Agriculture : 2013

Tuesday, 5 March 2013

Agricultural Biotechnology

Agricultural Biotechnology Detail

More than a decade of global GM crop cultivation has demonstrated that agricultural biotechnology can, and already does, play a positive role in meeting these challenges. Thanks to the green revolution of the 1960s, the issue of food security still seems irrelevant to most of us in the EU, having escaped the experience of real food shortages and hunger. Indeed, for much of the last 20 years, policy-makers have focused on how to reduce Europe’s grain mountains and wine lakes – we were producing too much, not too little. There has been a shift in focus towards the environmental sustainability of modern agriculture and agricultural biotechnology which has required a change in mentality from the age of subsidies linked to production.
Nevertheless, with a global population that is set to reach nine billion by 2050, there is a general consensus that Europe must play its part in the global supply of food and increase its current agricultural production and agricultural biotechnology has a role. Innovation in crop breeding has allowed farmers to successfully meet this familiar challenge in the past. Now, given the likely impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity and the role played by agricultural practices in contributing to global warming, it is clear that farmers will have to go to greater lengths to produce food in a sustainable manner. Once again, innovation in the agricultural sector, including the development and employment of agricultural biotechnology, can help farmers achieve this goal. It is perhaps no surprise, then, that today more than 14 million farmers around the world have used agricultural biotechnology and are growing around 134 million hectares of GM crops.

Agricultural Biotechnology

Friday, 1 March 2013

Sustainable Agriculture Jobs

Sustainable Agriculture Jobs Detail
Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using the principles of ecology. The goal is to produce quality, natural products while respecting the environment, treating animals humanely, paying farm workers a fair wage, and supporting local communities. There are many different types of sustainable farming that is supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Farmers who choose to plant sustainable crops have a vast array of marketable possibilities. Many consumers make conscious decisions to support farmers who use sustainable and organic methods. According to the USDA, sustainable field crops can be organized into different categories. These include: feed (birdseed, switch grass, millet); edibles (canola, flax, safflower, sesame); and food grains (barley, lentils, spelt, quinoa).
In addition to crops and animals, there are many different types of products that can be created using sustainable agriculture. Soap making, beeswax products, organic toiletries, and apple products such as cider are considered value-added products that can be manufactured on sustainable farms. There are also many goods that can be made from wood, such as furniture and toys, and different types of sustainable clothing such as wool and hemp.

Sustainable Agriculture Jobs

Dept Of Agriculture

Dept Of Agriculture Detail
The United States Department of Agriculture (also known as the Agriculture Department or USDA) is a Cabinet Department of United States. It deals with the policy of farming, agriculture, and food, its basic charge is to protect American agriculture.
The Department of Agriculture was established on May 15, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. But that time it did not have the cabinet status. Lincoln called it the "people's department". It was elevated to the Cabinet level by President Grover Cleveland on February 9, 1889. The USDA is administrated by The United States Secretary of Agriculture.
The headquarters of the United States Department of Agriculture is located at 1400 Independence Avenue Southwest on National Mall in Washington D.C., in the Whitten Building (it is the only cabinet level agency building located directly on the mall). The construction of the building took nearly thirty years because of problems with its financing – because of funding war (it started in 1903 and was finished in 1930). It was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm of Rankin, Kellogg and Crane and it was constructed according to their neo-classical design.
The building was renamed the Jamie L. Whitten Building in June 1995. Whitten was a Congressman of Mississippi who served as Chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.

Dept Of Agriculture