Why Organic Farming Hard to Apply?

All aspects of organic farming and organic food are under debate. Environmentalists, food safety advocates, various consumer protection, social justice and labor groups, small independent farmers, and a growing number of food consumers are ranged against agribusiness and current government agricultural policies.

The controversy centers on the overall value and safety of chemical agriculture, with organic farming popularly regarded as the "opposite" of modern, large-scale, chemical-based, vertically integrated, corporate food production. As public awareness increases, there are a number of obstacles to an easy grasp of the overall situation.

In recent decades, food production has moved out of the public eye. In developed nations, where most of the world's wealth, consumption, and agricultural policy-making are centered, many are unaware of how their food is produced, or even that food, like energy, is not unlimited. If the methods used to produce food are rapidly destroying the capacity for continued production, then sustainable, organic farming is as crucial a topic as renewable energy and pollution control. This proposition is at the center of most organic farming issues.

It is useful to make a distinction between organic farming and organic food. Whether organic food is tastier, safer or more nutritious has little to do with the effects of chemical agriculture on the environment. In any case, most food dollars are spent on processed food products, the manufacture of which is beyond the scope of farming. There are separate food and farming issues and lumping the two together only confuses the discussion.

The distinction between organic farming and organic certification is also important. Defining organic farming with checklists of acceptable and prohibited inputs and practices elicits similar criticisms as those leveled at chemical farming. With rules come exceptions, whether well-intentioned or purely profit-oriented, and critics hold that this can only undermine organic principles. What is "more-or-less organic"? Certification also allows agribusiness to lobby for favorable definitions—anything that can be approved becomes "organic".

Of course, the issues, particularly the social ones, will shift if agribusiness fully adapts to and dominates organic farming, and (in early 2005) this is the current trend. Then, large-scale, certified organic farms would probably operate much more like conventional farms do today. Environmental benefits may accrue from a change in types of pesticides and fertilizer used, more crop diversity, and the like, but if the overall agribusiness philosophy remains essentially unchanged, "organic farming" could become the norm, without any great environmental or social improvements.

The following topics may be argued from both sides.

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Recycling unused Plastic for better Environtment

The confusion over what we can and cannot recycle continues to confound consumers. Plastics are especially troublesome, as different types of plastic require different processing to be reformulated and re-used as raw material. Some municipalities accept all types of plastic for recycling, while others only accept jugs, containers and bottles with certain numbers stamped on their bottoms.

Recycling by the Numbers

The symbol code we’re familiar with—a single digit ranging from 1 to 7 and surrounded by a triangle of arrows—was designed by The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) in 1988 to allow consumers and recyclers to differentiate types of plastics while providing a uniform coding system for manufacturers.

Easy Plastics to Recycle

The easiest and most common plastics to recycle are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) and are assigned the number 1. Examples include soda and water bottles, medicine containers, and many other common consumer product containers. Once it has been processed by a recycling facility, PETE can become fiberfill for winter coats, sleeping bags and life jackets. It can also be used to make bean bags, rope, car bumpers, tennis ball felt, combs, cassette tapes, sails for boats, furniture and, of course, other plastic bottles.

Number 2 is reserved for high-density polyethylene plastics. These include heavier containers that hold laundry detergents and bleaches as well as milk, shampoo and motor oil. Plastic labeled with the number 2 is often recycled into toys, piping, plastic lumber and rope. Like plastic designated number 1, it is widely accepted at recycling centers.

Plastics Less Commonly Recycled

Polyvinyl chloride, commonly used in plastic pipes, shower curtains, medical tubing, vinyl dashboards, and even some baby bottle nipples, gets number 3. Like numbers 4 (wrapping films, grocery and sandwich bags, and other containers made of low-density polyethylene) and 5 (polypropylene containers used in Tupperware, among other products), few municipal recycling centers will accept it due to its very low rate of recyclability.

Another Useful Plastic to Recycle

Number 6 goes on polystyrene (Styrofoam) items such as coffee cups, disposable cutlery, meat trays, packing “peanuts” and insulation. It is widely accepted because it can be reprocessed into many items, including cassette tapes and rigid foam insulation.

Hardest Plastics to Recycle

Last, but far from least, are items crafted from various combinations of the aforementioned plastics or from unique plastic formulations not commonly used. Usually imprinted with a number 7 or nothing at all, these plastics are the most difficult to recycle and, as such, are seldom collected or recycled. More ambitious consumers can feel free to return such items to the product manufacturers to avoid contributing to the local waste stream, and instead put the burden on the makers to recycle or dispose of the items properly. But in these day using a bioplastic is more effective for keeping environtment clean.
Source.

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Disadvantage using Organic Pesticide

In the previous article about biopesticide, im discussing about the benefits of using a biopesticide to environment. but actually there is a loss if we use even organic pesticides, this is the result of study. Consumers shouldn't assume that, because a product is organic, it's also environmentally friendly.

A new University of Guelph study reveals some organic pesticides can have a higher environmental impact than conventional pesticides because the organic product may require larger doses.

Environmental sciences professor Rebecca Hallett and PhD candidate Christine Bahlai compared the effectiveness and environmental impact of organic pesticides to those of conventional and novel reduced-risk synthetic products on soybean crops.

"The consumer demand for organic products is increasing partly because of a concern for the environment," said Hallett. "But it's too simplistic to say that because it's organic it's better for the environment. Organic growers are permitted to use pesticides that are of natural origin and in some cases these organic pesticides can have higher environmental impacts than synthetic pesticides often because they have to be used in large doses."

The study, which is published today in the journal PloS One, involved testing six pesticides and comparing their environmental impact and effectiveness in killing soybean aphids – the main pest of soybean crops across North America.

The two scientists examined four synthetic pesticides: two conventional products commonly used by soybean farmers and two new, reduced-risk pesticides. They also examined a mineral oil-based organic pesticide that smothers aphids and another product containing a fungus that infects and kills insects.

The researchers used the environmental impact quotient, a database indicating impact of active ingredients based on such factors as leaching rate into soil, runoff, toxicity from skin exposure, consumer risk, toxicity to birds and fish, and duration of the chemical in the soil and on the plant.

They also conducted field tests on how well each pesticide targeted aphids while leaving their predators -- ladybugs and flower bugs -- unharmed.

"We found the mineral oil organic pesticide had the most impact on the environment because it works by smothering the aphids and therefore requires large amounts to be applied to the plants," said Hallett.

Compared to the synthetic pesticides, the mineral oil-based and fungal products were less effective, as they also killed ladybugs and flower bugs, which are important regulators of aphid population and growth.

These predator insects reduce environmental impact because they naturally protect the crop, reducing the amount of pesticides that are needed, she added.

"Ultimately, the organic products were much less effective than the novel and conventional pesticides at killing the aphids and they have a potentially higher environmental impact," she said. "In terms of making pest management decisions and trying to do what is best for the environment, it's important to look at every compound and make a selection based on the environmental impact quotient rather than if it's simply natural or synthetic. It's a simplification that just doesn't work when it comes to minimizing environmental impact."

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South Africa, Using Nematodes for Bioinsecticides

Bioinsecticide are biodegradable (environment friendly), non toxic and cost effective. Some of these bioinsecticide, introduced in the USA in 1950's, are based on Bacillus thuringiensis. Bioinsecticides are a highly desirable alternative to conventional chemical-based insecticides. Bioinsecticides are environmentally friendly, compatible with other pest control agents and are also commercially viable.

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are being recognised as important biological control agents for a wide variety of insect pests. EPNs are insect-parasitic nematodes. Like all nematodes, they are simple roundworms with long, cylindrical shaped bodies. EPNs are small nematodes, ranging in length from 0.4mm to 1.1mm. There are many attributes that make EPNs commercially suitable as biological control agents of insect pests. They have a host range that includes the majority of insect orders and families and they kill their host within 48 hours of infection. In addition, they can be easily cultured on a large scale on artificial media (in vitro culture) and the infective juvenile stage obtained from in vitro culture can be stored for long periods of time. Finally, and possibly most importantly, the infective juvenile stage can withstand high pressures and thus can be applied in the field using conventional spray application procedures.

EPN-based bioinsecticides will have many advantages over currently used chemical insecticides. Most importantly there will be a reduction in the social costs that incur from the accumulation of chemical insecticides in the food chain and in ground water. The use of such bioinsecticides will also greatly reduce the farmworker health risks associated with the application of chemical insecticides.

Entomopathogenic nematode (EPN)-based bioinsecticides have the potential for commercialisation in South Africa since indigenous EPNs can be mass- produced at low cost. Only indigenous EPNs will be used to develop EPN-based bioinsecticides and these bioinsecticides will only be sold to the South African market. Indigenous EPNs are suited for the control of local insect pests because they are adapted to local environmental conditions and are natural regulators of insect populations.

The broad activity of an EPN-based bioinsecticide allows for the target of several markets. Such a bioinsecticide will control insect pest communities that occupy the subterranean and semi-subterranean zone during at least one part of their life-cycle. All vegetable and fruit farmers as well as maize, wheat, sugarcane, cotton and groundnut farmers in South Africa can benefit from EPN-based bioinsecticides. Commercial golf course greens-keepers are also a potential market.

A number of indigenous EPN strains have already been isolated during Sarah's Masters research. These strains were isolated from soil samples collected within South Africa. Once a soil sample is obtained, larvae from the Greater Waxmoth (Galleria mellonella) are place in the soil. Any dead larvae are removed from the soil seven days later. If the larvae have been infected with entomopathogenic nematodes, the infective juvenile stage of the nematode will begin emerging from the dead larvae. These juveniles are collected and stored temporarily in water. The life cycle of entomopathogenic nematodes begins with the infective juvenile stage. The infective juvenile is the only stage of the lifecycle that is adapted to survive in the environment (usually soil) for an extended length of time. They remain in this free-living state until they locate a suitable host.

At least two of the already isolated strains have the potential for development as bioinsecticides. They are highly pathogenic strains and thus have been cultured with ease in the laboratory.

A number of steps are first required before commercialisation and appearance of these and other nematode strains as bioinsecticides on the market. Firstly, laboratory based screening trials of the nematode strains against a range of insect pests will be performed. Field based screening trials will then be conducted using those nematode strains showing the most potential for successful biological control. Following this, a pilot production plant is to be set up for the mass production of the nematode strains that have passed the screening trails. In conjunction with this, nematode storage systems, the best transport method and several application technologies will be designed and tested. The final step in the commercialisation process will be large-scale field trial applications of the selected entomopathogenic nematode strains.

Source: Sarah Taylor, WITS University

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Ecofriendly unsing Biotechnology in Paper Industry

Paper are the product that produce in most massive number. In common technology production of paper ussually using a wood. Manufacture of paper from wood involves :

1. wood processing,
2. pulping,
3. bleaching and
4. sheet formation.

Pulping of wood (preferably from softwood with 3 - 5 mm long fibres, but rarely from hardwood with 1.5 mm long fibres) requires separation of the wood fibres from each other, which are then reformed into a sheet.
The wood fibres are glued together with the help of lignin and separation of these fibres is described as chemical pulping, when lignin is removed by degradation and is described as mechanical pulping, when fibres are mechanically teared apart. Both these methods of pulping are used.

Mechnical pulping gives higher yields and is cheap, but the quality of paper produced is relatively poor, turning yellow on exposure to sunlight. Further, the mechanical pulping requires lot of electrical energy. These difficulties can be overcome through the use of biotechnology.

The chemical pulp is also subjected to bleaching, in order to remove residual lignin leading to satisfactory increase in the brightness of paper. This bleaching step creates numerous toxic derivatives of lignin that constitutes environment hazard.

Using Biochemical Pulping 

In a recent report it was shown that a treatment of aspen chips (aspen is a wood; wood is received by pulp mills in two forms, logs or chips, the latter being more popular) with Phanerochaete chrysosporium before craft pulping (sulphate process) gives improved tensile strength (resistance to rupture by a force parallel to sheet) and burst strength (resistance to rupture by force perpendicular to sheet), but decreased tear strength (resistance to elongation under transverse shear), brightness and yield.

Brightness may be improved later by bleaching. More research and experimentation is needed before biochemical pulping becomes a reality and used in paper industry.

Using Biological Lignin Degradation 

In the pulping process, degradation of lignin can be achieved through treatment with microbes, of which lignolytic fungi are the most important. A biological step can be integrated, in pulping process, both in chemical pulping as well as in mechanical pulping. Three ways have been suggested for this purpose.
It may be seen that the biological step may be a pre treatment or a post de filtration, to remove lignin. However, the use of a biological step in lignin degradation is still at the level of research and experimentation.
Its use at industrial scale is seen as a distinct possibility due to successful results already obtained in several experiments. To support research in this area, a Biopulping Consortium (funded by 20 companies), was established in USA in 1987.

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Change Environment with Biopesticide

 Biopesticides are certain types of pesticides derived from such natural materials as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals. For example, canola oil and baking soda have pesticidal applications and are considered biopesticides. At the end of 2001, there were approximately 195 registered biopesticide active ingredients and 780 products. Biopesticides fall into three major classes:

1. Microbial pesticides consist of a microorganism (e.g., a bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan) as the active ingredient. Microbial pesticides can control many different kinds of pests, although each separate active ingredient is relatively specific for its target pest[s]. For example, there are fungi that control certain weeds, and other fungi that kill specific insects.
2. The most widely used microbial pesticides are subspecies and strains of Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. Each strain of this bacterium produces a different mix of proteins, and specifically kills one or a few related species of insect larvae. While some Bt's control moth larvae found on plants, other Bt's are specific for larvae of flies and mosquitoes. The target insect species are determined by whether the particular Bt produces a protein that can bind to a larval gut receptor, thereby causing the insect larvae to starve.
3. Plant-Incorporated-Protectants (PIPs) are pesticidal substances that plants produce from genetic material that has been added to the plant. For example, scientists can take the gene for the Bt pesticidal protein, and introduce the gene into the plant's own genetic material. Then the plant, instead of the Bt bacterium, manufactures the substance that destroys the pest. The protein and its genetic material, but not the plant itself, are regulated by EPA.
4. Biochemical pesticides are naturally occurring substances that control pests by non-toxic mechanisms. Conventional pesticides, by contrast, are generally synthetic materials that directly kill or inactivate the pest. Biochemical pesticides include substances, such as insect sex pheromones, that interfere with mating, as well as various scented plant extracts that attract insect pests to traps. Because it is sometimes difficult to determine whether a substance meets the criteria for classification as a biochemical pesticide, EPA has established a special committee to make such decisions.

What are the advantages of using biopesticides?
using bioBiopesticides will provide many benefits compared to use of artificial pesticides. The advantage are biopesticides not damage the environment and no danger to plants or humans. The other benefit will describe in the following sections:

• Biopesticides are usually inherently less toxic than conventional pesticides.
• Biopesticides generally affect only the target pest and closely related organisms, in contrast to broad spectrum, conventional pesticides that may affect organisms as different as birds, insects, and mammals.
• Biopesticides often are effective in very small quantities and often decompose quickly, thereby resulting in lower exposures and largely avoiding the pollution problems caused by conventional pesticides.
• When used as a component of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, biopesticides can greatly decrease the use of conventional pesticides, while crop yields remain high.
• To use biopesticides effectively, however, users need to know a great deal about managing pests.

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Earth Hour and Agroindustrial Bio Product

Climate change is one threat to life on Earth is the most significant. One way to reduce the acceleration of global warming is to make each individual make lifestyle changes. To achieve this change, we as an organization must be able to show that the change is simple and easy.

Human dependence that in fact the electricity comes mostly from power plants and fossil fuel out of CO2 or greenhouse gases has caused a dramatic increase in the average temperature of Earth, causing the sea level rise, the long drought and storms, and massive changes to the environment that has become the source of our lives.

Solutions
"An activity aimed at building community involvement or invite a small area of action that can bring a big change."

What is Earth Hour

EARTH HOUR is one of WWF's campaign, the largest conservation organization in the world, a global initiative that invites individuals, business practitioners, government, and other public sectors around the world to participate turned out the lights (just) in 1 hour, on Saturday, 27 March 2010 at 20:30 to 21:30 (local time).

EARTH HOUR campaign began with a collaboration between WWF-Australia, Fairfax Media and Leo Burnett for the city of Sydney, Australia, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gases in the city as much as 5% in 2007. The success of this campaign is expected to be adopted by society, communities, businesses and other governments around the world so that all citizens of the world can help show that an individual action that is easy even if done in bulk will make our life on Earth for the better.

What influence Earth Hour

In 2008, 50 million people in 35 countries turned off the lights in action to support EARTH HOUR.

On March 28, 2009, hundreds of millions of people in more than 4000 cities and towns in 88 countries around the world turned off the lights to support EARTH HOUR. EARTH HOUR 2009 became the largest environmental movement in history.

Earth Hour and Agroindustry Bio-Product

Actually, the main idea of this campaign is to raise public awareneess of our environtmental condition. Earth Hour is also strategic momentum to :

1. Reminding the public that climate change also comes from power plants using fossil fuel
2. Promote energy efficiency in cities with populations and high electricity consumption.
3. Creating and sparked public awareness about energy-efficient lifestyle in other big cities in World, the crisis of electricity supply and distribution, and also potential sources of electricity in Big Cities to meet the needs of local communities, in a broader perspective can also stimulate changes in behavior and incentives for the economy. (www.earthhour.wwf.co.id)

In other side, the system of Agroindustry is always making something new to add the value of Agricultural Product. Many Agro Industries is trying to make bio-product to reduce the emmision of Gas CO2 and decrease the usage of fossil fuels.

In now days, there are many agro industrial bio product that can be uses to reduce a Global Warming process. This product are like bio-plastic that can be degradable by it self, bio-fuels (bioethanol, biodiesel, biogases, biobiokerosene) that claimed have complete combustion so it can decrease the CO gases and other bio products that are greener.

This mean by using bio-product we we have participated in the civilizing Agroindustry, and participated in environmental campaigns without having to turn off the lights. (even turned off the lights in the Earth Hour is much better)

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Rubber Industry Waste Water Treatment

Rubber industry in Lampung province, Indonesia. produce crumb rubber and rubber smoke sheet from latex as raw material. This process consumed a lot of water and of course will produce a lot of waste water (25-30 m3 per ton latex). The waste water contain high concentration of organic matters which indicated by high concentration of BOD and COD. The characteristics of rubber waste water are shown in Table 7. Considering to the characteristics and the amount of rubber waste water, waste water treatment process in rubber industry also use conventional biological treatment and followed by reuse of treated waste water as process water in the factory. As a case study we observed the waste water treatment plant in PT. Perkebunan Nusantara VII Unit Rubber Factory Kedaton, Lampung Indonesia. The wastewater treatment plant of PT. Perkebunan Nusantara VII Unit Rubber Factory Kedaton, Lampung Indonesia has total area about 6 Ha with 9 ponds and total volume capacity approximately 55,806 m3. The hydraulic retention time of rubber wastewater was designed about 66 days to reduce the concentration of waste water until reach national standard and reuse again the treated waste water as process water. Stage of process in waste water treatment plant of PT. Perkebunan Nusantara VII Unit Rubber Factory Kedaton was designed as follow: Rubber trap, anaerobic pond, facultative pond, aerobic pond, and recycle pond.

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Sugarcane Waste Water Treatment

In sugarcane industry, many industries usually use a conventional biological treatment. As a case study and example we observed the waste water treatment plant in PT. Gunung Madu Pantations, Lampung Indonesia. The wastewater treatment plant of PT. Gunung Madu Pantations has total area about 8.0 Ha with 11 ponds and total volume capacity approximately 244,000 m3. The hydraulic retention time of sugarcane wastewater was designed about 60 days to reduce the concentration of waste water until reach national standard.

Stage of process in waste water treatment plant of PT. Gunung Madu Pantations was designed as follow: oil-solid separation, equalization, anaerobic digestion, facultative decomposition with added degrading bacteria, aerobic decomposition, and stabilization. Before discharge the waste water to river (Way Putak), the treated waste water should be through monitor pond with has fish as a bio-indicator. If the treated wastewater has concentration lower than effluent standard and has no problems with fish in monitor pond, the treated wastewater can discharge to the river.

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Waste Water Treatment Process in Palm Oil Industry

Waste water treatment process in palm oil industry usually use conventional biological treatment. Generally, we can separate to two type of treatment system in palm oil industry: 

1. biological treatment with land application,
2. biological treatment without land application.

In biological treatment with land application, the waste water or famous as palm oil mill effluent (POME) was treated until anaerobic digestion after that spread to the plantation as an irrigation water and liquid fertilizer. Now, biological treatment with land application is a common waste water treatment system in palm oil industry. The biological treatment without land application system is the old waste water treatment system in palm oil industry. In this system the target of waste water treatment process is to reach the effluent standard. After anaerobic digestion, the POME was treated in facultative pond, aerobic pond, and some time use sand bad filter. This system needs a lot of energy for aeration and using this system we loss a lot of organic materials.

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