Agriculture

Sustainable Farming: Is Local the Answer?

Most developed countries import a massive amount of food – especially animal feed. Under any circumstances, this is unsustainable. But a new report from a French research body asserts that if we take just a few simple steps, most developed regions could easily locally sustain their populations’ projected future food requirements – and in an organic way too.

Seaweed: The Answer to Cow Gas

Cows are bad for the environment. They constantly parp and belch out greenhouse gases as they munch on grass, and contributed the equivalent of a staggering 6,000 million tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere. But scientists in the US have discovered that a seaweed diet can help reduce bovine flatulence by a significant degree.

Looking Up: Thailand’s Massive City Farm

Restrictions on movement, constrictions on space, destruction from flooding and the pollution caused by transport are increasingly affecting city life. In Bangkok, an innovative solution is addressing all these issues in an ambitious sustainable farm at Thammasat University Rooftop Farm.

Compost Cotton: Worms Make the Difference

The cotton industry has seen a lot of bad press; depleting water supplies, poisoning water tables with pesticide – and producing tons and tons of cotton-bud leftovers that blight the landscape around processing plants. In rural NSW, Australia, one man has woven a profitable business out of cotton waste, using worms.

Cheap Food? Cheap Life

All living things must eat – and must eat each other. Food is the great connector. Its influence over our lives and world is almost too big to see – which may explain why we fail to value it. Yet if we can learn to value food it has the potential to transform our lives and create better cities and a better world.

Natural Pest Control to Counter Harmful Pesticides

Wherever there are people, there will be pests that thrive off the human population. Over the centuries, researchers have developed many different ways of dealing with insects, rodents, and weeds. People are beginning to realize that taking a heavy approach to preventing pests can have negative effects on their health and the environment as a whole.

New Agriculture: Innovation & Adaptation to Climate Change

As farmers worldwide confront changing climates and challenging new situations, ideas are beginning to spread that can bring new high-tech solutions for farmers to adapt to a hotter world, wherever they live

Water Hyacinth: From Plague to Carbon Positive    

The water hyacinth has been clogging waterways and causing havoc and destruction of ecosystems since the 1900s. But researchers are discovering that it can play a role in reducing carbon emissions – as well as providing raw materials for production.