Hawaii Agriculture

August 20, 2012 Post a Comment

‘He lost the plot’: farmer mows down wife’s lover with tractor

A French farmer killed his wife’s lover after chasing him across fields in his tractor and mowing him down. Claude Boutevillain, 51, a farmer in the Meuse, eastern France, was reportedly driven mad by his wife Josette’s decision to leave him for the local butcher, 48-year-old Jean-Michel Allemeersch. The crime of passion, allegedly committed...

August 20, 2012 Post a Comment

For the Amish, Big Agribusiness Is Destroying a Way of Life

At first glance, the Swartzentruber Amish of St. Lawrence County, New York, look to be self-reliant stewards of a bucolic and unchanging landscape. Although their daily chores demand Olympic stamina — regiments of mugwort-weeding and hay-bailing — the Swartzentrubers still pause and wave politely to 18-wheelers passing through the county, which stretches from the...

July 18, 2012 Post a Comment

‘Colorful’ Farmers Markets the New Look of Outdoor Trading

Moscow officials may be weeding out city markets as part of their efforts to make entrepreneurial retail more civilized, but the same vehemence doesn’t extend to the weekend farmers markets. The administration plans to increase the number of these markets and is helping their participants to be more profitable. There are currently 125 farmers...

July 16, 2012 Post a Comment

Coffee: Preventing Scurvy Since 1650

In 1650, St. Michael’s Alley, London’s first coffee shop, placed an ad in a newspaper. That ad — archived in the British Museum, and Internet-ed by the Vintage Ads LiveJournal — extolled the many Vertues of the newly discovered beverage. Which “groweth upon little Trees, only in the Deserts of Arabia,” and which is...

July 14, 2012 Post a Comment

Coquis taking a toll on Hawaii island bug life

Invasive coqui frogs are subtly altering the ecosystem of Hawaii island as they gobble up mites, ants and other bugs and leave behind droppings that attract flies, scientists conclude. While the tiny frogs, native of Puerto Rico, are known for their loud and often maddening cries, they also are taking a toll on the...

July 12, 2012 Post a Comment

Solar crop dryer can revolutionise nangai production: Longwah | Vanuatu Daily Post

Nangai nuts Sourced Online A solar crop dryer is the answer to high costs of nangai (canarium indicum) transportation, heavy nut volume, and the deterioration of the nut quality within 24 hours after falling from trees, says long time South Pacific nut entrepreneur, Charlot Longwah. The next season of nangai starts from September to...

July 12, 2012 Post a Comment

Sexual Liberation in Fish Is Nothing to Celebrate

Despite ongoing health concerns about the endocrine-disrupting chemical known as BPA — that it may promote breast cancer growth, for instance, harm sperm quality, or cause erectile dysfunction — the Food and Drug Administration has yet to come down hard on the use of the substance in consumer products. It’s still regularly found in...

July 4, 2012 Post a Comment

Health – Brian Fung – The Case for Coffee: All the Latest Research to Defend Your Caffeine Addiction, in One Place

These days, coffee is practically a universal part of our modern workplace condition. Many of us harbor some secret fear that the gallons of brown liquid we’re slurping every day is doing us no good. We cling to scraps of evidence — like this one suggesting coffee contributes to your daily recommended fluid intake...

July 3, 2012 Post a Comment

Rising ocean temperatures have tide turning in favour of scorching sibling El Nino

OUR dams are full, the lambs are fat and the sprinklers are running again. But weather experts are warning Australia’s east coast to brace for a return to dry conditions, perhaps even drought, as another El Nino event looms. After two consecutive years of record rainfall and devastating floods brought on by La Nina,...

July 3, 2012 Post a Comment

IKEA’s ‘sustainable’ logging faces criticism

Karelia, Russia – These forests of pine, spruce and birch trees on Russia’s north-west frontier with Finland stretch in every direction to the horizon. When the sun shines, the dazzling green is fragmented by lakes of sky-blue water. Yet the impact of humankind is everywhere. Tracks criss-cross the woodland, accommodating logging vehicles – diggers...

July 2, 2012 Post a Comment

Small farmers creating a new business model as agriculture goes local

SEATTLE >> The cultivated rusticity of a farmers market, where dirt-dusted beets are status symbols and earnest entrepreneurs preside over chunks of cheese, is a part of weekend life in cities across the nation as the high days of the summer harvest approach. But beyond the familiar mantras about nutrition or reduced fossil fuel...

June 29, 2012 Post a Comment

Coffee bill in line to receive the ax

HONOLULU – Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Monday that he plans to veto a bill that would remove mandatory certification for Hawaii-grown coffee, a measure Kona coffee farmers said would be disastrous for the industry’s integrity and reputation. Abercrombie listed the bill as one of 19 he is considering vetoing from the 2012 legislative...

June 25, 2012 Post a Comment

Parker Ranch, Ulupono team up for beef

Parker Ranch and local investment firm Ulupono Initiative will jointly fund research into large-scale grass-fed beef production on Hawaii island. The trials will involve 200 head of cattle on 300 acres from September through May of 2013. “This local product strategy should ensure that we have the capacity to produce high quality and consistent...

June 22, 2012 Post a Comment

New law prohibits having or releasing feral deer in Hawaii

A bill prohibiting having feral deer or releasing them into the wild was signed into law Thursday by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Senate Bill 3001 was passed by the Legislature as a measure to prevent the spread of Axis deer. The deer have thrived on Maui, causing an estimated $1 million in damage to farms,...

June 21, 2012 Post a Comment

Abercrombie: Week to focus on declining pollinator populations

HONOLULU (AP) – Gov. Neil Abercrombie has declared it Hawaii Pollinator Week. The governor says this week is about raising awareness of declining pollinator populations. It coincides with National Pollinator Week. Bees are critical pollinators of many Hawaii crops, and the loss of beehives is a threat to the agricultural economy. Beetles that pose...

June 17, 2012 Post a Comment

Reining in the rumors about EPA ‘drones’

By David A. Fahrenthold, Published: June 16 It was a blood-boiler of a story, a menacing tale of government gone too far: The Environmental Protection Agency was spying on Midwestern farmers with the same aerial “drones” used to kill terrorists overseas. This month, the idea has been repeated in TV segments, on multiple blogs...

June 16, 2012 Post a Comment

Taro Leaf Blight—A Threat to Food Security

The Impact of Plant Disease on Food Security by Davinder Singh, Danny Hunter, Robert Fullerton, Vincent Lebot, Mary Taylor, Tolo Iosefa, Tom Okpul, and Joy Tyson Abstract Taro leaf blight (caused by the Oomycete Phytophthora colocasiae) is a disease of major importance in many regions of the world where taro is grown. Serious outbreaks...

June 15, 2012 Post a Comment

‘No Trespassing’ signs erected at site of Haleiwa Farmers Market

The Haleiwa Farmers Market will no longer be allowed to operate along the Haleiwa bypass road after state officials put up “no trespassing” signs, Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced today. Until Sunday, the market had been operating for three years on a triangular area at the junction of Kamehameha Highway and Joseph P. Leong Highway...