Category: Syndicated

The world is running out of phosphate for fertilizer, but not for 300 years.

Not quite assuredAn upbeat assessment of phosphate reserves leaves several questions unanswered. Reserves of the phosphate rock used to make such fertilizers are finite, and concerns have been raised that they are in danger of exhaustion. It has been argued, for example, that data from the US Geological Survey point to the available supplies peaking…

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Developing countries would not gain if they imposed bans on GM crop imports: the consumer loss to Asian and Sub-Saharan African farmers is far more than the small gain in terms of greater market access to the EU

Economic Impacts of Policies Affecting Crop Biotechnology and Trade – Kym Anderson, New Biotechnology (in Press), full paper athttp://web.services.adelaide.edu.au/cies/publications/present/CIES_DP1012.pdf Agricultural biotechnologies, and especially transgenic crops, have the potential to boost food security in developing countries by offering higher incomes for farmers and lower priced and better quality food for consumers. That potential is being heavily…

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Organic pesticides aren’t necessarily more sustainable than synthetic

Written by Colby Vorland It would seem illogical that organic compounds are all more sustainable than synthetics, or vice versa. The term “organic” has a health halo, biasing many people toward believing organic growing techniques are best for the environment. I’ve already covered analyses suggesting that there isn’t enough evidence that suggests organic foods are…

Science

Soybean Association and 54 other organisations withdraw from biased Sustainable Standard Development Process

ASA Withdraws From Leonardo Academy’s Sustainable Ag Standard Development Process Press Release — ST. LOUIS, MO — October 19, 2010 — The American Soybean Association (ASA) today announced that it is withdrawing from the Leonardo Academy’s initiative to develop a sustainable agriculture standard for American National Standards Institute. While ASA supports the goal of a…

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250 g rice from a single maize-rice hybrid plant announced by China

“Maize rice” developed in Henan, China SeedQuest AnnouncementChinaOctober 14, 2010 Recently, over 30 experts from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Henan Provincial Department of Science and Technology and Department of Agriculture, and some other organizations were so glad and excited to see a new type of rice with a…

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EU World’s Biggest Net Importer of Agricultural Produce While Neglecting Critical Investment in Agricultural Research

The EU Ranks as the World’s Biggest Net Importer of Agricultural Produce While Neglecting Critical Investment in Agricultural ResearchPress ReleaseBERLIN, October 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ —– International Competition for Agricultural Production Land is Rising Dramatically The food situation in poor countries continues to deteriorate. On World Food Day, October 16th, the number of starving people worldwide…

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World bank has wavered from its poverty-reduction mission — to Nigeria’s detriment

The World Bank’s Palm Oil MistakeNY TimesBy THOMPSON AYODELE Published: October 15, 2010Lagos, Nigeria WHEN the World Bank held its annual meeting last weekend, there was much discussion of trade imbalances and currency wars, but nothing about Nigerian palm oil. That’s a shame, because the bank’s loans for plantation agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa and other…

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GM crops and farming reality

Opinion piece:The Gene Revolution – GM crops and farming reality AFAA — Jim Peacock The time has come for all sectors of Australia’s grain industry, from farm to shop, to get on top of GM technology, urges Australia’s former Chief Scientist, Dr Jim Peacock. Our Green Revolution is near spent. The enormous and lasting gains made…

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Managing the risks of GM salmon

Risk Assessment and Mitigation of AquAdvantage SalmonAnastasia BodnarAqua Bounty Technologies, Inc. has recently applied for deregulation of their AquAdvantage salmon-salmon that have been genetically engineered to grow faster than wild-type salmon. The salmon have the potential benefit of providing high-quality animal protein without putting additional pressure on declining wild fish stocks.

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Strong support for organic farming at TV forum. The difficulty is, organic means many different things.

Organic or NotTuesday, 12 Oct 10 SBS TV, Insight current affairs Transcript Organic food is one of the fastest growing industries in Australia, and it is raking in the dollars for some enterprising businesses. Some people are prepared to pay up to triple for organic food in the interests of their health and the environment,…

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