Tractor wins prestigious design award
Originating from, and thriving near, the equator in South America, quinoa grain has become a trendy super-food, rich in protein and other healthy ingredients, but with less starch than pasta, rice or potatoes. It is also gluten-free, and tastes delicious. Wageningen University, in the Netherlands, has developed three varieties that grown well outside of South America.
“A thousand hectares were planted this year in France alone,” says Wageningen UR plant breeder, Robert van Loo.
“In the Netherlands, the Dutch Quinoa Group has acquired the right on our varieties to set up a Dutch production chain, and, in collaboration with pioneering farmers, now planted an area of 30 hectares with our varieties.”
The new varieties do well in saline soils. Wageningen UR will be considered for a Securing Water for Food programme award, for its project proposal on growing quinoa on saline soils in Chile, China and Vietnam.
Van Loo says: “The scale of production cannot easily be increased in South America. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were 20,000 hectares cultivated in Europe five years from now. The market price, which is now very high, will go down as a result.”
In the UK, Shropshire farmer, Stephen Jones, expects to produce 100 tonnes of quinoa this year, and is looking for other farmers to grow it, saying they’ll get a premium over the price they might get for wheat.
The Deutz-Fahr 7250 TTV Agrotron (pictured) has won the 2014 Compasso D’Oro, one of the foremost design awards in the world.
Since 1954, the Compasso d’Oro has been awarded to 300 products of distinctive design, including a racing bike, portable sewing machine, desk, sofa, vase, clothes hanger, drawer, clock, desk lamp, telephone, electric fan and coffee machine.
The tractor was one of 270 entries assessed by an international jury.
Styled by Giugiaro Design, the 7 Series has already won Italy’s 2013 Tractor of the Year and Red Dot Product Design awards.
The six-cylinder Deutz TCD engine delivers 222 hp (163 kW) in the 7.210 TTV; 245 hp (180 kW) in the 7.230 TTV; and 263 hp (194 kW) in the 7.250 TTV. It has turbo-intercooler forced induction, a waste-gate valve, and DCR electronic high-pressure fuel injection, which is lubricated with engine oil instead of fuel.
It can use up to 100% biodiesel.
