Economically rich, environmentally poor

The world today is economically richer and environmentally poorer than ever before, reports a new study of global trend from the Worldwatch Institute. In 1997, the global economy expanded at a near record 4%, pushing incomes to a new high with the biggest gains coming in developing countries. The world's farmers harvested a record 1,881 million tonnes of grain in 1997, narrowly eclipsing 1996's record harvest of 1,869 million tons. However, even this record harvest did not keep up with population growth, leading to a drop in per capita grain output from 324 kilograms to 322 kilograms. "It was also a year of disturbing new signs of environmental stress" said Worldwatch president Lester Brown. "Indonesia's rainforests burned out of control for several months, but an even larger area of forests was burning in the Brazilian Amazon. China's Yellow River failed to reach the sea for 226 days, devastating the ecosystem in its lower reaches.

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Japanese taste for rice

Japanese consumers have developed an appetite for foreign foods, with the notable exception of rice. While Californian oranges, Canadian salmon and Danish pork line the shelves of Japanese supermarkets, when it comes to rice, consumers can find little other than Japanese brands. Three years ago, Japan reluctantly opened its market to foreign rice in compliance with the Uruguay Round agreement reached in 1993. But very little of that rice finds its way on to Japanese dinner tables. The agriculture ministry acknowledges that only a small amount of imported rice goes to supermarkets while the rest ends up as inventory or goes towards processed foods. However it maintains this is simply a result of poor market demand. "Japanese consumers prefer domestic rice" said one ministry official.

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El Niño hits Somali banana crop

Somalia's banana industry, the country's second most important foreign exchange earner after livestock, has been devastated by flooding caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon and this year's exports are expected to be less than half their 1997 level. Floods have waterlogged plantations and swept away secondary roads, preventing young suckers from sprouting and making it impossible to transport bananas to port. "Since October 1997 there have been virtually no exports, and between June and September there will be none because the monsoon will make the sea too rough to use Merca port," said Renato Marai, agronomist with the World Food Programme (WFP). "This is the most serious crisis in the industry since the civil war."

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China wants UK farm know-how

British agricultural export prospects to China are at an all time high. The Chinese government wants to use UK technology to improve its agricultural industry - and appears to be willing to pay the price. Ten UK farm equipment companies seeking new markets in China, exhibited at Agro-Expo China 98 in Beijing recently. The Home-Grown Cereals Authority subsidiary body, British Cereal Exports, was also part of the trade mission. Its task was to promote British malting barley to the rapidly growing Chinese malting and brewing industry.

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Growers in Hawaii get genetically engineered papaya

In recent years the Hawaiian papaya industry has been decimated by the deadly papaya ringspot. The virus reduces fruit quality and quantity and eventually kills the trees. From 1993 to 1997 papaya production fell from 58 million to 36 million pounds sterling. But two genetically engineered varieties are being heralded as the key to giving Hawaii's papaya industry a second chance. The disease resistant "Sun up" and "Rainbow" have been developed by researchers at Cornell University's Agricultural Experiment Station, the USDA and the University of Hawaii.

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Hands off livestock

A new hands-free method for monitoring pigs' health could soon make the farmers' job much easier. Manual weighing is one of the best methods farmers have of monitoring the weight, growth and condition of their pigs. However, weighing is time consuming and stressful to pigs. SRI, the Silsoe Research Institute, has been developing the Growth Rate and Conformation Evaluation (GRACE) System, which uses image analysis techniques to watch pigs grow. It monitors pigs remotely and collects information on size and condition without them even knowing. The system uses a video camera mounted over a feeder. It collects pictures without disturbing the pig, and operates in much the same way as the expert stockman as he observes his animals. The camera is connected to a computer, which gathers and processes the camera images. Electronic tags allow individual pigs to be identified so the computer knows which pig it is monitoring and by measuring its body area, ham width and ham area, the computer determines each pig's shape, weight and growth rate. The information can also be used to develop systems to determine the optimum time for marketing each animal, which will help the producer to improve the selection of pigs for breeding and market.

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A new use for old feathers

Chicken feathers may soon be padding out nappies or helping to mop up oil slicks, now that agricultural researchers have found a way to turn them into valuable absorbent or filter materials. Researchers form the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, Maryland have developed a cheap mechanical method for separating the barbs of a feather from the central shaft, or quill. The keratin fibres in the barbs are tougher, finer and more absorbent than those in the quill. The barb fibres have already been tested in several applications. Researchers have shown that the fibres absorb copper and chromium from water, and they have also been tested as a filler material in plastics, such as polyurethane.
New Scientist

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It's the real thing

Coca Cola could be the real thing when it comes to soil testing. The drink apparently makes an ideal solvent for testing soil nutrient levels. According to scientists at the Federal Research Institute, Braunschweig, in Germany, the sugar and acids in the drink make it as good at extracting heavy metals as many currently used solutions. Scientists in the developing world could use readily available Coca Cola as an extraction agent, reducing their dependence on expensive, imported chemicals. Coca Cola is best suited to manganese extraction, but research has also shown it to be useful in measuring iron, zinc and copper levels.
The Furrow, John Deere

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Disease preventing eggs

Photo credit: FAO

Disease-preventing eggs can ward off certain intestinal problems in young pigs. At the University of Manitoba, Canada, researchers administered a modified form of E.Coli bacteria to chickens. This prompted the chickens to produce antibodies, which passed into the yolks of their eggs. Scientists who conducted the studies say feeding the eggs to pigs completely counteracted the effects of E.Coli. Pigs that didn't receive the treatment were severely affected by disease. The researchers see this kind of treatment as a promising alternative to antibiotics.
The Furrow, John Deere

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Salmonella free?

The world's first pasteurised fresh eggs will go on sale in the US this autumn, thanks to a machine called "Big Pete." The machine kills the Salmonella enteritidis bacteria which grow inside the egg without solidifying either the yolk or the white. Enough heat is applied to kill bacteria without cooking the egg by dunking it in baths of sterilised water heated to between 62°C and 72°C. But such a process is illegal in Europe - a measure that is designed to prevent faecal bacteria finding its way into the eggs. So European customers may have to wait before they can enjoy their runny yolks without fear of salmonella.
New Scientist

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Florida fights the fruit fly from above

Florida's Department of Agriculture is to step up its aerial spraying program to combat a growing infestation of the Mediterranean fruit fly in orange growing regions. The latest medfly count in the original area of infestation, taken on May 3, was 1,302 flies according to a department official, compared with only one in the previous count. Each medfly in a trap is usually an indication that 500 to 1,000 are in the area. So far only 28 acres have had to be sprayed, but officials have stressed that it was critical to ensure that the pest did not spread.

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Del Monte cleans up its act?

The International Banana Conference recently held in Brussels was attended by small and large-scale banana producers, traders and campaigners. The conference addressed the continuing trade disputes which have become increasingly bitter since last year's ruling by the World Trade Organisation that giving small-scale African and Caribbean producers preferential access to the European market was illegal. Other issues raised by speakers at the conference were the poor working conditions within the industry and the over-use of pesticides. When asked about the negative environmental impacts of the industry, Del Monte's General Manager of Banana Operations in Costa Rica, Donald Murray, said that "there's no doubt in the past that abuses with pesticides have taken place", but maintained that Del Monte is now cleaning up its act.

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Tiny microbes give giant boost to yields

Farmers on communal land in Mashonaland, Zimbabwe are now experiencing the sort of soybean yields usually only achieved on large commercial farms. By inoculating seeds with rhizobia, yields have more than doubled. The International Atomic Energy Agency has been helping the Zimbabwean authorities with nitrogen-15 isotopic analysis to monitor nitrogen through the entire plant growth cycle. By this means the most efficient strains of rhizobia can be identified and made available to farmers at a cost they can recoup 100-fold in increased yields.

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