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The world's biggest producer of milk, India, has a problem: at least 68% of dairy products sold there don’t meet the food standards.
Here’s more bad news: according to the World Health Organisation, if such adulteration were not checked immediately, 87% of citizens would be suffering from serious diseases, even cancer, by 2025.
So researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Hyderabad, seem to have found a way to help detect adulteration using a smartphone
A detector system will measure the acidity of milk through an indicator paper that changes colour depending on the level. The researchers have also developed algorithms that can be incorporated into a mobile phone to accurately detect the colour change. On testing milk spiked with various combinations of contaminants, the team found near-perfect classification with accuracy of 99.71%.
OPINION: In the 1980s, concern was expressed in West Germany about the falling birth rate. Some simple analysis was performed by Professor Helmut Sies, physician and biochemist at Dusseldorf University. His letter ‘A new parameter for sex education’ was published in Nature in 1988:
Celebrating 50 years in the rural landscape of Central Canterbury and beyond, Ashburton-based Carrfields, has been the exemplar for all aspects of modern agriculture via its extensive range of services including supply, growing, agronomic advice and marketing.
The recently signed free trade agreement with India is an invitation to strengthen relationships between the New Zealand and Indian strong wool industries, says Wool Impact chief executive Andy Caughey.
OPINION: As India negotiates to open its borders to more global products, dairy is proving a sticky issue.
Research lending to the production of dairy products that benefit the elderly and improves the overall wellbeing of all people is a key focus of Fonterra's Research and Development centre, based in Palmerston North.
OPINION: The time has come for the Government to back the organic sector.
Plan ahead and be patient. That’s the message to farmers and horticulturalists from the chairman of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association, Kent Weir.
The industry is crying out for graduates with agricultural related degrees.
While GPS and guidance have become the norm and yield mapping and variable application continues to gain traction, most agricultural machinery manufacturers continue to expand their technology offerings, amalgamating the vast amounts of data being collected to streamline real-time and ongoing management decisions.
Supply chain problems, growing protectionism and a move to greater food security are some of the key challenges facing New Zealand exporters, according to our top trade negotiator, Vangelis Vitalis.
Celebrating 50 years in the rural landscape of Central Canterbury and beyond, Ashburton-based Carrfields, has been the exemplar for all aspects of modern agriculture via its extensive range of services including supply, growing, agronomic advice and marketing.
