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Agriculture & Environment: Farming practices

Features

Here is a list of the latest articles

Cow

'iCow': helping farmers make the most of their cattle

An organic farmer has invented a mobile phone application called 'iCow', which lets farmers register their herds and receive expert advice.

29 November 2011 | EN

Anti-fracking sign

Fracking stirs controversy in South Africa

Controversy over fracking for natural gas has spread to Africa, where it is feared that the extraction process could deplete water supplies.

Source: Yale Environment 360

31 August 2011 | EN

Senegal farmer

How climate data is bringing benefits to Senegal's farmers

The InfoClim project, which distributes climate data to local communities, has helped Senegalese farmers adapt to climate change. SciDev.Net investigates.

11 August 2011 | EN | FR

Maize

GM on the rise in Africa

Faced with increasing pressure to grow food, and with growing support to test biotechnology, more African countries may start cultivating GM crops.

Source: Reuters

12 April 2011 | EN

Tractor in field

Smart farming takes off in the West

Innovative, smart approaches to farming that could save time and labour have piqued the interest of farmers from across the globe.

Source: Wired UK

22 December 2010 | EN

Southern Sudanese woman

Sowing the seeds of agricultural research in Southern Sudan

Southern Sudan is rebuilding its agricultural research from scratch, but can it attract the diaspora back to help? Paul Jimbo reports.

10 December 2010 | EN

Well adapted livestock key to sustainable productivity

A better understanding of the wide genetic diversity of indigenous African livestock is needed to secure current and future productivity.

Source: Science

2 July 2010 | EN

Cassava

A quiet cassava revolution

The development of more nutritious cassava varieties — using non-GM methods — could alleviate malnutrition in the developing world.

Source: Scientific American

14 May 2010 | EN | ES

Wheat stem rust

The race is on to stop the red menace fungus: Ug99

As Ug99, the deadly fungus blighting African wheat, marches eastward, scientists across the globe are scrambling for ways to outsmart it.

Source: Wired

30 March 2010 | EN

Bill Gates

Are Gates and CGIAR a good mix for Africa?

What will the Gates Foundation's links to a network of agricultural research centres mean for tackling hunger, asks Yojana Sharma?

26 March 2010 | EN

A Ladakh woman farming

Farming high in a Himalayan desert

With artificial glaciers and more, a Himalayan region is regaining food self-sufficiency, writes Surabhi Pudasaini.

22 February 2010 | EN

Is the sun setting on jatropha's biofuel promise?

Jatropha will not be saving the world anytime soon, say researchers, but it could work in local biofuel projects in developing countries.

Source: Nature

1 October 2009 | EN

A revolution to combat world hunger

Ambitious reforms aimed at meeting the world's food demands lie ahead for the agency that networks agricultural research in poor regions.

24 September 2009 | EN | 中文

Climate change — adapting is crucial too

Climate change is a reality in developing regions, who say the international community must not neglect better adaptation strategies.

4 September 2009 | EN

Ethiopia's sorghum superhero

An agricultural scientist whose work in sorghum improvement has benefited African farmers has won the World Food Prize.

Source: World Food Prize

22 June 2009 | EN

'Dark earth' and its carbon-holding powers

Locking carbon away as charcoal in the soil could help to mitigate climate change but whether it will work in practice remains a mystery.

Source: Nature Reports Climate Change

15 June 2009 | EN | 中文

Is GM shedding its Frankenstein image?

Developing world farmers are leading the way in the adoption of genetically modified crops.

Source: Newsweek

20 March 2009 | EN | 中文

Farming without soil

Is hydroponics — a system using no soil and very little water — a route to increased food security? Some Cape Verdean farmers think so.

Source: IRIN

6 March 2009 | EN

Florence Wambugu at the African Green Revolution Conference

Q&A: African Agriculture with Florence Wambugu

Florence Wambugu, winner of the 2008 YARA prize for African agriculture, speaks to SciDev.Net about the challenges facing the field.

4 September 2008 | EN | FR

Poppies

Afghan agriculture: Dropping the poppy habit

Afghan farmers are weaning themselves off illegal poppy cultivation and branching out into other crops, reports T. V. Padma.

Source: 科学与发展网络 (SciDev.Net)

20 August 2008 | EN | 中文