Sheep graze pasture in Inner Mongolia; a long-term research study shows that large-area grazing on steppes actually reduces, rather than increases, nitrous oxide emissions into the atmosphere (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). Five ecosystems-climate researchers, including Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), have been honoured for outstanding interdisciplinary research on nitrous oxide emissions. Butterbach-Bahl … Continue reading
Author Archives: Susan MacMillan
Making grass greener: CIAT breeds tropical pasture that suppresses greenhouse gas emissions
Guillermo Sotelo of CIAT’s entomology team, working with brachiaria grass in a greenhouse at the institution’s headquarters in Colombia (picture credit: CIAT/Neil Palmer). ‘. . . On 13 September, researchers announced that they have bred a tropical pasture grass that can significantly suppress greenhouse-gas emissions. The team, from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) … Continue reading
Greenhouse gases produced by Kenyan farmers: Project to measure village emission levels
Typical smallholder’s farm in Busia, in western Kenya, where farmers mix crop growing with livestock raising (photo credit: ILRI/Pye-Smith). A team of scientists is collecting information on the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by smallholder farmers. Scientists from CGIAR centres under the Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) said the project’s key … Continue reading
Supporting the world’s smallholder livestock keepers can increase food supplies while reducing absolute poverty
A young boy in Kenya feeds his family’s improved dairy cows (photo credit: East Africa Dairy Development project). ‘The head of the global livestock research centre (ILRI) in Kenya says smallholder farmers will be essential in providing the animal protein needed to feed nine billion people by 2050. ‘Dr Jimmy Smith’s comments are in response … Continue reading
Why small-scale farmers and livestock keepers should be the focus of the global food security agenda–Jimmy Smith
A cow grazes in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region of Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Kettema Yilma). More than a thousand delegates are attending the International Grassland Congress in Sydney, Australia, this week, a meeting that only takes place every four years. Giving the opening keynote presentation on Mon 16 Sep 2013 was Jimmy Smith … Continue reading
ILRI’s Jimmy Smith interviewed in Australia at International Grasslands Congress today
The world’s small-scale farmers and livestock keepers can be a large part of the solution to feeding the world sustainably to 2050. This was the message yesterday (16 Sep 2013) of Jimmy Smith, who opened the International Grasslands Congress in Sydney this week. Australia’s ABC News interviewed Smith earlier today about his presentation. Sample tweets … Continue reading
Secrets of Brachiaria: An African pasture grass holds enormous promise for reducing greenhouse gases
Brachiaria trials at CIAT’s headquarters in Colombia. This improved forage grass has been shown to inhibit nitrification, helping to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture (photo credit: CIAT/Neil Palmer). ‘Much has been written about why eating more red meat could be bad for your health while also harming the environment. But new studies to … Continue reading
Gates Foundation awards grant to improve dairy cattle breeds and reduce poverty in East Africa
Staff of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) visited a field site of the Dairy Genetics East Africa (DGEA) project in June 2011 (photo credit: BMGF/Lee Klejtnot). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a USD1.3-million grant to researchers at the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England (UNE), in Australia, … Continue reading
Underused maize stover could (should) replace popular sorghum stover as livestock feed in parts of rainfed India
Maize harvest in the village home of Jashvir Singh Tomar, in northern India, which ILRI scientists visited during a field day held as part of a workshop to develop a tool for feed technology screening and prioritization in Dehradun, India (photo credit: ILRI/Peter Ballantyne). New research by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the the International … Continue reading
‘Milk: Symbol of a free India’–16-year-old wins award in Commonwealth Society essay competition
Nirja Bhatt, a silver medal winner in the 2013 Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Competition (photo credit: Purvi Mehta-Bhatt). Nirja Bhatt, a 16-year-old student at Navrachana International School Vadodara, in Gujurat, India, has won a Silver Award in the ‘senior’ category of this year’s Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Competition. This year’s topic, ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’, received more … Continue reading