What is Agriculture's worst enemy?
Post 12 of 20
Replying to [Street Smart]:Why I said Governments !
1. Taking over farmers agricultural land for the development of SEZ (Special Economic Zones)..to benefit a handful of few Big business houses.
2. India, is the largest producer of Milk..still the government has recently put a ban on exports of powdered milk.
3. US gives up to 60% subsidies to their farm produce...at times they have to dump the excess produce in the Sea.
4. Why does the US/Europe.. not agree to sign the most controversial treaty ?
5. Who controls the 'FDA' ?
6. US will be tasting Indian 'Mangoes' for the first time this Summer.
7. Governments have the power to restrict or impose ban of any produce----at their own sweet will..for all the unknown reasons.
1. Taking over farmers agricultural land for the development of SEZ (Special Economic Zones)..to benefit a handful of few Big business houses.
2. India, is the largest producer of Milk..still the government has recently put a ban on exports of powdered milk.
3. US gives up to 60% subsidies to their farm produce...at times they have to dump the excess produce in the Sea.
4. Why does the US/Europe.. not agree to sign the most controversial treaty ?
5. Who controls the 'FDA' ?
6. US will be tasting Indian 'Mangoes' for the first time this Summer.
7. Governments have the power to restrict or impose ban of any produce----at their own sweet will..for all the unknown reasons.
10 Apr 2007 18:48
Post 13 of 20
Replying to [Street Smart]: This is a ver good topic and question.
I think the advance mind of the human being is the most dengerus enemy for the agricalture
I think the advance mind of the human being is the most dengerus enemy for the agricalture
14 Apr 2007 06:52
Post 14 of 20
Replying to [Street Smart]:
Hi Street Smart,
in these times, probably the lack of water, alternated by torrential rains, as well as constantly changing overall weather patterns are the worst enemies.
Everything else can be remediated relatively easily, even the lack of nutrients in the soil or lack of airation in compacted soil, but the above two problems can only be remediated with sophisticated greenhouses, and that's costly!
Germex
Hi Street Smart,
in these times, probably the lack of water, alternated by torrential rains, as well as constantly changing overall weather patterns are the worst enemies.
Everything else can be remediated relatively easily, even the lack of nutrients in the soil or lack of airation in compacted soil, but the above two problems can only be remediated with sophisticated greenhouses, and that's costly!
Germex
14 Apr 2007 13:56
Post 15 of 20
Replying to Germex
Agriculture is not new, it has been here as long as the pyramids.
I have been to the Gaza strips and the border between Egypt and Israel, it looks like a drastic change from one side of the border to the other... why is this so? Both these places have the same amount of rainfall, the climatic conditions and soil conditions.
Management is the key to successful harvesting of crops and agriculture. In ancient Cambodia, the kingdom had excellent irrigation and water management system, they flourished and were wealthy. Water was drawn from the river into reservoirs and dams were built to store up water for irrigation. Today it is not like those in the past, and farming become less productive and was devastated during the spillover of the Vietnam war.
Street Smart
Agriculture is not new, it has been here as long as the pyramids.
I have been to the Gaza strips and the border between Egypt and Israel, it looks like a drastic change from one side of the border to the other... why is this so? Both these places have the same amount of rainfall, the climatic conditions and soil conditions.
Management is the key to successful harvesting of crops and agriculture. In ancient Cambodia, the kingdom had excellent irrigation and water management system, they flourished and were wealthy. Water was drawn from the river into reservoirs and dams were built to store up water for irrigation. Today it is not like those in the past, and farming become less productive and was devastated during the spillover of the Vietnam war.
Street Smart
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20 Apr 2007 02:24
Post 16 of 20
Replying to [Street Smart]:
Goveernment subsidies. It removes competion so therefore the incentive to do better and you can not plan around it it just happens and you are stuck.
Goveernment subsidies. It removes competion so therefore the incentive to do better and you can not plan around it it just happens and you are stuck.
20 Apr 2007 06:33
Post 17 of 20
Replying to [Street Smart]:
Hi Street,
Agriculture must be older than the pyramids, because if not, how did the builders survive?![[em1]](http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_smile.gif)
Anyway, my reply was very brief because I've already stated elsewhere how to overcome problems of lacking water, lacking nutrients, etc., and that probably implies an analogy. What we need to do is putting all our combined knowledge together. If we (as the human race) continue looking at one or few concepts at a time, we won't get anywhere.
The problems you mentioned in your original post can be overcome; we just have to learn how to think and act in a "holistc" way.
Germex
Hi Street,
Agriculture must be older than the pyramids, because if not, how did the builders survive?
Anyway, my reply was very brief because I've already stated elsewhere how to overcome problems of lacking water, lacking nutrients, etc., and that probably implies an analogy. What we need to do is putting all our combined knowledge together. If we (as the human race) continue looking at one or few concepts at a time, we won't get anywhere.
The problems you mentioned in your original post can be overcome; we just have to learn how to think and act in a "holistc" way.
Germex
20 Apr 2007 14:11
Post 18 of 20
Replying to Germex
I would rather say it is a combination of all those mentioned above. Governments, commercial strategy, mother nature, human madness, selfishness and greed.
But history itself has proven over the years and generations from the Mayans in South and Central America to the Sahara Dessert, and the Mongolian arid lands, water is an essential substance to life itself.
When I say human madness, I meant that much food has been put to waste, where millions go hungry. The Tomato War is one good example of this crazy world.
The last decade saw more natural calamities than the previous, earthquakes have become a monthly phenomenon. A large part of Australia is drying out and gradually becoming a desert land. USA having freak snow falls and hailstones as big as golfballs. Suddenly, everybody is talking about Global Warming and seek effort to reduce the release of the greenhouse gas.
Is Mother Nature taking revenge on the earthlings?
James 007
I would rather say it is a combination of all those mentioned above. Governments, commercial strategy, mother nature, human madness, selfishness and greed.
But history itself has proven over the years and generations from the Mayans in South and Central America to the Sahara Dessert, and the Mongolian arid lands, water is an essential substance to life itself.
When I say human madness, I meant that much food has been put to waste, where millions go hungry. The Tomato War is one good example of this crazy world.
The last decade saw more natural calamities than the previous, earthquakes have become a monthly phenomenon. A large part of Australia is drying out and gradually becoming a desert land. USA having freak snow falls and hailstones as big as golfballs. Suddenly, everybody is talking about Global Warming and seek effort to reduce the release of the greenhouse gas.
Is Mother Nature taking revenge on the earthlings?
James 007
26 Apr 2007 05:06
Post 19 of 20
Replying to [Street Smart]:The worst enemy of agriculture is the farmer himself . It takes alot of political will for a farmer to adopt new and more productive methods in farming. It takes a government like China's to "motivate" the farmers to adopt new technologies in farming ,such as hybrid rice, to get the country out of its 1970s "famine" state. Now they can feed their 1.5billion citizens. humans adopt to the times and and when we dont, the next generation will, as desperate measures have to be taken before its too late.
08 May 2007 10:56
Post 20 of 20
Replying to [Street Smart]: It turns out that a good protection against home invaders may be impeccable hygiene—at least for honey bees, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologists who are studying bee colonies' defenses against varroa mites.
Blood-sucking, hive-wrecking varroa mites are currently the bee industry's most serious threat. These tiny but potent parasites have destroyed up to 70 percent of hives in some parts of the United States, threatening the insects that help pollinate $15 billion worth of nuts, fruits and vegetables grown annually.
In their search for a more lasting, nonchemical solution to the mounting mite problem, ARS bee researchers John Harbo and Jeffrey Harris discovered a special group of bees that rely on natural instincts to knock down a colony's mite population.
At first, the two dubbed their genetically superior bees "SMR" bees because the insects appeared to "suppress mite reproduction." The scientists suspected that the bees were transmitting chemical cues that somehow confused the ready-to-reproduce female parasites.
But with further investigation, Harbo and Harris have found that their SMR bees aren't meddling with mite reproduction after all. Instead, the bees are simply exceptional housekeepers.
The bees seem to be able to sniff out and find young, developing varroa mites. After homing in on a young mite family situated snugly inside a pocket of honeycomb, the bees initiate their fastidious cleaning. They chew away at the waxy cap of the incubator-like chamber, exposing the minute parasites' numerous vulnerabilities.
Over time, with their highly attuned, hygienic impulses, the bees are able to have a significant impact on the overall number of mites infesting a colony.
Harbo and Harris, who work at ARS' Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, La., have made their unique varroa-detecting honey bees available to Glenn Apiaries, a bee supplier in Fallbrook, Calif.
Blood-sucking, hive-wrecking varroa mites are currently the bee industry's most serious threat. These tiny but potent parasites have destroyed up to 70 percent of hives in some parts of the United States, threatening the insects that help pollinate $15 billion worth of nuts, fruits and vegetables grown annually.
In their search for a more lasting, nonchemical solution to the mounting mite problem, ARS bee researchers John Harbo and Jeffrey Harris discovered a special group of bees that rely on natural instincts to knock down a colony's mite population.
At first, the two dubbed their genetically superior bees "SMR" bees because the insects appeared to "suppress mite reproduction." The scientists suspected that the bees were transmitting chemical cues that somehow confused the ready-to-reproduce female parasites.
But with further investigation, Harbo and Harris have found that their SMR bees aren't meddling with mite reproduction after all. Instead, the bees are simply exceptional housekeepers.
The bees seem to be able to sniff out and find young, developing varroa mites. After homing in on a young mite family situated snugly inside a pocket of honeycomb, the bees initiate their fastidious cleaning. They chew away at the waxy cap of the incubator-like chamber, exposing the minute parasites' numerous vulnerabilities.
Over time, with their highly attuned, hygienic impulses, the bees are able to have a significant impact on the overall number of mites infesting a colony.
Harbo and Harris, who work at ARS' Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, La., have made their unique varroa-detecting honey bees available to Glenn Apiaries, a bee supplier in Fallbrook, Calif.
25 Jun 2007 00:01