Conservation Covers

The acai berry grows in groves on 25 meter high palm trees. Best known as a Brazilian fruit, the acai berry can also be found throughout Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and the Guyanas. Acai can be harvested year-round due to South America’s warm climate. While it is becoming widely known in North America for its its use in vitamin supplements, juices and energy drinks, acai has traditionally been used by South Americans to treat diseases and conditions such as stomach ailments.

In addition to being used for medicinal purposes, acai is an important part of daily life and mealtime.  However, the acai berry is extremely delicate and thus cannot be kept more than 2 days, even refrigerated. Throughout Brazil, such as in the state of Para, acai berries are harvested and sold immediately in town markets. It is widely available and made by locals into juices or “acai wine,” which requires additional processing. It’s also added as a component of breakfast. Depending on the region of Brazil, you may find it in ice cream where it has a pale purple hue.  It is also sometimes incorporated into a side dish at the evening meal, where it is thickened with tapioca flour and served with fish, shrimp, meat, rice and beans.

While commercial opportunties abound for acai, there is increasing awareness of the environmental impact of acai harvesting. The acai plant is necessary for soil conservation, particularly in tropical areas that receive heavy rains. Only a portion of the 1,000,000 hectares of acai groves are currently being developed using sustainable management techniques, however certain juice distributors are working with local farmers to cultivate the acai berry more responsibly. Areas like Para now export up to 80% of its acai pulp throughout Brazil and the world, including Japan, the U.S, South America and Europe. Sustainability must be an ongoing priority so that native acai tree forests are protected. In the long term, these careful measures will positively benefit the commercial acai industry.

Heat, drought and water reductions are common in today’s environment, leading commercial farmers and backyard gardeners alike to explore the benefits of drip irrigation.

Compared with conventional sprinkler irrigating, drip irrigation is efficient, economical and appears to create healthier plants. Drip irrigation is the slow, even application of water that diverts water directly to plants by low pressure distribution. This is achieved with plastic tubing that is localised straight at the root zone. It can be utilised both inside (such as in greenhouses) and outdoors.

Water is Conserved Through Drip Irrigation Systems

When applying sprinkler irrigation, a significant amount of water is lost. It runs off the earth’s surface and or it evaporates before it reaches the roots of the plants, where it is most needed. On the other hand, drip irrigation slowly delivers water to where it is required at the root level. When mixed with mulch, this method of irrigating results in a huge decrease in evaporation and runoff. Drip irrigation systems can be positioned on the surface of the soil or below the soil. Farmers are discovering that if they drip irrigate during the heat of the day, their crops flourish.

Drip Irrigating Delivers Nutrients and Reduces Pets and Weeds

Soil additives and fertilizers such as nitrogen can be injected into the drip tubing on a periodic basis. In managing the application of required nutrients and fertilizers through injection into drip irrigation systems, research is revealing that crop production yields are higher and healthier.

Growers have observed that when they are using drip irrigation systems, there are fewer pests to contend with. There are also reductions in weeds since water is moving only to where it is needed, rather than being spread across the center of rows where crops are not planted. This results in lower pesticide and weedkiller use, as well as the labor called for in applying chemical applications.

Initial Costs May Be High

Contemporary drip irrigation systems have evolved beyond home use by backyard gardeners and are becoming progressively popular on row crops. While the initial cost ininstalling irrigation lines, pumps and filters can be steep for commercial farmers, the long-run cost is less with lower labor, bugs, weeds and water loss.

Commercial growers typically divert their water from irrigation ditches or well water to the drip irrigation delivery system. They use a pump and filtration system to move the water from its source to the irrigation piping. Not only is there an expensive initial cost outlay, but the process of installing the drip irrigation system is expensive. Some have calculated that the new systems cost roughly $2000 per acre.

Nonetheless, there is an upside. Growers are discovering up to a 50% gain in production when they are using drip irrigation. And of course, they are conserving water which is a big benefit in today’s world of drought and water reduction requirements.

Aid for Farmers

Some government aid may be available through the National Soil Conservation Service which was founded in 1936. The NSCS is organized by districts throughout the counties and states and is managed by the United States Department of Agriculture. Conservation program grants and consulting services are available on the NSCS internet site or through its local chapters.

Conclusion

Drought is anticipated to be a national problem over the forthcoming years. Backyard gardeners and commercial growers alike may want to explore drip irrigation as a means to reduce costs and stay in business.

Thinking of wildlife safari? Africa has got it all. Nearly a hundred percent of its reserves and wildlife sanctuaries feature wildlife of some sort. However, the coverage of wildlife species and the varieties that you may see differ as the region changes.

Wildlife aside, safari would only be composed of a number of plant species, of terrain and of strange creatures like insects, bugs and the likes. Without the animals, African safaris would be reduced into a haven of sedentary and rarely moving species. Without the animal of the safaris, ecosystems would not exist. In a sense, animals add to the beauty that life in Africa may present. They give meaning. They add excitement. And they encourage tourism.

It is thought that African safaris started to become famous when the hunt for animals boomed sometime in the nineteenth century. This is because men then were perceived bold enough if they can kill wild animals right in their habitats and in action. This activity provides them a bag full of hunting trophies that adorned the walls of their libraries.

These days, a great thanks to movements for wildlife, hunting is restricted to many areas of African safaris. Nonetheless, there are still areas where slaughtering of wild animals are allowed. Because of the banning, travelers are now limited to only watch the animals hunt each other, predators to prey, and experience the exchange of life and death among them. Some of us still see hunting as a sport though.

The most famous of the animals in safari are known to be the big five which includes rhinoceros, lion, buffalo, leopard and the elephant. Why they became to be, no body is sure. Why other equally wonderful animals are not included in the list remains to be a mystery. It’s safe to presume that that’s simply the way hunters prefer it.

Adding to the big five are plain animals and mammals that coexist with each other. Some being the prey. Some being the predators. Nonetheless, they all take their parts in the circle of life. They give life.

Though not really considered animals, it is still worth saying that there are thousands of insect species, bugs, butterflies, and other moving creatures found in the African safaris. However large or big they can get won’t really matter. They still balance wildlife and they aid in continuing the existence of ecosystems in African safaris.

Some people say, once human intervene with this natural process, even only for once, he may intervene with the succeeding years and life of the species that live in the safaris. And this seem to be true. Sudden and gradual fluctuations of population in the safaris are very much affected by the minute actions of the animals and other living things that exist in it.

We have created brief descriptions of the top five Tanzanians wildlife safaris that rank near the top of the list in all Africa. Please read on.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The worse you can call Ngorongoro is amazing. That would be more than that, there is definitely not a word that can describe this conservation area.

Ngorongoro is the home of the largest caldera on earth. With walls reaching to 2200 meters high, this is fairly equal to Mount Kilimanjaro before the eruption. Thus the consideration for it being one of the world’s natural wonders.

The caldera itself is not a plain heap of land that stood on its place and make people amazed. No. In fact, once the caldera settled, it began to create pools of water that attract some 30,000 wildlife species at any given time. More like a Garden of Eden, Ngorongoro harbors the largest congregation of games in the entire earth.

Tarangire National Park

When you want to see large herds of elephants with accompanying buffaloes, your best bet would be the Tarangire. The number of elephants concentrating here is almost 600 individuals during the peak season.

However, less tourists visit here since they are attracted to neighboring national parks such as the magnificent Serengeti and the mighty Ngorongoro. The dry season harbors the largest population of elephants along with other enormous animals and plain beasts, which benefit from the vast water resources of the Tarangire River. They disperse during winter though.

Lake Manyara National Park

Ask anything about Lake Manyara and collect them all in one heap, tree climbing lions will emerge as the top answer. It is true. Climbing lions that prefer sleeping the day up on the tree branches than lying comfortably in the grasslands as all other lions do.

While it gather its fame from the strangely dispositioned lions, it is also popular for its large congregation of lake birds such as the pelicans, Egyptian geese, storks, quelea, flamingos and cormorants.

You may also find the usual wildlife species here complemented by the rare animals such as the lord of the forest- Sykes monkey and the Olive baboon.