Pesticides are making our children sick
From childhood cancers to learning disabilities and asthma, a wide range of childhood diseases and disorders linked to exposure to pesticides are on the rise.A new study from the Pesticide Action...
View ArticleSmoke from India fires spreading into Bangladesh
Indian farmers often set fire to fields to clear them for planting. According to Indian agricultural practice, preparing for planting with fire has the benefit of clearing out some pests that eat crops...
View ArticleSeed diversity under threat – Step closer to destruction of agricultural and...
The EU directives on the marketing of seeds and plant propagating material are currently being reviewed in Brussels. The new regulation threatens rare varieties and farmers’ varieties. Non-commercial...
View ArticleGlobal food production isn’t increasing fast enough to support the world’s...
The world faces a looming and growing agricultural crisis. Our planet is experiencing rising demands for crop production by increasing human population, meat and dairy consumption from growing...
View ArticleFood MythBusters: Do we really need industrial agriculture to feed the world?
The biggest players in the food industry - from pesticide pushers to fertilizer makers to food processors and manufacturers - spend billions of dollars every year not selling food, but selling the idea...
View ArticleDemise of bees - number of bees drastically drops in 2012/2013
Nearly a third of managed honeybee colonies in America died out or disappeared over the past winter which is far worse than the previous winter. On average, U.S. beekeepers lost 45.1% of the colonies...
View Article$300 underground greenhouse grows produce year-round, even in severe climates
With staggering food prices and shortages looming, there's no better time to grow your own produce. Sadly, most greenhouses are expensive to build and impractical to heat during cold, wintery...
View ArticleIs rocket fuel making truly organic farming impossible?
Perchlorate and the Post-Organic Era Perchlorate is an environmental pollutant primarily associated with releases by defense contractors, military operations and aerospace programs, as it is a key...
View ArticleHow vertical farming can change the world
If there weren’t any pesky practical limitations, what world-changing device would you invent? In the second installment of Babelgum and GOOD’s new Big Ideas competition, Columbia professor Dickson...
View ArticleSeed diversity has collapsed more than 12-fold since early 1900s
From the looks of an average produce section in a typical American supermarket, it might seem like modern society has access to basically every major type of fruit, vegetable and herb one could want....
View ArticleResearcher says extensive use of antibiotics in agriculture creating public...
University of Calgary's Aidan Hollis advocates user fees on non-human antibiotics use Citing an overabundance in the use of antibiotics by the agriculture and aquaculture industries that poses a threat...
View ArticleIndustrial agriculture has reached its 'peak,' say scientists; time...
The era of large-scale monoculture, with all of its toxic pesticides and untested genetically modified organisms (GMOs), could finally be coming to an end. Researchers from the University of...
View ArticleSri Lanka bans glyphosate herbicide to avoid kidney disease risk
Sri Lanka, the large island south of India, is home to more than 20 million people who are now saying "no" to Monsanto's Roundup. Sri Lanka's president has suddenly issued a ban on glyphosate...
View ArticleOpen Source Seed Initiative aims to keep seeds free from patents
In a public ceremony on April 16, a coalition of farmers, scientists and sustainable food advocates launched the Open Source Seed Pledge, a parallel licensing system designed to keep seeds in the hands...
View ArticleWorld is losing 2 000 hectares of farm soil daily to salt damage
Salt-spoiled soils worldwide: 20% of all irrigated lands — an area equal to size of France. Extensive costs include $27 billion+ in lost crop value/year. UNU study identifies ways to reverse damage,...
View ArticleAgricultural practices play a big role in seasonal swings of carbon dioxide...
New study from Boston University, the University of Michigan and other institutions identifies a new, direct fingerprint of human activity on Earth as agricultural crops play a big role in seasonal...
View ArticleCan organic crops compete with industrial agriculture?
A systematic overview of more than 100 studies comparing organic and conventional farming finds that the crop yields of organic agriculture are higher than previously thought. The study, conducted by...
View ArticleUnited Nations urged to ensure open plant genomes
A plant scientist from The Australian National University (ANU) has called for the United Nations to guarantee free and open access to plant DNA sequences to enable scientists to continue work to...
View ArticleSatellite mapping reveals agricultural slowdown in Latin America
For the first time, satellite mapping of Latin America shows that the continent's agricultural expansion has waned in the wake of the global economic downturn, according to UBC research."Nearly every...
View ArticleNorth Korea hit by the worst drought in a century
North Korea is facing its worst drought in a century, according to state media. South Hwanghae, North Hwanghae, South Pyongan and South Hamgyong, the country's main rice growing provinces are already...
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