Ahmad K. (2014): Molecular farming: strategies, expression systems and bio-safety considerations. Czech J. Genet. Plant Breed., 50: 1–10. Molecular farming is an experimental application of biotechnology that involves the genetic modification of crops for the production of proteins and chemicals for medicinal and commercial purposes. The vast majority in the developing world cannot afford the h...

The present practice of traditional slash-and-burn agriculture (locally called jhum kheti) by the ethnic Noctes in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh, India is a part of history of rural landscapes. Even today, the local jhumias totally depends on this traditional farming system for their livelihood. Nonetheless, it is time and again considered as ‘traditional’ and firm in contrast to modern m...

The concept of organic farming is summarised and compared as an example to farming with biotechnology-derived crops. If done within an ecological concept, both methods can be seen as environmentally acceptable. Organic farming does not offer consistent arguments for the rejection of transgenic crops. Some arguments (from genomics to biodiversity) are discussed in order to demonstrate that the c...

Farming systems for pest control, based on the stimulo-deterrent diversionary strategy or push-pull system, have become an important target for sustainable intensification of food production. A prominent example is push-pull developed in sub-Saharan Africa using a combination of companion plants delivering semiochemicals, as plant secondary metabolites, for smallholder farming cereal production...

Human kind invented agriculture 10,000 years ago. After a long mile, nowhere in the world has agriculture made an impact as it has in India. The economy of the second most populous country in the world is inextricably linked to the pulse of its agricultural success or failure. The green revolution in the late 60’s saw the country through a period of what could otherwise have been the worst fami...

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of farming sites, seeding date, age of oysters, ploidy level and rearing structures on mor tality, pathogens and energetic reserves of oysters Crassostrea gigas. Mortality of oysters coincided with infections involving, primarily, the ostreid herpesvirus OsHV-1 and, secondarily, bacteria of the group Vibrio splendidus, when seawater temperat...

The term agroecology refers to ecosystems. Ecosystems are characterised by aspects such as nutrient cycling, population regulation, energy flows and a dynamic equilibrium. These characteristics apply to natural ecosystems, and, in a much altered form, also to manmade or agricultural ecosystems. The magnitude of the differences between natural and agricultural ecosystems depends mainly on the hu...

Conversion to organic agriculture describes the process of learning and implementation of changes on the farm towards a more sustainable and natural way of farming. The form the process takes depends on the local circumstances and the predisposition of the farmer or the community, and it varies from farm to farm. The more knowledge a farmer has about the concepts and practices of organic farmin...