India’s cattle ban could ‘halt’ beef exports

India’s cattle ban could ‘halt’ beef exports: The Indian government’s ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter is likely to have dramatic impact on its billion-dollar cattle export trade.

Water quality and fish health.

Water quality and fish health,this is an important parameter in fish farming and to make money from fish farming all necessary protocols must be observed. Its very important to note the quality of water that can be used for rearing fish ; 1) water must be clean and free from chemicals. 2) water must be chlorine-free. 3)water must be free of pollutants such as oil,detergents and heavy metals such as aluminium,zinc and magnesium. Water is the medium in which the fish lives and the growth and survival rate depends on the quality of water. Water sources for rearing fish include borehole,springs,streams,wells lagoons and rivers. The source must be tested to check for quality and make necessary adjustments before channeling to your pond. Fish should not be reared with tap water because chlorine is present and this is hazardous to fish health,but in cases where the only source is tap water especially in urban farming then chlorine can be removed from the water and used to rear fish. Chlorine can be removed from water source by using any of the following methods before stocking your pond; 1) put water in tank overnight, the chlorine gas will evaporate making it safe. 2) use a dechlorinator. 3)Add vitamin C to pond @ 1 tablet /100L of water. The use of vitamin C is very effective as it not only removes the chlorine but also acts as anti-stress agent for the fish,making them stable and healthy when moved into the pond. Water quality and fish health: order for fish feed , fertilizer and seeds. see

A mobile app that help farmers overcome crop damage launched in India.

A mobile app that help farmers overcome crop damage launched in India. The role of technology in agriculture cannot be over emphasized with various platforms such as SMS,videos, mobile apps, voice and e-learning in livestock and crop farming paving the way for food security. Phones,mobile apps with data analysis have enabled farmers to increase yield, because of the array of information available and the spontaneity of response from experts when they experience problems. The world has become a global village basically because of connectivity and ease of access to information, this simple role of connectivity if tapped into in agriculture will boost production,sales and increase revenue. In India, an innovative multi-lingual plant disease and pest diagnostic app available on farmer’s mobile phones helps them identify pests and diseases and suggests remedies was recently launched. This is how the ‘Plantix’ app works; Farmers take pictures of the affected crop and upload them on the app. The photographs are analyzed using artificial intelligence algorithms and results returned immediately to the individual farmer. Critical information on symptoms, triggers, chemicals as well as biological treatments are provided. All pictures sent via the app are geo-tagged thereby enabling real-time monitoring of pest and diseases. The resulting metadata provides valuable insights into the spatial distribution of cultivated crops and most significant plant diseases e.g. in the form of high resolution maps. Furthermore, the app encompasses a weather information system specific to the farmers’ location and a community feature that facilitates interaction with other players interested in plant protection services. more Harnessing this method and molding it to our specification is another part of the story. The recently launched app is to identify pest and diseases of crops and proffer solutions,now their are other possibilities such as 1) in livestock. 2) animal healthcare services. 3) sales of agricultural products. 4) online community that can be provided with banking facilities. see and the model is this

Feline hepatic lipidosis.

Feline hepatic lipidosis is a serious condition in cats especially overweight middle-aged ones. The prevalent precursor is rapid severe weight loss which could be as a result of prolonged inappetence or reduction in feed intake. When a cat refuses to eat for whatever reason,the body sends fat cells to liver to metabolize as energy but if this process is prolonged the large infiltration of fat into the liver results in feline hepatic lipidosis. The signs include dehydration,vomiting,jaundice,excessive drooling and lethargy and the treatment protocol is immediate nutritional support which is usually aggressive usually with aid of feeding tube until cats starts eating unaided.

BLACK SOLDIER FLY :How to turn organic waste to compost with maggots.

Organic waste can be turned into compost fast with maggots. The black soldier fly is a veritable eating machine at its larval stage.

This insect would not do anyone any harm,but its larvae feed on rotting organic material such as food scraps or dung providing compost and feed for livestock. The insect can reduce any type of organic waste in a short space of time. 

 A Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Frick is running a project that aims to employ the appetite of soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) in developing countries. It is being implemented in the greater metropolitan area of Accra, the capital city of Ghana. In big cities in tropical regions composting is poor just as in Accra.

What is black soldier fly?

This leads to immense hygiene problems because organic waste makes up more than half of the total refuse in developing countries and on the other hand, it's also a waste of natural resources. This is because while the rapidly increasing population is dependent on productive agriculture, the soil is exhausted and not very fertile. 

   Benefits of black soldier fly.

 The project aims at assisting farmers so that they can use the valuable compost in their fields, an additional goal of the project is to provide a further use for the maggots of the soldier fly as feed for fish farmers, who find it difficult to meet the Ghanaian population's appetite for fish.more

#blacksoldierfly

China managing food waste with maggots.

China managing food waste with maggots thus preserving the environment.Thousands of voracious white maggots wiggle frenetically while tearing through trayfuls of leftover meat, vegetables and fruits in an unusual farm in southwestern China. This may not be a pretty sight, but the gluttonous larvae could help China eat away something far uglier, the country's mountain of food waste. The individual larvae of black soldier flies, which are native to the Americas, can each eat double their weight of garbage every day, according to experts. The farm in Sichuan province then turns the bugs into a high-protein animal feed and their feces into an organic fertilizer. There's no shortage of food for the larvae as each person throws away almost 30 kilos of food per year in China, a nation of 1.4 billion people and On average, one kilo of maggots can eat two kilos of rubbish in about four hours. more

Corn-Tracking Robot May Save Us from Starving in the Future.

Corn-Tracking Robot May Save Us from Starving in the Future. Can robots help save us from food shortages that have been brought on by changes to global climate? It’s hard to say, but we are already slowly coming around to the idea of having robots in almost every corner of life: industrial robots in our factories, collaborative robots in our offices, and even delivery robots roaming around our streets. So the concept of robot-assisted agriculture — or at least robot-aided agricultural research — isn’t that far-fetched. more