News brief
Saffron the queen of spices
Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world and India is set to cash in on the potential for profit. The rapid fall in Spain's production of Saffron has presented India with the market opportunity to grow the plant outside Jammu and Kashmir, the country's traditional production centre. The Indian Spices Board says that the Sangla Valley in Himavhal Pradesh offers ideal agro-climatic conditions to grow saffron plants. The valley has fine loam soil with calcium content and because the ground remains snow-covered for four months a year it represents the perfect conditions for growing healthy saffron. The farmers in the area are keen to grow saffron as the spice fetches a high price of nearly US $400 per kg. However, the quality of saffron depends largely upon the process of drying the stigmas and styles of the flower and you need 150,000 flowers to make 1kg of the spice.
Rice for food and erosion control
The fragile upland soils of Southeast Asia are eroding at an alarming rate. But conserving the environment is rarely a priority for farmers when this activity conflicts with their need for food. Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines have been working to reconcile these interests by developing a perennial rice plant for the uplands which would provide both food and erosion control. They began by evaluating wild rice species Oryza rufipogon (from Asia) and O.longistaminata (from Africa) for perenniality and drought tolerance.
After two years of screening, all tested accessions of O.longistaminata survived, showing the ability of the species as a whole to survive drought. But in O.rufipogon, strong differences in survival capability appeared, with the best individuals being from India and Myanmar.
Fifteen surviving individuals were selected based on their vigour and ability to regrow after cutting. These, and accessions of O.longistaminata, are being used as donors of perenniality in crosses with upland cultivars of the cultivated rice O.sativa.
That's the conclusion of a team of post-graduate students working
together at the Silsoe Research Institute in the UK. Their research has shown that animals respond
well to machines, finding them less threatening than humans and other animals. In the light of this
discovery the team has gone on to develop a world first, a robot, called Rover, which can
successfully herd a flock of ducks.
The snuffling snouts of 12 pigs are being called in to save England's
New Forest from the smothering carpet of Gaultheria. So far more than 20 hectares of prime woodland
have been killed off by this invasive foreign shrub which grows up to 1.3 metres high and has a
persistent and quick spreading root system. It is hoped that tempting meals of pignuts which will
be scattered among the plant stems will encourage the pigs to dig and excavate the roots. If the
swines are a success it could mean a huge reduction in the amount of weed-killer otherwise needed
to stop Gaultheria spreading.
Hives of bees are
being transported to farms to help protect crop production. The deadly varroa mite has wiped out
local colonies of bees in several countries around the world. The varroa mite, originally from the
Far East has left many farmers worried that their crops will not be adequately pollinated. Paul
Turner, a fruit expert from the UK's National Farmers' Union said; "We may have
fiddled around with the way we have grown fruit, but we still need insects to pollinate for us. At
the end of the day it is still a natural process." In North America thousands of bees are
brought in to pollinate the almond trees, seed crops, apples trees and cucumbers while in Canada
large quantities of bees are shipped in from California to ensure thorough pollination of
blueberries.
