How to grow tomatoes with LED lighting.

Philips Lighting took a select group of leading global tomato growers, owners and consultants to visit three innovative French tomato growers with 100% LED installations during the fourth Philips High Wire Event. Philips Horticulture LED lighting is hosting the trips to the Kernoas greenhouse, with two seasons of experience growing with 100% LEDs, the Tomate Jouno greenhouse, specializing in year-round production of cherry tomatoes and Le Jardin de Rabelais, which grows vine and cherry tomatoes in its new Suprimair 3.4 ha greenhouse. continue

Making cows more environmentally friendly by feeding hydroponic fodder.

Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) and the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt have published a paper revealing an important discovery surrounding plants used to feed livestock; that plants growing in warmer conditions are tougher and have lower nutritional value to grazing livestock, potentially inhibiting milk and meat yields and raising the amount of methane released by the animals. 

           

 The higher amounts of methane are produced when plants are tougher to digest -- an effect of a warmer environment. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, around 25 times better at trapping heat than carbon dioxide and more than 95% of the methane produced by cows comes from their breath through belching and farting . Diet plays a vital role in control of methane emissions related to cattle thus various strategies have been proposed to stem these emissions. 

The change in diet of cattle to more easily digestible and metabolisable feed ensures less regurgitation,more absorption and less methane emission. Farming without soil also referred to as hydroponics refers to growing plants in nutrient rich media under controlled temperature and humidity to produce fresh fodder for animals,which are highly nutritious, easily digestible and free from pesticides. Cattle fed with hydroponic fodder grow fast, produce more milk,beef and less gas. The animals have access to the full nutrients from the cereal or legume,the minerals protein and fat are liberated in the fodder making it a great alternative. Cows normally have access to 20% of energy in the grain diet while with fodder system 95% of the energy is available for growth and reproductive health and performance. The short span of growth from seed to fodder within 7 days ensures that animals have fresh fodder all year round.

How Azolla can combat malaria and other mosquito borne infection.

Malaria is a global issue with about 200 million people infected yearly ,all hands are on deck to eradicate malaria completely by control of mosquitoes,production of vaccine,provision of nets for prevention of bites and education on sanitation to destroy breeding sites of mosquitoes. 

 Mosquitoes also are linked to Zika virus infection, chikungunya, dog heartworm, dengue, yellow fever,eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, La Crosse encephalitis, this clearly shows why eradication of mosquitoes is very important. 

Mosquitoes also affects animals resulting in death if critical cases,in poultry avian malaria is a subtle killer while horses react to bites with hypersensitivity reaction and encephalomyelitis in severe cases. see 

The host range of mosquitoes are widespread making them a public health concern and hence a major target to ensure health care for all and pet wellness and animal welfare as a whole. 

The azolla fern can eradicate mosquitoes without use of chemicals and also not disrupt ecosystem . The azolla fern is a miracle fern that has found usefulness as livestock feed,bio fertilizer,biogas substrate and mosquito repellent. 

The harvested Azolla fern can be dried and spread around premises to repel mosquitoes. Azolla can be used to eliminate mosquitoes on a larger scale by forming dense mat on the surface of the water, preventing adult mosquitoes from laying eggs and also reducing the emergence and development of mosquito larvae.

Azolla as a feed ingredient in broiler ration.

Azolla as a feed ingredient in broiler ration. A study was carried out to determine the viability of adding Azolla to broiler diet on performance and cost analysis.

 The study reported in International Journal of Poultry Science 1: 29-34, 2002 ,shows that a 5% inclusion rate of Azolla in broiler ration is viable both for performance and cost implication. 

 The experiment was conducted with 120 seven days old Vencobb commercial broiler chicks and continued up to 42 days of age to determine the feasibility of Azolla as a feed ingredient in broiler ration. The broilers are randomly allotted to four dietary treatments; T (control diet without Azolla meal), T (diet with 5% Azolla meal), T (diet with 10% Azolla 1 2 3 meal) and T (diet with 15% Azolla meal) diets replacing sesame meal by Azolla meal. The composition of Azolla meal contained 4 25.78% crude protein, 15.71% crude fibre, 3.47% ether extract, 15.76% ash and 30.08% nitrogen free extract on the air-dry basis. Live weight, production number and protein efficiency were (P< 0.01) significantly improved at the level off 5% Azolla meal in broiler ration. Feed conversion ratio and energy efficiency were significantly (P< 0.01) improved in diet with 5% Azolla meal and control diet. 

The study concluded that the use of up to 5% Azolla meal in a broiler ration may help improve performance and this inclusion rate in a broiler diet is also determined as a safe level. Azolla meal had no deleterious effect on the palatability of broiler diets.

 A farmer using Azolla shares her experience; farmer from sunshine chickens harvest a lot of Azolla to feed the three (3) batches of Sunshine Chicken they have in the farm. They are fed pails and pails of it daily..

 All ages eat azolla ,not limited to broilers as layers also feed on Azolla with bigger eggs as an advantage. Continue

Azolla: the miracle fern and animal feed.

The cost of feed of livestock coupled with climatic changes has pushed farmers to look inwards and promote innovative practices to keep their flock and also create wealth.

 

Azolla: the miracle fern and animal feed.

 Farmers have sought out practices like hydroponics,which they have used to make fodder for livestock and also vegetables for man. see and also  are

Farmers have also embraced aquaponics and aeroponics to grow vegetables and legumes for man and livestock to create wealth and ensure food security.

The race to feed the estimated 9 billion by 2050 and the pressure on land and ecosystem at large has pushed more green initiatives to farmers to cut losses and conserve the environment. 

The Azolla fern is a miracle fern that has been incorporated into agriculture in  India,China, Vietnam e.t.c.  The aquatic plant is easy to cultivate and nurture and requires no extensive preparation/processing before been fed to animals. 

 Azolla can be fed wholly to cattle and pigs without any additional feed as it provides necessary nutrients needed for growth and development. Azolla farming is cheap,easy and readily available for farmers. 

 Azolla is an aquatic fern usually referred to as the miracle fern because its rich in organic nutrients and usefulness  as feed and fertilizer. Azolla contain 25-30 % protein, essential amino acids, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and Beta- Carotene, calcium and iron minerals . 

 Azolla contains phosphorus, potassium, ferrous, copper, magnesium, bio-active substances and it is this what makes Azolla a perfect organic fertilizer.

 Azolla can be used as a cattle feed and research has shown that Azolla helps to increase the milk production. Its also used as a feed to quail, rabbit, fish, duck, pig etc.

When fed to hen on a daily basis, Azolla promotes production of good quality of eggs. Azolla has Anabena that helps to absorb nitrogen, and the nitrogen absorbed is converted to protein and amino acid which is later stored in the leaves. 

 Nitrogen is one main factor that helps in a plant’s growth this makes Azolla, a high standard fertilizer that aid in the growth of a plant. 

 Azolla also act as a mosquito repellent , the dried Azolla is also used as a partial substitute to Groundnut meal in feed compounding. 

When Azolla is produced in excess it can be dried and stored in plastic bags for preservation. The inclusion of Azolla in poultry diet, is the in dried form and added ratio is 5% of normal ration.

Illustrated experiment: modifying mosquitoes to save millions of lives.

Malaria, a disease transmitted by a type of mosquito called Anopheles, kills 500,000 people every year, most of them in Africa. But Andrea Crisanti, professor of molecular parasitology at London's Imperial College, has a plan to eradicate it in many countries. pquZbK1DQ30/WNsr6J_DMGI/AAAAAAAAH_E/s0UHE6vR4fs5uvFkn10minXTENaKF58YQCLcB/s320/mal7.jpg" width="320" height="157" /> more

Researchers have discovered a map on the hunt for malaria vaccine.

Researchers using the Australian Synchrotron, mapped the parasite protein CyRPA in atomic detail for the first time, and established how antibodies that block the function of CyRPA disrupt the parasite's ability to bind to and infect human red blood cells. Plasmodium falciparum is the most deadly strain of malaria parasite, and is predominantly found in Africa, where it causes up to half a million deaths each year. It is widely accepted that malaria vaccines will play a crucial role in eliminating malaria infections, and the eventual eradication of the parasites. The study published in the journal eLife shows that CyRPA forms a complex with two other parasite proteins – PfRh5 and PfRipr – and together the complex is essential for the parasite to be able to burrow into red blood cells.This study has shown at atomic level how key antibodies block the parasite from infecting the human red blood cell which was previously unknown.