People have been growing chrysanthemums for more than two thousand years. Mums make bright and colorful gardens. People in China and other Asian cultures make tea with the flowers. Giacomo Puccini, the great Italian composer, even named one of his works after chrysanthemums, “Crisantemi.” One basic kind of mum is the hardy or garden mum. The other […]
This June in Brazil, delegates will mark the twentieth anniversary of what is commonly known as the Earth Summit. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development took place in Rio de Janeiro in nineteen ninety-two. One of the issues that the delegates plan to discuss in June at Rio+20 is the role of agriculture in climate […]
Companion planting is the idea that some kinds of plants can help each other grow. Plants that are compatible together generally have similar needs in terms of nutrients, soil and moisture levels. Advice about which plants are compatible is sometimes based more on tradition than proof. But experts say there is evidence to support certain […]
Old properties and empty lots in cities and towns around the United States are finding new life as urban farms. EcoCity Farms in Edmonston, Maryland, is located near shopping centers, car repair shops and homes. The neighborhood is a working-class community. People do not have very much money, and they have limited access to fresh food in markets. Over the past […]
Seth DeBolt is a plant scientist at the University of Kentucky in the United States. He and other scientists wanted to find a source of fuel that poor people in rural areas of developing countries could use to make electricity. The United Nations Development Program says a billion and a half people have no electricity. A billion others have […]
Some people in the Netherlands are spending three hundred thirty thousand dollars — on a hamburger. The people are scientists at the University of Maastricht. They want to prove that they can make a hamburger that tastes good and does not require an animal to be killed. Researcher Mark Post and his team have been growing muscle-tissue cells in […]
An American intelligence report says water-related problems will likely increase tensions around the world in the next ten years. These problems include water shortages, poorwater quality and floods. The report says the problems will increase the risk of instability and the failure of governments. However, countries are seen as unlikely to go to war over water. The report […]
Bees add an estimated eighteen billion dollars a year to the value of American crops. They pollinate flowers that become fruits, nuts and vegetables. But, in recent years, honeybee colonies in the United States and Europe have been shrinking. Scientists have proposed different theories to explain what is known as colony collapse disorder. New research […]
A new report says if women farmers had the same rights as men, more could be done to reduce world hunger. The report, “Empowering Women in Agriculture,” is from the anti-hunger group Bread for the World. Bread for the World says equal access to agricultural resources would help increase food security and economic growth. Faustine Wabwire is the group’s […]
South America’s Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest and river system on Earth. But the Amazon is disappearing at the rate of about eight hundred thousand hectares a year. This deforestation is caused by an increase in agriculture and cattle ranching and the building of roads and dams. Another cause is the illegal cutting of trees for […]