Njas-Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences最新文献

Nitrogen fertilization has a significant environmental impact in Europe due to the problems of wide-spread pollution. This paper deals with a series of field experiments conducted in a semiarid region of Southeast Spain. Irrigated maize was grown under different N fertilizer rates: control as in no nitrogen applied (C; 0 kg N ha^―1); conventional amount of nitrogen (Nc; 300 kg N ha^―1); and theoretical optimum (No; 130 kg N ha^―1) in a randomised block design with three replications.

In 1999 and 2000, when 175 and 150 kg N ha^―1 were respectively applied to No treatment, no significant differences were found. With the Nc treatment, a grain yield of 17.6 Mg ha^―1 was obtained in 2001, being significantly higher than the yield obtained with the No treatment (15.8 Mg ha^―1). This means that No rate was under the technical optimum, but both treatments were higher than C treatment (7.2 Mg ha^―1). A fertilizer rate of 130 kg N ha^―1 was lower than necessary to obtain maximum yields, although the rate of 150 kg N ha^―1 did not show significant differences with regard to Nc treatment (300 kg ha^―1) (2000).

Studies about crop response to different N rates could be very useful for farmers. Regional Technology Transfer Centres are incorporating the results of these studies in a Decision Support System (DSS).

The past decade has seen a steady transitioning from a framework where the State has been the provider of production-oriented agricultural services to a ‘user pays’ philosophy that emphasises the role of the private sector in the provision of these services -- even in agricultural biosecurity which has been historically considered a public good.

This paper analyses the contours of public private collaborations in agricultural biosecurity services in the context of an emergency outbreak of Panama disease Tropical Race 4. We ask: does the transition to a market-led, industry-led approach shift perceptions on who should bear the burden for addressing Panama disease risk, and to what extent does it influence risk decisions taken by the different actors and stakeholders during an agricultural biosecurity emergency?

Using data from field work carried out primarily in Brisbane, Australia in July 2015, as well as a review and content analysis of documents obtained from Australian government instrumentalities and research organizations, such as policy briefs, some themes emerge. The first is that while Australia’s biosecurity plant disease strategy clearly shows coordination, there are still gaps in service delivery, such as delayed response time. Secondly, the industry-driven R&D system still finds itself navigating tensions between responding to the direct and immediate needs of the industry and supporting more long-term and explorative research trajectories. Thirdly, while there appears to be a greater trust in industry than in government in rapid emergency response, both the growers and the peak industry body want more, not less, government biosecurity regulation.

The use of ultrasounds for the extraction of extra-virgin olive oil is an emerging technology capable of improving both the efficiency of the process and the quality of the final product. However, this technology has not been introduced yet on the market mostly because of the uncertainty about consumers’ acceptance. This study aimed to investigate consumers’ preferences towards extra-virgin olive oil obtained through ultrasound-assisted extraction. For this purpose, a laboratory experiment was performed by combining sensory evaluation and experimental auction to elicit consumers’ willingness-to-pay under different information scenarios. The results of the study suggested that extra-virgin olive oil extracted through ultrasounds may be, generally, accepted by consumers. Whilst, no empirical evidences emerged to support the hypothesis that consumers are also willing to pay a premium price for such innovative product.

This qualitative study on knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among poultry and pond fish farmers from Kisii, Nakuru and Kirinyaga counties in Kenya was conducted to establish insect for feed interventions likely to reduce the cost of feeds in these enterprises and benefit women and men equitably. Data were collected through sex and enterprise type disaggregated focus group discussions with farmers.

Poultry farming was more established than fish farming in all three counties. Women were more involved than men in poultry, and men more than women in fish, farming. For both enterprises, women did same number of chores as men except for fish in the dry season when women did more chores. For most chores, women worked longer than men. Men and women knew of many insects fed raw to chicken and fish. Men stated that insect fed chickens are bigger and women affirmed that they are tastier. For both enterprises, men mainly decided on allocation of money jointly with women, or alone. Women mainly decided on allocation of feeding resources.

Because gender roles were more clearly defined in poultry enterprises, it would be more useful to start conducting gender targeted interventions with poultry farmers. Among the interventions recommended include insect farming technologies at the homestead for women and wild insect catching technologies for women and men. Surplus insects farmed / harvested can be sold to commercial feed processors through contractual arrangements between them and the producers. Advocacy interventions to prevent economically dormant men taking over insect rearing enterprises from women once they become profitable, and time saving technologies for use by time-poor women are also recommended.

Access to transport is essential for agrarian development in isolated rural areas. Over the last 20 years, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have seen a dramatic change in farm-to-market transport following the introduction and spread of motorcycle taxis. So far, this has been a spontaneous and market-driven phenomenon. What kind of infrastructure development is needed to further support this local revolution in farm transport? Our study uses a technographic frame to describe and assess the socio-economic and technical impact of upgrading inter-village footpaths to render them usable by motorcycle taxis in off-road rural northern Liberia. We gathered pre-intervention baseline data and post-intervention impact data over a three-year period in villages benefitting from the intervention and in control villages. The quantitative data were supplemented with qualitative data gathered prior, during and after the intervention. We found that upgrading rural footpaths to motorcycle taxi-accessible tracks promotes market integration, improves access to education and health facilities, and creates jobs for rural youth, with few negative consequences. Since most motorised transport in deep rural areas takes place by motorcycle taxi in any case, track construction can complement or serve as an alternative to expensive feeder road improvement or construction.

The Ghana cocoa industry contributes substantially to the total world cocoa production and provides livelihoods to more than a quarter of the population. Although cocoa holds a leading position in the Ghanaian economy, no explicit effort has been made in modelling and documenting the business processes of the cocoa supply chain and the role that IT plays in supporting those processes. Hence, it is difficult to identify the current obstacles in adopting IT in the Ghana cocoa sector, and likewise, enhance the alignment of the business processes along the supply chain and the underlying IT systems. To address this issue, this article presents the results of a survey study to the current business processes of the cocoa supply chain and the underlying IT systems in Ghana. The survey study has been conducted with 56 individuals from the three key sets of actors from the sector, which are cocoa farmers, cocoa traders and the Ghana cocoa board. Based on the results of the survey study, we provide formal business process models of these actors and describe the role IT currently plays in supporting the business processes. We report on the lessons learned together with the obstacles and thus aim to pave the way for further development and enhancement of the business processes as well as the adopted IT.

The Royal Netherlands Society for Agricultural Sciences (Koninklijke Landbouwkundige Vereniging, KLV, founded in 1886) took the initiative to publish the Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science (NJAS) in 1953. In 2002, NJAS broadened its scope and was titled: NJAS–Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences. After 134 years, the general assembly of members decided to dissolve the Society in 2020. The end of the Society will not be the end of its journal. This paper presents a brief history of the Society and the journal, which exposes how the Society’s journal, originally strongly anchored in the plant sciences and agronomic research in the Netherlands, evolved towards an international journal with an increasingly strong interdisciplinary scope. The brief history signifies the crucial role of special issues as a collaborative endeavour and learning environment for making interdisciplinary approaches work.

The capacity of farmers to adapt to changing environments is critical for sustainable, economically viable and resilient rural development. The Farmer Field School (FFS) was developed by FAO in the late 1980s to build farmers’ knowledge and skills for adaptive management. The FFS was subsequently implemented in over 90 countries by a multitude of stakeholders. We conducted case studies in Malawi and Indonesia to answer contemporary questions about the FFS, regarding its relevance at field level, its position in the institutional environment, and its contribution to rural development. We show that the FFS remains relevant at field level, helping farmers to adapt their agricultural practices and livelihood situation to changing circumstances. Differences in institutional arrangements between the two countries highlight the importance of a coordinated support for the FFS. Long-term impacts were found at farmer and institutional level. This study provides insight into the FFS, regarding the causal factors of change, institutional factors, and the role in continued development. As an approach that empowers rural people, the FFS thus contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Increasing demand for safe food in developing countries entails meeting stringent food safety requirements. Food retailers and regulatory bodies impose food safety measures related to production and handling of farm produce. For smallholders to remain competitive in such a system, institutional arrangements are necessary. We examine the role of producer organizations (POs) in influencing safe food production behaviours among farmers. Using data from 11 expert interviews and a quantitative survey involving 595 smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya, a propensity score matching estimation is employed to assess membership effects. We show that membership in POs positively and significantly influences smallholders’ adoption of food safety measures related to milk storage and the milking area. We highlight the importance of social incentives in improving food safety adoption among farmers even when price incentives are absent. Our recommendation is that PO policies that alleviate barriers to food safety adoption among farmers will be helpful in scaling up adoption.

One of the main challenges for modern agriculture is closing nutrient cycles better since nutrient deficits as well as nutrient surpluses can cause severe ecological issues. Current efforts to improve nutrient management are mainly focused on the farm level. However, closing nutrient cycles is not only a farm management issue, but also a policy issue. Here the farm should be considered in interaction with other scale levels: regional, national, and international. To develop effective policy interventions a thorough understanding of this complex system and the effects of the policy interventions is needed. The Nutrient Cycle Assessment Tool (NCAT) was developed as a tool to perform ex ante evaluations of policy interventions aimed at closing nutrient cycles in agriculture. To contribute to meaningful change, active involvement of stakeholders in applying the NCAT is essential. This article describes the design of the NCAT, and explains why and how complexity and joint learning, single and double loop learning, and systems thinking approaches are used as the key elements of the design. The NCAT focuses on facts and stimulates participants to postpone value judgements. A case study indicated that the tool provided stakeholders with clear insights in the potential effects of policy interventions. Applying the NCAT can lead to shared and enhanced understanding of the effects and consequences of an intervention among participating stakeholders, which is an important prerequisite when developing implementable and supported policy decisions. Observations and evaluation interviews indicate that this process stimulates cognitive learning as well as relational learning. By reflecting on the case study and the resulting insights, the scientific status of the results from using the NCAT is discussed, as well as its value for policy processes.