Posts Tagged ‘farming’
Organic Farming – Amyjo Johnson speaks at Google
Nutritionist Amyjo Johnson speaks to Googlers about organinc farming.
Duration : 0:55:19
Organic Farming Part II – ‘Cow dung to biogas’
Like many organic farmers, Jose Elanjhimattam is both a practical and abundantly resourceful man. Starting with cow dung, Jose has created an ingenious system that simultaneously captures and separates nitrogen-rich organic manure and methane gas. Unlike dried cow dung, which tends to lose nitrogen throughout the drying process, the liquefied organic manure produced through Joses slurry provides soil with far higher levels of nitrogen. Additionally, the methane gas removed is used as a form of fuel. Jose estimates that the dung from two cows is sufficient to provide enough biogas to support the cooking requirements of a family of four. Resourceful, intelligent, simple great stuff!
Thanks to www.organicguide.com for this summary!
see also
Part I ‘organic farming’
Part III ‘Organic pesticide and fungicide
Duration : 0:4:48
Stewart Organic Farm
Alan Stewart takes the long view when it comes to farming and community. http://www.acornorganic.org/farmers/Stewart.html
Duration : 0:4:11
Cornish Voices Organic farming series video 1
Brian & Mark organic farming using horses at Trevalon Organics in South East Cornwall
Duration : 0:5:46
Organic Farming: Can It Feed Us? (Part 2)
VVH-TV News Special
Organic Farming: Can It Feed Us? Part 2
Karl Grossman Chief Investigative Reporter examines Organic Farming on Eastern Long Island.
What is organic farming?
Organic farming can be defined as an approach to agriculture where the aim is to create integrated, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable agricultural production systems. Maximum reliance is placed on locally or farm-derived renewable resources and the management of self-regulating ecological and biological processes and interactions in order to provide acceptable levels of crop, livestock and human nutrition, protection from pests and diseases, and an appropriate return to the human and other resources employed. Reliance on external inputs, whether chemical or organic, is reduced as far as possible. In many European countries, organic agriculture is known as ecological agriculture, reflecting this reliance on ecosystem management rather than external inputs.
The objective of sustainability lies at the heart of organic farming and is one of the major factors determining the acceptability or otherwise of specific production practices. The term ’sustainable’ is used in its widest sense, to encompass not just conservation of non-renewable resources (soil, energy, minerals) but also issues of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The term ‘organic’ is best thought of as referring to the concept of the farm as an organism, in which all the component parts – the soil minerals, organic matter, micro-organisms, insects, plants, animals and humans – interact to create a coherent and stable whole.
The key characteristics of organic farming include:
protecting the long term fertility of soils by maintaining organic matter levels, encouraging soil biological activity, and careful mechanical intervention;
providing crop nutrients indirectly using relatively insoluble nutrient sources which are made available to the plant by the action of soil micro-organisms;
nitrogen self-sufficiency through the use of legumes and biological nitrogen fixation, as well as effective recycling of organic materials including crop residues and livestock manures;
weed, disease and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations, natural predators, diversity, organic manuring, resistant varieties and limited (preferably minimal) thermal, biological and chemical intervention;
the extensive management of livestock, paying full regard to their evolutionary adaptations, behavioural needs and animal welfare issues with respect to nutrition, housing, health, breeding and rearing;
careful attention to the impact of the farming system on the wider environment and the conservation of wildlife and natural habitats.
(c) WVVH-TV 2007 all rights reserved
Duration : 0:24:57
Concerned Citizens Buy Cows to Save Organic Dairy Farm
Inspiring news story of a town’s efforts to save and re-establish an organic dairy farm. Friends of Town Farm Dairy in Simsbury, Connecticut, raised funds to purchase seven organic Jersey cows to ensure enough production for town-owned Town Farm Dairy to survive and serve the poor, a condition of the deed from the owner who willed the farm to the town in the late 19th century. Small dairy farms across America are vanishing as land prices escalate and the return on dairy farming goes down. Town Farm Dairy is bucking that trend. The news story has pretty pictures of this New England organic farm and, of course, sweet, brown-eyed cows doing what cows love to do…eat hay…lots of hay. Thank you to WTIC-TV, Fox 61 in Hartford, CT, which gave permission to upload this video.
Duration : 0:2:25
tvdaijiworld
An excerpt from P&T’s episode on
AN ORGANIC FARM IN INDIA: Manure, Life and the Bio-fuel Miracle of the Cow
I didn’t actually know how the bio-fuel system worked, and I still don’t, but I know a little more. Visiting this farm as a homestay was a grand experience in India. It also helped me understand the common sense of how and why, among a largely vegetarian populace, the cow came to be considered sacred. She is a profound symbol and means of sustainability, when treated with love and intelligence. At the very least she would have been, and may still be, vital. We also visited a small organic farm-based community at the end of our trip, Navadarshanam, which was gorgeous and slow, and the people lovely.
The stunning music from Brijesh and Vivek is something I witnessed at a Christmas Eve concert in Fort Cochin, with, shockingly, only about twelve other people. It was jaw-dropping and inspiring I left the theatre in a heightened state of joy and wonder.
Duration : 0:4:46