Below is some background information about some new and emerging technologies. You may wish to either read the information to the pupils or read the information through yourself and summarise. There are suggested tasks and questions for the pupils to research and answer on each technology. Pupils can present their research in various ways such as creating a poster, presentation, debate, flyer or video.
Aquaculture
Aquaculture (also known as ‘fish farming’ and ‘shellfish farming’) is defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation as ‘the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants with some sort of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators etc. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of the stock being cultivated’.
Farming finfish, shellfish and aquatic plants is one of the world’s fastest growing food sectors. It provides the planet with approximately half of the fish we consume and the industry directly employs
70, 000 individuals.
Fish and shellfish can be farmed in types of water such as ponds, lakes and coastal waters. Various techniques can be used such as farming the fish and shellfish in tanks, suspended on supporting structures or confined in nets or cages.
In Europe, aquaculture accounts for approximately 20% of fish production. In Northern European countries (e.g. UK, Denmark, Estonia, Sweden, Norway) production is dominated by diadromous species of fish such as Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. In Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal, marine species such as seabream and bass dominate. Freshwater species such as common carp dominate in
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Romania. Other countries show less specialisation.
Shellfish production in general is exhibiting a decreasing trend in Europe. Mussels are the main group cultivated in Europe.
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Using the internet and reference books, research the advantages and disadvantages of aquaculture.
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Compare the efficiency of aquaculture to traditional fishing methods.
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Write an argument either for or against the use of aquaculture.
© CommNet 2014

Animal Feed
The global population is increasing, along with a rise of percaptia meat consumption in developing countries. This increase in meat consumption has resulted in an increased need for high protein animal feed. This has led to a need to investigate alternative sustainable sources of protein for use in animal feed.
Across continents other than Europe, insects and insect protein are natural daily feeds for many species of wild fish and monogastric livestock across the world. As consumption habits shift to pork, chicken and fish, insects have the potential to be utilised effectively as a natural ingredient in high-protein feed.
Currently, more than 80% of the protein required for livestock rearing in the European Union is imported from non-EU countries. The European parliament has stated that urgent action is needed to replace imported protein crops with alternative European sources to address the EU’s protein deficit.
PROteINSECT is an EU funded project investigating how flies can contribute to the growing demand for protein in animal feed. Insects need a feed source themselves, and to avoid competing with other uses,
PROteINSECT will focus on the use of waste materials for production of fly larvae.
The PROteINSECT project is working with two types of fly – the black soldier fly and the domestic household fly. PROteINSECT is running production and feeding trails with insect derived proteins with pigs, chicken and fish. The project is also running safety, quality and life-cycle analyses, as well as creating a Pro-Insect Platform across Europe to support legislative and regulatory change.
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How could PROteINSECT be used to increase or improve food efficiency?
Dairy Production
There are numerous robotics and technologies which have been developed for dairy cows. These include automated or robotic milking parlours, milking systems, webapps, automatic drafting systems, automated feed systems and swinging feeding troughs.
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Research one of the above technologies to find out how it is used and how it is considered to improve the efficiency of dairy production.
© CommNet 2014

Crop Robotics
An EU project, CROPS, is developing several technological demonstrators for high value crops (e.g greenhouse vegetables, fruits in orchards, and grapes for premium wines). The CROPS robotic platform will be capable of site-specific spraying (targets spray only towards foliage and selective targets) and selective harvesting of fruit (detects the fruit, determines its ripeness, moves towards the fruit, grasps it and softly detaches it). Another objective of CROPS is to develop techniques for reliable detection and classification of obstacles and other objects to enable successful autonomous navigation and operation in plantations and forests.
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How could the CROPS project increase or improve food efficiency?
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Use the internet and reference books to research what other type of crop technologies have been developed? How have they increased or improved food efficiency?
Vocabulary index
Diadromous - migratory between salt and fresh waters
Per-capita – per unit of population
Monogastric - having a stomach with only a single compartment (e.g. swine, chicks, and human beings are monogastric)
Sources of further information
Aquaculture http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/aquaculture/index_en.htm
http://www.seafish.org/media/publications/SeafishGuidetoAquaculture_201309.pdf
Animal feed http://www.proteinsect.eu/
Crop robotics http://www.crops-robots.eu/
© CommNet 2014