Agriculture

May 14 - 23, 2012

Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic species, is the world fastest growing food sector.  Aquaculture is also called the “blue revolution” because it has demonstrated its ability to decrease malnutrition, reduce poverty, generate wealth and contribute to economic growth in many countries.  Tilapia is the most farmed aquaculture product and its world production has gone from 830,000 tones in 1990 to 1.6 million tones in 1999 and 3.5 million tones in 2008. The overwhelming success of tilapia farming is because the fish is very hardy, prolific, fast growing, disease resistant and does not require extensive knowledge to breed and grow.

irinnews.org

NAIROBI, 15 February 2012 (IRIN) - “When should we plant?” is a question increasingly being asked by small farmers in sub-Saharan Africa who depend on rain-fed agriculture. To help answer such questions, climate scientists are being urged to provide more reliable and relevant local climate data, and better communicate their knowledge on climate adaptation techniques. 

"When we think about preparing for imminent disasters it is not possible to prepare for flooding, for example, just a few days in advance, which we get from the weather forecast. We need to think about preparedness further in advance and think in terms of what kind of decisions we can make, say, three months in advance, such as moving important resources away. We need a continuum of information,” said Simon Mason, the chief climate scientist at Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) in the USA.

According to Mason, more effective short, mid-range and seasonal weather forecasting is needed for the development of useful early warning systems.