maize field in Malawi

Mulch, mice and ‘the man problem’ hold up CA adoption

Women are interested in producing food while men are more interested in growing cash crops using conventional methods

After three years of producing maize using conservation agriculture, Nkasauka Nthala is a convert. The yields from her tiny .16-hectare plot of maize grown using direct seeding instead of hoeing were 166 per cent above the yields of maize grown under conventional practices. Yet only a small portion of the farm she shares with her

man in corn field

Grow less maize and produce more food

Boosting yield allows seeding less maize as ‘insurance,’ and adding more profitable and nutritious crops to the rotation

Christian Thierfelder strides into a plot of maize, reaches down, and scratches through the mulch with his fingers to grab a clump of soil. Holding it up, the senior agronomist with CIMMYT’s Harare field station lets it crumble through his fingers — it is moist but not muddy, and the decaying plant material gives it


Ken Kamiya outlining papaya

The dark side of agriculture in Hawaii

GM variety has helped protect papaya against a deadly virus, but some growers have found their crop vandalized

Hawaii — the name conjures up thoughts of beautiful beaches, waterfalls, fresh exotic fruits, flowers. However, there is a much darker side that most tourists are unaware of — an atmosphere of distrust, vandalism, legal wars, massive security, heartbreak and so much more. All of this due to genetically modified (GM) crops. With a 12-month

Landlocked Central Asia gets shorter railway link to Persian Gulf

The new route will enhance exports of natural gas, grain and textiles

Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Iran inaugurated a new railway route Dec. 3 that will improve resource-rich Central Asia’s access to markets in the Middle East and South Asia. The 925-km (578-mile) stretch of railway, built jointly by the three Caspian neighbours, will ease the exchange of goods between the landlocked post-Soviet region and the countries lying


grapes on a vine

Swedish Merlot, anyone? Warmer world boosts Nordic tipples

Vineyards are where people expect polar bears, grower says

On one of the world’s northernmost frontiers, grapevines are growing on hillsides and talk among farmers is about “terroir” and “aroma” as global warming and new technology push the boundaries of wine growing. “Maybe a touch of raspberry?” opined Wenche Hvattum, one of two farmers at the Lerkekasa vineyard west of Oslo — on the

sunflower

Kenyan farmers profit from the sun to water crops

Drip irrigation requires a costly upfront investment, but it pays for itself in a relatively short time

For subsistence farmers in rain-scarce Kenya, drip irrigation can mean the difference between hand-to-mouth survival and being able to grow an agricultural business like Alice Migwi’s. She now has three full-time employees, an expanding plot of land, and enough surplus produce to sell to restaurants and hotels after harvest. “A drip system is perhaps the


people on a beach protesting climate change

Study finds farmers and scientists divided over climate change

Focusing on the cause tends to polarize and politicize the discussion, which delays adaptation

Crop producers and scientists hold deeply different views on climate change and its possible causes, a study by Purdue and Iowa State universities shows. Associate professor of natural resource social science, Linda Prokopy and fellow researchers surveyed 6,795 people in the agricultural sector in 2011-12 to determine their beliefs about climate change and whether variation

Aliko Dangote, president and chief executive officer of Dangote Group

Africa’s richest man targets Nigeria’s rice deficit

Aliko Dangote plans to produce a million tonnes of rice in four years

Nigeria enjoys a perfect rice-growing climate over a vast area yet it is the world’s second-biggest importer of the staple, often from countries in its warm, wet tropical latitude like top exporter Thailand. It’s one of those baffling Nigerian paradoxes, like the fact that it is Africa’s top oil producer yet suffers frequent fuel shortages;


a flooded home in Buenos Aires

Weather forecasters predict better services for women

Women suffer more from changing weather patterns, as their duties were not limited to agriculture. 
They are also responsible for cooking, childcare and water fetching

Meteorologists from around the world are meeting with women’s rights activists and aid workers in Geneva to develop climate and weather services geared specifically to women. The Nov. 5-7 conference will also discuss how to attract and promote more female scientists in meteorology and hydrology. Michel Jarraud, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO),

Oriental fruit fly

A destructive crop pest with many different names

The finding is expected to help with international biosecurity and control

A global research effort has finally resolved a major biosecurity issue: four of the world’s most destructive agricultural pests are actually one and the same. For 20 years, some of the world’s most damaging pest fruit flies have been almost impossible to distinguish from each other. The ability to identify pests is central to quarantine,