During the 4th World Agroforestry Congress, FAO presented its crop protection guidelines, highlighting the importance of planting trees to delimit plots. Agroforestry is a technique in full development that combines the benefits of sustainable agriculture and reforestation, to ensure better results in terms of maintaining soil health on agricultural plots and stopping land erosion.
Twenty-nine scientists will take part in the annual event, whose title this year is “Climate change: Erosion, Drought and Desertification”. The winner of the 2019 edition of the Nigeria Prize for Science, sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited, will receive $100,000. Scientists are expected to tackle challenges posed by climate change and improve the country’s food security.
A project by Rewilding Britain calls for farm subsidies to be redirected towards creating native woodlands and meadows and protecting peat bogs and salt marshes. According to the organization, restoring a quarter of the UK's land to nature would make a significant contribution towards cutting the nation’s carbon emissions to zero.
A study conducted by the Women’s Health Initiative, in the United States, revealed that women who lowered the fat in their diets while eating healthier foods had a lower risk of dying from breast cancer. The trial of nearly 49,000 women between 50 and 79 years old, found that women who reduced the fat in their diets to 25% had a 21% lower risk of death from breast cancer.
One of the world's biggest salmon farming companies is under investigation for possible misreporting of chemical use. Authorities are looking at the use of chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide, used to wash the fish, and emamectin benzoate, which is put in the salmon's feed to tackle problems such as sea lice. The Norwegian-owned company produces up to 60,000 tons of salmon every year in the UK alone.
A moderate intake of dietary cholesterol or consumption of up to one egg daily is not connected with an elevated risk of stroke, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. The research found no link between this type of diet and cardiovascular diseases in carriers of the APOE4 phenotype, which affects cholesterol metabolism and is remarkably common among the Finnish population. Researchers published the results of the study on the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
All food stores, restaurants and cafeterias with more than five branches will have to display calorie content on their menus. The Dubai Municipality announced the new measures to ensure customers are aware of the nutritional value of the food they buy. The initiative is part of the campaign that aims at reducing obesity in the UAE. Last year, the percentage of obese individuals reduced to 27.8 per cent, from 37.2 per cent in 2010.