, prosperity, rain, sustainable, war, waste | 6 Comments

North American drought leaves people hungry

Posted on August 25, 2012 by argylesock

Much of the North American continent is suffering drought. I’ve mentioned before the inevitable, but horrible, effect on corn prices. That’s one of the reasons why as a fellow WP blogger, petrel41, points out some Americans are going hungry this … Continue reading →

Posted in food, weather and climate | Tagged climate, drought, food, grain, poverty, water | 8 Comments

Corn prices in the Midwest drought

Posted on August 3, 2012 by argylesock

Much of the North American continent is suffering drought. So this bad news is no surprise: Price of corn surges by 20 per cent.

Posted in agriculture, money and trade, weather and climate | Tagged America, climate, corn, crop, drought, food, grain, maize, plant_monocot, trade, water | 1 Comment