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Recent posts on pesticides and related topics

Posted by Helen Dunnett on June 12, 2009 in Environment, Farming

Here are some articles on pesticides and related topics from the last two weeks:

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WWF: balancing food and environmental security

Posted by Helen Dunnett on April 08, 2009 in Environment

At the recent Forum for the Future of Agriculture (see previous posts below), we spoke to Matthias Meissner of the WWF in Berlin.

We asked him for his views on balancing food and environmental security. He sees it as imperative, but that it should be done by encouraging capacity for farming in the developing world, rather than insisting on increasing productivity, say via the use of technology. View the full interview below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wuWgxql2jw

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An expert opinion on African farming: future prospects

Posted by Helen Dunnett on April 06, 2009 in Farming, Global issues

Another interview from the Forum for the Future of Agriculture (see previous posts below), this time with James S. Shikwati, an expert in African agriculture and Managing Director of Inter Region Economic Network (IREN), a think-tank based in Kenya that aims to develop strategies to bring prosperity to the African continent.

We asked Mr Shikwati about the prospects for African farming, the role of technology, and the aftermath of the food prices crisis last year, and he gave us some very insightful answers which generally point to a degree of optimism for the future. Highly recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYp-tr3pDos

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FAO: Europe’s role as a supplier of food will diminish

Posted by Helen Dunnett on March 24, 2009 in Food & health, Global issues

At the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, organised jointly by Syngenta and the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) last week, we spoke to Alexander Sarris, Director in the Commodities and Trade Division at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

He gave us some insights into the role of technology in agriculture, the productivity gap that exists in the developing world, and how imperative it is that this gap be diminished (a process which may, in his view, involve the reduction Europe’s role as a supplier of food).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tt3eECS_9o

UPDATE: Blogactiv were also present at the event and spoke to Mr Sarris (click below). View all of Blogactiv’s interviews from the event by clicking here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWZneqUYNJw

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European Commission completes its pesticide review

Posted by Helen Dunnett on March 17, 2009 in Environment, European Regulation, Farming, Food & health

Last week the European Commission announced the completion of its review of pesticides that were on the market before 1993. The review looked at about 1000 substances used in conventional and organic agriculture. In their press statement, the Commission said that the pesticides “have undergone a detailed risk evaluation with respect to their effects on humans and on the environment”.

In the press statement the EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said: “Today represents a milestone in our effort to ensure improved protection of human health and the environment. The review of existing pesticides has lead to the removal from the market of more than two thirds of these substances. I can now say with confidence that our food has become greener.”

Of those 1000 pesticides removed from the market, the vast majority of pesticides (67%) didn’t qualify because their dossiers were either not submitted, incomplete or withdrawn by industry. 7% of dossiers submitted failed the review. 26% of substances were approved.

To promote the end of this review programme, the Commission has produced a factsheet “ EU action on pesticides”

Yesterday the Commission launched a new pesticide database listing active substances. The database is available to the general public. To access it click here.

Download a copy of their factsheet.

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Latest summary of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) reports and opinion

Posted by Helen Dunnett on March 11, 2009 in Environment, Farming, Food & health

As promised, here’s a summary of various reports and comments we’ve found online recently discussing the disappearance of honey bees in Europe and America.

BBC have produced a series of video reports recently on honey bees which you’ll find below.

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Follow Pesticide Information on Twitter

Posted by Helen Dunnett on March 05, 2009 in Global issues

Twitter

In the next day or two we’ll be publishing some video conversations we had with French farmers and the general public about their views on pesticides at the Salon de l’Agriculture in Paris last week. In the meantime Pesticide Information has set up a Twitter account to share the latest content published online that we find as well as following others ‘twittering’ about food, environment, politics and health. You are welcome to follow us at http://twitter.com/pesticideinfo or find us by searching Twitter for pesticideinfo.

What’s Twitter, you ask?  Click here to view a short video explaining this tool.

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Bill Gates talks about malaria & DDT

Posted by Helen Dunnett on February 21, 2009 in Food & health, Global issues

Just watched an interesting video of Bill Gates presenting at a TED conference in America this month. He is talking about two ongoing societal challenges that he is passionate about. The first is malaria; he talks through the facts and the solutions with some interesting statistics, and the second is on education and what makes a great teacher. Worth a watch.

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