19 June 2014
Published by Third World Network
www.twn.my

FAO’s ‘Save and Grow’ highlights the value of ecological approaches to food production – using land, water, biodiversity and nutrients efficiently and in ways that are regenerative, minimizing negative impacts.

Simon Sudarman, Contributor, Yogyakarta | People | Wed, June 04 2014, 1:18 PM

Indonesia’s potential to become self-sufficient in soybeans and even a net exporter is the conviction of Setyastuti Purwanti, 61, a lecturer and researcher at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Yogyakarta, who has since 1980 been developing local soybeans.

For this woman from Surakarta, Central Java, soybean research is always absorbing and challenging.

By Wan Shahara Ahmad Ghazali

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- Afforestation is a term that is often used in the greening efforts in many countries today, but the public sometimes confuse the term with reforestation.

Afforestation is the establishment of a forest in an area where there was no forest or one that was left barren for a long time, such as an ex-mining land, weedy land or savannah.

Reforestation, meanwhile, is the reestablishment of a forest in an area that was once a forest in the last 50 years. Examples of these would be a logging areas or a former plantations.

By Dominic G. Diongson & Vita A.D. Busyra on 12:44 pm May 06, 2014

[Updated at 9:55 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, 2014]

Jakarta. The Philippine government said on Tuesday that it would continue its tree planting efforts this year, bringing the nation’s total reforested area to more than 1 million hectares since a 2011 logging ban, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change.

Last update 14:57 | 23/05/2014

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporter of rice and 80 per cent of it is grown in the Mekong Delta, a vast flood plain and one of Asia’s most fertile agricultural zones. But farmers here say the future of rice production is now threatened because of rising sea levels and temperature increases attributed to climate change.

Standing on a beach strewn with bits of plastic and wood, farmer Cung Pham says like many here that he’s already lost the fight.

By Case Adams, Naturopath

The Monsanto Corporation, the world’s largest purveyor of genetically modified food seeds, is combating a growing worldwide opposition to GM foods.

Can Monsanto change? Can Monsanto be prodded into another business strategy? And if so, will other GMO seed sellers such as Dupont follow suit? Businesses are typically in it to make money:

Report Highlights:

No GE crops are approved for planting in Malaysia. Confined GE papaya trials were recently approved. Only a few corn and soybean GE events have been authorized for release on the market, even though approval is technically required for food, feed, and processing. The local food processing sector is quite concerned about the slow pace of approvals, as the 3.6 million tons of annual corn and soybean imports undoubtedly include unapproved GE varieties. Recently published GE labeling guidelines will be enforced starting in July 2014.

Ko Htay Lwin, like 70 percent of Myanmar’s working population, was employed in agriculture. He earned K3500 a day as a labourer in the fields around Bogalay village in Ayeyarwady Region, tending the rice crops that feed Myanmar and make up a substantial portion of its economy.

But Ko Htay Lwin left behind the paddy fields for Yangon’s construction sites. Agricultural work is notoriously seasonal, and it could be months between employment stints in the fields, but work in Yangon’s booming construction sector brings higher and steadier pay.

Haikal Jalil