Agriculture

Bret Adee is one of the largest beekeepers in the US, with 2 billion bees across 55,000 hives. The business has been in his family since the 1930s, and sends truckloads of bees across the country from South Dakota, pollinating crops such as almonds, onions, watermelons and cucumbers. Last December, his bees were wintering in California when the weather turned cold. Bees grouped on top of hives trying to keep warm. “Every time I went out to the beehive there were less and less,” says Adee. “Then a week later, there’d be more dead ones to pick up … every week there is attrition, just continually going down.”

Water is the hydration tool of choice during a summer heat wave, but the foods you eat also help. Eating fruit in hot weather gives you more fluid and dehydration-fighting electrolytes. You also get nutrition, including many vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

What happens when western billionaires try to ‘fix’ hunger in developing countries? Neelam Tailor investigates how philanthropic efforts by the Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the organisation they set up to revolutionise African farming, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), may have made matters worse for the small-scale farmers who produce 70% of the continent's food. From seed laws that criminalise traditional practices to corporate partnerships with agribusiness giants such as Monsanto and Syngenta, we explore how a well-funded green revolution has led to rising debt, loss of biodiversity and deepening food insecurity across the continent.

On a hillside farm in San Lorenzo, in the mountains of Colombia’s southern Nariño department, Aura Alina Domínguez presses maize seeds into the damp soil. Around her, farmers Alberto Gómez, José Castillo and Javier Castillo arrive with their selected seeds, stored in shigras – hand-woven shoulder bags – as has been done for generations.

The post Ancient Maize v.

In this long-term study, published on Tuesday, glyphosate alone and two commercial glyphosate- based formulations, Roundup BioFlow (MON 52276) used in the EU and Ranger Pro (EPA 524-517) used in the U.S., were administered to rats via drinking water beginning in prenatal life, at doses of 0.5, 5, and 50 mg/kg body weight/day for 2 years. These doses are currently considered safe by regulatory agencies and correspond to the EU Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) and the EU’s No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) for glyphosate.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is a global epidemic of noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs), which include heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes. You cannot contract these diseases from others. The primary causes are environmental factors and lifestyle choices. This means we can prevent them by altering our habits, food choices, and farming practices; reducing industrial pollution; and avoiding environmental exposures and lifestyle factors that contribute to them. Pesticides and chemicals are strongly implicated in this global epidemic; however, researchers and health professionals largely overlook the extent of their role.

At the end of June, RI will attend the Latin American and Caribbean Soil Carbon Research Symposium. As a long standing member of the 4 per 100 initiative, and having a seat as Vice-presidents of the initiative, we will participate in this meeting  to raise awareness of the international 4 per 1000 initiative and the soil carbon international research consortium recognise the essential role of agriculture for food security and food sovereignty, exchange experiences among Latin American and Caribbean countries on the role of soil in relation to climate and promote the importance of traditional practices and knowledge for regenerative soil management, ecosystem health and biodiversity.