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Feeding Behaviour of Eurasian Beavers (Castor fiber) Along Small Streams in an Agricultural Landscape Texte intégral
2022
Ondřej Mikulka | Miloslav Homolka | Jakub Drimaj | Jiří Kamler
Feeding Behaviour of Eurasian Beavers (Castor fiber) Along Small Streams in an Agricultural Landscape Texte intégral
2022
Ondřej Mikulka | Miloslav Homolka | Jakub Drimaj | Jiří Kamler
In areas with high population density, the Eurasian beaver may be forced to utilise sparsely forested landscapes where living conditions may not be optimal for the species. Here, we examine the feeding strategy of Eurasian beavers along a number of small (mainly) forested streams in the Czech agricultural landscape. Diet availability in these sparsely forested landscapes is characterised by a lack of woody plants but a large supply of herbaceous vegetation, including agricultural crops grown close to the watercourse. The beaver has adapted to such conditions by building dams on low-water streams, allowing it to move between scattered diet resources. In winter, the main dietary component was woody plants (70% V), with species normally neglected in optimal sites (e.g. Acer negundo, Prunus spp.) taken in the absence of more favoured species (e.g. Salix spp., Populus spp.), the remaining 30%V consisting of herbaceous vegetation. In summer, however, the main component in the diet was herbaceous vegetation (90% F), which included agricultural crops (56% V). Where there were not enough trees, the beaver tended to leave its summer territory and move to stretches with denser tree stands. Thus, beavers in sparsely forested agricultural landscapes have adapted by utilising the diverse supply of herbaceous vegetation, though its continued presence in the landscape is still primarily dependent on sufficient stocks of woody plants, which the beaver needs to survive winter.
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]Feeding Behaviour of Eurasian Beavers (Castor fiber) Along Small Streams in an Agricultural Landscape Texte intégral
2022
Mikulka, Ondrej | Homolka, Miloslav | Drimaj, Jakub et al.
In areas with high population density, the Eurasian beaver may be forced to utilise sparsely forested landscapes where living conditions may not be optimal for the species. Here, we examine the feeding strategy of Eurasian beavers along a number of small (mainly) forested streams in the Czech agricultural landscape. Diet availability in these sparsely forested landscapes is characterised by a lack of woody plants but a large supply of herbaceous vegetation, including agricultural crops grown close to the watercourse. The beaver has adapted to such conditions by building dams on low-water streams, allowing it to move between scattered diet resources. In winter, the main dietary component was woody plants (70% V), with species normally neglected in optimal sites (e.g. Acer negundo, Prunus spp.) taken in the absence of more favoured species (e.g. Salix spp., Populus spp.), the remaining 30%V consisting of herbaceous vegetation. In summer, however, the main component in the diet was herbaceous vegetation (90% F), which included agricultural crops (56% V). Where there were not enough trees, the beaver tended to leave its summer territory and move to stretches with denser tree stands. Thus, beavers in sparsely forested agricultural landscapes have adapted by utilising the diverse supply of herbaceous vegetation, though its continued presence in the landscape is still primarily dependent on sufficient stocks of woody plants, which the beaver needs to survive winter.
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]Dietary diversity score and the incidence of chronic kidney disease in an agricultural Moroccan adults population Texte intégral
2022
Rachida Moustakim | Mohamed Mziwira | Mohammed El Ayachi | Rekia Belahsen
Background. Healthy diet plays an important role in the management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and in the prevention of related comorbidities. Dietary diversity score (DDS) is well recognized as an indicator for assessing diet quality and food security. However, its association with CKD has not been investigated. Objective. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of CKD and to evaluate its association with DDS among a Moroccan adults from Sidi Bennour province. Materials and methods. A cross sectional study was conducted among 210 individuals. General information among others was collected. Weight, height and waist circumference were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Blood samples were collected and the serum creatinine was determined. Subsequent glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was estimated by the modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) formula and the chronic kidney disease was defined by an eGFR<60 ml/min/1.73m². Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-hours dietary recall, and DDS was computed according to the FAO guidelines. Results. The participants mean age was 54.18±13.45 years, with a sex ratio of 0.38 and 4.4% as the prevalence of chronic kidney disease. The dietary diversity score was lower than 3 (lowest DDS) in 14.4% of the subjects, between 4 and 5 (medium DDS) in 72.5% and higher than 6 (high DDS) in 13.1% of the subjects. Subjects with higher DDS consistently have a higher level of eGFR compared to those with lower DDS while the DDS was not associated with the incidence of CKD in the present study. Conclusion. Even if no statistically significant association was found between CKD and dietary diversity, there is a relationship of higher eGFR levels among the study participants with higher dietary diversity.
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]An Agricultural Survey in South Devon Texte intégral
2022
Currie, J. R. | Long, W. H.
Labour Commutation in the Agricultural Sector—An Analysis of Agricultural Workers in Chile Texte intégral
2022
Claudio Mancilla | Luz María Ferrada | Sergio Soza-Amigo | Adriano Rovira
Labour Commutation in the Agricultural Sector—An Analysis of Agricultural Workers in Chile Texte intégral
2022
Claudio Mancilla | Luz María Ferrada | Sergio Soza-Amigo | Adriano Rovira
Agricultural activity is a key strategic sector for countries, particularly for food production. One way to strengthen the sector is through the use of technology. However, while integrating new technologies, challenges have emerged in the sector with regard to incorporating workers. Thus, one way to resolve this workforce shortfall could be through labour commutation, which consists of people living in one territory but working in another. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the likelihood of agricultural workers becoming worker commuters. Chile is used as a case study, drawing on the Chilean National Employment Survey of 2018 to analyse differences among the five largest regions in the country: Great North, Small North, Central Zone, South, and Chilean Patagonia. Each zone possesses different characteristics, and a propensity score matching process was carried out within the data. The results indicate that agricultural workers with a higher education level, full-time jobs, working in the formal sector, and younger workers are more likely to commute. Different impacts of variables were found across the zones. However, most of the variables have similar impact on the likelihood to commute in different areas. Thus, from a labour perspective, public policies can create general incentives to attract a new workforce to strengthen the agricultural sector.
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]Labour Commutation in the Agricultural Sector—An Analysis of Agricultural Workers in Chile Texte intégral
2022
Claudio Mancilla | Luz María Ferrada | Sergio Soza-Amigo | Adriano Rovira
Agricultural activity is a key strategic sector for countries, particularly for food production. One way to strengthen the sector is through the use of technology. However, while integrating new technologies, challenges have emerged in the sector with regard to incorporating workers. Thus, one way to resolve this workforce shortfall could be through labour commutation, which consists of people living in one territory but working in another. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the likelihood of agricultural workers becoming worker commuters. Chile is used as a case study, drawing on the Chilean National Employment Survey of 2018 to analyse differences among the five largest regions in the country: Great North, Small North, Central Zone, South, and Chilean Patagonia. Each zone possesses different characteristics, and a propensity score matching process was carried out within the data. The results indicate that agricultural workers with a higher education level, full-time jobs, working in the formal sector, and younger workers are more likely to commute. Different impacts of variables were found across the zones. However, most of the variables have similar impact on the likelihood to commute in different areas. Thus, from a labour perspective, public policies can create general incentives to attract a new workforce to strengthen the agricultural sector.
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]Agricultural Research in an International Policy Context Texte intégral
2022
Schuh, Edward G. | Norton, George W.
Agricultural Innovization: An Optimization-Driven solution for sustainable agricultural intensification in Michigan Texte intégral
2022
Kropp, Ian | Nejadhashemi, A Pouyan | Jha, Prakash | Hernandez-Suarez, J Sebastian
Humanity, now increasingly populous and affluent, poses a new challenge for the twentieth-first century farmer: increase food supply while maintaining the earth’s underlying ecosystems. This paper proposes a novel systems approach, agricultural innovization, to sustainably increase food production. Innovization applies the knowledge obtained through multi-objective optimization to discover new agricultural management practices which reduce the risk of climate variabilities on crop yields. In agricultural innovization, an optimization platform generated the near-optimal management actions for 30 years using a calibrated crop model for maize. From those near-optimal solutions, recommendations for improving management practices were data mined. Then these improved recommended practices were evaluated over 420 validation seasons. The validation results were promising as the recommended practices obtained from the innovization increased yields and generated no negative change in nitrogen leaching. Furthermore, these recommendations can be applied to future seasons of management, which makes them a fully predictive application of multi-objective optimization.
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]Innovation in agriculture: An analysis of Swedish agricultural and non-agricultural firms Texte intégral
2022
Bjerke, Lina | Johansson, Sara
This paper contributes to the literature on innovation in agri-food sectors. It presents a quantitative analysis of how innovation and innovation capacities differ between agricultural firms and firms in other sectors. With unique survey data on Swedish firms, we show that one-third of the firms in the agriculture sector are innovation creators. Moreover, incremental innovations in the form of firm-level technology adoption are not more prevalent in agriculture than in other sectors. These results indicate that agriculture does not appear as a special case concerning innovation output, besides their higher incidence of process innovations. The peculiarity of the sector rather seems to be related to firm-level innovation capacities. Our results suggest that agriculture is different in how they source relevant knowledge, which is a finding that could question the design of innovation support policies that emphasize collaborative research. Our findings rather point to a need of strengthening in-house knowledge capacities in agricultural firms. That would improve their capacity to participate in and benefit from collaborations with partners operating at higher levels in the knowledge system.
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]Competence of Agricultural Extension An Effort To Increase Agricultural Productivity In Sidoarjo Texte intégral
2022
Faisol Humaidi | Teguh Soedarto
Competence of Agricultural Extension An Effort To Increase Agricultural Productivity In Sidoarjo Texte intégral
2022
Faisol Humaidi | Teguh Soedarto
Sidoarjo Regency is one of the agricultural production areas, especially vegetables and is the largest supplier to Surabaya. The high productivity of agriculture cannot be separated from the role of agricultural extension workers who are spread in most sub-districts in Sidoarjo Regency. The purpose of this research is to measure the performance of agricultural extension workers in order to increase agricultural productivity, especially vegetables in Sidoarjo Regency. This research method uses descriptive, analytic and correlational approaches. A good extension policy strategy that can increase agricultural productivity is carried out by increasing programs related to institutions, quantity and quality of Agricultural Extension Officers and improving farmer group institutions. With this policy strategy, it can improve the quality of Agricultural Extension through education and training, as well as empowerment farmer groups by improving programs related to institutions, quantity and quality extension workers and institutional improvement of farmer groups. The results of the study show that the performance of Agricultural Extension Officers in the context of increasing agricultural productivity is in the very good category.
Afficher plus [+] Moins [-]Competence of Agricultural Extension An Effort To Increase Agricultural Productivity In Sidoarjo Texte intégral
2022
Humaidi, Faisol | Soedarto, Teguh
Sidoarjo Regency is one of the agricultural production areas, especially vegetables and is the largest supplier to Surabaya. The high productivity of agriculture cannot be separated from the role of agricultural extension workers who are spread in most sub-districts in Sidoarjo Regency. The purpose of this research is to measure the performance of agricultural extension workers in order to increase agricultural productivity, especially vegetables in Sidoarjo Regency. This research method uses descriptive, analytic and correlational approaches. A good extension policy strategy that can increase agricultural productivity is carried out by increasing programs related to institutions, quantity and quality of Agricultural Extension Officers and improving farmer group institutions. With this policy strategy, it can improve the quality of Agricultural Extension through education and training, as well as empowerment farmer groups by improving programs related to institutions, quantity and quality extension workers and institutional improvement of farmer groups. The results of the study show that the performance of Agricultural Extension Officers in the context of increasing agricultural productivity is in the very good category.
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