Tag Archives: tree

Cocoa prices are surging, but cocoa farmers are still making a pittance

Posted on June 24, 2014 by argylesock

argylesock says… Chocolate tastes so good, but it’s not so sweet for the smallholders who grow it. You can scroll down for info about other tropical commodity crops.

Posted in agriculture, money and trade | Tagged cacao, cash crop, coffee, commodity crop, farmer, palm oil, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, rubber, shrub, smallholder, sugar cane, trade, tree | Leave a comment

Genetic control mechanism developed to deal with major livestock pest

Posted on June 21, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on AgScience:
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a technique to control populations of the Australian sheep blowfly – a major livestock pest in Australia and New Zealand – by making female flies dependent on a…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged America, antibiotic, antibiotic dependence, arboriculture, arthropod, Asia, Australian sheep blowfly, biotechnology, blowfly, dipteran, Drosophila melanogaster, fruit, fruitfly, genetic modification, insect, invertebrate, lab animal, livestock, mammal, New World screwworm, pest, pest control, plant_dicot, research, sheep, tetracycline, tree, vertebrate | Leave a comment

Special bananas: Africa’s answer to Golden Rice?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by argylesock

Oluwabusayo Sotunde (writing as Busayo in Ventures Africa) tells us about a ‘special banana’ (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. After eating those carotenes, the body converts them to Vitamin A. So they’re ‘provitamins’. This new genetically modified … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, America, Asia, banana, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, child, development, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, Green Revolution, nutrition, plantain, plant_monocot, Provit Banana, research, rice, staple food, tree, Vitamin A, woman | 6 Comments

Soya to grow with 2,4-D

Posted on May 30, 2014 by argylesock

Crops genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) to resist Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup (glyphosate) aren’t the only GM crops designed to be grown with weedkiller. GRAIN tells us about a new such crop. It’s a soya (soybean, Glycine max) designed to be … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged 2 4-D, Africa, America, ammonium, Asia, auxin, biotechnology, brain, cancer, commodity crop, corn, cotton, crop variety, Dow, evolution, feed, food, Frontline, genetic modification, glufosinate, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, hormone, human, kidney, liver, maize, milk, Monsanto, muscle, neurotoxin, patent, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, poison, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, soya, soya DAS-44406-6, superweed, tree, vegetation, war, weed, woman | 3 Comments

GM apples

Posted on January 18, 2014 by argylesock

When apple (Malus domestica) fruits are cut or bitten, we all know that the cut surfaces turn brown. To stop this happening, here’s a range of genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered, GE) apples called Arctic apples. Ordinary apples turn brown … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Agrobacterium tumefaciens, apple, apple Arctic, arthropod, bacterium, biotechnology, breeding, food processing, fruit, fruit variety, gene silencing, genetic modification, grocery, insect, law, pest, pH, plant_dicot, tree | 7 Comments

Oregon Bumblebee Kill Resolution

Posted on December 25, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Living With Insects Blog:
Bumblebee Pollinating a Flower The case of the massive (50,000) bumblebee kill in Oregon has been settled. The court ruled that the bumblebees were killed by improper pesticide application. The pesticide, dinotefutan, was…

Posted in ecology, horticulture, miniculture | Tagged alien species, America, arthropod, bumblebee, conservation, dinotefuran, flower, honeybee, hymenopteran, insect, insecticide, law, neonicotinoid, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, pollination, tree, urban park, wild bee | Leave a comment

Exotic trees

Posted on December 9, 2013 by argylesock

Lewis at woodlands.co.uk tells us about the exotic (alien) trees which are familiar in our British landscapes. Lewis tells us how many of these trees arrived during colonial times when great houses and gardens were built. He doesn’t mention how … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology | Tagged alien species, arboriculture, disease, disease reservoir, ecosystem, forest, garden, hedge, history, human, invasive species, landscape, native species, naturalised species, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, sugar cane, tree, wood, woodland | Leave a comment

The first detailed maps of the world’s forests from 2000-2012 (Google Maps)

Posted on November 17, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on DESERTIFICATION:
Read at : http://google-latlong.blogspot.be/2013/11/mapping-worlds-deforestation-over-time.html Mapping the world’s deforestation over time We’re excited to announce today that, in a collaboration led by Dr. Matthew Hansen at the University of Maryland, we’ve built the first detailed maps of…

Posted in ecology, knowledge transfer | Tagged arboriculture, conservation, data, ecosystem, forest, habitat loss, history, knowledge, land use, map, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, tree, woodland | Leave a comment

Developing advanced biofuels

Posted on October 31, 2013 by argylesock

In the United States, the Agriculture Secretary is Tom Vilsack. He’s offering money to develop commercial-scale biorefineries or retrofit existing facilities with appropriate technology to develop advanced biofuels. ‘Advanced biofuels’ means that these fuels are to come from non-food sources. … Continue reading →

Posted in knowledge transfer, miniculture, money and trade | Tagged algaculture, algae, biobased industry, biofuel, biotechnology, conservation, corn, finance, food waste, forest, fuel, land use, maize, palm oil, plant_monocot, tree, waste, woodland | 9 Comments

Tobacco farming and food security

Posted on September 30, 2013 by argylesock

Fanuel Kangondo at The Herald tells us that in Zimbabwe, tobacco farming is critical in promoting food security. Mr Kangondo quotes Lovemore Manatsa of British American Tobacco Zimbabwe, who said that smallholders produced tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) more cheaply than larger … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, money and trade | Tagged agroforestry, AIDS, cash crop, child, crop, development, disease, drug, education, farmer, food security, human, plant_dicot, smallholder, tobacco, trade, tree | Leave a comment