World Rural Women’s Day – 15th October
(Credit: Paul Jeffrey/UMCOR) Did you know… Women make up 51% of the agricultural labour force worldwide. A study of the household division of labour in Bangladeshi villages found that women worked almost 12 hours a day – compared with the eight to ten hours a day worked by men in the same villages. In many…
Pass the Chalice?
"Bishops defying swine flu advice" said the headlines recently. Some bishops in England have recently reinstated using a shared chalice to distribute communion wine. UK Dept of Health advice is to suspend this practice during the swine flu outbreak to prevent the spread of this disease. I can see why chalices were identified as potentially…
The World’s Happiest City is even happier now – Rio will host the 2016 Olympic Games
Photo credit: oglobo.com A week ago, Brazilians were celebrating, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced, in Copenhagen, that Rio de Janeiro was chosen as the city to host the 2016 Olympic Games, beating Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid. The Brazilian President Lula cried with emotion, as he heard the news, and so did many Brazilians…
How synchrotrons could aid crop protection
Image courtesy of Diamond (www.diamond.ac.uk) 2003 saw construction begin on a facility representing the UK’s largest investment in science for over 40 years. Diamond Light Source opened in 2007 and is an impressive structure on the South Oxfordshire landscape, 10 miles or so from where I’m sitting in CABI’s head office. It is a synchrotron…
How I lost my family to farming
At CABI we have a strong sense of the importance of agriculture, and also that the internet is a key medium for communicating the struggles of farmers to feed the world and survive economically in difficult times. I have to say that my wife and children have seemed largely indifferent to those issues until the…
Barack Obama is deeply committed to passing a climate bill this year
An article in yesterday’s New York Times online reported that the Obama administration announced on Wednesday (30/09/09) that they’re moving forward on new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from hundreds of power plants and large industrial facilities, rather than waiting for Congress to act. Read on to find out how far reaching the new…
Is it a bug’s life?
Avid followers of …handpicked and carefully sorted…. will recall my previous blog on bees and the debate on whether neonicotinoid insecticides should be banned or not. Well, unsurprisingly, the debate continues. A media release from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) on 11 September called for an “independent and comprehensive assessment of the impact of neonicotinoids”.…
Bacteria-based biofuel: as long as there’s sunshine
Carbon-neutral because, like plants, bacteria use carbon dioxide for growth. Read on to find out more about this promising new biofuel source.
Farm visits, brother in tow
As a mother of two young boys, I have been following the coverage of the 'petting farm' E. coli outbreak with particular interest. As of 22 September, 74 cases of infection with E. coli O157 have been linked to Godstone Farm in Surrey. Having visited two similar attractions this summer, I am now reflecting on…
Seal the Deal! Hollywood joins the campaign to combat climate change
Climate change is here and threatens us all; say Hollywood actors, film directors, environmentalists and politicians in a new UN public service announcement series, launched this week, urging viewers to sign the Climate Petition on the Seal the Deal!