Our friend Danny Hunter at the Crop Wild Relatives Group has word of a new Global Trees Campaign to protect stands of wild trees, among them wild pears and apples in the Caucasus. A project officer has provided Danny with a special report.
Organics examined
David Zetland, the aguanomics blogger, has rounded up a couple of choice items on organic agriculture. There’s a report from UNEP and UNCTAD on Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa.
According to a newspaper report,
An analysis of 114 projects in 24 African countries found that yields had more than doubled where organic, or near-organic practices had been used. That increase in yield jumped to 128 per cent in east Africa.
The article goes on to say that
[O]rganic practices outperformed traditional methods and chemical-intensive conventional farming. It also found strong environmental benefits such as improved soil fertility, better retention of water and resistance to drought. And the research highlighted the role that learning organic practices could have in improving local education.
David doesn’t like that because he says that UNCTAD is “known for its anti-globalization perspective”. But how, exactly, would this invalidate the conclusions or the report? Furthermore, he says that:
[T]he 114 analyzed projects involved 1.9 million farmers on 2.0 million ha. Those are SMALL farms, and it’s hard to imagine expanding organic practices everywhere, at all scales.
Indeed they are small, just over a hectare each. But actually, that’s big, for most subsistence farmers. and I would argue that it is less important to expand organic practices everywhere at all scales than it is to give the smallest landholders (and, more so, those who don’t even own land) access to sustainable practices that can boost resilience and yields and deliver environmental benefits. Not necessarily organic, but soundly based on agricultural biodiversity.
P.S. Follow the other links in David’s piece if you’re more interested in “truth” than rhetoric.
Nibbles: Dogs, Children, Catfish, Research
- Dalmatian dog defect discovered.
- Better nutrition sneaked into school meals.
- Nebraska plans huge fry-up.
- Private-public partnerships needed to feed Africa. Huh?
What’s a bison worth these days?
$4906.25, according to a post by David Willcove, excellent conservation biologist. He points out that a Colorado rancher was fined $157,000 for illegally killing 32 bison that had wandered onto his land last winter. Willcove discusses the conflict between wildlife and livestock in terms of the fear of disease. Bison could transmit brucellosis to cattle, but, Willcove says,
There has never been a documented case of a wild bison transmitting brucellosis to a cow, but the mere possibility that it could happen is enough to cause the State of Montana to insist on the death penalty for all bison that wander outside the park boundary (unless they can be chased back into the park…but try making a bison go where you want it to go).
You would think it might be possible for livestock and wildlife to co-exist, especially in a place where it really is not a matter of life and death, and Willcove has some suggestions to achieve that. But don’t hold your breath.
UG99: no worries
There is no threat to India from the dreaded wheat steam rust Ug99. Moreover, if in future the disease happens to spread to India the country’s agricultural research system is fully geared up to tackle it.
This assurance came from Agriculture Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar as he inaugurated the International Conference on Wheat Stem Rust Ug99 — A Threat to Food Security, here today.