Zero budget farming makes farmer millions.

The Art of Living has been working in the field of organic farming since 2008. It has trained more than 2 million farmers and unemployed youth in this sustainable and profitable method of farming. Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Trust (SSIAST) has brought a wave of change in the life of these farmers. 44-year-old Rajiv Kumar from Sheikhpur district of Bihar had 4 acres of land that was lying barren and earning him no income. With only a dry riverbed near-by, water shortage was scarce in the region. He was thus unable to utilise this land for cultivation. In 2009, Rajiv was unemployed with seven family members to feed. In an attempt to salvage the land, he attended a Zero Budget workshop conducted by Mr. Balakrishan of the Art of Living. He learnt water conservation and methods to replace nutrients in the soil. Different crops were grown at the same time and cow dung and cow urine were used as fertilizers. This kept the cost of farming at a minimum with the farmer only investing in water and seeds. Rajiv implemented the techniques he had learnt in the workshop by growing flowers on his land. Rajiv dug pits every 30 feet, filled it with water, and sowed different types of flowers and fruits around it. This helped increase the ground water flow. As plants need moisture, and not water, cultivating near a pit of water provided better irrigation and prevented water wastage. The water supply is now available 24x7: Rajiv has created a thriving nursery of flowers of excellent quality. Along with flowers, he now grows Rosewood, Mango, Teak, Lemon, Pomegranate, Papaya, and Lakshmi Taru. Instead of using chemical pesticides, he sows a Neem plant every 30 feet and sprinkles ash from the agnihotra puja he performs. This effectively keeps his nursery healthy. Rajiv was unemployed before the training, but now he is ready to train others in this method of farming. On an average, around 500 people from across the land visit his nursery and marvel at the flowers. Today, he sells his flowers and fruits to numerous customers including the Forest Department of Bihar. While the average per capita income of Bihar is Rs. 28,000, Rajiv is earning more than Rs. 400,000 per annum. more

Precision agriculture with Farm bot.

Precision farming has been hailed as the future of agriculture, sustainability, and the food industry. That’s why a company called FarmBot is working to bring precision agriculture technology to environmentally conscious individuals for the first time. The company’s first product — the FarmBot Genesis — is a do-it-yourself precision farming solution, that (theoretically) anyone can figure out. The system is already up to its ninth iteration, and the open source robot improves in each version thanks to input from the FarmBot community. The precision farming movement may not solve every problem the industry faces, but it does have a lot of potential to improve sustainability and efficiency. Before FarmBot, precision agriculture equipment was only available in the form of massive heavy machinery. Precision farming tractors used to cost more than $1 million each when FarmBot creator Rory Aronson first had the idea for his solution in 2011. More

Scientists find new antibiotic in the human nose.

Scientists have discovered a bacteria living inside the human nose that produces an antibiotic capable of killing one of the most hard-to-treat pathogens, which causes serious, even deadly skin and wound infections, bloodstream infections and pneumonia. German researchers found that this antibacterial substance was effective in treating skin infections in mice caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, according to a study published in Nature. The scientists said the substance, which they named lugdunin, has potent antimicrobial effects against a wide range of bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant strains such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus, or MRSA, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus bacteria. The scientists said their find represents the first known example of a new class of antibiotics. That’s seen as particularly welcome news given the urgent global problem of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and the dwindling arsenal of drugs to replace ones that no longer work. The German researchers said lugdunin also is not prone to causing S. aureus to develop resistance. They are not exactly sure how it works, and clinical development is many years away and will require partners from the pharmaceutical industry. It’s possible that lugdunin disrupts the target bacteria’s cell membranes, but that could also make it harder to develop as a drug for injection because of its potential for also disrupting animal membranes. The German researchers for the study examined nasal swabs from 187 hospitalized patients and found that of the people who carried S. lugdunensis, only about 6 percent also carried S. aureus compared with 34 percent in individuals without the nasal bacteria. Those differences are evidence that bacteria in the nose help keep S. aureus at bay.more

English Bulldogs Require Infusion Of New Bloodline To Survive Amid Health Problems.

The cross-breeding of the English Bulldog is required to ensure its survival amid growing health problems. The selective nature of breeding for physical traits has made the Bulldog so inbred it cannot be returned to health unless with an infusion of new bloodlines, a genetic study published in the journal Canine Genetics and Epidemiology suggests. The U.S. researchers have said that the Olde English Bulldogge, a related breed from America, is likely a candidate. The English Bulldog breed, which is also known as the British Bulldog, has cultural association with the United Kingdom, but has also been adopted worldwide. The breed is of gentle temperament and requires low-maintenance. But the breed suffers from several medical conditions, including breathing difficulties, skin allergies and mobility problems. Pedersen and his colleagues from the Center for Companion Animal Health conducted tests on the DNA of 102 registered English Bulldogs to determine its genetic diversity. However, the results show that the dogs have very low levels of diversity. Comparisons between the 102 registered bulldogs and an additional 37 animals suggest there was no difference genetically between the registered animals and dogs from commercial breeders. Pedersen noted that there are some English Bulldogs that can breed normally and give birth normally, while there are some that are more mobile than others, there are some that can breathe better than others, and some that don't have the skin allergies and auto-immune disorders. He added that it's hard to find one individual that contains all of those traits. You may have one English Bulldog that does not have the extreme changes in the head so that they breathe easier, but they may have lots of skeletal problems that lead to extreme arthritis.continue

Danville veterinary workers save calf,while kayaking.

A kayaking excursion on the Dan River turned into an animal rescue mission for five local veterinary workers Wednesday afternoon near Milton, North Carolina. The five women — employees at Animal Medical Center of Danville — saved a calf from sliding down an embankment into the river. “We were out there kayaking and having a good time and me and one of my friends … heard the mother crying,” said Desiree Robertson, a veterinary technician. “We glanced back and saw the calf stuck in the mud.” Jenny Gauldin, an assistant groomer at the center, said the calf was down a 20-foot drop. The group had started their kayaking trip at Anglers Park before encountering the calf near Milton at the Virginia/North Carolina border. Robertson — along with Gauldin, Megan Barnes and Lauren Spivey — climbed the mudslide, tied a rope around calf’s chest and hoisted him up the bank, Robertson said. Three of them pulled the calf up the bank while Gauldin pushed him from beneath, Gauldin said. “We just went over there and took action,” Robertson said.They delivered the animal back to his mother at the top of the embankment.“We made sure he had suckled and then we left,” Gauldin said, adding that the rescue took about 10-20 minutes. Gauldin said they all were sunburned by the time the rescue was over. One of the calf’s owners, Josh Burnett, said he was “very grateful” the women — who also included veterinary technician Tonya Wyatt — saved the animal. Burnett has known Barnes for 15 years and takes his three dogs to Animal Medical Center. Barnes called Burnett after the rescue and told him what happened, he said. More

Large- animal sedative implicated in human drug overdoses.

Carfentanil a drug used to sedate elephants and other large animals which is 100 times as potent as the fentanyl have been found to be mixed with or passed off as heroin. The appearance of carfentanil, one of the most potent opioids known to investigators, has added another angle to cases of drug overdoses, heroin and abuse of fentanyl. Carfentanil is so powerful that zoo veterinarians typically wear face shields, gloves and other protective gear — "just a little bit short of a hazmat suit" — when preparing the medicine to sedate animals because even one drop splattered into a person's eye or nose could be fatal, said Dr. Rob Hilsenroth, executive director of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians. He explained that a loaded syringe of a reversal drug is kept on hand in case of an accident and the extremely limited carfentanil supply regulators allow for such facilities to be kept and locked away and its subject to auditing. Investigators are trying to track down the source of the carfentanil. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said he was unaware of any thefts of the drug, which, he noted, could be shipped from abroad or produced here. Chinese companies sell carfentanil online, but it hasn't shown up much in the U.S. drug supply, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. There hasn't been much evidence of carfentanil on the streets or in testing related to criminal cases, said agent Rich Isaacson, a spokesman for the DEA's Detroit Division, which covers Ohio. The drug is thought to be similar in strength to a painkiller known as W-18, which has shown up in heroin in Philadelphia, New England and Canada. Such drugs up the ante in a market where sellers already mix powerful painkillers with or disguise them as heroin to increase their products' potency, which can increase overdose risks for users, especially when they're unaware of what they're using.Some of the surviving users told investigators they thought they were buying heroin. Drugs used for animals have showed up in street drugs before, but carfentanil is so new on the investigative scene that the state's crime lab didn't even have a standard for comparing samples.In some suspected carfentanil cases, emergency responders have had to administer multiple doses of the overdose antidote naloxone, often known by the brand name Narcan, to save people, but even the antidote might not be enough. Continue

Aldi introduces antibiotic-free poultry and pig meat line.

The new line of Never Any! chicken, turkey, ham and bacon products is being sold exclsively at Aldi stores. The products are from animals that have never been given antibiotics and were fed a vegetarian-only diet. Animals processed for Never Any! label were raised without antibiotics and fed a vegetarian diet. The grocery chain Aldi has launched its line of “Never Any!” products, which includes chicken, turkey, ham and bacon. All products under the label will be raised without antibiotics and will be fed an all-vegetarian diet, according to a press release from the company. The Never Any! brand will be sold exclusively at Aldi stores. “We believe every shopper should have access to food they feel good about serving their family,” said Jason Hart, CEO of Aldi. “That’s why we’re dedicated to providing high quality groceries at affordable prices – making healthy living simple for more than 32 million customers who shop our stores each month.” continue