h a l f b a k e r yBreakfast of runners-up.
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Plantations in the tropics destroy rainforests. Poor farmers often burn down vast tracts of forest to monocrop; or they even sell their land to big agribiz, which does the same thing.
Now there are thousands of fruit species that have not been commercialized, but that might be very tasty.
The
idea is to help small and often poor agro-foresters in the South create a sustainable way of harvesting luxury fruits. So that they make an income that doesn't force them to sell their land to plantation owners or big agribizz who want to expand.
RFID tags might do the trick. First the local people who know the forest well search for fruit bearing trees. They simply tag them and note down the basic info about the tree and the fruit. This info goes onto the website.
During the year, the foresters check back and take additional notes on the trees/fruits, so that a body of knowledge develops on yields, harvesting times, etc...
The tags will guide them trough the forest, so they don't lose too much time.
You as a grocery store or a supermarket can order the exotic luxury fruit and while doing so, you save a bit of rainforest.
Obviously, transporting the fruits produces CO2 which in the longterm may be detrimental to the global environment, but it might well be the case that more forest is saved with the fruit-tag system, than leaving things as they are today.
tag?
http://www.npr.org/...php?storyId=3379017
[po, Sep 14 2006]
[link]
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RFID tags aren't going to guide someone through a rainforest, unless it's a tiny forest. |
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I think it's possible. Let me explain: the RFID info is connected to a database and a GPS system. If you stand next to tree A, the system will tell you where tree B, C, D, and so on are. Move ahead till you reach tree D, and it will tell you where the others are.
This should work.
It's pretty standard use for RFID tags. You create a geo-location network with them. |
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Would you reconsider your fishbone? :-) (If it's yours, that is). |
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Err... po, the link you gave is about Moose's dirty grafitti turned clean grafitti, which some British officials still see as Vandalism. |
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[django] the RFID tag seems redundant to the database containing GPS data. |
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Well, unless you have an Ent problem in your rainforest. |
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Seems like pretty inefficient farming to me. Why not simply monocrop the in-demand fruit species somewhere nearer the source of the demand, or alternatively near some transport links. |
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I'm sure the big agribizz you speak of would do that anyway, if a market was there. |
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//Why not simply monocrop the in-demand fruit species somewhere nearer the source of the demand, or alternatively near some transport links.// |
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Because that is not, environmentally sound, ecologically sound and creates an environment for exploitation and big-business domination, which does not seem in keeping with the idea. |
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And it is ecologically sound to have a bunch of people tramping through the woods compressing the soil and stealing fruit from monkeys? Hmmm? (I am kidding if you can't tell.) |
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django: po is riffing you on the word "tag." |
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//And it is ecologically sound to have a bunch of people tramping through the woods compressing the soil and stealing fruit from monkeys? Hmmm? (I am kidding if you can't tell.)// |
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Hmm, in that case, do I answer or not?? |
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/django: po is riffing you on the word "tag."/
Thanks for pointing that out, I had no idea. My English kills are not strong enough to understand its meanings. Apologies!! |
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/the RFID tag seems redundant to the database containing GPS data./
I heard GPS does not work well in dense rainforest!
So if you just connect tags to a local geolocation system, and then connect the local system to the GPS, maybe it could work. I don't really know. Do you know this?? |
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