But as Vietnam is turning from a mainly agrarian country, where three quarters of people are farmers, into a more industrialised and market-driven economy, food scares blamed on intense agrochemical use have risen sharply. Early each morning, thousands of farmers travel by truck, moped or bicycle to deliver fresh vegetables, poultry products and meat from outlying farms to the inner city areas of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. HANOI (AFP) - A frown crosses the face of Nguyen Thi Huong as she...

As farmers lament the lackluster growth of their crops and pastures, many users of area lakes are equally concerned about the rapid growth of aquatic weeds this summer. David Webb, a TVA biologist based in Muscle Shoals, said aquatic vegetation in the Tennessee River has historically proliferated when water flows were slow and ebbed when the flow returned to normal, "We had some drought years in the 1980s when there were lots of aquatic plants in Pickwick (Lake) The hot, dry weather that...

But as industries replaced farms in Bound Brook, early in the 20th century, and postwar housing for blue-collar workers sprung up in Manville, the floods became more menacing. Many of the same businesses and homes that flooded in Floyd were underwater again in April, and suffered a smattering of smaller floods in the intervening years. When they moved 11 years ago to the quiet neighborhood of tidy homes bounded by the river on one side, and a railroad embankment on the other, they were...

If you like farms with pigs, cows, fish, farting farmers, aliens and atomic bombs that launch out of grain silos, you're gonna love this new site for Butternuts Beer & Ale from Woods Witt Dealy & Sons. We're just blaming the problem on a mysterious, impossible-to-find bug we've stopped bothering to attempt to fix. Along with the website, the campaign also includes print ads, table tents, packaging, posters and a MySpace page, all of which can be seen here. If a microbrewer has to set...

A couch potato is defined by the OED as "a person who spends leisure time passively or idly sitting around, especially watching television or video tapes. They're afraid that the image of a slovenly fat guy slouching on his sofa, watching Baywatch reruns is going to have a negative impact on the image of a potato as a healthy food item. British potato farmers are concerned that the term "couch potato" is doing irreparable harm to their terrific tuber. Sure, Atkins diet proponents say that...

The project is to test the practicality of closed-containment salmon aquaculture, which pumps water in and out to segregate farmed fish and their parasites from the open ocean. s first closed-containment salmon farm is going ahead at Middle Point near Campbell River, using a bag system for small fish and moving to solid-wall containers floating in the ocean as they grow. Closed containment was recommended this spring by a legislative committee studying the issue as the standard for new B....