Why do dogs eat grass ?

Why do dogs eat grass ? The site of your dog nibbling grass can be disturbing and most owners just assume the worst. Dogs eating grass is not always an emergency except where pesticides have been used or wild poisonous grasses are the choice of the dog. Dogs nibble on grasses occasionally if there is a deficient nutrient in their meal such as potassium or fiber as most grasses are high in fiber and potassium . Dogs occasionally eat grass to trigger vomiting to relieve stomach upset or gastric irritation as in the case of worm overload,when dogs are uncomfortable with distended stomach . When dogs eat grasses frequently,then you need to get the dog to the vet.

Columbia graduates kickstart new hydroponic bottle project.

The World’s Smallest Garden turns a bottle into a self-watering hydroponic garden. It’s a fun, easy and really affordable way for anyone to grow fresh food at home.Unlike other grow kits on the market today that cost hundreds of dollars and come with sophisticated lights and automation – the World’s Smallest Garden is designed to be accessible for everyone. more

LED lighting can eliminate the use of pesticides in agriculture.

LED lightning can eliminate the need for pesticides in agriculture. Research has shown that light produced by LEDs have the ability to speed up plant growth and improve the taste of fruit and vegetables. A recent study by researchers in the United States are also proves that LED light is able to reduce disease in plants, a discovery that could, eliminate the use of pesticides. The research which was on the effect of LED and ultraviolet light on strawberries, rosemary, cucumber, as well as a string of other fruit and vegetables, showed that the light reduce pathogens whilst increasing production. Human beings require light to be able to live and so do pathogens, as pathogens are living entities therefore they also require light to regulate their daily growth and development. The LEDs can be controlled to produce a particular spectrum of light that utilizes what is required for production and to eliminate pathogens. more

Kartlos Farms opens EnviroDome project in Nigeria.

Kartlos Farms announces the first phase of their EnviroDome Greenhouse Ventilation System (EGVS), with over 25-acre expansion later in 2017. The system uses the EGVS which is marketed by the company Aida Agro from Nigeria. According to the company, it is the first of its kind in Nigeria. The EnviroDome Greenhouse Ventilation System uses technology imported from China and Israel and is suitable for the production of tomato, cucumber, cabbage, capsicum, broccoli, carrot and a variety of green vegetables. The management has contacts with various business partners and seed companies in Europe, Asia and Africa for the supply of seeds. KFL was founded to advance modern farming in Nigeria. The recent completion of Kartlos Farms, a multi-million naira built greenhouse was a milestone many called impossible. The construction of Kartlos EnviroDome Greenhouse consist of cooling and irrigation facilities, the first production will be successful in July 2017. more

Pet dogs are the new must-have accessory at the smarter office.

Pet dogs are the new must-have accessory at the smarter office. Companies are using animal magnetism to reduce stress in the workplace and hang on to staff. Joy is an eight-month-old golden retriever and she goes to the office with her owner, Carol DuPuis. These days, especially at tech companies, you’re as likely to find a dog in the office as you are a pot plant or watercooler. For startups particularly, allowing dogs is an easy, cheap way of attracting and retaining millennials, on top of the free snacks, pinball machines and gym membership. The Google code of conduct states “affection for our canine friends is an integral facet of our corporate culture”. At Amazon, around 2,000 employees have registered their pets at its headquarters in Seattle so they can take them in – reception desks are stocked with biscuits, some water fountains are set at dog height, and there’s an off-leash park – also open to the public – where staff can exercise their pets. continue

Five ways agriculture could benefit from artificial intelligence.

Five ways agriculture could benefit from artificial intelligence. Agriculture is the industry that accompanied the evolution of humanity from pre-historic times to modern days and fulfilled faithfully one of its most basic needs: food supply. 

Today this still remains its core mission, but it’s integrated in a more complex than ever mechanism driven by multiple sociological, economic and environmental forces 

 Digital and technological advancements are taking over the industry, enhancing food production while adding value to the entire farm-to-fork supply chain and helping it make use of natural resources more efficiently. 

   How artificial intelligence is changing agriculture.

 Data generated by sensors or agricultural drones collected at farms, on the field or during transportation offer a wealth of information about soil, seeds, livestock, crops, costs, farm equipment or the use of water and fertilizer. 

 Internet of Things technologies and advanced analytics help farmers analyze real time data like weather, temperature, moisture, prices or GPS signals and provide insights on how to optimize and increase yield, improve farm planning, make smarter decisions about the level of resources needed, when and where to distribute them in order to prevent waste. 

 Efficiency and productivity will increase over the years as precision agriculture grows bigger and farms become smarter and more connected. The growing number of connected devices represents a big opportunity for food and agribusiness players and it also adds more complexity for farmers and organizations. 

 The explosion of unstructured data, like social media posts, imagery or video content drives the need to know more, to receive real time recommendations on close at hand devices, like smartphones or tablets,with all this information there is bound to be an overload thus prompting the need to sort out data intelligently.

 1) Artificial intelligence will help IoT achieve its maximum potential. While digital transformation is disrupting the agricultural world and more data comes to feed the systems. Solutions that apply machine learning abilities to sensor or drone data,thus transforming management systems in real artificial intelligence systems. 

 Cognitive IoT technologies allow many types of correlations of large amount of structured and unstructured data from multiple sources, such as historic weather data, social media posts, research notes, soil information, market place information, images, etc., to extract knowledge and provide organizations with richer insights and recommendations to take action and improve yields.

 2) Chat-bots for farmers Chat-bots are conversational virtual assistants who automate interactions with end users. Artificial intelligence powered chat- bots, using machine learning techniques, understand natural language and interact with users in a personalized way. While it’s still early days and chat-bots are used mostly by retail, travel, media or insurance players, agriculture could also leverage this emerging technology by assisting farmers with answers to their questions, giving advice and recommendations on specific farm problems. 

   

Ways artificial intelligence has potential to improve agriculture.

 Although at the beginning, these ways of using cognitive technologies predict exciting times ahead for agriculture on its road towards efficiency, sustainability and meeting the world’s food needs. 

We’re looking forward to seeing how farmers, agribusinesses and other decision makers on the value chain will harness the power of IoT and artificial intelligence to shape the industry’s future. more

Banking innovation in agriculture.

Technology has superimposed its presence in major areas of the economy forging growth and development within these sectors. 

The banking sector is a big player in this innovation drive with technology as all other sectors engage their services in terms of payments,transfer and business funding. Banks are making their services,fast and easily accessible to customers as many have platforms that enable mobile banking ,where you can open an account,transfer,make payments for amenities and even buy air time. 

The use of bank cards also makes services faster,the use of self service portals is also a plus to the array of services. The connectivity of these platforms to various industries to provide seamless transaction is where banking innovation comes to play. In agriculture,banking innovation help facilitate easy buying and selling of products by farmers. 

The use of e-wallet makes transaction seamless and super-fast . The banking innovation in agriculture is in partnership with telecommunication giants,with a mixed-match platform to serve farmers through SMS, video, apps e.t.c. 

 The banking innovation is taking root fast and various banks are thinking on how to leverage the age of digital disruption in order to create personalized banking platforms, form effective fintech partnerships and diversify the banks’ digital offerings to improve customer satisfaction , increase retention rates and how to remain competitive in a crowded marketplace. In this digital age how is your bank innovating?