GENETICS AND FOOD SECURITY.

I have always been fascinated about genes ,mapping,cloning and isolation. The fact that you can completely erase certain traits from a line and add desired traits to a line simply blows my mind.

 The fact that new strains,varieties and offspring's can actually be produced by gene manipulation is just awesome and its even more interesting as i believe this holds the key to food security.

 Every living form; plants,animals and even micro organisms have codes called genes, which are information about what that living form.These genes represent traits about that living form that cannot be easily recognized by looking at the organism.

Welcome to genetic engineering!!!. The work on genes dates back to sir Mendel; who explained how traits can be transferred and also what traits to expect in selective breeding both in plants and animals.This method was adopted to produce desired progeny.

 The work has progressed over the years with enormous technological development....resulting in biotechnology in agriculture.

 Agriculture has evolved over the years with many innovations to solve pressing issues such as food scarcity, diseases, environmental factors (such as flood,drought and arid region ),food preservation and lower yields.

These issues have been identified as major causes of lack of food security thus various solutions have been proffered typically biotechnology; which is the use of genetically engineered strains of plants and animals to produce better strains with higher yield and enhanced flavors.

 Farmers have been improving plants and animals through selection and breeding desirable traits.Bio technology enhances breeders ability to make improvement in crops and livestock,this is achieved through various techniques used to improve plants and animals.

Bio technology use gene modification,genetic improvement and genetic engineering

.Crops improved with transferred traits referred to as genetic improvement have been developed to aid farmers to increase productivity . 

Biotechnology holds the key to food security with higher yield and better products.

FOOD SECURITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.

Food security basically exists when all people in a country/community at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life style.

 The education /awareness of people as to how to combine various crops to produced balanced meals and the availability of resources to procure these crops is a vital point in food security. The agricultural aspect is rightly divided into crops and animal production.The processing,packaging and preservation of these products ensure food security.

The development of various strategies ensure that supply of food are continuous with plenty in reserve and much more to export.The various strategies can be utilized to ensure food security in the various agricultural chain. 

 1) The education of the women play a vital role in food security since they are involved in various stages of production,the importance of family planning and other health related issues are paramount.

The careful planning of family,will limit the number of mouths to feed,thus reducing the risk of death associated with multiple pregnancies. 

Women should be educated about reproductive issues,money making ventures and the impact of food on economic growth.

 2) introduction of bio crops, which are better varieties and strains of common seeds that they are used to, this will shorten harvest time and produce higher yield of crops. 

 3) The use of composting as a means of waste management, which results in good quality fertilizer 

. 4) The waste management can be further utilized to produce electricity which will save overhead cost. 5) irrigation in arid regions is also another strategy, where rain water ,waste water can be collected,treated and plowed back to the farm to aid production.

 6)newer and better animal strains can be synchronized and bred resulting in large litter sizes,bigger sized animals. 

 7) biotechnology using aeroponics/hydroponics is a major route to ensure food security. v

FOOD SECURITY.

Food security refers to the availability of nutritious food to citizen of a country or community.The rate of population explosion has threatened food security in most African countries, with the rate of increase in population not commensurate to food availability. Climatic changes and global warming are also factors threatening food security. Food security is one of the millennium development goals adopted by various countries to eradicate poverty.The food security is discussed on 4 points; 1) Availability...there must be a constant source/supply of food. 2) Accessibility...people must have resources to purchase the food.The people must have a source of livelihood,or a means of exchange to purchase the food. 3)Utilization..there must be the knowledge of basic food handling, preparations and food combination to ensure that food is nutritious. 4)Stability..the ability to access and utilize the food that results in stable and a sustainable life style. The process to ensure food security is multidimensional with women playing major roles in the production,processing and marketing of products. The challenges of food security differs among countries with each zone tackling issues from diseases,processing,prolonged drought,poor seedlings, and land issues. Food security is tackled now by incorporating new agricultural methods to produce,preserve and distribute these crops.Education of farmers is the major key to ensure food security, the introduction of new strains that are resistant to diseases, that mature faster and produce higher harvest. The road to food security is mashed in biotechnology, both in animal husbandry and crop production.When newer strains are produced,more harvest is expected over a short period of time.

FUNDING AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS.

Farmers just like any other business,may need to lean on a financial arm for support at a point in time.Many farmers dont know the opportunities they have to access these facilities, or how to access them and grow. Farming is a lucrative venture duly supported by government,financial giants,cooperative bodies and micro finance schemes. Agricultural loans are of various types , can be accessed at various levels and have different amounts as per the size of the project.These loans can be accessed corporately or as individuals,depending on amount involved,most of these loans can only be accessed when the farm has an insurance cover. Agricultural loans and agricultural insurance are intertwined,you cannot do one without the other; before you try to access the loan make sure you are insured.The basic requirement for the loan are as follows; 1) application form. 2) farm records; showing productivity and profitability. 3) Registration record/licence of farm. 4) account details. The banks that give out such loans include bank of agriculture, and first bank ,they also require you have an account with them that is operational.

Vet tech daily is out!!!

http://paper.li/NipKitty/1321468815?edition_id=85a6b0e0-5a47-11e5-b153-0cc47a0d1609

Food in a column # biotechnology.

Seeds can be cultivated in nutrient media instead of soil, and this is done in a controlled environment this system is referred to as hydroponics /aeroponics depending on the conditions of growth.This system enables farming even in your room or balcony or any small space that can house the system you want to adopt. Technology bringing change in its track; who could have imagined farming without soil or land? can you imagine planting tomatoes or vegetables or even yam in a column -like stand or table? Welcome to the world of BIOTECH; feeding the world with ease. The world today is faced with population explosion; the growth of the population is not at the same rate as food production and processing leaving most developing countries on poverty threshold and food scarcity. The world now is looking at strategies for food security and sustainability to eliminate hunger and eradicate poverty. Biotechnology has actually shown great potential to achieve food security in the agricultural sector where it has been used to develop plant strains that are resistant to pests and diseases. Biotechnology has also been employed to improve food processing,nutritional value better flavor and productivity of plants,vegetables and other food crops. Agric biotechnology is the use of scientific techniques to modify and improve crops by selective breeding,better species of crops are cultivated that are resistant to various diseases.The biotech method of cultivation enhances production,producing crops that are bigger,better and mature early. In the world today where urban farming is practiced space has always been a constraint, but with the biotech technology, space is not a problem. The nutrient media are used for growth,and the crops are grown in columns, walkways and boxes, making cultivation easy.

BIO TECHNOLOGY AND FOOD SECURITY.

Biotechnology is one of the various ways of using scientific principles and techniques to produce crops that are pure strains and resistant to diseases. Biotechnology,nanotechnology,genetic engineering are all scientific interventions to produce better crops,improve plants,animals and microorganisms to enhance their value. The world today is faced with population explosion; the growth of the population is not at the same rate as food production and processing leaving most developing countries on poverty threshold and food scarcity. The world now is looking at strategies for food security and sustainability to eliminate hunger and eradicate poverty. Biotechnology has actually shown great potential to achieve food security in the agricultural sector where it has been used to develop plant strains that are resistant to pests and diseases. Biotechnology has also been employed to improve food processing,nutritional value better flavor and productivity of plants,vegetables and other food crops. Agric biotechnology is the use of scientific techniques to modify and improve crops by selective breeding. Advances in science especially in the field of molecular biology has provided scientist with ability to manipulate food at molecular level referred to as genetic engineering.The technique employed in genetic engineering is the transfer of DNA from species with specific desired traits into distantly related organisms. Genetic engineering allows the transfer of one or more traits from specific organism,plants,animals and microorganism and introduce them to new strains to come up with genetically modified strains with better productivity. The technology era has brought with it innovation , information , inputs and institutional support to enhance economic growth and development.The use of technology to ensure food security cannot be overemphasized,and so many options are at our fingertips to ensure food sustainability. Food can be cultivated in nutrient media instead of soil, and this is done in a controlled environment this system is referred to as hydroponics /aeroponics depending on the conditions of growth.This system enables farming even in your room or balcony or any small space that can house the system you want to adopt. Technology bringing change in its track; who could have imagined farming without soil or land? can you imagine planting tomatoes or vegetables or even yam in a column -like stand or table? Welcome to the world of BIOTECH; feeding the world with ease.