Agriculture

Joseph Priestley (1733-1804).

Priestley was an English chemist and a radical clergyman.

Prior to his experiments and during most of the 18th century, the overwhelming theory in relation to combustion was the Phlogiston Theory.

It was advanced by Johann Joachim Becher (1635-1682) and Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734).

The theory was incorrect but Priestley believed in it and it became the basis of chemical investigations up to the 18th century.

The experimental results ultimately lead to the theory’s demise which in turn paved the way to the present concepts of photosynthesis.

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There are three methods of planting crops by direct seeding: broadcast, hill, and drill. Actual planting is done either manually or with a mechanical planter.

Another technique, called dibbling, is a form of hill planting.

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Note: For cereals, the word “seed” which refers to the plant structure that is sown is here used interchangeably with “grain.”

Technically, however, the grain of rice consists of the brown rice and the enveloping rice hull. The hull is composed of the lemma, palea, and other tissues.

The brown rice is technically a fruit called “caryopsis” consisting of a seed enclosed by the pericarp.

For corn, the structure which is interchangeably called seed, grain, and the kernel is likewise a caryopsis. (Click here to read Parts of a Seed on the separate window).

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Agricultural productivity, the output-to-input ratio in agricultural systems, can be further boosted.

More so, it can be accomplished in an environmentally friendly and economically efficient way with the help of microbes.

Agricultural yields can increase while at the same time reducing dramatically the use of chemical inputs, the American Academy of Microbiology, the honorific branch of the American Society for Microbiology, reports (Reid and Greene 2012).

In relation to food production, the American Academy of Microbiology described the importance of microorganisms in the following manner:

“Producing more food with fewer resources may seem too good to be true, but the world’s farmers have trillions of potential partners that can help achieve that ambitious goal. Those partners are microbes.” 

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Below is a table containing a partial list of vegetable crops grown in different parts of the world. Specifically, the list provides examples of flower vegetables and seed vegetables.

These are crop plants from which edible flowers (flowers or entire inflorescences)  and seeds are commonly used in the preparation of vegetable dishes.

These plant organs, as well as fruits, are reproductive parts rather than vegetative (the root, stem, and leaves).

The examples given for flower vegetables are not exhaustive.

In addition to those highlighted by Peel (2004) under major types of vegetables, the following were also listed as having edible flowers: viola (Viola odorata), nasturtium (Tropaaeolum majus), calendula (Calendula officinalis), carnation (Dianthus spp.), daisy (Bellis perennis), elderflower, roses, and sunflower (Helianthus annuus).

To further view a list of plants with edible flowers, click here.

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The question above about bonsai care is precisely the reason for this writing.

I have conveyed to friends some of my favorite small bonsai creations in different styles. It turned out most of them struggled in taking care of the potted trees.

The predicament is not isolated.

There are too many who consider bonsai as the best gift, especially small ones because they can be carried anywhere by hand and are suited for table display.

Recipients always show their overjoy for having such exceptional and expensive gifts. 

Only to realize later that such gifts need expert bonsai care.

Some bonsai care specialists offer their services to “wire” bonsai on-trainings or to serve as trainers of bonsai collections but they are hard to find.

The asking price, of course, should be presumed high. It’s bonsai after all, and everything about bonsai is pricey.

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Yes, there has been a renewed vigor in growing corn.

Corn farming peaks to a high level, literally and figuratively.

This is so, at least in our remote, mountainous part of Sarangani.

And so it is with zero tillage and no-till farming.

Where only the foot of mountains to both sides of Bluan River having relatively flat terrain were previously devoted to corn, even those with steep slopes and the peaks have, since April of this year, been put to use.

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Vermiculture (from Latin word vermis, meaning worm) is the intentional rearing of earthworms to produce more earthworms.

It involves the mass production of certain species of this annelid worm by providing them with appropriate food and optimum conditions for their growth and reproduction.

The initial product of vermi culture is live earthworm in sufficient quantity.

It is utilized for various purposes such as for fish bait, vermimeal, vermiceuticals, and other uses of earthworm whether live or processed (click to read uses of earthworms).

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