tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40357530968919049142024-03-14T00:08:53.914+08:00Everyday NatureLearn about nature, learn from nature, appreciate nature, care for nature ...Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-55236919679890349292019-01-27T21:32:00.000+08:002019-01-28T22:22:20.817+08:00Rambutan tree reaching its genetic potential<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I <a href="https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156771353312778&id=625777777" target="_blank">posted about two rambutan trees</a> 3 weeks ago, saying how one of them (let me call it tree A) had been much weakened by thoughtless human activities, while the other one (tree B), pretty much on its own, had been growing healthily.<br />
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Tree B was so fully laden with fruits these two weeks that some of its lower branches and fruits were almost touching the ground. Two days ago (25 Jan 2019), a team of volunteers harvested over 100kg of rambutans from this tree alone, using different tools and methods. One of them, with his inborn agility, even climbed to the high branches.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OfUGonUYEAOc4S8VxfcvV_m11XAcQWBJvXyBn1ZFLMKH_ZedzcKfmzJ6uLjNp8tm434siyec6UfL5sYaRgipxlzSJi46ncVzQyGFoFP3OR7bgVbgVD7MHWsFKJo2GOwsUlaNKT7bSAhl/s1600/IMG_20190125_100302_BURST1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OfUGonUYEAOc4S8VxfcvV_m11XAcQWBJvXyBn1ZFLMKH_ZedzcKfmzJ6uLjNp8tm434siyec6UfL5sYaRgipxlzSJi46ncVzQyGFoFP3OR7bgVbgVD7MHWsFKJo2GOwsUlaNKT7bSAhl/s400/IMG_20190125_100302_BURST1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Can you spot the young man high up on the tree?</b></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrYFl0-JCu9Cl4v4IfVIcrHJd53McBsgBvutccSFsSaBUjOK_6SJyCyRA5-7q_x9weuZooGYO23c6kFdgPKav7rnqmZGbuxFXBf3m-m8QJXrYnEwoamUXWBx6XPZjBzgJzW42_Rb-qH6C/s1600/IMG_20190125_101301_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrYFl0-JCu9Cl4v4IfVIcrHJd53McBsgBvutccSFsSaBUjOK_6SJyCyRA5-7q_x9weuZooGYO23c6kFdgPKav7rnqmZGbuxFXBf3m-m8QJXrYnEwoamUXWBx6XPZjBzgJzW42_Rb-qH6C/s320/IMG_20190125_101301_HDR.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9lIRpxJRgj8wB8w0wsyF0CCZ0-DBeDinRxf3JtHObWe6HCdWwYy2uDA7f5IT_B9V5VJfTYe_h5oQ1kqiQuh4pELfH7r0TrKwdOjO15kKl-mb7aG7Qmi1g_5-t2yzjBb4vALrCX5Id6Kf/s1600/IMG_20190125_101415_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX9lIRpxJRgj8wB8w0wsyF0CCZ0-DBeDinRxf3JtHObWe6HCdWwYy2uDA7f5IT_B9V5VJfTYe_h5oQ1kqiQuh4pELfH7r0TrKwdOjO15kKl-mb7aG7Qmi1g_5-t2yzjBb4vALrCX5Id6Kf/s320/IMG_20190125_101415_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I tested the fruits from tree B with a refractometer. The brix value was 24 and the fruits were really sweet! (Please scroll towards the end of this article for the meaning of Brix.)<br />
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There is also a rambutan tree (tree C) some 80m away from tree B. I tested its fruits too. The value was 22, slightly less sweet than those of tree B. Of course, there was no fruits from tree A, which had lost almost all its leaves. I remember fruits from both trees A and C were sweeter than tree B in the past. Now tree B has become the most prolific and its fruits are the sweetest. I believe it has probably performed to its full genetic potential and it is interesting to know why. Let me summarize my thinking below.<br />
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There are a few mature rambutan trees growing in the area. They were probably planted by people a few decades ago. Over the years, nobody really took care of them. They had been growing on their own. Due to the natural surroundings, the trees had been doing quite well, producing fruits for people and animals to enjoy during rambutan season every year for many years.<br />
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<b>Tree A</b> is remembered as the tree giving high quality fruits both in terms of sweetness and texture. The soil around the tree was rich dark soil permanently and naturally mulched with fallen leaves and living plants (grass and weeds). One and a half years ago, for some reason, some people surrounded this tree with concrete and the remaining soil is covered with a large amount of sand.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQN6m-EPrY3TEDQaVqperdRh0dEQ2iM7_rm1XZ1a3ukFyn0W2r-o50ttiBG9m-DpTEMYL6bs_PBN2gzA3advUVlL7IAtr1GTOP6HkQvJVJa8dAMGcdL3CIOU6hAdYIlcCj3Q9bNe3eLx0/s1600/IMG_20190125_101655_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVQN6m-EPrY3TEDQaVqperdRh0dEQ2iM7_rm1XZ1a3ukFyn0W2r-o50ttiBG9m-DpTEMYL6bs_PBN2gzA3advUVlL7IAtr1GTOP6HkQvJVJa8dAMGcdL3CIOU6hAdYIlcCj3Q9bNe3eLx0/s400/IMG_20190125_101655_HDR.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tree A has lost most of its leaves</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieXbnhg3PO2_c57KgiL56m-SgJciwZGuX4UrmXu2shvkqmlE3J1pQaH9T5gquoFK3f_EmcC_7enqtS5nIEi8lxEnUttnwf2topozsAy6uLm_Amtvj0OiTtt4_uZULym8YS5GTFb-eXNBr4/s1600/IMG_20190127_110028_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieXbnhg3PO2_c57KgiL56m-SgJciwZGuX4UrmXu2shvkqmlE3J1pQaH9T5gquoFK3f_EmcC_7enqtS5nIEi8lxEnUttnwf2topozsAy6uLm_Amtvj0OiTtt4_uZULym8YS5GTFb-eXNBr4/s400/IMG_20190127_110028_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Tree A is surrounded by concrete, with remaining soil covered by large amount of sand.<br />This is cruelty to the tree!!!</b></td></tr>
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The soil now is mostly dead, not being able to support soil creatures and nutrients cycles are practically nonexistent. The tree has lost most of its leaves. It has turned from a majestic tree to such a pathetically small and weak tree in just one and a half years. The tree is still alive, but only just. It is between life and death. Sometimes we see new growth on some branches, but soon it withers.<br />
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<b>Tree B</b>, in the past, produced fruits not appealing to most people, not sweet (a little sour actually) and the flesh was watery, soft and stick to the seed. Three years ago we <a href="https://youtu.be/31iZ4pBmkkc" target="_blank">started using the plot just next to this tree for natural farming</a>. To improve the poor soil, we have been adding a lot of organic matter and keeping the soil heavily mulched with dry leaves, branches and living plants (crops, grass and weeds). We created two large compost piles under the shade of tree B and regularly add kitchen waste, farm waste, etc. to them. The soil has been improving gradually and steadily. The compost piles are doing especially well. Probably there is a symbiotic relationship between the piles and the tree. A compost pile is a living system and the tree is another, each benefiting from the presence of the other. I also pick up all human rubbish, plastics, discarded tools, etc. that I can see left on or in the soil, as all these can negatively impact the health of the soil.</div>
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With this kind of thoughtfulness and a little effort, I think I have helped tree B almost reach its full genetic potential. Tree B is now one healthy tree, not only producing a lot of very sweet fruits on the branches and good amounts of rich exudates in the roots, but also sequestering large amount of carbon, creating a lot of humus in the soil, benefiting creatures both above and below the ground.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLu-TtU4IyxHIDWY6DHz_G1gZiWmSDMbuen-eVVUPCFxZ-l6hPBRfyGjPLGF0RIKqiCCcUeTDAwSITdCno38p4ihUHx2HtX8SX5UU7eYLidctk5I85WaJwykFrS27qILQizUIZ5ZVo25X/s1600/IMG_20190125_130324_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLu-TtU4IyxHIDWY6DHz_G1gZiWmSDMbuen-eVVUPCFxZ-l6hPBRfyGjPLGF0RIKqiCCcUeTDAwSITdCno38p4ihUHx2HtX8SX5UU7eYLidctk5I85WaJwykFrS27qILQizUIZ5ZVo25X/s400/IMG_20190125_130324_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>After more than 100 kg of fruits have been harvested, Tree B still has so many fruits.</b></td></tr>
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Although very sweet (24 Brix) , the fruits of tree B still have undesirable texture: too soft, too watery and sticking to the seeds. I believe these traits are due to genetics.<br />
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<b>Tree C</b> is on the far end of the farm and is pretty much on it own. The fruits of this tree is sweet (22 Brix), and have nice texture. However, I am concerned that this tree may get more and more human disturbance soon. Already, the human-constructed landscape is getting too near to the tree.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPg8yjfwfeIqVuh7Kf8NJH93lXjJ4Ak0TcyxKmNhadfyajjqOViic263y4h2muhP9W-qK9IPcIV6h8VV9YSjP0IQLt8NJVjIxlnUQ-S1928y8J9fUmuIsvdeMVUpUSBsW1R4CFKKjLr4yb/s1600/IMG_20190126_143149_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPg8yjfwfeIqVuh7Kf8NJH93lXjJ4Ak0TcyxKmNhadfyajjqOViic263y4h2muhP9W-qK9IPcIV6h8VV9YSjP0IQLt8NJVjIxlnUQ-S1928y8J9fUmuIsvdeMVUpUSBsW1R4CFKKjLr4yb/s400/IMG_20190126_143149_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b>Human-constructed landscape getting near to the trees, including tree C.</b></td></tr>
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<b>Threats to the natural environment</b><br />
Tree B has benefited from the natural environment enhanced and sustained by our care and effort. However, things happening in the area are threatening what we have created: people come and dig away the good soil and compost materials from near tree B, people apply chemical fertilizers and create bare soil for growing their crops nearby, expansion of constructed landscape which requires regular and noisy mowing and destroys biodiversity.<br />
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We need to help people understand the importance of respecting and protecting nature because human life, as well as all other living things, depends on it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzPwy8KhiEa8IOQ5thy-ZAtn7VvJwcXY4t_1BX81vktTGpMfZNHpVnUCOz7YReMRYM3IPm1Qb25JiSIaRRpICpu2_J93ArRecVw6yRmnPx4IMfwUoQ55l_2XSuFzVofr-6E586Ejh3S4F/s1600/IMG_20190125_100735_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzPwy8KhiEa8IOQ5thy-ZAtn7VvJwcXY4t_1BX81vktTGpMfZNHpVnUCOz7YReMRYM3IPm1Qb25JiSIaRRpICpu2_J93ArRecVw6yRmnPx4IMfwUoQ55l_2XSuFzVofr-6E586Ejh3S4F/s400/IMG_20190125_100735_HDR.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Sign put up to ask people not to disturb the compost pile</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZZbtgGp-ujubKSZ8UKc68SugsWSnN1zGcnSBwBvuuc6LD84LIXyB_0VmDTXQTT89_zLvUBfrf1oWDQrfte1Ov64W5VEXG2Rg_PTKpc2Pr94_EyvB5VlxXprFc7OVs3rk6nTT3rPeBgfdb/s1600/IMG_20190126_151729_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZZbtgGp-ujubKSZ8UKc68SugsWSnN1zGcnSBwBvuuc6LD84LIXyB_0VmDTXQTT89_zLvUBfrf1oWDQrfte1Ov64W5VEXG2Rg_PTKpc2Pr94_EyvB5VlxXprFc7OVs3rk6nTT3rPeBgfdb/s400/IMG_20190126_151729_HDR.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Some people still grow crops with bare soil </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqb8pN8jda-0AQIjVRHBLg6lGoTxw5u5dr-z9KlvJkb55D8l1y_BGO1uEkfiFY_LPV5vqejOKYQib-zIMHnoToXVCUWgVY0_pIx-yaYWj2Tz60Z5TYo9JkoRKuhEyxKAms3Teu-JJdWYB-/s1600/IMG_20190127_105412_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqb8pN8jda-0AQIjVRHBLg6lGoTxw5u5dr-z9KlvJkb55D8l1y_BGO1uEkfiFY_LPV5vqejOKYQib-zIMHnoToXVCUWgVY0_pIx-yaYWj2Tz60Z5TYo9JkoRKuhEyxKAms3Teu-JJdWYB-/s400/IMG_20190127_105412_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Lawn requires regular mowing and is not conducive to wildlife</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFRERSH-zB9lUTYPvsMiZ78j9gwrUiPvrDS-jfxcVTIfDUJwE7lK2rCx2DJzrs1Pulq8wATHRs_eYuDs4lZyPH22pASlYO-hu4i1MpmPcK32eXDKXK_SaMgCiMGnGIne152KR5iaI29TS/s1600/IMG_20190127_105944_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFRERSH-zB9lUTYPvsMiZ78j9gwrUiPvrDS-jfxcVTIfDUJwE7lK2rCx2DJzrs1Pulq8wATHRs_eYuDs4lZyPH22pASlYO-hu4i1MpmPcK32eXDKXK_SaMgCiMGnGIne152KR5iaI29TS/s400/IMG_20190127_105944_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: 12.8px;">Thoughtless human activities are killing soil</b></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTu8EvY9fZobPr1XZoZcajbMzC9AtS_KWhfOWob0W3TnGTFUS7ht1pXMzEVYPn3EFfbnQJyN96xrV8aLT2_ndpMNljDPD_YVRTm-TGVWlEYU4gYYsMjHIa81uYGN-PoxMOlFY1TyxgDnq/s1600/IMG_20190127_105944_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<b>About Brix value</b></div>
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Brix value, measured with a refractometer, is an indication of the sum of sucrose, fructose, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, hormones, and other solids in plant juice or sap. It is often used to indicate the nutrient density of fruits and vegetables.<br />
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The four fruit samples from two trees I tested had <span style="background-color: yellow;">brix values ranging from 22 to 24</span>. These are very high values, indicating that the two rambutan trees are very healthy and produce nutrient-dense fruits.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUJLrLpDeFxx7aTonhzgw2pibo57KprKVkARFTnb4QcM-nBGZaneXahsUQMDnBrMk1ZtE4SmV72AWbxJlZCiHOZvIbjm4IagjIZ_lyP14NcG5FJBu8USGfrmbSsuztRjqC451zq92v6Gu/s1600/Rambutan_Brix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1198" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUJLrLpDeFxx7aTonhzgw2pibo57KprKVkARFTnb4QcM-nBGZaneXahsUQMDnBrMk1ZtE4SmV72AWbxJlZCiHOZvIbjm4IagjIZ_lyP14NcG5FJBu8USGfrmbSsuztRjqC451zq92v6Gu/s400/Rambutan_Brix.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
For comparison, we can look at the following:<br />
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In 2017, in <b>a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia study</b> to investigate the physicochemical properties of rambutan, eleven cultivars of ripe rambutan fruits obtained from the University Agricultural Park were tested. The Brix values range from <span style="background-color: yellow;">13.78-16.67 °Brix</span>. (Source: <a href="http://www.ukm.my/jsm/pdf_files/SM-PDF-47-7-2018/16%20Kong%20Fei%20Chai.pdf">http://www.ukm.my/jsm/pdf_files/SM-PDF-47-7-2018/16%20Kong%20Fei%20Chai.pdf</a>)<br />
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<b>Alquimia Fruits</b> is an international fruit producer and exporter. In their website, there is an article titled CHINA: “THE BEST RAMBUTAN COMES FROM BAOTING”, in which they say: “Our rambutan cultivation area can not be compared to that of the Southeast Asian countries, but our quality is better. Our rambutan is not only juicier but also tastier, and <span style="background-color: yellow;">can reach up to 23 Brix</span>. Baoting rambutan received a trademark certificate as proof that it is a national regional product. ” (Source: <a href="https://alquimiafruits.com/en/2016/11/09/china-el-mejor-rambutan-viene-de-baoting/?fbclid=IwAR3lXvSxIZoe39uU80ryXHC_mRM5O4mtTUx36wXs7UDQu1HnC8Tr2tlLWnQ">https://alquimiafruits.com/en/2016/11/09/china-el-mejor-rambutan-viene-de-baoting/?fbclid=IwAR3lXvSxIZoe39uU80ryXHC_mRM5O4mtTUx36wXs7UDQu1HnC8Tr2tlLWnQ</a>)<br />
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-74017968240386756862018-12-06T22:30:00.000+08:002018-12-12T12:16:17.519+08:00Loss of Ceriagrion chaoi in Bishan Park - Fragile Urban Ecology<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My wife and I first recorded <i>Ceriagrion chaoi</i> from the small lotus pond close to Upper Thomson Road in Bishan Park in 2007. Initially, it was misidentified as <i>Ceriagrion auranticum</i>. After close examination of a specimen collected from this pond and with the help of Matti Hämäläinen in September 2008, we confirmed that is was actually <i>C. chaoi</i>.<br />
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From mid-2010 to March 2012, Bishan Park, including the lotus pond, was closed for a major redevelopment. After the pond was reopened, I only managed to have one record of this species, made on 21 July 2012. I suspected that the drastic drop in population of <i>C. chaoi</i> was due to the removal of a row of trees on one side of the pond. Please refer to this article: <a href="https://everydaynature-tang.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-fenestrella-of-endau-rompin-c-chaoi.html">https://everydaynature-tang.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-fenestrella-of-endau-rompin-c-chaoi.html</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZMM8GebeX694R_hnuWAv32xkJHs9JIHR8wbX6qux-0Pbp8woAHiVIyppbRpE_S5BWaaIg_SYQ8imtBBeUxOvL41mo-NG0rGrnawgv4pfMLt_yp0XuNersif0MwKOIJax8OHfzM3IsqOs/s1600/20071123_1107b_Bishan_Park1_turtle_pond_Ceriagrion_chaoi_Damselfly_Edit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="900" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZMM8GebeX694R_hnuWAv32xkJHs9JIHR8wbX6qux-0Pbp8woAHiVIyppbRpE_S5BWaaIg_SYQ8imtBBeUxOvL41mo-NG0rGrnawgv4pfMLt_yp0XuNersif0MwKOIJax8OHfzM3IsqOs/s400/20071123_1107b_Bishan_Park1_turtle_pond_Ceriagrion_chaoi_Damselfly_Edit1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtggGnSH2ROaDrovTrK5l2XRHBjLL20euLUfaHFfX28msNf24Fumrhsg0s4bvhx0VWg3LL0FdSDVHu7AeFTPqTXlUfoNw57jTQDes4t-rCKmCpCgoYyvKgG5pb2Sqbm2hP-oLHtZx3InjH/s1600/20120721_1052a_Bishan_Park_1_Lotus_Pond_Ceriagrion_chaoi_Edit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="900" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtggGnSH2ROaDrovTrK5l2XRHBjLL20euLUfaHFfX28msNf24Fumrhsg0s4bvhx0VWg3LL0FdSDVHu7AeFTPqTXlUfoNw57jTQDes4t-rCKmCpCgoYyvKgG5pb2Sqbm2hP-oLHtZx3InjH/s400/20120721_1052a_Bishan_Park_1_Lotus_Pond_Ceriagrion_chaoi_Edit1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Today (20181206), I noticed that the fig tree on the other side of the pond had also disappeared. Without this tree, I believe<i> C. chaoi</i> couldn't survive in this site anymore. I frequented the pond in the months following my first sighting of <i>C. chaoi</i>. They were consistently seen to descend from the high branches of this fig tree at around 10 am and started their daily routine in the pond. The tree was obviously their roosting site for the night. With all the medium sized trees near the pond gone now, the site is not suitable for <i>C. chaoi </i>anymore. They are probably locally extinct at this site. There have been some other sites where nice species have disappeared due to habitat destruction/loss too, such as <i>Indothemis limbata</i> (Marina South) and <i>Mortonagrion falcatum</i> (Tuas). We need to understand the importance of urban ecology and know how to protect and enhance it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyb6lW5XIOh3KtO4Xegt1rxzVys4FqnIjEz3y5i8kdmlt7DAljABmYvnk39pG9f5seSoLb6SKgca-ofutS-fcC1Er1uHD1jWro4DniyK18xs8atWyRndir_mC26Fq_Y2v52i2sCTklZP3M/s1600/20120721_1036b_Bishan_Park_1_Lotus_Pond_Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="999" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyb6lW5XIOh3KtO4Xegt1rxzVys4FqnIjEz3y5i8kdmlt7DAljABmYvnk39pG9f5seSoLb6SKgca-ofutS-fcC1Er1uHD1jWro4DniyK18xs8atWyRndir_mC26Fq_Y2v52i2sCTklZP3M/s400/20120721_1036b_Bishan_Park_1_Lotus_Pond_Edit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmYqj9T24n5CO9dnwdrVZ1WepAHGexyIvsSGo33NhaLEv4l_GKGhjM1gIkCTQ0ofpsyyOPIHoWTieI3qKK1GaZjuyQwnHwKoe__VlKmgFyT8oAIipRImKf93W_OShCWyG5flYJq_sk5gB/s1600/Bishan_Park_1_Lotus_Pond_IMG_20181206_173427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="1000" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmYqj9T24n5CO9dnwdrVZ1WepAHGexyIvsSGo33NhaLEv4l_GKGhjM1gIkCTQ0ofpsyyOPIHoWTieI3qKK1GaZjuyQwnHwKoe__VlKmgFyT8oAIipRImKf93W_OShCWyG5flYJq_sk5gB/s400/Bishan_Park_1_Lotus_Pond_IMG_20181206_173427.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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When we observe rare dragonflies, it is a good idea to note down the environmental characteristics of the site and the insects' behaviour. The information may be useful for the future conservation of both the site and the insects.<br />
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Singapore is a city nation with much of her land urbanized. Yes, we do have nature reserves where habitats for wildlife are protected. However, the city areas also need nature's ecological services, which cannot be provided by just green spaces with trees, lawns and ornamental plants. Biodiversity in the green spaces is the key to a healthy ecosystem which provides ecological services such as keeping air fresh, preventing urban flooding and even producing food.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">(20181207 update: I went to the pond again this morning. No sign of C. chaoi, as expected. In fact, the whole pond was quite lifeless, only a few individuals of Pseudagrion microcephalum and Neurothemis fluctuans could be seen, although it was 10 am and sunny. At around 10:15, a uniformed worker came and started spraying on the plants around the pond. I asked him what he was spraying. He answered he didn't know. He was just carrying out instructions. Whether it was fertilizer or pesticide, organic or not, it would negatively impact the ecology of the pond.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">The ecology of the pond has suffered a double blow: the removing of the trees, and the spraying. The work of landscape contractors must be closely monitored! They often just care about the cost effectiveness of their operations, producing results which may look good on the surface, but devastating to the environment and ecology.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_5KwhhT-3C5V7opIm-HfmW6q5CiUeDSUwkreRKcQkPdlRjMsePQS4USneMOymBkjlFMOC7lewhDYO_w5xJfLtcwgbDeIWtqisCRwJQT7ukf095yx3rdvzmaDkNJaWINVKTNNNw8MRUd0/s1600/Bishan_Park_Pond_spraying_IMG_20181207_101636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="1000" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_5KwhhT-3C5V7opIm-HfmW6q5CiUeDSUwkreRKcQkPdlRjMsePQS4USneMOymBkjlFMOC7lewhDYO_w5xJfLtcwgbDeIWtqisCRwJQT7ukf095yx3rdvzmaDkNJaWINVKTNNNw8MRUd0/s400/Bishan_Park_Pond_spraying_IMG_20181207_101636.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worker spraying on plants 20181207, 10:15am</td></tr>
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-457248522052879722018-11-21T23:19:00.000+08:002018-11-22T17:40:36.668+08:00Food, Agriculture and Biodiversity: reflections from the International Biodiversity Congress 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><b>- by Tang Hung Bun, Lim Sixian</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">We attended the International
Biodiversity Congress (IBC) on 4-6 October, in Dehradun, the capital city of
Uttarakhand. Themed “Biodiversity for Ecological Civilisation”, the congress
was held at the 140-year-old Forest Research Institute (FRI). Jointly organised
and supported by local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs),
district and state governmental departments, the event drew a crowd of more
than 700 participants. Featuring international participants and speakers, the
3-day affair seeks to pave the way for greater conversation - an appeal for
collective action among different stakeholders ranging from farmers, scientists,
government organisations to non-government organisations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Venue of the congress </div>
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- Forest Research Institute of India</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Although Industrialisation and technology has been an enabler for the many conveniences we enjoy today, they have also created complex global issues such as climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. Should we want to
ensure the well being of future generations, it is necessary for us to
transition from this highly industrialised state, to a civilisation that cares
for the flourishing of the ecosystems and all living beings, an attitude that
is grounded in biodiversity consciousness. The well being of future generations
hinges greatly upon this transition. </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-SG; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">This shift requires us to seriously
contemplate, how one might be able to recognise this wealth of biodiversity as
part of the story, instead of as an afterthought</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">.
Holding this intention, a curated line-up of 27 panel discussions and seminars
enabled a rich dialogue that not only sought to address the challenges we face
today, but to highlight pockets of opportunities. During these sessions, a
variety of themes intimately associated with, and shaped by, the state of the
ecosystems were discussed. These ranged from sharing about the rich
biodiversity in the different bioregions of India, conditions of the natural
environment, agriculture, food and nutrition. These sessions were complemented
by an expo featuring booths representing various states of India, and also a
poster exhibition featuring over 400 research projects undertaken by students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Young representatives of Japan's Shumei Natural Farming Association</div>
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with Dr. Vandana Shiva <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">(renowned environmental activist)</span></div>
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A booth at the expo showcasing<br />
the diversity of seeds</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Organic farmers gathering at Navdanya Farm</td></tr>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Sikkim - becoming 100% organic</span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">What
left a particularly deep impression was coming to know about Sikkim’s effort in
protecting the natural environment and its journey towards becoming 100%
organic. A state situated in northeastern India, the local government of Sikkim
made a commitment in 2003 to work towards making all farmland organic. With
this vision in mind, measures were put in place over the next decade. These
efforts paid off when Sikkim achieved its goal in 2016. Since then, Sikkim’s
commitment and achievements have continuously been highlighted as an exemplar
for other states. Even then, as in any transition, there were teething problems
that had to be addressed. The initial dip in agricultural yield and higher
costs led to doubts and it took time for the masses to be receptive. To address
these issues, the government stepped in to encourage direct transactions
between farmers and consumers to bring costs down, and also to provide greater
logistical support. The government also sought out opportunities to raise
awareness about the benefits of maintaining the integrity of the ecosystems.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwx5F6wOZCJTCfBsVRdHjEglN0XAC1xCfr5WURVZYjIdSBnUtQKNq3n8ChWXYOfMIEh6rE4RmBUowIEZ4zAuLgF8WqsrI8b4Xl9UTB31crRvkT8oK-X2KK5uGJoaqwVeb2I7ow8lqNpUp-/s1600/Photo_07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwx5F6wOZCJTCfBsVRdHjEglN0XAC1xCfr5WURVZYjIdSBnUtQKNq3n8ChWXYOfMIEh6rE4RmBUowIEZ4zAuLgF8WqsrI8b4Xl9UTB31crRvkT8oK-X2KK5uGJoaqwVeb2I7ow8lqNpUp-/s400/Photo_07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A variety of organic produce from Sikkim</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">The commitment
towards an organic Sikkim cannot be done without also considering what was
necessary to protect and conserve biodiversity. It would come as little
surprise, then, that this achievement of a 100% organic agriculture also saw an
improvement in the richness of biodiversity in the area. Wildlife returned.
Insect populations were revived. There were also improvements in soil fertility
all-round. Over time, costs became more manageable, and the quality of
agricultural products improved. Following greater awareness about health and
nutrition, the demand for organic products has been increasing steadily. As a
recognition of Sikkim’s commitment and achievement, the Sikkim government was
recently awarded the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO) Future Policy
Gold Award. While the state of agricultural land takes centre stage in this
mention, Sikkim has also been lauded for its effort to phase out the usage of
plastic bags, styrofoam and plastic bottles since 1997, and along the way,
enforcing a state-wide prohibition against the burning of agricultural waste.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Bhutan
- the state of being carbon negative <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Another
country worth highlighting is Bhutan, which sits in close proximity to Sikkim.
While the rest of the world hankers after a growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
Bhutan - a relatively small country in the Himalayas - has chosen to, instead,
focus on the well being of people as a measure of development. The country
became known for its emphasis on Gross National Happiness, a concept that has
been weaved into its policy-making processes and legislation. A small country
with a forest cover exceeding 60%, Bhutan is the only country in the world that
is carbon negative - a state in which amount of carbon absorbed far exceeds the
amount of carbon it generates as a result of its activities. Working with World
Wildlife Federation (WWF), the government initiated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bhutan for Life</i>, a commitment to conserve Protected Areas -
stretches of land that are designated to remain as forested areas. This is to
ensure that Bhutan continues to be economically and environmentally
sustainable. Bhutan will be working towards being the world’s first organic
nation by 2020. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The
effort of Bhutan and Sikkim has met with challenges that are somewhat financial
and economic in nature, and sees a relatively low GDP. Sensibilities to
preserve and conserve biodiversity have allowed the preservation of conditions
that allow life to flourish. Not just biodiversity, but people’s lives as well.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">A
Larger Vision: Organic Biodiverse Himalaya<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Announcement of the vision of</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
a Biodiverse Organic Himalaya</div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Following in the footsteps of Sikkim,
and encouraged by the commitment of Bhutan, the vision of a Biodiverse Organic
Himalaya was announced during the IBC 2018. Together with local and
international partners like Navdanya, International Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), Shumei International, Regeneration International
etc, this collective is committed to see the vision to fruition. With Sikkim
leading the way, there is a strong belief that a rejuvenated environment –
biodiverse, liveable, one that holds healthier soil, clean accessible waters –
can also be achieved for the Himalayan region.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">As the announcement was made, Dr Vandana
Shiva (renowned environmental activist and founder of Navdanya) and Mr Pawan
Chamling (chief minister of the state of Sikkim) was also joined by the seed
savers and leaders of Himalayan regions of India – Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. This commitment to a
Biodiverse Organic Himalaya serves as part of the journey toward an organic
India by 2047 – 100 years following the country’s independence in 1947, and an
Organic World by 2050.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Taiwan’s Organic Agriculture’s Promotion
Act<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Closer to home, two friends from Taiwan
with whom we attended the IBC 2018 shared with us that Taiwan recently passed
the Organic Agriculture’s Promotion Act in May 2018 and the act will come into
effect in the first half of 2019. The Act, which was passed by Taiwan’s Council
of Agriculture (COA), sought to expand the scale of organic farming across the
country. With the passing of the act, there have been plans made to increase
organic farmland to from 10,000 to 15,000 hectares by 2020. As the Taiwan
agricultural sector is one with tremendous potential, this act is a key part of
the government’s industrial innovation programme. The Act was also passed in
light of a growing emphasis on sustainability as a lifestyle, and the
importance of safe and nutritious food.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">Diversity on Display <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24wp5eSuUQFh07DL2PoSONpYvnIkiBel9bReGFtD1lQZlSccFZ6U9Nn3qHuwpTw8bUC9pMncKkW5HbgQ0980-qasZLldYprWq_KP9hyphenhyphentAkjb9lR8XpqmtlivBCMZC20edbhuuM-AXnfFy/s1600/Photo_08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24wp5eSuUQFh07DL2PoSONpYvnIkiBel9bReGFtD1lQZlSccFZ6U9Nn3qHuwpTw8bUC9pMncKkW5HbgQ0980-qasZLldYprWq_KP9hyphenhyphentAkjb9lR8XpqmtlivBCMZC20edbhuuM-AXnfFy/s400/Photo_08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">India has a rich diversity of rice varieties.</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">Other than congregating at the main conference hall
where most of the presentations and panel discussions were held, there was also
an exhibition happening simultaneously within the compound of the FRI. Cultural
diversity of India on display as some groups hailing from the different states
of India were present in their traditional dress. We came to know how India has
more than 6000 varieties of grains and millets. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">It
was an eye-opener, experiencing and seeing the varieties of food crops
available in India, and along with it, an extremely large diversity of seeds as
well. At the expo, we were introduced to Hyderabad-based Aranya Agricultural
Alternatives that was doing traditional seed banking in vessels made of red
soil and cow dung</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">This
first encounter with seed-banking eventually culminated into something we have
been looking forward to - a visit to the Navdanya Biodiversity Conservation
Organic farm and the Seed Bank housed in this 45-acre piece of land.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Started in 1995 by Dr Vandana Shiva, who
also chaired the organisation of IBC 2018, Navdanya saw its role in species
preservation, education, and promotion of organic agriculture. Seed Freedom and
democracy is one of the key tenets of the work Navdanya was formed to do. To
date, Navdanya has set up 125 community seed banks in over 22 states in India,
some of which are run autonomously by local communities. Focusing largely on
the preservation of grain species, the Navdanya seed banks hold over 4000
indigenous rice varieties, over 4000 seed varieties of grains and vegetables. It
was shared that during the major earthquake in Nepal in 2015, Navdanya’s seed
banks were able to provide over 2000 farmers with seeds of paddy, maize,
millets and vegetables. As can be seen, Seed Banking is a highly critical part
of reviving and sustaining the culture of preservation and exchange practiced
by farmers before industrial agriculture became rampant. It is also reclamation
of food sovereignty amidst the growing presence of corporates that attempt to maintain a stronghold over agriculture and the livelihoods of
people. Seed preservation efforts also ensure crop diversity, which is not only
at the heart of nutrition, it is also central to building resilience against
the backdrop of climate change.</span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seed bank of Navdanya Farm</td></tr>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">Looking back at Singapore </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">It was a privilege to have learnt so much through these
interactions with participants from different countries. Upon our return to
Singapore, we had asked ourselves, is there more we can do? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">To conserve biodiversity and to grow food well will
ultimately benefit both humans and environment. How might we reimagine the
possibilities for land-use pertaining to urban farming, and biodiversity
conservation, in Singapore? While land scarcity is often talked about, there
remains large grass patches and fields that are </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">effectively
green ecological deserts that are not being utilised at the moment. In the
absence of any stipulated land use, resources are typically put into having
these fields continuously maintained by landscape contractors; moreover, there
have been numerous instances where the nylon strings from grass cutting has
been littered indiscriminately. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">There
are many possibilities for us to go beyond the “Garden City” vision and start
looking for greater possibilities to integrate urban ecology, food production
and urban lifestyle. Conditions can be created to allow interested groups to
convert some of the vacant green spaces into biodiverse organic food
forests/farms. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">Many of these green spaces are also present in schools
where there is relative autonomy for schools to creatively transform these
stretches of green into learning spaces. Would it be possible for schools to
exercise this autonomy and see to the realisation of having living classrooms?
The practice of growing food can present many teachable moments that are
valuable for the development of character. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Converting some of these spaces into
ecologically-sound food gardens/forests is not difficult and we believe this to
be a beautiful vision that puts vitality and life into our city. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">Together as a community, we can take steps towards a
ecological civilisation.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-47834814320245948482018-09-08T21:32:00.000+08:002018-09-10T21:17:32.137+08:00Chencharu Ecovillage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The need for human and nature connection in rapidly-developing cities like Singapore is becoming more acute. A discussion in my friend's Facebook post has inspired me to dream. It sounds like an impossible dream, but technically it can easily be achieved.<br />
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Let me first show you what is already happening in Singapore, in a place called Kampung Kampus: happy faces of children and adults engaged in activities which get them closely connected with nature: <a href="https://1drv.ms/u/s!Al-FoymOC9Rahm3rn9cpQrdEKqqh" target="_blank">Photos of Kampung Kampus activities</a> (Photos credit: GUI)<br />
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I am dreaming that people well-versed in permaculture, biodynamics, syntropic and natural farming come together to create a Chencharu ecovillage, an extension of the already existing Kampung Kampus created by Ground-Up Initiative (GUI). Kampung Kampus has been nurturing an eco-conscious community with the mind, the hands and the heart to be stewards of a more sustainable and happier future. Since the sudden passing of GUI's founder last month, some people, including myself, are concerned that the Singapore government will soon take back GUI's 2.6 hectares of land for "development".<br />
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My dream is not just about preserving the land of GUI. It is about extending it to include the nearby land along Lor Chencharu which may be freed after AVA's dissolution.<br />
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This is my dream:<br />
A lovely scene of big mature trees, fields of wild grass, weeds and flowers, lakes, natural streams and forested areas where children and adults can interact closely with nature through a variety of activities such as farming, tree climbing, stream wading, running through fields and meadows, observing animals like birds, butterflies, fish, tadpoles, frogs, playing with soil, etc. With its varied topography, the huge rustic area along Lor Chencharu can be such an ecovillage. Although the forested area on the east side has already been destroyed for the building of a clubhouse, the remaining part of the area, including the land of Ground-Up Initiative (GUI), is still quite good and can easily be converted into a huge rustic area for people to experience nature. I have confidence the ecovillage can be designed and created in a truly sustainable way - low on carbon and resources. Maintaining the place should be simple and low on energy and cost too. As I watch the construction of the clubhouse building nearby, I wonder how much energy and materials is being used everyday, with so many big truckloads of materials being moved in and out of the site. The future running of the clubhouse will also be high on energy consumption and carbon emission. Whereas the everyday running of the ecovillage would be low on energy and materials, producing zero waste and, through regenerative farming, can be carbon-negative, hence contributing to carbon sequestration and climate change reversal!<br />
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This is a wild thought, but technically it is perfectly achievable.<br />
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There is just one major hurdle - the paradigm of the people who hold the power to decide how the land should be used. We need them to value life, land, soil, nature and food not as commodities, but as elements to bring about happiness, health and a bright future for human and nature.<br />
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Do we still want to destroy more nature to satisfy our appetite for more luxurious, convenient lifestyle and entertainment, consuming more energy and materials? Or do we want a healthy lifestyle with better connectedness with nature, and make the earth a better place for our children? I have been a farming volunteer in GUI for some time. Very often, visitors to the farm express their amazement over the rustic, relaxed feel of the place while at the same time express worries that the place will be gone due to government's possible future development of the area.<br />
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Although we already have many nice public parks all around Singapore, they cannot provide the functions that I described for Lor Chencharu ecovillage.<br />
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An urban ecovillage is a nice extension to our "Garden City" vision.<br />
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See the photos of the happy faces of the children and adults during Kampung Kampus's activities: (Photos credit: GUI)<br />
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The following photos show the rustic environment of the area along Lor Chencharu:</div>
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-49035714211285068072018-08-22T18:40:00.003+08:002018-08-22T18:40:56.316+08:00Humus for Food security and Climate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While working with the participants of our natural farming course in Ground-Up Initiative (GUI), I made interesting observations in the soil of our plot.<br />
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In Singapore, there are lawns everywhere. In such constructed landscape, grasscutters come to mow the grass regularly, leaving behind large quantities of nylon strings, which get buried in the soil eventually. In such conditions, even weeds (pioneer species) cannot grow. The lawn is simply a lifeless green desert.<br />
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Our natural farming plot was just a typical Singapore lawn initially, with very poor reddish-yellow compacted soil. Not even a single earthworm could be seen. We marked off an area for our plot and allowed the grass and weeds to grow naturally. We didn't sweep away the leaves that fell on it. Over time, through biological processes in and on the soil, humus begins to form. The layer of dark soil shown in photo 2 indicates good humus content and richer soil life as compared to photo 1, which shows the condition of the soil in the lawn area just outside our plot. This comparison shows how thoughtless human intervention can prevent nature from restoring fertility to the soil.<br />
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Humus is a very important substance that supports life, including us. It makes the soil dark and spongy, and possesses so many crucial properties that make the soil alive to support the healthy growth of plants.<br />
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Humus is 60% organic carbon (carbon sequestered in soil). It is created through a multitude of complex biological processes beginning with photosynthesis, which pulls carbon out of the air and fix it into carbohydrates in the plant body. A certain fraction of the fixed carbon will eventually enter the soil through different biological pathways and become stable soil organic matter - humus. Humification is a very efficient carbon sequestration process. Check out French government's <a href="https://youtu.be/NxqBzrx9yIE" target="_blank">4 per 1000 Initiative</a>.<br />
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The role of humus in soil cannot be replaced simply by adding to the soil things like fertilizers, biochar or even humic and fulvic acids, which are derived from humus.<br />
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This single substance can solve so many problems that humans have created, from food issues to climate issues and is so important for the future of humanity. It is a concern that many people, including some who are passionate about climate change and other environment issues, do not even know the word: humus.<br />
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Formation of humus is complex, but to help nature create humus can be simple. We just need to pay attention to a few simple principles as we grow our food.<br />
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We need many more people to understand the importance of humus in food security and climate and get involved in one way or another to help restore health to our soils.</div>
Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-45884807302261088842018-07-05T21:42:00.000+08:002018-07-05T21:53:53.719+08:00Organic farming and Natural farming<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
People ask me why natural farming and how it is different from organic farming.<br />
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It is unfortunate that the meaning of organic agriculture has changed so much since it was first defined by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) more than 2 decades ago. Most people now accept that organic farming simply refers to a farming approach that does not use chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. In a farmers' market a few years ago, I overheard the following conversation:<br />
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<b>Customer: </b>"<i>Are your vegetables organic?</i>"<br />
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<b>Hydroponics farm representative:</b> "<i>Our vegetables are grown indoor, so no bugs can go in. We do not apply pesticides and our vegetables are clean and hygienic. Yes, our vegetables are organic.</i>"<br />
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The customer happily bought two packets of vegetables from them.<br />
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Even some certified organic farms only just technically abide by the regulations set by the organic certification bodies, ignoring the spirit of organic agriculture.<br />
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USDA's definition of organic agriculture in 1995 was<br />
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“<b><i>Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.</i></b>"<br />
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I see that the word "organic" is related to the word "organisms". That means it is closely related to life - living things. It is clearly reflected in the original definition of organic agriculture.<br />
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Now, the term "organic farming" in people's mind has changed so much in meaning. Vegetable sellers often use it as a marketing tool.<br />
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There is a need to differentiate organic farmimg from the farming approaches that really looks after the natural environment, soil, biodiversity, health of people and animals, etc. I take natural farming as an approach that encompasses some of the principles and practices from Masanobu Fukuoka's approach, Shumei natural farming (秀明自然農法), Permaculture, etc. Although some of the practices of these approaches are different, they all have a common goal - caring for nature and people.</div>
Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-17512346431779174802018-07-02T21:08:00.000+08:002018-07-02T21:24:51.361+08:00$78 million, plus a forest and its ecological functions, is the cost of the clubhouse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There is a nice small forest with large mature trees next to the plot I am farming in Khatib. It is nice to hear the songs of a few straw headed bulbuls from the forest in the morning. Besides this endangered songbird, I have seen other nice birds such common kingfisher, Javan or Chinese pond heron, Lesser whistling-duck, etc. The nearby stream and ponds provide habitats for fish and dragonflies too.<br />
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It is very sad that these habitats are being destroyed. Part of the forest is already cleared. This happens because a SCDF clubhouse is to be built there, a clubhouse with facilities like gym, swimming pool, KTV, prawn fishing, etc., all for human entertainment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVA-Aw4fqffCulWR7fjiycWVThIPpf5bt2RwsYqDag5TINIJfufzVY6i5xqxVI3f-y3fXCxXJ25PFtQSKmk3-jGyMVGZr5ziSMfQHWCGqNusJ5yXklv9UX2XSXR8USFD1-P0GgWDwNm_u/s1600/Khatib_forest_destroyed_20180701_094410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="1200" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVA-Aw4fqffCulWR7fjiycWVThIPpf5bt2RwsYqDag5TINIJfufzVY6i5xqxVI3f-y3fXCxXJ25PFtQSKmk3-jGyMVGZr5ziSMfQHWCGqNusJ5yXklv9UX2XSXR8USFD1-P0GgWDwNm_u/s400/Khatib_forest_destroyed_20180701_094410.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN42m-r3M1FUGLrsKWZp1hyphenhyphenBB_A5xNMHGTHUDKgd0XfNjQmEmhxNfPkbHZtyiF2pJDr1EzH8QLDyti3QVB09hnxlCCcqVU_ZzoE1JDw3wMQUIYqRK3DHgnt8IvvWPfWXvm_7abzjVUQBrC/s1600/Khatib_forest_Destroyed_20180701_094312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN42m-r3M1FUGLrsKWZp1hyphenhyphenBB_A5xNMHGTHUDKgd0XfNjQmEmhxNfPkbHZtyiF2pJDr1EzH8QLDyti3QVB09hnxlCCcqVU_ZzoE1JDw3wMQUIYqRK3DHgnt8IvvWPfWXvm_7abzjVUQBrC/s400/Khatib_forest_Destroyed_20180701_094312.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLZLywICxUx1vSiAY1Ms2XVYkBDgbQFU9sZLhrQe8bug9gbKON4zFToVASjdGLKIiFuW1eK3dSLRZwss4tsD42Jd3LHfklT5j0meL7YOgFsBEgvooq9p2zx9-9zK0TKfI6AKlbIWMMoRF/s1600/Khatib_forest_Destroyed_20180702_113224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="1196" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLZLywICxUx1vSiAY1Ms2XVYkBDgbQFU9sZLhrQe8bug9gbKON4zFToVASjdGLKIiFuW1eK3dSLRZwss4tsD42Jd3LHfklT5j0meL7YOgFsBEgvooq9p2zx9-9zK0TKfI6AKlbIWMMoRF/s400/Khatib_forest_Destroyed_20180702_113224.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently, herbicide was used to kill the long grass.</td></tr>
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Besides the S$78 million, energy and materials used to build the clubhouse, there are other costs. The ecological services that the forest and its creatures have been providing for many years will be lost. The trees can no longer sequester CO2 and provide fresh air to us. The soil, together with the soil creatures, can no longer clean the water for us. Without the water holding capacity of the soil, we must work harder to prevent floods.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBuqw_F0B5c7MjaM-q4HL5NecLjT7BDIq-gGaUycCmyspg4HIMsEQ60ah3T7Qd-2hKGwdrNor6X_5XDD0ASdVDsJOpzMBq1oI7Bp02b37HnX_sUzMys9-8o_iBpO4iqR8QOyYzVn-BoDn/s1600/Khatib_forest_Destroyed_20180702_113633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBuqw_F0B5c7MjaM-q4HL5NecLjT7BDIq-gGaUycCmyspg4HIMsEQ60ah3T7Qd-2hKGwdrNor6X_5XDD0ASdVDsJOpzMBq1oI7Bp02b37HnX_sUzMys9-8o_iBpO4iqR8QOyYzVn-BoDn/s400/Khatib_forest_Destroyed_20180702_113633.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Press-kill the soil with construction debris</td></tr>
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I wonder if a proper environmental impact assessment had been carried out.<br />
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My two friends and I went into the destroyed part of the forest and salvaged a few wheelbarrows of soil (together with some soil creatures like earthworms, of course) and transferred to our farming plot. We found a beautiful feather of a bird on the damaged land. My ornithologist friend told me that it was an outer wing primary feather of a raptor. It is not surprising because the large mature trees in the forest and the surroundings can support a majestic bird like a raptor. But the bird is probably gone now. The degraded habitats in the area also explains the disappearance of two nice dragonfly species: Bronze Flutterer (<i>Rhyothemis obsolescens</i>) and Sapphire Flutterer (<i>Rhyothemis triangularis</i>).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We salvaged some forest soil and added to our plot.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDO2i7BNCd9MLV6kkHQy_frMJ7G2SJYrBaX0WalUqgIUPxQ9yzT3WpqcOFY1GDJW1yKgokRwvJ_sOV6TPxJBwvx09eJaj8L6BPL96RYjVzdoIdIcYDi91MkfeB89R1CQhwVjlcQMq2qcel/s1600/Khatib_forest_Destroyed_20180701_110944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="708" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDO2i7BNCd9MLV6kkHQy_frMJ7G2SJYrBaX0WalUqgIUPxQ9yzT3WpqcOFY1GDJW1yKgokRwvJ_sOV6TPxJBwvx09eJaj8L6BPL96RYjVzdoIdIcYDi91MkfeB89R1CQhwVjlcQMq2qcel/s400/Khatib_forest_Destroyed_20180701_110944.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An outer wing primary feather of a raptor, picked up from the damaged land.</td></tr>
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I hope to see more climate change efforts and nature conservation in Singapore.<br />
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I admire governments which put forward far-sighted policies and initiatives such as Australia's Carbon Farming Initiative, where farmers are paid for sequestering carbon, and France's 4 per 1000 initiative, which encourages farmers and organizations to increase soil carbon content (in the form of soil organic matter) by 0.4% annually in order to offset global carbon emissions.<br />
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Soil is little regarded in Singapore. It does not make sense that our armed forces are working so hard to defend our land, while we ourselves are destroying our soils everyday.<br />
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This is a quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt:<br />
"<b><i>A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.</i></b>"<br />
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-5068669102972541332018-05-10T20:25:00.000+08:002018-05-10T20:25:05.059+08:00Soil security is the necessary condition for food security, not high technology<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAfcfbsBK4ZXPpeZ2Fotzl7AXjE2oI9n34L4aeWVOyiu7u90s-xTJ2KwW2j4EUbFAp0gdrd_Y6yRVINoov4LT0vDPv8c0YkG5f5i-7aeUzC-Ne2OGrz-KjDGZAnY3YDI2T1MIBFu1M0Tu_/s1600/Soil_and_Food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAfcfbsBK4ZXPpeZ2Fotzl7AXjE2oI9n34L4aeWVOyiu7u90s-xTJ2KwW2j4EUbFAp0gdrd_Y6yRVINoov4LT0vDPv8c0YkG5f5i-7aeUzC-Ne2OGrz-KjDGZAnY3YDI2T1MIBFu1M0Tu_/s320/Soil_and_Food.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I am very concerned about the future of agriculture in Singapore.</div>
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In order to achieve food security in our land-scarce nation, the mainstream and government thinking here is that the country needs to develop high-technology agriculture such as multi-tier hydroponic systems using LED lights and data analytics, multi-storey farms that use robotics and automated soil-less cultivation. According to Singapore's Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), "the future in our food security lies in a modern and technologically-savvy farm sector that is fuelled by agricultural professionals, or ‘agri-technologists’ and ‘agri-specialists’."</div>
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<a href="https://www.ava.gov.sg/files/avavision/Issue1_2017/future_of_farming.html">https://www.ava.gov.sg/files/avavision/Issue1_2017/future_of_farming.html</a></div>
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Already, I can see heavy machinery and workmen clearing and flattening large parcels of agricultural land on the west of Singapore island to prepare the sites for future high-tech farms.</div>
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No, I do not think that high technology will ensure food security. If one understands the nature of food growing, he/she would see that soil security is the necessary condition for food security, not high technology.</div>
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Healthy soils are necessary to produce healthy food and achieve sustainable global food security.</div>
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Unhealthy soils do not have the diversity of soil life to provide the nutrients to support healthy crop growth, leading to systemic food and nutrient security problems.</div>
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I strongly believe that land scarcity in Singapore is an advantage in creating many small farms which are close to where people live (consumers). It is easy to see pockets of lawn area scattered throughout the island city. I hope the Singapore government will see the values of small farms and the potential of these lawn areas becoming productive small farms, growing food responsibly and regeneratively, providing safe and nutritious food for the people - small farms being part of food security in Singapore.</div>
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Like many other cities, there is increasing interest in urban farming in Singapore. People are concerned about food safety and nutrition and many are interested in growing their own food. Our government should consider creating conditions for people to establish community farms to feed themselves, not just community gardens for recreational purposes, but small farms that are seriously producing food in healthy soils. Perhaps, this can be the first steps towards Rubanization, architect Tay Kheng Soon's reconceptualization of rural and urban spaces as one same space, which brings greater balance to working, living, learning, playing, farming and health within walkable distances.</div>
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<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubanisation">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubanisation</a></div>
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-27337785584615246102018-02-11T21:58:00.001+08:002018-02-13T15:33:03.153+08:00Rise of high-tech farming - a worrying trend<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is a follow-up post I wrote in response to some feedback on my previous post <a href="http://everydaynature-tang.blogspot.sg/2018/01/indoor-high-tech-farming-vs-natural.html">Indoor High-Tech Farming Vs Natural Farming</a>.<br />
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Certainly, high-tech farming is perceived by many as the future of agriculture for food security, feeding the world's 9 billion people by 2050. High-tech farmers are cropping up in many places around the world.<br />
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An Internet search on high-tech farming would give you results like these:<br />
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<li><i>The High Tech Farms Where Our Future Food Will Grow in Nothing But Air</i></li>
<li><i>Vertical Farming - An Urban Agriculture Solution</i></li>
<li><i>The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century</i></li>
<li><i>This Farm of the Future Uses No Soil and 95% Less Water</i></li>
<li><i>Future food-production systems: vertical farming and controlled-environment agriculture</i></li>
<li><i>A rosy future for vertical farming</i></li>
<li><i>Urban farming in Singapore has moved into a new, high-tech phase</i></li>
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It is worrying to see this global wave because I see many problems with high-tech farming.</div>
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The main issue is that high-tech farming does not pay attention to how nature works.<br />
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In recent years soil biologists are discovering the essential role of soil food web in the healthy growth of plants. Plants need to interact with communities of soil microbes around their root zone (rhizosphere). One group of bacteria, called the <a href="https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Plant_Growth_Promoting_Bacteria">Plant Growth Promotion Bacteria (PGPB)</a>, supplies nutrients and hormones to the plants. These bacteria also protect the plants against diseases. Examples of PGPB include Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, and Arthrobacter. In fact, the soil creatures in the different trophic levels such as fungi, bacteria, nematodes, protozoa, arthropods, all work together to benefit the growth of plants. Soil is a very complex biological system, which science today is only beginning to understand. Healthy and diverse soil life is the key to healthy soil, which in turn produces healthy and nutritious crops.<br />
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High-tech farming ignores the biology and the role of healthy soil. They focus on the chemistry and dictate a cocktail of macro- and micro-nutrients in their nutrient solution for their plants. They grow crops using industrial processes, just like manufacturing iPhones in a factory.<br />
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Inside a high-tech farm</div>
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Food, whether plant or animal, is part of nature and needs nature's elements (sun, rain, soil, day and night, other plants and animals) to grow healthily. They should not be grown using industrial processes. The two following videos show a high-tech vegetable farm and a high-tech chicken farm. Their technologies are certainly impressive, but the food they produce are not healthy, not to mention the ordeals those chickens have to go through from the day they hatch to the day they are slaughtered.<br />
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Growing vegetables using industrial processes</div>
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Rearing chicken using industrial processes</div>
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There are many other issues with high-tech vegetable farming - high on capital, materials, machines and energy, etc. And much of the materials used are not recycled or not recyclable, such as sponge cubes, net pots, phenolic foam, etc., and are simply discarded as general waste.<br />
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Apparently, their yield per acre may be high, but their nutrients per acre is certainly low.<br />
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Ecological model of agriculture such as natural farming not only produces better quality food in terms of flavours and nutrition, but it also has a mutually benefiting relationship with nature. While we are growing food for ourselves, we are also returning ecological services to nature - creating habitats for wildlife, sequestering carbon to mitigate climate change, restoring soil fertility, etc.<br />
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2015 was UN's International Year of Soils to raise full awareness among civil society and decision makers about the profound importance of soil for human life. It is encouraging to see more such global efforts in recent years, such as:<br />
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Soil Solutions: <a href="https://soilsolution.org/watch-the-film/chefs-for-soil/">https://soilsolution.org/watch-the-film/chefs-for-soil/</a><br />
Kiss the Ground: <a href="https://kisstheground.com/">https://kisstheground.com/</a><br />
4 Per 1000 Initiative: <a href="https://www.4p1000.org/">https://www.4p1000.org/</a><br />
Regeneration International: <a href="http://regenerationinternational.org/">http://regenerationinternational.org/</a><br />
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In "land-scarce" Singapore, how can we contribute to these efforts? Please read my 2016 post: <a href="http://everydaynature-tang.blogspot.sg/2016/11/we-need-more-small-farms.html">We need more small farms</a><br />
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-7194425642425911682018-02-06T09:11:00.001+08:002018-02-07T20:40:42.051+08:00Farmers' markets in Singapore and Hong Kong<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A very stark difference in the use of plastic can be seen when you view the videos of the farmers' markets of Singapore and Hong Kong side-by-side. I am grateful to my friend , CY Ong, for editing the videos for me.<br />
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One more thing I observed when I visited the farmers market in Hong Kong is that the vendors were mostly the farmers themselves. They could answer in detail my questions on their farming practices. Many of them were small family farms. While some were certified organic by accredited certifying agents, the rest were proudly self-certified. They explained that they did not need a third party to certify for them. They'd rather do it through direct customer-farmer relationship. Also, being small family farms, they did not have the resources to go through the long, tedious and expensive process of organic certification.<br />
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Over the past few years, the organic label is becoming more and more of a marketing tool. We should be wise enough to distinguish "industrial organic" from genuine organic. Industrial organic farms are moving far away from the original definition of organic agriculture by USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB): “<b>Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony</b>."<br />
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For consumers, it is better to know your farmers and understand their farming practices, which are so important to our health and that of the environment.<br />
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In agriculture, it seems that "Small is beautiful." is more true than "Bigger is better."<br />
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Have you heard of <a href="https://youtu.be/3Hbem4Pd6po">Akinori Kimura's MIRACLE APPLES</a> and <a href="https://hk.lifestyle.appledaily.com/etw/magazine/article/20170718/3_14725756/%E9%B6%B4%E8%97%AA%E7%99%BD%E6%B6%88%E5%A4%B1%E4%B9%8B%E8%AC%8E">Hong Kong's 鶴藪白</a> (a variety of bok choy)? The stunningly delicious apples and the flavourful bok choy were both grown by small farmers who really took care of their soil and farms' natural environment.<br />
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If you would like to experience better the sights and sounds of the two farmers markets, please watch the original videos:<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/augYPJt1ET0"><br /></a>
<a href="https://youtu.be/augYPJt1ET0">Singapore farmers' market</a><br />
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<a href="https://youtu.be/KcUXBxvSyGo">Hong Kong farmers' market</a><br />
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-53327288123417211242018-01-10T20:55:00.000+08:002018-01-10T20:55:12.482+08:00Indoor High-Tech Farming Vs Natural Farming<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
High-tech indoor farming is a major issue in agriculture among others such as GMO, chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.<br />
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Ever since Dickson Despommier put forward the concept of indoor vertical farming, there has been a growing trend in indoor vertical farms in many places around the world using high technologies such as aeroponics, hydroponics and LED lighting. Some use totally enclosed systems where all environmental factors are controlled by sensors and computers.<br />
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<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dirttodinner/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/09091554/GE-Mirai-Lettuce-Farm-5-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="537" height="213" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/dirttodinner/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/09091554/GE-Mirai-Lettuce-Farm-5-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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They claim that high-tech indoor farming produces much higher yield, has no pest problems, saves water, time and labour.<br />
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Once in a farmers' market, I overheard how a staff of a high-tech farm promote their produce to a potential customer in a misleading way: "Our vegetables are grown in completely sealed rooms. Therefore there are no bugs and we don't need to apply pesticides. Hence, our vegetables are organic"<br />
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The video clip below shows how some high-tech farmers boast their farming systems.<br />
@0:40 "Plants don't need sun, they need spectrum. They don't need soil, they need nutrients, micronutrients."<br />
@1:56 "If you said to me the best-tasting basil I ever had was the one I was on vacation in the south of Italy in June 2006. I can literally go back through historical environmental records and find light, temperature, humidity, CO2 levels and go recreate that environment in my box here and grow that same-tasting basil for you."<br />
@2:54 (Dickson Despommier) "A lot of people say 'I hate the idea of farming in buildings because it is not natural.' l love them when they say that. I just love to hear that. Why? Because farming is not natural. Ha ha ha!"<br />
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As a professor, Dickson Despommier may be knowledgeable, but certainly there is no wisdom in his words. His saying "Farming is not natural" refers to that any form of farming involves human intervention and therefore is not natural.<br />
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True natural farming works in coordination with nature. Crops are planted according to seasons, climate, soil types. It is a nature-centred rather than human-centred farming approach. So, any "human intervention" in natural farming is for the benefit of nature and living things, including human.<br />
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Unlike iPhones, crops are part of nature and must not be manufactured using industrial processes.<br />
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Plants need to grow in a natural environment, constantly interacting with all natural elements including all kinds of creatures both above and in the soil. Through photosynthesis, plants absorb sunlight and produce sugars, as much as 40% of which are released from the roots into the soil to feed the microorganisms. In return, the microorganisms extract nutrients and minerals in the soil and supply them to the plants. These soil microorganisms also protect the plants against pathogens.<br />
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Also, plants' ability to produce phytonutrients depends on many environmental factors such as UV in sunlight and soil microorganisms. Scientists believe that there are more than 100 thousand phytonutrients existing in plants. Many phytonutrients, such as carotenoids, polyphenols and flavonoids, are vital in maintaining human health. Many of them also give the colours and flavours of plant foods.<br />
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Natural farming encourages biodiversity. The richer the biodiversity, the better nutrients cycle in the farm and this is how the soil gets its fertility. Fruits and vegetables grown in healthy and fertile soil are healthy, nutritious and rich in flavours.<br />
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Whereas, high-tech indoor farming ignores the laws of nature, and totally shuts out all natural elements in the environment. Such a human-centred farming approach can only produce less nutritious crops and is not helpful to the environment.<br />
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Unfortunately, the life of many people has become disconnected from nature and its life-giving benefits. It is easy for them to believe that vegetables grown indoor under artificial environment are safe, clean and hygienic. They also believe that vegetables grown with their roots submerged in nutrient solutions instead of soil are healthy and nutritious, and they are willing to pay high price for these vegetables, which are usually appealingly packaged, but lacking in nutrients.<br />
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With efforts such as the 4 per 1000 initiative by the French government, it is hopeful that more people will soon realize that ecological farming approaches such as natural farming are part of the solution to food security and climate change.<br />
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-33792682519863775792017-08-19T17:11:00.000+08:002017-08-20T18:09:06.427+08:00Fertilizers can cause "empty fatness" in vegetables<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
(The Chinese version of this article was <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwesTZLFe_k7ZjVZNG4wYzRVUjA/view?usp=sharing">published in Lianhe Zaobao</a> on 13 August 2017.)<br />
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Applying too much nitrogen fertilizer to vegetable crops would increase the nitrate concentration in the vegetables, causing health concern such as<a href="http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_25_01.html"> Blue Baby Syndrome and cancer</a>. Actually, applying too much fertilizer to vegetable crops would cause "empty fatness" in vegetables. It is like feeding too much junk food to children, causing them to be obese.<br />
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If a farmer looks after the soil really well, natural processes will keep the soil fertile and hence there is no need to apply fertilizers, whether organic or synthetic. There is a wide range of organisms flourishing in a healthy soil, including small animals, worms, insects and microbes. In the Rhizosphere (root zone), there is a large amount of microbes helping to release the nutrients in the soil and supply them to the plants, which in return feed the microbes with its exudates (secretions through the roots, mainly sugars produced by photosynthesis).<br />
Many legume plants (peas and beans) contain symbiotic bacteria called rhizobia within nodules in their root systems. Rhizobia fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can absorb. The high-temperature and high-pressure conditions during lightning also fix atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen oxides, which dissolve in rainwater, forming nitrates, that are carried to the earth.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Natural fertilizers are what plants really need</span></b>.</span> </div>
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Furthermore, the creatures in the air, on the land and in the soil such as birds, insects, small mammals, all help the cycling of nutrients in the environment. This is how the soil gets its fertility naturally. Natural fertilizers are what plants really need, not artificial fertilizers. Besides, artificial fertilizers would adversely affect the healthy structure of soil and break the natural nutrient cycles.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Creatures in and around the farm help the cycling of nutrients,</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>thus adding fertility to the soil.</b></span></span></div>
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If fertilizers (especially nitrogen) are applied too frequently or too much, the vegetables may grow faster, but they may not have the time to absorb other nutrients sufficiently. The vegetables, although bigger in size, are not healthy and more prone to diseases and pests. If we consume such vegetables, we won't be healthy too.<br />
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Vegetables that are big and look nice may not be really healthy. They may be the products of commercial farms where a lot of fertilizers are used to boost the yield. Such vegetables may not be rich in the nutrients that they should contain, especially <a href="http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/phytonutrients-faq#1">phytonutrients</a>, which are so important to our health.<br />
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<b>Small natural farms in the neighbourhoods</b><br />
Most of the fruits and vegetables sold in Singapore are imported from Malaysia, China and Australia. It is difficult for us, the consumers, to know for sure the farming practices used by the commercial farms in those countries.<br />
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We need to shift from the thinking that productive farms must be of industrial scale and occupy large areas of land. Land scarcity in Singapore is actually an opportunity for us to establish small, but yet productive natural farms. <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37704#.WZa5JFGg_IU">An UN report in 2011</a> predicts that small farms employing simple ecological methods will play an important role in addressing the world's food issues. These small natural farms not only produce healthy, nutritious food, but also create a conducive environment for both people and wildlife.<br />
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I hope that the leaders in Singapore, with their foresight, will seriously take this into consideration in their land use policy planning. There are unused green spaces all around Singapore. Some of these green spaces can be converted to small natural farms run by groups of people not as commercial farms, but as something similar to<a href="http://www.commongoodfood.org/food-commons"> Food Commons</a>, or as the next level of Community in Bloom initiatives. These small farms are not just recreational gardens where folks spend their leisure time. They should be productive farms and contribute to the food resilience of our nation, besides serving other functions such as enhancing the natural environment, education, community bonding and recreation. The planned Tengah Forest Town, which has an area of 700 hectares, has a huge potential of establishing a few larger natural farms too.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>There are unused green spaces all around Singapore.</b></span></span></div>
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I vision Singapore to be a nation with many small natural farms in the neighbourhoods, where people come and get connected with nature, grow and share their food, and enjoy the lush, lively natural environment.</div>
Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-91957736558225041602017-03-30T21:06:00.002+08:002017-04-21T00:30:26.316+08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The "Terroir" concept applied to food crops</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-normal;">(The Chinese version of this article was <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwesTZLFe_k7WGI5WWl4RkFsWXM/view?usp=sharing">published in Lianhe Zaobao</a> on 5 March 2017.)</span><br />
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The French word "Terroir" refers to the set of environmental factors (soil, climate, etc.) and the farming practices employed to grow the grapes that give a wine its unique flavour and aroma.<br />
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For the same reason, the taste and flavours of vegetables are strongly related to the natural environment of the farm and the farming approach employed. Unfortunately, most vegetables available in supermarkets, and even wet markets, are rather tasteless. These vegetables are probably grown (or rather, manufactured) in large commercial farms, which cannot afford to pay attention to "Terroir".<br />
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In Japan, a farmer called Akinori Kimura managed to grow stunningly delicious apples using "natural cultivation" method that employs neither pesticides nor fertilizers, not even organic fertilizers such as compost or manure. He points out that the key is in the soil.<br />
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In Hong Kong, about half a century ago, a farmer in a small village managed to grow a variety of Chinese cabbage which became famous because of its flavours and texture characteristic of the natural environment of the village. The variety was even given its own name "Hok Tau Pak Choi". Sadly, this variety is now extinct. Those Hok Tau Pak Choi seeds available for sale online must be fake.<br />
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Photo credit: <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "segoe ui" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">江昱德 (</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "segoe ui" , "helvetica" , "arial" , "lucida grande" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">鈴穀社會企業股份有限公司)</span></div>
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<b>Soil is alive</b><br />
Soil is not just a medium to physically support a growing plant. In nature, soil is alive with countless numbers of living creatures in it - microbes, insects, worms, etc. Above the soil, there are butterflies, bees, dragonflies, birds and other small animals. All this biodiversity, both in and above the soil, enhances the cycling of nutrients, and this is how soil gets its fertility.<br />
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The vitality of soil comes from soil microbes. Presence of healthy microbe communities in the soil is key to healthy plant growth. The world of soil microbes is much more complex than we can think. What we do know is that a lot of the nutrients that a plant needs come from the soil microbes through symbiotic exchange. It is obvious that a good farmer should take care to look after the natural environment both in and around the farm, including the soil. If too much fertilizer, whether organic or chemical, is applied, the communities of soil microbes will be adversely affected, leading to unhealthy plant growth and further problems such as high nitrate content and less nutritious crops.<br />
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<b>Phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables</b><br />
Besides vitamins, proteins and minerals, there is another very important group of nutrients, called phytonutrients, found in fruits and vegetables. Science estimates that there exists more that 100 thousand phytonutrients, but scientists have only studied less that one tenth of them, such as lycopene, anthocyanidin and carotene. Although phytonutrients aren't essential for keeping you alive, they help prevent disease and keep your body working properly. Among the benefits of phytonutrients are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, reducing cancer and heart disease risks. Phytonutrients are diverse in nature and many are responsible for the colours and flavours of the plant foods. That's probably why nutritionists ask us to take plant foods of a variety of colours.<br />
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So, how are phytonutrients produced in plants? It is "terroir" again. The set of natural environmental factors - climate, soil, microbes, insects and animals, provides the conditions and ingredients for a plant to produce a complete set of phytonutrients in it. Human health comes from soil health.<br />
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While it is difficult for large commercial factory farms to produce crops rich in flavours and phytonutrients, there are examples of successful small natural farms that use natural farming methods to produce healthy and nutritious foods for the communities, and are financially sustainable too. One such farm is Le Bec Hellouin Farm in France.<br />
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<b>Small natural farms in Singapore - an opportunity</b><br />
Land scarcity in Singapore is actually an advantage in establishing small natural farms. In every district, there are already amenities and facilities like community centres, parks, hawker centres, multiple-storey carparks, clinics, post offices etc. How about farms that produce food for the residents - the next level of the already successful Community in Bloom Initiatives by NParks. Not just gardens, but small farms of 0.1 to 0.5 hectares that seriously grow food for communities while looking after the environment. In this way, consumers (residents) are close to the farms and they can see the source of their food.<br />
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The Tengah Forest Town that our government is planning has a huge potential to establish a few bigger natural farms too.<br />
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<b>References:</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.newsmarket.com.tw/blog/2509/"><span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: "simsun"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">日本木村苹果 (Miracle apples grown by </span>Akinori Kimura)<span style="font-family: "simsun";"> </span></a></div>
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<span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: "simsun"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">香港鹤薮白 (</span>Hok Tau Pak Choi in Hong Kong)</div>
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<span style="font-family: "simsun";"><a href="http://leilagreen.mysinablog.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=2082362">http://leilagreen.mysinablog.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=2082362</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.fermedubec.com/en/">法国诺曼第LeBec Hellouin农场</a> (<a href="http://www.fermedubec.com/en/">Le Bec Hellouin Farm</a>)</div>
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-58775338999898376322016-12-01T12:27:00.001+08:002016-12-01T12:27:19.791+08:00“The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself.” - Franklin Delano Roosevelt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The video embedded in <a href="http://everydaynature-tang.blogspot.sg/2016/11/we-need-more-small-farms.html">my previous blog post</a> shows contractor destroying my good soil by pressing all sorts of demolition debris on it. Someone asks whether this is a standard practice among the construction/landscape contractors in Singapore. Well, if it is not standard, it is certainly common. A well-known case is the <a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/land-fiasco-leaves-wildlife-group-acres-in-a-fix">ACRES Vs ANA Contractor case</a>. I have also heard of cases concerning landed properties whose gardens were spoiled due to landscape contractors burying hazardous materials under the soil. To the contractors, it makes financial sense to "reuse" those waste materials, but it is detrimental to the soil, on which we can grow our food.<br />
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Anyone who engages construction/landscape contractors must be very vigilant. Once the soil is damaged or contaminated, it takes years and a lot of money to clean up.<br />
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I was involved in insect surveys in a forested area recently. It is heart-sinking to see so much construction wastes dumped randomly in the forests.<br />
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I understand that most of the forests (a huge piece of land) are to be destroyed for development, but thoughtless dumping of construction waste must be controlled. In the development project, there would be areas reserved for green spaces (gardens and parks). If the random dumping of wastes is allowed, it is hard in the future to find clean soil for creating parks and gardens.<br />
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It is already well-known that Singapore is not a clean city, but a cleaned city. It is very common to see pavements, lawns and even parks littered with rubbish like cigarette butts, plastic cups, packets, bottles, etc., and National Day rubbish too.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo source: <span style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/singaporeans-trashy-habit">http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/singaporeans-trashy-habit</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo source: <a href="http://backstage.tnp.sg/content/49-years-old-still-badly-behaved">http://backstage.tnp.sg/content/49-years-old-still-badly-behaved</a></span></div>
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In Ground-Up Initiative, volunteers would sometimes help to collect dry leaves from around the premises to be used as mulching materials in our food garden. But often, there is so much rubbish among the dry leaves that everything has to be dumped as general waste and sent to the incinerators.<br />
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It is very sad.<br />
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<b>Soil health is human health. We are what we eat and what we eat comes from the soil.</b><br />
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<b>Franklin Delano Roosevelt (32nd U.S. President) once said: "The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself."</b></div>
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-68308768255291104112016-11-26T16:31:00.001+08:002016-11-26T22:13:32.911+08:00We need more small farms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When I visit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcUXBxvSyGo&feature=youtu.be">some vegetable markets in Taiwan and Hong Kong</a>, I often enjoy not only the vibrant and lively atmosphere, but also the sight of a large varieties of vegetables. I believe those vegetable varieties, not seen in supermarkets, are probably grown in small local farms. They can't be grown by large scale industrial farms, whose primary concern is their return on investment. These large farms would use agrochemicals and machinery, less workers and grow only a few commercial crop varieties to achieve higher "efficiency and productivity". Industrial farms are not growing crops - they are manufacturing crops. The people who work there are not farmers - they are workers.<br />
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Whereas, the practices in small local farms are more friendly to the environment, and can produce safer and more nutritious food.<br />
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But the situation is very worrying now. A report tilted "<a href="https://www.grain.org/article/entries/4929-hungry-for-land-small-farmers-feed-the-world-with-less-than-a-quarter-of-all-farmland">HUNGRY FOR LAND: Small farmers feed the world with less than a quarter of all farmland</a>" says that<br />
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<li><b>Small farms are currently squeezed onto less than a quarter of the world's farmland.</b></li>
<li><b>We're fast losing small farms and farmers in many places, while big farms are getting bigger</b></li>
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If this trend of big farms displacing small farms continues, it is logical to predict that there will be less crop varieties, and hence a narrower spectrum of nutrients, available to the people. Think of how many banana varieties you can buy in our supermarkets today. I myself have also read about and witnessed the extinction of a few vegetable varieties in Hong Kong.<br />
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In a previous blog post, I talked about how my humble food forest that my wife and I took two years to create, was destroyed in three days by an agro-corporate firm. They would then build a high-tech greenhouse to grow crops indoor, shutting out Nature, who was regarded as the supreme farmer by Sir Albert Howard in his book "An Agricultural Testament"<br />
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Watch this video clip to see how they destroyed my food forest, laid and pressed demolition debris such as crushed toilet bowls, tiles, plastic pipes onto the soil, in order to build their greenhouses on it.<br />
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We need to reverse this dangerous trend of small farms disappearing and big farms getting bigger.<br />
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Singapore is often regarded as a land-scarce island nation, but it is easy to see pockets of lawn areas scattered throughout the island. I hope the Singapore government will see the values of small farms and the potential of these lawn areas becoming productive small farms, providing safe and nutritious food for its people - small farms being part of food security in Singapore.<br />
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In every district, there are amenities and facilities like community centres, parks, hawker centres, nursing homes, clinics, post offices etc. How about farms that produce food for the residents - the next level of the already successful Community in Bloom Initiatives by NParks. Not just gardens, but small farms of 0.1 to 0.5 hectares that seriously grow food for communities.<br />
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I vision a Singapore with many small farms in different areas, producing really safe and nutritious food using responsible farming practices that are friendly to the environment and to the people.</div>
Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-24233059448855403252016-09-22T20:27:00.002+08:002016-09-22T21:01:17.153+08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-73305905042505195612016-09-22T20:27:00.000+08:002017-03-30T12:04:37.670+08:00Sustainable High-Tech Farms?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The word "sustainability" is very loosely used nowadays. As I am a passionate food grower, I tend to be very sensitive when I hear a farm claim that it is a sustainable farm.<br />
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Many high-tech farms claim that their farming methods are sustainable. These include those indoor farms in which the environmental factors are artificial and smartly controlled (LED, air-conditioning, etc.). To support their claim, they usually point out that they can produce higher yield and yet use less water, less land area, little or no pesticides, etc.<br />
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I judge whether a farming approach is sustainable using Nature's principles of permanence: <b>Diversity</b> and <b>Law of Return</b><br />
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<b>(1) Diversity</b><br />
We need to have a diversity of crops, weeds, and wildlife in the farm. When you have biodiversity in your farm, you are actually managing pests. You don't need to spray poison. When you have biodiversity, you are recycling nutrients, and the soil is getting all the fertility it needs, without us having to apply fertilizers. You can get rid of the herbicides, the pesticides, the fertilizers through intensifying biodiversity.<br />
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<b>(2) Law of Returning</b><br />
We need to be giving back to Nature, giving back to soil. While we are growing food for human consumption, we must, at the same time, be feeding the living soil too. Hence farm wastes must be returned to soil as much as possible, through mulching and/or composting. We must assist Nature in recycling nutrients and materials.<br />
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So, for a farm to be truly sustainable, it has be be regenerative through observing these two Nature's principles of permanence.<br />
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Those high-tech farms, which shut Nature out, cannot be truly sustainable.</div>
Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-65308779876608388592016-09-22T18:17:00.000+08:002016-09-22T18:17:03.595+08:00Uses of Weeds in a farm/garden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Weeds are part of the ecosystem in an organic farm. We should not aim to eradicate them. Weeds can attract insects, many of which are beneficial. Weeds can enrich the soil through the interaction of their roots and soil microbes.<br />
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My approach to weeds is that I trim and remove some of the weeds when they become overwhelming, competing for sunlight and space with my crops. I do not think that weeds can compete with crops for nutrients in the soil because if the soil is reasonably healthy, there would be more than enough nutrients for both crops and weeds. It is more the question of whether the plants are able to absorb the nutrients available in the soil. If the soil is poor in organic matter and microbes, it would be difficult for our crops to absorb the nutrients available in the soil. Simply said, organic matter and microbes in the soil help transport nutrients to the roots of the plants.<br />
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Weeds removed is a valuable resource. It is a good material for mulching. Many would dry them before using them as mulch. I often use them fresh. If the weeds regrow or if their seeds germinate, I am not too bothered. If one spends a lot of effort killing off the weeds and their seeds before using them as mulch, he/she is wasting time, because in an organic farm, there’s bound to be weeds thriving. We also should not be aiming to eradicate all the weeds.<br />
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I believe I have made a conclusive observation in these few months of growing brinjal. I use freshly cut weeds to mulch around my brinjal plants and the results are rewarding. The plants bear many flowers and fruits. I can afford to apply less fertilizers too. I think as the fresh mulch are breaking down, the nutrients and organic matter that go into the soil proliferate the microbial activities in the soil around the brinjal plants, benefiting them. The fresh mulch consists of about 70% of Cutgrass and 30% of other weeds. I consciously avoid using Creeping Spiderwort in the mulch as it is too aggressive and invasive. When we collect weeds for mulching, it will therefore be convenient to carry two buckets, one for Creeping Spiderwort (to be killed by sun-drying thoroughly), and the other for the useful weeds.<br />
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-75708086589825854202016-09-22T18:07:00.004+08:002016-09-22T18:07:55.701+08:00Experience in growing Roselle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I started growing crops as a volunteer in the farm of a non-profit organisation in Singapore in June 2015. Where possible, I attempt to use permaculture and natural farmning approaches there.<br />
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I'll record my experience of growing roselle in the farm:<br />
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We grew our first batch of roselle in June 2015. The seedlings were transplanted at the end of June 2015 to the plots around the aquaponics ponds. They grew well except for the few plants nearest to the (now) tool shed. These few plants were badly deprived of morning sunlight due to blockage of the plants grown by another volunteer. We had good harvest of good quality roselle calyces for two months. Black bone powder was used by sprinkling lightly around the plants once every few weeks during flowering and fruiting periods. Composting tea was applied twice a month before flowering.<br />
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In February 2016, the second batch of roselle were grown using the seeds saved from the first batch. Seedlings were transplanted to two grow beds which received good morning sunlight. The plants grew healthily until in April 2016, when one of the roselle plants suddenly died in a day or two, with leaves drooping and turning dry and yellow. After a few days, I pulled out the whole plant, but the surrounding plants also got the same problem within a few days. I then tried to leave the dead plants on the plot, it took a longer time (10 to 20 days) to get the same problem. To me, it is highly probable that the problem had been caused by root knot nematodes in the soil. The second batch of roselle can be considered as a failure, although a few plants were able to resist the disease and produced some harvest.<br />
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Before I grow the next batch of roselle, I will grow French Marigold (Tagetes patula) in the plots. It is well known that French Marigold can effectively suppress root knot nematodes.<br />
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Believing that the second generation roselle plants were prone to root knot nematodes, and also that the quality of the calyces was not so good as the first batch, I planted a few roselle plants (in early June 2016) from my first generation seeds in the Permaculture plot because I am afraid the the second generation seeds have been hybridized by the roselle plants of another variety growing very near my first batch.<br />
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Very near to Permaculture plot, another volunteer is growing roselle of the other variety nearby. I therefore waited until her plants have reached maturity and bearing flowers before I planted my roselle plants from my first generation seeds, hoping that although I could not separate the two varieties by space (I do not have the authority to ask her to remove her plants), I could at least separate them by time.</div>
Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-5819386821407364152015-06-09T11:23:00.000+08:002015-06-09T11:35:00.729+08:00My Permaculture Food Forest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have not updated my blog for two years. The reason? Well, I have been putting all my time and energy into something. I was so fully committed that I even quit my job for it. That something is to create a permaculture food forest.<br />
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The permaculture philosophy was developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970's. The term permaculture combines the words permanent and agriculture. In Bill Mollison's words,<i> <b><span style="color: #38761d;">permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system.</span></b></i><br />
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The purpose of my food forest was, of course, to produce food for consumption. Permaculture principles were the guiding principles when I created and designed my food forest. Rather than the conventional way of growing just a few crops in neat rows and frequently applying fertilizers and watering, I grew a large variety of different crops, trees, shrubs, vegetables, spices and herbs. I created habitats for the different organisms in my food forest, both above and in the soil. We had two smalls ponds in the forest and a larger one by the side of the forest, attracting a variety of aquatic creatures (frogs, dragonflies, etc.) To improve the soil, I added a lot of organic matter to it, not by purchasing large quantities of fertilizers/compost and transporting them to my food forest, but by growing cover crops and plants (such as legumes) and then digging them into the soil or mulching them on the soil. Biodiversity brings stability in my food forest. The more diverse my crops, weeds, insects, birds, soil creatures (including microbes) were, the more stable, healthy and productive my food forest would be.<br />
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In permaculture, humans produce food by working with nature. However, most of the food the we eat today are produced by factory farming, which has no or very little regard for nature.<br />
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I have been dreaming for a permaculture food forest for over two decades. In June 2013, my wife and I rented a greenhouse in Neo Tiew area and started growing vegetables organically. After a few months, my wife and I decided to rent the open area (860 square metres) just outside the greenhouse to create a permaculture food forest. In the following months, we worked very hard almost everyday. We even worked in the farm on New Year Days and Chinese New Year Days.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Our leavy greens grown organically inside greenhouse</b></td></tr>
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After a year's of hard work, with friends coming to the farm to help on Saturdays, our food forest began to take shape. We had over 50 different crops: trees, shrubs, vegetables, spices and herbs, some of which were grown in order to revitalize the soil. Our roselle plants were doing especially well - prolific and producing red calyces of superior quality. We had more than 60 roselle plants in our food forest! The soil had improved tremendously. I did not test it scientifically, but I could see and smell it. The soil creatures must be thriving.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Our food forest on 28 May 2015, habitats for a variety of creatures.<br />Landlord's workers had cleared the vegetation around our food forest.</b></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">You might have noticed that I have been using past tense in the paragraphs above. Yes, because, sadly, our food forest does not exist any longer. It was suddenly destroyed by the landlord on 29 May 2015.</span></div>
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In the morning of 29 May 2015, the landlord's workers came to our food forest with their excavators and bulldozers. They dramatically eradicated all the trees and plants. In just 3 days, they completely cleared everything in our food forest, which my friends, my wife and I took almost two years to create.<br />
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<b>Please watch the video in HD (1080p)</b></div>
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The landlord said he is going to let a big company come in. I don't know what this big company will do on the land with their big money. If they are going to lay concrete on the soil, that's death sentence to the soil (yes, healthy soil is very much alive, with microbes and so many soil creatures). It is always sad to see soil being killed in this way, even on designated agricultural land in Singapore. An example is growing vegetables in huge and sophisticated-looking glass greenhouses (which almost totally shuts off nature) built on concrete-covered soil.<br />
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People are so disconnected from nature and soil, on which our own survival depends.<br />
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On 8 June 2015, my wife and I returned to the farm and took a few pictures:<br />
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It is really saddening to see that the healthy soil I'd been helping to restore in the past 2 years had been reduced to muddy clay in just a week's time. The following video shows the soil after the workers had just dug it up, on 30 May 2015.</div>
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-43999614120089955042013-06-26T21:37:00.001+08:002015-06-13T23:19:57.767+08:00Urban Wild Red junglefowls in Singapore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Wild red junglefowls are commonly seen in different urban districts in Singapore in recent years. There is a group of more than 30 wild red junglefowls residing in the field and trees near the junction of Upper Thomson Road and Sin Ming Avenue. It is interesting to watch the behaviour of these ancestors of the domestic chicken. I managed to capture on video some of their fascinating behavior, including fighting and mating.<br />
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Video part 1/2 (be sure to watch the part where two young males fight, starting at 1:23)</div>
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Video part 2/2 (be sure to watch the part where a popular hen was mating with one of the cocks and then ..., starting at 1:26)</div>
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Once, while they were leisurely foraging on the field, they all suddenly started to run towards the same direction, to the trees and hedges, calling frantically as they ran. It was indeed a very astonishing sight - more than 20 chickens dashing across the field frantically. I immediately realized they must be running for their lives, and started to look around for the danger that these chickens were running away from. No, I didn't see any dogs or cats. Only when I looked towards the sky did I see a raptor flying up towards the roof of a high-rise building, which indicated a failed attempt by the raptor to catch one of the chickens for a meal. Now I know that the red junglefowls are alert, though they don't look like so, and can run really fast.<br />
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This large group of red junglefowls roost for the night in the trees on the two sides of Sin Ming Avenue, hence some of them would need to cross the road to their roosting places when it is time to rest. At about 6:45pm, these chickens would fly across the road one by one. Many of them do not fly the shortest path across the road, but choose a longer flight path of more than 40 metres. Some would land on the ground and some would land in a tree. Occasionally, a few would take the risk of running across the road.<br />
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The field near the junction of Upper Thomson Road and by the side of Flame Tree Park Condominium is really a good habitat for red junglefowls. It has an area of about one hectare, with tall and short trees, and hedges too for small chicks to hide. Yes, small chicks can be attacked by adult males. Well, in Singapore, such a nice field would probably be "developed" in the future and replaced by buildings. Even before buildings are built on the field, the habitat would be disturbed regularly by noisy lawnmowers.<br />
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Would Singapore ever be bold enough to try <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/paris-sheep-mow-lawns_n_3017864.html">what Paris is trying</a> - natural lawnmowers, grazing sheep to mow lawns?<br />
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Sometimes, as I am watching those wonderful wild chickens, I would visualize a wonderful picture of the field with red junglefowls as well as other birds, a few black sheep and a few urban farmers tending to their crops. Wow, would this be the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubanisation">concept of Rubanization</a> by <a href="http://www.dearmmlee.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Tay-Kheng-Soon.pdf">Tay Kheng Soon</a>?
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-22383626797669732422012-12-26T17:55:00.001+08:002012-12-27T20:59:26.026+08:00Rooftop habitat gardening, organic farmA few months ago, I attended a talk by two NParks staff who talked about Biodiversity on Rooftops in Singapore. This is an exciting concept to me and I quickly form the idea of rooftop habitat gardening.<br />
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I live on the 18th floor. When I look out from my balcony, I could see a lot of rooftop spaces which can be utilized for rooftop biodiversity. If carefully planned, rooftop green spaces provide wildlife corridors to counteract habitat loss. These corridors allow wildlife to move from one tract of habitat to another.<br />
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I have visited some rooftop gardens in Singapore, including those of HDB multi-storey car parks They tend to be more of landscape/ornamental gardens. Dull, ornamental, manicured gardens certainly cannot attract a rich variety of wildlife. I really wish to see habitat gardens on rooftops in Singapore. We can garden the rooftop so as to create natural habitats for certain groups of wildlife (such as birds, butterflies, bees, hoverflies, ladybugs, etc.) and at the same time incorporate organic edible crops. There are many well-known benefits of locally grown and organic produce.<br />
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The rooftop of the multi-storey car park in our estate has not been in use for many years because no residents would want to park their cars there - no lift access and no cover. It has actually been locked up for many years. I attempted to approach our residents' committee, HDB and Town Council on the idea of converting the rooftop into a garden for biodiversity and organic crops. After quite some effort and time (email exchanges and telephone calls), I managed to meet representatives from our residents' committee and Town Council together. It was a rather discouraging meeting. What I saw as an opportunity was what they saw as many difficulties. I remember some of the difficulties they mentioned:<br />
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<ul>
<li><i>The car park rooftop is not designed for this purpose</i></li>
<li><i>There is no lift access for the rooftop</i></li>
<li><i>The car park is HDB's property and is for generating income</i></li>
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Yes, I could also see all these difficulties, and more. But, if it is the right thing to do, we should be able to turn the difficulties into opportunities.<br />
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I remember Winston Churchill's quote: “<i>A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.</i>”<br />
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Well, the Town Council representatives did not turn down my suggestion right away, but said that they would discuss with HDB on this matter and then get back to me. Well, three months have passed, and I have not heard from them anymore. I guess this is their way of saying "No!" to me.<br />
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I also wrote to our MP. Again, I got no reply at all.<br />
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There are rooftop farms in cities around the world. In Hong Kong, which is a city rather like Singapore (a city void of open space), there are a number of rooftop farms. One of them is featured in <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/28/hongkong.urban.farming/index.html">this CNN report</a> on June 29, 2011:<br />
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<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/28/hongkong.urban.farming/index.html"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNYvJK7MqR25NfwecSgWJ8saR2BvNrGeJzUXjjOGhUdFLqqk0rGwJMES4Xcy3ZT30XgELqNxgLlDQoJ2A4_c2PvG57k6NS94H4KNdNoMSrRq2rc9LcD8ZeCGq8ZX0P31mDq4blosIHJSX0/s1600/Eco_mama.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/28/hongkong.urban.farming/index.html">Crops out of concrete: Farming Hong Kong's urban island</a></div>
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In my recent trip to Hong Kong, I visited some organic farms, community gardens and rooftop farms. I was particularly touched when I saw the rich biodiversity in and around <a href="http://www.producegreen.org.hk/index.asp">this organic farm</a> I visited in Fanling.<br />
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There are quite a number of organic farms in the New Territories, providing a healthier and safer choice for the Hong Kong residents. Every week, there are a number of farmers' markets in different districts of Hong Kong, where the organic farmers sell their produce directly to their customers. I visited one of these farmers' markets - Organic Farmers' Market@Central, right at the central business district of Hong Kong. This market opens every Sunday. Although small (only about 10 stalls), this farmers' market is very vibrant. The stall holders are the farmers themselves. They are friendly and are happy to answer customers' questions on their vegetables. The stalls do not provide plastic bags. Customers must use their own shopping bags. I am also amazed by the variety of vegetables sold there. Below is a video clip I shot of this small but vibrant organic farmers' market.<br />
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It is also interesting to read <a href="http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/litee/opinion/article/i-heart-farmers-market/">this Malaysian lady's impression</a> of Organic Farmers' Market@Central.<br />
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Back in Singapore, the only Farmers' market I know of is <a href="http://chowandthecity.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/singapore-windowsill-pies-jungle-beer-farmers-market-at-loewen-gardens/">the one at Loewen Gardens</a>. I do not know if they sell locally grown organic vegetables there.<br />
<br />Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-75744221554337398352012-09-30T23:43:00.000+08:002012-09-30T23:51:31.660+08:00Weevils fighting<br />
Unprotected wildlife habitats in Singapore can be recklessly destroyed anytime. A recent example is the <a href="http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.sg/2012/08/save-braddell-road-forest.html">clearing of the forest outside Braddell View estate</a>.<br />
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There is a forest near where I live. In it I have recorded 47 species of dragonflies. This is 36% of the 131 species ever recorded in Singapore. Among those 47 species are some very rare species, including <i>Heliaeschna uninervulata</i>, which was a new addition to the Singapore odonata list when I <a href="http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/nis/bulletin2008/2008nis1-3.pdf">first discovered</a> in this forest in 2008.<br />
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In the forest, it is not difficult to find fallen trees. Usually these dead trees attract many different kinds of creatures such as beetles, bugs, flies and wasps. I have been recording the behaviour of these creatures on video for a year. The footage below shows two male weevils fighting for a female. The weevil is common in the forest and it belongs to the family Curculionidae. Its mouthparts are formed into a long snout with an antenna on each side of the snout, which is often used to bore wood. The weevil's snout and big eyes give it a hilarious look.<br />
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<b>Please watch the video at 480p.</b></div>
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I have been visiting the forest regularly in the past 9 years. It is apparent that the biodiversity there is on the decline in these two years. It is now more difficult to see the rare species. This is probably due to the more frequent disturbance from humans.<br />
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Since this forest is unprotected, it may face the same fate as Braddell Road Forest.<br />
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<br />Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-85542251013638363032012-08-27T23:06:00.001+08:002012-08-28T08:54:22.309+08:00Quality green space within a cityAlthough Singapore is a small-sized, highly urbanized city-state, it has an amazing diversity of life: 375 species of birds, 303 species of butterflies, 130 species of dragonflies, 34 species of bats, just to name a few groups of animals.<br />
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However, due to land-use pressures, urban development in Singapore continue to destroy habitats for wildlife. An example is the <a href="http://www.besgroup.org/2007/08/04/tuas-another-wetland-reclaimed/">loss of the damselfly, Mortonagrion falcatum, in Tuas</a>.<br />
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While we should aim to reduce the impact on natural wildlife habitats by urban development, we should also manage our urban green spaces so as to enhance urban biodiversity.<br />
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Singapore has a lot of urban green spaces: parks, golf courses, sports fields, etc. Among these urban green spaces, public parks (regional, town and neighbourhood parks) would have the greatest potential to enhance our urban biodiversity and become our quality green spaces in the city of Singapore. Quality green space within a city can support a variety of species and habitats, contributes to essential services including water filtration and absorption, nutrient cycling, air filtration and noise buffering.<br />
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While I understand that our public parks serve as social gathering and recreational spaces for the local community, I also strongly believe that biodiversity-friendly measures can be taken to enhance the flora and fauna in them.<br />
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In the document by the National Parks Board, <i>Singapore’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan</i>, I read this:<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">"Singapore Today — A Garden City, A Haven for Biodiversity. Our aim is to bring this to the next level – a city embraced in a garden of diverse flora and fauna."</span><br />
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Also, in the document by Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, <i>The Sustainable Development Blueprint</i>, the word "biodiversity" appears 40 times.<br />
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It is apparent that our government does have biodiversity in their agenda.<br />
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<b>Bishan Park</b><br />
With an area of 62 hectares, a 2.7 km stream running through it, and its close proximity to a nature reserve, Bishan Park has a great deal of potential to be among the best quality green spaces in Singapore. However, the current state of the park is very far from ideal. If you take a look around Bishan Park, you'll see turf grass, widely-spaced trees, playground equipment, parking lots. While all of these items may benefit park visitors, they lack many qualities that could enhance biodiversity.<br />
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Also, the frequent and thorough clearing of vegetation and mowing of grass, especially along the restored stream, has negative effects on biodiversity. Wildlife need adequate food, water, shelter and space in order to survive. The traditional turf grass and widely-spaced trees in Bishan Park offer little in the way of meeting wildlife needs.<br />
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Let me embed a <b><span style="color: magenta;">really wonderful and inspirational</span></b> short film here. This film won the <b>2011 WWF Short Film Competition</b>. I highly recommend it and hope that the people who can make decisions on how to manage our public parks will see this short film too.<br />
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<!-- This version of the embed code is no longer supported. Learn more: https://vimeo.com/help/faq/embedding --> <object height="365" width="650"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=29067223&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=29067223&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="650" height="365"></embed></object>
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Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4035753096891904914.post-29053993726978607832012-08-13T00:05:00.000+08:002012-08-17T11:08:36.740+08:00Make Meadows, not LawnsA beautiful ladybug was foraging among the vegetation by the side of the stream in Bishan Park, Singapore. At 1:19 of the following footage, she found a juicy and delicious aphid.<br />
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<object height="450" width="600"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=47360430&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=47360430&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="600" height="450"></embed></object> </div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/47360430">Ladybug foraging in Bishan Park, before they cleared the vegetation</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3023918">tanghb</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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A few days after this footage was taken, a team of grass cutters came and cleared the vegetation along the sides of the stream. Homes of these beautiful creatures (ladybugs, butterflies, bees, dragonflies, etc.) were then gone.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Warning: The noise of the grass cutting is rather deafening.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Turn down the sound volume of your viewing device if you wish to watch this footage.</span></b></div>
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<object height="450" width="600"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=47363196&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=47363196&force_embed=1&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00adef&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="600" height="450"></embed></object> </div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/47363196">Grass cutting in Bishan Park</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3023918">tanghb</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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Along the sides of the stream in Bishan Park are mostly lawns, which are expensive to maintain (frequent and noisy trimming of vegetation). Such thorough clearing of vegetation destroy the habitats of different kinds of creatures.<br />
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The following photographs were taken on 6 August 2012:<br />
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<i style="text-align: start;">"Bishan Park will also be home to diverse wildlife with habitats created to encourage certain species to settle and thrive." </i><span style="text-align: start;">- </span><span style="text-align: start;"><a href="http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/pub/press_release/P-20091002-1">said PUB in 2009</a>.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4tsI8goPZPL5mhidmvzMAL5Qy4jDfOtkCIos7le_BZ7Cj_d3xYtiA9H5WWrdO3u-ik_j0V7PGwWMiql2qFO5LwUeSOWKGyMwzZZwBBpjH1U8Pk1QZVLn4kKosYl9MTF_W1mSfFXcl67c/s1600/Cimg5870_Edit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4tsI8goPZPL5mhidmvzMAL5Qy4jDfOtkCIos7le_BZ7Cj_d3xYtiA9H5WWrdO3u-ik_j0V7PGwWMiql2qFO5LwUeSOWKGyMwzZZwBBpjH1U8Pk1QZVLn4kKosYl9MTF_W1mSfFXcl67c/s640/Cimg5870_Edit1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Imagine if we have meadows of beautiful wildflowers on the slopes, instead of lawns ...</span></div>
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What they are now doing to the Bishan Park is contrary to what they said in 2009, when they began their project to revamp Bishan Park:<br />
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<i>"The new Bishan Park will also be home to diverse wildlife with habitats created to encourage certain species to settle and thrive. For example, reed beds will promote dragonfly communities and seasonal nectar-producing flowers will entice butterflies so people will be able to observe rich biodiversity."</i> (Source: <a href="http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/pub/press_release/P-20091002-1">http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/pub/press_release/P-20091002-1</a>)<br />
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I gave my feedback to some PUB staff five months ago, suggesting that a variety of vegetation be planted along Bishan Stream, at least for the section of the stream nearer to Upper Thomson Road. I strongly believe that this will enhance the habitats for a variety of wildlife and would attract the nice species from the nearby forests around Lower Peirce Reservoir. They thanked me for my feedback, but regular clearing of vegetation still goes on, and most of the sides of Bishan Stream are still lawns, which are just useless biosystems.<br />
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Imagine if we have meadows of beautiful wildflowers on the slopes by the sides of Bishan Stream, attracting butterflies, bees, ladybugs, dragonflies, .... A couple in England, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2022610/One-couple-57-flowers-Somerset-meadow-turned-field-dreams.html">Brian and Denise Herrick</a>, did just that. They converted a former piece of wasteland into a beautiful meadow with many (57 species) wildflowers.<br />
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<a href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/05/article-2022610-0D4D348100000578-662_470x551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/05/article-2022610-0D4D348100000578-662_470x551.jpg" width="272" /></a><a href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/05/article-2022610-0D4D347D00000578-621_470x551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/05/article-2022610-0D4D347D00000578-621_470x551.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>
Source of images: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2022610/One-couple-57-flowers-Somerset-meadow-turned-field-dreams.html">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2022610/One-couple-57-flowers-Somerset-meadow-turned-field-dreams.html</a><br />
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If a couple could do this, then PUB/NParks should certainly be able to do the same. It's only a matter of whether they want to do it. If what they said in 2009 is true, then they should want to do it.<br />
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I understand that PUB/NParks need to address the concerns of the residents in the nearby condominium and housing blocks. Residents don't like bees to be around as "bees sting people", so vegetation needs be cleared. PUB staff also mentioned to me that too much vegetation would affect the stream's ability to handle high volume and flow rates during downpours.<br />
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I believe PUB/NParks, with their knowledgeable and well-qualified staff, would be able to address all these concerns.<br />
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I really hope to see at least some small meadows (if not a large piece of it) at suitable locations in Bishan Park 1.<br />
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Well, as for bees, perhaps we can get inspiration from other modern cities such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York, London, Paris, where there are thriving urban beekeeping communities.
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Michael Leung is the first urban beekeeper in Hong Kong. He has created <a href="http://inhabitat.com/urban-bee-keeper-michael-leung-creates-a-new-bee-saving-buzz-in-hong-kong/">a new bee-saving buzz</a> there. and founded <a href="http://www.hkhoney.org/us.html">HK Honey</a>, a mix of young and older people.<br />
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<b>A beautiful documentary on HK Honey (Length 3:21)</b></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='560' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-nuiO3LM1W4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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There is a TV program in Hong Kong on urban beekeeping, in which our Singapore bee expert, Mr. John Lee, was interviewed for his views:<br />
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<b>Urban Beekeeping (Part 1)</b></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='450' height='374' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QxhrfTgEj2Y?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<b>Urban Beekeeping (Part 2)</b></div>
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Mr. John Lee interviewed at 6:15 and 10:19</div>
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Links related to Meadows and Lawns:<br />
<a href="http://laurenarcher.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/make-meadows-not-lawns/">http://laurenarcher.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/make-meadows-not-lawns/</a>
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<a href="http://veggierevolution.blogspot.sg/2006/06/how-to-convert-lawn-to-native-meadow.html">http://veggierevolution.blogspot.sg/2006/06/how-to-convert-lawn-to-native-meadow.html</a>
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<br />Tanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15638603033817108984noreply@blogger.com0