Agriculture (main)
From The Encyclopedia of Earth
Agriculture
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Fuels From an Ancient Crop?Main Image: Chemical engineer Akwasi Boateng (right) and mechanical engineer Neil Goldberg (center) adjust pyrolysis process conditions while chemist Charles Mullen... More »
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Agricultural Health StudyAgricultural Health Study (AHS) The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) is a prospective study of licensed pesticide applicators from North Carolina and Iowa recruited in... More »
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Svalbard Global Seed VaultSvalbard Global Seed Vault The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, or the Doomsday Vault as the media have nicknamed it, was officially opened on February 26, 2008, to serve as the... More »
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Food Security / Insecurity: Call for ArticlesThe intent of this core article is to encourage the generation of a set of associated articles focused on the challenges and opportunities facing humankind in addressing food... More »
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Climate Adaptation of RiceClimate Adaptation of Rice Symbiogenics: A New Strategy for Reducing Climate Impacts on Plants Rice–which provides nearly half the daily calories for the... More »
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Sonoran Bumblebee (Agriculture)Bombus sonorus, the Sonoran Bumblebee The Sonoran bumblebee, Bombus sonorus, is a large and colorful native bee of the Sonoran desert and much of the western United States.... More »
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Perdita minima (Agriculture)Perdita minima "World’s Smallest Bee" Native bees come in all shapes and sizes. Many gardeners are familiar with the large black and yellow... More »
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Phosphorus: A ParadoxPhosphate rock has emerged as a globally traded commodity linked to a diverse set of politically charged debates, ranging from environmental degradation and threats to human... More »
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Climate Change, Crop Yields, and UndernutritionThis podcast with Sari Kovats of the Department of Social and Environmental Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was produced by Ashley Ahearn*. It... More »
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Animal Agriculture and the Environment Last Updated on 2014-11-15 14:53:25 Animal production industries have seen substantial changes over the past several decades, the result of domestic/export market forces and technological changes. The number of large operations has increased, and animal and feed production are increasingly separated in terms of both management and geography. Concern that these changes are harming the environment has prompted local, State, and Federal policies and programs to control pollution from animal production facilities. Changes in the structure of livestock and poultry production are behind many of the current concerns about animals and the environment. Structural changes have been driven by both innovation and economies of scale. Organizational innovations, such as production contract arrangements, enable growers to access the capital necessary to adopt innovative technologies and garner economies of size in their efforts... More » 
Food Production and Irrigation Last Updated on 2014-10-28 11:57:28 Timing crop plantings to take advantage of seasonal water availability, although still widely practiced, is no longer sufficient to feed the world. More and more farmers supplement available soil water through irrigation using water collected from different locations or at different times of the year. Irrigated acreage and water withdrawals for agriculture have doubled since 1975. Over the same period, water withdrawals for industrial and domestic purposes have increased four-fold, but they still account for less than half of the amount withdrawn for agricultural purposes. The majority of the world’s best farmland, in terms of climate and soils, is located in the temperate zones that lie between the tropics and the polar circles. A large percentage of this land is now irrigated. Water for irrigation in several major agricultural regions depends on snow that... More » 
International Food Security Assessment: 2012-22 Last Updated on 2014-10-26 16:56:26 Food security is estimated to improve slightly in 2012 as the number of food-insecure people in the 76 countries covered in this report declines from 814 million in 2011 to 802 million in 2012. The share of the population that is food insecure remains at 24 percent. Over the next decade, the share of the population that is food insecure is projected to decline from 24 percent in 2012 to 21 percent in 2022, but the number of food insecure people is projected to increase by 37 million. Regionally, food insecurity is projected to remain most severe in Sub-Saharan Africa. Food-insecure people are defined as those consuming less than the nutritional target of roughly 2,100 calories per day per person. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) has, since the late 1970s, reported annually on food security in a number of developing countries. A key... More » 
CIGAR Consortium (Agriculture) Last Updated on 2012-07-09 12:25:24 The CGIAR Consortium is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future. CGIAR Consortium The name CGIAR comes from the acronym for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. In 2008 the CGIAR underwent a major transformation. To reflect this and yet retain our roots we have kept CGIAR as our name. CGIAR research is dedicated to reducing rural poverty, increasing food security, improving human healthand nutrition, and ensuring more sustainable management of natural resources. It is carried out by 15 Centers, thatare members of the CGIAR Consortium, in close collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector. The 15 Research Centers generate and disseminate knowledge,... More » 
Rufous hummingbird (Agriculture) Last Updated on 2012-06-25 00:00:00 In strong sunlight, male Rufous hummingbirds put on quite a show with throat feathers flashing, a reddish orange iridescence brighter than a neon sign. The Rufous Hummingbird: Small but Feisty Long-Distance Migrant Many western and southwestern gardeners know the Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) as a delightful often-unexpected visitor to colorful garden wildflowers or hummingbird feeders. These amazing small but feisty birds (only 3 inches or 8cm long) weigh merely three or four grams; for comparison, a United States penny weighs slightly about 2.5 grams). These birds are amazing aerialists, darting in and out, and can be relentless attackers of other birds and insects at feeders and flowers. They have long slender nearly straight bills. Their wings are relatively short and do not reach the end of the tail when the birds are perched on a feeder or nearby branches.... More » 
