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High-Protein Rice That Fights Drowsiness, Global Warming

November 20, 2011 By

A high-protein variety of rice is on its way to ensure that even hardcore rice-eaters get more nutrition and less drowsiness.

Researchers from the department of genetics and plant breeding at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) are developing a variety which will be put through farm trials within the next six months. It could be a part of your daily menu within two years.

“The digestibility of this rice is low. It would be good for children, seniors and those suffering from diabetes,” said Shailaja Hittalmani, Professor at the department of genetics and plant breeding, UAS.

Conventional rice has barely seven to eight per cent protein, while the high-protein rice (HPR) contains as much as 14-15 per cent protein. This would also mean that the carbohydrate content would be low. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Biotechnology Tagged With: ,

The (Real) Green Revolution

September 16, 2011 By

Hidden behind cement block walls, behind grid- locked roads of tourist buses, trucks and motor scooters, is another Bali.

Behind the acne of villas spotting the landscape like pimples on a pretty girl, behind the hotels that would turn Balinese into a society of servants in a constructed landscape of fountains, palms and swimming pools, there is a quiet revolution happening: Farmers are reclaiming Bali through the organic farming practices of their ancestors.

This is Bali’s Green Revolution, where farmers are returning to traditional farming practices that ensure healthy soils and healthy produce. [Read more...]

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How To Grow Chillies

June 25, 2011 By

They’re a great crop for a busy life. Just follow a few simple rules and you could be harvesting chillies until Christmas

In a hellishly hot polytunnel in Bedfordshire, grower Joanna Plumb is laying to rest the myth that chillies are hard to grow. In fact, it pays to be a bit lax: “If you let them wilt and stress the plant out,” she says. “It’s one way of getting hotter chillies because the plant thinks it’s going to die and puts all its energy into reproducing.”

Plumb is an expert chilli grower and owner of Edible Ornamentals, growing thousands of chillies every year for everyone from supermarkets to Fortnum & Mason. She’s convinced that these hot fruits are a great crop for the style of growing most of us can manage in modern life: chillies are perfectly content in a pot on a sunny windowsill or patio, with fruits that can be picked over a long period and easily stored for the following year. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Crop Protection, Fruits Tagged With: ,

Safe Food, From Farm To Fork

May 6, 2011 By

Now, they will have to do all this and more under a new set of rules and regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, to be notified soon by the Union Health Ministry.

The two states have begun to get their act together.

“Food can be contaminated at any point, from farm to fork. The norms aim to secure each link of the food chain. Right from the fields of farmers, transport, storage, processing units, handling, wholesale markets to the final consumer, contamination can happen at any level, which are then transmitted to the next level of the food chain.

“Since food is primarily handled through agricultural markets administered by marketing boards, the markets will also have to follow hygiene standards to ensure food safety,” says S S Randhawa, Managing Director, National Council of State Marketing Boards (COSSAMB). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Crop Protection Tagged With: ,

Haryana Cuts Market Fee For Fruits, Vegetables

April 20, 2011 By

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday announced plans to reduce the market fee for fruits and vegetables from two per cent to one per cent.

The decision was taken at a meeting here to discuss the reforms in the Punjab Agriculture Produce Markets Act (Haryana), 1961.

There is no market fee for fruits and vegetables processed in the State, Mr. Hooda said.

Various provisions of the Punjab Agriculture Produce Markets Act (Haryana), 1961, and the scope of further reforms for the benefit of the farming community were also discussed.

Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dharambir Singh, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Chhatar Singh, Additional Principal Secretary K. K. Khandelwal, Deputy Principal Secretary R. S. Doon and other senior officers attended the meeting. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Fruits Tagged With:

Is Organic Food Worth The Cost?

April 15, 2011 By

The phrase “organic farming” was coined in 1940 by Lord Northbourne, a British author and Olympic athlete who helped launch the organic movement.

Joined by fellow organic pioneers like J.I. Rodale, Lady Eve Balfour and Albert Howard, he championed farms as natural ecosystems, and railed against chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

“The farm itself must have a biological completeness,” he wrote. “It must be a living entity … which has within itself a balanced organic life.”

Those words still resonate with many farmers and shoppers today, however, they were drowned out for decades by famine. Earth’s human population grew 293 percent in the 20th century — compared with an average of 22 percent each of the previous nine centuries — and farmers couldn’t keep up. [Read more...]

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Eating From The Garden Program Gives Youths Get A Taste Of Healthy Habits

January 23, 2011 By

Eating From the Garden, the University of Missouri Extension’s youth health and nutrition program, is offering its volunteer training program at the end of the month. The program teaches fourth- and fifth-grade children about fresh fruits and vegetables and the pride that comes from growing them.

Trained partners and volunteers visit 30 area schools and community centers in Jackson County to talk about the importance of nutrition and physical activity. Students participate in a 13-lesson curriculum during the school year.

“A lot of the focus is on influencing the families’ eating behavior by helping the children,” says Rachael McGinnis Millsap, nutrition garden coordinator. “We get them excited about eating fruits and vegetables, including sending home plants in the summer that can be grown in pots.”

In addition to the lessons, students maintain a cool-season garden in the fall and spring and get to taste what they’ve grown. The goodies they’ve raised include greens, radishes, turnips, lettuce, strawberries, carrots and sweet potatoes. [Read more...]

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