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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Farming Today: New fertilizer cuts CO2; fruit-picking robots, wild flower meadows; eels.

New fertilizer cuts CO2; fruit-picking robots, wild flower meadows; eels.

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, New fertilizer cuts CO2; fruit-picking robots, wild flower meadows; eels.

Turning CO2 and waste into fertiliser pellets can reduce farming's carbon footprint.

Scientists say new fertiliser pellets, made from waste materials, stuck together with waste CO2, capture carbon and improve soil. Robots to pick soft fruit. National Meadows Day.

Scientists at Sheffield University have tested new fertiliser pellets made with captured CO2.  The University's Institute for Sustainable Food says this is a new way of turning damaging carbon dioxide into something positive. The pellets are made from waste products like straw and slurry, bound together with waste CO2. Researchers say they improve soil health and believe they could dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of foods like bread. Heather Simons visits CCM Technologies in Swindon where the pellets are made.

Could robots be the answer to a labour shortage on soft-fruit farms? Simon Pearson, Professor of Agri-Food Technology at The University of Lincoln, reckons that in five years, artificial intelligence could be playing a major role in harvesting strawberries, raspberries and other soft fruits.

Caz Graham walks through a wildflower meadow on a Cumbrian hill farm for National Meadows Day. Farmer Frank Hunter grazes his herd of goats in wildflower meadows and says it makes their cheese taste better.

School children have been helping protect one of our most endangered species - the European Eel. Elvers raised in classroom tanks have now been released back into the wild. The project run by Bristol Water, Bristol Avon Rivers Trust and Avon Wildlife Trust has helped protect five thousand eels since it started five years ago.

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New fertilizer cuts CO2; fruit-picking robots, wild flower meadows; eels.

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