Keeping your finger on the pulse: the importance of peas and beans
By Anthony J Biddle, formerly Technical Director of Processers and Growers Research Organisation, UK It has never been a better time to look again at the wonderful value of peas and beans. As vegetable crops, and as dried seeds (pulses), they have been a staple food for many developing civilizations for many years. At last…
Apparently there is something called ‘over’tourism
By Julio Aramberri Apparently there is something called overtourism. Really? Difficult to believe as it is, lately both traditional and social media have adopted the word as though it was a distinct reality. One self-styled lexicologist recently defined it as “the phenomenon of a popular destination or sight becoming overrun with tourists in an unsustainable…
The Grapes of Change
By Glen L. Creasy, Sabrosia Winegrowing Services, France Grapevines are an amazingly versatile plant. They survive in many and varied climates, they can be cut back and trained in many different ways (on a yearly basis if need be), and they produce a fruit that is made into a wide range of products that make up…
Plant Parasitic Nematodes – the world’s most important crop pathogen?
By Richard Sikora, Danny Coyne, Johannes Hallman and Patricia Timper Plant parasitic nematodes – overlooked, neglected, little known and mostly out of sight; surprising then that they cause billions of dollars’ worth of damage to global crop production annually. In the tropics and subtropics they persistently undermine production, result in massive waste of disfigured and unmarketable…
How technology can change the way farming is conducted
The population of the Global South is growing rapidly. As populations grow so do requirements for food and nutrition and improvements in agricultural productivity and sustainability are essential conditions for development to take place. Some regions of the Global South have seen greater success than others in terms of agricultural growth, with low agricultural productivity attributed to lack of knowledge of up-to-date technologies and practices, as well as issues such as climate change. In recent years, to face these challenges, there has been growing activity around use of digital technology for agricultural and rural development in the Global South, to address knowledge gaps, and to establish the building blocks for new rural services.
Influencing Tourists Towards Animal Welfare in Africa
One of the consequences of the uncontrolled human activities is the possible detrimental effects on animals. Scientists describe animal welfare as the mental and physical wellbeing of the animal with a measure of how the individual copes in its environment and considers opportunities for expressing happiness or pleasure.
Assessing Animal Welfare
By Stephen Blakeway As a tourist how can we assess whether the animals we see have good welfare, and ideally, ‘a good life’? Recently, I’ve been a tourist in Mexico and Jordan, and, having contributed to ‘Tourism and Animal Welfare’, I took the opportunity to think more about this question. As my interests are animals…
Endangered Species – it’s all in the mind
By John Sellar Whenever conservationists come together to discuss the future of endangered species, you can be sure someone, sooner or later, will suggest that nothing will be achieved unless one can ensure the humans living alongside, or sharing habitats with, animals can be encouraged to value them. The word ‘value’ can be interpreted in…
Local Travel Means Sustainable Travel
How I Spent my Summer Vacation: Hunting for Bears in my Backyard By Sara Dubois How does an animal welfare scientist and wildlife biologist spend their annual vacation? Well as I have been working in this field for almost 20 years now, these days I spend most of my time behind a computer, in team…
‘Walkshops’ and ‘Talkshops’ on Sri Lanka’s Holy Mountain
Back in the 1980s, in the midst of Sri Lanka’s civil war, an initiative by the NGO Save the Children Norway, sought to promote ethnic and religious harmony through what they called ‘walkshops’ and ‘talkshops’ on the holy mountain, Adam’s Peak.