The New Cooperative Movement In Venezuela’s Bolivarian Process

The cooperative production model has increasingly come to define the development strategies of the “Bolivarian Revolution.” In its August 2005 report, SUNACOOP registered a total of 83,769 cooperatives, with more than 40,000 cooperatives created in 2004 and almost 30,000 more cooperatives formed in the first eight months of 2005. The total number of associates in … Read more

A Breakthrough in Hydroponics

An Indian hobbyist has created a purely organic nutrient mixture for growing plants in water.Although it is still an evolving science, hydroponic agriculture (growing plants in water solution rather than soil) is spreading fast the world over.The nutritional requirement of the plants in this system of soilless farming is met by the nutrient mixtures, called … Read more

Mushrooms Give Hope to Henties

A Ground-breaking ceremony marked the beginning of a mushroom production initiative in Henties Bay, which is said to have a huge potential for lifting the coastal town and the entire Erongo Region out of poverty, providing employment and ensuring food security. Situated on a plot of land right next to the Tulongeni Garden project, the … Read more

Increasing Crop Yields

The key question, at least in the near term, is to determine whether increased vitamin C and photosynthesis will result in greater crop yields.The harmful effects of smog on people and animals—the stinging eyes and decreased lung capacity—are the stuff of well-researched fact. Now, the body of knowledge about air pollution’s effects on plants has … Read more

Cost Comparisons

True costs of industrial food production system• 1 000 tonnes of water are consumed to produce one tonne of grain• 10 energy units are spent for every energy unit of food on our dinner table• Up to 1 000 energy units are used for every energy unit of processed food• 17% of the total energy … Read more

The Windowsill, Hydroponic, Inflation-Buster Garden

How to save $40 or more a year on the family food bill..by growing fresh, succulent salads right on your favorite windowsill! The “new, improved” hydroponic tank designed and built from odds and ends and a few purchased items. James Dekorne states that this—byfar—has been the most successful of his homebuilt windowsill hydroponic systems. “These … Read more

Countertop Garden

AeroGrow International, Inc. was founded in July of 2002 to develop and market the world’s first hydroponic kitchen-crop appliance for the mass-consumer market. Funded with $5 million of initial capital, it has 1 issued U.S. patent, 10 U.S. patents pending, and 2 pending international patent applications. The AeroGrow Kitchen Garden has been designed for the … Read more

University of Arizona Growth Chambers visit Mars, South Pole

South Pole inhabitants can now indulge on self-grown, fresh veggies, instead of living off canned and frozen cuisine. Gene Giacomelli, director of the controlled environment agriculture program, built a growth chamber that is currently producing lettuce and other goodies at the South Pole. He also works on another chamber that is planned to go to … Read more