Sustainable Agriculture

Sorry for the Hiatus. Anyway I'm back to Blogging.

I just recently helped to found a new organization "Professionals for Sustainable Agriculture". Please do check our website at: http://www.professionals-for-sustainable-agriculture.org/"

We are planning our first forum in Kuala Lumpur on 2 and 3 Dec, titled "Farming for the Future". Please do join us if you can ( details for registration are at the PSA website), and show your support for this imitative in Sustainability.

More soon ….

Signs of Wild Boars on the Farm

Wild boars (Sus scrofa), have an almost global distribution, and are one of the most commonly encountered wild mammals in SE Asia. Their success is a clear indication of their adaptability, an in particular their ability to thrive in environments disturbed by humans.

You can see nice pictures of the Malaysian wild boar at http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/mammals/wild_pig.htm

In the farming community boars are rather feared visitor, mainly because of their habit of digging up and destroying new plants. The problem is made worse by the habit of boars to travel in family groups (known as “sounders”), thus the damage caused is multiplied by the numbers arriving at the farm. I’ve heard that boars are attracted mainly to new plantings where their habit of digging & “rooting” will cause complete destruction of the plants.

Despite their potential threat to agriculture, boars are considered an important part of the natural environment, thus deserve some degree of protection. I know that in Malaysia they serve as a food source for many higher predators, including tigers.

Some people advocate trapping or shooting of boars in farm areas, but these seem difficult to implement, and in SE Asian conditions seem unlikely to reduce the risks sufficiently, as there is a seemingly inexhaustible.

Agricultural boar damage seems effectively prevented by the installation of fencing. The fence deign seems to be important for success in mitigation. Boars seem good at digging entrances to the farm by burrowing under the fence, thus it seems helpful to include a sub-soil-level berm (best out of concrete) in order to make it difficult (although still technically possible) for them to get under.

Some people advocate deployment of electric fences, but I’ve not yet seen these work well in-practice.

Installation of pig-proof fences are a quite a high expense, so many of the farmers and a lot of the plantation companies install less expensive deep-ditches instead. There are various opinions on the effectiveness of ditches, but again it seems that design is important. Boars seem to be able to jump quite far to cross a ditch, and also seem adept at climbing seemingly vertical walls of soil.

Last week I was out with my friend and fellow- naturalist Vincent, who took me to some of the Lanchang farm areas where wild boars were commonly seen in the evenings (see video below). We looked at boar foot prints (pic at top of blog) , and checked out the mud “wallowing hole" (photo below) that the boars made, and inspected the ditches that they managed to cross over.

Despite their reputation and the potential hazards (including risk of attacks to workers) I think they are interesting animals to have around, and I would definitely like to learn more about their ecology.

Minute but Colourful Jumping- Spider Predators

Spiders occur in relatively large numbers in most agro-ecosystems, and are thought by many pest management (IPM) experts to represent the typical “generalist” predator.
In tropical fruit crops I am often impressed by the abundance and diversity of the very small “Jumping spiders” (Family Salticidae). These are usually ( 1 to 2 cm ) in size, and typically can only be viewed for a few seconds before they either rapidly scurry away or more likely catapult themselves to a new location.

Their jumping behaviour is of interest to arthropod physiologists, as incredibly these critters have few muscles and mange their incredible athletic feats by suddenly adjusting their blood pressure forcing the legs to kick out in a sort of hydraulic-like mechanism. It’s a pretty effective trick, and allows them to cover distances 30 cm or more in a single jump.

Jumping spiders are said to also have incredible telescopic vision, facilitated by a network of four eyes that run across the front of their head. I am sure no prey (or foe) manages to escape their notice. Trying to catch them is real difficult, as they see you coming a long way off.

A cool feature of most Malaysian jumping spiders is their attractive coloration. The most common species in orchards (above) has an amazing metallic green colour , reminding me somewhat of a automobile, and making them seem much more “friendly” than the average spider

Now, what I hope is that jumping spiders will help to catch stray female fruit flies (Family Tephritidae, Genus Bactrocera; picture at bottom ) that wander into the orchard. I have never actually seen one get caught by a spider, but I have seen the jumping spiders catch other small flies so imagine it’s possible that they help. The problem of course with all generalist predators is that they will tend to kill other beneficial; organisms ( eg: parasitic hymenoptera) as well as the bad ones.

Anyone know how to increase populations of jumping spiders ? The good news is that they don’t seem to be harmed by most pesticides or farm chemicals, although I ‘ve never done a specific bioassay, I notice that jumping spiders are still present even after a farm has been sprayed.

And finally, here’s todays cheesy Naturalist joke:

Q: How do you recognize a modern spider?

A: He doesn't have a web he had a website!

Millipede Behavior ...but why ?

Whenever I find a new critter on the farm, I invariably find myself asking "why is it here & what role in the farm ecosystem does it fill ?".

Certainly among the most conspicuous and numerous animals seen on any farm are arthropods, but contrary to what most people think, the majority of these are innocuous, which is to say they are neither harmful nor specifically beneficial. Some may want to argue this point, as "benefits" are not easy to see or understand, and the presence of many of these organisms may be connected to (but lower down on) a complex ecological web which somehow supports a more obviously beneficial animal.

Such is the case with papaya millipedes in Malaysia. These are beautiful creatures with striking colors and formidable appearance. They are often found cuddling their buddies in the shaded are under the fruits. This aggregation response is "typical millipede behaviour" I am told by experts, and is one of the features that separates millipedes from the similar , but more solitary, centipedes.

Workers on the farm worry when they find these "nests", but contrary to their popular belief, millipedes don't bite .

But why are they there ? and what are they doing ( or is it impolite to ask?). They defiantly don't harm the fruit. By common consensus of experts, millipedes are mostly detritus or fungus feeders, and not predators (although it would have been convenient if they were) .

I am sorry to say I have all lots of questions, but not many ( well , in fact not any) of the answers.

I do notice that papaya millipedes are more common areas that have infestations by mealybugs (Psuedococcus sp. see pic below), and I dearly wish that they were preying upon these nasty pests, but I suspect that the reality may be that the millipedes consume either the wax produced by the mealybugs, or more likely the black saprophytic fungus (see bottom pic) that develops on the fruits due to pr essence of carbohydrate rich "honeydew" produced by the mealybugs.

After food, what else could be on the millipedes mind ? Group Sex maybe ? Could this be the reason for their aggregation ? Is it just a "group hug" or perhaps a "strategy -planning huddle" ( I just know they are up to something ....) .

Well. Did you notice in the photo above how the millipedes are smiling. Maybe they are just happy that they know these answers ... and pleased that we don't !

okay ... enough of being serious. Here's a cheasy millipede joke;

You see , This guy lived on his own and he was feeling a bit lonely, so he goes to the pet shop to get something to keep him company. The pet shop owner suggested an unusual pet, a talking millipede. OK, thought the man, I'll give it ago, so he bought one and took it home.

That night he decided to test out his new pet, so he opened the box and said, "I'm going to the pub for a drink, do you want to come too?"

But there was no reply. So he tried again, "Oi, millipede, wanna come to the boozer with me?" Again, no response. So the man ranted and raved for a bit, but after a while decided to give it one more try before he took the thing back to the shop. So he took the lid off the box and repeated, "I said I'm going to the pub for a drink do you want to come?"

"For God's sake, I heard you the first time" snapped the millipede, "I'm just putting my shoes on"

Bet you didn't know millipedes were so interesting.

Footprints in the mud

I found these animal footprints in the mud at Lanchang Modern Farm complex.





I am not very sure what it was from ( any footprint experts out there ?).





Several people nearby said it was from a tiger (Panthera tigris) , but I am not sure about this. Certainly the claws are big enough. I am aware that there a few types of wild cats in Malaysia. In addition to Tigers there are also Leopards (Panthara pardus), Clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), Marbled cats (Pardofelis marmorata) , fishing cats (Prionailurus sp) and jungle cats (Felis chaus). Am also not sure how we would tell their footprints apart.



I guess there is enough prey around for large predators. There is abundant wild boar and quite a lot of small deer. Monkeys are in the area , but (fortunately) not seen often at this farm site.





You can compare the above to the picture at http://www.geocities.com/nicchg/image/footprint.jpg





Anyway, I'd LIKE to think its a tiger. Anyway better than being just a dog with long claws. According to the WWF there are less than 10,000 tigers left in Malaysia. Occasionally you read of human-tiger conflicts ( this or that poor boy attacked) , but for the most part I think the local tigers are pretty good at avoiding people. They are lovely & amazing animals. Yes; defiantly would happy to have one near the farm, and yes they are welcome to eat all the dogs they can find .





I am thinking to buy one of those automatic infrared "wildlife cameras" in order to study what goes on at night at the farm (though maybe we don't want to know... especially if it involves frisky long clawed dogs). It seems wildlife cameras are not available locally, so looks like I need to order one on-line . Any ideas ? I'll start saving for it soon ( see :http://kgbcameras.co.uk/cameras/wildlife%20camera%20on%20tree.jpg)





Here's' another footprint I found about 1 km away from the tiger (or long-clawed dog). Looks like a deer (which is pretty common) ; I am thinking probably mouse-deer (Tragulus javanicus) as it was quite small.



The lesser mousdeer is said to be the smallet ungulate in the world , weighing in at only 2 kg. No doubt its small size has helped it to adapt to farm and semi-urban enviroments. Anyway you see a lot of them in farms throughout Malaysia.


Now.... if I can only get my camera ready in time before the next mouse deer darts away I can post a picture for you . Else you need to wait untill I get my wildlife camera (You listening Santa ?)

Monitor Lizards well adapted to farm life

Well since I am onto nature, lets talk first about wildlife on the farm. We'll get to farming latter.

Every day I carry a little notebook an a small digital camera. At lunch hour ( a break from diagnosing sick plants) I like to take a walk around the farm periphery and see whats living there, and keep count of the populations.

It seems in Malaysia that reptiles and amphibians are among the more commonly well adapted wildlife at the farm. I am always real impressed with the abundance and the size of monitor lizards here ( photo above; Varanus sp, probably the water monitor V. salvator). It seems they like the open spaces created by farming (I suppose it gives them more spots to sunbath compared to the dark forest).

I am not really sure of their actual diet, but I am imagining that they help suppress the rodent population ,although, more likely they are preying on the eggs of the abundant partridges around the farm ( can u see the small bird in the center the photo below ; hidding near its nest among the papaya trees ? I am not sure of the species. Any help ?)


Among the things I adore about monitor lizards is that their appearance creates an instant mental connection with the prehistoric past , And indeed, in nearby Indonesia (home of the largest monitor lizards in the world) , they have one species (Komodo Dragon) which certainly could pass for a small dinosaur.

It seems the monitors do okay living around the irrigation ponds, travelling to and from nearby streams.

I am thinking if we can find a way to improve their food sources perhaps we could further increase their numbers. I though about putting out false birds nests with chicken eggs, but haven't tried that yet. I am kind of worried it may encourage rats.

I am also thinking that a better way might be to help increase the partridges. These basically are happy in the farm , but often the nests get damaged when put in the wrong place ( like in the row where the mechanical mower goes). This might also help to bring in the big snakes (another favorite of mine). I am hoping next year I can convince the farmers to have an uncultivated open field for nesting birds. Let's see.

Ideas on this are welcome.

Looking for Noahs Ark on The Farm

"every journey starts with the first step" ; or so they say. So here we go.

This is my first blog, and my first chance to expound on subjects I have Passion for : like Farming.

My first connection with farming was a summer job I landed in 1977. My boss was Dr. Bryan Fraser of Agriculture Canada who, together with colleagues and associates at the Vancouver Research Center and the University of British Columbia, gave me my first glimpse of what was to be a lifetime career in Agricultural research.

I worked for Bryan for 2 summers, counting aphids and watching labybird beetles on alfalfa in order to build predator prey models. In retrospect I suppose it must have been interesting work to have convinced me to continue in the field of crop protection research for for 30+ years.

Since that time I have been working more than 20 crops in +12 countries, and manged to make my way from Canada to Malaysia, where I now do consulting work on development of tropical fruits and vegetables.

But I am intending that this blog will not just be about farming, but rather will also allow me to blah blah about the connection between the farm, and the really awesome natural history of the topics. Its an association that most people don't realize ( and many think the two are conflicting ; as farming often has led to destruction of wildlife habitats), but let me assure you that within the farm there is a whole "Noah's ark" of nature; all trying to stay afloat.

Thinking about it. I guess I have always been a naturalist ( collecting bugs and watching birds since I was 10 years old), and it was this Passion for nature that led me to farming.

Since that time I have added a few more dimensions to my passion: including food (must have), and farm economics ("the business" ; a necessary evil). Let's see how far I can go on this.

More to come.