Agriculture – Primal Group

Climate Report: Extreme Weather Will Continue to Pound US and Global Economy

Throughout the Northern Hemisphere this summer, heat waves have been breaking records and sustaining wildfires of unprecedented fury. These events are providing further proof that a changing climate continues to lead to severe consequences for humanity. At least 85 people were  killed during the recent series of wildfires that struck California; 249 are listed as missing. Nearly 19,000 buildings, most of them homes, have been destroyed. A report released by the White House and created by the US Global Change Research Program states that an increase in climate change could continue to cause wildfires, heat waves and strong hurricanes across the United States. …

Bolsonaro Wins Historic Brazilian Election – What it Means for the Agricultural Industry

Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro won the national elections on Sunday by securing 55.1% of the ballots cast. The Social Liberal Party candidate campaigned on a conservative platform, promising to fight corruption, strengthen ties with the United States and loosen gun controls. The victory comes during a period mired by corruption scandals in Brazil and the biggest economic recession in the country’s history. In this strange climate, there has been one industry that has carried the economy through recession and is expected to continue growing in the future: agriculture. Despite what some consider far-right views, Bolsonaro has attracted the support of the agricultural sector in Brazil as his helm leaves the country’s buoyant food sector poised for further growth.…

Government Legislation in the Age of Impending Climate Change

A report released by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that humanity has just 12 years to reverse the effects of climate change and keep the global temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5° C (2.7° F). The IPCC report finds that it would take an effort greater than the one that we are currently seeing in order to halt global warming. This is a very real reminder of the immediate need for action by governments across the globe. This imminent peril for our planet will become a significant driver for legislation in the coming years in order to force businesses to transit towards sustainable practices.…

The Consequences of Agrochemicals on the Oceans

The oceans feed more than 500 million people and provide jobs for 350 million people.

At least 500 dead zones have now been reported near coasts, up from under 50 in 1950. A recent example is the red tide on the southwestern coast of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, which has killed thousands of animals and significantly disrupted the biodiversity of the area. The red tide is a normal seasonal occurrence in southwestern Florida, however, this year’s tide has astoundingly lasted since November 2017. Areas affected are known as “hypoxic areas” or “dead zones”. The cause of such hypoxic (lacking oxygen) conditions is usually eutrophication, an increase in chemical nutrients in the water, leading to excessive blooms of algae that deplete underwater oxygen levels. …

Neem Set to Benefit From Global Cannabis Growth

Primal believes that a key factor for the future of the cannabis industry will be sustainable crop care. The toll of commercial agriculture on the world is already significant, and the addition of another major crop such as cannabis treated with traditional synthetic and chemical inputs could lead to damaging repercussions for both human health and the planet. As a cash crop, growers rely on synthetics and chemicals in order to guarantee the growth of their plants. Furthermore, synthetic pesticides on cannabis can be transferred into cannabis smoke at a rate as high as 70%, allowing chemicals to directly enter the bloodstream without undergoing first-pass metabolism by the digestive systems.

…

A Day at the Farm – Part 3

…

Brazil’s Second Green Revolution – Pioneering the Evolution of Agriculture in Latin America and the World

Since the midpoint of the last century, Brazil’s progressive developments in agriculture have developed the country into the world’s 21st-century breadbasket. Transforming its tropical agriculture into a modern and resourceful one has allowed the country to become the world’s largest exporter of a variety of products like sugar, coffee, and tropical fruits.

For years, Brazilian agriculture has focused on transforming from a traditional production system with limited use of technologies, into one of the world’s most modern agricultural sectors – especially since the 1970s, an era which marked an important process of modernization, including advances in technological progress and gains in productivity.…

Solving the Global Food Crisis

The global food production system is set to face immense challenges in the coming decades. With massive population growth combined with the emergence of a global middle class, the need for agricultural goods is accelerating at an unprecedented level. The global demand for food around the world is expected to see a 70% increase by 2050. This will require even more intensive energy, water and fertilizer inputs in agriculture to sustain and increase yields on our limited supply of arable land.

Demand Growth for Agricultural Products by Region (2007-2050)

Source: FAO (2016)

Today agriculture contributes 25%-30% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of all water withdrawals annually – this is double the amount 50 years ago.The…

Sustaining Humanity’s Demand for Food and Energy

‘Agricultural investment is one of the most important and effective strategies for economic growth and poverty reduction.’

United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (2015).

In a world facing rapid population growth, a changing climate and the depletion of vital resources, economic growth and prosperity depends on finding a sustainable way to meet society’s need for sustenance. Therefore, producers around the world are finding new ways to sustainably, and affordably, meet humanity’s growing demand for food and energy.

50,000 years of human civilization was needed to reach the first billion people on earth, but the latest billion was added in just over a decade.…

Earth Overshoot Day

We are now living in an age of new challenges that require innovative thinking. This week’s mayhem in global markets, sparked by the Chinese Yuan’s devaluation on August 11th, has seen Shanghai’s Composite Index drop by 7.6%, Germany’s Dax and London’s FTSE drop 4.7% and the S&P 500 drop 3.8% – all in a matter of days. Although global stocks are now rebounding, investors have been reminded of how equity and bond market volatility can flip into dangerous territory with very little or no warning.

One of these new challenges is mankind’s increasing rate of consumption, whether equity related (US stocks saw their highest trading volume in four years on Monday) or our population’s growing need for sustenance.…