The Politics of Food Labeling Then there’s TMI’s close cousin: utterly useless information. And that’s what DeCroce unfortunately supports in New Jersey. She backs a bill that would require all food sold in the state to carry special labels when it’s made with ordinary plants that I’ve grown for years on my New Jersey farm. […]
China Seen Ramping Up Wheat Imports After Rain Hurts Crop China may boost wheat purchases from Australia by 67 percent this year, according to grain handler Emerald Group Australia Pty, adding to signs that imports by the largest user will jump after rains hurt local crops. Prices rose. Shipments may reach 2 million metric tons […]
Global Farmer Roundtable How do you feed a growing world population that is expected to increase by 2.6 billion people by 2050? And you must accomplish this by using resources like water and fertilizer more efficiently while protecting the environment. The world’s farmers are central to meeting these growing food and nutritional needs in a […]
Importing bumblebees for farming and gardening is spreading disease Bumblebees imported from abroad to pollinate fruit crops and garden flowers are spreading disease among native insects and may be driving the widespread decline of bees. A new study has discovered that bumblebee colonies bred commercially in Central and Eastern Europe for use by British farmers […]
Textile industry facing 10-hour loadshedding The textile industry is running from pillar to post in search of uninterrupted energy supply since the new government is in place to keep their operations intact and workers employed ahead of Eid. At present, the textile industry is facing 10 hours a day electricity loadshedding on independent feeders and […]
High input costs to adversely impact wheat output October 25, 2012: The domestic wheat production is expected to decline during Rabi Crop Season 2012-13 on the back of high input costs, officials and agriculture experts said on Wednesday. They said that growers were not ready to dedicate additional land for wheat sowing because of surging […]
Minimum purchase price of sugarcane fixed at Rs 170 per 40kg October 31, 2012: The Punjab government has fixed minimum purchase price of sugarcane for the season 2012-13 at Rs 170 per 40 kilograms or Rs 425 per 100 kilograms (per quintal). In an announcement made here on Tuesday, the minimum purchase price is fixed […]
Soil and Water Conservation Services A dry, barren, often sand covered area of land is waterless and without vegetation cover. The common features of such land are; low precipitation, high temperature, high evaporation, low humidity, poor rain water efficiency, water percolation and low productivity. These lands are called Barani and arid lands but still are […]
Water Resources Development Services Timely and adequate availability of water is extremely important and pre-requisite to increase agricultural production. The horizontal expansion in cultivated area and increased cropping intensity has resulted in a net irrigation water deficit of about 50%. In order to meet the growing irrigation water demand, the surface water supplies is supplemented […]
Activities & Services Land Resources Development Services A culturable waste land of approximately 3.924 million acres is available for development in Punjab which is 12.80% of cultivated area. For the purpose of horizontal expansion of land resources, a fleet of 345 bulldozers are available with field wing for the following land development activities; Development of culturable […]
Agricultural Field The historical background of farm mechanization in Pakistan has been tracked back to the report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture (1928) in which the commission had recognized the need for replacing the bullocks with tractor but stressed upon the need for proper research on different aspects of mechanization. As a result of […]
Effect of Salt Reduction on Growth of Listeria monocytogenes in Meat and Poultry Systems Reducing sodium in pre-blends and emulsified meat and poultry products would have no effect on Listeria monocytogenes populations but replacement of sodium chloride with magnesium chloride may affect growth of aerobic populations, according to new research from Kansas State University in […]
Influence of Feed Form and Source of Soybean Meal on Growth Performance of Broilers A new study from Spain shows that pelleting improves the performance of broilers up to 42 days of age, and that the source of soybean meal – US, Brazil or Argentina – can also have a significant impact on growth. In […]
Reducing Food-borne Illness: Gut Health Genes and genetic pathways involved in the intestinal health of chickens and pigs are described and genome-wide prediction tools for intestinal health are defined in the final scientific report from the EU group, Sustainable Animal Breeding (SABRE) subtitled ‘Cutting Edge Genomics for Sustainable Animal Breeding’. The aim of this work […]
Risk to food security from environmental degradation THE World Commission on Environment and Development has warned that unless we change our lifestyle, the world will continue to face environmental damage and human suffering. The Commission, echoing an urgent need to tailor the pace and pattern of economic growth according to the Planet’s capacity, said that […]
SPECIFICATIONS DEVELOPMENT & THEIR IMPORTANCE While working in any organization whether manufacturing or services one will encounter the specifications and standards in any case. But QA people has more concerns about these as these are the people how are responsible not only for implementation but also for the development of some specification. Before going in […]
Plant Based Nutrients vs Animal Based Nutrients Many people think that eating solely plant based food is not healthy and are still convinced that meat, dairy, fish and eggs are necessary part of our diet. Often when they learn that somebody is vegan; the immediate reaction is to question how on earth they get their […]
Fruit Leather Fruit Leathers are a traditional method of preserving a fruit harvest. I recently got a great, brief question from a reader, Kyan: “Would you be willing to do a post on fruit leather? I’ve never heard of it before.” If you’ve ever eaten a “Fruit Roll-Up”, as many kids in the U.S. have, […]
Basics of Lactic Acid Fermentation Sauerkraut is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to lactic acid fermented foods. What is Lactic Acid Fermentation, and why would we want to know anything about it?Here’s a scientific definition:Lactic Acid Fermentation is a biological process by which sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose are […]
Recovery of Cereals for Foods In 2011, the Extensive Crops team of the IRTA (Institute of Food and Agricultural Research and Technology), of the Department of Agriculture of the Government of Catalonia, has coordinated the implementation of the project ‘Model for the recovery and use of cultivated biodiversity for the preparation of food products with […]