Agriculture Blog

ORGANIC farming can be called as Eco Farming as it is a way of agriculture that preserves the ecosystem. It echews the use of harmful chemicals & fertilizers. Cultured are the Symbiotic life forms & weed & pest control ensured by this method & optimal soil biological activity maintains fertility.

Agriculture in Kerala is caught in between the devil and the deep blue sea. Kerala is going back to her traditional Organic Farming after her hundreds of farmers had learnt the bitter lessons of ” Chemical Farming ” and mono cropping hitherto practised as ” Scientific Agriculture “. The Dept of Agriculture is now promoting the production of Organic Food by launching ” Jaiva Kerala ” ( The Organic Sustainability of Kerala ). The Confederation of Indian Industry & a few Tourism Groups are branding ” Gods’s Own Country”, as the Tourism Industry calls Kerala, a ” Safe Food Destination”.

It is paradoxical that the United States , a world leader in transgenic technology, is the largest importer of organic foods, followed by the European Union. The ” Organic Craze ” is spreading worldwide. The global market for organic herbal plants Read the rest of this entry »

ORGANIC FARMING CAN STOP WORLD HUNGER

Organic farming is natural farming the way our grandfather’s before World War II farmed. Post World War II farming was the beginning of pesticide farming. Pesticides were used during World War II to get rid of underbrush in the jungles. Men who used these pesticides came home from the wars with a new way of farming. But this way of farming is not working.

Pesticide farming pollutes our groundwater, the air we breathe, and helps to concentrate farming on large corporate farms rather than the small family organic farm.

This system also feeds into the system of transporting produce from country to country and further aggravating environmental conditions. Transporting weighs heavy on CO2 emissions of greenhouse gases causing air pollution and global warming.

Organic farming is a way of farming that doesn’t use pesticides, herbicides, or any unnatural farming methods. Composting and rotation of crops is also used. Yields have been found to be lower at first but then over time cap out as higher.

Recent evidence according to Professor Jules Pretty, director of the Centre for Environment and Society at the University of Essex Read the rest of this entry »

Is your food supply in danger? Is there an increasing number of world people to feed and a decreasing amount of sustainable agriculture to feed them? Will food prices continue to rise due to increasing food scarcity? How soon will there be no available food to buy? These alarming conditions already exist in some world populations and are spreading from country to country. How soon is it going to happen to you? Do you need to understand worldwide conditions so you can be prepared?

International water use is depleting groundwater resources worldwide by over-pumping. Some aquifers are replenish-able. Aquifer depletion reduces pumping to the rate of recharge.

Most of the aquifers in India and the shallow aquifer under the North China Plain are replenish-able. When these are depleted, the maximum rate of pumping is automatically reduced to the rate of recharge. Nonreplenishable (or fossil) aquifers when depleted brings pumping to an end in the U.S. Ogallala aquifer, the deep aquifer under the North China Plain and the Saudi aquifer.

The Ogallala aquifer is near depletion. Texas lost 1.435 million acres of irrigated cropland during 1982-1997. Well yields are down from 1000 gallons per minute (gpm) to 250 gpm and Read the rest of this entry »

Farm equipment rangea from tractors and hay bailers to power tillers, harvesting equipments and so on. There is wide range of farm equipment a farm owner can choose from. But equipment useful in a dairy farm would not be useful in grain farm. Any type of farm equipment is really an investment and not an expense. Hence farm equipment financing is often called for.

Combine equipment is a type of equipment used in the field of agriculture in various jobs of harvesting, threshing and cleaning grains. It is time saving equipment and it can be used in for several types of crops like corn, soy, wheat and so on. The versatility and functionality adds to the cost and so many farm owners look for farm equipment financing to acquire it.

Hay bailers are used to compress grains in round or rectangular bales. They come in different configurations and are very useful in storing and transporting hay. However they are quite pricey and hay bailer financing is required by many farm owners to acquire these sophisticated equipments.

Stump grinder is useful farm equipment that grinds and removes stumps away. It comes in different sizes to treat different sizes Read the rest of this entry »

Humans need to learn their history when they’re planning their future. All they need to do is look to 1800′s Ireland to see whatHumans need to learn their history when they’re planning their future. All they need to do is look to 1800′s Ireland to see what happens when you put all your “eggs in one basket.” The current practices used in industrial agriculture are walking down that same road.

While industry looks at gene splicing, cloning and other biotechnologies to create a “better burger,” small farmers are catching on to the need to breed “heritage breeds.” These are the old fashioned types of livestock and seed stock that were created through hundreds of years of natural selection and proven to be the hardiest. Why such divergent approaches? Because industrial agriculture values the speed of development and efficiency of predictability as their ultimate goal. They want the fastest growing, plumpest product that will travel well to far away for consumption, keeping longer to make that travel possible.

Small farmers value overall health, versatility, personality, appropriateness of size and general thrift in their animals. Since their stock doesn’t “ship” that far, they can breed for flavor and harvest immediately before use, or nearly. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems every other magazine you look in seems to have photos of celebrities at various UK Health Farms. Some tend to go to health farms for a relaxing break, maybe they have been working too hard and partying too hard and are in need of some de-tox, relaxation and pampering. For some health farms offer the perfect sanctuary for a hen doo. Arrive in the morning around 9am and enjoy body massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, lunch plus use of leisure facilities which usually comprise of swimming pool, sauna, steam room and gym. Most recently Jordan a.k.a Katie Price enjoyed her hen doo at one of the country`s top health farms in Hampshire. It was reported that they had a fantastic day with the private hire of the dining room when during the evening they had a sumptuous 5 course dinner, plenty to drink and some entertainment.

So it is true that many celebrities spend time unwinding at uk health farms, it could be said that they can afford it but health farms do not have to be that expensive. Health Farms for celebrities would usually consist of the very best personalised service, this is know in the Read the rest of this entry »

Modern agriculture needs to focus on several linked issues; food safety and nutrition; nearly inseparable are environmental issues and affordable consumer prices. The local community, small family farm needs to be re-examined and supported since it has the best opportunity to meet these challenges.

Smaller, local and family owned farms are an integral part of many local communities. There is a certain personal pride in the quality production and sale of agricultural products. On the family owned farm, the over use and misuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is more likely avoided, if used at all, ensuring a safer and more nutritional food supply. The small farmer knows the importance of the land and how to work with nature, it is a cultural ingredient developed over generations.

Economically, it is just common sense for the family business to avoid the high costs involved with oil-based chemicals and to return to the ancient practices of more natural and “greener”agriculture practices.

Agricultural products grown in “greener” fields are more affordable for consumers when purchased locally. A local farm does not have to charge extra for shipping produce several thousands miles away. Nor is any nutritional value compromised from long, cross-country shipments or long Read the rest of this entry »

Farming has the potential of being a rewarding career choice. Notwithstanding, in order to activate a successful farm, there are many things to consider. First, advance among considering the cost. There are both with unchangeable costs, such as machinery as well as variable expense, such as the operation of machinery (oil, fuel etc.). Fixed costs are greatest during the early years. Another consideration is what type of farm you want to execute. The three principal types of farms are dairy, potatoes as well as cattle. Others involve poultry, vegetables as well as fruit trees. Stay in mind that it is a enterprise as well as must be execute like a enterprise. Proper planning is mainly of the greatest dynamic steps in correctly straight a farm.

There are many different kinds of farming equipment. The superior wide spread, is a tractor. Others bring to mind, but not limited to, combines, cultivators as well as fertilizer spreaders. Each bit of apparatus has a specific use. Once purchasing farm equipment, it is forcible to advance with the basics and build your inventory up gradually.

There are many programs put when it plays a part in place to help farmers, both Read the rest of this entry »

Many people question the rationality of searching for a nationwide farm loan lender instead of approaching the local bank for farm credit. Looking objectively into the issue, a host of reasons can be found that make a nation wide farm loan lender a much better choice for a borrower than his local banker. Among the foremost reasons, a few like relationships, expertise in farm credit and longer repayment schedules stand out prominently in favor of a nationwide farm lender.

As a farmer or farm owner, it is necessary for you to share a good and close relationship with your lender. There can be many instances where it will be advantageous for you to have an established relationship with your creditor in order to have the financial work related to your farm smoothly disposed.

If you require a farm loan having decided to expand by purchasing another farm in a different geographical area, your local bank may not be in a position to help you, as their operations may not extend to the new place. This means that you will need to look for another lender, freshly introduce yourself, and once again obtain credit as a new Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine my surprise when I read an article in the April 2005 edition of Reader’s Digest informing me that membership in Future Farmers of America (FFA) has hit a 22-year record high.

Since 1994, the number of farmers’ markets around the country also has more than doubled, the article said.

I find these two bits of information especially interesting because small family farms have been disappearing from the countryside at an alarming rate over the past 30 years. According to statistics from the U.S. Census of Agriculture and the American Farm Bureau Federation, since 1969, the United States has lost 85 percent of its dairy farms.

Why do I care that the United States has lost so many dairy farms? I grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, which has always been known as America’s Dairyland. Except that today, in areas where there used to be farms all up and down the roads, there isn’t a single farm left. During the same time period in which the United States lost 85 percent of its dairy farms, Wisconsin has lost 70 percent of its dairy farms.

So what is going on here?

Family farms have Read the rest of this entry »