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Scientists’ success in producing synthetic vanilla flavouring means it is used 99% of the time. So why does the price of genuine beans keep rising?
Building social networks is one of the greatest benefits of urban agriculture.
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Urban farming increases access to healthy foods. And building social networks is one of the greatest benefits of urban agriculture in poor areas.
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New research pinpoints the genes that could counteract decades of bland breeding.
Fields of gold: Australia’s wheat industry contributes more than A$5 billion to the economy each year.
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Australia’s wheat harvest has stalled over the past 26 years, and worsening weather is to blame.
The Vision and Creed of Piers Plowman.
The environment minister recently told a conference that agriculture is as old as ‘mankind’. She’s out by a few million years.
Gobbled up.
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The rise in size of your festive bird hides a chemical concern.
Your local supermarket offers a variety of hams.
Rachel Carey
Free range, sow stall free - you’ll find a number of different types of ham on the market this Christmas. But what do they mean?
A farm worker tends to a tobacco crop in Beatrice, Zimbabwe. The county has struggled to deliver land reform that benefits landless communities.
REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo
Zimbabwe like many other post colonial governments across the globe continues to struggle to attain equitable land reform.
Lack of support for beneficiaries of land reform in South Africa has seen many new farmers fail to live off the land.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
South Africa’s government makes much of its efforts of putting more land in the hands of the previously disenfranchised black majority. Yet, many beneficiaries continue to wallow in poverty.
Our food system depends on nitrogen fertilisers.
Nitrogen image from www.shutterstock.com
Somehow we need to grow more food to feed an expanding population while minimising the problems associated with nitrogen fertiliser use.
Was Barnaby Joyce’s international comparison correct?
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said backpackers would be better off working in Australia with a 19% tax than in New Zealand, England and Canada. Is that true? And what would a 15% or 10.5% tax mean?
Drought tolerant beans in Malawi. Africa needs improved agricultural practices to be implemented by smallholder farmers.
Neil Palmer/CGIAR Research Program/ Flickr
The development community has overlooked the ethical dilemmas associated with raising one individual above others through farmer-to-farmer systems.
Many Australian farmers rely on backpackers to meet their labour needs at harvest time.
Francois Lenoir/Reuters
The controversy over changes to the backpacker tax shows the inadequacy of relying on backpackers as the primary labour source for a vital industry.
Robotics and other farm technologies can provide a wealth of data to farmers and agribusiness.
Robert Pratta/Reuters
The extension of laws on unfair contract terms to cover small businesses, may help farmers take more control of the data their farms generate.
Coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish are helped by nutrient runoff.
Crown of thorns image from www.shutterstock.com
We’re going to miss the Great Barrier Reef’s water quality targets unless we help farmers better
Organic farming has numerous benefits for people.
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Organic farming has many benefits. It can better people’s lives and it’s good for biodiversity and the climate.
Droughts in South Africa has led to coordinated joint planning and partnerships to combat the problem.
Stephanie Midgley
Drought is a problem in South Africa and it affects farmers. As a result, farmers and government are working together to develop strategies.
Working the land.
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Working the land is a vital – and fruitful – career option.
Mike Hardman
Urban farms might be trendy, but they won’t replace rural agriculture anytime soon.
Intelligent trade policies needed to counter uneven distribution of water resources.
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Intelligent trade policies can help limit the threats, including food security, that come with an uneven distribution of water resources across the globe.