Several geographical races of the oriental honeybee (A.Cerana) occupy the vast Asian mainland. They possess different behavioural characteristics, particularly those contributing to the bees' capacity for survival. Among the major behavioural characteristics exercising a direct influence on colony management are migration, absconding, colony reproduction rate, colony population size, foraging and...

The following contains explanations about wood burning fuel-efficient stoves and of insulated baskets/boxes. Firstly, the details of the features of wood-burning fuel-efficient stoves are given. These include their high combustion efficiency, reduction in wood consumption, the good transference of the heat from the fire to the pot, minimal smoke emission,...

Armyworm larvae (Spodoptera Exempta) cause devastating but highly localized damage to cereal crops and grassland. Poor monitoring and forecasting constrain efficient control operations in many parts of East Africa. Forecasting of armyworm employs information from rain gauges and moth raps. Therefore, a simple community-based forecasting system, by collecting data on...

Cette fiche présente un modèle d'enfumoir fabriqué par la Plateforme des Apiculteurs des Cataractes (PLAAC), en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) qui ne nécessite pas de soudures. Vous y trouverez des schémas bien détaillés, des photos et conseils permettant à tous bricoleurs/artisans de se lancer dans des essais de fabrication...

Raw materials are one of the most important aspects to consider in fruit and vegetable processing. The fruit and vegetables themselves are the raw materials, the reason for the development of preservation processes. This technology focuses on mango and guava nectar processing. It has been extracted from FAO's Technical Manual...

Different tree cropping can improve the efficiency of land-use and be an additional source of income for small-scale farmers. Rubber trees need about six years to mature, during this period, an intercropping of the land with banana trees improves both land‑use and income generation. This technology reports on the benefits...

African armyworm (Spodoptera Exempta) is a serious migratory pest of pasture and grain crops in Africa. Two novel control technologies are described to replace environmentally damaging and expensive synthetic chemical pesticides. The first is a process for local mass-production and formulation of S. exempta nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpexNPV), a naturally occurring biological control agent....

Maintaining colonies of oriental honeybees in box hives is an improved and often less expensive version of loghive beekeeping. In view of current wood prices in many parts of Asia, the cost of building hives from good solid logs can be prohibitive. In some coastal areas of tropical Asia, coconut...

The following contains a guideline on how to better use hoes, and how to improve them. Advantages are highlighted which include labour saving, livelihood resilience strengthening, equipment, skills, cost and infrastructure. Disadvantages are labour, livelihood, equipment and risk.  Description In many countries in Africa, 90 percent of primary cultivation is carried out...

Crop establishment is often poor in the semi-arid tropics. However, good crop stand establishment is essential for the efficient use of water and light, and a uniform stand is a pre-requisite for cropping success. Seeds that germinate quickly produce viable seedlings that are not dependent on rapidly declining moisture in...

Camel milk can certainly play a far more important role in the prevention of malnutrition than it does today. Growing and raising foodstuffs for the rapidly increasing human population is especially precarious in the hot and arid zones of the world. These are the very areas where the camel is...

The Haller Foundation is a UK registered charity that launched Haller Farmers Web App in 2014. Haller Farmers is a mobile application designed to support small producers through open access to information related to agriculture and the different technologies applicable to this sector. It leverages the growing uptake of mobile technology...

The following includes features of hand tools for harvesting and advise the change from commonly used hand tools to best fitting ones. It also highlights the advantages which include labour saving, livelihood strengthening, equipment, skills, cost, risk and infrastructure. The disadvantages include the labour and skills required.  Description Knives and sickles are...

Milk is a biological substance that is particularly susceptible to degradation through the action of microbes and enzymes. This situation mainly arises from its complex composition, where spoilage organisms can find a large variety of nutrients. The high-water content and neutral pH also facilitate undesirable changes. Cheese-making technology aims to...

El uso de leguminosas forrajeras en complementos alimenticios sólidos o bloques multinutricionales (BMN), mejora la eficiencia de utilización del forraje consumido e incrementa la productividad animal a menor coste, especialmente en épocas críticas con una escasa disponibilidad de forraje.

The floating garden practice is a local indigenous production system most successful in the wetland/submerged areas of selected south and south-western districts (Pirojpur, Barisal and Gopalganj) in Bangladesh. Floating garden agricultural practices have been adopted by local farmers for nearly two centuries. This technology describes how to construct and use...

This technology includes features of conservation agriculture, conservation tillage, conservation tillage equipment including the -hand-operated jab planter- and features of cover crops. All those practices are labour-saving technologies.  Description 1. Features of conservation agriculture Conservation agriculture is the simultaneous practice of permanent soil cover, minimal soil disturbance and crop rotations. This is achieved...

The objective of straw treatment is to increase the digestibility of straw and/or the amount of it voluntarily consumed so that digestible energy intake by animals from straw is increased. Methods of treating straw may be classified broadly into physical, chemical and biological categories. Among physical methods of significance are...

Le manioc est une plante vivrière, arbustive pérenne pouvant atteindre un à quatre mètre de haut et ayant une ou plusieurs tiges principales avec ou sans ramification. Le mode de propagation par bouture est utilisé couramment, mais pas par germination (réservé à la recherche). Le rendement en station de recherche...

Duckweed is the common name given to the simplest and smallest flowering plant that grows ubiquitously on fresh or polluted water throughout the world. If water is not a limiting resource the most appropriate way of using the effluent from the biodigester is for the construction of duckweed ponds. FAO's...