Future of Global Nutrition

 Nitrates are widely used as fertilisers at farms. Excess levels of nitrates can damage freshwaters and the marine environment by promoting eutrophication. Excessive growth of algae chokes other life. Eliminating excess nitrates from drinking water is very costly. Keeping aquatic systems unpolluted is a responsibility of  mankind. [1]

BASF announced to build a plant for formic acid at Geismar, Louisiana/USA. The new plant will have an annual capacity of more than 50,000 tons adding to the actual capacity of 255.000 tons of formic acid produced by BASF in its sites in Ludwigshafen/Germany, and Nanjing/China.  [1]

Dr. Eric A Davidson writes that meat consumption must be reduced. Fertiliser use and management of manure must change to avoid that the targets of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will not be met. [1]

Rauth et al 2012 report that prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos, measured in umbilical cord blood,  is associated with neurobehavioural deficits in humans and animals. Affected are, alertness, emotions, control of impulse and social relationship. Rauth and colleagues found in their study more than  4,39 Pikogramm Chlorpyrifos/gram umbelical blood., which is   even rather low, compared to samples of the blood bank of Cincinnati whhich present an average 9,9 Pikogramm pro Gramm. [1]

Scientists call for 50% reduction in mean per capita meat consumption in the developed world [1]

The US company Planetary Resources announced that it will combine space exploration with mining of natural resources of asteroids, aiming to generate trillions of Dollars and promote material welfare of mankind. [1]

Rice stripe virus (RSV) is a member of the Tenuivirus genus. It causes chlorotic stripes, chlorosis, moderate stunting and loss of vigour.  Severe infections cause the leaves of the plant to develop brown to grey necrotic streaks. If infection is massive the plant dies. The virus occurs in rice, maize, wheat, oat, foxtail millet and wild grasses of the family Gramineae. It does not infect members of other families.

MicroRNA (miRNA) are short ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules which have very few nucleotides (an average of 22). MiRNA genes are located in the intergenic regions of the plant genome. They regulate the post-transcriptional expression of proteins in plants and animals. MiRNAs are likely to be involved in most biological processes. [1]

Bee populations are on decline, such phenomena is known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Goulson et al.2012  believes that neonicotinoid  imidacloprid insecticides are linked to the decline as they occur at trace levels in the nectar and pollen of crop plants. [1]

Mining increases water scarcity in Ecuador endangering food security of the region. Rural population  from all parts of Ecuador claim that the traditional usage of natural water resources is the basis of their existence. The free access to natural and clean water resources is considered a human right, which was even stipulated in the constitution of Ecuador in 2008. [1]