Cats and whiskers.

The whiskers on the face and legs of cats are their GPS. These whiskers allows the cat to access an environment,gauge the distance when climbing and flight is required and also navigate their way around in the dark. Whiskers allows a blind cat to navigate her way around an environment and determine stressors and comfort zones. The mood of a cat can be determined by the direction in which the whiskers faces,so when approaching a cat ,look at those whisker before you make any sudden movements. These whiskers are thick and filled with tiny, super-sensitive nerves that help the cat judge distance and space. The whiskers acting as a radar apparatus helps the cat to make decisions such as; Is this box too small to get inside? How far do I need to jump to reach that counter? do i need to run or snuggle? The whiskers are in sacs called follicles that hold the hairs ,these are deep with lots of nerve endings that send messages to the cat’s brain. Each whisker has a sensory organ at the tip which picks up vibrations in the environment that help the cat sense where she is and what other creatures are around her. The whiskers are not evenly distributed as whiskers in various locations perform various functions and their sizes vary as well. The majority of whiskers are rooted in the thick pads on the upper lip, but smaller sets are in the eyebrow area, along the chin, and near the feet. There are others on the sides of the nose which are the same width as the cat’s body and the function is to determine if a space is wide enough to squeeze through or not. The whiskers on the back of the legs help your cat climb trees. The movement of the whiskers back and forth are aided by strong muscles on the face,these movements will help to access the mood of the cat at anytime. When the whiskers are still and sticking straight out from the side of her head,then the cat is relaxed and thus approachable. When the whiskers are pressed slightly forward,then cat is in hunting/ curious mode and when the the whiskers are pulled back toward the face,then the cat is in anger/upset mode(keep off.) Whiskers like other hairs on the body grow throughout the lifespan,but nature keeps this down by shedding. You will not need to trim the cats whiskers because of the shedding principle,but if you attempt to trim the whiskers you will affect the navigation system of the cat which will destabilize the cats.

Entrepreneurs See A New Field Of Dreams In Agriculture..

When it comes to technology investing, the smart money seeks big markets with strong growth prospects. That old adage helps explain why, out of $13.5 billion invested in start-up firms by venture capitalists in the fourth quarter of 2014, more than half went to firms developing software used on mobile devices, according to tracking firm CB Insights. After all, global sales of smartphones reached 1.2 billion last year, up 20% from 2013. Yet there’s another market so big it leaves mobile phones in the dust. The world’s farmers will need to feed 9.6 billion people by 2050, the United Nations says, and that will require a 70% increase in agricultural production. Agriculture is a $3 trillion industry increasingly driven by technology developments, but until recently it was practically ignored by venture capitalists. That’s now changing as start-ups targeting plant and animal health begin attracting backing from venture capital funds. Some are graduating to become publicly traded companies. In February, for example, the crop genetic traits developer Arcadia registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission to raise $86 million in an initial public offering of stock.continue

Transforming agriculture.

A new day is dawning for agriculture. When asked to describe the magnitude of the coming change, experts harken back to seminal advances such as the rise of mechanization, the invention of synthetic fertilizers and crop protection chemicals, and the advent of transgenic crops. Within the next five years—less time than it takes to discover and commercialize a new agricultural chemical—gene editing will transform seed and trait development across a wide variety of crops. A new generation of plants will be equipped to thrive in the face of yield-eating climate stress. And all-seeing eyes in the sky will pinpoint problems in the field before the first leaf droops. These tools will not be as obvious as when tractors replaced mules, but they are poised to make a difference where it counts: helping farmers profitably increase yields.At the same time, the business of bringing new tools to market is changing, thanks to consolidation among major agriculture firms that traditionally are the big investors in innovation. For better or worse, Dow Chemical’s planned merger with DuPont, ChemChina’s pending acquisition of Syngenta, and Bayer’s attempt to acquire Monsanto are reshaping the agricultural landscape. Increasing the productivity of agriculture is critical to feeding a growing population. But in the past decade, the per-acre rate of output growth in the U.S. averaged a mere 1.0% per year for corn and 1.6% for soybeans, according to figures from the consulting firm Bain & Co.continue

Can mentoring boost youth participation in Kenyan agriculture?

Can mentoring boost youth participation in Kenyan agriculture?: Agriculture is the backbone of Kenya's economy. Worth billions of dollars, it is responsible for the livelihoods of over 80 per cent of the rural population and accounts for 65 percent of the country's total export revenue, according to the country's Institute of Economic Affairs. However, it is a sector that has been largely been ignored by the youth, who, despite being stuck for the large part in informal jobs, yearn for the security and prestige of white-collar jobs. Although there is no (...)

How to turn cassava peels to animal feed.

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RESEARCH: Cassava root meal as substitute for maize in layers ration. .

RESEARCH: Cassava root meal as substitute for maize in layers ration. The effect of replacing maize with graded levels of cassava root meal (CRM) as energy source in the diet of laying hens was evaluated during the eight weeks of feeding experiment on performance and cost benefits on layers. The fresh cassava roots were peeled, washed and grated. The grated cassava mash was poured into a sack and pressed using a hydraulic pressing machine to remove excess water. The dewatered cassava mash was broken into fine granules and was sun dried on black polyethylene sheets, after which it was milled in a hammer mill and packed in bags as cassava root meal (CRM). RESEARCH: Cassava root meal as substitute for maize in layers ration. Forty-five Nera black laying hens of 24 weeks of age were allocated to five dietary treatments, with nine birds per treatment in a completely randomized design. CRM was used to formulate the diets at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%. The result showed that the feed intake of birds in the control group was significantly (p<0.05) different from those fed the CRM diets. The average weight gain of layers receiving up to 50% CRM was similar to the control birds, but significantly different from layers fed 75 and 100% CRM. No mortality was recorded. Egg production per hen per day and average egg weight were significantly different (p<0.05) for birds consuming more than 50% CRM in T4 and T5. Layer feed ration was made cheaper by the replacement of maize with cassava root meal in the diets. Forty-five Nera black layers were divided according to a completely randomized design into five groups of nine birds each. The birds were habituated for 2 weeks before the beginning of the feeding experiment, when birds were 24 weeks old. The experiment lasted for 8 weeks. The processed CRM was used to formulate four diets such that maize was replaced by CRM at 25, 50, 75 and 100%, which are represented here as T2, T3, T4 and T5, whereas T1 served as the control diet without CRM. The composition of the five formulated diets is presented in Table below, layers were fed twice a day and water was provided ad libitum. Feed intake was measured daily. Individual birds were weighed before the beginning of the experiment to obtain initial body weight, and weekly thereafter. Eggs were collected twice a day and recorded. Also, 12 eggs from each treatment were weekly weighed to obtain mean egg weight. Birds were also observed for mortality. The replacement of maize by CRM up to 50:50 ratios did not significantly affect the hen-day egg production. However, CRM inclusion above 50% reduced (p<0.05) egg production and egg weight. Replacing corn by cassava up to 50% did not affect the performance of layers or egg quality and that the reduction in yolk pigmentation could be overcome by adding xanthophylls to the feed. More

Mobile apps to improve agriculture.

FARMERS can now take full advantage of the onset of technology as mobile apps designed to improve agriculture have been developed by young Filipino information technology experts. 

 The two Android mobile solutions were “FarmHelp” and “Krops,” both will be acquired by the Department of Agriculture (DA) as Secretary Manny Piñol believed that these two major innovations “could revolutionize Philippine agriculture.”

 

 The apps, when installed will give Filipino farmers access to any information about plant and animal diseases and the weather forecast, and also guide him on where to sell his products or buy his farm supplies. FarmHelp' was developed by the group who designed the PureForce, an app used for emergency and rescue operations, 

"FarmHelp" was designed to fit the new program of the agriculture department to update its technology transfer and information dissemination. "Using FarmHelp apps, a farmer can have access to a 24/7 answering program which would respond to his request for him in identifying the disease affecting his farm by simply taking a picture of the plant and sending it to the DA FarmHelp desk," Piñol said. 

 The experts will analyze the disease based on the photo and will respond to the farmers within 24 hours. Piñol said the automatic geo-tagging which will immediately pinpoint the exact location of the farmer sending the message will determine the success of the program. 

Thus, if the complaint is about a damaged irrigation canal, DA responders could immediately dispatch a regional team to the area. "Krops" is a team led by young agribusiness entrepreneur Joseph Calata developed the "Krops," involved in the establishment of a chain of agricultural supply stores across the country. 

 The Krops will assist the farmer or the buyer of the farmers' products access to information on who is buying, who is selling, how much, and the location of the buyer or the seller. Pinol said by pressing a commodity icon which showed eggs, the "Krops" app immediately asked "Buying?" or "Selling?" 

When he pressed "Selling," the location of the buyers near the location of the "farmer" was immediate shown on the screen including the complete address, the volume required and the buying price. "This is the perfect answer to the problem bedeviling the Filipino agricultural producer who has always been at the mercy of the middlemen and the traders," Piñol added. Culled from