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| Guava - Marianne North |
This Tuesday news thread is a weekly feature here at Big Picture Agriculture. It is intended to help point the way forward by reporting positive developments in agricultural systems around the world.
INNOVATION / SCIENCE:
- Asia digs deep to upgrade its agriculture; Perfect storm of population growth and climate change spurs farming innovation | FT
- John Deere unveils latest all-electric tractor | Elektrek
- Could Underwater Farming Feed the World? | Popular Science
- New study of water-saving plants advances efforts to develop drought-resistant crops | Phys.org
- Behind the scenes on one of Ireland’s largest calf farms| Agriland
- China sees huge potential in agriculture investment | Xinhuanet
- USDA Announces $3 Million For Robotic Agriculture Research | Growing Produce
- Silicon Valley’s Next Disruption Is on the Farm | TakePart
- Climate-Resistant Beans Could Save Millions | IPS
- Australia is combatting a horticultural pest by producing 50 million sterile male flies a week at a research center. | Food Navigator-Asia
- A new raisin grape developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in California is proving to be very popular among producers because it costs less to harvest. | USDA
- Growing mushrooms in California | Capital Press
- Penn State student believes crickets could feed the world | Centre Daily
- Cargill Opens Innovation Center in China to Create Food of the Future | Food Ingredients First
- Plans are afoot to build a “model farm” in northern China inspired by one in Iowa that Xi Jinping visited in early 2012, before he became China’s president. | NYTs
- Two Purdue University researchers have developed a hydrogenation process that could solidify soybean oil for food processing without creating trans fats | Purdue.edu
- Variable rate technology is used on about a fifth of planted acres for several major crops | USDA
- Environmental Enrichment Improves Behavioral and Physiological Responses in Pigs | The Pig Site
- One Way Nanoparticles Could Be Used in Agriculture | Agweb
- Eat your egg yolks to get enough choline. | W-P
- More on the Meatless Burger Industry | Quartz
- Tyson Foods Inc., one of the world’s largest makers and marketers of meat products, has announced the formation of a $150 million venture capital fund to back food and agriculture startups. | TechCrunch
- See the Simple Way These Farmers Are Outsmarting Climate Change | Take Part
- An ethanol spill occurs every two days on average in the Midwest, the worst of which result in contamination of water supplies, major fish kills, loss of life and millions of dollars of damage. | Harvest Public Media
- Not Sustainable: In the 2015-16 marketing year, U.S. ethanol exports reached 868 million gallons, the second largest on record, making the U.S. on track to be the world's leading ethanol exporter for a third year in a row. | USAgnet
- Comparing effects of herbicides, fertilizers, and tillage on the soil | Washington State
- Food prices are broadly stable amid record cereal inventories | FAO
- How the UAE is promoting sustainable local production to ensure food security and reduce imports | Gulf News
- A Munich study featured in the Journal Nature, shows that the process of cultivating some species (like certain common grass species with higher fodder value) makes it difficult for others to survive, particularly specialised species, which have complex relationships with other plants or creatures - an effect called 'biotic homogenization'. | Farming.uk
- Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest producer of pork, has vowed to cut emissions in its US supply chain by 25% by 2025. | Business Insider
- Improvement of agricultural sustainability with microalgae | FreshPlaza
- France, Japan and Canada Lead Food-Sustainability Index | ESM
- General Mills Gives $4 Million to Increase Bee Habitat by 100,000 Acres in the Next 5 Years | One Green Planet
- USDA to Enroll 500,000 Acres in CRP Grassland Program | Successful Farming
- People intentionally return to a simple farm life at Russia's Volga River | NYTs
- Olam under fire over Africa deforestation; Palm oil producer criticised for excessive land clearing and lack of transparency | FT
- From Morocco to Libya, the desert oases of the Sahara's Maghreb region are disappearing as temperatures rise and rainfall decreases. Facing daunting odds, local residents are employing traditional water conservation techniques to try to save these ancient ecosystems. | E360
- Emirates Soil Museum opens | Gulf News
- Nitrogen pollution: the forgotten element of climate change | EconoTimes
- Future of S. Arizona desert farming and development floats on water | Arizona Sonora News Service
- Solar-powered irrigation technology helps make UAE farms greener | The National
- This farmer’s answer to climate change? Plant crops that trap carbon. | PRI
- Surge in methane emissions threatens efforts to slow climate change | EurekAlert
- The world's wet regions are getting wetter and the dry regions are getting drier | Phys.org
SHAMELESS PLUG FOR YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING NEEDS - SUPPORT A SMALL FARM: A friend of mine began a lavender farm business back when we both lived in Nebraska. She has returned to her native state of Oregon as her lavender business has grown. She grows it and then uses it to make skin care products. Her line is now selling at Whole Foods and other places and her top selling product is a healing salve. She offers free shipping during December and her prices are reasonable. Be sure to check out her Instagram and her blog, too, when you visit her website. There is something there for everyone on your shopping list, even the difficult to buy for person. Highly recommended: Suzi's Lavender.
THIS WEEK'S VIDEO:
IR8--the rice variety that changed the world - IRRI
To view last week's LINKS, click here.
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