Paris, 26 October 2009


EFITA newsletter / 434 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


New: CAP subsidy claims in Denmark (DK)

CAP subsidy claims

FR

NL

HU

DK

Traditional paper file
(application and graphical material)

70%

30%

0%

13%

Through the Internet with the support of intermediaries

20%

25%

80%

52%

Autonomous application and graphical material
through the Internet

10%

45%

20%

35%


In Denmark, it is possible to send the graphical material by paper:

Through the Internet – graphical material send by paper

34%

Through the Internet – whole application

53%

Contact: Marianne HAUGAARD-CHRISTENSEN
E-mail: mhg(a)landscentret.dk


New: CAP subsidy claims in England (not UK)
For the 2008 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) scheme year there were 675 customers who submitted SPS claims electronically and for the 2009 scheme year there were 2,266.

Contact: Amy Murphy (REF RFI 1012)
ATI Unit Manager
Access to Information Unit
Rural Payments Agency
Tel 0118 9531511
Fax 0118 9531467
E-mail: atihelpdesk(a)rpa.gsi.gov.uk


And in your country? Please, help us to complete the above table!


[Agric_podcasts] Invitation to group 'Audio files on climate change and agricultural information for community radios in Africa' 
You are hereby invited to participate in an electronic group discussion of 10 days (20/10-30/10/2009).

This discussion is to create a forum of interested parties in the topic “the creation of audio files on climate change and agricultural information for community radios in Africa" (CAFCCAICRA). This platform (like You Tube) is to share radio programmes in Africa on agricultural issues.

It follows the discussions held at the CTA 2009 annual meeting, on the Role of Media in Agriculture: 12 - 17th October.
See: http://annualseminar2009.cta.int/

> Background:
The FARA Inventory on Innovative Farmer Advisory Services (June 2009 : 66 pages) concluded that systems which use a voice-platform or audio files provide an innovative and promising entry point to farmer information.
See:  http://www.fara-africa.org/media/uploads/File/NSF2/RAILS/InnovativeFarmerAdvisory_Systems.pdf

Other platforms (SMS and web-based platforms) remain essential to provide a back-end offering more detailed information. But there are two major elements that hinder the wider use of audio files among farmers and farmers’ organizations. These are local & scientific content and adoptable technology.

> Beneficiaries:
First beneficiaries: community radios can download pre-recorded audio files (initially in English and French) on a large number of themes related to agriculture and climate adaptation. • It is essential to involve with community-based FM Radio Stations and their agricultural programme producers to create question and answer service radio programmes in local languages. • Community radio stands out among information and communication technologies (ICTs) in reach and accessibility and is helpful in reducing barriers to price information, etc

Secondary beneficiaries: rural actors and farmers need easy and timely information on a large number of themes related to agriculture and climate adaptation.

The discussion proper will be held from 25/10 onwards to allow interested participants to register.

It will be followed by 2 face to face meetings (participation is self-sponsored):

> Consortium creation + Write shop in Accra 2-3/11 on a Food Security Thematic Programme (FSTP) proposal. (Most likely the European Commission will postpone their deadline with 2 months (instead of the initial 06/11).

> Consortium creation + Write shop (continued) in Nairobi on 4-6/11 (TBC).

See : http://dgroups.org/?haka7hzt
Contact  Francois STEPMAN
E-mail: fstepman(a)fara-africa.org


Food Security 2009: Achieving long-term solutions
2 - 3 November 2009 - LONDON
See: http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/foodsecurity09


BCPC congress
9 - 11 November – GLASGOW
The programme has been tailored to meet the demands of the rapidly changing global crop production industry and set against the background of a world demanding more food, water and energy.
See: http://www.bcpccongress.com


Chinese-European Farm Mechanisation Summit: Increasing efficient output through new technologies
10 November - HANNOVER
The Chinese-European Farm Mechanisation Summit is the first world event of its kind to bring together Chinese and European as well as other overseas agricultural machinery experts. The Summit takes place at Agritechnica on 10 November with a morning session from 10 a.m. – 12.00 noon and an optional afternoon session after lunch. Speakers from the Chinese Ministry, AGCO and Lemken are planned. Location: Convention Centre (CC) Room 3B
See: http://www.agritechnica.com/summit
Contact: Malene CONLONG
E-mail: M.Conlong(a)dlg.org


4th ICT-ENSURE regional workshop on ICT and Climate Change
16 November 2009 - STOCKHOLM
See: http://www.ict-ensure.eu/ICT-and-Climate-Change
Contact: Lisa MAURER
E-mail: ensure-office(a)mlist.tugraz.at.


Offer to participate in future European IPM project?
PestInspector (www.pest-scout.com), is an innovative simple-cellular Pest Infestation Information system, which integrates in-field analysis with machine processing for providing field accessible management assistance for pesticide application even to the smallest farmer via its own cellular phone. PestInspector is already in use as a real-time Geo-referenced pest information collecting tool in various plantations in Israel serving both the farmers and the research needs of leading Israeli agriculture research institutes. The product will enable full management of routines for pest and disease data collection, geographic data management and presentation including infestation history and results of control applications in the past, meteorological observations and forecasts and spatial and temporal presentation of infestation dynamics.
PestInspector is based on ScanTask’s generic mobile workflow engine, which enables immediate customization to any type of crop and pests diversity, farmers’ cultivation patterns, etc.
We will be glad to take part in European FP7or other IPM project as a technologyl enabling partner and bring on board our innovative pest collection and analysis tools, and our practical experience in this field.
Contact: Moshe MERON
E-mail: meron(a)migal.org.il


UK scientists to research bee deaths
Scientists at the University of Warwick and Rothamsted Research have been awarded £1 million ($1.6 million) by the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in partnership with Syngenta, to research the decline of honeybees. UK government figures suggest bee numbers have fallen by 10 -15% over the last two years. The British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) quotes a figure nearer 30% for 2008. Since the declines were first reported a number of factors have been suggested. Most scientists now believe that a complex of interacting factors is the most likely cause.

University of Warwick researcher Dr David Chandler said: “Honeybees are well known for their vital role as pollinators of crops, wild flowers and garden plants, but unfortunately their populations are in decline. We know that parasitic diseases caused by the varroa mite are partly to blame, but we think that there is also a link between these diseases and the quality of pollen and nectar that the bees are feeding on. Each bee colony contains about 50,000 bees in the summer, and so you can appreciate that the interactions between each bee, their various diseases and food quality are highly complex. The only way to tackle this is to use advanced mathematics combined with lab and field experiments. This is precisely what we are doing in this project.”

The research team will use a combination of field work and computer modeling to look at how the bees' behave outside the hive, while looking for food, and how this interacts with what is affecting bees in the hive. The ultimate aim of the project is to build a model that will improve understanding of how bees may respond to diseases in a changing farmed landscape.

In addition to this project, Syngenta has also launched Operation Pollinator, a five year, £1 million programme in seven European countries (and the US) to boost pollinating insects by providing wildflower strips.

See: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uow-at100109.php


Women of Uganda Network (from ICT Update)
Since 2000, the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) has been developed a wide range of initiatives to improve access to ICTs for women farmers and entrepreneurs.
http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/Feature-Articles/Digital-opportunities-for-change


Future of the farming world (from ICT Update)
"The farming world will only have a future if it can strike the right balance between the technical decisions farmers make and the management of energy supply. " Dr Tidiane Seck, director of the State Agency for Information Technology in Dakar, Senegal.
http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/regulars/Q-A/(issue)/50


Irish library
This Irish man came into our library and banged his fist on the front desk and shouted at the girl behind the counter 'give me a pint of Guinness and some peanuts'.

The shocked librarian said 'please keep your voice down, this is a library'.

He looked around and said 'oh' and put his hand to the side of his mouth and whispered 'give me a pint of Guinness and some peanuts'.


Two sodium atoms meet in a laboratory. One is searching frantically for something.
"What's up?" asks the first atom.
"I've lost an electron," says the second.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm positive!"


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