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I went to register my son in for Kindergarten to find a flyer stating that lunches can be served to children 1-18 at various school locations within Onslow County to include:
Richlands Primary
Southwest Elementary
Bell Fork Elementary
Hunters Creek Elementary
Jacksonville Commons Elem
Summersill Elementary

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Find Meals for Kids When Schools are Closed

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To slow the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), many schools have closed unexpectedly. To ensure that children who rely on free or reduced-price meals at school are able to get the nutrition they need, USDA is working with states to continue providing meals to students.

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GMO, Biotechnology, improved machinery, nanotechnology, cattle breeding, slaughtering practices,

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agricultural machinery biotechnology gm food cloned sheep organic fruits artificial livestock farming cattle breeding slaughter

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Agricultural practices have improved by leaps and bounds with advancements in its various aspects like livestock farming, the apparatus being used and the harvest that is produced. This has entailed increased productivity and variety of the farming products.

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Providing farmers with no internet a connection to global farmer communities to seek answers to disease, pests, rodent problems they otherwise would not know the answer to.

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Within minutes, you can find or crowd-source an answer to your mystery, keeping it from perplexing you any longer.

Now, take that scenario and shift it to a remote farmer, thousands of miles awayin Africa, responsible for the food both their family and you will soon eat.

An estimated 70% of the world's food comes from small, isolated farms that are no bigger, on average, than 2 acres. Until now, people working on these farms relied on word of mouth to solve life's daily puzzles, but their access to information is being transformed -- along with the food they produce.

"It's about increasing food productivity ... better crops, better livestock, so we can double productivity throughout Africa," businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates said in an interview with CNN.

"We have one-fifth the productivity in Africa that we have in Europe and the United States," he said.

The green revolution of the 1960s saw agriculture flourish, particularly in Asia, to improve food security globally as populations grew in size, but Africa lagged behind. Gates feels, however, that now is the time to bring the region up. "The same type of productivity increase needs to be done again."

Certain countries in Africa face regular challenges in terms of their yield, including drought and crop failure that can lead to famine, such as was declared in South Sudan this week.

So through his foundation, Gates and wife Melinda are funding a range of projects using a powerful tool that didn't exist during the first agricultural revolution: the cell phone.

A social network to feed the world

Though small-hold farmers produce the majority of the food we eat, they are also morevulnerable to factors beyond their control: climate change, failing seeds, volatile markets and infectious crop diseases. But a new peer-to-peer service, known as WeFarm, is using a simple form of social networking to help them stay informed.

"(We're) helping small-hold farmers across the world access crucial information in a timely fashion," said Mwinyi Bwika, head of user acquisition at WeFarm in Kenya.

The approach is simple: When a farmer sees something strange about his crops, he sends a message to the local WeFarm number. The question is then processed and sent out to select members of the messaging community. A useful answer could be returned within minutes.

According to WeFarm, 90% of small-hold farmers are now able to access a cell phone, meaning many could be connected globally.

Launched in 2015, the platform is headquartered in London and is being trialed in Kenya, Uganda and Peru. It addresses a key factor forgotten as new technologies inundate the agricultural sector: keeping people informed.

"Information is at the core of everything we do," Bwika said. "Our farmers have information and knowledge that would benefit other farmers within the network. ... (They) learned how to farm from their parents ... and their parents learned from their parents. ... (We) can tap into this generational knowledge."

More than 120,000 farmers are connected using the service, and more than 280,000 questions have been answered.

"Text is a far better method" to communicate, said Shailaja Fennell, who coordinates the Global Food Security Initiative at the University of Cambridge but is not involved in the WeFarm program. "The idea of WeFarm is powerful in terms of building a community."

Fennell added that methods of communicating can vary across cultures and age groups and that these differences would need to be understood by the people intercepting the questions. "Social norms and behaviors vary massively," she said, but she believes that overall, the idea could make a big difference to farmers in need of knowledge.

"Food has become a powerful industry ... but the extension (to provide information) has not grown alongside it," she said.

New seeds to break tradition

The quest for information among farmers does not stop at sending a text. An approach being used by the Seed Trade Association of Kenya is getting farmers to look outside their comfort zone to improve food production.

A new program, Mbegu Choice (Swahili for "seed choice"), is opening the eyes of small-hold farmers to a new world of seeds, and therefore plants, that produce food year-round and whenever they need it.

"It's a database of all crops available in Kenya," said Aline O'Connor, director of the consultancy firm Agri Experience, which developed the program now passed on to the Seed Trade Association.

"There is a lot of food insecurity in Kenya, approximately 42% of Kenyans ... and the diversity of their diet is not good," O'Connor said. "You want to grow a variety of crops."

The goal of Mbegu Choice is to therefore help farmers choose what plants to grow after describing the conditions of their farmland and their region to get a list of seed varieties that could flourish there.

"We're trying to get farmers to look at newer seeds," O'Connor said. "It's like a software upgrade. They're better."

The process is again simple: state your county, the ecology and the crop you want. Then choose whether you want an early-growing crop and whether you need it to be drought- or disease-tolerant. Out comes a tailored selection of seeds in either English or Swahili.

The site has seen more than 26,000 users in Kenya -- 34,000 globally -- and includes all seed varieties available in Kenya, listed at the click of a button. The limit for now is the need for a computer or smartphone.

"A lot of farmers don't have access to the internet or an app, so we're a little ahead of ourselves," O'Connorsaid.

Fennell agrees that the need to be online is a major limitation of this service in reaching the people who truly need it, but she commends the approach to get people thinking about seed choice.

"This is a very different portal. ... It would make sense to make it in the languages of local farmers," she said. "New seed variety use needs understanding."

Their use could mean farmers have maize, beans and other varieties growing throughout the year to get their families -- and eventual customers -- eating a more varied diet.

Using phones and satellites to predict drought

In multiple regions of the world, food supplies are impeded by drought, none more than the Horn of Africa, which has seen droughts occur almost annually for the past 12 years, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The consequences of drought are numerous, including reduced food and water availability, increased fire risk, insect infestation, disease infection and wind erosion, all further reducing the volumes of food that can be produced.

In most of the countries in the area, more than 25% of the population suffers from hunger and chronic undernourishment.

But researchers at Columbia University are combining satellite data with knowledge on the ground to help at-risk populations and farmers predict -- and prepare -- ahead of time.

They have been using findings from a study known as SATIDA (Satellite Technologies for Improved Drought Assessment), led by the Vienna University of Technology. This study used satellite data to identify regional drought patterns and trends in partnership with people using smart phones on the ground to explore local knowledge on droughts and activities that may further fuel food insecurity, such as war.

Together, this united global and local information to flag vulnerable populations.

"The goal is to know whether a drought is going on," said lead researcher Markus Enenkel of Columbia's International Research Institute for Climate and Society. "But it's also not always drought that leads to food insecurity; it can be due to volatility," he said of civil unrest or undernutrition.

Though smartphones are still a luxury for many small-hold farmers, community health workers used apps to collect information from the farmers and families at risk to inform the teams at Columbia how best to move forward.

The team now has two projects stemming from the initial use of satellites and smartphones: one confirming the occurrence of drought so farmers can get insurance payouts when their crops fail and the other enabling biweekly, or monthly, forecasts of climates to help pre-empt changes in food production. "We can give a seasonal summary to help people prepare," Enenkel said.

"This is an important idea," Fennell said. "There is value in drawing big data and linking it to farmers on the ground."

She added that the use of community workers is crucial to ensure that the voices of the affected are truly heard. "I would think even more about this community interface," she said.

At the core of these programs lies great hope for the role of technology in changing the value of farming, but Fennell admits that each program has its pros and cons.

"It would be good to have a hybrid across these," she said. "The world of IT is fantastic, but to truly deliver, the products must be owned and analyzed by the community."

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the tech solutions to end global hunger - cnn.com

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Within minutes, you can find or crowd-source an answer to your mystery, keeping it from perplexing you any longer. Now, take that scenario and shift it to a remote farmer, thousands of miles awayin Africa, responsible for the food both their family and you will soon eat.

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Biotechnology & GMO
Plant Breeding
Agricultural Biologicals
Crop Protection
Data Science
Modern Agriculture
Research & Development
This webpage is full of the above resources and links for more information on how agriculture is changing for improvement

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[unex_ce_basic_banner_landing layer-name="banner landing" layout="align-center-left" has_overlay="no-overlay" cutout_image="" cutout_image_filename="Upload Image" cutout_layout="align-bottom" id="content_wk281mcmp" post_id="4558" semplice_styles_background_color="transparent" semplice_styles_background_image="https://monsanto.com/app/uploads/2017/05/modern_ag_banner.jpg" semplice_styles_background_size="auto" semplice_styles_background_position="50% 0%" semplice_styles_background_repeat="no-repeat" semplice_styles_padding_top="0px" semplice_styles_padding_bottom="0px" semplice_styles_padding_left="0" semplice_styles_padding_right="0"] <h6><span style="color:#afc684;">Envisioning the Future of Farming</span></h6><h1><span style="color:#ffffff;">What is Modern Agriculture?</span></h1><p><span style="color:#ffffff;">Modern agriculture is an evolving approach to agricultural innovations and farming practices that helps farmers increase efficiency and <a target="_self" href="https://monsanto.com/company/sustainability/">reduce the amount of natural resources</a>-water, land, and energy-necessary to meet the world's food, fuel, and fiber needs.</span></p> [/ce_basic_banner_landing]

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Food banks, donations, volunteers

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Give today to Feeding America and help 1 in 8 hungry Americans. You can join the fight to end hunger.

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First grade teacher at the school I work started this pantry this year as a way for community to help each other. I personally have seen food, diapers, formula, toothbrushes added to the box.

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Near the entrances to Southwest Elementary School now stand two boxes that are all about the school extending a helping hand to the local community.

The boxes went up over the weekend and are stocked with pasta, canned vegetables and other non-perishable food items that individuals may need for a meal for themselves or their families. The items are free and ready for anyone who needs them.

"It will help people who need it. They will have food to help support their family," said fifth grader Owen Peterson, who joined first graders Braelyn St. Romain and Bella Aguillon Wednesday in adding food items that had been collected by the school to one of the boxes.

First grade teacher Joseph Pinette heard about the Little Free Pantry project while listening to NPR on the radio one morning and that set in motion the idea of doing a similar project through the school.

"I heard them talking about it and thought this is amazing. Just think how many people we could reach with this," Pinette said.

A pilot project started in 2016 in Arkansas and the idea is simple: neighbors helping neighbors to address food insecurity or other needs.

Take what you need or add to the boxes if you want to help.

Pinette said the idea is to keep the boxes full of non-perishable food items and other necessities, such as diapers and hygiene items a family may need.

Pinette said the boxes are there to help anyone who needs it, whether they are struggling to feed their family or just need a little help to get by until their next paycheck.

There are families that may not qualify for benefits through certain programs but still need help and there may be others who won't seek assistance.

"A lot of people won't ask for help. This is a way they can get help anonymously," Pinette said.

The boxes are available to anyone and each has a solar light installed on them so that they are available day or night.

Southwest Elementary School Principal Elizabeth Castle said there are also lessons to be learned as the students take part in keeping the pantry boxes in operation.

Honor Society members will be collecting goods to put in the boxes and students will also be tracking the items that are being used.

"The kids will be taking inventory of what is going in and what it going out so that we can gauge what the community's needs are," Castle said.

Students will also be looking at things such as humidity and if there are weather impacts on the pantry supplies.

Pinette said his first graders will be tracking data and using information in the classroom curriculum.

"It will be an interactive project for them, using the skills they are learning in the classroom," he said.

They will also be learning about helping their community and others outside the classroom.

"They'll track the food and know what they are putting in the box and know that it is going to people in the community," he said.

Owen, who is 11, said that while they are still in elementary school they can do things to help others.

"Anybody can make a difference," he said.

Pinette said there may be some concern that people will take from the pantry when they don't need it, but he said it is not his job to judge who needs something and who doesn't. He said their goal is to reach out to help the community where they can.

"The other thing we could do is nothing," Pinette said.

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Southwest Elementary students start Little Free Pantry project

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Near the entrances to Southwest Elementary School now stand two boxes that are all about the school extending a helping hand to the local community. The boxes went up over the weekend and are stocked with pasta, canned vegetables and other non-perishable food items that individuals may need for a meal for themselves or their families.

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This program feeds over 80 million people in over 50 countries each year.

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World Hunger Relief | Yum! Brands CSR Report

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The money raised for the WFP is given as unrestricted funds to be used for WFP's greatest needs around the globe, allowing WFP the flexibility to get food and resources where they are most needed. As a part of our commitment to ensuring 100% of the consumer and associate funds donated are used by WFP for feeding people and the related programs, the Yum!

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Program that provides access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger. Found in 45 countries feeding 9 million.

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Rise Against Hunger Partnership in Vietnam 

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Rise Against Hunger Partnership in Vietnam 

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Food program offers 3 nutritious mills to students, increasing academics.
Rise against hunger program.

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For those who rely on agriculture for income, unpredictable weather patterns can mean the difference between providing food for their families, or going without.

Hieu, age 5, lives with his family in the Quang Nam Province of Vietnam. Life for families like Hieu's in the low-lying province is challenging, as farmers' harvests are regularly disrupted by droughts and flooding. Hieu's parents work multiple jobs to ensure that he and his sister are able to attend school. They struggle, however, to earn enough money to afford both schooling and to meet the family's basic nutritional needs.

At Hieu's school, Hung Loc Kindergarten, he and his sister receive three nutrient-rich Rise Against Hunger meals each week distributed by partner Children of Vietnam. The school's vice principal, Lan Nguyen Thi, says she has seen a pronounced decrease in the malnutrition rate among her students since the implementation of Rise Against Hunger meals.

The Rise Against Hunger meals provide nutrition that the students would otherwise go without, enabling students to concentrate in school and succeed academically. Rise Against Hunger has partnered with The Quang Nam Charity to nourish lives for 14 years.

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Long Term Partnership in Vietnam Boosts Kindergarten Students' Studies - Rise Against Hunger

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For those who rely on agriculture for income, unpredictable weather patterns can mean the difference between providing food for their families, or going without. Hieu, age 5, lives with his family in the Quang Nam Province of Vietnam. Life for families like Hieu's in the low-lying province is challenging, as farmers' harvests are regularly disrupted by droughts and flooding.

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Advanced Agriculture found in India

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ADVANCE AGRICULTURE | AGRICULTURE IN ISRAEL | HI TECH AGRICULTURE IN INDIA

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Advance Agriculture provides agricultural chemicals and sound advice for their application and use, from their business base in Gore. Agriculture for increasing production and quality of crops . Advances in Agriculture is a peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas of agriculture.

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This video discusses the invention of advanced agricultural buildings called CFS.