DuPont has joined the Drought-Tolerant Plants (DROPS) Research Consortium, contributing expertise and a state-of-the-art modelling platform for research into drought resistant maize.
Read more...The report provides a roadmap for increased agricultural investment and more-efficient ways to alleviate global hunger and poverty.
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Due to a combination of drought and smaller rooibos harvests, production volumes have been lower this year and there will be less rooibos to go around, reports The South African Rooibos Council.
Rooibos harvests remained good in 2009 and 2010 even though the export market, where most rooibos is sold, declined from 7 200 tonne in 2007 to 6 300 tonne in 2009. It fell by a further 5% last year, with economic uncertainty in Europe and a strong rand both contributing. This resulted in a local surplus of about 3 000 tonne in 2010. Read more...
In December last year, German authorities informed the European Commission's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) that a batch of fatty acids, produced by a biodiesel company for technical purposes, got mixed with fat for the production of animal feed. Though it contained higher levels of dioxins than allowed for feed by EU law, it was delivered to a feed manufacturing company and used to make compound feeds for poultry and pigs. The high levels of dioxins were picked up in in-house checks by the feed producer.
Read more...Worldwatch Institute released its report on the 17 January, State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet, which spotlights successful agricultural innovations and unearths major successes in preventing food waste, building resilience to climate change, and strengthening farming in cities.
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