2008 is the international Year of Potato - Part 2

2008 is International Year of Potato - Part 2 (Final)

Potatoes feed the hungry

The potato should be a major component in strategies aimed at providing nutritious food for the poor and hungry. It is ideally suited to places where land is limited and labor is abundant, conditions that characterize much of the developing world, The potato produces more nutritious food more quickly , on less land, and in harsher climates than any other major crop - up to 85 percent of the plant is edible human food, compared to around 50 percent in cereals.

Potatoes are good for you

Potatoes are rich in carbohydrates, making them a good source of energy. They have the highest protein content (around 2.1 percent on a fresh weigh basis) in the family of root and tuber crops, and protein of a fairly high quality, with an amino-acid pattern that is well matched to human requirements. They are also very rich in vitamin C - a single medium-sized potato contains about half the recommended daily intake - and contain a fifth of the recommended daily value of potassium.

Demand for potatoes in growing

World potato production has increased at an annual average rate of 4.5 percent over the last 10 years, and exceeded the growth in production of many other major food commodities in developing countries, particularly in Asia. While consumption of potato has declined in Europe, it has increased in the developing world, from less than 10 kg per capita in 1961 -1963 to almost 22 kg in 2003. Consumption of potato in developing countries is still less than a quarter of that in Europe, but all evidence suggests it will increase strongly in the future.

The End

2008 IS THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF POTATO - PART 1

2008 is international year of potato - part 1

Why Potato?

The celebration of the International Year of Potato (IYP) will raise awareness of the importance of potato - and of agriculture in general - in addressing issues of global concern, including hunger, poverty and threats to the environment.

Over the next two decades, the world's population is expected to grow on average by more than 100 million people a year. More than 95 percent of that increase will occur in the developing countries, where pressure on land and water is already intense. A key change facing the international community is, therefore, to ensure food security for present and future generations, while protecting the natural resources base on which we all depend. The potato will be an important part of efforts to meet those challenges...

Potatoes are grow worldwide.

The potato has been consumed in the Andes for about 8000 years. Taken by the Spanish to Europe in the 16th century, it quickly spread across the globe: today potatoes are grown on an estimated 195,000 sq km, or 75,000 square miles, of farmland, from China's Yunnan plateau and the subtropical lowlands of India, to Java's equatorial highlands and the steppes of Ukraine. In terms of sheer quantity harvested, the humble potato tuber is the world's No.4 food crop, with production in 2007 of more than 320 million tonnes (about 353 million US tons). More than half of that total was harvested in developing countries.

to be continued...........

New Video's to Come

Dear friends,

By July you will get more posting about the Hungary and France in my blog with some interesting places and sight seeing of these countries. My journey to these countries in first week of July. You will get some video's as well.

Keep in touch with this blog for more information.

How to control your anger before it controls you - Final Part

How to control your anger before it controls you - Final part.

Some other tips for easing up on yourself

Timing : If you and your spouse tend to fight when you discuss things at night - perhaps you're tired, or distracted, or maybe it's just habit - try changing the times when you talk about important matters so these talks don't turn into arguments.

Avoidance : if your child's chaotic room makes you furious every time you walk by it, shut the door. Don't make yourself look at what infuriates your. Don't say, "well, my child should be clean up the room so I won't have to be angry!" That's not the point. The point is to keep yourself calm.


Finding alternatives : If your daily commute through traffic leaves you in a state of rage and frustration, give yourself a project - learn or map out a different route, one that's less congested or more scenic. Or find another alternative, such as a bus or commuter train.


Do your need counseling?

If you feel that your anger is really out of control, if it is having an impact on your relationships and on important parts of your life, you might consider counseling to learn how to handle it better. A psychologist or other licensed mental health professional can work with you in developing a range of techniques for changing your thinking and your behavior. When you talk to a prospective therapist, tell her or him that you have problems with anger that you want to work on, and ask about his or her approach to anger management. Make sure this isn't only a course of action designed to "put you in touch with your feelings and express them" - that may be precisely what your problem is. With counseling, psychologist say, a highly angry person can move closer to a middle range of anger in about 8 to 10 weeks, depending on the circumstances and the techniques used.

The End

How to control your angry before it controls you - 6

How to control your angry before it controls you - part 6

Problem Solving

Sometimes, our anger and frustration are caused by very real and inescapable problems in our lives. Not all anger is misplaced, and often it's a healthy natural response to these difficulties. There is also a cultural belief that every problem has a solution, and it adds to our frustration to find out that this isn't always the case. The best attitude to bring to such a situation, then, is not to focus on finding the solution, but rather on how you handle and face the problem.

Make a plan, and check your progress along the way. Resolve to give it your best, but also not to punish yourself if an answer doesn't come right away. If you can approach it with your best intentions and efforts and make a serious attempt to face it head-on, you will be less likely to lose patience and fall into all-or-nothing thinking, even if the problem does not get solved right away.

Changing your environment.

Sometimes it's our immediate surrounding that give us cause for irritation and fury. Problems and responsibilities can weigh on you and make you feel angry at the "trap" you seem to have fallen into and all the people and things that form that trap.

Give yourself a break. Make sure you have some "personal time" scheduled for times of the day that you know are particularly stressful. One example is the working mother who has a standing rule that when she comes home from work, for the first 15 minutes "nobody talks to Mom unless the house is on fire." After this brief quiet time, she feels better prepared to handle demands from her kids without blowing up at them.

to be continued......................

How to control your anger before it controls you - 5

How to control your anger before it controls you - Part 5

Cognitive Restructuring

Simply put, this means changing the way you think. Angry people tend to curse, swear, or speak in highly colorful terms that reflect their inner thoughts. When you're angry, your thinking can get much exaggerated and overly dramatic. Try replacing these thoughts with more rational ones. For instance, instead of telling yourself, "oh , it's awful, it's terrible, every thing's ruined," tell yourself, "it's frustrating, and it's understandable that I'm upset about it, but it's not the end of the world and getting angry is not going to fix it anyhow."

Be careful of words like "never" or "always" when talking about yourself or someone else. They also alienate and humiliate people who might otherwise be willing to work with you on a solution.

Remind yourself that getting angry is not going to fix anything that it won't make you feel better (and may actually make you feel worse).

to be continued........................

How to control your anger before it controls you - 4

How to control your anger before it controls you - part 4

Strategies to be relaxed:

Simple relaxation tools, such as deep breathing and relaxing imagery, can help calm down angry feelings. If you are involved in a relationship where both partners are hot tempered, it might be a good idea for both of your to learn these techniques.

Some simple steps you can try:

• Breathe deeply, from your diaphragm; breathing from your chest won't relax you. Picture your breath coming up form your "gut."
• Slowly repeat a calm word or phase such as "relax", "take it easy". Repeat it to yourself while breathing deeply.
• Use imagery; visualize a relaxing experience, from either your memory or your imagination.
• No strenuous, slow yoga-like exercise can relax your muscles and make you feel much calmer.

Practice these techniques daily. Learn to use them automatically when you're in a tense situation.

to be continued..................