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Agriculture, forestry and Rural Communities to June 2012

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New Agriculture Methods Could Halve Food Price Inflation - Outdoor - AccuWeather.com. Natural land a welcome mat for ladybugs. MICHIGAN STATE (US) — Having large tracts of natural habitat around crop fields invites pest-gobbling ladybugs, which could save farmers an estimated $4.6 billion a year on insecticides.

Natural land a welcome mat for ladybugs

Non-crop plants provide ladybugs and other predatory insects with food and shelter, helping them to survive and thrive in areas where they are needed. In an attempt to increase benefits from predatory insects, researchers have often planted strips of flowers along the edges of crop fields. However, natural habitats also provide vital food and shelter resources, and may be more important for pest control, says Megan Woltz, a doctoral student at Michigan State University and co-author of a study that appears in the current issue of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. The future of farming > Friends of Europe > Friends of Europe. This background briefing for the Greening Europe Forum’s Autumn 2011 roundtable “The Future of Farming” focuses on two essential dimensions of the Commission’s recent reform proposals for a Common Agricultural Policy from 2014: ecological sustainability and social equality.

The future of farming > Friends of Europe > Friends of Europe

The authors believe the current round of reforms will be mainly a debate between the EU institutions and member states on the size and division of the CAP’s post-2013 budget, instead of a comprehensive new policy design reflecting the fundamentally different political and economic context of food and farming policy in the 21st century. This briefing consists of contributions from 3 independent think-tanks: Ecosocial Forum Europe, headed by former European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Franz Fischler; the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP); and Friends of Europe’s Greening Europe Forum. World Economic Forum - Putting the New Vision for Agriculture into Action: A Transformation Is Happening.

Grass-fed beef 'better for people' says research. Feeding cattle on grass throughout their lifecycle is the most environmentally sustainable way to rear beef, according to new research for the National Trust.

Grass-fed beef 'better for people' says research

One of the biggest global challenges is how to increase food security whilst reducing the environmental impacts of food production. Hungry bacteria help make bugs resistant to pesticides. Use pesticides on a field for long enough and the bugs that you’re supposed to be defeating will adapt.

Hungry bacteria help make bugs resistant to pesticides

But you know what adapts faster than bugs? Bacteria. They can run through multiple generations in a day or so, and a new study shows that when bugs team up with a certain pesticide-loving bacteria, the bugs, too, can develop resistance to pesticides incredibly quickly. This bacteria, Burkholderia, loooooves to eat fenitrothion, a hugely popular insecticide. Final report: Achieving food security in the face of climate change. Farms Without Soil Take Root In The Middle East.

We insist on living on parts of the earth covered by desert, rock, or ice.

Farms Without Soil Take Root In The Middle East

Because those places don’t produce their own food, feeding the people who live there requires a global network of food production and transport. For desert nations such as the Gulf States, where as much as 90% of food is imported, this is a precarious situation, and can easily lead to shortages. When that happens, and food prices skyrocket like they did between 2005 and 2008, it can lead to unrest. Now those countries are looking to feed themselves. Media Centre: Countries adopt global guidelines on tenure of land, forests, fisheries.

A female farmer in Uganda.

Media Centre: Countries adopt global guidelines on tenure of land, forests, fisheries

Women face particular hurdles in securing land rights. 11 May 2012, Rome - In a landmark decision the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) today endorsed a set of far-reaching global guidelines aimed at helping governments safeguard the rights of people to own or access land, forests and fisheries. The new Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security outline principles and practices that governments can refer to when making laws and administering land, fisheries and forests rights. The guidelines are based on an inclusive consultation process started by FAO in 2009 and then finalized through CFS-led intergovernmental negotiations that included participation of government officials, civil society organizations, private sector representatives, international organizations and academics. The guidelines address a wide range of other issues as well, however, including:

Green bullet innovations aim to feed world of 9 billion. LONDON, May 2 (AlertNet) - In flood-hit fields in the Philippines, farmers are testing a hardy new variety of rice that can survive completely submerged for more than two weeks.

Green bullet innovations aim to feed world of 9 billion

In Kenya's Kibera slum, poor urban families are turning around their diets and incomes just by learning to grow vegetables in sack gardens outside their doors. And in India, a push to help marginalized rural communities gain title to their land is leading to a significant drop in hunger. These are just a few of the kinds of innovations and initiatives that experts say will be critical if the world is to feed itself over coming decades as the population soars, cities sprawl and climate change takes its toll. By 2050, the planet will need at least 70 percent more food than it does today to meet both an expected rise in population to 9 billion from 7 billion and changing appetites as many poor people grow richer, experts say.

282na3. Government broadband plans face £1bn funding shortfall. 4 May 2012Last updated at 12:36 ET The government is targeting 90% superfast broadband coverage by 2015 A £1.1bn funding gap means the government's targets for broadband are unlikely to be met, says a report by the London School of Economics. The government wants 100% access to fast broadband services and 90% access to superfast services by 2015. The report says the government should do more to ensure that underinvestment does not harm the UK economy. Meet the UK's oldest farmers. 3 May 2012Last updated at 01:12 ET By Steven McKenzie BBC News.

Meet the UK's oldest farmers