A sweeter future for bee farmers
Whilst tuning into the BBC’s Great Comic Relief Bakeoff last week I was interested to hear about TREE AID and their honey project in Ghana. TREE AID supports villagers to produce and market honey so that they can generate income to provide their families. The villagers are encouraged to farm bees during the dry months…
Banned chemicals and silent springs
Recently I have been removing an array of chemicals, from alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane to zeta-cypermethrin, from CABI’s compendia (Crop Protection Compendium, Forestry Compendium and Invasive Species Compendium) records, as these chemicals have either been banned or severely restricted in their use. This work was sponsored by Plant Protection Station, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan.
The seed of its own destruction? Seedborne diseases and the seed trade
In 1989, farmers in Florida, Indiana and South Carolina began noticing a disease that was rapidly spreading through their watermelon crops1. Large, dark lesions and bruises appeared on the fruit and leaves exhibited brown discolouration; all that remained of severely infected fruit was a pulpy, inedible mess. In damp conditions the disease proliferated quickly and…
A new Food Tank for 2013
At the start of this new year (as at the start of many previous years), I am making the resolutions of improving my diet and getting fitter with the aim of ending 2013 healthier than my current state! From this personal level, I was interested to read about the launch of Food Tank: The Food…
7,500 Years of Cheese Making in Europe
M Djuric, Dairy Science Editor Compelling evidence of cheese-making has been uncovered in prehistoric pottery sieves found in the Kuyavia region in Poland by researchers from Great Britain, Poland and the United States. The study has just been published online in Nature journal on 12 December 2012. An abundance of milk fats was detected in these specialized…
Debate over Infectious Salmon Anaemia Virus in Wild Fish
Miroslav Djuric, DVM Infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) is a pathogen of marine-farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). However, ISAV can be transmitted experimentally to fish in fresh water. Outbreaks are restricted to Atlantic salmon but other salmonids may harbour the virus and act as reservoirs. ISAV remains an emerging fish pathogen because of the asymptomatic…
Global Milk Production Increasing at Fast Pace
By Miroslav Djuric, Editor (Dairy Science Abstracts) Global milk production in 2012 is forecast to reach 760 million tonnes, according to a new report published in the Food Outlook by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). This would represent an annual increase of 3%, largely due to the increased production in Asia, Oceania…
The 2012 UN Climate Change Conference in Qatar (COP 18)
View of the Qatar National Convention Centre, venue of the Meeting (photo courtesy of the Qatar National Convention Centre.) The 2012 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 18) opened today, 26th November 2012 in Doha, Qatar, at the Qatar National Convention Centre, and will continue until the 7th December. Key issues to be dealt with will…
Global Meat Production Continues to Rise – Pork and Poultry Meat Are the Most Popular
Pork is still the most popular meat globally, followed closely by poultry meat. Global production of pork in 2011 was 109 million tons, accounting for 37% of the total meat, while poultry meat production reached 101 million tons, according to a recent report from the Worldwatch Institute These data represent a 0.8% annual decrease in pork…
British Vets Resist “Political Measures” to Restrict Veterinary Use of Antibiotics
By Miroslav Djuric, DVM The British Veterinary Association (BVA) marked the 5th European Antibiotic Awareness Day (18 November 2012) by releasing a statement in which it reaffirms its commitment to promoting responsible use of antibiotics, but also warns that political measures to reduce antimicrobial resistance in Europe and the UK are not based on sound…