Farmer makes a fortune in semi-arid Gilgil.

Gilgil sub-county in Nakuru county is mainly a semi-arid area, hence many residents shun agriculture. The area experiences low rainfall, which is not reliable while daytime temperatures are high. Still, one farmer has taken the bull by its horns after visiting Israel and China to learn about dry-land farming. Martin Gathogo, 36, has put over 30 acres under irrigation in Murindat ward. He says the venture is a move towards improving food security in the region while earning a living for his family at the same time. “Rainfall here is low and erratic but that is not a reason for us not to engage in farming. Several rivers criss-cross our land,” Gathogo said. continue

EMPOWERED WOMEN DRIVE ECONOMIES .

Did you know? In the regions of Gao and Segou in Mali, less than 5 percent of land managers are women, but more than 30 percent of these women are head of households, often widows, responsible for food, healthcare, and school fees for their children. The national gender policy in Mali, launched in 2011, indicates that in the region of Segou, 77 percent of female farm workers do not receive any compensation. Of these, only 18 percent work for themselves. In addition, the study shows that just 10 percent of female farm workers own working animals and plows, and only 20 percent can afford small farm equipment. Without their own land heritage as collateral, rural women have fewer opportunities to access funding for their activities through the traditional financial system. To mitigate these inequalities that hinder the country’s competitiveness internationally, the government of Mali calls for “solidarity with the most disadvantaged populations, particularly towards women and rural youth, through the principle of equity and the implementation of specific actions to fight against poverty.” Using this window of opportunity, 2SCALE initiated a series of actions to increase access to land for female vegetable growers involved in a vegetable partnership in Segou. continue

AGRIBUSINESS: How mobile technologies are helping small, rural farmers grow their businesses.

The soil needed salt. And not just a sprinkling, but up to two kilograms, applied in a shallow trench encircling each aging coconut tree where the outer leaves cast their shadow when the sun was overhead. Marcelina Lastimosa learned the technique from an agriculturalist, Joraphel Tingcayao, who shared advice as she collected data on her tablet. Within 30 minutes, Ms. Tingcayao had a complete picture of the farm itself and the farmer’s practices, finances, environmental conditions, and key vulnerabilities. That data will feed in to the FarmerLink program in the Philippines, an ambitious, digitally connected program to help rural coconut farmers overcome the obstacles that keep them poor despite their greatest efforts.continue

FG Seeks to Augment Petrol, Diesel Consumption With Biofuel.

The federal government will soon insist that a minimum of 10 and 20 per cent of biofuel be added to every litre of petrol and diesel, respectively in petrol stations across the country, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has disclosed. According to the PPPRA, a national policy on biofuel development, which would provide the incentive for the growth of biofuel consumption in the country was underway and could be passed into law soon.The policy, the PPPRA said, would ensure that bioethanol and biodiesel, which are blends of petroleum products and agricultural products, are readily available in Nigeria. It said the policy was part of efforts to diversify Nigeria’s energy sources and respect global convention on climate change with the inclusion of alternative clean options.continue

USDA strikes back against parasite with 101M sterile screwworms.

The USDA has released more than 101 million sterile New World screwworms since October in an effort to wipe out the parasite in the Florida Keys. The endangered Key deer population has lost 135 animals to the worms, whose larva feed on wounds in living flesh, but no new infestations have been found among deer since Jan. 7, marking the longest period without a new case since the start of the outbreak. Antiparasitic medicine for endangered Key deer and an abundance of sterile New World screwworm flies continue to help fight the screwworm situation in South Florida. More than 101 million sterile screwworm flies have been released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Marathon and the Lower Keys since October. In Homestead, where a stray dog was found with a screwworm infestation in December, nearly 2 million have been released. They help to drive down the number of fertile flies by mating with wild flies to produce eggs that never hatch. Screwworms feed inside the open wounds of any warm-blooded living animal, which has resulted in the deaths of 135 endanger Key deer found only in Monroe County. Some have had to be euthanized and others have died from their screwworm-inflicted conditions. source

Genomic testing and breeding success.

The beef business is moving from a segmented industry to one that’s more united, and information is at the core of that shift. Genomic data is helping that transition as genomic data is a growing part of that information. The big paradigm shift is set to change with the incorporation of genomic data into calf value discovery, the growing use of genomic information in leveraging prediction accuracy of genetic merit. One of the stepping-stones along the way is the growing number of commercial producers utilizing genomic tests to identify replacement heifer, without using genomic tests, experience is showing that producers would choose 66-75% of the same heifers. This technology allows selection risk cut by 25-33%.

Oral administration of bacteria-killing viruses prevents cholera infection in animal models.

Oral administration of viruses that specifically target cholera bacteria prevents infection and cholera-like symptoms in animal model experiments.Oral administration of a cocktail of three viruses, all of which specifically kill cholera bacteria, prevents infection and cholera-like symptoms in animal model experiments, report scientists from Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts in Nature Communications The findings are the first to demonstrate the potential efficacy of bacteria-killing viruses—known as bacteriophages, or phages—as an orally administered preventive therapy against an acute gastrointestinal bacterial disease. Camilli and colleagues searched for phages that are specific for Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera—a potentially lethal infectious disease marked by severe diarrhea and dehydration. While phages that kill V. cholerae are abundant in nature, the team identified three strains that uniquely retained the ability to kill V. cholerae within the small intestine, the site of infection in humans. These phages function by targeting bacterial surface receptors normally involved in infectiousness, making them ideal therapeutic candidates—to develop resistance, cholera bacteria must acquire mutations in these receptors, which cause the bacteria to become less infectious. The team carried out a series of experiments in small animal models of cholera to test the efficacy of these phages as a preventative treatment. Animals were given an oral dose of a cocktail containing all three phages, at time points ranging from three to 24 hours before infection with a standardized amount of V. cholerae bacteria. A preventative dose of the phage cocktail eliminated V. cholerae in the small intestines of over half of treated animals when given three hours before infection. In remaining animals, and for those treated up to 24 hours before infection, bacteria numbers were reduced 500-fold or more on average, compared to untreated controls. Overall, treatment was most effective in reducing bacterial load when given between three and 12 hours before infection. The team found no evidence of cholera-like diarrhea and no significant weight loss in treated animals.