farmers
See the following -
An Open Source Approach To Solving The Farm To Table Problem In North Carolina
For many people spring means a return to the bounty of fresh, local food from farmers markets. But for the one in five people in North Carolina who are facing hunger, that bounty is not an option. This was the challenge that we—a high-tech marketer and an engineer recently relocated from Silicon Valley—set out to solve in 2009. [...] Read More »
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Analysis: Super Weeds Pose Growing Threat to U.S. Crops
An estimated 11 million acres are infested with "super weeds"...The problem's gradual emergence has masked its growing menace. Now, however, it is becoming too big to ignore. The super weeds boost costs and cut crop yields for U.S. farmers starting their fall harvest this month. And their use of more herbicides to fight the weeds is sparking environmental concerns. Read More »
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Appropriate Technology, Open Source Blueprints
Using wikis and digital fabrication tools, Missouri farmer Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing the blueprints for 50 farm machines, allowing anyone to build their own tractor or harvester from scratch. And that's only the first step he's taking to write instruction sets for an entire self-sustaining farm operation with equipment costs of under $10,000. Read More »
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Chefs & Local Food Advocates Head To Washington To Support Food Stamp Nutrition Incentives At Farmers Market
With nearly a dozen chefs at their side, local food advocates visited Capitol Hill today to encourage lawmakers to support legislation that would provide federally funded nutrition incentives in the upcoming farm bill... Read More »
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Co-op Scheme Aims To Boost Farmers’ Profits
An ambitions new agricultural development project backed by a former US diplomat is aiming to dramatically revamp the sector and bring profits back into the hands of farmers. Read More »
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Coffee Farmers to Receive Warnings on Storms Via Texts
More than 7500 coffee farmers in Kenya could start receiving message prompts with warnings on storms and plagues by the end of the year, says IICD. The automated SMS system that connects farmers mobile phones to a central computer is expected to enable farmers around Nairobi and Mount Kenya receive the messages on the phones through an early SMS warning system. Read More »
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Daylight Saving Time Is America's Greatest Shame
Daylight Saving Time is the greatest continuing fraud ever perpetuated on American people. And this weekend, the effects of this cruel monster will rear its ugly head again. On Sunday morning, Americans across the country will have to set their clocks back one hour, and next week, the sun will begin its ambling lurch to eventually setting at 4:30 in the afternoon. Read More »
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Follow The Honey: 7 Ways Pesticide Companies Are Spinning The Bee Crisis
If you like to eat, then you should care about what’s happening to bees. Two-thirds of our food crops require pollination–the very foods that we rely on for healthy eating–such as apples, berries, and almonds, just to name a few. That’s why the serious decline in bee populations is getting more attention, with entire campaigns devoted to saving them. Read More »
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Free The Seed: OSSI Nurtures Growing Plants Without Patent Barriers
[The Open Source Seed Initiative] is concerned over restricting access to seeds through patents. They are stirring up public awareness over their mission to model a new crop system of seed-sharing in the spirit of open source software. On Thursday the OSSI group gathered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to give away a set of seeds that can be used by anyone. Read More »
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Grant Awarded To iCow
Before I started working here, I never thought I’d be quite so clued up about the gestation cycle of a cow. Thanks to iCow – Kenya’s innovative SMS platform for all things bovine – the Indigo team have become well acquainted with the highs and lows of cow pregnancy. Read More »
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iCow Launch With Safaricom
As readers of our blog will know, we have been supporting Kenyan agricultural start-up, iCow, for a while. Yesterday, they announced the details of their partnership with leading mobile operator Safaricom. Here is our take on iCow’s journey to date [...]. Read More »
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Illinois Legislators Honor Right Of Consumers To Buy Farm Fresh Milk
A proposed bill in Illinois banning the sale and distribution of natural or “raw” milk, is not going anywhere this session after legislators heard from “thousands” of natural milk proponents. The restriction, which was introduced as an amendment to an unrelated bill, would have banned the sale and distribution of raw milk in Illinois. Read More »
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MfarmerSMS Service Links Farmers To Better Markets In Nakaseke- Uganda
The MFarmer SMS service [...] helps farmers in rural areas to connect with better markets. It encourages two-way feedback with farmers, buyers and agro-processors, and other service providers. The project is designed to help farmers access agricultural market price information and weather information through their mobile phones. Read More »
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Mobile Learning: How Smartphones Help Illiterate Farmers In Rural India
Small farmers are some of the most important people in the world – as Hendrik Knoche explains in today’s ‘Digital Diversity’, they provide over half of the world’s food supply. Helping such farmers improve their methods through innovative and efficient agriculture has long been an aim of development projects [...]. Read More »
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Novel Open Source Seed Pledge Aims To Keep New Vegetable And Grain Varieties Free For All
This week, scientists, farmers and sustainable food systems advocates will gather on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to celebrate an unusual group of honored guests: 29 new varieties of broccoli, celery, kale, quinoa and other vegetables and grains that are being publicly released using a novel form of ownership agreement known as the Open Source Seed Pledge. Read More »
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