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Topic Page: Agriculture
Eat better, smarter. Grow cleaner, more sustainable food. Great bumper stickers, but how do you do it? PF members offer their solutions on how use science and good practice to grow our food more sustainably. Have an idea in Agriculture? Tell us
Related Categories : | Biofuels | Green Living | Science | Business |
News
Foregoing the Fallow
A government program is offering farmers money to conserve water for urban use, many dissent.
Compost bandwagon
An article about a project for a community garden in Brooklyn, where we and built a bicycle powered compost tumbler from reclaimed materials
Real Food Challenge
It’s a call to arms for campuses to sign up, rally, and educate peers about the movement towards healthier and more sustainable food.
Combining adaptation and mitigation in Latin American forests
Forest in coffee production zones in Peru and water supplies in Honduras are benefiting from increased focus on adaptation strategies.
DOI: Florida Everglades Deserve More Protection
Florida’s Everglades are set to receive new protections under a new initiative proposed by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Rising oceans put Vietnam’s rice crops in jeopardy
Rising sea levels in Vietnam are forcing the numerous people who farm rice to adapt to saltier waters that harm their crops
Palms hold Indonesia’s future
Willie Smitts has received a grant from National Geographic to study Indonesian sugar palms and develop a viable system to utilize the “sentry” plant’s sustainable qualities.
Floods Expand Gulf “Dead Zones”
This spring’s extreme flooding has caused the Gulf of Mexico’s oxygen-deficient areas, known as “dead zones,” to grow at a record-setting pace.
“Enormous wildfire in Eastern Arizona is poised to become the largest in state history”
Since Memorial Day weekend fires have scorched terrain in the southwestern United States. After starting in Arizona, the fires are threatening to skip the border into New Mexico.
Purple Mountains Travesty
Researches are finding, through analysis of tree rings, that Rocky Mountain snowpacks have been diminishing over the past century, endangering vital watersheds.
Mozambique Looks To Hybrid Seeds To Help Food Crisis
Scientists, farmers and experts are finding ways to solve the food crises in Africa through the use of hybrid seeds.
Climate change and crops: Hindering harvests
Changes in the climate are already having an effect on crop yields—but not yet a very big one
Webisodes
Learning How to Adapt from our Ancestors
THIS WEEK: This week Planet Forward is taking a look at the work PISA, a GW-based group, is doing in Nam Dinh, Vietnam. The women in Nam Dinh are adapting to a changing planet and they say they learned their tricks from none other than their ancestors!
An Innovative Approach to Water Conservation
THIS WEEK: Our rapidly increasing consumption of water is creating concerns about what the world would be like without any! One team, however, created an innovative solution to the planet’s quickly disappearing water. Check it out in this week’s webisode!
Could Palm Oil Biofuels Work?
This WEBISODE focuses on Dom Bosco Catholic University’s biochemistry laboratory in Campo Grande, Brazil. Dom Bosco is experimenting with a plant called bocaiúva, a native palm which could yield a new source of renewable energy.
Is Your City HOT? The Benefits of Storm Water Management
This week, our WEBISODE focuses on “GreenStreets,” a project from Drexel University Professor and NSF funded scientist, Franco Montalto. Got storm water? He’s working on a solution!
Top Online Vote Getters – Who Did YOU Choose?
Your viability ratings helped up select 22 nominees, then your votes determined the top three online vote getters. These three pieces made the cut and will be on our April PBS prime time special. Check them out…
Ditch the Peanuts, Pack with Shrooms
In this week’s webisode, Planet Forward host Frank Sesno skypes with Eben Bayer, CEO and Co-Founder of Ecovative Design about the company’s sustainable product that is replacing styrofoam packaging material and home insulation. Watch>>
Our Interview with “Food, Inc.” director Robert Kenner
Planet Forward host, Frank Sesno, interviews the producer/director of the PBS documentary, “Food, Inc.”, Robert Kenner. Food, Inc. premieres on PBS, April 21.
Robert Kenner (Director of “Food, Inc.”) Takes Member Questions
Planet Forward host, Frank Sesno, poses questions from the Planet Forward community to Robert Kenner, producer/director of the film Food, Inc. Food, Inc. premieres as a part of the P.O.V. independent film series April 21 on local PBS stations around the country.
Planet Forward: Our Energy Future
Our first TV special focused on great ideas from you, our members, about how we as a country should approach our energy future. Originally broadcast on April 15, 2009 on PBS.
NBR
Algae as Alternative Energy Source
Sapphire Energy is a company with quite a dream: to make algae-based fuel ready for commercial production by next year. There’s a lot of advantages to algae-based fuels. It’s carbon neutral, it uses salt water to grow, it doesn’t compete with food commodities and, with a possibility of gas hitting $5 per gallon, figuring out …Read More…
Ecovative Design: Are Mushrooms the New Plastic?
Ecovative Design is developing packaging material that is affordable and biodegradable. The secret: fungi and agricultural waste. In this month’s Nightly Business Report segment we visit Ecovative’s lab and get up close and personal with the new product that could replace plastic and styrofoam.
Articles From the Blog Related to Agriculture
Hotter, Drier, Meaner: Trends Show Planet More Hostile to Agriculture
A host of data point to one conclusion: Our increasingly hotter, drier planet is going to be a tough place to farm.
Nepal: Front Lines of Climate Change
By Isabella Woods
In Nepal, some communities are already experiencing dramatic effects from climate change. Practical Action Nepal is working to support communities to work together to counter these problems.
Rural Women in Vietnam Face Scarcity of Jobs and Climate Disruption
It’s 5:00 am and I wake up to the sounds of rural Vietnam – the neighborhood roosters are having a crow-off, dogs and birds in the area are eagerly trying to participate, and my roommate the gecko calls out letting me know he was successful in protecting me from mosquitoes overnight. There is a gentle …Read More…
Efficiency Can Beat the Housing Crisis
At a time when housing prices are falling nationwide, one thing can actually add resale value: sustainable improvements.
The Road from Farm to Table
“Think of the pollution and the global warming caused by its transport. Think of the ascendancy of corporate agribusiness over family farms. Think of the loss of nutrients during a weeklong journey from soil to supermarket.” – Time.com Like many visitors to a farmers market on a sunny Sunday morning, I would usually take my …Read More…
Farm to Table 101: Eating Local D.C.
Bananas from Ecuador — 2,700 miles. Grapes from Chile — 5,000 miles. Apples from New Zealand — 8,600 miles. Buying food from in the U.S. often resembles a frequent flier mile stat sheet. These miles mean wasted energy and detrimental impact to the environment. However, almost every major city in America has the ability to …Read More…
Ecosystem Renewal is the Closest Thing to a Win-Win Environmentalists Have
Most of the talk about climate change centers on fossil fuel emissions. But one new documentary, which debuted on BBC World, is all about ecosystems and how they absorb. The documentary is called “Hope in a Changing Climate,” and it follows John D. Liu, founder of the Environmental Education Media Project, who spent 15 years …Read More…
Portland Expands on Wind
On Thursday Portland General Electric Co. (PGE) announced plans to purchase development rights to the Rock Creek Wind Farm in Gilliam County, Oregon. The wind farm, scheduled to begin construction in 2013 or 2014, will have the capacity to produce 400 to 550 megawatts. That is enough energy to power, depending on wind variability, 125,00 …Read More…
Science Corner articles filed under Agriculture
Biochar Produces Better Crops and Cleaner Air
A multinational research team is developing biochars–fine-grained, highly porous charcoal that helps soils retain nutrients and water. These additives can improve crop yields, help inoculate plants with beneficial microorganisms and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Better crop yields can increase farm income and improve human nutrition. The combination of biochar production and clean-burning cook stoves may …Read More…
Controlling Light Pollution
New measurements of the NSF-funded Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Ariz., show that sky brightness has remained remarkably constant over the past 20 years, despite the area’s rapid population growth. The study demonstrates that with a conscientious effort, human-caused light pollution can remain constant, despite large population growth in cities. Shielded outdoor lights, required …Read More…
Sparking the Algae Harvest
A team of engineers and scientists at North Carolina State University has developed a new method for harvesting marine algae. By applying an electric charge they change the chemistry of the algae cell boundary and cause cells to clump together. These algae clumps are easier to collect. One of the challenges facing algal oil production …Read More…
Conversion of Sugars to Make Fuels, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals
Researchers have developed a way to make an efficient catalyst that transforms biomass-derived sugars into a compound used in fuels, plastics and pharmaceuticals. The solid acid catalyst is noncorrosive and easily recovered for re-use, making it easier and potentially cheaper than other catalysts such as mineral acids. Renewable sources of fuels and chemicals are in …Read More…
Engineering Bacteria to Make Biofuels
Researchers have re-engineered an anaerobic bacterium known as clostridia to prevent spore formation, a change that improves the bacteria’s productivity in making biofuels. The University of Delaware engineers demonstrated the feasibility of using clostridia (specifically, C. acetobutylicum) as an economically viable, industrial-scale producer of biorenewable fuels and chemicals. Their work could help lower the cost …Read More…
Identifying Severe Weather Outbreaks Earlier
A team of scientists from three universities has developed a weather-prediction system that will allow forecasters to predict tornadoes and other severe storms at least three days before the storms start. Tornadoes and other severe weather outbreaks annually cause loss of life and massive property damage to many portions of the U.S. These research findings …Read More…
Understanding the Nanoparticle in Renewable Energy
Using a powerful electron microscope, a research group at Arizona State University has observed dynamic behavior in small catalytic nanoparticles during energy-related chemical reactions. Nanomaterials can act as catalysts for many important chemical reactions related to sustainable energy. However, many of the best catalysts are composed of expensive precious metals such as platinum or gold. …Read More…
Winter Shrinking by Seven Days Each Decade
Climate trends in the northeastern U.S. show that in the past 40 years, winter has lost seven days every decade and the growing season has expanded by nearly four days each decade. Researchers are figuring out how these changes will impact farmers, foresters, outdoor recreation and wildlife to help them adapt their practices to the altered climate.
Toward a Low Energy Computer: Efficient Caches
In an NSF-sponsored project, computer scientists at the University of Utah have developed techniques to reduce the energy consumption of computers associated with large, temporary storage areas, called caches. The innovation could significantly lower energy consumption and improve performance within multi-core processors, directly impacting future computing devices including laptops, desktops and server processors. The group …Read More…
Oil-spill Cleanup Material: Coal Fly Ash
A team of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Central Florida is transforming fly ash–a waste product from coal-fired power plants–into an environmentally friendly adsorbent for oil-spill cleanup. Researchers hope this material will be an economical alternative to current methods of soaking up oil at clean-up sites. At the same time, it could …Read More…
