Online_Community_Centre: Heide's Blog

Groundwater Depletion in Semiarid Regions of Texas and California Threatens US Food Security

Tue, 29 May 2012 15:51:28 GMT

Source - The nation's food supply may be vulnerable to rapid groundwater depletion from irrigated agriculture, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere.Three results of the new study are particularly striking: First, during the most recent drought in California's Central Valley, from 2006 to 2009, farmers in the south depleted enough groundwater to fill the nation's largest human-made reservoir, Lake Mead near Las Vegas -- a level of groundwater depletion that is unsustainable at current recharge rates.

Fish Extract Products Can Control Foliar Diseases in Blueberries

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:03:13 GMT

Source - By Candace Pollock
Fish extract products have been found to suppress important foliar diseases in organic blueberries, based on the results of a University of Georgia study. “Before we initiated the study, we received anecdotal evidence from some growers that fish products (oils and emulsions) provide some benefits, “ said Scherm. “So this study sought to kill three birds with one stone by developing an integrated system for disease, insect and nutrient management in organic blueberries using fish-derived products as a foliar spray.” Researchers found that the four of the six fish extract products they evaluated significantly suppressed Septoria leaf spot and leaf rust, two common diseases of organic blueberries. However, the impacts on controlling the leaf beetle pest and boosting foliar fertility were less clear.

Bias in BC's Pesticide Decision? Follow the Bouncing Verbs

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:26:10 GMT

Source - By Warren Bell
Legislative committee's language treats science-based critics like children. I'm 66 years old. I've been a family physician, working in hospitals, clinics, emergency rooms and offices for 36 years. I've headed and actually founded health and environmental organizations. I've presided over the medical staff at my hospital, and in clinical work, I've guided my actions with hard, unemotional data. It's not often that I get treated like an argumentative, hyperanxious, irrational adolescent, so when I do, it certainly gets my attention. And that's exactly what's happened to me -- and to most British Columbians -- at the hands of Bill Bennett and his Liberal Party colleagues on the Special Committee on Pesticides.

Mixed Bacterial Communities Evolve to Share Resources, Not Compete

Tue, 22 May 2012 02:49:18 GMT

Source - New research shows how bacteria evolve to increase ecosystem functioning by recycling each other's waste. The study provides some of the first evidence for how interactions between species shape evolution when there is a diverse community.

90 Percent of Corn Seeds Are Coated With Bayer's Bee-Decimating Pesticide

Tue, 22 May 2012 02:43:50 GMT

Source - By Tom Philpott
I'm doing something very odd this week: speaking at the annual conference of Croplife America, the main trade group for the US agrichemical industry. Croplife members include Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, and Syngenta, all massive multinational companies I write about regularly and witheringly. I am astonished that Croplife wants to hear what I have to say—what I think of the group's member companies and their products is a matter of public record—and am curious to hear what they have to say to me. As I prepared for the conference, a few interesting news items on the industry crossed my desk.