Climate- smart agriculture.#Cop22.

The world is faced with the task of feeding the projected 9 billion populace by 2050,this must be achieved by increasing food production through smart agricultural practices withoout distrupting the ecosystem by putting more pressure on available land and other resources. The race to ensure food security must be achieved by improved agricultural practices,thus smart agricultural interventions are important.The route to smart agriculture is diverse but can be broadly categorized into the following : 1) animal husbandry practices that will reduce the green house emissions,this can be achieved by addition of some feed additives especially in cattle to reduce methane emissions. Cattle has been identified as a major culprit in the climate change. see 2) Improved methods of production through waste reduction: Waste generated in the field of production from farm to table has an effect on the climate itself. When more food loss or waste is recorded along the agricultural chain,this tends to spike the carbon print in that zone. Agritech can be employed in this area where innovative methods are used to preserve food,process excess into other value-adding products and effective handling of products to prevent waste. Waste generated can also be further processed into fertilizers or can be passed to an anaerobic digester to produce electricity. Food services can also be organized to ensure that excess food,left-overs and misshaped fruits and vegetables can be boxed and sent to regions where food is needed instead of sending the food to landfills,which will heat up our environment. A school of thought believes that what the world needs is not more food,but how to prevent waste and channel excess food to those that are in need. more The use of improved seeds,biotechnology is also an initiative that has a place in smart agriculture, instead of farming more land that is obviously not available,improved seeds can help achieve the goal of food security as the harvest will be faster which will be bigger improved versions of what we are used to. Farming more animals on smaller pastures will not be necessary as biodiversity will play a role. The use of genetically proven breeds through genetic selection and improvement,these breeds dont even need to be shipped to various countries rather good artificial insemination centers will provide the reproductive services. Smart agricultural practices that ensures better feed conversion ration in the animals will promote growth of these animals,where less feed is consumed,but greater weight gain is recorded because the feed is properly utilized. One of such practices will be alternative castration in boars with the use of IMPROVEST,see The efficiency gained by allowing boars to grow longer as intact males before IMPROVEST is administered has the potential for an incremental reduction in the carbon footprint, a study showed that if half the male pigs in the U.S. were raised using IMPROVEST, it would be like removing the CO2 equivalent of 190,000 cars for a year from roads. see

Alternative castration method for boars.

A new approach is penciled as a better alternative to castration in pigs. Boar taint is an unpleasant odor that is noticeable when cooking meat from sexually mature male pigs. This boar taint is removed by castration which is termed physical castration (PC), but concerns about animal welfare have prompted some producers to seek alternative methods. This castration alternative comes in the form of a regulated vaccine-like drug that suppresses the hormones responsible for the taint. This castration alternative is also referred to as immuno-castration or boar-taint vaccination, because it involves administering an immunological (vaccine-like) product that stimulates pigs’ immune systems to temporarily block testicular function and inhibit accumulation of androstenone and skatole, the naturally occurring compounds that cause boar taint. The castration alternative is done by way of injection, which is administered at 2 different times for effectiveness. The first dose is given at 9 weeks to prime their immune system and the other dose as they enter the finishing phase about 3 weeks to the market The benefits of this method is not only reduction of boar-taint,but stress involved in physical castration is prevented as well as risk of infection. There is also better feed conversion ratio resulting in better weight gain and reduction in aggressive social behavior associated with boars. In addition to the rapid growing rate ensures that they reach their full potential by converting feed into meat more efficiently, these treated intact males create less manure while yielding more pork.

The link between fish meal, Eimeria and necrotic enteritis in broilers .

A Link between fish meal, Eimeria and necrotic enteritis in broilers has been explored by Australian scientists as reported in veterinary microbiology online. The research is based on the already established fact that a high-protein, fish meal-supplemented starter diet along with Eimeria infection can predispose birds to clinical necrotic enteritis after Clostridium perfringens infection. The scientists thus analyzed the cecal microbiota of four groups of broilers with the use of deep pyrosequencing — a method of DNA analysis. One group was infected with Eimeria and received a control diet, another received a fish meal-supplemented diet and a third group was infected with Eimeria and in addition received fish meal. A fourth group without Eimeria did not receive fish meal and served as a control. Fish meal had a strong effect on intestinal microbiota, similar to the reported effects of C. perfringens infection. The scientists also noted major changes in the prevalence of various lactobacilli, while total, culturable Lactobacillus counts remained stable. Other microbiota such as Ruminococcaceae were affected, as determined by an increased number of operational taxonomic units — a method of defining a species based on DNA sequence results. Eimeria induced different changes in microbiota. For example, Ruminococcaceae were reduced in number, and three unknown clostridium species increased in abundance. Eimeria did not significantly influence changes in measures such as pH or formic acid, while fish-meal induced dramatic changes. The result showed that fish meal feeding and Eimeria infection induced significant changes in the gut microbiota and this predisposes birds to necrotic enteritis.

Agriculture Is Our Path Way Out Of Recession.

Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo says agriculture is our pathway out of poverty. He remarked that agriculture is the way to get the country out of recession, hence the need for the present government to keep faith with its promise of diversifying the economy through agriculture. He made this submission at the 23th Annual Development Forum, with the theme theme ‘Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities,’ organized by the Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO) in Abuja. The former President lamented on the increased level of hunger being experienced across the country, and stated that it was sad to note that about 65 per cent of the citizens were faced with food insecurity. Obasanjo also called on the Federal Government, as a matter of urgency to drastically reduce or ban the importation of staple food crops, as Nigeria had the potential to produce most of the agricultural products that were being imported into the country.He said that Nigeria’s currency (Naira) is suffering because the country spends more than it earns, depending more on importation, usually on goods than can be easily produced here in Nigeria. Obasanjo said that the agriculture sector is viable enough to get Nigeria out of recession and called on the government to focus on agriculture and to put more efforts to guarantee food security in the nation. more

Acting for wildlife in Africa.

All over Africa from the savannas of Kenya to the dense forests of Nigeria, work is in progress across to help save precious wildlife at risk of becoming extinct.The war right now is to prevent poaching and hence extinction of wildlife. Each year species are pushed towards becoming extinct but in the fight for conservation a force to be reckoned with is "Act for wildlife". They protect wildlife in Africa against poaching, they want to ensure that no animal is killed or forced to the edge of extinction. Act for Wildlife will lead the way in vital scientific research into African species and be at the forefront of conservation action plans for the future. One animal that is on the edge of extinction is the eastern black rhino around 96% of the population has disappeared in the last 30 years. These magnificent animals are being brutally killed at the hands of poachers for their horns. Poachers will stop at nothing to get their hands on rhino horn which they then sell on the black market for medicines and ornaments. They’re getting smarter and more organised, which makes it even more dangerous and difficult to help protect the remaining population of black rhinos. There are less than 740 left in the wild so Acting now is important to save this species or risk losing them forever. The herd of black rhinos at Chester Zoo also play a vital role in saving the species from extinction. Conservation breeding programmes are critical in ensuring there’s a sustainable population that can then be reintroduced to the wild. Scientists are working right now with other organisations to make sure genetic diversity of the wild population is maintained through conservation breeding in zoos; should the sad day ever come when there are no rhinos left in the wild. Ground-breaking science at the zoo has allowed researchers to monitor hormone levels in the female black rhinos to help discover the best time to introduce them to a potential partner, as well as diagnose pregnancies and estimate when they’ll give birth. Act now, watch

Scientists Identified a Vitamin That Could Halt the Progress of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a common form of muscular dystrophy that affects one out of every 3,500 children. Children with this disease end up in a wheelchair by the age of 12. Duchenne muscular dystrophy caused by a genetic mutation that disables the production of dystrophin, a protein required to keep muscles intact. The deformed cells mechanically causes inflammation that gradually destroy muscles, this leads to progressive general paralysis, and eventually death, due to respiratory failure. When dealing with a disease born of a genetic defect the solution often lies in fixing the problematic gene, but the case of Duchenne muscular dystrophy has proved to be an exception. A study published in the science Translational Medicine, a team led by Johan Auwerx discovered that a vitamin called nicotinamide riboside is highly effective in large doses for halting the progress of the disease in animals. Auwerx and his team focused on the second cycle in the progression of Duchenne, where initial inflammation causes a certain gene to consume large amounts of NAD+ — an essential component serving as fuel for the mitochondria. NAD+ shortage in mitochondria weakens muscles and aggravate inflammation that further destroys muscles. The researchers prevented this second cycle from occurring by sustaining the mitochondria through nicotinamide riboside, the vitamin precursor of NAD+. The approach was tested on C. elegans worms and on mice genetically modified to have the disease. The result showed that administering large doses of the vitamin, the worms did not have any of the symptoms of Duchenne’s second cycle. The mice, while demonstrating muscular inflammation at lower levels, showed reduced effects of muscular damage. This clearly shows that preventing the second cycle by giving large doses of nicotinamide riboside hold the key to treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. More

New virus associated with polio-like symptoms in pigs.

A new virus associated with polio-like symptoms in pigs has been discovered by US researchers . This is a novel virus in the central nervous tissues of young pigs with polio-like weakness in their hind legs.Farms dealing with the disease may lose 1-2% of pigs, making it a concern for individual producers The Iowa State University reported that Paulo Arruda, an assistant professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, led a team of diagnosticians from Iowa State, the University of Minnesota and Kansas State University. They investigated samples from 11-week-old pigs that couldn’t walk due to a mysterious weakness in their hind legs. The report shows that the diagnostic team found microscopic lesions in the pigs’ central nervous tissues containing a novel sapelovirus that researchers hadn’t previously encountered. Sapeloviruses belong to a family of viruses commonly found in pigs, but this particular strain was different from all other sapeloviruses previously described. Reporting findings suggests, a lack of scientific evidence regarding the virus means it’s impossible to know just how widely it may spread, but the epidemiology of other viruses within its family leads the team to believe this particular strain may be fairly common on US hog farms. However, only a small percentage of pigs with the virus likely will display symptoms, and there is no evidence now that suggests pork is unsafe to eat.more