Agriculture for the whole world!
Amidst the wealth and diversification of the tropical forests, man has found many plants to exploit.
Two thirds of the plants grown for food all over the world come from the Tropics. 99% of the natural rubber produced all over the world comes from one single Amazonian tree, the Hevea brasiliensis; cotton (Gossipium spp.), vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), pepper (Capsicum spp.), cocoa (Teobroma cacao, Central America), potato (Solanum tuberosum), coffee (Coffea arabica, Africa), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), rice (Oryza sativa, Asia), maize (Zea mays, Latin America), sugarcane (Saccharum officinalum, New Guinea) are just some examples of products now used all over the world. Very many are also the delicious fruits exported all over the world and now grown in the West as well. They include oranges, tangerines, grapefruits and other citrus fruits (Citrus spp., Indo-Malaya), watermelons (Cucurbita spp., India), bananas (Musa paradisiaca, perhaps from the Afro-Asian Tropics, pineapples (Ananas comosus, central and Southern America, coconuts (Cocus nucifera, south-east of Asia and Asian-Pacific area), papayas (Carica papaia, Mexico and Costa Rica), mangoes (Magnifera indica, India and Indochina).
Special reports
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8 July 2022
Who’s coming to dinner
A shark in my hamburger Summer is finally here! As usual, we have waited for it all year long and…
9 May 2022
Pollination, a perfect alliance between plants and animals
Firmly rooted in soil, over the course of their evolution plants have had to develop biological mechanisms for feeding and…
20 October 2021
Chapada Diamantina: a treasure beyond gemstones
Discovering the Diamond Plateau, one of Brazil's most unique naturalistic jewels ...
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30 July 2020
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
We have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when we unplug and…
23 June 2020
The Last Wild Valley. In defence of the Cime Bianche
The Vallone delle Cime Bianche or Courtaud Valley rises at the top of the Val d'Ayas, in Valle d'Aosta. It…
10 February 2020
Coral turns pale!
The coral reef is one of the ecosystems with the richest biodiversity...
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7 January 2020
Urban woods
When walking along a tree-lined avenue in a crowded and traffic-congested city, wrapped up in our daily commitments, we do…
6 February 2017
Robotics: environmental monitoring and more
More than 830 events were organised in 30 countries during the European Robotics Week (18-27 November)
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8 July 2022
Who’s coming to dinner
A shark in my hamburger Summer is finally here! As usual, we have waited for it all year long and…
9 May 2022
Pollination, a perfect alliance between plants and animals
Firmly rooted in soil, over the course of their evolution plants have had to develop biological mechanisms for feeding and…
-
20 October 2021
Chapada Diamantina: a treasure beyond gemstones
Discovering the Diamond Plateau, one of Brazil's most unique naturalistic jewels ...
30 July 2020
Holidays, yes! but they must be sustainable!
We have been speaking of sustainable behaviours to apply to our daily life, but what happens when we unplug and…
-
23 June 2020
The Last Wild Valley. In defence of the Cime Bianche
The Vallone delle Cime Bianche or Courtaud Valley rises at the top of the Val d'Ayas, in Valle d'Aosta. It…
10 February 2020
Coral turns pale!
The coral reef is one of the ecosystems with the richest biodiversity...
-
8 July 2022
Who’s coming to dinner
A shark in my hamburger Summer is finally here! As usual, we have waited for it all year long and…
-
9 May 2022
Pollination, a perfect alliance between plants and animals
Firmly rooted in soil, over the course of their evolution plants have had to develop biological mechanisms for feeding and…
-
20 October 2021
Chapada Diamantina: a treasure beyond gemstones
Discovering the Diamond Plateau, one of Brazil's most unique naturalistic jewels ...
From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Energy from palm trees
Oils that are obtained from palm trees can be used as alternatives to fossil fuels and their use is about…
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Flour from forests
Bread and flour are staple foods for many cultures around the world. It is possible to produce flour from cereals…
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Energy from palm trees
Oils that are obtained from palm trees can be used as alternatives to fossil fuels and their use is about…