Friday
Jan062012

Goat Raising Offers Income Opportunity for Farmers.  

In the Philippines , more and more people are now raising goats -- in their farms, in their backyards, and even in their ranches! “We have been raising goats since the early 1970s and we have observed that the demand for the animal has been increasing.

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Monday
Jan022012

Tropical Storms and Deforestation Effects in Southern Philippines

Ten days before the Philippines would celebrate Christmas, tropical storm Sendong (international name: Washi) hit Mindanao. A look at a few factors that caused the tragedy of deaths and loss of homes.

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Wednesday
May252011

Sustainable Business Investments to Jump Up To 24 Percent in 2012, says New Report

According to a recent report from analysts Verdantix, overall investment in sustainability across the US, Canada, UK and Australia will jump to US$52bn in 2012; up to a 24 percent increase.

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Friday
Feb112011

Reef Fish Decline: Seafood Restaurants Contribute to Declining Grouper, Wrasse, Snapper Numbers

With reef fish numbers declining around the world, dining at a fish restaurant comes under increasing question unless the species is sourced either sustainably or from a local fish farm.

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Friday
Dec032010

Farming in Cities Could Help Feed the World

With traditional food production under threat from climate change, we should switch from agriculture to cell culture, says Lucía Atehortúa. If climate change begins to limit the global production of food and energy crops, it will be necessary to develop a new system of food production.

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Friday
Dec032010

Africa Can Be Food Self-sufficient

African nations can break dependence on food imports and produce enough to feed a growing population within a generation despite extra strains from climate change, a study said on Thursday. Research into new crops resistant to heat, droughts or floods, better support for small-scale farmers and greater involvement by national leaders in setting policies in sectors from transport to education were needed, it said.

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Thursday
Sep302010

Coconut Uses and Benefits from Food to Building Materials

Coconut brings many natural products, including foods, drinks, fibers, building materials, and chemicals. Although not a native of the Philippines, coconut is considered as God’s gift to Filipinos.

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Friday
Feb262010

Investments in Philippine Farmers to Produce Milk Locally

The Philippines has not achieved self-sufficiency in milk because there is not enough investments in dairy and there are not enough animals on the ground to support the huge demand.

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Friday
Feb262010

Accelerated Soil Erosion Affects Crop Cultivation and Productivity

Although more than 99% of the world’s food comes from the soil, experts estimate that each year more than 10 million hectares of crop land are degraded or lost as rain and wind sweep away topsoil. An area big enough to feed Europe has been so severely degraded it cannot produce food, UN figures show.

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Thursday
Feb252010

Sago Palm Cultivation Environmental Benefits

If only Filipinos are aware of its multifarious uses, the unexploited sago (scientific name: Metroxylon sagu) has the potential to uplift economic and social conditions in the countryside, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. Technologies to enhance the cultivation of the plant can lead to the development of the sago industry.

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Thursday
Nov122009

Water Shortage Threatens Food Security

Water crisis – too much or too less – hog the headlines of newspapers every now and then. But beyond safe drinking and sanitation, water plays a critical role in food production.

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Friday
Oct232009

Growing Pili as a Food and Resource Crop for Small Farmers

Pili (known in the scientific world as Canarium ovatum) is an indigenous tree in the Philippines. But despite this fact, pili is almost completely unknown among Filipinos. Second to cashew in importance as a source of nut, it has the potential of becoming a major export crop.

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Friday
Sep252009

Bamboo's Versatility Good Food Source and Substitute for Timber

As trees are fast disappearing in various parts of the world and with the concern of environment growing, timber are getting scarce day by day. This is due to long period of time taken by even softwood to attain maturity. So, a substitute or if that is not possible, an alternative, has to be found. Bamboo is the answer for this.

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Friday
Sep112009

Averting Narra's Threat of Extinction through Education and Reforestration 

The Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation Inc. is campaigning for the mass production of narra to avert is extinction in the Philippine forests. With reforestation and education programmes, it believes the nitrogen-fixing tree which can grow to a height of 33 meters and a diameter of 2 meters, could easily be preserved.

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Tuesday
Sep082009

Organic, Botanical Pesticides: Cheaper & Effective Pest Control  

The Geneva-based World Health Organization reports three people are poisoned by pesticides every minute around the world.As a response to such health concerns, the use of botanical pesticides is now fast gaining wider acceptance among farmers. Botanical pesticides are derived from plants which have been shown to have insecticidal properties. The move from chemical to botanical pesticides is an important step in the search for a balanced, self-regulating agricultural system.

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Tuesday
Aug182009

Rice Hull Reduces Fossil-based Fuels and Energy Cost 

Rice hull is made of hard materials. It is an ideal source of energy. A ton of rice hull is equivalent to 318 liters of fuel. Using rice hull could impact on the world economy as it reduces dependence on fossil-based fuels, thereby significantly reducing energy costs.

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Tuesday
Aug182009

Sloping Agriculture Land Technology Solves Soil Erosion Issues 

Erosion is the most pervasive form of soil degradation.Davao-based MBRLC developed the Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT), a system patterned after the famous Philippine rice terraces of Banaue. Unlike the famous rice terraces, which use physical barriers and contour ditches, SALT uses live hedgerows like Leucaena leucocephala, Flemingia macrophylla, Desmodium rensonii, Gliricidia sepium, and Indigofera anil. All these help enrich soil and aid neighboring plants because of its foliage rivals manure in nitrogen content.The technology is simple. The hedgerows are planted in very dense double rows to serve as erosion barriers.

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Tuesday
Aug182009

Rate of Deforestation in Philippines Erodes Topsoil, Kills Wildlife

While there is a drop in the rate of deforestation in the Philippines the principal causes of still remain: logging, conversion to agricultural lands and human settlements. The reduced rate is not an increase in real forest cover but merely an increase in the number of trees. Such is the bleak scenario facing the country,

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Sunday
Aug022009

The Basics of Propagating the Philippine Mango

Manila Super Mango found its way in the Guinness Book of World Records as the sweetest of its kind in the world. It is best cultivated in well-drained, fairly deep, loamy soil. This article gives more tips on how to propagate Philippine mangoes that will become sure winners.

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Sunday
May312009

How Will Global Warming Affect Food Production?

“Global warming is more disastrous to the agricultural industry of the Philippines and its neighboring Asian countries than in other parts of the world,” noted Dr. David Street of the US Argonne National Laboratory

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