Thai rubber industry plans to bounce back from El Niño
El Niño, the ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that does so much to shape the course of the world’s weather, is now giving officials in Thailand particular cause for concern. The Meteorological Department in Bangkok has announced that the cool, dry season has lasted an unusually long time, beyond its normal November to January range. The worry is…
Dolly: ten years after
The cloning of “Dolly” from adult sheep tissue was widely hailed as a breakthrough 10 years ago this week, when it was published in Nature. David Wells of AgResearch, New Zealand, says “it is still remarkable that NT [nuclear transfer] using differentiated donor cells can produce physiologically normal cloned animals.” However, as he points out…
Last stand of the orangutan
A ‘state of emergency’ has been declared over the survival of Indonesia’s orangutans. According to an rapid response assessment by UNEP, the situation of both the Bornean orangutan (Pongo abelii) and Sumatran orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is far more critical than previously suggested. Their habitat is under constant attack from illegal logging, forest fires and mining……
Do you have room for a rhino?
The recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that it is very likely that human action is causing climate change; this in turn negatively impacts biodiversity. Species are being forced out of their natural ranges, shifting in response to temperature rise, but not quickly enough for all to survive. The move…
Conservation agriculture: the zero way
Brazilian farmers are at the forefront in the application of Zero Tillage, a cropping method that is greener, boosts productivity, and helps the climate. “Called direct drilling, no-tillage or zero tillage (ZT), the technique is in part praised for fixing carbon in the soil, thereby reducing the amount of carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas…
More good news for coffee drinkers!
Winter is traditionally a season of excess followed by deprivation. Not only do many of us inflict misery and suffering on ourselves in the form of New Years’ resolutions at a time when we really want to be tucked up under the duvet with a boxful of chocolates, but, just as we start to look…
Water or biofuels? You choose.
A recent editorial written by Fred Pearce in Sugaronline.com points out the alarming possible repercussions of growing biofuels for the world’s water supply. As the policy makers seriously consider this option as an apparently climate change-friendly method of fueling the world, we have to consider what affect this might have on other, already stretched, natural…
Seeds of Doom
When I first heard about the Svalbard International Seed Vault or "Doomsday" seed bank, I felt quite alarmed. Why was it being built into the side of a freezing Arctic mountain hundreds of miles from anywhere? Was some great catastrophe about to hit the earth and obliterate all forms of life? However, it seems that…
Can weeds be our friends?
A recent post on the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog by Luigi set me thinking (ouch!) about water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), weeds in general and the useful things it’s possible to do with them. Luigi tells us about a magazine rack that he bought in Nairobi that was made from fibres of the invasive aquatic weed. It’s…
Trans fats — the wrong target?
Trans fats. I keep seeing them in the news: New York restaurants have banned them, McDonalds as well, but how much effect is this likely to have on the public’s health? In my opinion attention would be better focussed on the daily diet not on eating out and on saturated fat not trans fat. Trans…