Farming - Agriculture

Farming is the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock. Agriculture considered as an occupation or way of life.

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuel, medicinal plants and other products used to sustain and enhance human life. Agriculture can also refer to the federal department that administers programs created in 1862 that provides services to farmers including research and soil conservation and efforts to stabilize the farming economy. Farming Technology - Buying a Farm - Organic - GMO.



Farmer is a person who operates a farm and is engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. Farmer is sometimes also called an agriculturer.

Tips - Trade - Farming Statistics - Diseases - Pesticide Warnings - Factory Farms

Farm is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. Herbivore or Omnivore?

Agrarian Society is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total production is in agriculture.

Everyone should know how to Grow and Harvest Food. Even if you grow food on a small scale, like in a small backyard garden or on your windowsill, the benefits are numerous. Not only does growing your own food provide you with healthy nutrition, you can also learn several subjects at the same time, like science, math, engineering, biology, botany, chemistry, soil health, water use, time management, taste, smell, awareness, focus and discipline, spatial skills, Body skills, love and sharing.

Produce is a group of farm-produced crops and goods, including fruits and vegetables – meats, grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered produce.

Orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production.

Vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture.

Share-Cropping is a form of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on their portion of land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range of different situations and types of agreements that have used a form of the system. Share-Farming makes use of agricultural assets they do not own in return for some percentage of the profits. Worker Coop.

In a Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington (1787) - "Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness."

Each week, around 330 farm families leave their land for good. We must stop this exodus and do what ever we can to turn this around, our lives, and our future lives, depend on it. 47 Million in Americans don't have Food Security.

City Farming - Grow Beds - Container Gardens - Community Gardens - Small Town Farming.

Soil Testing - Fertilizers - Pesticides - Water Safety

Vertical Farming - Grow Lights - Micro-Greens

Hydroponics - Aquaponics - Areoponics - Green Houses

Permaculture (Food Forests) - Edible Landscapes

Organic - Responsibly Grown - Diseases

Dry Land Farming - Draught - Sensors

Breeding - Grafting - Intercropping

Sustainability - Food Security - Food Safety - GMO

Seeds - Bees - Nutrition

Pick Your Own Food Farms - Connecticut - Pick your Own - Farm Fresh Ri - Food Preserving.

Agroecology is the study of ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. The prefix agro- refers to agriculture. Bringing ecological principles to bear in agroecosystems can suggest novel management approaches that would not otherwise be considered. The term is often used imprecisely and may refer to "a science, a movement, [or] a practice". Agroecologists study a variety of agroecosystems, and the field of agroecology is not associated with any one particular method of farming, whether it be organic, integrated, or conventional; intensive or extensive. Although it has much more common thinking and principles with some of the before mentioned farming systems. Sustainable Farming - Landscaping.

Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of growing plants. It includes the cultivation of medicinal plants, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and non-food crops such as grass and ornamental trees and plants. It also includes plant conservation, landscape restoration, landscape and garden design, construction, and maintenance, and arboriculture. Inside agriculture, horticulture contrasts with extensive field farming as well as animal husbandry. Horticulturists apply their knowledge, skills, and technologies used to grow intensively produced plants for human food and non-food uses and for personal or social needs. Their work involves plant propagation and cultivation with the aim of improving plant growth, yields, quality, nutritional value, and resistance to insects, diseases, and environmental stresses. They work as gardeners, growers, therapists, designers, and technical advisors in the food and non-food sectors of horticulture. Horticulture even refers to the growing of plants in a field or garden. Aquaponics.

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, fiber, and land reclamation. Agronomy has come to encompass work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. It is the application of a combination of sciences like biology, chemistry, economics, ecology, earth science, and genetics. Agronomists of today are involved with many issues, including producing food, creating healthier food, managing the environmental impact of agriculture, and extracting energy from plants. Agronomists often specialise in areas such as crop rotation, irrigation and drainage, plant breeding, plant physiology, soil classification, soil fertility, weed control, and insect and pest control. Agronomist.

Agricultural Science is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. (Veterinary science, but not animal science, is often excluded from the definition.)  Agriculture is the set of activities that transform the environment for the production of animals and plants for human use. Agriculture concerns techniques, including the application of agronomic research. Agronomy is research and development related to studying and improving plant-based crops. Agricultural sciences include research and development on: Production techniques (e.g., irrigation management, recommended nitrogen inputs). Improving agricultural productivity in terms of quantity and quality (e.g., selection of drought-resistant crops and animals, development of new pesticides, yield-sensing technologies, simulation models of crop growth, in-vitro cell culture techniques). Minimizing the effects of pests (weeds, insects, pathogens, nematodes) on crop or animal production systems. Transformation of primary products into end-consumer products (e.g., production, preservation, and packaging of dairy products). Prevention and correction of adverse environmental effects (e.g., soil degradation, waste management, bioremediation). Theoretical production ecology, relating to crop production modeling. Traditional agricultural systems, sometimes termed subsistence agriculture, which feed most of the poorest people in the world. These systems are of interest as they sometimes retain a level of integration with natural ecological systems greater than that of industrial agriculture, which may be more sustainable than some modern agricultural systems. Food production and demand on a global basis, with special attention paid to the major producers, such as China, India, Brazil, the USA and the EU. Various sciences relating to agricultural resources and the environment (e.g. soil science, agroclimatology); biology of agricultural crops and animals (e.g. crop science, animal science and their included sciences, e.g. ruminant nutrition, farm animal welfare); such fields as agricultural economics and rural sociology; various disciplines encompassed in agricultural engineering. Farming Technologies and Advanced Tools.

Subsistence Agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed themselves and their families. The output is mostly for local requirements with little or no surplus trade. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to feed and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made principally with an eye toward what the family will need during the coming year, and secondarily toward market prices. Tony Waters writes: "Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace."

Regenerative Agriculture is an approach to food and farming systems that regenerates topsoil and increases biodiversity now and long into the future. Regenerative Agriculture improves water cycles, enhances ecosystem services, increases resilience to climate fluctuation and strengthens the health and vitality of farming and ranching communities.

Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration is a low-cost, sustainable land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers in developing countries by increasing food and timber production, and resilience to climate extremes. It involves the systematic regeneration and management of trees and shrubs from tree stumps, roots and seeds.

Agricultural Productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to agricultural inputs. While individual products are usually measured by weight, their varying densities make measuring overall agricultural output difficult. Therefore, output is usually measured as the market value of final output, which excludes intermediate products such as corn feed used in the meat industry. This output value may be compared to many different types of inputs such as labour and land (yield). These are called partial measures of productivity. Agricultural productivity may also be measured by what is termed total factor productivity (TFP). This method of calculating agricultural productivity compares an index of agricultural inputs to an index of outputs. This measure of agricultural productivity was established to remedy the shortcomings of the partial measures of productivity; notably that it is often hard to identify the factors cause them to change. Changes in TFP are usually attributed to technological improvements. Farm Inputs: Land, equipment, seeds, feed, fuel, and fertilizer.

Agribusiness is the business of agricultural production. The term was coined in 1957 by Goldberg and Davis. It includes agrichemicals, breeding, crop production (farming and contract farming), distribution, farm machinery, processing, and seed supply, as well as marketing and retail sales. All agents of the food and fiber value chain and those institutions that influence it are part of the agribusiness system. Farm Policy Facts.

Agricultural Economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fibre—a discipline known as agronomics. Agronomics was a branch of economics that specifically dealt with land usage. It focused on maximizing the crop yield while maintaining a good soil ecosystem.

Food Industry is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that supply most of the food consumed by the world population. Only subsistence farmers, those who survive on what they grow, and hunter-gatherers can be considered outside of the scope of the modern food industry. The food Industry includes: Agriculture: raising of crops and livestock, and seafood. Manufacturing: agrichemicals, agricultural construction, farm machinery and supplies, seed, etc.. Food processing: preparation of fresh products for market, and manufacture of prepared food products. Marketing: promotion of generic products (e.g., milk board), new products, advertising, marketing campaigns, packaging, public relations, etc.. Wholesale and distribution: logistics, transportation, warehousing. Foodservice (which includes Catering). Grocery, farmers' markets, public markets and other retailing. Regulation: local, regional, national, and international rules and regulations for food production and sale, including food quality, food security, food safety, marketing/advertising, and industry lobbying activities. Education: academic, consultancy, vocational. Research and development: food technology. Financial services: credit, insurance.

United States Department of Agriculture is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, and food. It aims to meet the needs of farmers and ranchers, promote agricultural trade and production, work to assure food safety, protect natural resources, foster rural communities and end hunger in the United States and internationally. Approximately 80% of the USDA's $141 billion budget goes to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) program. The largest component of the FNS budget is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Food Stamp program), which is the cornerstone of USDA's nutrition assistance.

Agritourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Agritourism has different definitions in different parts of the world, and sometimes refers specifically to farm stays, as in Italy. Elsewhere, agritourism includes a wide variety of activities, including buying produce direct from a farm stand, navigating a corn maze, slopping hogs, picking fruit, feeding animals, or staying at a bed and breakfast (B&B) on a farm.

Intensive Farming involves various types of agriculture with higher levels of input and output per cubic unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a low fallow ratio, higher use of inputs such as capital and labour, and higher crop yields per cubic unit land area. This contrasts with traditional agriculture, in which the inputs per unit land are lower. The term "intensive" involves various meanings, some of which refer to organic farming methods (such as biointensive agriculture and French intensive gardening), and others that refer to nonorganic and industrial methods. Intensive animal farming involves either large numbers of animals raised on limited land, usually concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), often referred to as factory farms, or managed intensive rotational grazing (MIRG), which has both organic and non-organic types. Both increase the yields of food and fiber per acre as compared to traditional animal husbandry. In CAFO, feed is brought to the seldom-moved animals, while in MIRG the animals are repeatedly moved to fresh forage.

Extensive Farming is an agricultural production system that uses small inputs of labor, fertilizers, and capital, relative to the land area being farmed.

Food Growing Tips - Planting Tips

Crop Rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar or different types of crops in the same area in sequenced seasons. It is done so that the soil of farms is not used for only one set of nutrients. It helps in reducing soil erosion and increases soil fertility and crop yield. 4 Year Crop Rotation Plan.

Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice involving growing two or more crops in proximity. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources or ecological processes that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop. Intercropping can also help to reduce pests, reduce weeds and protect the exposed soil from drying out. The plants must be symbiotic and not be competing for nutrients or water. Herbs and root plants are good plants to intercrop, as well as flowers like marigolds. Nature needs Diversity - Food Chemistry.

Inga Alley Cropping refers to planting agricultural crops between rows of Inga trees. Using the Inga tree for alley cropping has been proposed as an alternative to the much more ecologically destructive slash and burn cultivation. The technique has been found to increase yields. It is sustainable agriculture as it allows the same plot to be cultivated over and over again thus eliminating the need for burning of the rainforests to get fertile plots.

Companion Planting is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial creatures, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of poly-culture. Companion planting is used by farmers and gardeners in both industrialized and developing countries for many reasons. Many of the modern principles of companion planting were present many centuries ago in cottage gardens in England and forest gardens in Asia, and thousands of years ago in Mesoamerica.

Companion Plants List (wiki) - Insecticides (environmentally friendly) - Permaculture

Three Sisters - Corn, Beans, and Winter Squash. These three plants grow symbiotically to deter weeds and pests, enrich the soil, and support each other and work together to help one another thrive and survive. For many Native American communities, these 3 crops represented the most important crops.

Multiple Cropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in the same piece of land in same growing seasons instead of one crop. It is a form of polyculture. It can take the form of double-cropping, in which a second crop is planted after the first has been harvested, or relay cropping, in which the second crop is started amidst the first crop before it has been harvested. A related practice, companion planting, is sometimes used in gardening and intensive cultivation of vegetables and fruits. One example of multi-cropping is tomatoes + onions + marigold; the marigolds repel some tomato pests. Mixed cropping is found in many agricultural traditions. In the Garhwal Himalaya of India, a practice called baranaja involves sowing 12 or more crops on the same plot, including various types of beans, grains, and millets, and harvesting them at different times. In the cultivation of rice, multiple cropping requires effective irrigation, especially in areas with a dry season. Rain that falls during the wet season permits the cultivation of rice during that period, but during the other half of the year, water cannot be channeled into the rice fields without an irrigation system. The Green Revolution in Asia led to the development of high-yield varieties of rice, which required a substantially shorter growing season of 100 days, as opposed to traditional varieties, which needed 150 to 185 days. Due to this, multiple cropping became more prevalent in Asian countries. Second Harvest - Bumper-Crop - Bumper Crop.

Soil Testing - Plant Maintenance - Plant Diseases

Succession Planting refers to several planting methods that increase crop availability during a growing season by making efficient use of space and timing. There are four basic approaches, that can also be combined: Two or more crops in succession: After one crop is harvested, another is planted in the same space. The length of the growing season, climate, and crop selection are key factors. For example, a cool season spring crop could be followed by a heat-loving summer crop. Same crop, successive plantings: Several smaller plantings are made at timed intervals, rather than all at once. The plants mature at staggered dates, establishing a continuous harvest over an extended period. Lettuce and other salad greens are common crops for this approach. Within a small garden or home garden, this method is useful in circumventing the initial large yield from the crop and rather providing a steady, smaller yield that may be consumed in its entirety. This is also known as relay planting. Two or more crops simultaneously: Non-competing crops, often with different maturity dates, are planted together in various patterns. Intercropping is one pattern approach; companion planting is a related, complementary practice. This method is also known as Interplanting: The practice of growing two types of plants in the same space. Interplanting requires a certain amount of preplanning and knowledge of the maturity dates of different types of vegetables. It has been noted that successful interplanting and intensive gardening is done in raised beds within the planting areas. Planting two or more non-competing crops may raise issues with soil-borne diseases and insects that only affect one type of plant. Depending on how close the interplanting varieties are, crop failure is a possibility. Same crop, different maturity dates: Several varieties are selected, with different maturity dates: early, main season, late. Planted at the same time, the varieties mature one after the other over the season. Succession Growing or Fall Planting. Frost Dates - Hardiness Zone (wiki) - Vegetables to Grow. Growing a Second Crop after First Harvest. Days to Maturity refers to the time a seed takes to germinate and grow to maturity.

Rabi Crop are agricultural crops that are sown in winter and harvested in the spring in South Asia. The term is derived from the Arabic word for "spring", which is used in the Indian subcontinent, where it is the spring harvest (also known as the "winter crop").

Phytoncide are antimicrobial allelochemic volatile organic compounds derived from plants. Some plants give off very active substances that help to prevent them from rotting or being eaten by some insects and animals. Cedar, garlic, locust, oak, onion, pine, tea tree, many spices, and many other plants give off phytoncides. Garlic contains allicin and diallyl disulfide. Pine contains alpha-pinene, carene, myrcene, and other terpenes. Sophora flavescens contains sophoraflavanone G. More than 5,000 volatile substances defend plants that produce them from bacteria, fungi, and insects. Phytoncides work by inhibiting or preventing the growth of the attacking organism. They are widely used in Russian, Ukrainian, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese medicine, as well as in holistic medicine, aromatherapy, and veterinary medicine. The word phytoncide means "exterminated by the plant". Allelochemical is a chemical produced by a living organism, exerting a detrimental physiological effect on the individuals of another species when released into the environment. Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms.

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing a single crop, plant, or livestock species, variety, or breed in a field or farming system at a time. Polyculture, where more than one crop is grown in the same space at the same time, is the alternative to monoculture. Monoculture is widely used in both industrial farming and organic farming and has allowed increased efficiency in planting and harvest. Dangers (film) - Plant Diseases.

The Insect Apocalypse | DW Documentary (youtube) - The world’s insect population has declined by three quarters in the last 30 years and many species have become extinct. Bees - Biodiversity.

Plants that help keep Mosquitos and other unneeded Insects away are Mint (linalool), Garlic (allicin), Lavender Oil, Vanilla, Black Pepper, Eucalyptus (picaridin), Lemon, and even apple cider vinegar. 

Plant Breeding - Pruning - Grafting - Propagation

Dry Land Farming - Irrigation - Water - Pesticides

Fallow is an area of land that is left unseeded after being ploughed and harrowed to regain fertility for a crop. Undeveloped or inactive, but potentially useful. No-Till Farming.

Nitrogen Fixing Crops - Clover - Alfalfa - Grass - Forage

Cover Crops are beneficial in many ways. It helps lower the soil temperature which is beneficial to microbial health and they also don't deplete or rob nutrients in the soil. Malnutrition.

Groundcover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as the herbaceous layer. The most widespread ground covers are grasses of various types. In ecology, groundcover is a difficult subject to address because it is known by several different names and is classified in several different ways. The term groundcover could also be referring to “the herbaceous layer,” “regenerative layer", “ground flora” or even "step over." In agriculture, ground cover refers to anything that lies on top of the soil and protects it from erosion and inhibits weeds. It can be anything from a low layer of grasses to a plastic material. The term ground cover can also specifically refer to landscaping fabric which is like a breathable tarp that allows water and gas exchange. In gardening jargon, however, the term groundcover refers to plants that are used in place of weeds and improves appearance by concealing bare earth.

Black Tarps Over Cover Crops Suppress Weeds in Organic No-Till Vegetable Garden. University of New Hampshire researchers have found that using black tarps and cover crops successfully suppressed weeds in an organic vegetable system, allowing scientists to forgo tilling, which can have deleterious effects on soil.

Tarpaulin is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a hootch. Tarpaulins often have reinforced grommets at the corners and along the sides to form attachment points for rope, allowing them to be tied down or suspended. Inexpensive modern tarpaulins are made from woven polyethylene; this material is so associated with tarpaulins that it has become colloquially known in some quarters as polytarp.

Field Borders for Agronomic, Economic and Wildlife Benefits. A field border is a band or strip of perennial vegetation established on the edge of a cropland field. A field border reduces sheet, rill, and gully erosion at the edge of fields; protects water quality by trapping sediment, chemical and other pollutants; provides a turning area for farm equipment; and provides wildlife habitat. Natural Habitat can help Farmers Control Pests. Habitat Planning for Beneficial Insects. Guidelines for Conservation Biological Control. Drones (advanced tools) - Biological Pest Control.

30" Raise Bed Rows with 18" separators or walk ways in between each row. Plants are planted close together so that when the plants are almost full grown the leaves will be touching the other leaves of the other plants next to them, creating a natural ground cover or canopy. Soil must be deep enough without hard any layers so that the roots can grow deep enough and give the plant room to grow full size. Use a broad fork to loosen a no till soil.

Broadfork is a tool used to manually break up densely packed soil, like hardpan, to improve aeration and drainage. It consists of five or so metal tines, approximately eight inches long, spaced a few inches apart on a horizontal bar, with two handles extending upwards to chest or shoulder level, forming a large U-shape. The operator steps up on the crossbar, using full bodyweight to drive the tines into the ground, then steps backward while pulling backwards on the handles, causing the tines to lever upwards through the soil. This action leaves the soil layers intact, rather than inverting or mixing them, preserving the topsoil structure. A broadfork can be used in a garden, or practically for one to two acres (4,000 to 8,000 m²). For larger areas, a tractor- or animal-powered chisel plow or similar tool is usually employed.

Growing Season is the part of the year during which local weather conditions (i.e. rainfall and temperature) permit normal plant growth. While each plant or crop has a specific growing season that depends on its genetic adaptation, growing seasons can generally be grouped into macro-environmental classes. Extend your Gardening Season.

Vavilovian Mimicry is a form of mimicry in plants where a weed comes to share one or more characteristics with a domesticated plant through generations of artificial selection. Victorian Farm (youtube).

System of Rice Intensification is a methodology aimed at increasing the yield of rice produced in farming. It is a low water, labor-intensive, method that uses younger seedlings singly spaced and typically hand weeded with special tools. It was developed in 1983 by the French Jesuit Father Henri de Laulanié in Madagascar. However full testing and spread of the system throughout the rice growing regions of the world did not occur until some years later with the help of Universities like Cornell.

Mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth and enhancing the visual appeal of the area. A mulch is usually, but not exclusively, organic in nature. It may be permanent (e.g. plastic sheeting) or temporary (e.g. bark chips). It may be applied to bare soil or around existing plants. Mulches of manure or compost will be incorporated naturally into the soil by the activity of worms and other organisms. The process is used both in commercial crop production and in gardening, and when applied correctly, can dramatically improve soil productivity.

A Farmer Performs Following Eight Major Steps from Crop Selection to Harvesting: Crop Selection, Land Preparation, Seed Selection, Seed Sowing, Irrigation, Crop Growth, Fertilizing, Harvesting. Information Required by Farmers: Farmers need information at each step form crop selection to harvesting. Information required by the farmers at each of these steps is presented next. 1: Crop Selection: Comparative pricing of different crops. For some crops government releases prices of the crop at the time of seeding. Market demand and sale potential of the crop. Budget required for the cultivation of each crop. Feasibility of the crop considering climate and quality of land. Crop productivity compared with other alternatives. 2 Land Preparation: Effects of any disease from the previous cultivation and steps needed to minimize this impact. Fertilizers needed to bring land to its normal fertility depending upon the previous crops and fertilizer used. Layout and design of the field with respect to crop for efficient irrigation. Latest techniques for leveling the fields and their cost. 3 Seed Selection: Price and quantity needed per acre. Average yield and sprout to sown ratio. Suitability to particular area and climate. Water requirement. Resistance to diseases. Location of distribution offices for the seed. 4 Seed Sowing: Appropriate time to sow the seed. Optimal weather conditions at sowing time. Best method for the sowing of seeds. Seed sowing depth. 5 Irrigation: Critical time for irrigation. Amount of water to be given to the plants. Frequency of irrigation. 6 Crop Growth: Number of plants per unit of area. At times more than optimum number of seeds sprouts are planted in a given area. Farmers must reduce density for healthy growth of plants. Average growth rate of the crop in normal conditions. Comparison of crop growth rate, leaf size, crop color etc. with expected growth for given conditions and input. 7 Fertilizing: Interventions needed to maintain expected growth. Frequency, quantity and method for fertilization. Proper time, frequency and method for plowing. Proper time, frequency and method for weeding. Expected pest and virus attacks, symptoms of such attacks, precautionary measure that can be taken in advance to avoid these attacks, immediate actions including pesticide to be used to kill pests and viruses, quantity of pesticide to be used per acre, most effective method for pesticide spray, avoid health issues related to pesticide spray. 8 Harvesting: Proper time and method for harvesting. Comparative market rates. Proper crop storage. Cost of transportation.

Harvesting Principles

For harvest procedures the subsequent points are important to consider: Choosing the correct harvest time refers to both the ripeness and maturity of the produce as well as the right time of the day. Optimal harvest times for most produce is either early morning hours or the evening when temperatures are lower. Harvesting of delicate, high value produce is best done manually (especially when labor costs are low and fuel costs are high do not place produce on the ground directly, but use harvesting mats or containers/baskets instead. Considering the handling of harvested produce, the following points are important: Handling: before being put into storage, produce should be sorted and graded with regards to quality (only high quality produce should enter the storage facility) produce needs to be cleaned (with clean water in order to avoid the spread of molds and fungi) before being put into storage containers and entering the storage rooms. Dirt bears the potential of introducing pests into the storage facility time span between harvest and the placement into storage needs to be kept as short as possible. You should store only mature vegetables. Immature vegetables and fruits will rot quickly. Never store food that has been bruised or nicked. Remember not to wash your vegetables and fruits, just brush off excess dirt. Do not store fruits close to vegetables because fruits release ethylene. This speeds up the ripening of vegetables. Keep your storage area dark, but with temperatures not below freezing. Check on your vegetables every week or two to watch for spoilage. This can quickly spread to other food in close proximity. (32 Degrees F or 0 Degrees C).

Cold Storage of Agricultural Products. Control of temperature and relative humidity and the prevention of damage can increase shelflife, especially of fresh vegetables and fruits, tremendously. Biological deterioration, caused by respiration rate, ethylene production, mechanical injuries, water stress, physiological disorders and pathological breakdown, leads to decay, loss in nutritive value, and changes in color, texture and flavor. Factors influencing the rate of deterioration are temperature, the level of relative humidity, air velocity, atmospheric composition, i.e. concentration of oxygen, carbon dioxide and ethylene, as well as sanitation. Molding, pests and other spoilage reasons which lead to quality deterioration, such as loss of water, thrive under warm and humid conditions – conditions which can be commonly found in India. Most factors causing product deterioration can be addressed through temperature control, i.e. cooling. A reduction in temperature lowers rates of physiological change (respiration, ethylene production, and enzymatic processes) and slows down the growth of microorganisms (bacteria and fungi). Produce after the point of harvest is still ‘alive’ meaning that processes of the metabolism, such as respiration, as well as the activity of microorganisms remain ongoing leading to product deterioration. In order to lower respiration rates, delay ripening and to reduce water loss temperature needs to be controlled, either by avoiding the exposure of heat or by creating cooling conditions thereby increasing a product’s shelf life. Adequate storage facilities can, to a certain extent, control factors such as temperature, relative humidity and air velocity, increasing product quality, shelf-life and value. Chilling Injury. Some produce, especially of tropical origin, is sensitive to chilling, which means that it will incur physiological damages if stored at a certain time period below a certain temperature but above their freezing points. In general, the longer the time period that produce is exposed to temperature below their level of chilling sensitivity and the lower the temperature, the faster damages will occur. It should also be noted that effects can be of a cumulative nature, i.e. the time periods of storage below the level of chilling sensitivity add up even if produce is stored at optimal conditions in between. Several factors, such as the level of maturity and level of ripeness at the point of harvest can affect chilling sensitivity. Freezing Injury. Below 0°C all type of produce freezes due to dissolved soluble solids which are present in cell saps. Often, damages incurred through freezing only become visible once the produce is returned to temperatures above 0°C. Refrigeration.
Food Odor Transfers which should be avoided: apples/pears with celery, cabbage, carrots, potatoes or onions. celery with onions or carrots. Citrus with strongly scented vegetables. Pears/apples with potatoes à former acquire unpleasant taste. Green pepper will taint pineapples. onions, nuts, citrus, potatoes should be stored separately. Ethylene producing and ethylene sensitive products: Ethylene producing: e.g. apples, avocado, bananas, pears, peaches, plums, tomatoes. Ethylene sensitive produce: e.g. lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes.
Adequate airflow and the even distribution of cold air need to be ensured. It is important to note that air always takes the path where resistance is lowest, and hence partly or unevenly filled storage facilities will have poor cooling rates. The following points should be considered: A gap of at least 8 cm between walls and the floor, and the stacks of produce should be kept in order to ensure air flow. Well-ventilated storage boxes/containers/crates will improve cooling speed, such as PVC crates or ventilated boxes made of cardboard. adequate space in between storage pallets should be about 4-6 inches.

Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legally enforced entitlement of the poor in a number of Christian kingdoms. Food Waste.

Gleaning Americas Farm Fields
Hidden Harvest
Hungry Harvest
National Gleaning Day
Gleaning Project
Imperfect Produce Delivered
Falling Fruit Location App

Harvesting food releases serotonin in our brain.

Farming Equipment - Software Tools

Food Preserving - Bees - Seeds

"Being a good farmer and conscience farmer makes you pay attention to life and also pay attention to the environment a lot more than usual. Farming brings you closer to nature by default. And if a farmer dose not feel connected to the land, that farmer will become more vulnerable to failures and experience mistakes more often".

Farm Workers

Migrant Worker is a person who either migrates within their home country or outside it to pursue work such as seasonal work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Temp Work.

Agricultural Labor Relations Act establishes collective bargaining for farmworkers in that state. A a landmark statute in US labor law enacted by the state of California which became law on June 4, 1975.

H-2A Visa allows a foreign national entry into the United States for temporary or seasonal agricultural work. There are several requirements of the employer in regard to this visa. The H-2A temporary agricultural program establishes a means for agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring non-immigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. In 2015 there were approximately 140,000 total temporary agricultural workers under this visa program. Terms of work can be as short as a month or two or as long as 10 months in most cases, although there are some special procedures that allow workers to stay longer than 10 months. All of these workers are covered by U.S. wage laws, workers' compensation and other standards, additionally temporary workers and their employers are subject to the employer and/or individual mandates under the Affordable Care Act. Because of concern that guest workers might be unfairly exploited the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division is especially vigilant in auditing and inspecting H-2A employers. H-2A employers are the only group of employers who are required to pay inbound and outbound transportation, free housing, and provide meals for their workers. H-2A agricultural employers are among the most heavily regulated and monitored employers in the U.S. Immigration.

Farm Worker is a hired agricultural worker on a farm that works for the farmers. However, in discussions relating to labor law application, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including harvesting, i.e. not to a worker in other on-farm jobs, such as packing. Farm Workers Info Graph (image).

Children of Migrant Farm Workers

One Day in the Life of a Rice Farmer - Farm Workers are hard working and skilled, they need to be paid a fair wage.

Foreign Workers - Fruitful Jobs - Harvest Workers

International Union of Food Workers - United Farm Workers

David Bacon - David Bacon NAFTA (vimeo)

Bracero Program meaning "manual laborer" or "one who works using his arms") was a series of laws and diplomatic agreements, initiated on August 4, 1942, when the United States signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement with Mexico. The agreement guaranteed decent living conditions (sanitation, adequate shelter and food) and a minimum wage of 30 cents an hour; it also allowed the importation of contract laborers from Guam as a temporary measure during the early phases of World War II. Mexican Mega-farms Labor Abuses.

Worker Protection Standard is intended to protect employees on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses that are occupationally exposed to agricultural pesticides. Worker Protection Standard for Agricultural Pesticides.

Occupational Disease is any chronic ailment that occurs as a result of work or occupational activity. It is an aspect of occupational safety and health. An occupational disease is typically identified when it is shown that it is more prevalent in a given body of workers than in the general population, or in other worker populations. The first such disease to be recognised, squamous-cell carcinoma of the scrotum, was identified in chimney sweep boys by Sir Percival Pott in 1775. Occupational hazards that are of a traumatic nature (such as falls by roofers) are not considered to be occupational diseases. Under the law of workers' compensation in many jurisdictions, there is a presumption that specific disease are caused by the worker being in the work environment and the burden is on the employer or insurer to show that the disease came about from another cause. Diseases compensated by national workers compensation authorities are often termed occupational diseases. However, many countries do not offer compensations for certain diseases like musculoskeletal disorders caused by work (e.g. in Norway). Therefore, the term work-related diseases is utilized to describe diseases of occupational origin. This term however would then include both compensable and non-compensable diseases that have occupational origins.

Valley Fever is a fungal infection caused by coccidioides (kok-sid-e-OY-deze) organisms. It can cause fever, chest pain and coughing, among other signs and symptoms. Two species of coccidioides fungi cause valley fever. These fungi are commonly found in soil in specific regions.

Produce Contamination - Food Safety Info-Graph (image)

Behind the Brands - Film

Florida Rural Legal Services
East Coast Migrant Head Start Project Home

Environmental Awareness - Trees

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) global organization that connects travelers, foodies, agriculturalists. Interant people.

Athletes in Temporary Employment as Agricultural Manpower or A-TEAM, was in the summer of 1965 when thousands of American teenage boys heeded the call of the federal government to work on farms. Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz wanted to recruit 20,000 high schoolers to replace the hundreds of thousands of Mexican agricultural workers who had labored in the United States. But only 3,300 ever worked in the fields, and many of them quickly quit or staged strikes because of the poor working conditions, including oppressive heat and decrepit housing. The program was cancelled after the first summer. The University High crew worked six days a week, with Sundays off, and they were not allowed to return home during their stint. Garden gloves that the farmers gave the students to help them harvest lasted only four hours, because the cantaloupe's fine hairs made grabbing them feel like "picking up sandpaper." They got paid minimum wage — $1.40 an hour back then — plus 5 cents for every crate filled with about 30 to 36 fruits. Breakfast was "out of the Navy," Carter says — beans and eggs and bologna sandwiches that literally toasted in the heat, even in the shade.

Advanced Farming Tools

Agricultural Machinery is machinery used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that they tow or operate. Diverse arrays of equipment are used in both organic and nonorganic farming. Especially since the advent of mechanised agriculture, agricultural machinery is an indispensable part of how the world is fed.

Farming Tools and Machines - Robotics

Blue River Technology see and spray smart agriculture equipment using computer vision and artificial intelligence. Our smart machines can detect, identify, and make management decisions about every single plant in the field. Precisely spraying herbicides only where needed, and with exactly what's needed eliminating 90% of the herbicide volumes that growers spray today.

Robots and Farming - Measuring Plant Defensive Signals

Combine Harvester is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. Reaping, threshing, and winnowing - into a single process.

Mechanized Planting Machine (youtube)

Inside of a Tractor Cab (youtube) - Farmer reveals the Inside Of A Tractor Cab, and the amount of technology setup inside is astounding.

Robot Tractors - Rowbot Fertilizers - Farm Logs

Hello Tractor comes with a GPS antenna. Location, market trends, and uptake booking system allows farmers to conveniently request, schedule and prepay for tractor services, from nearby Smart Tractor owners, through SMS messaging and mobile money.

Software Tools

Discovery of new stem cell pathway indicates route to much higher yields in maize, staple crops

Drones can be used to provide aerial views of crops to monitor disease, gather data, validate crop loss or locate animals, and to use sprays more accurately without waste. Eyes in the Sky.

Drones, Robots, and Super Sperm - The Future of Farming | DW Documentary (Farming documentary).(youtube)

Tractor Hacking: The Farmers Breaking Big Tech's Repair Monopoly (youtube)

Motor Vehicle Owners Right to Repair Act would require automobile manufacturers to provide the same information to independent repair shops as they do for dealer shops. The bill also required automakers to provide independent repairers the same emissions service information as provided to franchised new car dealers. California further passed legislation requiring that all emissions related service information and tools be made available to independent shops. Unlike the Clean Air Act, the California bill also required the car companies to maintain web sites which contained all of their service information and which was accessible on a subscription basis to repair shops and car owners.

Manufacturers don't support their products so they can force people to by new products that they don't need.

Farm Animals - Livestock

Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber, and labor. The term is often used to refer solely to those raised for food, and sometimes only farmed ruminants, such as cattle and goats. In recent years, some organizations have also raised livestock to promote the survival of rare breeds. The breeding, maintenance, and slaughter of these animals, known as animal husbandry, is a component of modern agriculture that has been practiced in many cultures since humanity's transition to farming from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. No universally accepted criteria exist to separate "livestock" from pets or "companion animals", defined as animals kept primarily for companionship.

Livestock Guardian Dog is a type of pastoral dog bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from predators. Livestock guardian dogs stay with the group of animals they protect as a full-time member of the flock or herd. Their ability to guard their herd is mainly instinctive as the dog is bonded to the herd from an early age. Unlike herding dogs which control the movement of livestock, LGDs blend in with them, watching for intruders within the flock. The mere presence of a guardian dog is usually enough to ward off some predators, and LGDs will confront predators by vocal intimidation, barking, and displaying very aggressive behavior. The dog may attack or fight with a predator if it is unable to drive away the predator. Livestock guardians may actively look for predators within protected territory to catch and destroy them, and there are known cases of dogs luring coyotes to a source of food in order to hunt them.

Hill Country Farming. Rangitikei .New Zealand (youtube) - 1000's of sheep being herding by sheepdogs from one paddock to another. Sheep & Cattle.

Automatic Milking is the milking of dairy animals, especially of dairy cattle, without human labour. Automatic milking systems (AMS), also called voluntary milking systems (VMS), were developed in the late 20th century. They have been commercially available since the early 1990s. The core of such systems that allows complete automation of the milking process is a type of agricultural robot. Automated milking is therefore also called robotic milking. Common systems rely on the use of computers and special herd management software. Automatic Cow Milking Machine.

Adopt a Cow - Holistic Grazing Management

Cows who are fed a diet rich in Seaweed Edible Algae not only saves money, it also makes cows healthier, even eliminating their methane-rich burps and farts.

Energizer Cow is a cow that stands on a non-powered inclined belt so that the animal will slowly slide down unless it walks forward, turning the belt, which spins a gearbox to drive a generator. A feed box entices the cow to keep trekking. The one-cow prototype generates up to two kilowatts, enough to power four milking machines. A small farm could earn back a 50-cow system’s estimated $100,000 price in three years. Human Power.

Beefalo are 3/8 Bison and 5/8 Bovine, a fertile hybrid offspring of domestic Cattle (Bos taurus), usually a male in managed breeding programs, and the American bison (Bison bison), usually a female in managed breeding programs. The breed was created to combine the characteristics of both animals for beef production. Beefalo are primarily cattle in genetics and appearance, with the breed association defining a full Beefalo as one with three-eighths (37.5%) bison genetics, while animals with higher percentages of bison genetics are called "bison hybrids".

Nine Million Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just 2 Bulls. That’s Not Good.

Ractopamine is a feed additive, banned in most countries, to promote leanness in animals raised for their meat. Ractopamine is a beta agonist drug that increases protein synthesis, thereby making the animal more muscular. This reduces the fat content of the meat. Beta-agonist drugs, as a class, have been used in US cattle production since 2003.

Meat Analogue is food made from non-meats, also called a meat alternative, meat substitute. Meat Protein Substitutes.

Rare Breed Agriculture is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand.

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the eggs they produce, their meat, or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails and turkeys). If there are ducks and or geese that are kept as pets they shall not be considered poultry unlike domesticated chickens. Poultry also includes other birds that are killed for their meat, such as the young of pigeons (known as squabs) but does not include similar wild birds hunted for sport or food and known as game. The word "poultry" comes from the French/Norman word poule, itself derived from the Latin word pullus, which means small animal.

Enterra Feed - Harness the nutritional power of insects.

How Farmers are Breeding Flies in order to become waste-free | The Fix (youtube)
How to Use Black Soldier Flies for Biowaste Treatment (youtube)

Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, farmers who want to sell meat commercially across state lines must get their animals slaughtered and processed at a meat plant that has been approved by the USDA. Government meat inspectors are required to be on the floor anytime those plants are operating.

Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act - PRIME Act Custom Slaughterhouses.

Slaughterhouse is a facility where animals are slaughtered for consumption as food. Slaughterhouses supply meat which then becomes the responsibility of the packaging department. How to Butcher.
 
Factory Farms Destruction - Food Safety

Meat Packing Industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is not included. This greater part of the entire meat industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption, but it also yields a variety of by-products including hides, feathers, dried blood, and, through the process of rendering, fat such as tallow and protein meals such as meat & bone meal.

Sustainable Farming - Development of Land

Zoonosis are infectious diseases of animals (usually vertebrates) that can naturally be transmitted to humans. Zoos.

Livestock Conservancy - Farm Sanctuary - Invasive Species - Companion Planting

Farmers Find Ways To Save Millions Of Pigs From Slaughter.

icow provides farmers with SMS messages loaded with great information on how to improve what they are doing. We provide information on best practices right into their hands wherever they may be. We also have cool tools that farmers can use to help them reduce their risks. Our system has a menu through which farmers can select whatever they require from wherever they are 24/7!.

Department of Crop Sciences - Economic Research Food - Farming

Methyl Jasmonate is a volatile organic compound used in plant defense and many diverse developmental pathways such as seed germination, root growth, flowering, fruit ripening, and senescence.

1-Methylcyclopropene is a cyclopropene derivative used as a synthetic plant growth regulator. It is structurally related to the natural plant hormone ethylene and it is used commercially to slow down the ripening of fruit and to help maintain the freshness of cut flowers.

Fuel and Energy from Animal and Food Waste: Waste to Energy - Manure - Earth Friendly Toilets.

 

Trade - Fair Trade

Trade involves the transfer of the ownership of goods or services, from one person or entity to another, in exchange for money, goods or services. A network that allows trade is called a market. Wall Street Trading.

Free Trade is when countries or governments do not restrict imports from, or exports to, other countries. (but you still need to protect workers and small businesses from cheap imports that do more harm than good). Price is different from real Cost.

Free-Trade Zone is a specific class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be landed, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured, and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to customs duty. Free trade zones are generally organized around major seaports, international airports, and national frontiers—areas with many geographic advantages for trade. Tariffs and Taxes.

Free-Trade Area is the region encompassing a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a Free-Trade Agreement (FTA). Such agreements involve cooperation between at least two countries to reduce Trade Barriers – Import Quotas and tariffs – and to increase trade of goods and services with each other. If people are also free to move between the countries, in addition to a free-trade agreement, it would also be considered an Open Border. It can be considered the second stage of economic integration.

Fair Trade is to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions and to promote sustainability.

Trade Bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where barriers to trade (tariffs and others) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states.

World Trade is an intergovernmental organization which regulates international trade. Some Trade Agreements were about Profit over People, at Americas expense. Talk about Terrorism. EU.

Trade Agreement is a wide ranging tax, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. The most common trade agreements are of the preferential and free trade types are concluded in order to reduce (or eliminate) tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on items traded between the signatories. United States Free Trade Agreements (wiki).

If a country can grow high amounts of high quality food efficiently, safely, sustainably, and also pay their workers a fair wage, then that country should be allowed to export a higher volume of that product. But If they are exploiting the environment and exploiting workers, then they should not be allowed to export that product at such a high volume.

Autarky is the characteristic of self-sufficiency; the term usually applies to political states, societies or to their economic systems. Autarky exists whenever an entity survives or continues its activities without external assistance or international trade. If a self-sufficient economy also refuses to conduct any trade with the outside world then economists may term it a "closed economy".(Economic theorists also use the term "closed economy" technically as an abstraction to allow consideration of a single economy without taking foreign trade into account – i.e. as the antonym of "open economy".) Autarky in the political sense is not necessarily an exclusively economic phenomenon; for example, a military autarky would be a state that could defend itself without help from another country, or could manufacture all of its weapons without any imports from the outside world. A closed economy is one that has no trading activity with outside economies. The closed economy is therefore entirely self-sufficient, which means no imports come into the country and no exports leave the country. The goal of a closed economy is to provide domestic consumers with everything they need from within the country's borders. There are no completely closed economies. Brazil imports the least amount of goods—when measured as a portion of the gross domestic product (GDP)—in the world and is the world's most closed economy.

Open Economy is a type of economy where not only domestic actors but also entities in other countries engage in trade of products (goods and services). Trade can take the form of managerial exchange, technology transfers, and all kinds of goods and services. (However, certain exceptions exist that cannot be exchanged; the railway services of a country, for example, cannot be traded with another country to avail the service.) It contrasts with a closed economy in which international trade and finance cannot take place.

Balance of Trade is the difference between the monetary value of a nation's exports and imports over a certain period. Sometimes a distinction is made between a balance of trade for goods versus one for services. If a country exports a greater value than it imports, it is called a trade surplus, positive balance, or a "favourable balance", and conversely, if a country imports a greater value than it exports, it is called a trade deficit, negative balance, "unfavorable balance", or, informally, a "trade gap".

Preferential Trading Area is a Trading Bloc that gives preferential access to certain products from the participating countries. This is done by reducing tariffs but not by abolishing them completely. A PTA can be established through a trade pact. It is the first stage of economic integration. The line between a PTA and a free trade area (FTA) may be blurred, as almost any PTA has a main goal of becoming a FTA in accordance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. These tariff preferences have created numerous departures from the normal trade relations principle, namely that World Trade Organization (WTO) members should apply the same tariff to imports from other WTO members. With the recent multiplication of bilateral PTAs and the emergence of Mega-PTAs (wide regional trade agreements such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) or Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)), a global trade system exclusively managed within the framework of the WTO now seems unrealistic and the interactions between trade systems have to be taken into account. The increased complexity of the international trade system generated by the multiplication of PTAs should be taken into account in the study of the choice of fora used by countries or regions to promote their trade relations and environmental agenda.

Exchange is the act of giving something in return for something received. The act of changing one thing for another thing. Give to, and receive from, one another. Quid pro quo - Reciprocation - Stock Exchange.

Transaction is an exchange or interaction between people. Sometimes a business arrangement or a cooperation agreement. Sometimes trading something or sometimes buying something or sometimes selling something. Transport.

Financial Transaction is an agreement, or communication, carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment, often involving the exchange of items of value, such as information, goods, services, and money. It is still a transaction if the goods are exchanged at one time, and the money at another. This is known as a two-part transaction: part one is giving the money, part two is receiving the goods. Real Estate Transaction.

Transaction Cost is a cost in making any economic trade when participating in a market.

Foreign Exchange Market is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines the Foreign Exchange Rate. It includes all aspects of buying, selling and exchanging currencies at current or determined prices. In terms of trading volume, it is by far the largest market in the world, followed by the Credit market.

Free Market is a system in which the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market and consumers, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, price-setting monopoly, or other authority. Another view considers systems with significant market power, inequality of bargaining power, or information asymmetry to be less than free.

Grey Market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are legal but unintended by the original manufacturer. Black Market.

Open Market a fully open market is a completely free market in which all economic actors can trade without any external constraint. In reality, few markets exist which are open to that extent, since they usually cannot operate without an enforceable legal framework for trade which guarantees security of property, the fulfillment of contractual obligations associated with transactions, and the prevention of cheating. Farmers Markets.

Wet Market are places that sell dead and live animals out in the open. This includes poultry, fish, reptiles, and pigs. However, since SARS, large animals and poultry are not as commonly found in the markets in Hong Kong, though live fish, shellfish, and frogs are widely available.

Food Fraud is the intentional adulteration of food with cheaper ingredients for economic gain. Food fraud is fooling people into believing that the product that they're buying is high quality, when in fact it is low quality and possibly harmful and negligent. Greed causes a lot of problems and causes crimes like counterfeiting. Natural? Organic?

Import is a good brought into a jurisdiction, especially across a national border, from an external source. The party bringing in the good is called an importer. An import in the receiving country is an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade.

Export means shipping in the goods and services out of the jurisdiction of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" and is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer". In international trade, "exports" refers to selling goods and services produced in the home country to other markets.

Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin is a specified document certifying the country of origin of the merchandise required by certain foreign countries for tariff purposes, it sometimes requires the signature of the consulate of the country to which it is destined. (Also known as a Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin or MSO).

Bill of Lading is a document issued by a carrier (or his agent) to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment.

Trade Association is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, political donations, lobbying and publishing, but its focus is collaboration between companies. Associations may offer other services, such as producing conferences, networking or charitable events or offering classes or educational materials. Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also members.

People should Trade Knowledge and Information and not just trade Products. Learn to Self Manage.

Offshoring is the relocation of a business process from one country to another—typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. Typically this refers to a company business, although state governments may also employ offshoring. Offshore Accounts (hoarding)

Outsourcing sometimes includes offshoring which is relocating a business function to a distant country and transferring employees and assets from one firm to another.

Global Union Federation is an international federation of national trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups.

Trade Union is an association of workers forming a legal unit or legal personhood, usually called a "bargaining unit", which acts as bargaining agent and legal representative for a unit of employees in all matters of law or right arising from or in the administration of a collective agreement. Labour unions typically fund the formal organization, head office, and legal team functions of the labour union through regular fees or union dues. The delegate staff of the labour union representation in the workforce are made up of workplace volunteers who are appointed by members in democratic elections. EU.

We need Less Regulation and more Education. Trading should be decided locally, no one should decide for you. Trade is needed to balance our food diets so that everyone has access to healthy food. Origins.

Taxes on Imports and Exports - Trade War - Trade Barriers

Tariff is a Tax on imports or exports between sovereign states. It is a form of regulation of foreign trade. It is a policy that taxes foreign products to encourage or protect domestic industry. It helps limit trade deficits. The tariff is historically used to protect infant industries and to allow import substitution industrialization, but sometimes there are corrupt motives involved.

Punitive Tariff is an extra tariff charged on goods going into or out of a country, that is introduced because a country has done business in an illegal or unfair way. EU.

Taxes can be used as an economic weapon to attack certain people or attack certain businesses. Taxes don't effect the wealthy and the powerful, because they find loopholes and exploit the system or just pass on the tax to customers.

Duty is a government tax on imports or exports. Duties is a Tax on certain items purchased abroad. Government Spending.

Trade War is an economic conflict resulting from extreme protectionism in which states raise or create tariffs or other trade barriers against each other in response to trade barriers created by the other party. Increased protection causes both nations' output compositions to move towards their autarky position. Economic Weapons.

Trade Barrier are government-induced restrictions on international trade that raises the price or availability of the traded products. Free Trade involves the removal of all such barriers, except perhaps those considered necessary for health or national security. Boycotts.

Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states or countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. Protectionist policies protect the producers, businesses and workers of the import-competing sector in a country from foreign competitors.

How Trump’s Trade War Is Making Lobbyists Rich And Slamming Small Businesses. The U.S. trade wars with China and other countries have now been running for nearly two years, and have cost businesses and consumers billions of dollars. Lobbyists get exclusions in part by using their connections with the Trump administration. Companies that can't afford lobbyists puts smaller businesses at a big disadvantage.

Trans-Pacific Partnership was a proposed trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States signed on 4 February 2016, which was not ratified as required and did not come into effect. After the newly elected US president Donald Trump withdrew the US signature from TPP in January 2017, the agreement could not enter into force. The remaining countries negotiated a new trade agreement called Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which incorporates most of the provisions of the TPP and which entered into force on 30 December 2018.

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a proposed trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, with the aim of promoting trade and multilateral economic growth. Negotiations were halted by President Donald Trump, who then initiated a trade conflict with the EU. Trump and the EU declared a truce of sorts in July 2018, resuming talks that appeared similar to TTIP. On 15 April 2019, the negotiations have been declared "obsolete and no longer relevant" by the European Commission. TTIP: Might is Right (VPRO Backlight) (youtube).

Food Power is the use of agriculture as a means of political control whereby one nation or group of nations offers or withholds commodities from another nation or group of nations in order to manipulate behavior. Its potential use as a weapon was recognized after OPEC’s earlier use of oil as a political weapon. Food has a major influence on political actions of a nation. In response to acts of food power, a nation usually acts in the interest of its citizens to provide food.

Re-Exportation may occur when one member of a free trade agreement charges lower tariffs to external nations to win trade, and then re-exports the same product to another partner in the trade agreement, but tariff-free. Re-exportation can be used to avoid sanctions by other nations.

16 Percent of the food Americans eat is Imported. One in three U.S. farm acres is planted for Export.

Customs is the Government Service which is responsible for the administration of Customs law and the collection of duties and taxes and which also has the responsibility for the application of other laws and regulations relating to the importation, exportation, movement or storage of goods.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for ensuring that all goods entering and exiting the United States do so in accordance with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations. Although CBP enforces these U.S. Export Regulations for various other government agencies, specific questions pertaining to commodity licensing requirements should be directed to that lead agency. But like most regulations, criminals always find a way to get around regulations using loopholes.

Excise is any duty on manufactured goods which is levied at the moment of manufacture, rather than at sale. Excises are often associated with customs duties (which are levied on pre-existing goods when they cross a designated border in a specific direction); customs are levied on goods which come into existence – as taxable items – at the border, while excise is levied on goods which came into existence inland.

Tax Exemption is a monetary exemption which reduces taxable income. Tax exempt status can provide complete relief from taxes, reduced rates, or tax on only a portion of items. Examples include exemption of charitable organizations from property taxes and income taxes, veterans, and certain cross-border or multi-jurisdictional scenarios. Tax exemption generally refers to a statutory exception to a general rule rather than the mere absence of taxation in particular circumstances, otherwise known as an exclusion. Tax exemption also refers to removal from taxation of a particular item rather than a deduction. International duty free shopping may be termed "tax-free shopping". In tax-free shopping, the goods are permanently taken outside the jurisdiction, thus paying taxes is not necessary. Tax-free shopping is also found in ships, airplanes and other vessels traveling between countries (or tax areas). Tax-free shopping is usually available in dedicated duty-free shops. However, any transaction may be duty-free, given that the goods are presented to the customs when exiting the country. In such a scenario, a sum equivalent to the tax is paid, but reimbursed on exit. More common in Europe, tax-free is less frequent in the United States, with the exception of Louisiana. However, current European Union rules prohibit most intra-EU tax-free trade, with the exception of certain special territories outside the tax area.

Smuggle is secretly importing prohibited goods or goods on which tax is due. To import or export without paying customs duties.

List of Free Economic Zones business and trades laws differ from the rest of the country. The term, and a number of other terms, can have different specific meanings in different countries and publications. Often they have relaxed jurisdiction of customs or related national regulations. They can be ports or other large areas or smaller allocated areas. Terms include free port (porto Franco), free zone (zona franca), bonded area (US: foreign-trade zone), free economic zone, free trade zone, export processing zone and maquiladora. Most commonly a free port is a special customs area or small customs territory with generally less strict customs regulations (or no customs duties and/or controls for transshipment). Earlier in history, some free ports like Hong Kong enjoyed political autonomy. Many international airports have free ports, though they tend to be called customs areas, customs zones, or international zones. Jurisdictional Exemptions.

Fair Food Matters - Fair Food Project - Fair Food Network

Fair Trade Federation - Fair Trade - Trans Fair USA - Fair Trade Resource

World Bank Trade Data - World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) software

Laissez-Faire (monopolies)

Harmonized System is a standardized system of names and numbers to classify traded products.

Farm Facts - Local Farming

Investor-State Dispute Settlement is a system through which investors can sue nation states for alleged discriminatory practices.

Transport

Fair Transport is sustainable Cargo Shipment. Emission free from A to B. Fair Transport.

Eco-Friendly Shipping Tips - Eco-Friendly Shipping Boxes - Green Products

Sustainable Transport refers to the broad subject of transport that is sustainable in the senses of social, environmental and climate impacts and the ability to, in the global scope, supply the source energy indefinitely. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; the source of energy; and the infrastructure used to accommodate the transport (roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and terminals). Another component for evaluation is pipelines for transporting liquid or gas materials. Transport operations and logistics as well as transit-oriented development are also involved in evaluation. Transportation sustainability is largely being measured by transportation system effectiveness and efficiency as well as the environmental and climate impacts of the system.

Transfer - Supplies - Transportation (city management) - Logistics

Eco-Marine Power - Wiki - Fuel For Eco-Boats

GMO - Genetically Modified Organism

Genetically Modified Food are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering techniques allow for the introduction of new traits as well as greater control over traits than previous methods such as selective breeding and mutation breeding or variation breeding. which is the process of exposing seeds to chemicals or radiation in order to generate mutants with desirable traits to be bred with other cultivars. Plants created using mutagenesis are sometimes called mutagenic plants or mutagenic seeds.

GMO is not saying that something is bad, what's bad is corporations creating GMO plants that can be sprayed with dangerous chemicals. They are colluding with chemical companies and falsifying the research. And GMO-Free or Non-GMO does not mean the food is free of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or fertilizers. Know Your Farmer. Food that is Certified Organic is the only way to eat cleaner food, though there are criminals in the organic side as well. Educate yourself.

Genetically Modified Bacteria were the first organisms to be modified in the laboratory, due to their simple genetics. These organisms are now used for several purposes, and are particularly important in producing large amounts of pure human proteins for use in medicine.

Mutation Breeding is the process of exposing seeds to chemicals or radiation in order to generate mutants with desirable traits to be bred with other cultivars. Plants created using mutagenesis are sometimes called mutagenic plants or mutagenic seeds.

Selective Breeding is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together. Domesticated animals are known as breeds, normally bred by a professional breeder, while domesticated plants are known as varieties, cultigens, or cultivars. Two purebred animals of different breeds produce a crossbreed, and crossbred plants are called hybrids. Flowers, vegetables and fruit-trees may be bred by amateurs and commercial or non-commercial professionals: major crops are usually the provenance of the professionals. Organic Farming.

GM Food Overview - ekah

NON GMO Project - Pesticides

Non-GMO Report is a buyer's guide to suppliers of non-GMO and organic seeds, grains, ingredients, feed and foods.

Non GMO Source Book is a buyer's guide to suppliers of non-GMO and organic seeds, grains, ingredients, feed and foods.

Seeds of Deception - Seed Matters (video animated) - Seed Matters.org.

Films about GMO's
Seeds of Death (youtube)
Poison on the Platter (youtube)
Of the Land (2015 - 1 hr. 29 min.) A film about GMOs and the industrial food juggernaut.
Prop 37
Washington's Food Fight: The Debate Over GMO Labels (youtube)
Fed Up! (video)

Not to say that all Genetically Engineered food is bad, but we would have to know the details in order to determine which ones are bad and which ones are good.

Accurate Labels - Food Integrity

Gregor Mendel founder of the modern science of genetics. (20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884).

RNA Interference is a biological process in which RNA molecules inhibit gene expression or translation, by neutralizing targeted mRNA molecules.

How Plants turn off Genes they don't need. Small sequences in plant DNA that act as signposts for shutting off gene activity, directing the placement of proteins that silence gene expression. A plant has one genome, a specific sequence of millions of basepairs of nucleotides. Yet how this genome is expressed can vary from cell to cell, and it can change as a plant goes through various life stages, from germination to vegetative growth to flowering to dormancy. Some genes must be turned on and others shut off to ensure each plant cell is doing what it needs to do when it needs to do it.

How corn's ancient ancestor rejects crossbreeding. It was known that a cluster of genes called Tcb1-s is one of three that confers incompatibility between these rarely hybridizing maize and teosinte populations. Unlike the other two, it is found almost exclusively in wild teosinte. It contains both male and female genes that encode wild teosinte's ability to reject maize pollen.

Genetically Modified Common Houseplant pothos ivy to remove chloroform and benzene from the air around it. The modified plants express a protein, called Cytochrome P450 2E1, that transforms these compounds into molecules that the plants can then use to support their own growth. CYP2E1 (wiki).

Polycomb-group Proteins are a family of proteins first discovered in fruit flies that can remodel chromatin such that epigenetic silencing of genes takes place. Polycomb-group proteins are well known for silencing Hox genes through modulation of chromatin structure during embryonic development in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster).

Neurotoxins - Biology

Plant Breeding or GMO? - Evolution

Membrane Transport Protein is a membrane protein involved in the movement of ions, small molecules, or macromolecules, such as another protein, across a biological membrane.

Biological Membrane is an enclosing or separating membrane that acts as a selectively permeable barrier within living things. Biological membranes, in the form of cell membranes, often consist of a phospholipid bilayer with embedded, integral and peripheral Proteins used in communication and transportation of chemicals and ions. Bulk lipid in membrane provides a fluid matrix for proteins to rotate and laterally diffuse for physiological functioning. Proteins are adapted to high membrane fluidity environment of lipid bilayer with the presence of an annular lipid shell, consisting of lipid molecules bound tightly to surface of integral membrane proteins. The cellular membranes should not be confused with isolating tissues formed by layers of cells, such as mucous membranes and basement membranes.

90 percent of America's corn and soybeans are genetically modified, and producers of eggs, milk, and Meat rely on those crops to feed their animals. A quick, five-minute check can verify if a crop contains specific proteins that are the signature of genetic modification. We can't allow criminals to use Proprietary Information as a reason for not listing ingredients. "GMO-free" means that something contains no more than 0.9 percent GMOs.

Clarks on Grain - Crop Yield Gets Boost with Modified Genes in Photosynthesis.

Journey to Forever

Increasing Crops Nutritional Value (Biofortification)

Tripling the number of grains in Sorghum and perhaps other staple crops. Scientists have figured out how to triple the number of grains that the sorghum plant produces by lowering the level of a key hormone, generating more flowers and more seeds. This points toward a strategy for significantly increasing the yield of sorghum and other staple grain crops. A simple genetic modification can triple the grain number of sorghum, a drought-tolerant plant that is an important source of food, animal feed, and biofuel in many parts of the world.

Unique communication strategy discovered in stem cell pathway controlling plant growth. Researchers have identified a receptor on plant stem cells that can issue different instructions about how to grow. Tweaking this pathway can lead to bigger fruits or more seeds in important food crops.

When One Reference Genome is Not Enough. Having plant pan-genomes for crops that are important for fuel and food applications would enable breeders to harness natural diversity to improve traits such as yield, disease resistance, and tolerance of marginal growing conditions. Scientists have gauged the size of a plant pan-genome using Brachypodium distachyon, a wild grass widely used as a model for grain and biomass crops.

Nanomaterials give Plants Super Abilities. Development of plants that can make nanomaterials called MOFs and the application of MOFs as coatings on plants. The augmented plants could potentially perform useful new functions. MOFs consist of metal ions or clusters linked to organic molecules that form highly porous crystals that can sop up, store and release other molecules, much like a sponge.

Tillage - No Dig Farming - No-Till Farming - Minimum Tillage

Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shovelling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, and raking. Examples of draft-animal-powered or mechanized work include ploughing (overturning with moldboards or chiseling with chisel shanks), rototilling, rolling with cultipackers or other rollers, harrowing, and cultivating with cultivator shanks (teeth). Rototilling is to break up and turn soil using a rototiller, which is a motorized cultivator having rotating blades. How to Turn Over Soil (youtube).

Aeration is the process by which air is circulated through, mixed with or dissolved in a liquid or substance.

Repeated Ploughing degrades soil, killing off its biology, including beneficial fungi and earthworms. But occasional tilling helps mix in fertilizers and manure, helps churn weeds and crop residue back into the earth, and also helps loosen the top layer of the soil to ready it for sowing. Occasional tilling uses less nitrogen fertilizer or fungicide and produces yields that are above average with less labor and lower costs. Soil health proponents say that by leaving fields unplowed and using cover crops, which act as sinks for nitrogen and other nutrients, growers can increase the amount of organic matter in their soil, making it better able to absorb and retain water. Land Use.

Plough s a tool or farm implement used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting to loosen or turn the soil.

Cultivator is any of several types of farm implement used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with teeth (also called shanks) that pierce the soil as they are dragged through it linearly. Another sense refers to machines that use rotary motion of disks or teeth to accomplish a similar result. The rotary tiller is a principal example. Cultivators stir and pulverize the soil, either before planting (to aerate the soil and prepare a smooth, loose seedbed) or after the crop has begun growing (to kill weeds—controlled disturbance of the topsoil close to the crop plants kills the surrounding weeds by uprooting them, burying their leaves to disrupt their photosynthesis, or a combination of both). Unlike a harrow, which disturbs the entire surface of the soil, cultivators are designed to disturb the soil in careful patterns, sparing the crop plants but disrupting the weeds. Cultivators of the toothed type are often similar in form to chisel plows, but their goals are different. Cultivator teeth work near the surface, usually for weed control, whereas chisel plow shanks work deep beneath the surface, breaking up hardpan. Consequently, cultivating also takes much less power per shank than does chisel plowing. Small toothed cultivators pushed or pulled by a single person are used as garden tools for small-scale gardening, such as for the household's own use or for small market gardens. Similarly sized rotary tillers combine the functions of harrow and cultivator into one multipurpose machine. Cultivators are usually either self-propelled or drawn as an attachment behind either a two-wheel tractor or four-wheel tractor. For two-wheel tractors they are usually rigidly fixed and powered via couplings to the tractors' transmission. For four-wheel tractors they are usually attached by means of a three-point hitch and driven by a power take-off (PTO). Drawbar hookup is also still commonly used worldwide. Draft-animal power is sometimes still used today, being somewhat common in developing nations although rare in more industrialized economies.

No-Till Farming is a way of growing crops or pasture from year to year without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till is an agricultural technique which increases the amount of water that infiltrates into the soil, the soil's retention of organic matter and its cycling of nutrients. In many agricultural regions, it can reduce or eliminate soil erosion. It increases the amount and variety of life in and on the soil, including disease-causing organisms and disease organisms. The most powerful benefit of no-tillage is improvement in soil biological fertility, making soils more resilient. Farm operations are made much more efficient, particularly improved time of sowing and better trafficability of farm operations. Turning over the Soil depends on your soil needs.

No-Dig Gardening is a non-cultivation method used by some organic gardeners. This technique recognizes that micro- and macro-biotic organisms constitute a "food web" community in the soil, necessary for the healthy cycling of nutrients and prevention of problematic organisms and diseases. The plants transfer a portion of the carbon energy they produce to the soil, and microbes that benefit from this energy in turn convert available organic substances in the soil to the mineral elements the plants need to thrive. Historically the reasons for tilling the soil are to remove weeds, loosen and aerate the soil, and incorporate organic matter such as compost or manure into lower soil layers. In areas with thin soil and high erosion there is a strong case against digging, which argues that in the long term it can be detrimental to the food web in the fragile topsoil. While digging is an effective way of removing perennial weed roots, it also often causes seeds that can remain dormant for many decades to come to the surface and germinate. The act of aerating the soil also increases the rate of decomposition and reduces soil organic matter. Digging can also damage soil structure, causing compaction, and unbalance symbiotic and mutualist interactions among soil life. Digging tends to displace nutrients, shifting surface organic material deeper, where there is less oxygen to support the decomposition to plant-available nutrients, which then need to be otherwise replenished. Digging is practised traditionally in regions with old, deep, rich soils such as Western Europe, where digging was followed by periodic resting of the soil, usually with an undisturbed cover crop. No-dig methods allow nature to carry out cultivation operations. Organic matter such as well rotted manure, compost, leaf mold, spent mushroom compost, old straw, etc., is added directly to the soil surface as a mulch at least 5-15 centimeters (2–6 in) deep, which is then incorporated by the actions of worms, insects and microbes. Worms and other soil life also assist in building up the soil's structure, their tunnels providing aeration and drainage, and their excretions bind together soil crumbs. This natural biosphere maintains healthy conditions in the upper soil horizons where annual plant roots thrive. No-dig systems are said to be freer of pests and disease, possibly due to a more balanced soil population being allowed to build up in this undisturbed environment, and by encouraging the buildup of beneficial rather than harmful soil fungi. Moisture is also retained more efficiently under mulch than on the surface of bare earth, allowing slower percolation and less leaching of nutrients. Another no-dig method is sheet mulching wherein a garden area is covered with wetted paper or cardboard, compost and topped off with landscape mulch. A no-dig system is easier than digging. It is a long term process, and is reliant upon having plentiful organic matter to provide mulch material. It is also helpful to remove any perennial weed roots from the area beforehand, although their hold can be weakened by applying a light-excluding surface layer such as large sheets of cardboard or several thicknesses of spread out newspaper before adding the compost mulch. The newspaper or cardboard should be thoroughly wet to help it lie flat and keep it from blowing away until the overlying material is added.

Natural Farming works along with the natural biodiversity of each farmed area, encouraging the complexity of living organisms—both plant and animal—that shape each particular ecosystem to thrive along with food plants. Rather than offering a structured method, Fukuoka distilled the natural farming mindset into five principles: No tillage, No fertilizer, No pesticides or herbicides, No weeding, No pruning.

Soil Conservation - Soil Knowledge - Seed Knowledge

Video 5 Minimum Tillage Systems (youtube)

Cultipacker is a piece of agricultural equipment that crushes dirt clods, removes air pockets, and presses down small stones, forming a smooth, firm seedbed. Where seed has been broadcast, the roller gently firms the soil around the seeds, ensuring shallow seed placement and excellent seed-to-soil contact.

Chisel Plow Rototiller, Straw Mulching, Disking, Subsoiling, Landplaning, Bed Formation, Dry Mulching, Soil Compaction, Incontrolled Weeds, Excessive Plant Residue, Uneven Beds Cultivation, Harvest Operations, Non-uniform Stand Establishment.

Deep Tillage. Ripping, or Row-Till. Deep plowing is a plowing to a depth greater than 50 cm (20 in) as compared to ordinary plowing which rarely exceeds 20 cm (8 in). The purpose of deep plowing is to modify the soil water retention characteristics over the long term. In one long term test, lasting 35 years, the mean annual grain yield was 2,800 lbs per acre (3,138 kg per ha) with deep plowing, which was 10% greater than the 2,550 lbs per acre (2,858 kg per ha) yield in unplowed plots. There is a movement away from plowing altogether, and from deep plowing in particular. The theory is that this will stop the loss of topsoil, increase the organic content of soil and reduce runoff of fertilizer and pesticides into rivers. Another part of the no-plowing theory is that ground moisture would be conserved; but this was shown to be incorrect by a 35-year study. Deep Tillage.

A subsoiler or flat lifter is a tractor mounted implement used to loosen and break up soil at depths below the level of a traditional ploughing, disk harrow or rototiller. Most tractor mounted cultivation tools will break up and turn over surface soil to a depth of 15–20 cm (6–8 in) while a subsoiler will break up and loosen soil to twice those depths. Typically a subsoiler mounted to a Compact Utility Tractor will reach depths of about 30 cm (12 in) and typically have only one thin blade with a sharpened tip. The subsoiler is a tillage tool which will improve growth in all crops where soil compaction is a problem. In agriculture angled wings are used to lift and shatter the hard pan that builds up due to compaction. The design provides deep tillage, loosening soil depth is deeper than a tiller or plough is capable of reaching. Agricultural ubsoilers, according to the Unverferth Company, can disrupt hardpan ground down to 60 cm (24 in) depths. Various manufacturers' brochures claim that crops perform well during hot and dry seasons because roots penetrate soil layers deeper to reach moisture and nutrients. Brochures further claim that in wet conditions, the water passes more easily through the shattered areas, reducing the possibility of crops drowning. Agricultural subsoiler implements will have multiple deeper reaching blades; each blade is called a scarifier or shank. Purdue University's Dept. of Agriculture indicates that common subsoilers for agricultural use are available with 3, 5 or 7 shanks. Subsoilers can be up to 15' wide, some models are towed behind tractors while others are mounted to the three-point hitch. A form of this implement (with a single blade), a pipe-and-cable-laying plough, is used to lay buried cables or pipes, without the need to dig a deep trench and re-fill.

Masanobu Fukuoka "Natural Farming" or "Do-nothing Farming". - Food Preservation.

New Evidence Shows Fertile Soil Gone From Midwestern Farms across the US Corn Belt. Farming has destroyed a lot of the rich soil of America's Midwestern prairie. A team of scientists just came up with a staggering new estimate for just how much has disappeared. The most fertile topsoil is entirely gone from a third of all the land devoted to growing crops across the upper Midwest, the scientists say.

Farming Statistics

Half the worlds population works the Soil with 3 quarters of them doing it by hand. - Farming Facts.
Over 11% of the earths land surface is used for crops?
We have cleared 19.4 million square miles for crops and livestock, roughly the size of South America and Africa combined.
10 to 12 billion apples are harvested every year by hand.
3/4's of the varieties of foods developed by farmers over 1,000's of years has been wiped out.
A large portion of crops are being grown just to feed live stock. - Trade.
70% of all water is for agriculture. - Where Farms are Sucking the Planet Dry.
There is less then 3 million farmers in America? 2.2 percent (6.8 million) are farm operators or farm household members.
13 million more acres of farmland would be required to produce enough fruit and vegetables for the daily diets of all Americans
to meet U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition guidelines.
The United States has a total land area of nearly 2.3 billion acres. - USDA Fact Sheets.
Total U.S. Farmland occupies 954 Million Acres, or 1.490.625 Square Miles. - Land Use - US-USDA.
23 million acres of farmland (roughly the size of Indiana) have been lost since the late 80's due to sprawl and development.
2007 USDA Census of Agriculture claims 62% of farms did not collect any Subsidy payments.

"United States produces 4,000 calories worth of food per resident daily, twice what's required. We have ample land; we just need to stop abusing the soil we have."

7 Million Farms in 1935, now less then 1.9 Million in 1997
Demographics - Analysis
Farming Stats - Agriculture Stats

Family Farming Knowledge Platform

One Million acres of Farm Land are lost each year. Each week, around 330 farm families leave their land for good. U.S. February 2012: 206,900 foreclosure filings, default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. As of 2013 there is an average of 50,000 foreclosures a month.

Suicides - Farmer Suicide Rates are Alarmingly High

America's Farmers are being forced to kill themselves in record numbers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that people working in agriculture – including farmers, farm laborers, ranchers, fishers, and lumber harvesters – take their lives at a rate higher than any other occupation. The data suggested that the suicide rate for agricultural workers in 17 states was nearly five times higher compared with that in the general population. Suicide Prevention.

Since 2013, net farm income for US farmers has declined 50%. Median farm income for 2017 is projected to be negative $1,325. And without parity in place (essentially a minimum price floor for farm products), most commodity prices remain below the cost of production.

People working in “ farming, , fishing, and forestry” had the highest rates compared to all other industries, at 84.5 per 100,000. That number is more than five times the national rate and is comparable to high suicide rates among military veterans.

Farm Crisis Center
Net farm income dropped 50 percent from 2013-2016, and it has remained depressed ever since.
NaNational Young Farmers Coalition
Farm Women United

AgriWellness is building hope and health in the rural agricultural community.

AgrAbility is to enhance quality of life for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities.

Farmers Suicides in India. In 2014, the National Crime Records Bureau of India reported 5,650 farmer suicides. The highest number of farmer suicides were recorded in 2004 when 18,241 farmers committed suicide. The farmers suicide rate in India has ranged between 1.4 and 1.8 per 100,000 total population, over a 10-year period through 2005. More than 270,000 farmers have died by suicide since 1995 in India.

Buy a Farm

97 percent of the 2.1 million farms in the United States are family-owned operations.
88 percent of all U.S. farms are small family farms.
58 percent of all direct farm sales to consumers come from small family farms.
64 percent of all vegetable sales and 66 percent of all dairy sales come from the 3 percent of farms that are large or very large family farms.
18 percent of principal operators on family farms in the U.S. started within the last 10 years.
A family farm is any farm where the majority of the business is owned by the operator and individuals related to the operator, including through blood, marriage, or adoption.

Center for Rural Affairs reports that less than 6 percent of Nebraska farmers are under the age of 35.

Global Assessment of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture: Irrigated and Rainfed Croplands - - Article.

Two-thirds of all farms sell less than $25,000 worth of crops or livestock each year. That's not profit, that's total sales. So more than half of all farmers need to work second jobs. Meanwhile, though, big farms are getting bigger. There are just 80,000 farms with sales of over $1 million a year. They represent just 4 percent of the total farm population. But those few big farms account for two-thirds of all agricultural production in the country.

Census of Agriculture

There are two million farms in America. But just four percent of those farms account for two-thirds of all agricultural production.

Mega Farms can be Ignorant and Dangerous.

Factory Farm Map - National Farmers Union

Agricultural Land is land devoted to agriculture, rearing of livestock and production of crops—to produce food for humans. It is thus generally synonymous with farmland or cropland.

Arable Land is land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.

Arable Land (% of land area)
The World Factbook
Agricultural Land (% of land area)
Dry Land Farming

Land Use in Agriculture - Land Value Tenure
Agricultural Land Area - U.N. Statistics
Indoor Greenhouse Growing

America’s 56 million acres of wheat grow in a belt stretching more than 1,000 miles from the Canadian border to Central Texas.

For 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts farm income will drop 38 percent to $55.9 billion, the lowest in a decade. Net farm income went from just over $50 billion in 2000 to close to $130 billion in 2013, a nearly threefold increase. Much of that growth came thanks to a spike in trade with China, to which U.S. farm exports grew from just a few billion dollars in 2000 to a record $29.9 billion last year.

Small-Scale Agriculture threatens the Rainforest

Paying Farmers Not to Farm. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a land conservation program administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. Contracts for land enrolled in CRP are 10-15 years in length. The long-term goal of the program is to re-establish valuable land cover to help improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and reduce loss of wildlife habitat. If you would like to watch an informational video on CRP, please click here.

“What greater wealth is there than to own your life and to spend it on growing? Every living thing must grow. It can't stand still. It must grow or perish.” (Ellis Wyatt Atlas Shrugged (Part 3, Chapter 1, Page 722)

"We have always had Crop Loss, and that is a fact. So don't ever believe that we need GMO's or mega farms in order to feed people, because that is a lie. What we need is more local farms, then everyone will have food." 

"If solving a problem causes more problems then it solves, then you did not solve a problem."

Norman Borlaug (wiki) - Green Revolution (wiki)

New Communities is a grassroots organization that has worked for more than 40 years to empower African American families in Southwest Georgia and advocate for social justice. In 1910, black farmers owned more than 15 million acres of land. In 2017, that number was down to 4 million acres, according to the agricultural census.

Agrarian Society (or agricultural society) is any society whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total production is in agriculture. In an agrarian society cultivating the land is the primary source of wealth. Such a society may acknowledge other means of livelihood and work habits but stresses the importance of agriculture and farming. Agrarian societies have existed in various parts of the world as far back as 10,000 years ago and continue to exist today. They have been the most common form of socio-economic organization for most of recorded human history.

Origins of Plants

Native origins and primary regions of diversity for selected major agricultural crops.
Origins of Food Crops connect Countries Worldwide
Plant Science



Domesticated Plants List (PDF)

History of Agriculture (wiki) - Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 20,000 BC.

Neolithic Founder Crops are the eight plant species that were Domesticated by early Holocene (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, 11,700 years ago farming communities in the Fertile Crescent region of southwest Asia, and which formed the basis of systematic agriculture in the Middle East, North Africa, India, Persia and (later) Europe. They consist of flax, three cereals and four pulses, and are the first known domesticated plants in the world. Although domesticated rye (Secale cereale) occurs in the final Epi-Palaeolithic strata at Tell Abu Hureyra (the earliest instance of domesticated plant species), it was insignificant in the Neolithic Period of southwest Asia and only became common with the spread of farming into northern Europe several millennia later. Cereals: Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum, descended from the wild T. dicoccoides). Einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum, descended from the wild T. boeoticum). Barley (Hordeum vulgare/sativum, descended from the wild H. spontaneum).

Pulses: Lentil (Lens culinaris). Pea (Pisum sativum). Chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia).
Other: Flax (Linum usitatissimum).

"We don't want to feed ignorance, that's just crazy, because if you feed ignorance then the product produced will be ignorant. That means innocent people will be subjected to people feeding them ignorance. We need to educate people so they don't grow up to become neither eaters nor feeders of ignorance. This way we can finally end this cycle of ignorance once and for all. Everyone needs to be educated on the matter, if not, then living wont matter."

Films about Farming and Food

Life Running Out of Control
The Future of Food
Farmageddon (2011) 1:26
Food, Inc.
King Corn
Super Size Me
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
The Beautiful Truth
The Gerson Miracle DVD (amazon)
To Market, To Market: To Buy a Fat Pig
The Garden 14 The Garden in LA (2008)
Ripe for Change
The Truth About Your Food (Restaurants)
In Organic We Trust (2013)
The Food of the Future
Farmland (2014) (hulu)
The Starfish Throwers 20144
More Documentaries

"If you are not a benefit to humans, then you are most likely a threat to humans."

Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund

Science Websites

Ideas to Help Improve the World
Natural Products
Water Safety
Physical Health - Nutrition Food Forest Garden

US grows about 92 million acres of corn averaging about 160 bushels an Acre with 55 pounds per bushel, this equates to about 800 billion pounds per year, or 2500 lbs. per person per year (approximate 300 million people in the US), or 8 lbs. per day per person on one commodity crop alone. 8 lbs. of corn/food becomes 1/2 a pound of meat and a gallon of gas. About 40 percent of the planet's crops currently are fed to animals. University of Minnesota.

Plant Breeding - Pruning - Grafting - Propagation

Plant Breeding is selecting only particular plants with desirable characteristics to grow, so that all the new plants grown will have these new desirable characteristics. Selective adaptation instead of the natural process of evolution where only the strongest survive. The art and science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. Plant breeding can be accomplished through many different techniques ranging from simply selecting plants with desirable characteristics for propagation, to more complex molecular techniques (see cultigen and cultivar). Plant breeding has been practiced for thousands of years, since near the beginning of human civilization. It is practiced worldwide by individuals such as gardeners and farmers, or by professional plant breeders employed by organizations such as government institutions, universities, crop-specific industry associations or research centers.

Seedlings - Tree Transplanting - GMO

Breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, or hobbyist, and can be practiced on a large or small scale, for food, fun, or profit. Bread Lab Plant Breeding.

Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops. Once dismissed as 'junk DNA' that served no purpose, a family of 'jumping genes' found in tomatoes has the potential to accelerate crop breeding for traits such as improved drought resistance.

Cultigen is a plant that has been deliberately altered or selected by humans; it is the result of artificial selection or Selective Breeding, which is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together.

Cultivar an assemblage of plants selected for desirable characteristics that are maintained during propagation.

Hybrid in biology or cross breeding, is the result of mixing, through sexual reproduction, two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species or genera. Using genetic terminology, it may be defined as follows. Hybrid generally refers to any offspring resulting from the breeding of two genetically distinct individuals, which usually will result in a high degree of heterozygosity, though hybrid and heterozygous are not, strictly speaking, synonymous. A genetic hybrid carries two different alleles of the same gene. A structural hybrid results from the fusion of gametes that have differing structure in at least one chromosome, as a result of structural abnormalities. A numerical hybrid results from the fusion of gametes having different haploid numbers of chromosomes. A permanent hybrid is a situation where only the heterozygous genotype occurs, because all homozygous combinations are lethal. Plant Hybridization - Molecular Markers (DNA).

Crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. Crossbreeding, sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, often with the intention to create offspring that share the traits of both parent lineages, or producing an organism with hybrid vigor. While crossbreeding is used to maintain health and viability of organisms, irresponsible crossbreeding can also produce organisms of inferior quality or dilute a purebred gene pool to the point of extinction of a given breed of organism.

Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and other consequences that may arise from expression of deleterious or recessive traits resulting from incestuous sexual relationships and consanguinity. Inbreeding results in homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by harmful or recessive traits. This usually leads to at least temporarily decreased biological fitness of a population (called inbreeding depression), which is its ability to survive and reproduce. An individual who inherits such deleterious traits is colloquially referred to as inbred. The avoidance of expression of such deleterious recessive alleles caused by inbreeding, via inbreeding avoidance mechanisms, is the main selective reason for outcrossing. Crossbreeding between populations also often has positive effects on fitness-related traits, but also sometimes leads to negative effects known as outbreeding depression. However increased homozygosity increases probability of fixing beneficial alleles and also slightly decreases probability of fixing deleterious alleles in population. Inbreeding can result in purging of deleterious alleles from a population through purifying selection. Inbreeding is a technique used in selective breeding. For example, in livestock breeding, breeders may use inbreeding when trying to establish a new and desirable trait in the stock and for producing distinct families within a breed, but will need to watch for undesirable characteristics in offspring, which can then be eliminated through further selective breeding or culling. Inbreeding also helps to ascertain the type of gene action affecting a trait. Inbreeding is also used to reveal deleterious recessive alleles, which can then be eliminated through assortative breeding or through culling. In plant breeding, inbred lines are used as stocks for the creation of hybrid lines to make use of the effects of heterosis. Inbreeding in plants also occurs naturally in the form of self-pollination.
Inbreeding can significantly influence gene expression which can prevent inbreeding depression.

Plant Growth Chambers that control temperature, light, humidity for agricultural biotechnology, phytopathology, entomology and other plant science research. Bio-Chambers.

Speed Breeding as a method to accelerate applied and basic research on cereal species, standard genotypes of spring bread wheat (T. aestivum), durum wheat (T. durum), barley (H. vulgare) and the model grass.

Biologists untangle growth and defense in maize, define key antibiotic pathways. Studying the complex layers of immunity in maize, a staple for diets around the world, scientists have identified key genes that enable surprisingly diverse antibiotic cocktails that can be produced as defensive blends against numerous disease agents. Biologists describe how they combined an array of scientific approaches to clearly define 6 genes that encode enzymes responsible for the production of key maize antibiotics known to control disease resistance.

Agricultural Biotechnology is an area of agricultural science involving the use of scientific tools and techniques, including genetic engineering, molecular markers, molecular diagnostics, vaccines, and tissue culture, to modify living organisms: plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Cross-Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the flower of one plant to the flower of a plant having a different genetic constitution. Bees.

Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred to the female reproductive organs of a plant, thereby enabling fertilization to take place. Like all living organisms, seed plants have a single major goal: to pass their genetic information on to the next generation. The reproductive unit is the seed, and pollination is an essential step in the production of seeds in all spermatophytes (seed plants). Bees.

To grow or to flower: Genes IDed in early land plant descendant also found in modern crops. Most mammals, including humans, are born with the cells that they'll need as adults to produce their own offspring. Plants, however, develop their reproductive cells only after switching from the vegetative stage, when they grow new leaves or get bigger, to the reproductive stage. One of the microRNAs that helps flowering plants control the shift to the reproductive stage is also one of the eight microRNAs shared between thale cress and liverworts. That microRNA is known to researchers as microRNA156/529. To pin down the potential role of this evolutionarily conserved microRNA, Watanabe's research group created a genetically modified version of liverwort that lacked microRNA156/529. Those so-called microRNA156/529 knockout liverworts produced reproductive cells on their vegetative tissues rather than developing the normal umbrella-shaped reproductive structures that distinguish males and females. Identifying the same molecule with a similar role in the vegetative-to-reproductive switch in such different plant species reveals that microRNA156/529 and the other molecules it interacts with are part of an important control module used by potentially all land plants to regulate their reproductive timing. Watanabe imagines that in the future, farmers could measure the amount of microRNA156/529 in crops to predict harvest times.

Propagation - Cloning

Plant Propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants. There are two types of propagation: sexual and asexual. Sexual reproduction is the union of the pollen and egg, drawing from the genes of two parents to create a new, third individual. Sexual propagation involves the floral parts of a plant. When pruning your trees to help sprout new growth, save the clippings for propagation. Water propagation is using water as a medium to root succulent cuttings. Transplanting.

Root Division is a method of asexual plant propagation, where the plant (usually an herbaceous perennial) is broken up into two or more parts. Both the root and crown of each part is kept intact. The technique is of ancient origin, and has long been used to propagate bulbs such as garlic and saffron. Division is mainly practiced by gardeners and very small nurseries, as most commercial plant propagation is now done through plant tissue culture.Division is one of the three main methods used by gardeners to increase stocks of plants (the other two are seed-sowing and cuttings). Division is usually applied to mature perennial plants, but may also be used for shrubs with suckering roots, such as gaultheria, kerria and sarcococca. Annual and biennial plants do not lend themselves to this procedure, as their lifespan is too short. Most perennials are best divided and replanted every few years to keep them healthy. They may also be divided in order to produce new plants. Those with woody crowns or fleshy roots need to be cut apart, while others can be prized apart using garden forks or hand forks. Each separate section must have both shoots and roots. Division can take place at almost any time of the year, but the best seasons are Autumn and Spring.

Propagate your shrubs from softwood cuttings.

Plant propagation from softwood cuttings (youtube)

Plant Breeding (PDF)

Fruit Tree Propagation is usually carried out vegetatively (non-sexually) by grafting or budding a desired variety onto a suitable rootstock. GMO.

Burl is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds.

Pruning

Pruning involves the selective removal of parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping to control or direct growth, improving or maintaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, preparing nursery specimens for transplanting, and both harvesting and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits.

Pruning Tips - Tip Pruning - Tree Pruning Tips(shape tree / arrange branches)

Don't Prune trees when its Raining because rain can lead to infections.
Clean your Pruning tool if pruning Multiple trees to avoid cross-contamination.
Fall pruning could cause more harm than good.

Open-Center Pruning is a form of trimming a bush or tree that increases air flow and sunlight to the center of the plant while providing ample spacing and sun exposure to the primary and secondary scaffold branches. (sometimes referred to as vase-type pruning). Buds and Spurs. (snip at 45 degree angle above an outer bud).

Central Leader Training is when the dominant upright branch or trunk is promoted and other branches are allowed or forced to grow at an angle from it, somewhat resembling a Christmas tree.

How to Pinch your Garden Plants (youtube)

Daisugi is a sustainable Japanese forestry technique where specially planted cedar trees are pruned like a giant bonsai, allowing more "shoots" to grow.

Tree Shaping uses living trees and other woody plants as the medium to create structures and art.

Baubotanik is a term that describes a building method in which architectural structures are created through the interaction of technical joints and plant growth

Living Root Bridge is a type of simple suspension bridge formed of living plant roots by tree shaping.

Grafting - Joining

Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock. The technique is most commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants for the horticultural and agricultural trades. The success of this joining requires that the vascular tissue grow together and such joining is called inosculation, which is a natural phenomenon in which trunks, branches or roots of two trees grow together. It is biologically very similar to grafting. Scion is a shoot or sprout of a plant cut for grafting. A descendent or heir.

Grafting Fruit Trees (youtube)
Graft Tomatoes onto Potatoes
Grafted Vegetables
Tree of 40 Fruit

Layering is a means of plant propagation in which a portion of an aerial stem grows roots while still attached to the parent plant and then detaches as an independent plant. Layering has evolved as a common means of vegetative propagation of numerous species in natural environments. Layering is also utilized by horticulturists to propagate desirable plants. Permaculture.

Cloning is the process of producing genetically identical individuals of an organism either naturally or artificially. In nature, many organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. Cloning in biotechnology refers to the process of creating clones of organisms or copies of cells or DNA fragments (molecular cloning). Beyond biology, the term refers to the production of multiple copies of digital media or software. Many organisms, including aspen trees, reproduce by cloning. Propagating plants from cuttings is an ancient form of cloning. There are several advantages of cuttings, mainly that the produced offspring are practically clones of their parent plants. If a plant has favorable traits, it can continue to pass down its advantageous genetic information to its offspring. This is especially economically advantageous as it allows commercial growers to clone a certain plant to ensure consistency throughout their crop. Does having less diversity could make something more vulnerable? Cloning (youtube).

Rooting is to cause a plant or cutting to grow roots.

Rooting Hormones (liquid, powder, gel)

Plant Hormone are chemicals that regulate plant growth.

Shoot (microgreens)

Cutting Plant is when a piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil. If the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent, a process known as striking. A stem cutting produces new roots, and a root cutting produces new stems. Some plants can be grown from leaf pieces, called leaf cuttings, which produce both stems and roots. The scions used in grafting are also called cuttings.

Grow Cuttings from Established Plants 

Basal Shoot are various types of shoots which grow from a bud at the base of a tree or shrub or from adventitious buds in its roots. A plant that produces suckers (root sprouts) is referred to as surculose. Root Suckers may emerge some distance from the originating plant, are considered a form of vegetative dispersal, and may originate a habitat patch where that tree is the dominant species. Suckers also may arise from the roots of trees that have been cut down.

Bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots, or may have the potential for general shoot development. The term bud is also used in zoology, where it refers to an outgrowth from the body which can develop into a new individual.

Root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. Roots can also be aerial or aerating, that is, growing up above the ground or especially above water. Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either (see rhizome). Therefore, the root is best defined as the non-leaf, non-nodes bearing parts of the plant's body. However, important internal structural differences between stems and roots exist.

Branch is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. Due to a broad range of species of trees, branches and twigs can be found in many different shapes and sizes. While branches can be nearly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, the majority of trees have upwardly diagonal branches. The term "twig" often refers to a terminus, while "bough" refers only to branches coming directly from the trunk.

Plant Stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes: The nodes hold one or more leaves, as well as buds which can grow into branches (with leaves, conifer cones, or inflorescences (flowers)). Adventitious roots may also be produced from the nodes. The internodes distance one node from another. The term "shoots" is often confused with "stems"; "shoots" generally refers to new fresh plant growth including both stems and other structures like leaves or flowers. In most plants stems are located above the soil surface but some plants have underground stems. Stems have four main functions which are: Support for and the elevation of leaves, flowers and fruits. The stems keep the leaves in the light and provide a place for the plant to keep its flowers and fruits. Transport of fluids between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem. Storage of nutrients. Production of new living tissue. The normal lifespan of plant cells is one to three years. Stems have cells called meristems that annually generate new living tissue.

Auxin are a class of plant hormones (or plant growth substances) with some morphogen-like characteristics. Auxins have a cardinal role in coordination of many growth and behavioral processes in the plant's life cycle and are essential for plant body development.

GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms)

Rubber Alternative. Yulex Corporation applies crop science, bioprocessing and materials science for the production of agricultural-based biomaterials made from Guayule (Parthenium argentatum). Yulex - Rubber.

Sustainable Biomaterials

More Carbon Dioxide in the Air Helps crops but Lowers Nutrients

Increasing Crops Nutritional Value

Plant Organs rather than anatomy – as in animal systems. Organs of plants can be divided into vegetative and reproductive. Vegetative plant organs include roots, stems, and leaves. The reproductive organs are variable. In flowering plants, they are represented by the flower, seed and fruit. In conifers, the organ that bears the reproductive structures is called a cone. In other divisions (phyla) of plants, the reproductive organs are called strobili, in Lycopodiophyta, or simply gametophores in mosses. The vegetative organs are essential for maintaining the life of a plant. While there can be 11 organ systems in animals, there are far fewer in plants, where some perform the vital functions, such as photosynthesis, while the reproductive organs are essential in reproduction. However, if there is asexual vegetative reproduction, the vegetative organs are those that create the new generation of plants.

Plant Morphology is the study of the physical form and external structure of plants. This is usually considered distinct from plant anatomy, which is the study of the internal structure of plants, especially at the microscopic level. Plant morphology is useful in the visual identification of plants.

Morphology in biology is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features.

Vascular Plant form a large group of plants that are defined as those land plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue (the phloem) to conduct products of photosynthesis. Vascular plants include the clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms (including conifers) and angiosperms (flowering plants). Scientific names for the group include Tracheophyta, Tracheobionta and Equisetopsida sensu lato. The term higher plants should be avoided as a synonym for vascular plants as it is a remnant of the abandoned concept of the great chain of being. (c. 308,312 accepted known species).

Embryophyte or land plants, are the most familiar group of green plants that form vegetation on earth.

Food Plant Diseases and Fungus - Plant Viruses

Plant Pathology is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Cross Breading.

Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. It is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs. Accordingly, many diseases that primarily exhibit this symptom are called blights. Phytochemistry.

Plant Virus are viruses that affect plants. Like all other viruses, plant viruses are obligate intracellular parasites that do not have the molecular machinery to replicate without a host. Plant viruses can be pathogenic to higher plants. Most plant viruses are rod-shaped, with protein discs forming a tube surrounding the viral genome; isometric particles are another common structure. They rarely have an envelope. The great majority have an RNA genome, which is usually small and single stranded (ss), but some viruses have double-stranded (ds) RNA, ssDNA or dsDNA genomes. Although plant viruses are not as well understood as their animal counterparts, one plant virus has become iconic: tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), the first virus to be discovered. This and other viruses cause an estimated U.S$60 billion loss in crop yields worldwide each year. Plant viruses are grouped into 73 genera and 49 families. However, these figures relate only to cultivated plants, which represent only a tiny fraction of the total number of plant species. Viruses in wild plants have been relatively little studied, but the interactions between wild plants and their viruses often do not appear to cause disease in the host plants. To transmit from one plant to another and from one plant cell to another, plant viruses must use strategies that are usually different from animal viruses. Plants do not move, and so plant-to-plant transmission usually involves vectors (such as insects). Plant cells are surrounded by solid cell walls, therefore transport through plasmodesmata is the preferred path for virions to move between plant cells. Plants have specialized mechanisms for transporting mRNAs through plasmodesmata, and these mechanisms are thought to be used by RNA viruses to spread from one cell to another. Plant defenses against viral infection include, among other measures, the use of siRNA in response to dsRNA. Most plant viruses encode a protein to suppress this response. Plants also reduce transport through plasmodesmata in response to injury.

New test can detect plant viruses faster, cheaper.

Family of Crop Viruses at the Molecular Level. For the first-time we can take a molecular-level look at one of the world's deadliest crop killers. The Luteoviridae are pathogenic plant viruses responsible for major crop losses worldwide. Transmitted by aphids, the viruses infect a wide range of food crops including cereals, legumes, cucurbits, sugar beet, sugarcane and potato.
The method involves infiltrating a type of tobacco plant with the genes necessary to create virus-like particles (VLPs). From the inserted genetic information, the VLPs self-assemble inside the plant host. This technique avoids the need to handle the infectious virus. This provided, for the first time, a molecular-level insight into how the luteovirid capsid forms and suggests how it is transmitted by aphids. The Luteoviridae attack the plant vasculature which causes severe stunting leading to crop loss. The family includes barley yellow dwarf virus and potato leafroll virus which cause crop losses to a value of £40-60m per year in the United Kingdom.

What’s Killing America’s Apple Trees?

New portable DNA sequencer quickly and accurately diagnoses wheat viruses. A group of scientists have developed a new technology that makes it possible to rapidly identify viruses in wheat fields with a significantly higher accuracy. They collected four wheat samples from western Kansas and used a new harmonica-sized DNA sequencer and a computer program to quickly detect three different viruses in the samples. Furthermore, their results suggested that the samples contained a new virus strain. Blasts cause significant loses in wheat crops. Recently Bangladesh was devastated by an invasion of South American races of wheat blast fungus, which occurred for the first time in the country in 2016. The disease spread to an estimated 15,000 hectares (16% of cultivated wheat area in the country) and resulted in yield losses as high as 100%. American Phytopathological Society.

Monocrops, and not enough verity in food crops, is a catastrophe ready to happen.

Great Famine Ireland or the Great Hunger was a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. About two-fifths of the population was solely reliant on this cheap crop for a number of historical reasons. Approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland.

Crop Failure or harvest failure is an absent or greatly diminished crop yield relative to expectation, caused by the plants being damaged, killed, or destroyed, or affected in some way that they fail to form edible fruit, seeds, or leaves in their expected abundance. Crop failures can be caused by catastrophic events such as plant disease outbreaks (see e.g. Great Famine (Ireland)), heavy rainfall, volcanic eruptions, storms, floods, or drought, or by slow, cumulative effects of soil degradation, too-high soil salinity, erosion, desertification, usually as results of drainage, overdrafting (for irrigation), overfertilization, or overexploitation. In history, crop failures and subsequent famines have triggered human migration, rural exodus, etc. The proliferation of industrial monocultures, with their reduction in crop diversity and dependence on heavy use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, has led to overexploited soils that are nearly incapable of regeneration. Over years, unsustainable farming of land degrades soil fertility and diminishes crop yield. With a steadily growing world population and local overpopulation, even slightly diminishing yields are already the equivalent to a partial harvest failure. Fertilizers obviate the need for soil regeneration in the first place, and international trade prevents local crop failures from developing into famines.

Monoculture is the agricultural practice of producing or growing a single crop, plant, or livestock species, variety, or breed in a field or farming system at a time. Diversity.

Polyculture is where more than one crop is grown in the same space at the same time, is the alternative to monoculture. Monoculture is widely used in both industrial farming and organic farming and has allowed increased efficiency in planting and harvest. Seeds.

Fusarium Oxysporum f.sp. Cubense is a fungal plant pathogen that causes Panama disease of banana (Musa spp.), also known as fusarium wilt of banana.

Panama Disease is a plant disease of the roots of banana plants. It is a type of Fusarium wilt, caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum. The pathogen is resistant to fungicide and cannot be controlled chemically.

Taxonomy, distribution and biology of lettuce powdery mildew (Golovinomyces cichoracearum sensu stricto)

Guidelines for Head Lettuce Production in Arizona - Cross Breeding wild lettuce with regular lettuce that helps protects against fungus and mildew.

Food Disease - Invasive Species - Marine Invasions Research

New Tool to Predict which Plants will become Invasive. Research predicts which species are more likely to become invasive based on biological traits. Around the world, over 13,000 plant species have embedded themselves in new environments -- some of them integrate with the native plants, but others spread aggressively. Understanding why some plants become invasive, while others do not is critical to preserving the world's biodiversity.

Dodder Parasitic Plant causes major damage to crops in the US and worldwide every year. They can silence the expression of genes in the host plants from which it obtains water and nutrients. This cross-species gene regulation, which includes genes that contribute to the host plant's defense against parasites, has never before been seen from a parasitic plant. Cuscuta (wiki).

Parasitic Plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are in almost every biome in the world. All parasitic plants have modified roots, named haustoria (singular: haustorium), which penetrate the host plants, connecting them to the conductive system – either the xylem, the phloem, or both. This provides them with the ability to extract water and nutrients from the host. Parasitic plants are classified depending on where the parasitic plant latches onto the host and the amount of nutrients it requires. Some parasitic plants are able to locate their host plants by detecting chemicals in the air or soil given off by host shoots or roots, respectively. About 4,500 species of parasitic plant in approximately 20 families of flowering plants are known.

Hemiparasite is a plant that obtains or may obtain part of its food by parasitism, e.g., mistletoe, which also photosynthesizes.

Alien Species may be the main driver of recent Extinctions in both animals and plants, according to a new study by UCL researchers. Mass Extinctions - Drought.

Dogs can Detect Agricultural Diseases Early. A dog can be trained to detect laurel wilt-diseased trees before the visible symptoms are seen. Once a diseased tree is identified, these "agri-dogs" will sit, indicating a positive alert.

Nearly 40% of plant species are very rare and are vulnerable to climate change. There are about 435,000 unique land plant species on Earth. Global Warming.

Tree Diseases - Dry Weather Farming.

How do you cultivate a healthy plant microbiome? Researchers home in on core microbial community of tomato, one that is robust and stable. Crops today never see their parents' microbiome, so how do they develop a leaf microbial community that's healthy and resistant to invasion by pathogens? Biologists sequenced the microbiomes of tomatoes through four generations and saw three-quarters of the bacteria disappear, leaving a core community that proved resistant to random invaders. The findings show it's possible to cultivate a robust plant microbiome, and suggests that probiotic additions could survive on crops, providing lasting benefits.

Key immune system protein discovered in plants. A new study has discovered the key calcium channel responsible for closing plant pores as an immune response to pathogen exposure. The findings are a major step toward understanding the defense mechanisms plants use to resist infection, which could eventually lead to healthier, more resistant and more productive crops. A protein called OSCA1.3 forms a channel that leaks calcium into the cells surrounding a plant's pores.

Trashed Farmland could be a conservation treasure. Low-productivity agricultural land could be transformed into millions of hectares of conservation reserve across the world, according to new research. The research team proposed a new way of understanding the conservation value of ''uncontested lands'' - areas where agricultural productivity is low.

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Goodbye Yellow Brick - Elton John (youtube) - I should have stayed on the farm, I should have listened to my old man, You can't plant me in your penthouse, I'm going back to my plough, Back to the howling old owl in the woods, Hunting the horny back toad, Oh I've finally decided my future lies, Beyond the yellow brick road...

"No plough stops for the dying man", well maybe for a little while, then I have to get back to work.