Thursday 17 December 2009
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Friday 11 December 2009
Farming In Botswana: Poor Performance and Farmer Complaints
According to a Botswana government source, Botswana's Ministry of Agriculture has well-qualified personnel yet its performance is low when compared to other ministries. Effective performance is needed to move the ministry from its status. Staff must provide the best service, urging the various departments under the ministry to share resources as the country was reeling from the economic downturn.
Meanwhile, farmers in Botswana continue to decry shortage of land to carry-out agricultural projects. The livestock farmers also complain about about the high price of feeds, which results in their projects operating at a loss. Poultry farmers are concerned about the competition between big poultry farmers and the small ones, about Halal and the shortage of land.
Farmers are encouraged to engage in partnerships for prosperity of their farming businesses.
Meanwhile, farmers in Botswana continue to decry shortage of land to carry-out agricultural projects. The livestock farmers also complain about about the high price of feeds, which results in their projects operating at a loss. Poultry farmers are concerned about the competition between big poultry farmers and the small ones, about Halal and the shortage of land.
Farmers are encouraged to engage in partnerships for prosperity of their farming businesses.
Monday 9 November 2009
Friday 17 July 2009
Sunday 5 July 2009
Projected food, energy demands seen to outpace production | Checkbiotech
Projected food, energy demands seen to outpace production Checkbiotech: "Friday, June 26, 2009
By Terry Devitt
With the caloric needs of the planet expected to soar by 50 percent in the next 40 years, planning and investment in global agriculture will become critically important, according a new report released today (June 25)."
By Terry Devitt
With the caloric needs of the planet expected to soar by 50 percent in the next 40 years, planning and investment in global agriculture will become critically important, according a new report released today (June 25)."
Colostrum feed can improve yield and culling rates 05/07/2009 07:00:00 FWi
Inadequate colostrum feeding has huge implications on culling rates and future milk production, said Stephen Acres of the Saskatoon Colostrum Company, Canada, speaking at the recent Large Herd Seminar, Devon.
Thursday 2 July 2009
Cotton production must increase to meet demand | Checkbiotech
Cotton production must increase to meet demand Checkbiotech: "By the year 2050, the world population will have increased by some 3 billion souls, up to 9 billion people inhabiting this planet. And they’ll all need food and fiber to survive."
FAONewsroom: Africa’s sleeping giant
FAONewsroom: Africa’s sleeping giant: "22 June 2009, Rome – A vast stretch of African savannah land that spreads across 25 countries has the potential to turn several African nations into global players in bulk commodity production, according to a study just published by FAO and the World Bank."
LIVESTOCK MANAGEMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT (LIMID)
In 2002, the Ministry of Agriculture reviewed the subsidy schemes including Services to Livestock Owners in communal Areas (SLOCA) and Livestock Water Development Programme (LWDP). The review resulted in the merger of the two schemes to create Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID) project.
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Poultry International - India launches poultry development scheme
Poultry International - India launches poultry development scheme: "The plan is designed to strengthen existing state poultry farms so they can provide improved stocks suitable for rural backyard rearing. The Rural Backyard Poultry Development component is to help people below the poverty line gain supplementary income and nutritional support."
Monday 29 June 2009
FCT gets technical committee on agricultural programme
The Coordinator of the National Fadama Development Programme (NFDP), Bukar Tijani, on Tuesday in Abuja urged farmers to target their agricultural production at meeting the needs of consumers. He made the call while inaugurating a technical committee to supervise the implementation of the programme, signalling the approval of the work plan and budget of the various Fadama Community Associations (FCAs).
Destructive beetle stopped from entering Minnesota
Work by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists in International Falls and Detroit helped find a small yet destructive beetle stowing away in a shipment from China. The agency says this week the khapra beetle was found in a rail container carrying tile. Last month, agriculture specialists in Minnesota became suspicious that the container might be infested with pests. So, they sent the container to Michigan for further inspection and the beetle was found. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Ron Smith tells the Detroit Free Press the beetle now is on display at an agency laboratory. The khapra beetle damages grain and cereal products, seeds, cottonseed meal, nut meats, dried fruits and other products
Sunday 21 June 2009
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Saturday 20 June 2009
The power of video to trigger innovation: rice processing in central Benin Espérance Zossou, Paul Van Mele, Simplice D. Vodouhe and Jonas Wanvoeke
Understanding how to stimulate innovation among farmers and processors is crucial for attaining sustainable agriculture. To explore how farmer-to-farmer learning videos and training workshops changed women's rice processing practices, we interviewed 200 women and 17 women's groups in 20 villages in central Benin, including four villages which had received no intervention at all. Video on improved rice parboiling (a process whereby paddy is pre-cooked by steam without touching the water) had reached three times more women (74%) than hands-on training workshops organized by local NGOs and contributed to more equitable knowledge sharing within communities. In the villages where the NGOs had shown the video, 24% of the women started to use the improved parboiler equipment individually and 56% collectively within their group, compared to none in the control villages. About 92% of the women who attended both video and workshops developed creative solutions based on the idea of pre-cooking paddy with steam, compared to 72% for those who learned only through video. Fewer women innovated after learning through workshops only (19%) and after being informed by their peers (15%). Video watching also made women pay attention to reducing the loss of steam and to use local resources innovatively to conserve energy. More than 90% of the women who watched the video improved the quality of their parboiled rice, for example, by removing dirt, washing rice several times and drying rice on tarpaulins. Workshops stimulated innovations less than video did. Farmer-to-farmer video has great potential to enhance sustainable agriculture by encouraging local innovations.
Improving CGIAR Effectiveness through Knowledge Sharing (KS) A project of the ICT-KM Program of the CGIAR Final Technical Report Simone Staiger-Rivas, Project Leader, Institutional Knowledge Sharing
The Institutional Knowledge Sharing (IKS) project has completed its second phase (January 2007 to April 2009) to improve the CGIAR’s effectiveness. It promoted collaborative learning and innovation. It also supported effective use of KS approaches and tools throughout the CGIAR and its R&D partnerships. The project assumes that knowledge-sharing (KS) principles, attitudes, and skills can support organizational development; that these would help build internal capacity so that staff can work more effectively towards their institutional missions and sustain their organizations over the long term. These assumptions led the project to work at three different CGIAR levels: system, centre, and community.
SCB launches HIV education website
A GLOBAL online campaign and website http://www.vir. us has been launched by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) as part of its commitment to raise awareness and provide education about HIV and AIDS.
The global social media campaign centres on an interactive, informative website with entertaining animated web-learning modules.
The campaign concept is based on the bank’s preventative intervention strategy.
“As there is no cure or vaccine for HIV, the only way to tackle the virus is to prevent new HIV infections either by stopping people getting the virus in the first place, or preventing people who are HIV+ from passing it on.
Tuesday 16 June 2009
BNR " Radio Bulgaria " Bulgaria - EU
By end-June the EC should finally decide whether it will unfreeze funds under the pre-accession agricultural programme SAPARD worth EUR 76 million blocked on grounds of embezzlement.
Friday 12 June 2009
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