How a Farmer Became a Symbol of the Food Revolution in California

Juan Aldaz2017-01-03T14:07:38-05:00

Most-read books on Sustainable Farming and the Food Revolution What would you do if the varieties of peaches you (and your parents before you) grow, are no longer in demand? Image from David Masumoto's Family Facebook That’s what happened to David Mas Masumoto in 1987, when his farm came to a crossroad.  He found that the large volume buyers no longer wanted his Sun Crest peaches.  “An heirloom variety just didn’t have the right cosmetics for the market place…it didn’t get red lipstick-red [...]

December 16, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

USDA Tests Seeding Cover Crops With Helicopters

Juan Aldaz2017-01-03T14:18:50-05:00

USDA aerial seeding cover crops A new program designed to increase the use of cover crops on farms is being offered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  This voluntary program allows farmers to establish cover crops from the air instead of conventional ground methods.  On August 10, the newest effort will commence in Western Massachusetts, and move east across that State. There are many benefits to a well established  cover crop.  As the term [...]

November 25, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Will there be a global agricultural crisis in our time?

Juan Aldaz2017-01-03T16:39:33-05:00

The world populations is growing by 75 million people each year, and more than 40% of earth’s land has been cleared for farming. Some believe this could spell the inevitability of an agricultural crisis at a global scale. Why? As Agriculture strives to meet the skyrocketing demand for food, it has become vulnerable to claims as being the largest driver of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental destruction. TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of [...]

November 18, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Four Reasons why Biocontrol Should be Important to All of Us

Juan Aldaz2017-01-03T16:48:40-05:00

Are you thinking going organic? Let’s talk about "Biological Pest Control" Biological Pest Control. A parasatoid wasp lays an egg in an aphid. Photo by Alex Wild, University of Georgia. Since USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) implemented the organic regulations in 2002, the U.S. organic sector has tripled in size to over 22,000 certified organic operations with over $43 billion in 2015 in U.S. retail sales, and over $75 billion worldwide according to data released by the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) [...]

November 11, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Would you recommend shooting thousands of elephants to avoid desertification?

Juan Aldaz2017-01-02T09:56:57-05:00

This scientist took that decision to save a natural park in Africa, and later found that he was wrong, but did an amazing discovery that could lead to stop desertification and reverse climate change. On this issue we wanted to share a TED Talk featuring Allan Savory, who generously shares a lifetime of scientific research. From his discoveries we can understand how all living beings are interconnected, even the must unsuspected ones could be vital for ecological balance of grasslands, [...]

November 4, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

HOW WILL THE SMART FARM OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

Juan Aldaz2017-01-18T17:10:24-05:00

Back to the future...of Smart Farming. This is an article about predicting the future. Many of you perhaps remember the movie “Back to the future” which “predicted” a lot of technology that didn't exist in the 80s, but is available today like fingerprint readers, smartphones, smartwatches, and so on... But first we have to see a couple of "predictions" for our future that involves great challenges: The UN says for 2050 we will be 9.6 billion people in this planet [...]

October 28, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

Do You Know What is Africa’s “Great Green Wall”?

Juan Aldaz2017-01-02T10:20:11-05:00

To understand why there is a "Great Green Wall" project going on, we should mention that on September 25th 2015, the countries of The United Nations adopted a new sustainable development agenda and global agreement on climate change, with set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years; the Goal #15 is “Life on Land”. First, what is desertification? Desertification is the loss [...]

October 21, 2016 Uncategorized 1 CommentRead more...

The Internet of Things Comes to the Farm: The Last Agricultural Drones

Juan Aldaz2016-12-22T10:20:05-05:00

Many internet-based technologies are entering the farms now a days. From driverless tractors and mobile apps to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or more commonly known as “Drones”, farming technology is rapidly evolving. Let’s take a look at what can be achieved by drones, like for example “Mapping and Aerial Photography” to “Spraying”, let’s see.   Farmers can use drones to identify specific sections of the crop where the plants are stressed by lack of water, diseased or infested with bugs, which [...]

October 14, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

How European Carmakers are Fighting Back Silicon Valley (Is Not What You Think)

Juan Aldaz2016-12-22T10:22:00-05:00

Paris, the city of lights, it have been in the news these last days for many reasons very important for the planet, and trivial ones too. Important news for example, the Paris climate agreement was ratified in September by 60 countries, becoming closer to be an international law; trivial news like that of a strange robbery to an american socialite made headlines in her country; and the center of this article: the Paris Motor Show 2016. You would start thinking [...]

October 7, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...

MECHANISATION OF AGRICULTURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Juan Aldaz2016-12-22T10:24:54-05:00

By Trevor Bullen, BSc Agricultural Engineering, Contributing Author. World Bank indicators show that Sub- Saharan Africa has 1 billion hectares of agricultural land which is approximately 42% of the land in sub-Saharan Africa. Of this, approximately 25% is currently under crop today, the majority of which is on a seasonal basis. The population in the region is some 856 million, a population density of approximately 40 per square kilometer compared to 116 in Europe. The numbers above could suggest that there [...]

September 30, 2016 Uncategorized Comments OffRead more...