Socio-economic, Environmental and Health Aspects of Farm Workers Engaged in Mango Plantations

A cross-sectional survey of 489 male subjects in the age group 15 to 65 years engageddirectly or indirectly in mango cultivation along with 208 control subjects was carried out to find their socio-economic, environmental and health conditions. The conditions like high illiteracy rate (49.5%), poverty (PCI less than Rs 100 per month, 52.2%), poor housing (mud houses, 66.7%) unsafe water supply (78.6%) were prevailing in the surveyed population. The high respiratory morbidity may be attributed to high prevalence of smoking andprolonged inhalation of organic dusts during farming operation associated with illiteracyand poor socio-economic status. Gastrointestinal disorders were related to poor hygienic conditions, smoking and consumption of contaminated water. The symptoms pertaining to CNS, skin and eyes were found to be associated with exposure to pesticides

Exploring Factors Affecting Farmers' Implementation of Wildlife-friendly Farming on Sado Island, Japan

Implementing wildlife-friendly farming （WFF） practices is a sound approach to sustain ecological restoration of farmland. The aims of the study were to explore factors affecting farmers’ implementation of WFF practices on Sado Island, Japan and to consider the policy implications of disseminating such practices. All 5010 farming households on Sado Island, who are distributing rice to Japan Agricultural Cooperatives （JA）, were surveyed. In total, 2231 households responded to the questionnaire （response 44.5%）. By comparing the attitudes, beliefs, and attributes of non-certiifed versus certiifed farmers, we identiifed key factors affecting farmers’ implementation of WFF practices. Compared with non-certified farmers, certified farmers： （i） showed a greater interest in biodiversity and the ifnancial beneifts of WFF; （i） had a larger number of certiifed farmer friends; （ii） felt many more pressures and expectations from consumers, in particular; and （iv） were not hampered by bad labor or farmland conditions when implementing WFF practices. To further disseminate WFF practices in Sado, we suggest that the information on the effectiveness of WFF on paddy ifeld biodiversity is used in public education, and opportunities for interchanging opinions are set up between non-certiifed and certiifed farmers, as wel as between farmers and consumers.

Reducing dietary sodium of dairy cows fed a low-roughages diet affect intake and feed efficiency,but not yield

Wastewater from dairy farms has become a major environmental and economical concern.Sodium residue in treated and untreated wastewater from dairy farms used for irrigation can lead to soil and groundwater salinization,with the risk of soil degradation.We examined the effect of reducing sodium fed to mid to late lactating cows from 0.61%(high sodium[HS])to 0.45%(low sodium[LS])of dry matter on dry matter intake(DMI),milk and milk-component yields,eating behavior,apparent total track digestibility,feed efficiency,and sodium excretion into the environment.We randomly assigned 28 multiparous high-yielding(>35 kg milk/d)cows to 1 of 2 treatment groups(LS or HS)in a crossover design,with 7 d of adaptation and 28 d of data collection.Reducing sodium in the diet reduced sodium intake from 171 to 123 g/d while lowering sodium excreted in the manure by 22%.Energy corrected milk(ECM)yield(37.4 kg/d)and sodium excretion in the milk(33.7 g/d)were similar for both groups.The DMI of LS cows was lower than that of HS cows(27.3 vs.28 kg/d)and consequently,feed efficiency of the LS cows was higher(1.40 vs.1.35 ECM/DMI).Eating rate,meal and visit frequency,and eating time were similar for both treatments;meal and visit duration were longer for the HS cows,and meal and visit sizes tended to be larger.Digestibility of DM and amylase-treated neutral detergent fiber remained similar.Based on the results of this study,and discussed considerations,we recommend lowering the dietary sodium content for mid to late lactating cows in commercial herds to 0.52%of DM,in order to reduce sodium excretion to the environment via urine.