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Small companies encounter difficulties to adapt to new markets with a sustainable perspective. The subject of this article is a paper transformation company which has been eager to develop the organic farming market by developing a new plant support. Alternatives made from plant fibres or plastics exist, such as jute and polypropylene. The main difficulty of this project was to ecodesign a paper product with a multicriteria approach. The factors considered have been divided into two categories. Firstly, the environmental impacts calculated according to the Life Cycle Assessment methodology (on raw material extraction, manufacturing and end-of-life) are summarised. Secondly, the characteristics of the product are discussed in regards to these results and sustainability questions as part of the interpretation phase. Finally, ways of improvement of the LCA methodology to improve the study in terms of geographical representativeness and societal considerations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the effects of a waste paper product on soil phosphorus, carbon, and bulk density. Soil test values for phosphorus have increased due to the applications of manures to agricultural fields in the United States. Because of the application, there is a probability that phosphorus will be in the surface water. The effect will be the degradation of water quality. The danger of phosphorus transport to surface water may be lowered through the application of waste paper on soils with high soil test phosphorus. In Booneville, Arizona, a test was conducted to show the effects of adding waste paper product on soil phosphorus, carbon, and bulk density.

Copyright of Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei is the property of Magyar Mezogazdasagi Muzeum and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although Australia's population is concentrated in major urban centres along its coastal fringe, its less populous rural communities are important to society and the economy—supporting sectors like agriculture, which occupies over half the continent's land mass and accounts for 2.2% of value added gross domestic product (GDP) (Jackson et al., 2020). The vast distances between urban and rural centres present challenges to the provision of essential infrastructure like roads, transport, energy – and telecommunications. Within this last category, internet connectivity and skills are both increasingly necessary and historically less available to the regional and rural agricultural sector in comparison to other industries and geographic communities. The digital inclusion agenda in Australia aims to address such gaps by promoting and supporting people and communities to use technology to improve social and economic well-being. This article builds on research underpinning the Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII), which defines digital inclusion as the capacity of people to access , afford and use online technologies effectively. The article focuses on the nature and extent of digital inclusion for Australia's farmers (identified as farmers and farm managers) based on analysis of a customised set of primary data extracted from the ADII dataset. This analysis reveals generally low levels of digital inclusion in rural communities, particularly among farmers, with distinctive and complex characteristics across measures of Access, Affordability and Digital Ability. Our findings highlight a perplexing scenario in which farmers score poorly on the Index when compared to Australians who live in similar circumstances but are not employed in the farming sector. We attribute lower levels of access to limited internet technology options, lower data speeds, inadequate reliability and lower data allowances. Less affordability is associated with individual-level socioeconomic factors, along with lack of competition between service providers in sparse population areas, the comparative cost of building telecommunications infrastructure in the bush, and the need for redundancy in rural and remote solutions. Finally, lower digital ability scores reflect social, cultural and material practices on farms that have produced distinctive orientations to technology. We conclude the article by explaining the contributions of the paper to digital inclusion research and by making recommendations for policy development. • Farmers in rural Australia have low levels of digital inclusion across access, affordability and digital ability. • Low access and affordability may be attributed to insufficient internet infrastructure and limited technology and data. • Low ability may be attributed to demographic factors and social, economic and material practices. • Governments and industry should consider the development of digital skills programs tailored for the farming sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an automated irrigation system developed for the needs of private farms and non-profit organizations in the Balkans. Specific hardware and software components are combined for its construction and efficient management. The system is undergoing trials and test implementation among selected groups of customers. For the convenience of users, with the aim of saving time and costs, as well as for continuous remote access to the system, a mobile application has been developed for monitoring work processes, climatic conditions and water supplies. The methodology for the design and implementation of the proposed system and the mobile application for its control included preliminary test studies and discussions with potential customers in need of remotely controlled irrigation systems, including difficult-to-access areas. The authors of the paper present implemented solutions in the mobile application. This paper describes the basic processes of building the system, available hardware components, software management and user interface of the mobile application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the paper "Can Land Reform Succeed?," by B. de los Reyes. One of the means which researchers devised for achieving these objectives was the moshav, or cooperative. The moshav is a way of life. It stresses the benefits to be derived from joint efforts, not just when planting and harvesting, but in all phases of agriculture and even in community life outside of agriculture. Through the moshav both economic and social problems are solved. It is a form of organization that allows the people of a community to participate in broad self-development, the guiding principle being the common good. One of the economic advantages of the moshav is that it reduces some of the risks inherent in agriculture undertaken by farmers alone. Small farmers tend to minimize asks, concentrating their resources on a single crop which will provide them with the maximum amount of security. Each moshav is an independent organization, but may federate at a higher level with other moshavs in order to benefit from economies of scale in such activities as marketing, handling storage, input procurement, and machinery pools.

The article presents abstracts on politics and society including the welfare and globalisation in Europe, the struggle of for integration of handicapped, and the integration of environment and agriculture in Spain.

The paper discusses the work of early Indian professional economists in the field of labour. They undertook wide-ranging studies of labour in factories, mines, and plantations as well as of the condition of rural and agricultural labour and of urban labour outside of industry. Between 1918 and 1930, a major body of work had emerged on Indian labour, with contributions by both Indian and foreign scholars. This work was mostly based on government data, but, in addition, and with telling effect, some scholars also conducted field investigations and came up with disquieting findings. The latter part of the paper examines the contributions of a British statistician-economist, George Findlay-Shirras, and of an Indian labour economist, Rajani Kanta Das. The former, despite some excellent work, was probably responsible for giving a misleading picture of rising agricultural wages, perhaps to suit the views of the colonial government. R.K. Das, through his extensive work on labour economics, before and during his service with the International Labour Organization (ILO), contributed much to the work of the Royal Commission on Labour (1931), but this went unacknowledged. Also, his work on plantation labour in India earned the ire of a British official in the department of industries and labour probably, for highlighting the negative role played by foreign (British) capital. Given his numerous substantive contributions to Indian labour economics, the paper concludes that R.K. Das should be given due recognition for his pioneering role in the development of labour economics in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bulgarian agriculture has to correspond with the goals for sustainable growth of food production in order to create and develop more productive, economically efficient and ecological agricultural holdings. Tracking the trends in the development of the structure of the agricultural holdings outlines the current state, the problems and the opportunities in the sector. The aim of the paper is to present the main trends in the structure of the agricultural holdings in Bulgaria in the sector for the period 2000-2020. The paper uses data from the agrarian reports of the Ministry of Agriculture and the last three national censuses of the agricultural holdings of the National Statistics Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States. Loss of life, injury, and illness estimates in the agriculture industry only measure a fraction of the total burden to society. The purpose of this review was to conduct a comprehensive scan of the peer-reviewed literature to catalog research that explores the burden of agricultural injury to synthesize what is currently known. In total, 116 full-text papers meeting eligibility criteria were reviewed. Publications documenting agricultural injury burden were scanned and observations were categorized using a priori themes previously identified by occupational safety and health researchers. Results from this review indicate the true burden of agricultural injury is more expansive and complex than previous narratives on injury burden would imply. Future research should consider policies that encourage the collection of more expansive injury burden data, as well as methods to incorporate them into standard injury surveillance efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the role of technology and big data in the agri-food industry. With the world population growing rapidly, there is a need to produce more food to feed everyone. Agriculture is changing rapidly, and technology is playing a crucial role in this change. The concept of Agriculture 4.0 seeks to optimize every factor to minimize inputs and maximize efficiency. Big data is being collected to improve management and farm management. Precision farming is being used to predict crop development phases and yields. The European Union is lagging behind the US and China in terms of innovation and market evaluation. Innovation drives economic growth, and it goes beyond invention. Small and medium-sized enterprises are playing an essential role in driving economic growth, particularly in the agri-food business. To improve resilience and production efficiency in the agri-food business, there is a need to boost SMEs' competitiveness. The European agri-food business is lagging in terms of digitalization, but there is a significant potential for growth. Finally, technology and big data are playing a crucial role in the agri-food industry, and there is a need to evaluate contextual elements to improve farmers' technology use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows an agricultural irrigation alternative using a low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) application. This technology allows the automation and optimization of processes by monitoring, processing, and analyzing large volumes of related data, including variables related to the soil (moisture), fertilization, and irrigation, which can be visualized through the internet to enable sustainable and efficient agriculture. The study is centered on the Los Angeles, Biobío, Chile case. The main objective of the prototype is to optimize water consumption for agricultural irrigation by using only the amount that is strictly necessary for each crop by allowing real-time visualization of irrigation status, moisture data, and irrigation times while providing a history of data that can be used for further analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart farming is a new concept that can be described as applying different kinds of modern technology to make farming more efficient. One such technology is the Internet of Things, an extension of the Internet and other connections into mundane devices. This paper uses dedicated sensors and cloud computing technologies to model a smart farming system that helps farmers keep track of state of the crops and livestock. It also covers implementing and testing an Android tracker app that is supposed to become the first component of the mentioned system, a client application that communicates with the cloud computing services yet to be implemented. The end product provides its users with an easy way of keeping track of the state of their farms, simplifying the farmers' work and enhancing productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous agricultural vehicles rely on accurate real-time positioning information to perform precise farming operations, including seeding, fertilizing and harvesting. Although many positioning solutions exist on the market, their cost is out of many farmers' budgets. Relative positioning can be used for accurate positioning purposes in agriculture applications. Despite the fact that several research attempts have addressed the issue of relative positioning, no agriculture-specific study appears to exist in the literature at the time of writing. In this paper, the opportunity of using real-time GPS-based relative positioning for agriculture applications instead of the typical absolute positioning solutions has been investigated. To this end, we propose to implement and evaluate different relative positioning approaches, namely absolute position differencing, pseudorange single differencing as well as pseudorange double differencing (PDD). Real-world experiments, including static and dynamic scenarios, have been conducted using low-cost single-frequency GPS receivers in an open sky environment and an agricultural field. The obtained results show the superiority of the PDD approach with about 76% of estimation errors less than 1 m in the open sky environment and more than 97% of estimation errors less than 3 m in the agricultural field, representing a considerable accuracy enhancement compared to GPS standalone positioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the heart of India's livelihood lies agriculture, a foundational and ever-evolving sector. The realm of agriculture faces modern challenges, encompassing unpredictable climate fluctuations, insufficient irrigation infrastructure, and erratic weather conditions. Amidst these challenges, machine learning has emerged as a valuable tool for evaluating soil fertility and Crop assessment in agriculture. Ensemble machine learning methodologies have garnered attention for their potential to enhance predictive capabilities. These techniques involve constructing meta-classifiers that collectively contribute to improved predictive accuracy. This paper centers on the analysis of soil data acquired from testing laboratories, to predict fertility based on a comprehensive dataset. The study employs prominent ensemble machine learning algorithms, specifically focusing on boosting techniques, to elevate predictive accuracy and ensure heightened consistency. The assessment of soil fertility categories involved the examination of 12 carefully chosen attributes. Diverse soil parameters were measured to facilitate the prediction of soil fertility levels. The outcomes of the experimentation revealed that the application of the boosting technique using the Xgboost algorithm yielded superior accuracy compared to alternative ensemble classifiers, achieving a remarkable 96% accuracy rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Techniques for classifying data using data mining are now a day prevalent in agriculture. The method of classifying seeds involves grouping various seed varieties according to their morphological characteristics. To accomplish categorization of the typical Charotar region (generally comprising Anand and Kheda districts of the Gujarat State of India) Gujarat Wheat (GW) varieties (TRITICUM – AESTIVUM) viz. GW 273, GW 496, GW 322, LOK-1, and GDW 1255 (TRITICUM – DURUM), Weka Explorer was used. The features used are area, perimeter, solidity, aspect ratio, major and minor axis of seed kernel, Hue, Saturation, Value, and SF1 (empirical). Features reduction was done using Information Gain (IG) and its modified version Gain Ratio (GR). This paper compares performance of Tree based data mining algorithms in classifying wheat varieties. For classification we used purely tree-based machine learning algorithms viz. J48, Random Forest, Hoeffding Tree, Logistic Model Tree (LMT), and REPTree. LMT- logistics regression method gives higher accuracy 96.4% compared to other classifiers. Hoeffding Tree classifiers stood second with 96% accuracy. For validation 10-fold cross validation was used. By reducing the number of folds in cross validation performance of most algorithms decreased except J48. The percentage of correctly classified instance increased for all algorithms when features were selected by GR except for J48. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production is a major driver of the Philippine economy. Mass production of animal products, such as livestock and poultry farming, is one of the most prominent players in the field. Filipino farmers use veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) when raising agricultural animals to improve animal growth and prevent diseases. Unfortunately, the extensive use of VMPs, particularly antibiotics, has been linked to drug resistance in animals, particularly antibiotics. Antimicrobial gene products produced in animals due to the prolonged use of VMPs can passed on to humans when they consume animal products. This paper reviews information on the use of VMPs in the Philippines, including the regulations, their impact, challenges, and potential recommendations. The Philippines has existing legislation regulating VMP use. Several agencies were tasked to regulate the use of VMPs, such as the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health, and the Philippine National Action Plan. Unfortunately, there is a challenge to implementing these regulations, which affects consumers. The unregulated use of VMPs influences the transmission of antibiotic residues from animals to crops to humans. This challenge should be addressed, with more focus on stricter regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of market power in the primary foods industry is of high interest to policymakers seeking to help develop low-income countries, due to its potential source to create market inefficiencies and hamper economic development. Recent studies have provided ample empirical evidence, that market power has been increasing nearly continuously since the 1980s. Nevertheless, due to the (un)availability of firm-level data, most research is constrained to analyzing firms within industries of a few high-income with a particular focus on manufacturing and service sectors. This paper proposes to remedy this gap in the literature by using aggregate data contained within the Eora Input-Output Tables and a procedure based on Generalized Maximum Entropy to provide estimates of the markup for the primary foods industry (defined as the agriculture, hunting, logging and fishing industries) for 43 countries in Asia. We document a large heterogeneity based on a country's income level classification. Furthermore, measures of globalization are seen to significantly reduce markups. Opening up to trade might therefore be an attractive option to policymakers seeking to stimulate economic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kiva is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural is the property of Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Newcastle disease virus (NDV) outbreak was first reported in Java Island, Indonesia, in 1926, which was then reported further in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Nevertheless, the NDV is still endemic in Indonesia, with outbreaks occurring in free-range and commercial chicken farms. The dynamic evolution of the NDV has led to the further development of vaccines and diagnostic tools for more effective control of this virus. This paper discusses the history of the NDV occurrence, vaccines, the development of diagnostic tools, and the epidemiological condition of the NDV in Indonesia. Indonesia, which has the largest poultry population in the world after China, has challenges in preventing and controlling this virus that causes economic losses to the farmers and has an impact on the welfare of the poultry farming community in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant quarantine pests worldwide cause considerable economic damage due to direct plant losses, eradication costs, and contamination measures. Although these losses can threaten the survival of a farm, no country to date has a universal compensation solution that encompasses all agricultural sectors. This paper aims to assess various compensation options by, firstly, calculating potential monetary losses caused by selected quarantine pests, which have not been studied in this context before. Secondly, we calculate farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for different components of compensation options in plant production using a discrete choice experiment (DCE). We find that monetary losses caused by quarantine pests vary significantly across products and sectors and are highest for intensive vegetable production. The DCE reveals a strong preference for the state compensation and heterogeneity of preferences among farmers depending on their experience with risk management options and perception of pest occurrence. The WTP analysis indicates that requiring preventive plant protection measures as a prerequisite for receiving compensation significantly deters farmers from participating in such a system, as its WTP exhibits the most negative impact compared to all other factors. Due to sectoral differences and path-dependent nature of compensation programs, a universal solution is rather not feasible. Sector-specific solutions must be considered, which does not rule out similar compensation approaches among sectors. Our findings are useful for designing compensation programs for quarantine plant pest cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the processes of specialized viticulture in the province of Gallia Narbonensis over the first three centuries CE and brings this evidence to bear on broader economic questions, particularly as they relate to the effects of connectivity and globalization on Roman economic development. Evidence from small farms to sprawling villas suggests that specialized production stretched across multiple strata of society in Narbonensis, from so-called peasants to the wealthiest elites. The existence of specialized agricultural production at the scale documented in Narbonensis required significant demand, well-connected and integrated markets, sustained trade, and an awareness of these economic factors by the residents of the province. The evidence presented here demonstrates that the residents of Narbonensis recognized that they were part of an economic environment in which high levels of connectivity and integrated markets allowed them to pursue more profitable production strategies and that they pursued these opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia Agraria is the property of Historia Agraria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in agriculture has emerged as a transformative force, revolutionizing traditional farming practices and driving efficiency and sustainability. This paper presents the development and implementation of a cost-effective greenhouse monitoring system utilizing LoRaWAN technology for data communication. The system's design, deployment, and performance are discussed in detail. Key components include an array of sensors for monitoring environmental parameters and LoRaWAN for long-range, low-power communication. The low-cost nature of the system challenges the notion that advanced agricultural technology is prohibitively expensive, making it accessible to farmers of varying scales. The system's affordability and realtime data accessibility make it a valuable tool for precision agriculture, contributing to improved crop yields and resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors of this paper share a common background from the Northern Norway region, a rural county and the largest and least populated county of Norway. The region is characterised by high out-migration, lower educational levels, and higher drop-out rates from secondary education than in other regions of Norway. Limited educational provision makes it necessary for many young people in rural areas to leave home to take a secondary education. Large geographical distances make it difficult to commute on a daily basis. Historically, this area has been the most culturally diverse in Norway, as the domicile of the Sámi Indigenous people and the national minority, the Kven, and the Norwegian ethnic group. This Arctic region is characterised by the encounter with three ethnicities, and traditional industries such as fishing, farming and herding, combined with modern industry and knowledge-intensive enterprises. Despite this multi-ethnic and geographically diverse society, the schools are still struggling with the unit-oriented curriculum, ignoring the diversity among the pupils. When the multi-ethnic society is not embedded in the education system, nor given in the adolescents' hometown, the education system will be exogenous and will appear foreign. In this paper, we use available public statistics and a literature review, inspired by autoethnographic methodology--whereby authors use their experiences as a person and a long-time researcher in a field to describe, analyse and understand the phenomenon--to argue for a local- and contextual oriented schools to make meaningful and practical improvements to rural education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the discussion on climate change impacts, livelihood diversification, and deagrarianization in arid and semi-arid regions. Using the semi-arid region of Guinea as a case study, this paper is the first to discuss the primary factors driving smallholder farmers into artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in arid and semi-arid regions. Drawing on in-depth interviews and root-cause analysis, we find that increasing climate change impacts 'force' smallholder farmers to switch into artisanal gold mining. Smallholder farming in semi-arid Guinea is largely rainfed and erratic rainfall and increasing temperatures have affected crop production and farmers' income, driving many smallholder farmers into artisanal gold mining to have a more sustainable income. While artisanal gold mining has improved smallholder farmers' socioeconomic conditions, the agriculture exodus has significantly affected crop production, food prices, and rural agriculture labor dynamics. Agroecological, financial, and technical support could improve the adaptive capacity of climate impacted smallholder farmers in arid and semi-arid regions. • Agrarian communities are now transforming into artisanal mining communities due primarily to climate change. • Dry farmlands, low farm productivity, and low farm income are secondary factors that drive farmers into the ASM economy. • Farmers converted to miners to cope with climate change impacts and not necessarily to 'get rich quick'. • Smallholder farmers in semi-arid Guinea lack access to climate adaptive strategies. • Livelihood diversification from farming to ASM affects rural socioeconomics and threatens food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the COVID-19 lockdown's impact on Indian agriculture in general and food security in particular has been attempted in the current paper. India was placed under lockdown on March 24,2020, and the unlocking process began on June 1, 2020. All four aspects of food security. i.e. availability, accessibility, stability, and utilization have been affected by the lockdown. It has impacted the food security of a sizable population living in both the distant countryside, and big cities and towns. Urban residents working in the unorganized informal sector. primarily as day laborers and daily wagers, were the group most negatively impacted. Due to the lockdown's timing. which coincided with the Rabi harvesting season and caused significant issues in agricultural activities. the peasantry population has also been impacted. In light of these issues, the paper looks at the population segment most impacted by lockdown in cities and the factors that compelled them to return to their home countries. The article focuses on the three main issues that rural communities face that contribute to food insecurity: first, the issue was related to the harvesting. storage (in warehouses and godowns). distribution (via transportation), and sale of agricultural produce: second. the increasing strain on households' meagre food supplies brought on by reverse migration from urban areas; and third, the closure and dysfunction of social protection programmes and food welfare schemes. The piece also critically evaluates the policies and programmes put forth by the government at the centre to address the issues brought on by the COVID-19 lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motivation of this paper stems from the growing concern of heavy pesticide use in developing countries such as Sri Lanka. Its excessive use affects the environment, the economy and farmers' health and yet farmers still seem unaware of its ill-effects. More worrying is the lack of appropriate government efforts to address this problem. If neglected, heavy use of pesticide eventually renders land useless, reduces future farm output and productivity and can severely affect farmers' health. This paper investigates pesticide use in agriculture and its impact on farm level technical efficiency using a metafrontier framework with stochastic frontier analysis. Data are collected through surveys of two groups of farmers in Sri Lanka. The first (described as the 'non-hospitalized farmers') are farmers who perceive that their ill-health is due to exposure to pesticides and obtained treatment but are not hospitalized. The second group (described as the 'hospitalized farmers') are farmers whose ill-health has been diagnosed by doctors and have been treated in hospital for exposure to pesticides. The results show that farmers overuse pesticides because of higher expectations of future returns which has led to an increase in inefficiency and remains unknown to the farmers. Determinants of inefficiency supports the argument that pesticide induced health problems reduce the health capital, while increasing farm level inefficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A list of 26 papers relevant to agricultural safety and health edited by M. Rice, D. F. Caldwell and F. J. Humenik is presented. It includes papers entitled "Ammonia Emissions From Animal Feeding Operations," "Antibiotic Resistance and the Environment: Current Science and Policy Concerns," and "Air Quality and Emissions from Livestock and Poultry production/Waste Management Systems."

A method for evaluation of droplet deposit analysis is presented, based on percent of surface covered with chemicals. The method consist of collecting the droplets, using water sensitive paper (WSP), images scanning and calculation of coverage coefficient (GA) trough a "TestGA" program, developed for this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding pathways to enhance the resilience of farming systems (FSs) in Europe is key, given the increasing challenges threatening them. FSs are complex socio-ecological systems in which social and ecological components are strongly linked. Social actors have the capacity to shape the FSs' resilience, but there is a knowledge gap about how they can best do it. The aim of this paper is to analyse the roles played by the actors in FSs when dealing with challenges and assess how these roles may contribute to the resilience attributes (conditions that enable resilience) and resilience capacities (robustness, adaptability, and transformability). To this end, ten focus groups have been conducted across FSs in Europe. Results suggest that each actor in the FSs can shape and strengthen different resilience attributes which in turn result in combinations of resilience capacities that are specific to the FS. Thus, enabling resilience is best accomplished with actors taking different roles and jointly configuring the most adequate combination of capacities, which differs across FSs. This paper provides a set of resilience-enabling roles that delineate the pathways to make FSs more resilient. The diversity of actors and resilience-enabling pathways require flexible, coordinated and comprehensive policies that encompass the complexity of the socio-ecological systems. • Enabling resilience of farming systems is best accomplished with actors taking different roles. • Improving farming systems' resilience requires enhancing their transformability capacity. • The actors enhance resilience by reinforcing human capital, response diversity, social organization and learning. • This paper provides a set of resilience-enabling roles that delineate the pathways to make farming systems more resilient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lameness is a significant health and welfare issue in farmed animals. This paper uses a governmentality approach, which focuses on how a problem is made governable, to examine an emerging 'ecology of devices' introduced to intervene in, and attempt to reduce, on-farm incidence of lameness. These devices are associated with advisers who work with farmers on-farm; they enact lameness as a governable entity, are tools to assess the existence of lameness against established norms, and prescribe actions to be taken in response to evidence of lameness. In doing this they subjectify farmers and advisers into seeing and responding to lameness in particular ways. Using concepts of governmentality alongside other perspectives on the power relations and the simplifications and complexities involved in interventions in animal health and farm practice, the paper draws on in-depth research with advisers including vets and other paraprofessionals who work with farmers, and their cows and sheep. It explores how this set of devices introduces particular techniques and practices in lameness management, and produces farmer and adviser subjectivities. It then explores some of the problematics of this mode of governing lameness, including analysis of the limitations and unintended consequences of attempts to simplify lameness management. The paper concludes by arguing that its approach is valuable in analysing ongoing intensification of interventions in farming practices and in understanding the limits of such interventions and the unanticipated divergences from expected conduct. • A governmentality approach to livestock lameness provides valuable insight into recent attempts to reduce its prevalence and severity on farms. • The government of lameness produces farmer and adviser subjectivities linked to new tools and devices aiming to reduce the incidence of lameness. • The government of lameness is limited by complexities linked with attempts to simplify interventions and deviation from expected practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, the regional language Tamil films have played a vital role in shaping the perceptions and beliefs of the Tamil society towards socio, economic, political, and cultural developments. Over the past decade and in a post-Covid-19 scenario Tamil film industry has been witnessing a series of films on social issues, predominantly on the environment, agricultural crisis, and ecosystem protection. It is vital to understand how far these films reflect global concerns in relation to social development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as outlined by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, serve as an appropriate framework for understanding this. As an effective form of mass media, the film is seen as one of the important media in Sustainability Communication. This paper tries to assess the nature of SDGs dealt with in 21st-century Tamil films, especially in popular film narratives. The Tamil language film, Jai Bhim, released in the year 2021, on custodial torture leading to the death of a Tribal person and the subsequent legal battle towards justice, has gained more acclaim and recognition in the national and international arena. This film has been seen as a hope for Sustainable Communication of the rights of ordinary and vulnerable Tribal people. Using a thematic analysis based on 17 SDGs, the paper tries to identify the presence of three key dimensions of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely, social, economic, and environmental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National governments and international donors fund challenge competitions to foster innovation, but there is little evidence on the economic return to such investments. This paper conducts an ex-ante benefit-cost analysis to project the economic return on the 2023 Fab Bhutan Challenge, which was part of FAB23 Bhutan (the 19th annual international Fab Lab Conference). For the Challenge benefits side of the analysis, studies covering five topics were drawn from: crop yield improvements from climate adaptation (for Challenge 1 in Sarpang), cost and time savings from improved water supply (for Challenge 2 in Pangbisa), livelihood savings from human-wildlife conflict prevention (Challenge 3 in Limbukha Chiwog), revenue generation from cultural exports (Challenge 4 in Thimphu), and economic returns from special needs education (Challenge 5 in Rinchending). For the Challenge costs side, budget data were collected and interviews with challenge participants were conducted. Conservative estimates that account for the probability of some challenge solutions ultimately being nonviable place the economic return to Bhutan between $5 and $12 per dollar invested. The paper concludes by discussing opportunities for scaling solutions from the structured innovation challenge based on the global evidence, and implications of the study for Bhutan's economic aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological breakthroughs have ushered in a revolution in a variety of industries, including agriculture, during the last several decades. This has given rise to what is now known as Agriculture 4.0, which emphasizes strategy and systems rather than the traditional obligations of the past. As a result, many human procedures have been replaced by a new generation of intelligent devices. Crop production management in Agriculture 4.0, on the other hand, poses a considerable challenge, particularly when it comes to prompt and accurate crop disease identification. Plant diseases are of special significance since they significantly reduce agricultural yield in terms of both quality and quantity. Deep learning neural network models are being utilized for early diagnosis of plant diseases in order to overcome this difficulty. These models can automatically extract features, generate high-dimensional features from low-dimensional ones, and achieve better learning results. In this research, we offer a joint solution involving image processing, phytopathology, and embedded platforms that intends to minimize the time necessary for human labor by leveraging AI to facilitate plant disease detection. We propose a learning-based PlantNet architecture for detecting plant diseases from leaf images, in which achieved about 97% accuracy and about 0.27 loss on the PlantVillage dataset. However, because putting AI techniques on embedded systems can substantially cut energy consumption and processing times while also minimizing the costs and dangers involved with data transfer, it is worth considering. The second goal of this paper is to use high-level synthesis to accelerate the proposed PlantNet architecture. Moreover, we propose a hardware-software (HW/SW) design for integrating the suggested vision system on an embedded FPGA-SoC platform. Finally, we present a comparative study with state-of-the-art works, which demonstrates that the proposed design outperforms the others in terms of normalized GFLOPS (1.93), reduced power consumption (2.48 W), and minimum required processing time (0.04 seconds). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been numerous assessment systems and publications for the competitiveness of farming enterprises around the globe due to the high academic, business and policy importance of this problem. Common shortcomings of most evaluating frameworks are that they are based on unlike competitiveness understanding, principles and criteria, traditional indicators of technical and accountancy efficiency, factors productivity, the profitability of activity, firms market share etc. Other deficiencies of dominating approaches are that they are focused on a certain (size, juridic, sectoral, territorial) dimension of farming structures, and the ignorance of a critical governance aspect of a farm's competitiveness. This paper suggests a holistic multi-pillar framework for assessing the competitiveness of farming structures and evaluating the absolute and comparative competitiveness of Bulgarian farms of major juridical types, economic sizes, product specialization, and ecological and geographical locations. A hierarchical system consisting of four pillars of farm competitiveness (Economic efficiency, Financial endowment, Adaptability and Sustainability), and appropriate four Criteria, seventeen particular and five integral indicators are used to measure the competitiveness levels. The study has found that the competitiveness of farms in the country is at a good level, but there is significant differentiation in the levels and factors of farms with different juridical types, sizes, specializations and ecological and geographical locations. Besides the juridical type, other dimensions of farming structures like economic size, product specialization, location, market or selfsufficiency orientation, are (sometimes more) important for determining their absolute and comparative competitiveness. Critical for maintaining the competitive positions of Bulgarian farms are their low productivity, income, financial security, and adaptability to changes in the natural environment. For the improvement of the later weaknesses are to be directed farm management strategies and public policy support measures. A large portion of farms of different types has low competitiveness, and if adequate measures are not taken in due time to improve management and restructuring farms, the efficiency of state support, etc., a significant part of Bulgarian farms will cease to exist in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is envisioned to investigate the Information Seeking Anxiety (ISA) among postgraduate (masters' and PhD) students of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The Information Seeking Anxiety Scale (ISAS) developed by Erfanmanesh, et al., containing 47 statements representing ISA under seven components having Cronbach alpha values reported to be at 0.902, was used as a data collection tool. 108 students participated in the survey. About 70 % respondents experienced mild level of anxiety. The gender-based difference in ISA associated with 'Computer and the Internet' was found to be significant at .05 (t= 2,426), females being less anxious. The location of the students did not influence their ISA, and different components of the ISAS were found to be interrelated, affecting the overall anxiety level. Prevalence of low to severe levels of ISA amongst students mandated the need for planning and execution of well-prepared information literacy programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses unit level data available from the 70th round of NSSO to analyse the livelihood choices among agricultural households in India and to assess the factors that influence such choices. Cluster analysis is employed to demarcate the livelihood options in terms of intra- household allocation of labour to various activities. The findings reveal that while overall agriculture is the mainstay of the agricultural households, significant variations in livelihoods exist among different landowning classes with the landless and marginal landowners being more dependent on livelihoods involving agricultural and non-agricultural labour. As landless and marginal landowners constitute the majority of rural households in India, the need to generategainful livelihoods for these households poses the single most important development challenge. As subsequent analysis has shown, households adopting casual wage labour as a livelihood option are at a higher risk of poverty. In contrast, households that are able to adopt salaried employment or other types of non-farm-based livelihoods have a lower incidence of poverty. Education is the single most important factor determining access to these livelihoods. Significant variations are found across Indian states in terms oflivelihood structures. The state level regressions showed that while some factors such as per capita ownership of land had a uniform effect in influencing livelihood choices across all states, the role of other factors such as age, caste and education vary across states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although drafting and promulgating the expropriation decree-laws in 1918 represented landmark moments in the history of the Romanian agrarian reform, it did not lead to the definitive solution of the "peasant issue". Furthermore, the reform implementation encountered reluctances, generated by biased approaches to the subject in question. The aim of our paper is to present the difficult process of The Agrarian Reform adoption. We are also interested in outlining the immediate outcomes generated by the introduction of the new law. All those aspects included in the general context of the debates involving not only the issue of ownership, but especially that of the destiny of the reformed Romanian agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This introductory article to the special issue contributes to ongoing debates on pesticides in agriculture by focusing on their alternatives. Through a literature review, we explore the pluralism of those alternatives and the socio-political processes that support or hinder their expansion. The first section examines the obstacles encountered by public policies aimed at reducing pesticide use. Resistances are both external to public decision-making, i.e. agricultural players, agrochemical firms, and internal, related to the existing regulatory mechanisms, including the scientific expertise used to assess risks. The second section introduces the two main families of alternatives to pesticides, and their respective political and scientific underpinnings. On the one hand, solutions based on substitution through alternative technologies, such as biocontrol. On the other hand, solutions based on the systemic redesign of agricultural systems, such as organic farming or agroecology. The third section presents the contributions that make up this special issue. We highlight the political work carried out at the interface between policies, expertise and markets in order to legitimise one or the other alternative. Beyond a strictly technological approach, the papers stress the importance of considering the diversity of components, stakeholders and processes involved at the whole food system level. Farmers and practitioners make complex production choices and trade-offs. These decisions are influenced by policies and upstream companies, which offer inputs or plant health diagnostic technologies, and by downstream actors, i.e.processors, retailers and policymakers, who shape the markets for pesticide-free food. The approach we propose here calls for a fresh sociological look at policymaking and expertise involved in identifying and dealing with pesticides issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the industry's inability to meet societal demand, Industry 4.0 was launched in the last decade years. To close the gap, the academic and industrial sectors are pursuing revolution. One strategy for moving forward is digital transformation, and the digital twin is the technology that best exemplifies this strategy by upending conventional industrial processes and functions. This paper will help audiences who lack expert knowledge of digital twins to swiftly evaluate and comprehend research advancements in academia and industry. It will cover the background, features, and implementation of the digital twin in five main sectors. The case study used in this paper is Qinghai Meadow in China, which uses the intended network to explain how digital twins have developed in the husbandry sector. At the end of the study, issues are also illustrated from two perspectives that aid in identifying gaps in the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prefiguration unites organizations and collectives as diverse as post-growth organizations, common good organizations, community-supported agriculture, transition towns, or ecovillages in their fundamental critique of contemporary capitalism and the belief in the urgency of a major social transformation toward sustainability. It refers to realizing imaginaries of radically alternative futures in social practices, of bringing about the future by enacting real utopias in the present. Prefiguration is an increasingly fashionable concept in the social sciences, but it is still rarely used in scholarship on infrastructures. This paper shows the potential relevance of this concept for studying infrastructures, in particular to address the social transformation of contemporary infrastructures toward radically alternative, revolutionary infrastructures. It therefore starts with providing insights into the common and yet rather narrow understanding of social change and transformation in literature on prefiguration. Building on scholarly reflections on the politics of social transformation and the crucial role of organizing in transformative social change processes, the paper derives a multi-political approach where prefiguration is considered in its intricate linkage to other forms of politics. Furthermore, the paper outlines the conceptual relationship between prefiguration and infrastructures, proposes conceiving radically alternative infrastructures as being created through prefigurative organizing, and discusses a few exemplary challenges of prefiguring alternative immaterial and material infrastructures. It generally suggests that a fundamental social transformation of our societies and infrastructures requires prefigurative organizing, understood through its multi-political lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyprus is the most water insecure of the European Union member countries. This is the case despite the fact that its water landscape - surface, underground and coastal - has been developed almost to its maximum, with large and costly dams, conveyors and desalination plants. This paper provides an historical and technopolitical perspective on this expensively built and precarious water supply regime. We demonstrate how water supply has been central to the formation of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) from the end of colonialism in 1960, through to the 1974 division of the island, and then the 2004 integration of the RoC into the European Union. The paper exposes how, at critical turns, water infrastructure constituted a material practice that shaped the economy's motive powers, that is, agriculture and tourism. We examine how state actors and international experts promoted these economic activities in ways that relied heavily on water-intensive practices. This led, in turn, to the normalisation of large-scale, capital-intensive water supply projects that consolidated the power of a precarious republic whose control over its population was only partial. Environmentally harmful practices came to be accepted as inevitable or even as crucial for the very existence of the Republic; examples of this include illegal drilling for irrigation in the south-eastern area of Kokkinokhoria and supply of hotel resorts in the village of Ayia Napa and, the supply of golf courses with subsidised agricultural water. We conclude that, in effect, this material practice creates a long-term technopolitical dynamic that downplays or excludes demand-side water policies and ecological concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In sub-Saharan Africa, agricultural intensification and urbanization have increased the risk of proliferation of rodents in rural and urban habitats. Management of rodent populations is a challenge in terms of food security and public health. However, conventional efforts to manage rodents are currently reactive and based on the inadequate use of synthetic chemical rodenticides, including first- and second-generation anticoagulants and acute rodenticides. This approach carries substantial environmental and health risks and has yielded limited success in terms of reduction of rodent populations sustainably. In this paper, which is the second part of a diptych, we advocate for a shift towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches, such as Ecologically-Based Rodent Management (EBRM), as a realistic alternative to synthetic rodenticides. This method is based on a good knowledge of habitat use, species diversity and population dynamics of major rodent pests, and involves community-based interventions aimed at reducing rodent abundance to economically and hygienically acceptable levels in the long term. We present for the first time a comprehensive compilation of published and unpublished information derived from observational field studies conducted in Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal with the aim to provide an overview of EBRM case studies in these countries of sub-Saharan Africa. This paper intends to serve as a catalyst for change, encouraging the transformation of rodent management practices towards sustainable methods. We aim at stimulating further research and interventions that promote EBRM in Africa, ultimately fostering more environmentally conscious and effective solutions. [Display omitted] • In Africa, agricultural intensification and urbanization are major changes. • These changes increase the risk of rodent proliferation in rural and urban habitats. • Conventional rodent control relies on reactive, inappropriate use of rodenticides. • Ecologically-Based Rodent Management has been poorly tested in sub-Saharan Africa. • This method can be a realistic, sustainable and environment-friendly alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]