This story has been reported in various forms recently, but actually finding the source material has been elusive.
But it will now soon be published in a peer reviewed credible journal.......so there is a bit of cred behind it.
There are many ways to skin a cat goes the old adage............reporting carbon figures is a lot like that! Depends on what is and is not counted, and where and how, and what might be excluded or where 'general" data is used as a substitue in the absence of any real world trial data.
However, this recent quite rigorous examination of pastoral land production of red meat shows that it is a carbon efficient means of production. Most of Australia's red meat is produced in this style, with smaller amounts on slightly higher productivity pastures that receive fertiliser.
It will not stop the counter arguments about cattle and sheep being land vandals, gross methane producers, etc etc. But is clearly shows the production is carbon efficient, and can be made even better......with considerable opportunities for being carbon positive, ie sequestering carbon. Further R and D is also being conducted into improving nett methane emissions from livestock through a range of advanced technologies. But lets not forget, that higher plant digestibility generally means lower methane emissions too. This can be a serious issue with lower inherent digestibility in many tropical forage plants, although most legumes are better.......yet tropical legumes seem a bit out of favour with grasses the now preferred plant type commonly.
Solid evidence and worth applause from all those in the pastoral industry.
And please note.........the pastoral industry has actually reduced greenhouse emisions since 1990. Hmmm......haven't sheep and cattle numbers also fallen since then too??
----------
Red meat proved to be carbon efficient
AUSTRALIAN red meat production is much more carbon-efficient than often reported in the media, says an important study by the University of NSW.
The three-year Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study of production systems in Victoria, NSW and WA showed carbon emissions from sheep and cattle meat production were among the lowest in the world.
It showed sheepmeat produced 7-8kg of CO2-equivalent per kg of meat (carcase weight) while for beef, values ranged from 8-11kg.
Based on figures from the research, eating red meat three times weekly results in 164kg to 258kg of CO2 emissions a year - vastly different to claims of emissions up to 1.5 tonnes.
The research will be published soon in the Environmental Science and Technology Journal.
Meat and Livestock Australia managing director, David Palmer said the "credible and reliable data" gave an accurate reflection of carbon emissions for Australia's meat production systems. "Most Australian cattle and sheep are raised in a natural environment feeding on pastures with little or no use of fertilisers and it is unfortunate that until now inaccurate and exaggerated figures have been used," he said.
LCA quantifies the important environmental impacts of all processes in a production system, but does not take into consideration the ability of soil and trees on farms to absorb carbon.
A recent Queensland Government report on total carbon balance on grazing lands in the state with 47pc of Australia's cattle production, found they were close to carbon-neutral and in the near future might be a net carbon sink. "Importantly the new figures give us a baseline from which to continue to improve the industry's performance in regards to emissions. However they do not paint a complete picture and should never be looked at in isolation from other environmental factors such as water and biodiversity," Mr Palmer said.
Most people were not aware that the livestock sector was the only production industry in Australia to have reduced greenhouse emissions since 1990. The Australian Greenhouse office said it had reduced emissions by 7.5pc, compared with increases in other industries such as transport and electricity, up 26.9pc and 54.1pc respectively, he said. "We now have a better basis to track improvement in the future."
The UNSW study shows that when assessed across the supply chain from paddock to processing, more than 80pc of carbon emissions come from the natural process of digestion of feed by the animal.
It was for this reason that MLA had co-invested with the Federal government and other partners in a $28 million program covering 18 research projects looking at how to reduce emissions from livestock.
The Australian Lot Feeders Association noted the UNSW report addressed the popular misconception that beef feedlots were energy intensive and worse for the environment than other forms of beef production. "The report concluded that beef from lotfed cattle had 50pc and 38pc lower methane emissions than organic and grassfed beef production respectively," ALFA president Jim Cudmore said.
This was because of superior nutrition and digestibility of feedlot rations and meant that cattle slaughter weights could be achieved at a younger age.
By improving the efficiency of beef production (through increasing the proportion of feed energy that is converted to beef) lower methane emissions per unit of product were obtained, he said. "Notably, this goal can be achieved by both grain and grassfed production systems. In addition, given that grainfed cattle spend the majority of their lives in a grassfed environment prior to feedlot entry, and consumers rarely differentiate between the two, the issue of improving the beef industry's overall emissions profile is something that the sector as a whole is looking to address."
[partially sourced Qld Country life]
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
North Australia Land and Water Taskforce Reports
Now available here -http://www.nalwt.gov.au/files/337281_NLAW.pdf
There are additional reports on the main web site see - http://www.nalwt.gov.au/
It is not as gloomy as early media reports were indicating.
Mosaic development and some modest expansion are likely, but a more detailed examination of the report is still to come. Local commentators in the NT are mostly positive, especially those closely connected to industry. A few politicians are not positive, but I would suggest they are not being realists.
As a player in north Australia for 30+ years, I among many, realised a long time ago that broad sweep development was highly improbable. There would never be the broad expanse of a US or Canadian prairie type development for agriculture. Tyranny of distance will nearly always influence issues - smaller, dense, high priced commodities would drive agriculture, or the opposite - large areas of ultra low cost production - typically livestock production, were seen many years ago as the likely options. This report seems to confirm that, with a lot of options in between or influencing the structure of the business model. In this scenario, then may be little that may have changed.
However, indigenous participation will increase significantly in coming years, across a range of different models of involvement. That will be a positive thing. Yet the north will remain mostly lightly inhabited, and no doubt those open spaces may be inviting to outsiders.
There is more R and D to do if the vision is to realised.
No doubt the report will be debated across north Australia, at least in the near term.
BUT...........action to capitalise on the outcomes and actually implement development is still urgently needed. Not necessarily today.........but soon.
There are additional reports on the main web site see - http://www.nalwt.gov.au/
It is not as gloomy as early media reports were indicating.
Mosaic development and some modest expansion are likely, but a more detailed examination of the report is still to come. Local commentators in the NT are mostly positive, especially those closely connected to industry. A few politicians are not positive, but I would suggest they are not being realists.
As a player in north Australia for 30+ years, I among many, realised a long time ago that broad sweep development was highly improbable. There would never be the broad expanse of a US or Canadian prairie type development for agriculture. Tyranny of distance will nearly always influence issues - smaller, dense, high priced commodities would drive agriculture, or the opposite - large areas of ultra low cost production - typically livestock production, were seen many years ago as the likely options. This report seems to confirm that, with a lot of options in between or influencing the structure of the business model. In this scenario, then may be little that may have changed.
However, indigenous participation will increase significantly in coming years, across a range of different models of involvement. That will be a positive thing. Yet the north will remain mostly lightly inhabited, and no doubt those open spaces may be inviting to outsiders.
There is more R and D to do if the vision is to realised.
No doubt the report will be debated across north Australia, at least in the near term.
BUT...........action to capitalise on the outcomes and actually implement development is still urgently needed. Not necessarily today.........but soon.
Large Scale Northern Rural Development to Be Damned - Not Dammed
Early media reports [ see below] seem to have really put the kybosh on large scale northern agricultural development.
No, the greenies did not win........it seems the resources are just not adequate.
There will be many views about the report, and whether it will seriously curtail even limited development and the expenditure of further R and D funds in the region. Will the region be limited to few people and an extraction mentality forever? A place to visit and never live and work even? More fly in fly out operations in almost everything?
Unfortunately the report is not yet available..........we need to rely on advance media speculation and comments from inside players. Many who do have a vested interest in Australian temperate agriculture.
But see the tenor of the early media materials...........
---------------------------------------------------------
NORTHERN Australia will never become an important food bowl to replace the drought-stricken Murray-Darling, despite massive irrigation plans and a billion litres of rain a year, a Rudd government taskforce has concluded.
The expert panel, comprising the Northern Australian Land and Water Taskforce, will today release a landmark report into economic opportunities for the northern parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia that places new and strict limits on the region's potential for agricultural production.
There is some good news amid the gloomy outlook for Top End food production, with the report predicting that northern Australia's billion-dollar beef industry - in which cattle live on native grasses - will more than double production by 2030.
Committee member Stuart Blanch said yesterday: "Northern Australia can never be a food bowl for Southeast Asia or anywhere else because we just don't have enough water. But we can be world's best-practice environment managers and beef producers; there are thousands of indigenous jobs to be created."
Referring to a water study by the CSIRO, the taskforce concludes the growth of agricultural production in the north will be limited, despite rainfall of up to 2m a year in some areas. By 2030, there will be less water available in the north than there was in 2000, the taskforce predicts.
Though the north receives about a billion litres of rain a year, equivalent to eight-and-a-half times the annual runoff in the Murray-Darling Basin or 2000 times the capacity of Sydney Harbour, about 20 per cent of it enters the rivers and streams and about 15 per cent recharges groundwater resources. The remaining 65 per cent enters the soil and is absorbed by plants.
"Despite these huge volumes of water, the north can be described as being water-limited," the report states. The taskforce says this paradox arises because there is almost no rain for the remaining six months."Evaporation and plant transpiration is so high throughout the year that, on average, for 10 months of the year, there is very little water to be seen," it states.
"Most rainfall occurs near the coasts and on floodplains, so much of it runs quickly to the sea, making it hard to capture."
The CSIRO water study, presented to the taskforce last year, found there was not enough water to irrigate large swaths of land in the north without doing major damage to the rivers and the surrounding environment. The report rules out more dams on environmental grounds and finds the maximum area that can be irrigated from groundwater in the north is 60,000ha, about three times the area currently irrigated from groundwater.
It also estimates the portion of the population employed by the government in northern Australia will drop to 25 per cent in that time, compared with 40 per cent in 2000, as new oil and gas ventures emerge in the Kimberley and bauxite developments in Cape York contribute to export income.
Two out of three people in the north of Australia will be employed in either the oil and gas sector, mining, conservation, fisheries, agriculture, tourism and recreation or in the management of the land and sea within 20 years, the taskforce predicts.
This will reduce indigenous disadvantage through education, training and employment in regions where up to 50 per cent of the population will be Aboriginal.
Reaction to the taskforce's predictions about food production are likely to be watched closely in Western Australia, where the second stage of the Ord River irrigation scheme is under way near the Kimberley town of Kununurra. The Rudd government has promised $195 million towards the project to irrigate about 8000ha of land for agriculture, and the Barnett government will contribute $220m. There are 14,000ha of land from the first stage of the Ord River scheme producing fruits, vegetables, seeds and sugarcane.
Despite reporting considerable constraints, the taskforce predicts food production could still grow by 40 per cent within 20 years in northern Australia.
The taskforce suggests expanding agricultural production by developing small-scale mosaic agriculture. It also recommends intensifying production in the beef industry through the irrigated production of fodder crops across the north. An expanded beef industry also provides the potential for sustainable wealth creation in indigenous communities," the taskforce found.
[lower section partially sourced from several media reports early on 8 february 2010]
No, the greenies did not win........it seems the resources are just not adequate.
There will be many views about the report, and whether it will seriously curtail even limited development and the expenditure of further R and D funds in the region. Will the region be limited to few people and an extraction mentality forever? A place to visit and never live and work even? More fly in fly out operations in almost everything?
Unfortunately the report is not yet available..........we need to rely on advance media speculation and comments from inside players. Many who do have a vested interest in Australian temperate agriculture.
But see the tenor of the early media materials...........
---------------------------------------------------------
NORTHERN Australia will never become an important food bowl to replace the drought-stricken Murray-Darling, despite massive irrigation plans and a billion litres of rain a year, a Rudd government taskforce has concluded.
The expert panel, comprising the Northern Australian Land and Water Taskforce, will today release a landmark report into economic opportunities for the northern parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia that places new and strict limits on the region's potential for agricultural production.
There is some good news amid the gloomy outlook for Top End food production, with the report predicting that northern Australia's billion-dollar beef industry - in which cattle live on native grasses - will more than double production by 2030.
Committee member Stuart Blanch said yesterday: "Northern Australia can never be a food bowl for Southeast Asia or anywhere else because we just don't have enough water. But we can be world's best-practice environment managers and beef producers; there are thousands of indigenous jobs to be created."
Referring to a water study by the CSIRO, the taskforce concludes the growth of agricultural production in the north will be limited, despite rainfall of up to 2m a year in some areas. By 2030, there will be less water available in the north than there was in 2000, the taskforce predicts.
Though the north receives about a billion litres of rain a year, equivalent to eight-and-a-half times the annual runoff in the Murray-Darling Basin or 2000 times the capacity of Sydney Harbour, about 20 per cent of it enters the rivers and streams and about 15 per cent recharges groundwater resources. The remaining 65 per cent enters the soil and is absorbed by plants.
"Despite these huge volumes of water, the north can be described as being water-limited," the report states. The taskforce says this paradox arises because there is almost no rain for the remaining six months."Evaporation and plant transpiration is so high throughout the year that, on average, for 10 months of the year, there is very little water to be seen," it states.
"Most rainfall occurs near the coasts and on floodplains, so much of it runs quickly to the sea, making it hard to capture."
The CSIRO water study, presented to the taskforce last year, found there was not enough water to irrigate large swaths of land in the north without doing major damage to the rivers and the surrounding environment. The report rules out more dams on environmental grounds and finds the maximum area that can be irrigated from groundwater in the north is 60,000ha, about three times the area currently irrigated from groundwater.
It also estimates the portion of the population employed by the government in northern Australia will drop to 25 per cent in that time, compared with 40 per cent in 2000, as new oil and gas ventures emerge in the Kimberley and bauxite developments in Cape York contribute to export income.
Two out of three people in the north of Australia will be employed in either the oil and gas sector, mining, conservation, fisheries, agriculture, tourism and recreation or in the management of the land and sea within 20 years, the taskforce predicts.
This will reduce indigenous disadvantage through education, training and employment in regions where up to 50 per cent of the population will be Aboriginal.
Reaction to the taskforce's predictions about food production are likely to be watched closely in Western Australia, where the second stage of the Ord River irrigation scheme is under way near the Kimberley town of Kununurra. The Rudd government has promised $195 million towards the project to irrigate about 8000ha of land for agriculture, and the Barnett government will contribute $220m. There are 14,000ha of land from the first stage of the Ord River scheme producing fruits, vegetables, seeds and sugarcane.
Despite reporting considerable constraints, the taskforce predicts food production could still grow by 40 per cent within 20 years in northern Australia.
The taskforce suggests expanding agricultural production by developing small-scale mosaic agriculture. It also recommends intensifying production in the beef industry through the irrigated production of fodder crops across the north. An expanded beef industry also provides the potential for sustainable wealth creation in indigenous communities," the taskforce found.
[lower section partially sourced from several media reports early on 8 february 2010]
Thursday, January 21, 2010
It is Time to Recycle the Organics
Organic recycling will be vital to recover the vast amounts of nutrients that come to the city in food.
I posted some material from Singapore in 2009, a place where organic recycling is a joke, and where incineration is the norm. YET.........some commentators wax lyrical about using organic food, and how wonderful it is, in a city that imports over 95% of its food, and then burns the residuals. One needs to be a little bit real about the issue.
So many nutrients, so much carbon is in the food we eat, and in the city, most is wasted.........wasted.
I posted some material from Singapore in 2009, a place where organic recycling is a joke, and where incineration is the norm. YET.........some commentators wax lyrical about using organic food, and how wonderful it is, in a city that imports over 95% of its food, and then burns the residuals. One needs to be a little bit real about the issue.
So many nutrients, so much carbon is in the food we eat, and in the city, most is wasted.........wasted.
In Australia, particularly in southern cities this issue is slowly being addressed. It fits with the emerging potential technologies of vertical wall and roof top gardens as well, potential city sites for food and green production, currently being developed and enthused over by for example, Prof Julian Cribb of Sydney.
the following article has been lifted from "Inside Waste" and was written by Gerry Gillespie, an ardent advocate for carbon and nutrient recycling and recovery.
Unfortunately, I think it will be a considerable time before it happens in the Northern Territory in any modest fashion, even. But it should, as local soils scream out for better soil carbon levels to both hold water and nutrients, as well as needing a great boost in soil nutrients to aid production in both agriculture and horticulture.
It is a important story...........
The organic base
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
As Australia’s waste industry gears up for 2010, the president of Revolve - Canberra, Gerry Gillespie, urges people to focus on the root issues of organic waste management. He argues valuable organic materials must be returned to soils, and experience shows this can be done very effectively when communities are empowered to become part of local solutions.
Every individual, regardless of their social standing, produces organic waste as long as they continue to eat.The true value of this product, both in terms of its nutrient value and its value as a catalyst for the soil to generate more food, has never truly been capitalised on in western society.
It is only in Asian communities that the true value of returning organic materials to soils has been appreciated and developed.
Yet even in western societies, where the public (with the exception of gardeners) has long been seen as ignorant of the value of this material, a substantial shift has begun to take place with the advent of new programs focussed on food.For the first time in its modern history, western society has begun to truly look at its waste organic outputs.
In the first instances this was mainly from the western perspective of wasted food as a waste of money, but now also and more importantly, for its value to the food chain.This in turn has lead to a consideration of the value of clean, quality organic products as a catalyst in the production of quality food from quality soil.The Groundswell project in NSW has clearly demonstrated that, given the right tools and information to act, the public will respond with enthusiasm to the collection of food waste for reuse in agriculture.
This project, using the City to Soil collection system, has demonstrated that at our very animal base we fully grasp the importance of soil as our mother, in the sense that it feeds and clothes us.As individuals, parents and grandparents, we see that the security of future generations is firmly based in the soil. The response to this project has seen the collections of organic waste with extremely low contamination rates of less than 0.5%.
This project has clearly demonstrated the public wants to be involved. Indeed it has demonstrated the collection of organic waste, once it is embraced by the community, will not only empower them to become part of the solution but will also provide the basis for a link into a much bigger picture of behavioural change.
Compost and carbon
In developing the City to Soil process, the project managers needed to reduce the cost of compost manufacture and so designed a new system where the organic waste requires no shredding and very little turning. This process importantly also produces no odour.
Material is sprayed with water and a two part biological inoculant, covered with tarpaulins and left for six weeks without turning. The material can achieve temperatures in excess of 70 degrees in the first week. It then settles back to around 55 degrees for the remainder of the process.
The material produced in this compost process, returned to the soil, provides the basis for supported land management change which dramatically reduces fertiliser use, improves moisture retention water in soils, increases yield and increases soil carbon.
If the legacy emissions currently in the atmosphere are to be addressed, improving our soils worldwide is the only way of doing it. While climate change may be the largest threat we have brought upon humanity, the generation of carbon in agricultural soils and the opportunities for change that it brings could be one of the greatest benefits humanity has ever given to the world. We have at our fingertips the means to end poverty, we have at our fingertips the means to feed the world, we have at our fingertips the means for a new world economy.This new direction, this new hope, is based on the simplest and most disregarded of the products of humanity – our organic waste.
Source-separated organic waste provides the tools to link the community back to its food supply, it provides the tools for us to rebuild our relationship with out soils, it provides the means to support local regional economies. The only thing we need to do to be part of this great revolution is to maintain ownership of our own organic waste.
Conclusion
The greed of the global economy has forgotten that you can’t have a labourer in China make cheap clothes for the world market without food. And you can’t feed that labourer without soil.
The global economy has forgotten that it is nothing without soil. Every cheap shirt, every cheap car, every cheap tool, represents some part of a nation’s soil. We are nothing without soil. We don’t exist without soil.
Peak phosphorus spells the death of chemical agriculture. There is a new way. There is a better way – for humanity and for the planet.
Owning your organic wastes in your home and in your community provides you with the power to help local farmers produce food and to generate local wealth in the emerging carbon market.
No economy, rich or poor, exists without food – because no economy rich or poor exists without soil. The soil is your mother – you are nothing without your mother.
The issues of ‘peak oil’, of ‘peak phosphorus’ and other matters of assumed criticality are all indicators of our humble human need to replace one problem with another by addressing only the symptoms of our disease. In the same way that ‘peak oil’ tells us that we have been too reliant on an unsustainable supply of oil, ‘peak phosphorus’ tells us that we have relied for too long on industrial chemical farming.
Good quality soil and soil carbon can provide humanity with the direct link back to its very basic roots. It can be part of our individual responsibility to ensure that the farmers are given the right tools and the capacity to utilise their soil based on the experiential management skills of themselves and past generations. In linking personal behaviour with soil carbon we will be weaving the tapestry of soil quality into the reality of our daily existence. To achieve this we need to have a community understanding and response to the ability to grow our soils. The only place this can be achieved is on the farm.
It is that same place that grows our food and is the home and heart of our repeatable economic base.
In the world voluntary carbon market we have been presented with the first opportunity in human history to include our environment in our economy. We as humans have finally reached that same point that every monkey, bird and bee awoke to as it was born new into its circumstance, its natural economy. Every species lives within its economy because to do otherwise is to perish.
We can now join the evolution of economy by including the obvious in our accounts. Everything we now do and make can be predicated on its carbon value. You as an individual in this place are at this exciting starting point.
We must begin.
[partially sourced from Inside Waste]
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Furlough is Over
Time to recommence blogging..........after a medically related furlough period while a family member was rehabilitating from major surgery.
More posts on notable issues in agriculture, environment and related areas coming in 2010.
Watch this space!
More posts on notable issues in agriculture, environment and related areas coming in 2010.
Watch this space!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Renewable Energy Can Meet Our Energy Needs
There is an article in the current month [ November 2009] Scientific American magazine that explores the costs and opportunities for combining various renewable energy sources to supply community energy needs.
It is worth reading........as the exercise indicates that fossil fuel power will be more expensive than renewables by 2020. That is 10 years away...........10 years only.
By combining various renewable energy sources and using geothermal and hydro for baseload power, plus optimal use of wind and solar at various periods during the 24 hour cycle, renewables win on both cost and carbon emissions. Geothermal in Australia has been the "ugly sister" so far.........and problems with the Geodynamics wells have not helped, although they are probably getting on top of that by now. But geothermal in Australia does have enormous potential.
That renewables can meet demand is stunning, and tends to cast serious doubts on the naysayers who have doubted the efficacy of renewables.
The serious questions are more now about public policy, investment and convincing governments to actually change the way they do business in the electrical energy systems. Oh, and not to listen to the fossil fuel lobby [mainly coal for electricity production, not steel]
It is worth reading........as the exercise indicates that fossil fuel power will be more expensive than renewables by 2020. That is 10 years away...........10 years only.
By combining various renewable energy sources and using geothermal and hydro for baseload power, plus optimal use of wind and solar at various periods during the 24 hour cycle, renewables win on both cost and carbon emissions. Geothermal in Australia has been the "ugly sister" so far.........and problems with the Geodynamics wells have not helped, although they are probably getting on top of that by now. But geothermal in Australia does have enormous potential.
That renewables can meet demand is stunning, and tends to cast serious doubts on the naysayers who have doubted the efficacy of renewables.
The serious questions are more now about public policy, investment and convincing governments to actually change the way they do business in the electrical energy systems. Oh, and not to listen to the fossil fuel lobby [mainly coal for electricity production, not steel]
Friday, October 30, 2009
Rotten Falling Palms
Hygiene, hygiene, hygiene - but only after palms die. If you have unexplained falling, rotting palms, then one of these two diseases may be involved.
They occur in the NT, as well as many tropical regions around the world.
Ganoderma Butt Rot of Palms
· Ganoderma butt rot is caused by the fungus Ganoderma zonatum. This fungus degrades or rots the lower 1-1.5m of the trunk.
· All palms are considered hosts of this fungus. This fungus is not a primary pathogen of any other plant species.
· Symptoms may include wilting (mild to severe) or a general decline.
The disease is confirmed by observing the basidiocarp (conk) on the trunk. This is a hard, shelf-like structure that will be attached to the lower 1 - 1.5m of the palm trunk. However, not all diseased palms produce conks prior to death.
· A palm cannot be diagnosed with Ganoderma butt rot until the basidiocarp (conk) forms on
the trunk, or the internal rotting of the trunk is observed after the palm is cut down. 
· The fungus is spread by spores, which are produced and released from the basidiocarp (conk) [seen upside down in the left photo].
· Conditions that are conducive for disease development are unknown.
· There are currently no cultural or chemical controls for preventing the disease or for curing the disease once the palm is infected.
· A palm should be removed as soon as possible after the conks appear on the trunk. Remove as much of the stump and root system as possible when the palm is removed.
· Because the fungus survives in the soil, do not plant another palm back in that same location.
Thielaviopsis Trunk Rot of Palm
· Thielaviopsis trunk rot is caused by the fungus Thielaviopsis paradoxa.
· Due to this disease, the palm trunk either collapses on itself or the canopy suddenly falls off the trunk, both without warning. The palm canopy often appears healthy prior to collapse.
· Except for “stem bleeding,” which is common in coconut and some single stem palms, there may be no symptoms prior to collapse of the palm.
· Only fresh trunk wounds will become infected by the fungus, so disease management includes limiting man-made wounds to the palm trunk, especially the upper third of the trunk.
· If the disease is detected early, cutting out the rotted, infested wood followed by spraying the wound site with a fungicide may be useful.
· There are no other methods to prevent or cure this disease. The palm should be removed immediately, and the diseased trunk portion destroyed but not recycled.
Thielaviopsis paradoxa is a fungus that can infect any part of a palm, and so can cause numerous diseases. In Florida, the two most frequent (and usually lethal) Thielaviopsis diseases observed in the landscape and field nursery are a bud (heart) rot and trunk rot.
Unfortunately, there often are no visible indications that a palm has Thielaviopsis trunk rot until either the trunk collapses on itself or the canopy suddenly falls off the trunk. The canopy often appears normal and healthy.
Thus, there are no symptoms that can be used to predict which palms are infected and which ones are not. In most cases, the trunk rot is occurring in the upper half of the trunk. This may occur because the number of lignified fibers are greatest in the lower trunk and least in the upper trunk. As indicated previously, this fungus prefers to rot non-lignified or lightly lignified plant tissue. “Stem bleeding” is a common symptom of Thielaviopsis trunk rot observed on single stem palms eg coconut, royal palms. This stem bleeding is a reddish-brown stain that runs down the trunk from the point of infection.
Thielaviopsis trunk rot usually occurs quite randomly, with only a few palms in the landscape being affected. However, there are situations where high numbers of palms in a single landscape can become diseased, for reasons that are not always clear. In all situations, there has to be a fresh wound to the palm. Wounds can occur naturally, such as trunk cracks due to excess water uptake. Insects (such as beetles), birds (sapsuckers pounding on the trunk), rats, and other mammals can cause wounds. Blowing objects during a wind storm can strike a trunk and cause a fresh wound.
Humans cause wounds with nails and climbing spikes, or during the digging and transplanting process.
Humans also create wounds when trimming leaves that are not yet dead. Leaf petioles are cut as close as possible to the trunk. If a leaf petiole has any green color associated with it, the leaf is still living. When that still living petiole is cut, a fresh wound is created that may be infected by the fungus. Trunks can be easily wounded during the trimming process with the careless use of the pruning tool. Pulling a leaf off the trunk, when the leaf petiole still has green tissue, can create a fresh wound.
The fungal pathogen can spread from palm to palm as follows. First, if spores are produced on diseased palm tissue, these spores can be moved by wind and water to fresh wounds. The spores may also be moved about by insects or rodents. Second, the spores that can survive in the environment, especially soil, for long periods. Fresh wounds could become infected via contaminated soil.
Except for the stem bleeding, there are often no outwardly visible symptoms that indicate which palm in the landscape or field nursery has Thielaviopsis trunk rot. Thus, there are no proven strategies for preventing this disease. Once the palm has collapsed, remove it immediately as it is a source of fungal spores.
If one does observe the initial stages of the trunk rot, such as the stem bleeding, it would be useful to cut out the area of rotted wood (if it is not too large a trunk area) and spray the wound thoroughly with a fungicide labeled for Thielaviopsis diseases. Examples include, but are not limited to, products with the active ingredients thiophanate methyl or fludioxonil. The goal is to prevent the fungus from infecting the fresh wound made when you cut out the infested, rotted wood. All tools used to remove the rotted wood must be cleaned with a disinfectant. [Banrot is a possible trade name]
Examples of disinfectants include: 1) 25% chlorine bleach (3 parts water and 1 part bleach); 2) 25% pine oil cleaner (3 parts water and 1 part pine oil cleaner); 3) 50% rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl; equal parts alcohol and water); 4) 50% denatured ethanol (95%; equal parts alcohol and water); 5) 5% quatenary ammonium salts. Soak tools for 10 minutes and rinse in clean water. For chain saws, soak chain and bar separately.
Diseased trunk material should be destroyed and should not be recycled in the landscape. Chipping and then spreading the infested material in the landscape could spread the fungus to healthy palms. If the trunk is chipped, it should be placed in a properly constructed and monitored compost heap, or taken to a landfill or incinerator.
[partially sourced from extension articles - Monica Elliott et al, Uni of Florida; all photos from Darwin]
They occur in the NT, as well as many tropical regions around the world.
Ganoderma Butt Rot of Palms
· Ganoderma butt rot is caused by the fungus Ganoderma zonatum. This fungus degrades or rots the lower 1-1.5m of the trunk.
· All palms are considered hosts of this fungus. This fungus is not a primary pathogen of any other plant species.
· Symptoms may include wilting (mild to severe) or a general decline.
The disease is confirmed by observing the basidiocarp (conk) on the trunk. This is a hard, shelf-like structure that will be attached to the lower 1 - 1.5m of the palm trunk. However, not all diseased palms produce conks prior to death.
· A palm cannot be diagnosed with Ganoderma butt rot until the basidiocarp (conk) forms on
the trunk, or the internal rotting of the trunk is observed after the palm is cut down. 
· The fungus is spread by spores, which are produced and released from the basidiocarp (conk) [seen upside down in the left photo].
· Conditions that are conducive for disease development are unknown.
· There are currently no cultural or chemical controls for preventing the disease or for curing the disease once the palm is infected.
· A palm should be removed as soon as possible after the conks appear on the trunk. Remove as much of the stump and root system as possible when the palm is removed.
· Because the fungus survives in the soil, do not plant another palm back in that same location.
Thielaviopsis Trunk Rot of Palm
· Thielaviopsis trunk rot is caused by the fungus Thielaviopsis paradoxa.
· Due to this disease, the palm trunk either collapses on itself or the canopy suddenly falls off the trunk, both without warning. The palm canopy often appears healthy prior to collapse.
· Except for “stem bleeding,” which is common in coconut and some single stem palms, there may be no symptoms prior to collapse of the palm.
· Only fresh trunk wounds will become infected by the fungus, so disease management includes limiting man-made wounds to the palm trunk, especially the upper third of the trunk.
· If the disease is detected early, cutting out the rotted, infested wood followed by spraying the wound site with a fungicide may be useful.
· There are no other methods to prevent or cure this disease. The palm should be removed immediately, and the diseased trunk portion destroyed but not recycled.
Thielaviopsis paradoxa is a fungus that can infect any part of a palm, and so can cause numerous diseases. In Florida, the two most frequent (and usually lethal) Thielaviopsis diseases observed in the landscape and field nursery are a bud (heart) rot and trunk rot.
Unfortunately, there often are no visible indications that a palm has Thielaviopsis trunk rot until either the trunk collapses on itself or the canopy suddenly falls off the trunk. The canopy often appears normal and healthy.
Thus, there are no symptoms that can be used to predict which palms are infected and which ones are not. In most cases, the trunk rot is occurring in the upper half of the trunk. This may occur because the number of lignified fibers are greatest in the lower trunk and least in the upper trunk. As indicated previously, this fungus prefers to rot non-lignified or lightly lignified plant tissue. “Stem bleeding” is a common symptom of Thielaviopsis trunk rot observed on single stem palms eg coconut, royal palms. This stem bleeding is a reddish-brown stain that runs down the trunk from the point of infection.
Thielaviopsis trunk rot usually occurs quite randomly, with only a few palms in the landscape being affected. However, there are situations where high numbers of palms in a single landscape can become diseased, for reasons that are not always clear. In all situations, there has to be a fresh wound to the palm. Wounds can occur naturally, such as trunk cracks due to excess water uptake. Insects (such as beetles), birds (sapsuckers pounding on the trunk), rats, and other mammals can cause wounds. Blowing objects during a wind storm can strike a trunk and cause a fresh wound.
Humans cause wounds with nails and climbing spikes, or during the digging and transplanting process.
Humans also create wounds when trimming leaves that are not yet dead. Leaf petioles are cut as close as possible to the trunk. If a leaf petiole has any green color associated with it, the leaf is still living. When that still living petiole is cut, a fresh wound is created that may be infected by the fungus. Trunks can be easily wounded during the trimming process with the careless use of the pruning tool. Pulling a leaf off the trunk, when the leaf petiole still has green tissue, can create a fresh wound.
The fungal pathogen can spread from palm to palm as follows. First, if spores are produced on diseased palm tissue, these spores can be moved by wind and water to fresh wounds. The spores may also be moved about by insects or rodents. Second, the spores that can survive in the environment, especially soil, for long periods. Fresh wounds could become infected via contaminated soil.
Except for the stem bleeding, there are often no outwardly visible symptoms that indicate which palm in the landscape or field nursery has Thielaviopsis trunk rot. Thus, there are no proven strategies for preventing this disease. Once the palm has collapsed, remove it immediately as it is a source of fungal spores.
If one does observe the initial stages of the trunk rot, such as the stem bleeding, it would be useful to cut out the area of rotted wood (if it is not too large a trunk area) and spray the wound thoroughly with a fungicide labeled for Thielaviopsis diseases. Examples include, but are not limited to, products with the active ingredients thiophanate methyl or fludioxonil. The goal is to prevent the fungus from infecting the fresh wound made when you cut out the infested, rotted wood. All tools used to remove the rotted wood must be cleaned with a disinfectant. [Banrot is a possible trade name]
Examples of disinfectants include: 1) 25% chlorine bleach (3 parts water and 1 part bleach); 2) 25% pine oil cleaner (3 parts water and 1 part pine oil cleaner); 3) 50% rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl; equal parts alcohol and water); 4) 50% denatured ethanol (95%; equal parts alcohol and water); 5) 5% quatenary ammonium salts. Soak tools for 10 minutes and rinse in clean water. For chain saws, soak chain and bar separately.
Diseased trunk material should be destroyed and should not be recycled in the landscape. Chipping and then spreading the infested material in the landscape could spread the fungus to healthy palms. If the trunk is chipped, it should be placed in a properly constructed and monitored compost heap, or taken to a landfill or incinerator.
[partially sourced from extension articles - Monica Elliott et al, Uni of Florida; all photos from Darwin]
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Compadre Zoysia at the Darwin Waterfront Precinct - Brilliant!!
Darwin Waterfront Precinct
Major projects are inevitably fraught with complexities, time delays and both minor and major problems. Where these involve landscaping, tempers usually get very short………..as almost always, with the landscaping being among the last major activities, it gets time challenged, cost challenged and yet……….it has to be ready on time, and look fantastic.
Compadre zoysia was chosen as the grass of choice for the Waterfront project and because it was to be sown by seed, that challenge was even more complicated, as around 12 – 20 weeks were needed after sowing, to have it visitor ready at the opening. Many smaller areas were able to be sown much earlier, and have been grown relatively easily, but much of the main area in front of the hotels was always going to be near the very end, and initially suffered because of that delay that then ran into the weather problems.
There most certainly have been a few challenges along the way, and although we had factored into the scenario a local supply of some Compadre zoysia turf to meet those final last minute problems, the seed sowing also had a few of its own problems, caused by late sowing and very heavy monsoon rain soon after sowing. Weeds were an issue, with the area here, initally weedy with sedges, being managed, and converted into the area in the first photo below.
However, this and other issues were successfully managed, and fixed and the Compadre has thrived on the whole area.
The photos below were taken late October 2009, about 9 months after sowing. It looks fabulous……….soft to walk on, non itchy, reduced mowing frequency ………all it was chosen for initially.
Lush grass......
Great vista across the Compadre turf
Compadre zoysia is tolerant of wear around seats and high activity areas
It really offers a smart, water efficient, low maintenance, wear tolerant, low fertiliser requirement and atractive turf for domestic and commercial areas, including parks and ovals in the north of Australia.........and can be established at low cost.
Major projects are inevitably fraught with complexities, time delays and both minor and major problems. Where these involve landscaping, tempers usually get very short………..as almost always, with the landscaping being among the last major activities, it gets time challenged, cost challenged and yet……….it has to be ready on time, and look fantastic.
Compadre zoysia was chosen as the grass of choice for the Waterfront project and because it was to be sown by seed, that challenge was even more complicated, as around 12 – 20 weeks were needed after sowing, to have it visitor ready at the opening. Many smaller areas were able to be sown much earlier, and have been grown relatively easily, but much of the main area in front of the hotels was always going to be near the very end, and initially suffered because of that delay that then ran into the weather problems.
There most certainly have been a few challenges along the way, and although we had factored into the scenario a local supply of some Compadre zoysia turf to meet those final last minute problems, the seed sowing also had a few of its own problems, caused by late sowing and very heavy monsoon rain soon after sowing. Weeds were an issue, with the area here, initally weedy with sedges, being managed, and converted into the area in the first photo below.
However, this and other issues were successfully managed, and fixed and the Compadre has thrived on the whole area.
The photos below were taken late October 2009, about 9 months after sowing. It looks fabulous……….soft to walk on, non itchy, reduced mowing frequency ………all it was chosen for initially.
Lush grass......
Great vista across the Compadre turf
Compadre zoysia is tolerant of wear around seats and high activity areas
It really offers a smart, water efficient, low maintenance, wear tolerant, low fertiliser requirement and atractive turf for domestic and commercial areas, including parks and ovals in the north of Australia.........and can be established at low cost.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Emissions Trading 101 - Cap and Trade
The whole issue of an ETS seems to be inherently complex.
Recently I was able to access the article by Joel Kurtzman of the Milken Institute in the USA, which was subsequently published in Foreign Affairs in September 2009. It is available on the Institute web site and was also published in the Review section of the Australian Financial Review on Friday 16 October 2009.
See: http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/publications.taf?function=detail&ID=38801211&cat=ART
He discusses the free market aspects of the Emissions Trading Scheme [ ETS] in a rational, coherent and clear manner. It is worth reading for the clarity.
A really good explanation of the broad scheme. While many will disagree with some issues, it clearly explains the principles and operations of the managed markets.
It might just work!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Ireland To Be GM Free
As part of a politically expedient deal, the Irish Parliamentary political parties have agreed on a deal that will make Ireland free of GM crops, and presumably food from those crops, through a voluntary label scheme. It is planned to have this extend to the whole of the island of Ireland ie Northern Ireland as well, if a deal can be done. It is presumed this will also extend to animal and animal products.
The organic consumers have a long media release available which does provide a lot of detail on the process and the deal itself.
Read about it here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19360.cfm
The organic consumers have a long media release available which does provide a lot of detail on the process and the deal itself.
Read about it here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19360.cfm
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The REAL GM Food Scandal
For a salutary examination of the issues around GM food have a look at the following:
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2007/11/therealgmfoodscandal/
This appeared in Prospect Magazine in November 2007.
The noises have increased but really.............lets get back to basics! If agriculture is to feed the world between now and 2050, we need to invest in technology, develop a whole lot of smarts about land management and crop production and produce food. While there will be changes in how and where food wil be produced and the logistics of moving food to where required, but food will definitely be needed.
Western Europe is dominated politically by left leaning greenies, hence the anti GM stance. But recent figures quoted in Scientific American November 2009 show the big use of GM crops are in the US, Argentina, Brazil, India and often by smaller scale farmers.
They are not always chosen because the multinationals dominate the seed industry.......rather they are chosen because they perform, make money for the growers and save labour and costs.
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2007/11/therealgmfoodscandal/
This appeared in Prospect Magazine in November 2007.
The noises have increased but really.............lets get back to basics! If agriculture is to feed the world between now and 2050, we need to invest in technology, develop a whole lot of smarts about land management and crop production and produce food. While there will be changes in how and where food wil be produced and the logistics of moving food to where required, but food will definitely be needed.
Western Europe is dominated politically by left leaning greenies, hence the anti GM stance. But recent figures quoted in Scientific American November 2009 show the big use of GM crops are in the US, Argentina, Brazil, India and often by smaller scale farmers.
They are not always chosen because the multinationals dominate the seed industry.......rather they are chosen because they perform, make money for the growers and save labour and costs.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Soil Carbon May Come from the Tractor Exhaust
A Canadian inventor may have found a very useful tool that can inject tractor exhaust gases into the soil and help build soil carbon and stimulate soil microbes.
Yes.......there are many snake oil salesmen around, but this does sound possible. It fits well with some recent agronomic evidence that if small doses of nitrogen are applied to agronomic systems they may act first on microbial populations that are able to then grow and act on soil minerals and organic systems that have stored nutrients, to help release N and P in the soil in a form that can be taken up by plants, rather than directly on the plants themsleves.
Yes.......it is still relatively early days, but there are some serious scientists giving it a tick already.
Read about it yourself............and think.
-------------------
When the smoke from a tractor exhaust goes up, that’s pollution. But get those emissions down into the soil and they become fertiliser, as Canadian farmer, Gary Lewis, is demonstrating.
Mr Lewis has spent the best part of a decade developing and refining a system that pipes tractor exhaust emissions through a condenser and into the pneumatic system of air seeders, which then injects the carbon and nitrogen-rich emissions into the ground with the seed.
What is generally considered as pollution is in fact prime soil food, Mr Lewis said, and tractor exhaust has allowed him and other farmers working with his technology to grow excellent crops without using conventional fertilisers. The exhaust gases are believed to stimulate microbial activity and root growth, allowing the plants to more efficiently extract nutrient and moisture from the soil.
The United Nations has shown an interest in the system, which might not only reduce fertiliser dependency but cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Lewis, an Alberta rancher and former auto mechanic who specialises in growing timothy hay for export, claims not to have used fertiliser on his 250-hectare irrigation farm for at least six years, instead fertilising it with his “BioAgtive” technology. Mr Lewis said he had seen no loss of production, his soils had moved from pH 8.0 (the same as the irrigation water) to a pH of about 7.0, and soil organic matter levels were now at about 10 per cent.
In testimonials quoted on the BioAgtive website, former Agriculture Canada scientists turned consultants, Dr Jill Clapperton and Dr Loraine Bailey, agree that something positive is happening in BioAgtive treated soils. “The obvious conclusion is that the exhaust had a positive effect on crop growth, yield and quality, and may have positively enhanced soil nutrients and nutrient chemistry,” Dr Bailey writes.
Meanwhile, Dr Clapperton is working on a scientific paper outlining how the technology works.
Understanding why BioAgtive is not just “blowing smoke”, as Mr Lewis feels many scientists think he’s doing, requires a different perspective on exhaust emissions.
Surprisingly, a breakdown of the content of diesel exhaust looks like a partial Christmas shopping list for plants. A Volkswagen analysis of light-duty diesel engine exhaust published in a World Health Organisation-sponsored report gave an analysis by weight of 75 per cent nitrogen, 15pc oxygen, seven per cent carbon dioxide and 2.6pc water vapour. Several other substances existed in quantities of less than 0.1pc.
Mr Lewis calculates a zero-till rig will put 1100 kilograms of air through the tractor engine to work a hectare.
Dr Bailey writes that the exhaust treatment “resulted in significant release of soil N and/or stimulated the crops to take up soil N”. She said there were also small increases in the uptake of phosphorus, potassium and sulphur and slight shifts in the amount of some micro-nutrients taken up by the crops.
If it proves viable, BioAgtive will also be a tool for farmers wanting to reduce their profile under emissions trading.
The system relies on attraction between negatively-charged ions in the gases and the soil’s positively charged alkaline component to hold the gases in the soil, as well as sealing it in.
Some Canadian farmers are now growing their own biofuel crops using BioAgtive technology, Mr Lewis said About 150 farmers around the world, including in Australia and recently China, had bought into the concept.
While the system doesn’t come cheap, at about $C40,000, Mr Lewis points to what he says is the potential to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in fertiliser in a year.
Gary Lewis is booked to talk at the Carbon Farming Conference and Expo at Orange, later this year on November 4-5.
[ partially sourced Qld Country Life]
Yes.......there are many snake oil salesmen around, but this does sound possible. It fits well with some recent agronomic evidence that if small doses of nitrogen are applied to agronomic systems they may act first on microbial populations that are able to then grow and act on soil minerals and organic systems that have stored nutrients, to help release N and P in the soil in a form that can be taken up by plants, rather than directly on the plants themsleves.
Yes.......it is still relatively early days, but there are some serious scientists giving it a tick already.
Read about it yourself............and think.
-------------------
When the smoke from a tractor exhaust goes up, that’s pollution. But get those emissions down into the soil and they become fertiliser, as Canadian farmer, Gary Lewis, is demonstrating.
Mr Lewis has spent the best part of a decade developing and refining a system that pipes tractor exhaust emissions through a condenser and into the pneumatic system of air seeders, which then injects the carbon and nitrogen-rich emissions into the ground with the seed.
What is generally considered as pollution is in fact prime soil food, Mr Lewis said, and tractor exhaust has allowed him and other farmers working with his technology to grow excellent crops without using conventional fertilisers. The exhaust gases are believed to stimulate microbial activity and root growth, allowing the plants to more efficiently extract nutrient and moisture from the soil.
The United Nations has shown an interest in the system, which might not only reduce fertiliser dependency but cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Lewis, an Alberta rancher and former auto mechanic who specialises in growing timothy hay for export, claims not to have used fertiliser on his 250-hectare irrigation farm for at least six years, instead fertilising it with his “BioAgtive” technology. Mr Lewis said he had seen no loss of production, his soils had moved from pH 8.0 (the same as the irrigation water) to a pH of about 7.0, and soil organic matter levels were now at about 10 per cent.
In testimonials quoted on the BioAgtive website, former Agriculture Canada scientists turned consultants, Dr Jill Clapperton and Dr Loraine Bailey, agree that something positive is happening in BioAgtive treated soils. “The obvious conclusion is that the exhaust had a positive effect on crop growth, yield and quality, and may have positively enhanced soil nutrients and nutrient chemistry,” Dr Bailey writes.
Meanwhile, Dr Clapperton is working on a scientific paper outlining how the technology works.
Understanding why BioAgtive is not just “blowing smoke”, as Mr Lewis feels many scientists think he’s doing, requires a different perspective on exhaust emissions.
Surprisingly, a breakdown of the content of diesel exhaust looks like a partial Christmas shopping list for plants. A Volkswagen analysis of light-duty diesel engine exhaust published in a World Health Organisation-sponsored report gave an analysis by weight of 75 per cent nitrogen, 15pc oxygen, seven per cent carbon dioxide and 2.6pc water vapour. Several other substances existed in quantities of less than 0.1pc.
Mr Lewis calculates a zero-till rig will put 1100 kilograms of air through the tractor engine to work a hectare.
Dr Bailey writes that the exhaust treatment “resulted in significant release of soil N and/or stimulated the crops to take up soil N”. She said there were also small increases in the uptake of phosphorus, potassium and sulphur and slight shifts in the amount of some micro-nutrients taken up by the crops.
If it proves viable, BioAgtive will also be a tool for farmers wanting to reduce their profile under emissions trading.
The system relies on attraction between negatively-charged ions in the gases and the soil’s positively charged alkaline component to hold the gases in the soil, as well as sealing it in.
Some Canadian farmers are now growing their own biofuel crops using BioAgtive technology, Mr Lewis said About 150 farmers around the world, including in Australia and recently China, had bought into the concept.
While the system doesn’t come cheap, at about $C40,000, Mr Lewis points to what he says is the potential to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in fertiliser in a year.
Gary Lewis is booked to talk at the Carbon Farming Conference and Expo at Orange, later this year on November 4-5.
[ partially sourced Qld Country Life]
Friday, September 25, 2009
Wind Could Power Much of China
With Hu JinTao making assertions this week that China is serious about reducing its carbon emmissions, and effectively saying to watch for a major announcement coming soon, there have been studies that show wind power could be a large part of that move, along with increased use of nuclear power for electricity.
During the mid to late 1990s while working in China on development projects, it was noted there was a tremendous move to develop wind power, with mostly Spanish interests very active and also working with some of the same groups we were. Some of these projects were very substantial.
But it seems that there are plenty more options to consider, with the report summary below indicating that a high proportion of energy could come from renewable sources - wind.
This report, along with recent announcements, including some from US sources, does offer a glimpse of what might be possible to reduce carbon emissions, epecially if solar power [various types] are also added to the mix. To mix a metaphor - "the population is willing but the government is weak" - in relation to carbon reductions.
Pity about Australia though..........it needs to chop off a few coal mines that are used as fuel sources for electricity generation stations, and choose something a bit less carbon intensive. Do not forget, we have a lot of coal seam gas, maybe seen as a new and upcoming option for fuel.
However, with just 1% [ approx] of carbion emissions coming from Australia, remember our role is VERY puny in the overall picture!
--------------------------------------
China's energy needs are expected to double by 2030, but a study in the journal Science says the country could produce 30% less carbon dioxide if it uses wind power to meet them.
It is estimated China will need to increase its capacity by 800 gigawatts by 2030 to meet demand – roughly double its current capacity. The study, in the journal Science, proposed a way for wind power to make up most of that increase and, if it did, said China's emissions of carbon dioxide could be 30% lower.
Using meteorological data to assess the potential for wind power in China – the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide – the researchers also say wind could theoretically supply all of the country's energy, though it only laid out the figures for meeting half its needs.
"The world is struggling with the question of how do you make the switch from carbon-rich fuels to something carbon-free," lead author Michael McElroy, a professor of environmental studies at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said. "The real question for the globe is: what alternatives does China have?"
Coal currently supplies 80% of China's electricity, and hundreds of coal-fired power plants are built every year to keep pace with demand, but Beijing is also investing heavily in renewable energy.
It plans to build seven large wind-power bases over the next decade, and already ranks fourth in the world in terms of installed capacity, at 12.2 gigawatts – about equal to the energy produced by two dozen average-sized coal-fired plants.
It trails only the US, Germany and Spain in installed capacity, but not all of those turbines are hooked up to the electricity grid. In fact, just 0.4% of China's electricity is supplied by wind – or around 3 gigawatts.
The researchers behind the Science study proposed that the country could produce 640 gigawatts from wind farms, assuming they ran at 30% average capacity – a measure of how much output can reasonably be expected from a wind turbine. Average capacity takes into account that wind is fickle, and calculates more or less how much of the time you can expect a turbine to be working at full capacity.
During the mid to late 1990s while working in China on development projects, it was noted there was a tremendous move to develop wind power, with mostly Spanish interests very active and also working with some of the same groups we were. Some of these projects were very substantial.
But it seems that there are plenty more options to consider, with the report summary below indicating that a high proportion of energy could come from renewable sources - wind.
This report, along with recent announcements, including some from US sources, does offer a glimpse of what might be possible to reduce carbon emissions, epecially if solar power [various types] are also added to the mix. To mix a metaphor - "the population is willing but the government is weak" - in relation to carbon reductions.
Pity about Australia though..........it needs to chop off a few coal mines that are used as fuel sources for electricity generation stations, and choose something a bit less carbon intensive. Do not forget, we have a lot of coal seam gas, maybe seen as a new and upcoming option for fuel.
However, with just 1% [ approx] of carbion emissions coming from Australia, remember our role is VERY puny in the overall picture!
--------------------------------------
China's energy needs are expected to double by 2030, but a study in the journal Science says the country could produce 30% less carbon dioxide if it uses wind power to meet them.
It is estimated China will need to increase its capacity by 800 gigawatts by 2030 to meet demand – roughly double its current capacity. The study, in the journal Science, proposed a way for wind power to make up most of that increase and, if it did, said China's emissions of carbon dioxide could be 30% lower.
Using meteorological data to assess the potential for wind power in China – the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide – the researchers also say wind could theoretically supply all of the country's energy, though it only laid out the figures for meeting half its needs.
"The world is struggling with the question of how do you make the switch from carbon-rich fuels to something carbon-free," lead author Michael McElroy, a professor of environmental studies at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said. "The real question for the globe is: what alternatives does China have?"
Coal currently supplies 80% of China's electricity, and hundreds of coal-fired power plants are built every year to keep pace with demand, but Beijing is also investing heavily in renewable energy.
It plans to build seven large wind-power bases over the next decade, and already ranks fourth in the world in terms of installed capacity, at 12.2 gigawatts – about equal to the energy produced by two dozen average-sized coal-fired plants.
It trails only the US, Germany and Spain in installed capacity, but not all of those turbines are hooked up to the electricity grid. In fact, just 0.4% of China's electricity is supplied by wind – or around 3 gigawatts.
The researchers behind the Science study proposed that the country could produce 640 gigawatts from wind farms, assuming they ran at 30% average capacity – a measure of how much output can reasonably be expected from a wind turbine. Average capacity takes into account that wind is fickle, and calculates more or less how much of the time you can expect a turbine to be working at full capacity.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
GM Debate Continues - STILL
While I generally support using modern plant breeding techniques to enhance most crops, across a wide spectrum of types, not everyone is for those techniques such as genetic modification - GM.
Modern techniques do have opportunities to develop very significant advances across a wide range of areas from salt tolerance and disease resistance, to herbicide resistance - the latter the one that seems to ire many people. So does the ownership of the intellectual property embedded in the plants, or for that matter in animals too.
Many just rant and rave about it. Others are more subtle, but still oppose many modern breeding concepts very trenchantly.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2191
This link connects to a piece opposing GM technology. It is worth reading. Not only for what it says, but how. And the comments are thoughtful, a bit provocative and useful.
This debate is far from settled, and both sides can do more to inform, rather than just squeal.
Plant breeding has much to contribute to agriculture. It has in the past and will continue to do so. The debate is about how...............but is the developed world being a bit cute, when the biggest gains are likely with modern techniques on crops and plants used in developing countries?
There are not many serious debates about using insecticide treated mosquito nets for mosquito control, or ivermectin as a region wide chemical taken by the population as a measure for treating river blindness, but there are qualms about GM technology to add disease resistance into bananas [ currently stressed and poor yielding due to disease] that are a food staple in east Africa. Is that logical??
Modern techniques do have opportunities to develop very significant advances across a wide range of areas from salt tolerance and disease resistance, to herbicide resistance - the latter the one that seems to ire many people. So does the ownership of the intellectual property embedded in the plants, or for that matter in animals too.
Many just rant and rave about it. Others are more subtle, but still oppose many modern breeding concepts very trenchantly.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2191
This link connects to a piece opposing GM technology. It is worth reading. Not only for what it says, but how. And the comments are thoughtful, a bit provocative and useful.
This debate is far from settled, and both sides can do more to inform, rather than just squeal.
Plant breeding has much to contribute to agriculture. It has in the past and will continue to do so. The debate is about how...............but is the developed world being a bit cute, when the biggest gains are likely with modern techniques on crops and plants used in developing countries?
There are not many serious debates about using insecticide treated mosquito nets for mosquito control, or ivermectin as a region wide chemical taken by the population as a measure for treating river blindness, but there are qualms about GM technology to add disease resistance into bananas [ currently stressed and poor yielding due to disease] that are a food staple in east Africa. Is that logical??
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Vale - Norman Borlaug
The name might not mean much to many people, but to most agricultural scientists his name is synomous with the dramatic improvement in crop yields over the past 50 or so years...........commonly known as the Green Revolution. He received a Nobel prize in 1970.
He died after a long battle with cancer, at 95, a pretty good innings, and an active one until very recently.
The following article in New Scientist provides an excellent overview of his lifetime of work on crop genetics and related areas.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17778-norm-borlaug-the-man-who-fed-the-world.html?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=dn17778
The article is headed - Norm Borlaug: the man who fed the world.
Written on 14 September 2009 by Debora MacKenzie
As was said - They don't make 'em like Norm Borlaug anymore!
He died after a long battle with cancer, at 95, a pretty good innings, and an active one until very recently.
The following article in New Scientist provides an excellent overview of his lifetime of work on crop genetics and related areas.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17778-norm-borlaug-the-man-who-fed-the-world.html?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=dn17778
The article is headed - Norm Borlaug: the man who fed the world.
Written on 14 September 2009 by Debora MacKenzie
As was said - They don't make 'em like Norm Borlaug anymore!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Nutritional value of Organic food Claimed to Be Superior
The Biological Farmers Association of Australia has isused a press release covering a French report on the nutritional value of organic foods.
While of interest, it does not address whether the claims actually mean anything in day to day use of the organic or conventional grown products. As one wag said - who you believe, the poms or the frogs, alluding to the British report that claimed there were no differences in quality.
One thing for sure though, only the wealthy countries can really afford the prices charged for at times, inferior quality organic products. For about 90% of the world, food quantity is still the dominant issue. Singapore has had a similiar debate recently over organic food, and this in a country that imports about 95% of its food.
---------------------------------
Research verifies nutritional value of organic foods: BFA
15/09/2009 3:35:00 PM
A NEW report by the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) has found that organic foods are more nutritious and contain less pesticides and nitrates, which have been linked to a range of health problems including diabete
s and Alzheimer’s.
Shane Heaton, nutritionist for the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA), says the research is a thorough and critical evaluation of the nutritional quality of organic food, and has found organic foods have higher levels of minerals and antioxidants as well as a raft of other benefits. “This is what an unbiased review of the available evidence reveals,” he says. “This review is contrary to another recently released review commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency and widely reported in the media as showing organic food has no significant benefits over non-organic food.” "This review does the question justice by comparing not just a handful of nutrients but also dry matter content, antioxidant content, pesticide levels, and nitrate content." "Organic wins out over ordinary food in every respect.”
In 2001, AFSSA set up an expert working group to perform an exhaustive and critical evaluation of the nutritional and sanitary quality of organic food. The AFSSA says they aimed for the highest quality scientific standards during the evaluation. The selected papers referred to well-defined and certified organic agricultural practices, had the necessary information on design and follow-up, valid measured parameters and the appropriate sampling and statistical analyses.
After more than two years of work involving about 50 experts from different fields of organic agriculture research, a final consensus report was issued in the French language in 2003. The current study published in English in the peer reviewed scientific journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development is a summary of this report and the relevant studies that have been published since 2003.
The conclusions of this study challenge the findings of the recent UK Food Standards Agency study that was widely criticised by international experts for using flawed methodology and a conclusion that contradicted its own data.
The major points of The French Agency for Food Safety study are:
1. Organic plant products contain more dry matter (more nutrient dense).
2. Organic plant products have higher levels of minerals.
3. Organic plant products contain more anti-oxidants such as phenols and salicylic acid (known to protect against cancers, heart disease and many other health problems).
4. Carbohydrate, protein and vitamin levels are insufficiently documented.
5. 94–100pc of organic foods do not contain any pesticide residues.
6. Organic vegetables contain far less nitrates, about 50pc less (high nitrate levels are linked to a range of health problems including diabetes and Alzheimer’s).
7. Organic cereals contain similar levels of mycotoxins as conventional ones..
8. Organically-bred cattle have more lean meat and more polyunsaturated fatty acids than their conventional counterparts.
9. Organic chicken fillets contain 2–3 times less fat and are significantly higher in n–3 fatty acid content (with reported anti-cancer effects and other health benefits).
Source: http://swroc.cfans.umn.edu/organic/ASD_Lairon_2009.pdf
While of interest, it does not address whether the claims actually mean anything in day to day use of the organic or conventional grown products. As one wag said - who you believe, the poms or the frogs, alluding to the British report that claimed there were no differences in quality.
One thing for sure though, only the wealthy countries can really afford the prices charged for at times, inferior quality organic products. For about 90% of the world, food quantity is still the dominant issue. Singapore has had a similiar debate recently over organic food, and this in a country that imports about 95% of its food.
---------------------------------
Research verifies nutritional value of organic foods: BFA
15/09/2009 3:35:00 PM
A NEW report by the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) has found that organic foods are more nutritious and contain less pesticides and nitrates, which have been linked to a range of health problems including diabete
s and Alzheimer’s.Shane Heaton, nutritionist for the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA), says the research is a thorough and critical evaluation of the nutritional quality of organic food, and has found organic foods have higher levels of minerals and antioxidants as well as a raft of other benefits. “This is what an unbiased review of the available evidence reveals,” he says. “This review is contrary to another recently released review commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency and widely reported in the media as showing organic food has no significant benefits over non-organic food.” "This review does the question justice by comparing not just a handful of nutrients but also dry matter content, antioxidant content, pesticide levels, and nitrate content." "Organic wins out over ordinary food in every respect.”
In 2001, AFSSA set up an expert working group to perform an exhaustive and critical evaluation of the nutritional and sanitary quality of organic food. The AFSSA says they aimed for the highest quality scientific standards during the evaluation. The selected papers referred to well-defined and certified organic agricultural practices, had the necessary information on design and follow-up, valid measured parameters and the appropriate sampling and statistical analyses.
After more than two years of work involving about 50 experts from different fields of organic agriculture research, a final consensus report was issued in the French language in 2003. The current study published in English in the peer reviewed scientific journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development is a summary of this report and the relevant studies that have been published since 2003.
The conclusions of this study challenge the findings of the recent UK Food Standards Agency study that was widely criticised by international experts for using flawed methodology and a conclusion that contradicted its own data.
The major points of The French Agency for Food Safety study are:
1. Organic plant products contain more dry matter (more nutrient dense).
2. Organic plant products have higher levels of minerals.
3. Organic plant products contain more anti-oxidants such as phenols and salicylic acid (known to protect against cancers, heart disease and many other health problems).
4. Carbohydrate, protein and vitamin levels are insufficiently documented.
5. 94–100pc of organic foods do not contain any pesticide residues.
6. Organic vegetables contain far less nitrates, about 50pc less (high nitrate levels are linked to a range of health problems including diabetes and Alzheimer’s).
7. Organic cereals contain similar levels of mycotoxins as conventional ones..
8. Organically-bred cattle have more lean meat and more polyunsaturated fatty acids than their conventional counterparts.
9. Organic chicken fillets contain 2–3 times less fat and are significantly higher in n–3 fatty acid content (with reported anti-cancer effects and other health benefits).
Source: http://swroc.cfans.umn.edu/organic/ASD_Lairon_2009.pdf
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Varroa Mites Might Get the Flick
One of the scourges of modern apiary production in many countries has been varroa mites. While not in Australia, they are very problematical in the US.
They have been also, at least it seems, partially implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder, which has wrecked many US apiarists and the availability of bees for pollination duty in horticultural production. This has been a plus for Australia, as new queen bees have been sold to the US. CCD is a complex issue, and there have been stories published that even these overseas queens are implicated in the disorder.
But on the varroa mite front some excellent news has recently been published from the US ARS.
Their media release is below
-----------------------------------------
Honey bees are now fighting back aggressively against Varroa mites, thanks to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) efforts to develop bees with a genetic trait that allows them to more easily find the mites and toss them out of the broodnest.
The parasitic Varroa mite attacks the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., by feeding on its hemolymph, which is the combination of blood and fluid inside a bee. Colonies can be weakened or killed, depending on the severity of the infestation. Most colonies eventually die from varroa infestation if left u
ntreated.
ntreated.Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) is a genetic trait of the honey bee that allows it to remove mite-infested pupae from the capped brood–developing bees that are sealed inside cells of the comb with a protective layer of wax. The mites are sometimes difficult for the bees to locate, since they attack the bee brood while these developing bees are inside the capped cells.
ARS scientists at the agency’s Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, La., have developed honey bees with high expression of the VSH trait. Honey bees are naturally hygienic, and they often remove diseased brood from their nests. VSH is a specific form of nest cleaning focused on removing varroa-infested pupae. The VSH honey bees are quite aggressive in their pursuit of the mites. The bees gang up, chew and cut through the cap, lift out the infected brood and their mites, and discard them from the broodnest.
This hygiene kills the frail mite offspring, which greatly reduces the lifetime reproductive output of the mother mite. The mother mite may survive the ordeal and try to reproduce in brood again, only to undergo similar treatment by the bees.
To test the varroa resistance of VSH bees, the Baton Rouge team conducted field trials using 40 colonies with varying levels of VSH. Mite population growth was significantly lower in VSH and hybrid colonies than in bee colonies without VSH. Hybrid colonies had half the VSH genes normally found in pure VSH bees, but they still retained significant varroa resistance. Simpler ways for bee breeders to measure VSH behavior in colonies were also developed in this study.
This research was published in the Journal of Apicultural Research and Bee World.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief intramural scientific research agency.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief intramural scientific research agency.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Hot News - Is Chilli the Cure for Poor Lifestyle Eating?
So hot chilli is now good for you. Many in the tropics would agree, and there is nothing like a great Indian, Malay, Indonesian or Sichuan Chinese meal well laced with chilli, and other spices.
Chilli could one day replace aspirin for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to some University of Tasmania scientists who are looking at the way the spicy fruit affects the blood.
A research fellow at the university's school of life sciences, Kiran Ahuja, said the two active ingredients in chilli - capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin - have the potential to lower blood glucose and insulin levels, reduce the formation of fatty deposits in artery walls and prevent blood clots.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in developed countries.
''We have tested capsaicin and that shows an effect on platelet aggregation or the clotting of blood,'' Dr Ahuja said. She said her research, which used chilli paste to minimise seasonal or batch variation, had not come across any side-effects of chilli [so who is she kidding - ask someone who does not like chilli!!].
In fact, some studies had suggested chilli actually reduced damage caused by aspirin.
When it came to early-stage diabetes, when the pancreas over-produced insulin in an attempt to help the body absorb glucose, Dr Ahuja's research suggested consuming chilli resulted in the body producing less insulin, while the glucose was still used efficiently. ''It may actually delay or prevent the onset of diabetes,'' she said.
But for those wondering just how much chilli to add to their stir fry, Dr Ahuja said that was still to be established. ''It depends on how hot the chilli is, as the hotter it is, the more capsaicin it has.'' Dr Ahuja, has been working in the area since 2003, and has recently received a further $16,400 in funding to continue the work from the University of Tasmania.
As one wag has pondered...........
So could it be the high use of chilli in Asian diets that prevents heart disease and not the low meat/high vegetable status of these cuisines? The low cardiovascular pathologies in Asian cultures have been one of the anti-meat campaign's lynch pins. Just proves how hard it is to focus on just one dietary marker as cause and reason of good or bad health.
THAT is an interesting thought! Particularly now that red meat is being used more widely in many asian areas [with chilli of course].
Chilli could one day replace aspirin for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to some University of Tasmania scientists who are looking at the way the spicy fruit affects the blood.
A research fellow at the university's school of life sciences, Kiran Ahuja, said the two active ingredients in chilli - capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin - have the potential to lower blood glucose and insulin levels, reduce the formation of fatty deposits in artery walls and prevent blood clots.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in developed countries.
''We have tested capsaicin and that shows an effect on platelet aggregation or the clotting of blood,'' Dr Ahuja said. She said her research, which used chilli paste to minimise seasonal or batch variation, had not come across any side-effects of chilli [so who is she kidding - ask someone who does not like chilli!!].
In fact, some studies had suggested chilli actually reduced damage caused by aspirin.
When it came to early-stage diabetes, when the pancreas over-produced insulin in an attempt to help the body absorb glucose, Dr Ahuja's research suggested consuming chilli resulted in the body producing less insulin, while the glucose was still used efficiently. ''It may actually delay or prevent the onset of diabetes,'' she said.
But for those wondering just how much chilli to add to their stir fry, Dr Ahuja said that was still to be established. ''It depends on how hot the chilli is, as the hotter it is, the more capsaicin it has.'' Dr Ahuja, has been working in the area since 2003, and has recently received a further $16,400 in funding to continue the work from the University of Tasmania.
As one wag has pondered...........
So could it be the high use of chilli in Asian diets that prevents heart disease and not the low meat/high vegetable status of these cuisines? The low cardiovascular pathologies in Asian cultures have been one of the anti-meat campaign's lynch pins. Just proves how hard it is to focus on just one dietary marker as cause and reason of good or bad health.
THAT is an interesting thought! Particularly now that red meat is being used more widely in many asian areas [with chilli of course].
Friday, September 04, 2009
Plant Based Lubricant Additives CAN Replace Petroleum Sources
Plants continue to amaze me with how adaptable the products from them can be, and how many functions they can contribute to, often replacing the petroleum based current generation of products.
Sustainable production of these plant materials seems a no brainer, if petroleum products continue to increase in price, as is expected. If peak oil is nigh, then NOW is the time to really investigate the substitution of oil based with plant based products.
This link http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/sep09/petroleum0909.htm
takes you a recent ARS publication where a few of these are discussed. Many will have heard of starch based "polystyrene" substitutes, which are fully biodegradeable, in fact mostly compostable. These are now becoming more mainstream in Australia, although the USA has much wider use. They are just one product among many options.
Oil additives for lubrication especially high end areas, are a developing field with opportunities to replace oil based products with plant substitutes.
While this is US work, it applies very much to Australia as well. While we do not always manufacture these products, it does open up opportunities to develop some new options.
And we do sure need that.........NOW.
Sustainable production of these plant materials seems a no brainer, if petroleum products continue to increase in price, as is expected. If peak oil is nigh, then NOW is the time to really investigate the substitution of oil based with plant based products.
This link http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/sep09/petroleum0909.htm
takes you a recent ARS publication where a few of these are discussed. Many will have heard of starch based "polystyrene" substitutes, which are fully biodegradeable, in fact mostly compostable. These are now becoming more mainstream in Australia, although the USA has much wider use. They are just one product among many options.
Oil additives for lubrication especially high end areas, are a developing field with opportunities to replace oil based products with plant substitutes.
While this is US work, it applies very much to Australia as well. While we do not always manufacture these products, it does open up opportunities to develop some new options.
And we do sure need that.........NOW.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Recycled Effluent Safe - Public Health Study Finds
Recycling of water is now a major effort in Australia, a very dry continent.
Serious drought over about 10 years has driven urban water users and the various urban water authorities to invest in a range of water recycling schemes. Some are very sophisticated, others less so.
The Ministerial Council on the Environment has promulgated new Guidelines to Using Recycled Water and many jurisdictions have started to use these guidelines to develop recycled water schemes too.
The following is a media release that reports on a public health examination of recycled water use and abuse in a major scheme NW of Sydney, Australia.
It is generally good news..........treated recycled effluent was ok, even with some misuse and abuse of the water.
-----------------------------------
As purple taps become an increasingly common sight in new Australian suburbs, a study has found no corresponding jump in gastro cases linked to the recycled water they deliver.
Researchers checked two years' worth of patient records from GPs located in Australia's largest residential recycled water scheme, in Sydney's northwest, and they found nothing out of the ordinary.
More than 18,000 homes are in the Rouse Hill Recycled Water Scheme and residents are told the extra water they have on tap, coming from a nearby waste-water plant, is not for drinking.
Similar schemes have been rolled out in new suburbs across the country, but the Monash University study was the first to check for any related impact on public health.
"They have recommendations on how the water should be used but (authorities) obviously can't police that," says Associate Professor Karin Leder, of the university's School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine.
"But what we can say ... in practice, we were unable to identify any observable health risks."
Dr Leder says the recycled water was "very heavily treated" and "any health risk would be very unlikely" but there was still a chance, in the event of a treatment failure, that it could contain pathogens or bacteria capable of making people sick.
The study did uncover some well-meaning households which used recycled water to top up their swimming pool, against advice.
"Even if people are using the water exactly as recommended there is the potential for ingestion - drinking very small amounts of water - during activities like car washing," Dr Leder says.
Researchers reviewed 36,000 patient visits across 11 doctors' clinics to check for any spike in acute gastroenteritis, acute skin complaints or acute respiratory conditions. Rates of illness were no different to surrounding suburbs with no access to recycled water and, Dr Leder says, this was a positive sign for the water-saving scheme. "Australia should continue to pioneer ... these kinds of recycled water schemes," she says. "When properly managed, they are a safe option that can be considered among the many options that might be available for recycling water."
Serious drought over about 10 years has driven urban water users and the various urban water authorities to invest in a range of water recycling schemes. Some are very sophisticated, others less so.
The Ministerial Council on the Environment has promulgated new Guidelines to Using Recycled Water and many jurisdictions have started to use these guidelines to develop recycled water schemes too.
The following is a media release that reports on a public health examination of recycled water use and abuse in a major scheme NW of Sydney, Australia.
It is generally good news..........treated recycled effluent was ok, even with some misuse and abuse of the water.
-----------------------------------
As purple taps become an increasingly common sight in new Australian suburbs, a study has found no corresponding jump in gastro cases linked to the recycled water they deliver.
Researchers checked two years' worth of patient records from GPs located in Australia's largest residential recycled water scheme, in Sydney's northwest, and they found nothing out of the ordinary.
More than 18,000 homes are in the Rouse Hill Recycled Water Scheme and residents are told the extra water they have on tap, coming from a nearby waste-water plant, is not for drinking.
Similar schemes have been rolled out in new suburbs across the country, but the Monash University study was the first to check for any related impact on public health.
"They have recommendations on how the water should be used but (authorities) obviously can't police that," says Associate Professor Karin Leder, of the university's School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine.
"But what we can say ... in practice, we were unable to identify any observable health risks."
Dr Leder says the recycled water was "very heavily treated" and "any health risk would be very unlikely" but there was still a chance, in the event of a treatment failure, that it could contain pathogens or bacteria capable of making people sick.
The study did uncover some well-meaning households which used recycled water to top up their swimming pool, against advice.
"Even if people are using the water exactly as recommended there is the potential for ingestion - drinking very small amounts of water - during activities like car washing," Dr Leder says.
Researchers reviewed 36,000 patient visits across 11 doctors' clinics to check for any spike in acute gastroenteritis, acute skin complaints or acute respiratory conditions. Rates of illness were no different to surrounding suburbs with no access to recycled water and, Dr Leder says, this was a positive sign for the water-saving scheme. "Australia should continue to pioneer ... these kinds of recycled water schemes," she says. "When properly managed, they are a safe option that can be considered among the many options that might be available for recycling water."
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Modern Livestock Production - NOT
I am not so sure this particular methodology will work, and tend to believe the comments.
However, soft handling of livestock does pay off. Improved animal welfare epecially handling methods will usually translate into improved profits and better animal behaviour.
Are you using improved animal handling methods?
[ with recognition to the copyright holders]
However, soft handling of livestock does pay off. Improved animal welfare epecially handling methods will usually translate into improved profits and better animal behaviour.
Are you using improved animal handling methods?
[ with recognition to the copyright holders]
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Eureka Prize for Genetic Test to Breed Poll Braham Cattle
A team of scientists led by CSIRO’s Dr Kishore Prayaga was last night awarded a prestigious Australian Museum Eureka Prize for its work to develop a simple genetic test which has the potential to end the need to dehorn cattle. And in doing so the breakthrough has the potential to also avoid future clashes between the beef industry and animal rights activists.
While horn removal is a routine practice carried out by beef producers to reduce the incidence of cattle injuring other cattle and their handlers, there is a fear within the industry that the practice could one day provoke animal rights activists into campaigning against beef in the same way they have campaigned against the wool industry's practice of mulesing.
Notably the $10,000 Eureka Prize for Scientific Research that Contributes to Animal Protection was sponsored by animal rights group Voiceless.
About half of Australia’s 21 million beef cattle are born with horns, but dehorning causes short term pain and stress for the animal, is labour-intensive and time-consuming for producers, and can reduce animal weight gain for several weeks following the procedure.
The team, which is funded by the Beef CRC and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and involves scientists from CSIRO and Queensland Primary Industry and Fisheries (QPIF), has been researching alternatives to current dehorning practices. "We have discovered a DNA marker in Bos indicius (tropically adapted cattle e.g. Brahman) which identifies the cattle that will produce polled or naturally hornless offspring," Dr Prayaga said. "Our aim is to commercialise this work into a simple test, so that cattle producers in the extensive, rangeland conditions in Northern Australia will be able for the first time to increase the proportion of polled cattle in their herd."
While there are a number of naturally “polled”, or hornless bulls within the existing cattle population, selective breeding to eliminate horns would have taken decades. This new test is expected to strip years off this projected timescale. The proposed genetic test has now been validated twice in research.
"This breakthrough has the potential to alleviate and even eliminate the pain associated with the dehorning of millions of cattle every year," Frank Howarth, director of the Australian Museum, said. "It will revolutionise the breeding of Brahman cattle."
The team has also been working on effective pain reduction and alleviation strategies for producers to use in the meantime. According to QPIF’s Dr Carol Petherick short term strategies are needed because genetics can’t solve the problem overnight. "We have experimented with local anaesthetics and analgesics, and different animal management strategies to reduce and alleviate pain," Dr Petherick said. "Experiments are continuing to find the most effective short term solutions while producers focus on breeding entirely polled herds in the future."
The team found that the pain relief used in sheep mulesing, a topical anaesthetic and antiseptic solution, is the most promising for dehorning. In June, they began a follow-up study to see if these practices will reduce the pain, stress and blood loss associated with dehorning Brahman weaner bulls. The study will also test the effectiveness of wound cauterisation.
The winning team also includes Dr Max Mariasegaram, Post-Doctoral Fellow and PhD student Stephanie Sinclair from CSIRO.
While horn removal is a routine practice carried out by beef producers to reduce the incidence of cattle injuring other cattle and their handlers, there is a fear within the industry that the practice could one day provoke animal rights activists into campaigning against beef in the same way they have campaigned against the wool industry's practice of mulesing.
Notably the $10,000 Eureka Prize for Scientific Research that Contributes to Animal Protection was sponsored by animal rights group Voiceless.
About half of Australia’s 21 million beef cattle are born with horns, but dehorning causes short term pain and stress for the animal, is labour-intensive and time-consuming for producers, and can reduce animal weight gain for several weeks following the procedure.
The team, which is funded by the Beef CRC and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and involves scientists from CSIRO and Queensland Primary Industry and Fisheries (QPIF), has been researching alternatives to current dehorning practices. "We have discovered a DNA marker in Bos indicius (tropically adapted cattle e.g. Brahman) which identifies the cattle that will produce polled or naturally hornless offspring," Dr Prayaga said. "Our aim is to commercialise this work into a simple test, so that cattle producers in the extensive, rangeland conditions in Northern Australia will be able for the first time to increase the proportion of polled cattle in their herd."
While there are a number of naturally “polled”, or hornless bulls within the existing cattle population, selective breeding to eliminate horns would have taken decades. This new test is expected to strip years off this projected timescale. The proposed genetic test has now been validated twice in research.
"This breakthrough has the potential to alleviate and even eliminate the pain associated with the dehorning of millions of cattle every year," Frank Howarth, director of the Australian Museum, said. "It will revolutionise the breeding of Brahman cattle."
The team has also been working on effective pain reduction and alleviation strategies for producers to use in the meantime. According to QPIF’s Dr Carol Petherick short term strategies are needed because genetics can’t solve the problem overnight. "We have experimented with local anaesthetics and analgesics, and different animal management strategies to reduce and alleviate pain," Dr Petherick said. "Experiments are continuing to find the most effective short term solutions while producers focus on breeding entirely polled herds in the future."
The team found that the pain relief used in sheep mulesing, a topical anaesthetic and antiseptic solution, is the most promising for dehorning. In June, they began a follow-up study to see if these practices will reduce the pain, stress and blood loss associated with dehorning Brahman weaner bulls. The study will also test the effectiveness of wound cauterisation.
The winning team also includes Dr Max Mariasegaram, Post-Doctoral Fellow and PhD student Stephanie Sinclair from CSIRO.
Water Crisis Will Impact on Asia's Food
Water is fundemental to growing food crops. Even with climate change, many parts of Asia seemed to be well supplied with water. That may be so, but with significant population increases, all may not be very rosy with existing agricultural irrigation structures.
Most of these are relatively old, and not very water efficient. That may have to change!
The following media release seems to say it all..........
And this has been released at about the time Australia is debating intensfied agriculture in northern Australia. Is there a role for our region in north Australia to demonstrate modern, high quality good management practices in relation to water use?
--------------------------
[media release]
Scientists have warned Asian countries that they face chronic food shortages and likely social unrest if they do not improve water management. The water experts are meeting at a UN-sponsored conference in Sweden. They say countries in south and east Asia must spend billions of dollars to improve antiquated crop irrigation to cope with rapid population increases.
That estimate does not yet take into account the possible impact of global warming on water supplies, they said. Asia's population is forecast to increase by 1.5bn people over the next 40 years.
Going hungry
The findings are published in a new joint report by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). They suggest that Asian countries will need to import more than a quarter of their rice and other staples to feed their populations.
"Asia's food and feed demand is expected to double by 2050," said IWMI director general Colin Chartres. "Relying on trade to meet a large part of this demand will impose a huge and politically untenable burden on the economies of many developing countries. "The best bet for Asia lies in revitalising its vast irrigation systems, which account for 70% of the world's total irrigated land," he said. “ Without water productivity gains, South Asia would need 57% more water for irrigated agriculture and East Asia 70% more. ” [Report by UN Food and Agricultural Organisation and the International Water Management Institute]
With new agricultural land in short supply, the solution, he said, is to intensify irrigation methods, modernising old systems built in the 1970s and 1980s. But that, he says will require billions of dollars of investment.
'Scary scenarios'
At the same time as needing to import more food, the prices of those cereals are likely to continue to rise due to increasingly volatile international markets. The report says millions of farmers have taken the responsibility for irrigation into their own hands, mainly using out-of-date and inefficient pump technology. This means they can extract as much water as they like from their land, draining a precious natural resource.
"Governments' inability to regulate this practice is giving rise to scary scenarios of groundwater over-exploitation, which could lead to regional food crises and widespread social unrest," said the IWMI's Tushaar Shah, a co-author of the report.
Asian governments must join with the private sector to invest in modern, and more efficient methods of using water, the study concluded. "Without water productivity gains, south Asia would need 57% more water for irrigated agriculture and east Asia 70% more," the study found. "Given the scarcity of land and water, and growing water needs for cities, such a scenario is untenable," it said.
The scenarios forecast do not factor in the impact of global warming, which will likely make rainfall more erratic and less plentiful in some agricultural regions over the coming decades.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8206466.stm
Published: 2009/08/18 03:55:19 GMT© BBC MMIX
Most of these are relatively old, and not very water efficient. That may have to change!
The following media release seems to say it all..........
And this has been released at about the time Australia is debating intensfied agriculture in northern Australia. Is there a role for our region in north Australia to demonstrate modern, high quality good management practices in relation to water use?
--------------------------
[media release]
Scientists have warned Asian countries that they face chronic food shortages and likely social unrest if they do not improve water management. The water experts are meeting at a UN-sponsored conference in Sweden. They say countries in south and east Asia must spend billions of dollars to improve antiquated crop irrigation to cope with rapid population increases.
That estimate does not yet take into account the possible impact of global warming on water supplies, they said. Asia's population is forecast to increase by 1.5bn people over the next 40 years.
Going hungry
The findings are published in a new joint report by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). They suggest that Asian countries will need to import more than a quarter of their rice and other staples to feed their populations.
"Asia's food and feed demand is expected to double by 2050," said IWMI director general Colin Chartres. "Relying on trade to meet a large part of this demand will impose a huge and politically untenable burden on the economies of many developing countries. "The best bet for Asia lies in revitalising its vast irrigation systems, which account for 70% of the world's total irrigated land," he said. “ Without water productivity gains, South Asia would need 57% more water for irrigated agriculture and East Asia 70% more. ” [Report by UN Food and Agricultural Organisation and the International Water Management Institute]
With new agricultural land in short supply, the solution, he said, is to intensify irrigation methods, modernising old systems built in the 1970s and 1980s. But that, he says will require billions of dollars of investment.
'Scary scenarios'
At the same time as needing to import more food, the prices of those cereals are likely to continue to rise due to increasingly volatile international markets. The report says millions of farmers have taken the responsibility for irrigation into their own hands, mainly using out-of-date and inefficient pump technology. This means they can extract as much water as they like from their land, draining a precious natural resource.
"Governments' inability to regulate this practice is giving rise to scary scenarios of groundwater over-exploitation, which could lead to regional food crises and widespread social unrest," said the IWMI's Tushaar Shah, a co-author of the report.
Asian governments must join with the private sector to invest in modern, and more efficient methods of using water, the study concluded. "Without water productivity gains, south Asia would need 57% more water for irrigated agriculture and east Asia 70% more," the study found. "Given the scarcity of land and water, and growing water needs for cities, such a scenario is untenable," it said.
The scenarios forecast do not factor in the impact of global warming, which will likely make rainfall more erratic and less plentiful in some agricultural regions over the coming decades.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8206466.stm
Published: 2009/08/18 03:55:19 GMT© BBC MMIX
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Fertilisers from Air Improve Food Crops
The Singapore Straits Times paper has an interesting article on August 3 2009 that looks at global food production. A recent recurring theme in Singapore is that suddenly they seem to have realised that they produce so little of their own food – about 5%or so overall, although in some sectors they are planning increases to around 15% over the next 5 years.
The article is by Thomas Hager, author of the recent and well received book The Alchemy of Air, an examination of the history and analysis of the Haber-Bosch reaction that produces nitrogen fertiliser from air nitrogen.
While credit is given to modern genetics and the agricultural scientists that were instrumental in developing and then widely disseminating – “the green revolution” with highly productive varieties of a range of crops, cheap nitrogen from air does have a lot to do with enhanced agricultural productivity, world wide.
And if food production is up around the world, is that why the world is getting fatter? The reason we are not all starving today could be adduced as the result of the combination of these two factors – with the cheap nitrogen factor a very key issue. Without that nitrogen, the productivity of modern crops and modern varieties would be much lower.
Naysayers decry use of inorganic fertilisers – we should all be producing organically grown food crops. But productivity would be much lower. Yields can be driven with nitrogen even in organic crops. But........nitrogen from the air........is not that natural too? Even if helped along a bit.
Sure excess nitrogen can be a pollutant......but without that nitrogen in fertiliser we might all be starving.
The book has received excellent reviews, and no I have not read it so far. But have a read of the article and there are some excellent book reviews too. See more here:www.thomashager.net/index.htm
The article is by Thomas Hager, author of the recent and well received book The Alchemy of Air, an examination of the history and analysis of the Haber-Bosch reaction that produces nitrogen fertiliser from air nitrogen.
While credit is given to modern genetics and the agricultural scientists that were instrumental in developing and then widely disseminating – “the green revolution” with highly productive varieties of a range of crops, cheap nitrogen from air does have a lot to do with enhanced agricultural productivity, world wide.
And if food production is up around the world, is that why the world is getting fatter? The reason we are not all starving today could be adduced as the result of the combination of these two factors – with the cheap nitrogen factor a very key issue. Without that nitrogen, the productivity of modern crops and modern varieties would be much lower.
Naysayers decry use of inorganic fertilisers – we should all be producing organically grown food crops. But productivity would be much lower. Yields can be driven with nitrogen even in organic crops. But........nitrogen from the air........is not that natural too? Even if helped along a bit.
Sure excess nitrogen can be a pollutant......but without that nitrogen in fertiliser we might all be starving.
The book has received excellent reviews, and no I have not read it so far. But have a read of the article and there are some excellent book reviews too. See more here:www.thomashager.net/index.htm
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