Backgrounders
Backgrounders are brief introductions to important and technical topics and Answers to frequently asked questions share key information on a topic.
Use this information to plan an episode or series of episodes on the topic, to prepare for an interview, or to answer questions from callers.
- All
- Agriculture
- Aquaculture
- Children and youth
- Climate change
- Community development
- Crop production
- Energy
- Environment and climate change
- Gender equality
- Health
- Hygiene and sanitation
- Land issues
- Livestock and beekeeping
- Marketing and market information
- Nature-based Solutions
- Nutrition
- Post-harvest activities
- Social issues
- Soil health
- Trees and agroforestry
- Water management
Raise Your Own Plants for Green Manure Crops
Annual plants for green manure crops are easy to grow from seed. But propagating perennials (trees and shrubs that live for many years) from seed can be slow. A faster way to propagate some perennials is to use stem cuttings‑‑that is, pieces of branches cut from mature plants or trees. You can plant them in…
Smoking is Unhealthy and Expensive
Do you smoke? If you do, here are some things that you should know. Smoking increases your risk of getting diseases which can kill you. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to get cancer of the lungs, mouth, throat, or lips. Smoking causes chronic bronchitis and emphysema which interfere with breathing. Smoking…
Protect Stored Beans from Weevils
Today we are going to talk about a couple of ways you can prevent bean weevils from damaging stored beans. We will talk about adding ashes or vegetable oil to the beans in storage. The very first step is to determine whether or not it is even necessary to use pest control. In other words,…
What is Integrated Pest Management?
These days many farmers use only one type of pest control. Many use only chemical pesticides. But using only pesticides can cause problems. At first, you might find that chemical pesticides work well. But pesticides do not only kill bad pests: they also kill many of the good or friendly insects which eat the pests. …
Traditional, Hybrid, and Improved Crops
Some of the crops you grow have probably been important in your region for generations. There are good reasons to keep on planting these traditional crops. Traditional crops are adapted to local growing conditions. A crop does well in a particular region because it has qualities that help it survive the conditions it faces there. …
Keep Your cattle in good condition with poultry manure
We often hear nurses and village health workers talk about eating nutritious foods. Energy‑giving foods give us the strength to work and exercise. Body‑building foods help us repair damaged body tissue. Vitamins and minerals protect us from disease. Cattle are like us: they need nutritious food to keep healthy. Many farmers have trouble keeping their…
Working with Saline Soil
Saline soil is a problem for many farmers. Saline soil is especially common in low-lying areas such as the flood plains of rivers, lake beds, and coastal plains. In these places, ground water containing salts is found within a few metres of the surface. Most plants either do not grow well in saline soil or…
What is Happening to the Weather?
Is the weather getting worse where you live? Does the sun seem to burn hotter? Do the rains fail to fall? Some scientists believe what is happening is different from the year‑in, year‑out changes in the weather that farmers have always had to put up with. And they think pollution from such sources as big…
Get to Know Medicinal Plants and How to Use Them
When someone in your family or community gets sick or injured, what do you do? Buying medicine can be expensive. And if you live far from a clinic or medical centre, it may be difficult to find the drugs you need. Commercial drugs may seem like a good idea, but if you cannot afford to…
Farm in a Box
Do you think that because you live in a town or a city you cannot grow food for your family or for the market? In almost no space at all, some city families grow crops that improve their diet and earn them money too! They learned that growing crops in rows in fields is not…