Young Farmers Launch National Youth Manifesto on Agriculture.

Young Farmers Launch National Youth Manifesto on Agriculture.Young farmers on the platform of Fresh and Young Brains Development Initiative yesterday launched the National Youth Manifesto on Agriculture for Nigeria. CEO and Founder of the Initiative,Barr. Nkiruka Nnaemego said the Youth Manifesto developed in 2013 would be a national Blueprint to guide government and her partners on the felt needs and aspirations of Nigerian youth in agriculture. The CEO stated this in her remarks at the 2nd African Youth Agric Festival on Agribusiness and United for Food Campaign hosted under the Initiative Youth Farm Project (Y-FARM),with the theme: Youth at the Centre of Business Revolution in Africa and Naija Jamz for Food respectively. Barr. Nnaemego said “The Manifesto was developed in 2013 by our organisation with support from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, OXFAM Nigeria, Voices for Food Security, Trust Africa as well as Youth and Farmers Organisations.

Fruit-eating increases biodiversity.

Fruit-eating increases biodiversity.By dispersing the seeds of plants, fruit-eating animals contribute to the possibility of increased plant speciation and thus biodiversity, investigators have discovered. These are the findings of a new study led by Renske E. Onstein and W. Daniel Kissling, researchers at the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED). The results were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. Tropical rain forests are the supermarkets for fleshy fruits: more than 70% of woody, tropical plant species have fleshy fruits and rely on fruit-eating animals such as chimpanzees, elephants or hornbills for their seed dispersal. By dispersing the seeds of plants over large distances, these animals contribute to the possibility of plant speciation. The international team of researchers from the Netherlands, UK, France, Sweden and Denmark investigated over 2000 palm species with fleshy fruits (such as the date palm) to understand how the ecology of species, their distribution, and the interaction with potential fruit-eating animals may have affected their past speciation.

Tropical forest reserves slow down global warming.

Tropical forest reserves slow down global warming. National parks and nature reserves in South America, Africa and Asia, created to protect wildlife, heritage sites and the territory of indigenous people, are reducing carbon emissions from tropical deforestation by a third, and so are slowing the rate of global warming, a new study shows. An audit of the role protected areas of tropical forest play in preventing global warming shows they are preventing the release of three times as much carbon into the atmosphere as the UK emits each year. Protected areas account for 20 per cent of the world's tropical forest and play a crucial role in providing habitats for species including tigers, Asiatic lions, jaguars and forest elephants. They are also designated to conserve world heritage sites such as the historic Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, and to preserve territory for indigenous peoples in South America.

Drug can dramatically reduce weight of people with obesity.

Drug can dramatically reduce weight of people with obesity.A drug that targets the appetite control system in the brain could bring about significant weight loss in people with clinical obesity, according to new research. On average, people lost 5kg (11lbs) over a 12 week period after receiving weekly doses of semaglutide, a compound currently being developed as a treatment for Diabetes. Most of the weight loss came from a reduction in body fat, researchers at the University of Leeds found after reviewing its effectiveness. The drug reduced food cravings, with people choosing to eat smaller meals and decreasing their preferences for foods with a higher fat content. The study also added to the scientific understanding of how drug therapy can be used to tackle obesity. For the first time, scientists saw the benefit of very specific targeting of receptors or sensors that could affect multiple components of the brain's appetite control system.

Climate change may slowly starve bamboo lemurs.

Climate change may slowly starve bamboo lemurs.Researchers provide evidence to suggest that as Earth's climate changes, bamboo lemurs will gradually be forced to eat culm for longer periods. Ultimately, they suggest that, based on an analysis of anatomical, behavioral, paleontological, and climate data, the lemurs could slowly starve. Madagascar's Cat-sized greater bamboo lemurs are considered one of the most endangered primate species on Earth. They almost exclusively eat a single species of bamboo, including the woody trunk, known as culm. But they prefer the more nutritious and tender bamboo shoots and use their specialized teeth to gnaw on culm only when necessary, during the dry season.

How to make an indoor tortoise home.

How to take care of tortoise.