Over 60% of India’s workforce still works in the agricultural sector. Most are tenant farmers living in small villages, and a recent survey says a minimum of 40% of them would rather be doing something else rather than farming. At the same time the country is facing a looming crisis with as crop yields haven’t [...]
Posts under ‘Feeding the world’
Greenpeace offers marker assisted breeding
Greenpeace offers plant scientists and plant breeders marker assisted breeding as an alternative to genetic engineering. Marker assisted breeding is an essential tool for crop improvement. Which is why they’ve been using it to help feed the world for years already!
Genetically Engineered Crops: Papaya
Profile of papayas which have been genetically engineered to resist the papaya ringspot virus. Notable particularly because development was done entirely by the public and non-profit sector. Also get the chance to touch on the differences between adoption in the United States and other countries, particularly Thailand.
Why Don’t People Like Corn?
In a post on the CSI Miami story a reader asks why corn has become so disliked recently. I have my own guess, but it’s just a guess and I’m also interested in hearing what you think.
Crops and Colbert
Stephen Colbert is a funny guy, I just wish he and/or his writers knew a bit more about agriculture.
Time to Eat The Dog
A husband and wife author team have published a book on, among other things, the environmental impact of pet ownership sure to both generate publicity and hate mail from pet owners. Sensationalism and fun numbers follow. Click through.
World Food Prize
The World Food Prize, an award set up by Norman Borlaug to honor others who fought against hunger, was held in Des Moines this week.* The prize went to Gebisa Ejeta, an Ethopian-American plant breeder and geneticist, who developed new breeds of sorghum that increase yields as much as fourfold. His sorghum breeds deal better [...]
Could someone check my math?
Per capita meat consumption in America is 124.8 kilos per year. Which is ~275 pounds per year, 5.3 pounds per week, and almost exactly 3/4 of a pound per day. That seems like a lot to me. I mean that’s three quarter-pound hamburgers each and every day. On occasion I’ve hit twice that, maybe thrice [...]