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Returns to education are mainly influenced by the characteristics of the individual. However, returns also depend on location characteristics, suggesting location premia can exist for educational attainment. This paper analyzes regional variations to returns from education using Swedish municipalities. The political geography of Sweden assists the analysis since it can be divided into four categories based on size and commuting patterns. Based on the obtained results, the often-assumed hypothesis of equal returns to education for all regions in a country can be rejected. The highest returns to education are found in municipalities at the top of the urban-rural hierarchy (dense and large municipalities), and the lowest are in the most peripheral municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swidden agriculture is by far the dominant land use system in the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia (SEA). It provides various valuable subsistence products to local farmers, mostly the poor ethnic minority groups. Controversially, it is also closely connected with a number of environmental issues. With the strengthening regional economic cooperation in SEA, swidden agriculture has experienced drastic transformations into other diverse market-oriented land use types since the 1990s. However, there is very limited information on the basic geographical and demographic data of swidden agriculture and the socio-economic and biophysical effects of the transformations. International programs, such as the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD), underscore the importance of monitoring and evaluating swidden agriculture and its transition to reduce carbon emission due to deforestation and forest degradation. In this context, along with the accessibility of Landsat historical imagery, remote sensing based techniques will offer an effective way to detect and monitor the locations and extent of swidden agriculture. Many approaches for investigating fire occurrence and burned area can be introduced for swidden agriculture mapping due to the common feature of fire relatedness. In this review paper, four broad approaches involving spectral signatures, phenological characteristics, statistical theory and landscape ecology were summarized for swidden agriculture delineation. Five research priorities about swidden agriculture involving remote sensing techniques, spatial pattern, change, drivers and impacts were proposed accordingly. To our knowledge, a synthesis review on the remote sensing and outlook on swidden agriculture has not been reported yet. This review paper aims to give a comprehensive overview of swidden agriculture studies in the domains of debated definition, trends, remote sensing methods and outlook research in SEA undertaken in the past two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper estimates the technical, allocative and economic efficiency of tomato growers. The study was conducted in two villages, namely, Tarnab and Akbarpura of the District Peshawar, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. The data were collected by conducting a farm level survey of 300 tomato growers in the study area. The findings show that there was a big gap between the maximum and minimum technical efficiency indices, with an average technical efficiency index of 66%. There was also a huge gap between the highest and the lowest index of allocative efficiency of tomato growers. Economic efficiency indices also varied significantly. The study concluded that the farmer education, extension visits, age and access to credit were the significant determinants of these efficiencies. One of the most important policy implications of this study is that there is enough potential to increase the present level of efficiencies for tomato production in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture in India, since ancient times, is the most crucial sector for ensuring food and nutritional security, sustainable development and for the alleviation of poverty. It is the key sector in India for generating employment opportunities for the vast majority of the population particularly in rural areas. The paper aims to explore the many facets related to agricultural education, research, training, and libraries in India in order to provide a historical account on these aspects. The paper discusses in detail the various committees and commissions and their salient recommendations leading to the expansive growth and development of agricultural education, research, and libraries in India. Further, the paper also highlights the critical role of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in the growth and development of agricultural education, research, extension, and libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is a vital component to the Indian economy and is necessary to all our daily needs. The professional associations are committed to accelerate the growth and development of agricultural education, research and extension in the country. The present study explores the quantitative and qualitative growth of the agricultural associations in India and their nomenclature. Study also highlights the various activities undertaken by the agricultural associations in promotion of agricultural publications, organisation of conferences/seminars, fellowships/scholarships/awards. A list of agricultural associations in the country is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the calm waters metaphor might explain the changes navigated by Australian agricultural education through most of its history, the last 20 or so years have been very turbulent. Now, the new millennium sees agricultural education in both Australia and the Western world facing a different and less certain future. This paper analyses some of the structural changes to occur in the provision of agricultural higher education and revisits some of the key themes addressed in the McColl Report, the last substantive review of Australian agricultural and related education. While this report foreshadowed a weakening demand for education places, it did not foresee the extent of the decline in agricultural enrolments nor the profound changes to the provider landscape, particularly in the State of Victoria. Curriculum trends are also having an impact on upon the visibility of agriculture within higher education and this has implications for education-to-career transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enrollment in agricultural majors has been affected by the amount of students entering these courses and by the preparation of them. While comparing this kind of majors and the ones belonging to the field of humanities, it has been determined that there are considerable differences not only in the number of students; besides, it is remarkable to point out the level of permanence of the students in these last majors in Higher Education Institutions (CES, Spanish abbreviation), compared to the agronomy and veterinary ones. Specifically, in the agronomy major, according to some studies carried out, most of the times the responsibility of the enrolment is left to institutions directly related with this specialty; being this one of the main causes of the aforementioned problem. However, it is not the only one, it could be also mentioned the effect of the rejection to study these majors on the family side and the influence in children and relatives. Precisely, an important way to face this situation is the agricultural working formation. In the reflections presented in this paper a pedagogic-historic-cultural analysis is carried out until achieving the definition of agricultural working formation, it is a necessary theoretical support for any practical action to develop in terms of solving the current problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study analyses transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge in the development of organic farming in Switzerland by using Fleck's theory of thought styles and thought collectives. Three different phases can be identified throughout the historical development. The initial phase lasting from the beginning of the 1920s to the early 1970s contains numerous characteristics of diverse well-established definitions and concepts of transdisciplinarity and represents a successful transdisciplinary process, which has not been perceived as such in the past and present scientific discussion. The second and third phases show an increasing segregation of thought collectives, caused by internal changes such as the establishment of specialised research institutions and external processes like agriculture policy and market development. These developments led to a decreasing degree of transdisciplinarity. We observe an ambiguous trend: the continuously growing and today well-established positive societal recognition of an initially rather little accepted newcomer movement is associated with the gradual loss of its very valuable forms of knowledge co-production and the related philosophical background. In order to maintain the various forms of transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge, one has to reflect not only their results or outcome but also the whole cooperation process, which has led to these results. The understanding of the historical development and characteristic features of knowledge co-production as presented in this study will help to reinforce transdisciplinary research in organic agriculture and research on transdisciplinarity in general. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Organic agriculture has grown rapidly throughout the world in recent years as a result of increasing consumer interest in healthy food and environmental concerns. The use of land in this operation helps to conserve the environment and promotes the sustainable use of natural resources. The demand for organic products has increased, especially in Europe, North America and Oceania, and hence has created export potential for developing countries. Turkey is a typical case among developing countries of the establishment of organic agriculture based on export potential. About 85% of its current organic production is exported to EU countries, and this is predicted to expand further. The main objectives of the study were to define the concept of organic agriculture and to describe the state of organic agriculture both worldwide and specifically in Turkey. The paper also describes major issues affecting Turkish organic agriculture and presents recommendations for developing this and related sectors in the hope that they will help to solve common problems faced by developing countries and improve policy programmes along with extension and research activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-level agricultural manpower training in Ethiopian institutions of higher education (AIHE)specializing in agriculture and related fields was studied. The study reveals that high-level agricultural manpower training began in the early 1950s and that, at present, the country has seven institutions of higher learning, which train students in agriculture and related fields. The results of the study show that the AIHE have contributed to the agricultural sector through training high-level agricultural professionals, enhancement of indigenous research capability, and generation and dissemination of technologies. The study also reveals that a host of factors have put a stranglehold on the training process and the professional competence of agricultural graduates. Moreover, the results shed new light on the programmes of study, which were found to be unable to respond to the labour market requirements and current rural realities due to lack of relevance o f the curricula, which are no longer able to produce graduates who could deal with the wider problems of rural development.Higher Education Policy (2008) 21, 275–299. doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300139 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inquiries into the diminishing supply of artesian water within the Queensland aspect of the Great Artesian Basin began in 1939. These investigations produced a Queensland phenomenon without Australian precedent in terms of rationale, geographical diversity, and commitment of resources. In some regions, exposure of herds to fluoride emerged as an urgent issue because fluoride was perceived as an invasive, invisible, and odourless 'contaminant' in artesian water. This paper discusses the scientific background to, and management of, concerns over the consumption by stock of artesian water with a high concentration of natural bioavailable fluoride. The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock managed the problem by scientific investigation, methodical field study, and the application of research findings to animal husbandry. The practical solutions arrived at involved rotation of stock on an age-related basis to and from certain bore supplies, fencing young sheep away from the artesian supply, fencing young sheep near the bore-head, and limiting the use of supplements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we will first give a historic overview of the concept of benefit sharing and its appearance in official agreements, particularly with respect to crop genetic resources. It will become clear that, at present, benefit sharing is primarily considered as an instrument of compensation or exchange, and thus refers to commutative justice. However, we believe that such a narrow interpretation of benefit sharing disregards, and even undermines, much of its (historical) content and potency, especially where crop genetic resources are concerned. We argue that benefit sharing should not be based merely on commutative justice but rather on a broader model that is also grounded in the concept of distributive justice. This has repercussions for the application of benefit sharing, which we try to clarify by distinguishing between downstream and upstream benefit sharing. Upstream benefit sharing is not so much inspired by compensation for actions done, or the distribution downstream of benefits developed, but by the idea of shared decision-making on the research and development of resources fundamental to human welfare. Going upstream in the research process of crop genetic resources, and determining research agendas and improving crops according to the needs of the poor, benefit sharing may well be a tool to contribute to world food security and global justice. We concretize our ideas on upstream benefit sharing by introducing a set of criteria that determine the success of consultations on agricultural research agenda setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]