Israel: Growing crops with underground heating and cooling

Israel: Growing crops with underground heating and cooling.Fresh, local strawberries in the middle of winter – that’s the vision of agtech Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies which is raising $5 million in an initial public offering. Roots sells an underground heating and cooling system for crops that increases yields and allows crops to be grown out of season. Water flows through underground pipes, heating or cooling the soil in a crop’s root zone by as much as 10 degrees. Developed in Israel, co-founders Sharon Devir and Boaz Wachtel have tested the technology in some of the world’s harshest conditions to deliver consistent produce no matter the time of year.

Bamboo shoots may offer prebiotic potential..

Bamboo shoots may offer prebiotic potential. Newly identified polysaccharides from bamboo shoots have the potential to be used as functional ingredients by industry, say researchers.

Egg shell powder a ‘novel’ treatment against inflammatory bowel disease.

Egg shell powder a ‘novel’ treatment against inflammatory bowel disease.Fine powder made from eggshell membrane showed positive effects against inflammatory bowel disease, according to in vitro and in vivo studies.

Asia's rising cases of IBD make it a truly 'global disease'.

Asia's rising cases of IBD make it a truly 'global disease' Asia's developing nations are facing increasing rates of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), similar to those witnessed in the West over the last century.

Pig health: all you need to know about pigs.

Find out all there is to know about pig health using Pig Progress’ unique Pig Health Tool. This tool was created with the assistance of: Dr David Taylor, Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Glasgow University, Scotland, United Kingdom

Pig behaviour linked to sanitary conditions and diets.

Pig behaviour linked to sanitary conditions and diets. There is a connection between damaging behaviour in pigs, sanitary conditions and diet formulations. How exactly, was presented by Dutch researchers recently. The researchers, attached to Wageningen University, the Netherlands and De Heus Animal Nutrition, published their outcomes recently in an article in Plos One. Reducing crude protein levels in pigs. The scientists described that the tendency to reduce crude protein levels in pig diets to increase protein efficiency may also increase the occurrence of damaging behaviours such as ear and tail biting. This, they said, is particularly for pigs kept under sub-optimal health conditions. The researchers studied 576 tail-docked growing-finishing entire male pigs in 64 pens, subjected to low vs. high sanitary conditions, and fed a normal crude protein diet vs a low crude protein diet (80% of normal crude protein diet) ad libitum, with a basal amino acid profile or supplemented amino acid profile with extra threonine, tryptophan and methionine. Vaccination and antibiotics for pigs The high sanitary condition pigs were vaccinated in the first 9 weeks of life and received antibiotics at arrival of experimental farm at 10 weeks, after which they were kept in a disinfected part of the farm with a strict hygiene protocol. The low sanitary condition pigs were kept on the same farm in non-disinfected pens to which manure from another pig farm was introduced fortnightly.

Poor health as a risk factor for tail biting ln pigs.

Poor health as a risk factor for tail biting in pigs. Tail biting is detrimental to animal welfare and has a negative impact on producer economy. We know that tail biting is a multifactorial problem with nutrition, feeding routines, pen design, pig density and the availability of manipulable material all influencing the net risk of a tail biting outbreak. Poor health has also been considered an important risk factor, but with less supporting evidence. Newer research within the EU collaborative project FareWellDock supports earlier findings and anecdotal reports that health does indeed influence the behaviour of pigs, and provides new knowledge about possible mechanisms. Up to now, the evidence pointing towards sickness increasing the likelihood of tail biting outbreaks has come from expert opinion and experience, epidemiological studies, case control studies and clinical reports. Farms with health problems are considered to have a higher risk of a tail biting outbreak and the risk of tail biting damage on farms with rectal prolapse and respiratory disease has been found to be increased. Clinical reports have stated that deworming and vaccination against Lawsonia intracellularis reduced tail biting while both leg disorders and respiratory inflammation were highly correlated with tail damage. These reports clearly show that there is an association between sickness and tail biting, but because tail biting may also lead to inflammation due to bacteria entering the wound, it is difficult to know what came first: poor health or a damaged tail. The issue is also further complicated by the fact that some risk factors for tail biting may also influence health.