Avaliação e elucidação do mecanismo de ação de polímeros naturais modificados utilizados na agricultura / Evaluation and mode of action elucidation for modified natural polymers used in agriculture

Atualmente a agricultura ocupa um papel de extrema importância na conjuntura global e nacional e está inserida em um contexto de enormes desafios devido ao aumento da população mundial e maior demanda por alimentos. Ao mesmo tempo, é o setor mais afetado pelos impactos negativos das mudanças climáticas, que têm espalhado suas consequências de maneira cada vez mais frequente e intensa. Um dos principais efeitos é a alteração do regime de chuvas ao redor do globo, ocasionando estiagens intensas e duradouras, capazes de reduzir a produtividade de safras e comprometer a produção alimentícia. As abordagens atualmente existentes no mercado para mitigar as consequências negativas da escassez hídrica demandam alto investimento de implementação e manutenção, ou possuem um perfil ecotoxicológico insatisfatório. Polímeros de origem natural modificados quimicamente foram avaliados em termos de desempenho e capacidade de prover às plantas uma maior disponibilidade de água através de retenção hídrica. Os resultados alcançados demonstraram que os polímeros modificados com grupos iônicos foram capazes de promover um melhor gerenciamento hídrico no microambiente ao redor de sementes e entregar ganhos de produtividade a lavouras de soja. O mecanismo de ação da tecnologia estudada foi elucidado através de ensaios de determinação de capacidade de campo, análise de elipsometria, microscopia de força atômica, ensaios de germinação de soja sob estresse hídrico e implementação de áreas de soja a céu aberto a partir da aplicação em tratamento de sementes e sulco de plantio. As interações intra e intermoleculares entre as partículas de solo, moléculas de polímero e de água se mostraram ponto chave para a mudança de patamar de desempenho de polímeros naturais modificados utilizados na agricultura, quando comparados com os grupos controle. A tecnologia aqui estudada é, portanto, recomendada para utilização na agricultura, com capacidade de potencializar o efeito de tecnologias dependentes de água, resultando em maior produtividade na colheita

Nowadays agriculture occupies an extremely important role both in the global and national scenarios. Its included in a very challenging context due to the forecast of increased world population and consequent higher demand for food. At the same time, it is the most affected economic sector by the climate change effects, which have been causing frequent and harsh impacts. One of the main effects is the change in the rainfall pattern worldwide, which causes severe and long-lasting droughts, responsible for causing crops to fail and therefore putting food production at risk. The current available mitigation measures to address hydric scarcity require a huge investment for implementation and maintenance or do not present a satisfactory and safe ecotoxicological profile. Chemically modified natural polymers have been evaluated in terms of performance and ability to provide the plants with higher water availability through hydric retention. The results obtained show that such ionic group modified polymers are able to promote better water management in a given microenvironment surrounding the seeds and ultimately delivery a higher yield to soy crops. The technology's mode of action has been elucidated through field capacity determination trials, ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy, soy germination trials under hydric stress and, finally, implementation of soy areas under actual field conditions by applying the polymers via seed treatment and in-furrow methods. Both intra- and intermolecular interaction between soil particles, polymer and water molecules have been proven as key to understanding the agricultural performance improvement of the modified polymers when compared to the control. The technology is recommended for agricultural applications due to its ability to boost the effect of water-dependent technologies, promoting higher yields

Occupational injury rates among Norwegian farmers: A sociotechnical perspective.

INTRODUCTION: This study addressed relative injury risk among Norwegian farmers, who are mostly self-employed and run small farm enterprises. The aim was to explore the relative importance of individual, enterprise, and work environment risks for occupational injury and to discuss the latent conditions for injuries using sociotechnical system theory. METHOD: Injury report and risk factors were collected through a survey among Norwegian farm owners in November 2012. The response rate was 40% (n = 2,967). Annual work hours were used to calculate injury rates within groups. Poisson regression using the log of hours worked as the offset variable allowed for the modeling of adjusted rate ratios for variables predictive of injury risk. Finally, safety climate measures were introduced to assess potential moderating effects on risk. RESULTS: Results showed that the most important risk factors for injuries were the design of the workplace, type of production, and off-farm work hours. The main results remained unchanged when adding safety climate measures, but the measures moderated the injury risk for categories of predominant production and increased the risk for farmers working with family members and/or employees. An overall finding is how the risk factors were interrelated. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified large structural diversities within and between groups of farmers. The study drew attention to operating conditions rather than individual characteristics. The farmer's role (managerial responsibility) versus regulation and safety climate is important for discussions of injury risk. Practical Applications: We need to study sub-groups to understand how regulation and structural changes affect work conditions and management within different work systems, conditioned by production. It is important to encourage actors in the political-economic system to become involved in issues that were found to affect the safety of farmers.

Genomic resources in plant breeding for sustainable agriculture.

Climate change during the last 40 years has had a serious impact on agriculture and threatens global food and nutritional security. From over half a million plant species, cereals and legumes are the most important for food and nutritional security. Although systematic plant breeding has a relatively short history, conventional breeding coupled with advances in technology and crop management strategies has increased crop yields by 56 % globally between 1965-85, referred to as the Green Revolution. Nevertheless, increased demand for food, feed, fiber, and fuel necessitates the need to break existing yield barriers in many crop plants. In the first decade of the 21st century we witnessed rapid discovery, transformative technological development and declining costs of genomics technologies. In the second decade, the field turned towards making sense of the vast amount of genomic information and subsequently moved towards accurately predicting gene-to-phenotype associations and tailoring plants for climate resilience and global food security. In this review we focus on genomic resources, genome and germplasm sequencing, sequencing-based trait mapping, and genomics-assisted breeding approaches aimed at developing biotic stress resistant, abiotic stress tolerant and high nutrition varieties in six major cereals (rice, maize, wheat, barley, sorghum and pearl millet), and six major legumes (soybean, groundnut, cowpea, common bean, chickpea and pigeonpea). We further provide a perspective and way forward to use genomic breeding approaches including marker-assisted selection, marker-assisted backcrossing, haplotype based breeding and genomic prediction approaches coupled with machine learning and artificial intelligence, to speed breeding approaches. The overall goal is to accelerate genetic gains and deliver climate resilient and high nutrition crop varieties for sustainable agriculture.

An embedded system for the automated generation of labeled plant images to enable machine learning applications in agriculture.

A lack of sufficient training data, both in terms of variety and quantity, is often the bottleneck in the development of machine learning (ML) applications in any domain. For agricultural applications, ML-based models designed to perform tasks such as autonomous plant classification will typically be coupled to just one or perhaps a few plant species. As a consequence, each crop-specific task is very likely to require its own specialized training data, and the question of how to serve this need for data now often overshadows the more routine exercise of actually training such models. To tackle this problem, we have developed an embedded robotic system to automatically generate and label large datasets of plant images for ML applications in agriculture. The system can image plants from virtually any angle, thereby ensuring a wide variety of data; and with an imaging rate of up to one image per second, it can produce lableled datasets on the scale of thousands to tens of thousands of images per day. As such, this system offers an important alternative to time- and cost-intensive methods of manual generation and labeling. Furthermore, the use of a uniform background made of blue keying fabric enables additional image processing techniques such as background replacement and image segementation. It also helps in the training process, essentially forcing the model to focus on the plant features and eliminating random correlations. To demonstrate the capabilities of our system, we generated a dataset of over 34,000 labeled images, with which we trained an ML-model to distinguish grasses from non-grasses in test data from a variety of sources. We now plan to generate much larger datasets of Canadian crop plants and weeds that will be made publicly available in the hope of further enabling ML applications in the agriculture sector.

Minimal tillage and intermittent flooding farming systems show a potential reduction in the proliferation of Anopheles mosquito larvae in a rice field in Malanville, Northern Benin.

BACKGROUND: Irrigation systems have been identified as one of the factors promoting malaria disease around agricultural farms in sub-Saharan Africa. However, if improved water management strategy is adopted during rice cultivation, it may help to reduce malaria cases among human population living around rice fields. This study aimed to assess the impact of the different irrigation practices on malaria transmission, as well as to evaluate the water management system that will best mitigate malaria transmission in Malanville, Benin. METHODS: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) study was conducted on 104 households staying on and around the rice fields in Malanville. The study focused on the frequency of mosquito bites and preventive measures against malaria as well as soil preparation and rice planting methods. Mosquito larvae density was assessed in different water management system: continuous flooding (CF) or intermittent flooding (IF), deep tillage (DT) or minimal tillage (MT) and normal levelling (NL) or abnormal levelling (AL) in an experimental hut set-up. Larvae were collected using dipping methods and their density was determined. RESULTS: Three tillage systems, which include the use of tiller, plow and hoe, were identified on the rice field. Continuous flooding was the only irrigation system used by farmers. Retrospective data from Malanville Health Centre revealed higher malaria cases during rice production season, which was also confirmed by field participants. The density of Anopheles larvae was reduced by 80.8%, 30.8% and 40.7% (P = 0.000) during transplanting, tillering and maturation periods, respectively with intermittent flooding compared to continuous flooding. In addition, a clear reduction of larva density was observed with both intermittent flooding systems applied to minimal tillage (MT + IF + NL) and intermittent flooding applied to deep tillage (DT + IF + AL), showing that intermittent flooding could reduce the abundance of malaria vector in rice fields. CONCLUSION: Recommending intermittent flooding technology for rice cultivation may not only be useful for water management but could also be an intentional strategy to control mosquitoes vector-borne diseases around rice farms.

A biocultural examination of home food production and child growth in highland Peru.

OBJECTIVES: Chronic malnutrition remains a persistent global health issue. This mixed methods investigation in rural Peru examines the role of home food production (HFP) in reducing child malnutrition by testing the following hypotheses: (a) higher HFP will be associated with higher infant z-scores than those with less HFP and (b) infants with higher HFP will exhibit improved longitudinal growth outcomes across 6 months. METHODS: Ethnographic methods include semi-structured interviews and participant observation. A household survey and anthropometric data were collected twice, from 86 infants under of 24 months old. A HFP index (HFI) was generated based on reports of animals for meat consumption, eggs, milk, and agricultural products for home consumption. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to examine patterns of HFI and infant anthropometrics. Multivariate regressions were used to examine the relationships between HFP and infant height for age (HAZ), weight for age (WAZ), and triceps skinfold for age (TSAZ) in both rounds and 6-month change between rounds (6MΔ). RESULTS: There were no relationships between HFI and infant z-scores in round one, however, HFI was significantly positively related to HAZ (B = 0.091, P < .039) in round two and with 6MΔ in HAZ (B = 0.09, P < .047). HFI did not predict WAZ or TSAZ in either round. CONCLUSIONS: HFP represents an important influence of infant growth in Nuñoa, likely through nutritional improvement due to increased availability of animal-sourced foods and through contribution to household economy and maternal empowerment.

Subsistence strategy was the main factor driving population differentiation in the bidirectional corridor of the African Sahel.

OBJECTIVES: The Sahel belt is occupied by populations who use two types of subsistence strategy, nomadic pastoralism and sedentary farming, and who belong to three linguistic families, Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic. Little is known, however, about the origins of these two populations and their mutual genetic relationships. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We have built a large dataset of mitochondrial DNA sequences and Y chromosomal STR haplotypes of pastoralists and farmers belonging to all three linguistic phyla in the western, central, and eastern parts of the Sahel. We calculated pairwise genetic, geographic, and linguistic distances between populations and analyzed the effects of geography, language, and subsistence on population genetic structure. RESULTS: We found that subsistence mode significantly contributed to the generally low population structure in the Sahel and that language affiliation plays a more important role for pastoralists than for farmers. We also demonstrated that geographic isolation significantly influenced the population structure of sedentary farmers but not of nomadic pastoralists. Finally, we found haplotypes shared between the Fulani and Arabic-speaking Baggara, supporting the theory of Baggarization, which explains the recent adaptation of Arabic-speaking nomads in the Sahel region through contact with autochthonous sub-Saharan populations. CONCLUSIONS: Based on various genetic and archaeological evidence pertaining to the Sahel, we suggest that the idea of a bidirectional Sahelian corridor is valid, but that pastoralists made a more important contribution to its population structure. It is also possible that agropastoralists diverged into farmers and pastoralists in the early stages of formation of the Sahelian gene pool.

Costus root aqueous extract modulates rat liver toxicity, DNA damage, injury, proliferation alterations induced by plant growth regulator Ethephon

Ethephon (Ethrel®) is an ethylene-based plant growth regulator that used in agriculture and it has direct and indirect effects on human health, direct effect via its inhalation during usage in agriculture and indirect effect through the diet (Fruits and vegetables) that is sprayed with it. The current study aimed to examine the possible modifying effects of costus (Saussurea lappa) root aqueous extract against Ethephon induced liver toxicity, injury, DNA fragmentation and PCNA alterations in male rats. Fifty adult male rats were divided into 5 groups (1st, control; 2nd, Costus; 3rd, Ethephon; 4th, Post treated Ethephon with costus; 5th, self-healing Ethephon). Current results revealed that; a significant increase in aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), liver injury, DNA damage and PCNA expressions in Ethephon group when compared with control group. In contrast; a significant decrease in albumin and total proteins in Ethephon group when compared with control group. Treatment of rats with costus after Ethephon improved these alterations as compared with Ethephon self-healing. So, it could be concluded that costus root extract worth to be considered as a natural substance for ameliorating the hepatic toxicity induced by plant growth regulator Ethephon.

Influence of agricultural environment on the plant mite community in forest fragments.

The mite community has been surveyed in Seasonal Semideciduous Forest with three types of surrounding agricultural environments to test the hypothesis that abundance and richness of mites in forest fragments are influenced by the type of agricultural environment. The survey has been carried out in six fragments, divided into sets of two fragments, each one neighboring one sort of agricultural environment: sugarcane crop (FS), orange crop (FO) and pasture (FP). In each fragment, ten individuals of Actinostemon communis (Euphorbiaceae) were selected, five at the edge and five within each fragment. Iphiseiodes zuluagai, often registered in orange crops, was more abundant in the fragments neighboring such crop, as well as some species of Tarsonemidae. In this study, the Phytoseiidae were more abundant in the fragments neighboring pasture, while sugarcane crops probably favored occurrence of phytophagous mites in the neighboring fragments. Tetranychidae were less abundant in FO, which can be explained by periodical use of pesticides in the orange crops. Forest fragments are important for colonies of predators in the neighboring crops, mainly for annual crops such as sugarcane, where the close perennial environment is very important for colonization of the crop. Maintenance of those areas, besides favoring preservation of wild species of mite, is very important to increase diversity of the neighboring agricultural ecosystems.

Influence of agricultural environment on the plant mite community in forest fragments / Influência do ambiente agrícola vizinho na comunidade de ácaros plantícolas em fragmentos florestais

The mite community has been surveyed in Seasonal Semideciduous Forest with three types of surrounding agricultural environments to test the hypothesis that abundance and richness of mites in forest fragments are influenced by the type of agricultural environment. The survey has been carried out in six fragments, divided into sets of two fragments, each one neighboring one sort of agricultural environment: sugarcane crop (FS), orange crop (FO) and pasture (FP). In each fragment, ten individuals of Actinostemon communis (Euphorbiaceae) were selected, five at the edge and five within each fragment. Iphiseiodes zuluagai, often registered in orange crops, was more abundant in the fragments neighboring such crop, as well as some species of Tarsonemidae. In this study, the Phytoseiidae were more abundant in the fragments neighboring pasture, while sugarcane crops probably favored occurrence of phytophagous mites in the neighboring fragments. Tetranychidae were less abundant in FO, which can be explained by periodical use of pesticides in the orange crops. Forest fragments are important for colonies of predators in the neighboring crops, mainly for annual crops such as sugarcane, where the close perennial environment is very important for colonization of the crop. Maintenance of those areas, besides favoring preservation of wild species of mite, is very important to increase diversity of the neighboring agricultural ecosystems.

Foi estudada a comunidade de ácaros em fragmentos de mata estacional semidecidual com três tipos de ambientes agrícolas circunvizinhos para testar a hipótese de que a abundância e a riqueza de ácaros em fragmentos florestais são influenciadas pelo tipo de ambiente agrícola. O estudo foi conduzido em seis fragmentos, divididos em três conjuntos de dois fragmentos, sendo cada conjunto vizinho de um determinado tipo de ambiente agrícola: canavial (FS), laranjal (FO) e pastagem (FP). Em cada fragmento foram selecionados e marcados dez indivíduos de Actinostemon communis (Euphorbiaceae), cinco na borda e cinco no interior do fragmento. Iphiseiodes zuluagai, registrado frequentemente em laranjais, foi mais abundante nos fragmentos vizinhos a essa cultura, bem como algumas espécies de Tarsonemidae. Neste estudo os fitoseídeos foram mais abundantes nos fragmentos vizinhos de áreas de pastagens, enquanto os cultivos de cana-de-açúcar provavelmente favoreceram a ocorrência de fitófagos nos fragmentos adjacentes. Os tetraniquídeos foram menos abundantes em FO, o que pode ser explicado pela aplicação periódica de pesticidas nos laranjais. Fragmentos florestais são importantes para a colonização de predadores nas culturas vizinhas, principalmente em culturas anuais, como a cana-de-açúcar, nas quais o ambiente perene próximo é muito importante para a colonização do cultivo. A conservação dessas áreas, além de favorecer a manutenção de espécies silvestres de ácaros é de grande importância para o aumento da diversidade nos agroecossistemas vizinhos.

Effect of land use on mayfly assemblages structure in Neotropical headwater streams.

The aim of this study was to test the effect of agricultural and forestry land use on the structure of mayfly assemblages in low-order streams. Twenty-nine headwater streams were investigated in the state of São Paulo. We analyzed 15 streams in pristine areas (mixed tropical rainforest, semideciduous forest and dense tropical rainforest), and 14 streams covered with sugarcane, eucalyptus and pasture. Mayfly richness obtained by rarefaction curves was higher in pristine areas (21 genera), especially in mixed and semideciduous forest when compared to land use (9 genera), where values were particularly low in sugarcane plantation (3 genera). The non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination showed clear difference in mayfly assemblages between land uses and pristine areas, supported by analysis of similarity (R=0.67, p=0.001). In partial redundancy analysis (pRDA), the environmental descriptors that best explained differences in assemblage structure were Riparian, Channel and Environmental Inventory (RCE) index score, percentage of fine sediment stream substrate, water pH and land elevation. Our results show that agricultural and forestry land use has a strong negative effect on the structure of mayfly assemblages. These results also support the use of mayflies as environmental indicators, as some genera were sensitive to changes in land use, while others responded to naturally occurring changes in the study area.

[Specificities of intracellular metabolism in agricultural workers].

The purpose of the study was to identify and assess specific features of intracellular metabolism under the conditions of combined impact of biological and chemical work environment factors in agricultural workers. We have detected an activation of energetic and hydrolytic processes, suppression of antioxidant protection mechanisms in blood cells in workers of basic occupations. A most marked disorder of intracellular metabolism has been identified in poultry female workers. More significant activity deviations of acid phosphatase and glycogen in neutrophils and lymphocytes, myeloperoxidase in neutrophils have diagnosed in these workers.

Fishing farmers or farming fishers? Fishing typology of inland small-scale fishing households and fisheries management in singkarak lake, west sumatra, indonesia.

Technical and socio-economic characteristics are known to determine different types of fishers and their livelihood strategies. Faced with declining fish and water resources, small-scale fisheries engage into transformations in livelihood and fishing practices. The paper is an attempt to understand these changes and their socio-economic patterns, in the case of Singkarak Lake in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Based upon the hypothesis that riparian communities have diverse, complex yet structured and dynamic livelihood systems, the paper's main objective is to study, document and model the actual diversity in livelihood, practices and performance of inland small-scale fisheries along the Singkarak Lake, to picture how households are adapted to the situation, and propose an updated, workable model (typology) of those for policy. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to develop a typology of fishing households. The results show that small-scale fishers can be classified into different types characterized by distinct livelihood strategies. Three household types are identified, namely "farming fishers" households (type I, 30 %), "fishing farmers" households (type II, 30 %), and "mainly fishers" households (type III, 40 %). There are significant differences among these groups in the number of boats owned, annual fishing income, agriculture income and farming experience. Type I consists of farming fishers, well equipped, with high fishing costs and income, yet with the lowest return on fishing assets. They are also landowners with farming income, showing the lowest return on land capital. Type II includes poor fishing farmers, landowners with higher farming income; they show the highest return on land asset. They have less fishing equipment, costs and income. Type III (mainly fishers) consists of poorer, younger fishers, with highest return on fishing assets and on fishing costs. They have little land, low farming income, and diversified livelihood sources. The nature of their livelihood strategies is discussed for each identified group. This helps to understand the complexity and diversity of small-scale fishers, particularly in the study area which is still poorly known. This paper concludes with policy implication and possible management initiatives for environmentally prudent policy aiming at improvement of fishers' livelihood.

Changes in size of deforested patches in the Brazilian Amazon.

Different deforestation agents, such as small farmers and large agricultural businesses, create different spatial patterns of deforestation. We analyzed the proportion of deforestation associated with different-sized clearings in the Brazilian Amazon from 2002 through 2009. We used annual deforestation maps to determine total area deforested and the size distribution of deforested patches per year. The size distribution of deforested areas changed over time in a consistent, directional manner. Large clearings (>1000 ha) comprised progressively smaller amounts of total annual deforestation. The number of smaller clearings (6.25-50.00 ha) remained unchanged over time. Small clearings accounted for 73% of all deforestation in 2009, up from 30% in 2002, whereas the proportion of deforestation attributable to large clearings decreased from 13% to 3% between 2002 and 2009. Large clearings were concentrated in Mato Grosso, but also occurred in eastern Pará and in Rondônia. In 2002 large clearings accounted for 17%, 15%, and 10% of all deforestation in Mato Grosso, Pará, and Rondônia, respectively. Even in these states, where there is a highly developed agricultural business dominated by soybean production and cattle ranching, the proportional contribution of large clearings to total deforestation declined. By 2009 large clearings accounted for 2.5%, 3.5%, and 1% of all deforestation in Mato Grosso, Pará, and Rondônia, respectively. These changes in deforestation patch size are coincident with the implementation of new conservation policies by the Brazilian government, which suggests that these policies are not effectively reducing the number of small clearings in primary forest, whether these are caused by large landholders or smallholders, but have been more effective at reducing the frequency of larger clearings.

Articulación productiva para la innovación en las pequeñas empresas acuícolas de la región occidente de México / Productive articulation for the Innovation of small aquaculture companies In the western region of Mexico

La realidad económica de nuestro país se ha orientado a encontrar nuevas formas de solucionar viejos problemas que atañen al sector primario, la acuicultura desarrollada desde las culturas primitivas de México ha crecido paulatinamente, mas como un esfuerzo constante por participar en actividades productivas de autoconsumo que con la intención de enfocar a las pequeñas empresas a formar proyectos conjuntos de articulación productiva y de desarrollo de Innovación. Este artículo de investigación, plantea tres aspectos esenciales: 1) las condiciones de las empresas rurales granjas acuícolas de la región occidente de México, en los estados de Colima, Jalisco, Michoacán y Nayarit, 2) Las modalidades de articulación productiva, redes o agrupamientos de organizaciones alrededor de las granjas acuícolas 3) Las características de los procesos de las granjas y su orientación a la innovación; la investigación analiza la manera en que las empresas, gobierno y la sociedad en su conjunto participan a través del trabajo común para la formalización de proyectos económicos que modifiquen a largo plazo las condiciones sociales de la población.

The economic reality of our country has been oriented to find new ways to solve old problems pertaining to the primary sector, aquaculture developed from the very primitive cultures in Mexico has grown gradually, more like a constant effort to participate in productive activities for self-consumption than intending to focus on small firms to form joint projects of productive articulation and development of innovation. This research article, poses Three essential aspects: 1) the conditions of rural enterprises aquaculture farms in the western region of Mexico, in the States of Colima, Jalisco, Michoacan and Nayarit, 2) modalities of productive articulation, networks or groupings of organizations around aquaculture farms 3) the characteristics of the processes on the farms and their orientation to innovation; this research analyzes the way in which businesses, the government and society, as a whole, participate through common work for the formalization of economic projects which modify, in the long run, the population’s social conditions.

Assessing conservation opportunity on private land: socio-economic, behavioral, and spatial dimensions.

This study presents a method for assessing conservation opportunity on private land based on landholders' socio-economic, behavioral, and farm characteristics. These characteristics include age, gender, education, level of off-farm income, farm size, proportion of remnant native vegetation on-farm, and ecological value of native vegetation on-farm. A sample of landholders who own greater than 2 ha of land in the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin region were sent a mail-based survey about their values and preferences for environmental management (N = 659, 52% response). Cross-tabulations and ANOVA statistical analysis techniques were used to compare the socio-economic attributes across three landholder classes: disengaged, moderately engaged, and highly engaged in native vegetation planting. Results indicate that highly engaged landholders were more likely to be female, formally educated, hobby farmers who managed small parcels of land and have high off-farm incomes, whereas disengaged landholders held significantly stronger farming connections (more farming experience, family have lived on the farm for more generations). Spatial analysis revealed area-specific differences in conservation opportunity and conservation priority. In some areas, properties of high ecological value were managed by highly engaged landholders, but nearby properties of high value were managed by moderately engaged or disengaged landholders. Environmental managers therefore cannot assume areas of high conservation priority will be areas of high conservation opportunity. At the regional scale, the potential for revegetation seems most promising within the moderately engaged landholder group considering the vast amount of land managed by this group in areas of high ecological value, particularly within the less represented Mallee and Coorong and Rangelands sub-regions. We suggest that incentive schemes which purchase conservation need to be targeted at disengaged landholders; mentoring schemes led by commercial farmers highly engaged in native vegetation planting should be directed at moderately engaged landholders, and; awards programs which acknowledge conservation successes should be targeted at highly engaged landholders.

Disability on Irish farms--a real concern.

Farmers operate within hazardous environments while conducting their day-to-day tasks, potentially resulting in injury or disability. Disability can serve as a major life-changing event for the farmer, the farm family, and the farm business. In Ireland, the agricultural sector reported the highest incidence of disability, yet there is relatively little known on the impact of agricultural-based disability. In 2007, a questionnaire was appended to the Teagasc (Irish Agricultural and Food Development Authority) National Farm Survey to obtain some metric of the prevalence and impact of disability on Irish farms, in addition to quantifying service/support requirements of farm operators experiencing disability. Almost 5.9% (approximately 6611) of Irish farm operators reported disability, primarily caused through illness/disease. Arthritis (31.4%), back problems (17%), and heart circulatory problems (12.5%) were most frequently reported. The lowest prevalence of disability was found among tillage (1.4%) and dairy (4.1%) farms, with the highest prevalence among cattle farms (7.1%). Family farm income was lower on disability-experiencing farms relative to nondisability farms (123 euros per hectare), with a lower participation in off-farm employment also identified. Many farm operators (approximately 20%) ceased off-farm employment following disability. Discontinuation of off-farm employment can further precipitate family farm income decline, but also place additional pressures on the farm business if quality services/supports are not available. The current provision of services/supports to farm operators experiencing disability is perceived largely insufficient across the entire service/support spectrum from when disability was first experienced through to retirement. Awareness and issues surrounding eligibility were the primary reasons for failing to avail of currently available service/supports.

Rural households' attitude and economic strategies toward the conversion of cropland to forest and grassland program (CCFG): a case study in Qira, China.

The Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program (CCFG), which was initiated by the Chinese government in 1999, is a cropland retirement program with integrated objectives for ecological preservation and local development. The purpose of this article was to study the influencing factors of attitude and economic strategies in rural households toward the CCFG. Rural households' knowledge, attitude and economic strategies toward the CCFG were investigated through a questionnaire survey in Qira, China. Influencing factors of attitude and strategies of households were analyzed using a logit model technique. The analysis indicated that household's income level, environmental knowledge of the program, and program implementation were significant influencing factors in a household's attitude toward the CCFG, while major influencing factors of household strategies were their regional background and availability of income generation sources. Meaningful association was not found between attitude and strategy choices. Rich households had more strategy choices, while poor households were usually confined to low input strategies with uncertain income. To sustain their livelihood, the poor need extra assistances in marketing, loan granting, employment training, information, and technical services.

Prevalence of ROPS-equipped tractors on minority operated farms in the US.

BACKGROUND: Tractor overturns kill an average of 100 farmers and farm workers per year. Roll-over protective structures (ROPS) are a proven intervention, but are not on a sufficient number of tractors in the US to reduce these deaths. Little has been reported on ROPS use by racial minority farm operators. METHODS: Data from the NIOSH OISPA survey were used to assess ROPS prevalence rates from a random sample of racial minority farm operators for the year 2003, and ROPS prevalence rates from a random sample of all US farms for the year 2004. RESULTS: ROPS prevalence rates on minority farming operations follow similar patterns to ROPS prevalence rates on all US farms. A low prevalence of ROPS on farms was associated with operators over the age of 65 years, farms with small acreages, and farms operated on a part-time basis. The race of the operator had little impact on ROPS prevalence rates. CONCLUSIONS: Factors such as acreage, farm operator age, region of the US, and full- or part-time farming status influence ROPS prevalence rates on farms more than the race of the operator. Understanding how ROPS prevalence differs across these farm and farm operator characteristics has the potential to efficiently target areas for ROPS promotion programs across the US.

Farm diversity, classification schemes and multifunctionality.

Diversity is not only intrinsic to agriculture; it can be considered also as one of its main assets as it provides a wide range of responses that can help to face uncertain futures. The ongoing encounter between changing spatial and temporal frameworks and a set of diverse farming strategies is leading to the emergence of an ongoing flow of development models that could materialize in a wide range of farming practices, contrasting enterprise models, changing relations between rural households and agricultural holdings, and differentiated patterns that link farming and farming families to the wider context in which they are embedded. The many-sided diversity encountered in agriculture is not only the outcome of the agency and polyvalence of the actors involved; their agency and polyvalence are in turn inspired and strengthened by the material and symbolic diversity, which contributes to a further unfolding of diversity. A proper understanding of the range, dimensions, significance and causes of diversity has been, over the centuries, a main concern--first for what is now known as classical agronomy, and later on in agrarian sciences. Yet the classification schemes, developed and used for such an understanding, have increasingly become an Achilles heel as each of them relies on specific assumptions that will bring out particular features of the overall farm diversity and will result in different perspectives of what agriculture is and how it fits into societal projects. Consequently, they are at the core of many debates and struggles, not only within agrarian sciences but increasingly on a wider societal level. The growing recognition of multifunctionality in agriculture, especially in the context of the changing EU policy, strengthens the relevance and importance of this debate. In this new context, we discuss advantages and limits of different classification principles by comparing two methodologies which have been extensively used in France and The Netherlands.