How to reduce ammonia pollution in a cattle ranch.

A new study provides a list of techniques and technologies that could provide the greatest reductions in ammonia emissions in cattle ranch.These techniques can reduce emissions by 17% to 50% which include improved barn design, cleaning processes, and manure treatment . 

 The study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment provided a list of the techniques and technologies that could provide the greatest reductions in ammonia emissions.

The new study assesses the emissions reduction potential of a number of techniques, such as floor scraping, flushing with water, manure acidification, and using different types of flooring Ammonia pollution in general have impacts on both the environment and human health, it can lead to algal blooms in freshwater, threatening aquatic wildlife, and contribute to smog that damages human health. In northwestern Europe, dairy cattle are usually housed in large barns, where they are kept loose, and manure, which is the source of ammonia emissions, is removed and stored in a pit beneath the barn. 

A number of factors contribute to how much ammonia escapes from the manure into air, including chemical processes, temperature, and air flow. Mendes and colleagues approached the problem using a model of ammonia emissions that was designed to calculate the ammonia emission reductions potential of new or adapted dairy cattle barns. It incorporates management technologies and processes designed to reduce pollution.

How to feed snails with watermelon.

 How to feed snails with watermelon. Watermelon are undoubtedly very useful in the food chain as they offer benefits to man as well as animals.

The role of watermelon in the poultry value chain has been explored and the results are outstanding ,see. Watermelon has also been used as medicine to ensure health of birds,see #snails

 Watermelon is very useful aside from the fruit itself the rind itself is food ,see the rind is also useful in feeding snails.


 The rind is washed ,sliced and then cubed into pieces before feeding them to the snails. The snails relish this delicacy , #snails.

Hungry kids treated for rabies after digging up dog corpses to eat.

Starving youngsters dug up bodies with their bare hands and ate them with rice.

DESPERATE children are being treated for rabies after digging up the corpses of dead dogs and EATING them.

The group of 13 starving kids clawed with their bare hands to get at the rotting animals, who had been put down after being suspected of carrying the disease. 

 They set up a camp fire to cook the corpses and ate them with rice in the poverty stricken Mukdaharn region of north-east Thailand.They quickly fell ill and were rushed to hospital after locals spotted what they were eating. Animal welfare worker Chon Chaiprasit said: ”It’s a terrible situation. Nobody would have expected the youngsters to eat the dead animals. ”The dogs had rabies so they are currently having vaccinations.

”Dog meat is commonly eaten in poorer rural regions of south-east Asia.It is common for dogs to be farmed for food and even skinned alive in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. On Monday dogs were rounded up and beheaded after reports they were rabidly biting each other. 

 While their heads were taken for testing, their bodies were buried in woodland in Khok Sung.Hours later the group of starving children dug up the corpses.Tests on the animals confirmed they had rabies, sparking fears the children would be infected. They were given emergency vaccines while vets set out to give jabs to stray dogs within a two-mile radius in an attempt to avoid the disease spreading. 

Chon added: “There hasn’t been any explanation yet as to why the youngsters ate the dogs but we believe it is because they were hungry and needed food. “They are being treated and we are working hard to contain the outbreak.” Village elder Withaya Thongmaha, 53, said: “Lots of dogs were biting each other and we worried they may have rabies so we called for help.“I heard that at least ten youths had dug up the corpses and eaten the dogs for food.” more

Alien ladybirds infected with a sex disease are heading for homes in Cambridgeshire.

Harlequins were first recorded in the UK in 2004. They’re aliens, not a native species, having originated in Asia, migrated to America, and then somehow found their way to Cambridgeshire. Alpha male-style alien ladybirds may be killing off weaker competitors in Cambridgeshire.They’re big, they’re butch, and they like to bonk. Alien ladybirds carrying a virulent sexual disease are fluttering on the wind in Cambridgeshire, and may want to snuggle up in homes. They pose no threat to humans, wildlife experts have explained. They’re larger, tougher and butcher than other ladybirds, and they tend to out compete them, and may perhaps have had a part in the declining population. Ladybirds can be cannibalistic, eating each other’s larvae, for example. Harlequin ladybirds are bossy and tend to lord it over other, smaller, meeker ladybirds,some carry a sexually-transmitted disease called Laboulbeniales, a fungus which causes a spooky-looking outbreak of small yellow spines, making infected ladybirds look like miniature hedgehogs. Experts do not know what impact the disease has, or whether it is fatal, but they believe it may be life-limiting. The invasive harlequins have a better chance of living longer, it is thought, because they are bigger and tougher.The alien invaders have black instead of red wings, and like all ladybirds like to hunker down for the winter inside houses, around boilers, window frames and curtains. There is currently a big survey going on, and people are being asked to log on to www.ladybird-survey.org and help out with information, and give better understanding about ladybirds. more

Agritech; the use of laser fence to protect crops from rats and other pests.

The role of agritech to produce tools and techniques to ensure farming is easy,reduce waste and prevent spread of diseases cannot be overemphasized.This has birthed a trend of partnerships between agritech companies and other agric-inclined businesses to provide solutions that will ensure food security. Agritech has churned out some innovations (read earlier posts),but the latest innovation is the use of laser fence to scare pests away from crops to prevent damage.This laser fence is to protect crops from be eaten by rats,rodents,birds and other pests. The European Commission is funding a trial to see if a laser can scare rats and other rodents from crops in order to eliminate harmful poisons.Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University (Liverpool, England) hope a "fence" of laser light will scare rats and other pests, proving an alternative to poison. The trials will take place in Scotland, the Netherlands, and Spain starting in late 2016. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said innovation was important to support the farming industry following Brexit. "The laser has already been produced," Alex Mason, project coordinator of the Life Laser Fence project, told the BBC. The EC contributed $1.85 million dollars to support the research. "It's a commercial product used in a number of situations--but we are looking at using it in agricultural situations, on a wider range of species. It already works very well on birds. We hope it will work on rats, badgers, foxes and rabbits too." The Agrilaser Autonomic is sold as a device that repels birds, which "perceive the approaching laser beam as a physical danger" and fly away, according to the manufacturer. The researchers hope it will work just as well on other unwanted animals that can destroy crops, eat food meant for farm animals, and spread disease. Controlling pests with poisons can lead to unintended victims such as birds being killed too, so the trial hopes to reduce crop damage in the trial areas by 50%, while reducing bird exposure to pesticide by 80%. more

Climate smart agriculture.#hydroponics.

Climate smart agriculture growing vegetables in a tray without soil. The innovative mindset birthed this and now its live!!! I have a farm where i grow vegetables,but decided to plant some veggies the hydroponics way; 

 I followed these steps ; 1) chose good quality seeds. 2) soaked the seeds in hypochlorite solution for 6 hours. 3) washed seeds with clean water and set in trays. 4) i sprayed with water morning and evening. 5) here comes the veggies.

Converting footsteps to usable electricity.

Going green with flooring as new technique converts footsteps to usable energy. A simple method developed by University of Wisconsin-Madison materials engineers that allows them to convert footsteps into usable electricity. A new study published in the journal Nano Energy, highlights the work of Xudong Wang, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison, his graduate student Chunhua Yao, and their collaborators. The method puts to good use a common waste material: wood pulp. The pulp, which is already a common component of flooring, is partly made of cellulose nanofibers. They're tiny fibers that, when chemically treated, produce an electrical charge when they come into contact with untreated nanofibers. When the nanofibers are embedded within flooring, they're able to produce electricity that can be harnessed to power lights or charge batteries, the wood pulp is a cheap, abundant and renewable waste product of several industries, flooring that incorporates the new technology could be as affordable as conventional materials. The UW-Madison team's advance is the latest in a green energy research field called "roadside energy harvesting", which requires thinking about the places where there is abundant energy that could be harvesting easily.Heavy traffic floors in hallways and places like stadiums and malls that incorporate the technology could produce significant amounts of energy if properly harnessed.