ONU limita restos de 31 pesticidas

/by

 Publicado: 20  junio 2017

La Comisión del Codex Alimentarius de Naciones Unidas adoptó en una reunión en Roma los límites máximos para los residuos de 31 pesticidas en distintos alimentos, con vistas a evitar daños en la salud.

Según este organismo encargado de los estándares alimentarios a nivel mundial, esos límites son recomendaciones que se hacen a los países para proteger la salud de las personas y están basados en los análisis de riesgo proporcionados por un grupo de expertos internacionales independientes.

Dentro de la normativa aprobada sobre los residuos, aparecen recogidos 13 nuevos pesticidas, entre los que hay herbicidas como el acetoclor (que presenta límites para 41 alimentos) y la flumioxazina (para 39 alimentos).

LEER MÁS AQUÍ
LEER MÁS ARTÍCULOS EN ESPAÑOL AQUÍ

Video: Restoring Paradise

/by

Published: June 14, 2017 

Regenerative agriculture offers a future for the sustainable farming of meat in line with nature’s needs, by using holistic grazing and organic/biodynamic practices and even sequestering carbon in the soil – so important in the fight against climate change. At Mangarara, in New Zealand’s beautiful Hawke’s Bay, Greg Hart and his family are in the process of restoring 1500 acres of land conventionally farmed for over 150 years into the paradise it once was.

Focusing on diversity of animals, plantings and practices they are creating not only a beautiful landscape but also a beautiful place for animals and people to live and thrive. Holistic grazing keeps the grass long in order to build soil biology, sequester carbon, reduce fossil fuel inputs and keep animals naturally healthy. The neighbouring farmers might think it’s a wasteful practice, but as Greg says in the film, “Waste is a human concept. Nature doesn’t do waste.”

WACH THE FILL ON HAPPEN FILMS 

California Farmers Creating Healthier Soil to Help Battle Climate Change

/by

Author:Wilson Walker | Published: June 7, 2017

California farmers and researchers are helping rethink approaches to climate change by reworking traditional farming practices.

At Green String Farm in Sonoma County, Bob Cannard grows produce for some of the most celebrated restaurants in California.  “The soil is the foundation of all life, and it can hold so much carbon, and produce so much bounty,” says Cannard, walking through fields that might look overgrown.

This ground cover explosion, however, is entirely by design, because the life and death of these weeds will bring new life to this dirt.  “It doesn’t all burn out in one year,” says Cannard. “You build carbon into your soil.”

That’s the big idea California will now invest in, moving carbon out of the atmosphere and back into our soil.  This summer the state of California will spend seven million dollars encouraging farmers to embrace practices that would make their soil more carbon absorbent.

It’s just a trial program, but the practices that are being encouraged have already been adopted by many climate-conscious farmers.  “The atmospheric carbon, bringing it in and doing positive things with it instead of frivolous or negative things,” explained Cannard, who has embraced the idea of so-called carbon farming for decades.

“I love that soil is becoming part of the story line, that people are saying the word out loud,” said a beaming Kate Scow, soil scientist with the University of California, Davis.  Near the town of Winters, Scow and a team of researchers are conducting a 100-year study on how land responds to different farming practices.

KEEP READING ON CBS SF BAY AREA 

The Best Organic Cotton Sheets to Keep You Cool All Summer

/by

Author: Rebecca Straus | Published: June 8, 2017 

Conventionally grown cotton is considered the world’s dirtiest crop due to its overwhelming use of pesticides. In fact, cotton is responsible for sucking up a whopping sixteen percent of all pesticides used on commercial crops worldwide. That’s obviously terrible for the environment—not to mention our water supply—but it’s also a threat to your health while you sleep if you’re not snuggling up with organic sheets.

(Like what you’re reading? Sign up for our newsletter to get health insights, clever kitchen tricks, gardening secrets, and more—delivered straight to your inbox.)

It turns out that traces of these pesticides have been found on cotton textiles, such as sheets, towels, and clothing, even after washing. That’s bad news considering the World Health Organization calls eight out of the top ten pesticides used on cotton moderately to highly hazardous to human health. (Read up on the thirteen serious health conditions linked to Monsanto’s Roundup.)

Instead of turning your comfy, safe bed into a toxic zone, you can sleep more soundly by switching to organic cotton sheets. Here you’ll find some of our favorite high-quality organic sheet sets that will last you for years to come. Plus, not only are organic bed sheets free from toxins, they’re also made with 100 percent cotton, rather than a mixture of cotton and polyester or rayon, making them breathable and cooling for hot summer nights.

KEEP READING ON RODALE’S ORGANIC LIFE 

Mexico’s Native Crops Hold Key to Food Security – Ecologist

/by

Author: Sophie Hares| Published: June 13, 2017 

Mexico’s ancient civilisations cultivated crops such as maize, tomatoes and chillies for thousands of years before the Spanish conquerors arrived – and now those native plants could hold the key to sustainable food production as climate change bites, said a leading ecologist.

José Sarukhán Kermez, who helped set up Mexico’s pioneering National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) 25 years ago, said that analysing the genetic variability of traditional crops, and supporting the family farmers who grow most of the world’s food offered an alternative to industrial agriculture.

“We don’t need to manipulate hugely the genetic characteristics of these (crops)… because that biodiversity is there – you have to just select and use it with the knowledge of the people who have been doing that for thousands of years,” said Sarukhán, CONABIO’s national coordinator, in a telephone interview.

The emeritus professor and former rector of the National University of Mexico (UNAM) recently won the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, often referred to as a “Nobel for the Environment”.

Making use of the knowledge held by indigenous groups is “absolutely essential”, Sarukhán told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

That requires working with a wide range of people, from local cooks to small-scale farmers, especially in states like Oaxaca and Chiapas in the south of Mexico where indigenous farmers have a strong traditional culture, he said.

“They haven’t gone to university, and they don’t have a degree – but they damn well know how to do these things,” he said. For example, they discover and incorporate new knowledge as they exchange seeds with peers from different areas.

CONABIO is hoping to win some $5 million in funding from the Global Environment Facility for a five-year project worth more than $30 million to speed up research into indigenous crops.

The aim is to enrich the commission’s vast online database of biodiversity, with a view to influencing national agricultural policy, said Sarukhán.

KEEP READING ON REUTERS 

Se duplica superficie afectada por sequía ante cambio climático: FAO

/by

 Publicado: 20  junio 2017

Desde la década de los 70 la superficie terrestre afectada por la sequía se duplicó debido a los efectos del cambio climático y el fenómeno provoca pérdidas de hasta ocho mil millones de dólares anuales, advirtió hoy la Organización de Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO).

Invertir en preparación y en crear resiliencia entre los agricultores es fundamental para hacer frente a las situaciones de sequía extrema, aseguró el director general de la FAO, José Graziano da Silva, en un seminario sobre el tema organizado por el organismo de las Naciones Unidas, Irán y los Países Bajos.

Señaló que la necesidad de replantearse las sequías a nivel global es apremiante. Según datos de la FAO, a medida que el clima del planeta cambia, los períodos secos severos son cada vez más frecuentes y desde la década de los años 70, la superficie terrestre del planeta afectada por sequías se ha duplicado.

LEER MÁS AQUÍ
LEER MÁS ARTÍCULOS EN ESPAÑOL AQUÍ

Who Is Wilt-free? Farmers With Organic-rich, Water-holding Soils, That’s Who

/by

Author: Paul Brown | Published: June 6, 2017 

Long-term success for farmers depends on how they treat their soil, especially as climate change is making rainfall patterns more unreliable.

The make-up of soils varies enormously, sometimes from one field to another. Clay, which holds four times as much water as coarse light sand, can be a big advantage, but with too much rain can become waterlogged, leading to drowned crops. Clay soils also compress under heavy farm machinery.

A good mixture of soil particles is preferable but whatever the composition farmers have to care for their greatest single asset; they need to boost the capacity of soil to hold water, especially for annual crops, particularly in the dry east of England. Even established plants reach “wilting point” when half the available water in the soil is used up.

KEEP READING ON THE GUARDIAN 

Entre 70 y 75% del planeta padece algún grado de desertificación

/by

 Publicado: 17  junio 2017

En el mundo vivimos una situación crítica, añadió, ya que entre 70 y 75 por ciento de los suelos del planeta padecen algún grado de desertificación. “Esto significa que la tercera parte de la corteza terrestre es desierto y semidesierto”, enfatizó.

En México, 75 por ciento del suelo se cataloga en tres categorías: frágil (potencialmente en riesgo de perderse), árido o semiárido; esto implica que 50 por ciento del territorio presenta sequía en diferente grado. Actualmente, 450 municipios de 19 estados sufren por ese fenómeno; los más afectados son Oaxaca, Sonora, Chihuahua y Zacatecas, subrayó.

A propósito del Día Mundial de Lucha contra la Desertificación y la Sequía, que se celebra hoy 17 de junio como una forma de crear conciencia acerca de este problema emergente, Luna Montoya expuso que de 1950 a la fecha el fenómeno de la desertificación crece 30 a 35 veces más rápido de lo que lo hizo históricamente en siglos anteriores.

 

LEER MÁS AQUÍ
LEER MÁS ARTÍCULOS EN ESPAÑOL AQUÍ

Ramseyers Using Nature As a Blueprint for Beef Grazing

/by

Published: June 6, 2017 

For thousands of years livestock roamed the plains and forests and contributed to an ecosystem that produced some of the richest soils in the world. More livestock producers are taking note of this system with a long history of proven success and working to implement it on their farms.

Jeff and Michelle Ramseyer raise around 250 cattle in an organic rotational grazing system with neighboring grain farmer, Dean McIlvaine. The Ramseyers provide the livestock and the labor while enhancing the fertility and controlling weeds on McIvaine’s farm ground for their Lone Pine Pastures operation in Wayne County, Michelle said.

“Dean actually owns the properties we have cattle on. We are a grass-fed operation. We started back in 2014 when we got the cattle. Dean is an organic crop farmer and all of the cattle are raised on organic grass. We do not feed anything other than hay and grass. Dean needed more fertility because his crops weren’t growing well. Jeff went to him and said ‘Hey we can get you more fertility, why don’t we start a grass fed operation?’ That is what we did,” Michelle said. “Our first 40 heifers were delivered in December of 2014 and we calved in March-April of 2015 and have gone from there. We graze on his cropland and we have about 200 acres of permanent pastures. We market our beef to Heinen’s Grocery Store and we have freezer beef we sell in the community. We also have organic raised pork in an open barn with outside access.”

Emulating nature is the goal behind the beef operation. The Ramseyer operation has drawn from the experience of Gabe Brown from North Dakota. Brown was a speaker at the Soil Health Field Day at the farm of Dave Brandt in early April where he shared about his work with regenerative agriculture involving crop and livestock production.

“No matter where I go, I am 100% confident that the principles I use to get our ranch to be an ecosystem in North Dakota are the same no matter where I’m talking. It will work on your operation. The principles are the same anywhere,” Brown said. “Nature has been around for thousands of years. That is the model we need to emulate. There is another way of doing things and the way I found that works best is nature’s way.”

Brown completely changed the way he was farming to put a focus on building up his soils rather than degrading them.

“In nature there is no mechanical disturbance. That is a fact. There is always armor on the soil surface. Nature tries to cover herself. Nature cycles water very efficiently. Through our farming practices we’ve destroyed that water cycle. We need to heal it. In nature there are living plant root networks and those networks are very efficient at building the biology,” Brown said. “The greatest geological force on earth is life itself. Plants take in CO2 out of the atmosphere photosynthesis occurs and a portion of that is translocated to the roots where it is leaked out as exudates. That is how all of us in production agriculture get our profits. We have to have that functioning properly to make a profit. Part of that root exudate is converted carbonic acid that breaks down the rocks to make nutrients available to the plants. It is the biology in the soil that makes nutrients available. The fungal network is also very important.”

Tillage and synthetic fertilizer release carbon and the result is degraded soil. Brown has implemented a system that minimizes synthetic fertilizer and tillage while maximizing soil biology and plant root growth in the soil with a no-till/cover crop system that also includes intensive livestock grazing.

KEEP READING ON OHIO’S COUNTRY JOURNAL 

The High Price of Desertification: 23 Hectares of Land a Minute

/by

Author: Busani Bafana | Published: June 15, 2017 

Urban farmer Margaret Gauti Mpofu would do anything to protect the productivity of her land. Healthy soil means she is assured of harvest and enough food and income to look after her family.

Each morning, Mpofu, 54, treks to her 5,000-square-metre plot in Hyde Park, about 20 km west of the city of Bulawayo. With a 20-litre plastic bucket filled with cow manure in hand, Mpofu expertly scoops the compost and sprinkles a handful besides thriving leaf vegetables and onions planted in rows across the length of the field, which is irrigated with treated waste water.

“I should not be doing this,” Mpofu tells IPS pointing to furrows on her field left by floodwater running down the slope during irrigation. “The soil is losing fertility each time we irrigate because the water flows fast, taking valuable topsoil with it. I have to constantly add manure to improve fertility in the soil and this also improves my yields.”

Mpofu’s act of feeding the land is minuscule in fighting the big problem of land degradation. But replicated by many farmers on a large scale, it can restore the productivity of arable land, today threatened by desertification and degradation.

While desertification does include the encroachment of sand dunes on productive land, unsustainable farming practices such as slash and burn methods in land clearing, incorrect irrigation, water erosion, overgrazing – which removes grass cover and erodes topsoil – as well as climate change are also major contributors to desertification.

Desertification is on the march.  Many people are going hungry because degraded lands affects agriculture, a key source of livelihood and food in much of Africa. More than 2.6 billion people live off agriculture in the world. More than half of agricultural land is affected by soil degradation, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

It gets worse. The UN body says 12 million hectares of arable land, enough to grow 20 tonnes of grain, are lost to drought and desertification annually, while 1.5 billion people are affected in over 100 countries. Halting land degradation has become an urgent global imperative.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that by 2030 Africa will lose two-thirds of its arable land if the march of desertification — the spread of arid, desert-like areas of land — is not stopped.

KEEP READING ON INTER PRESS SERVICE