Agriculture

Water & Waste - Regional - South America leads the way in conservation agriculture practices

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:30:46 GMT

Source: member.bnamericas.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
South America is the world's region that adopts the most conservation Agriculture (CA) practices, which better preserve soil biodiversity, as highlighted in a report by the United Nations. Across ... ...

Africa: AGRA Welcomes African Union's Renewed Commitment to Agriculture

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:22:40 GMT

Source: www.rssmix.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
[AGRA]Nairobi -Jane Karuku, President of AGRA, said: “We share the African Union’s vision for an Africa that is free of hunger; an Africa that boasts a strong agricultural sector that provides food, labour and wealth for all groups of society. The theme of this year’s summit - ‘Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance’ - is fitting. We are optimistic about Africa’s future, especially given the tremendous advances we are witnessing across the whole continent, in research laboratories, ...

Productivity, credit, risk, and the demand for weather index insurance in smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:49:09 GMT

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com --- Friday, May 24, 2013
The article explores the relationship between fertilizer use and the demand for weather index insurance (WII) among smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. We examine whether fertilizer use is profitable under current smallholder production conditions, whether risk-related factors affect fertilizer use, and we estimate the returns to inputs in the agricultural production function in the absence of insurance. We then study how these primitives of agricultural production functions relate to insurance demand. The study compares a survey-based estimate of willingness to pay with actual uptake for the weather insurance, finding the stated and actual demand to be almost completely uncorrelated. While those with high marginal returns to inputs say they would purchase insurance, only those with low marginal returns actually do, consistent with the stated purpose of the product as input insurance. Insurance demand proves to be highly responsive to the existence and amount of randomly allocated insurance vouchers. ...

Community Agriculture Alliance: US House and Senate pass Farm Bill

Fri, 24 May 2013 04:37:55 GMT

Source: www2.steamboatpilot.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
After many hours of debate this week, the U.S. House and the Senate Agriculture committees passed their respective versions of the 2013 Farm Bill. ...

New discovery of ancient diet shatters conventional ideas of how agriculture emerged

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:14:35 GMT

Source: www.terradaily.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
Leicester UK (SPX) May 23, 2013 have made a discovery in southern subtropical China which could revolutionise thinking about how ancient humans lived in the region. They have uncovered evidence for the first time that people living in Xincun 5,000 years ago may have practised Agriculture -before the arrival of domesticated rice in the region. Current archaeological thinking is that it was the advent of rice cultivation a ...

Department of Agriculture award grants to animal shelters

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:16:53 GMT

Source: www.youtube.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
Department of Agriculture award grants to animal shelters The Georgia Department of Agriculture gave thousands of dollars Tuesday to 19 animal shelters across Georgia. The FOX 31 Newscast is Albany, Georgia's only 1... From: WFXL Views: 0 0 ratings Time: 00:55 More in News & Politics ...

H.R. 1947, Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:57:41 GMT

Source: www.cbo.gov --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Agriculture on May 15, 2013 ...

No Furloughs at Agriculture Through September

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:34:43 GMT

Source: www.govexec.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
USDA becomes the latest department to get a reprieve from Congress. ...

Characterizing Agriculture in Florida's Lower Suwannee River Basin Area

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:25:00 GMT

Source: ufdc.ufl.edu --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
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Thursday Sector Laggards: Electric Utilities, Agriculture & Farm Products

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:22:07 GMT

Source: www.marketnewsvideo.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
In trading on Thursday, electric utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.5%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Sempra Energy (SRE), down about 3.7% and shares of Black Hills (BKH) down about 3.7% on the day. ...

Australia, India strengthen agriculture skills ties

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:15:00 GMT

Source: news.in.msn.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
The MoU results from the joint commitment of the Australian and Indian Prime Ministers in October 2012 ...

Agriculture employees avoid furloughs with congressional approval

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:49:17 GMT

Source: www.fiercegovernment.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
The House Appropriations Committee approved a measure that will shift funds within in the Agriculture Department's rural development division to avoid furloughing 4,800 employees due to sequestration cuts, House Appropriations Committee Director of Communication Jennifer Hing said in an e-mail. ...

Le gouvernement Harper développe des partenariats commerciaux en agriculture avec la Russie et le Kazakhstan

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:48:26 GMT

Source: www.marketwire.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN--(Marketwired - 23 mai 2013) - Le ministre de l'Agriculture, Gerry Ritz, a conclu avec succès sa mission agricole commerciale en Russie et au Kazakhstan, où il a resserré les relations commerciales avec ces marchés en plein essor et vanté la qualité incomparable des animaux d'élevage du Canada. ...

USA: Vilsack recognizes distinct needs of organic agriculture [free]

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:12:34 GMT

Source: www.organic-market.info --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
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Australia India strengthen agriculture skills ties

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:00:02 GMT

Source: www.thesydneynews.net --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
Australia and India today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and strengthen cooperation in skills training in the Agriculture sector. The MoU results from the joint commitment of the Australian and Indian Prime Ministers in October 2012 to build bilateral partnerships between skills councils in key industry areas, including telecommunications, retail, mining, ... ...

Agriculture's strong growth spurs Kenya economy to 4.6pc

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:27:32 GMT

Source: www.businessdailyafrica.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
Strong performance of Agriculture and construction sectors helped Kenya to shrug off political risk at home and depressed global economy to record a modest growth of 4.6 per cent in 2012 compared to 4.4 the previous year. ...

What area of agriculture offers the most potential for returns? Simon Hopkins, CEO, Milltrust International Group

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:41:25 GMT

Source: blogs.terrapinn.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
Simon Hopkins, CEO of Milltrust International Group talks to us about sustainable Agriculture investment and gives some advice for investors. Sustainably investing in Agriculture is a widely discussed topic and so we thought it would be a good idea to get a perspective from an expert in the field. We discuss challenges in sustainable investments, questions to ask before making asset allocation decisions, what to look for in fund managers, areas for the most potential returns and which regions to invest in. · What challenges must be overcome in order to develop a sustainable investment policy for Agriculture? We do take ESG very seriously. Not only it is the right course of action for any responsible investor, but it can also have significant implications for the bottom line of a business. A failure to adhere to ESG guidelines may result in economic and reputational damage and preclude one from raising capital from the institutional market place, which in the western world places enormous importance on credible and objective ESG policy. Our projects also typically emphasise high impact, with significant implications for regional job creation and development of both the community as well as the land. We have worked closely with the International Sustainability Unit which is advising the UK government on forming a recognised responsible investment policy on foreign investment into Agriculture land and agribusiness. The people in the ...

Governor Points Agriculture As Development Factor for Province

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:13:27 GMT

Source: allafrica.com --- Thursday, May 23, 2013
[ANGOP]Caxito -The governor of the northern Bengo province, João Bernardo de Miranda, said on Tuesday in Caxito that the Agriculture and livestock will continue to sustain the economic base of the region's development. ...

Vertical Farming: The future of agriculture

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:14:11 GMT

Source: www.ecofriend.com --- Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Farming is usually associated with rural landscape. It needs large area to plant crops. With world population increasing at a fast pace, where would we the area to grow crops in future. How will so many people be fed? Vertical farming is the answer to all this. In vertical farming, plants (or animals) are cultivated vertically in skyscrapers. This will solve the problem of space crunch. Massive greenhouse skyscrapers can feed thousands of people. Though the idea of vertical farming has existed historically as seen in Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the modern vertical farming is a little different. It uses techniques similar to greenhouses. In these farms natural sunlight can be augmented with artificial light, and temperature can be maintained artificially. Plants or animals are mass produced in artificial environments within skyscrapers. Many vertical farming designs have been proposed over the last few years but whether they will be useful and practical, is yet to be seen. Despite various advantages and advances, high cost of vertical farming is still putting off people from trying this concept wholeheartedly. Let’s take a look at various advantages of vertical farming and evaluate how it can change the way we perceive Agriculture. Optimum use of space Vertical farming addresses the main concern of crunch of space especially in urban landscape. With this method we can plant and grow more in limited area of land, as the crops will ...

Extension@YourService: Richmond agriculture a $284 million industry

Thu, 23 May 2013 05:01:00 GMT

Source: yourdailyjournal.com --- Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Richmond County has a stronger agricultural industry than 75 percent of the rest of the counties in North Carolina, a state where Agriculture is the most important industry at $70 billion. While s... ...