Characterization of Small-Scale Farmers and Assessment of Their Access to Crop Production Information in Selected Counties of Kenya

Small-scale farming accounts for 78% of total agricultural production in Kenya and contributes to 23.5% of the country’s GDP. Their crop production activities are mostly rainfed subsistence with any surplus being sold to bring in some income. Timely decisions on farm practices such as farm preparation and planting are critical determinants of the seasonal outcomes. In Kenya, most small-scale farmers have no reliable source of information that would help them make timely and accurate decisions. County governments have extension officers who are mandated with giving farmers advisory services to farmers but they are not able to reach most farmers due to facilitation constraints. The mode and format of sharing information is also critical since it’s important to ensure that it’s timely, well-understood and usable. This study sought to assess access to geospatial derived and other crop production information by farmers in four selected counties of Kenya. Specific objectives were to determine the profile of small-scale farmers in terms of age, education and farm size;to determine the type of information that is made available to them by County and Sub-County extension officers including the format and mode of provision;and to determine if the information provided was useful in terms of accuracy, timeliness and adequacy. The results indicated that over 80% of the farmers were over 35 years of age and over 56% were male. Majority had attained primary education (34%) or secondary education (29%) and most farmers in all the counties grew maize (71%). Notably, fellow farmers were a source of information (71%) with the frequency of sharing information being mostly seasonal (37%) and when information was available (43%). Over 66% of interviewed farmers indicating that they faced challenges while using provided information. The results from the study are insightful and helpful in determining effective ways of providing farmers with useful information to ensure maximum benefits.

Multiplicity dependence of charged particle,? meson, and multistrange particle productions in p + p collisions at s^(1/2) = 200 GeV from PYTHIA simulation

We report the multiplicity dependence of charged particle production for the n~±, K~±, p, , and ? mesons at |y|<1:0 in p + p collisions at s^(1/2) = 200 GeV from a PYTHIA simulation. The impact of multiple parton interactions and gluon contributions is studied and found to be a possible source of the splitting of the particle yields as a function of p_T with respect to the multiplicity. No obvious particle species dependence of the splitting is observed.The multiplicity dependence of the ratios Kˉ/πˉ, K^+/π^+,/πˉ, p/π^+, and K_s^0 at mid-rapidity in p+ p collisions is found to follow a tendency similar to that in Au t Au collisions at (s_(NN))^(1/2) = 200 GeV at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, indicating similar underlying initial production mechanisms despite the differences in the initial colliding systems.

Fuzzy integral based measurement and assessment of medium and small enterprises'product innovation

A fuzzy integral based way of measurement assessment has been established by using linguistic varia-bles and combining fuzzy integral with hierarchy analysis for measurement of medium and small enterprises'product innovation. The conclusions drawn from analyses made with 20 medium and small enterprises providebases for governments to formulate applicable policies and for medium and small enterprises to enhance theirproduct innovation.

Small Ruminant Production and Marketing Practices in Harawa, Somali Region, Ethiopia

Small ruminant production is an essential component of agricultural activity for smallholder farmers. The aim of this study was to assess small ruminant production and marketing practices in the Harawa district of Somali Region, Ethiopia. For the study 90 households owning small ruminant were selected from three different towns of Harawa district. Information on sheep and goat ownership patterns, production objectives, and management and production constraints were collected from 90 households using semi structured questionnaires. The available feed resources are grass species, crop aftermath and legumes species are the common ones. The average family size was 5.78 ± 0.235 persons per household. Crop-livestock farming was the commonly used farming system with (62.75%) extensive and (27.25%) semi-intensive production system. The mean total land holding was 6.08 ± 0.24 ha per HH and was significantly (P < 0.05) varied across production systems. On average, the sample households owned 46.32 ± 1.22 sheep, 38.28 ± 1.40 goat, 4.85 ± 0.43 cattle, 4.15 ± 0.54 camel, 2.18 ± 0.19 donkey and 0.53 ± 0.20 poultry. The finding shows most of the respondents kept sheep and goats for insurance as ranked first. Feed shortage was ranked first as the main constraint hindering sheep and shortage of veterinary service, drought, disease, water shortage and poor infrastructure were the other major constraints of sheep and goat production in the study area. The major production and marketing constraints in small ruminant production in the area are disease and parasite (cadho), feed and grazing land shortage, low productivity, poor veterinary service and poor of infrastructure. Therefore, it is important to use modern production systems with improved technology in the area and improve traditional system through feed supplementation and better health care. As well as improving marketing efficiency through appropriate policy and provision of information is important.

Safe production model for small mines

Presented a 'safe production model' that can be adopted by small mine opera- tors to achieve their production targets safely and efficiently.The model consists of eight elements ranging from management commitment and leadership to safety account-ability and communication.The model is developed considering the mine operators' resource limitations and the workers' training needs.The study concludes with a summary of a sample survey that is conducted to validate the model and estimate a parameter for each mine and determine its position in the safe production scale.

Small Optical Product Breeds Large Industry

China is the world’s largest consumer market for eyeglasses,with the total market volume reaching 80billion yuan.Accordingly,the market has a group of 800 million consumers demanding eyeglasses.The consumers are from different ages。

Building Productivity Models for Small Enhancements

Software is in constant evolution and many approaches have been suggested to study software maintenance productivity. This research reports on a process to design and implement a productivity model of legacy software based on the measurement of small functional enhancements using the COSMIC ISO 19761 international standard. Two motivations influence this research: 1) understanding the productivity of the software maintenance process to help manage the cost of maintenance;2) understanding the cost drivers that affect the software maintenance productivity. This research reports on an empirical study of a productivity measurement program implemented in a large banking legacy system.

Impact of Small-scale Production Mode on Citrus Industry of Hunan Province,China——Based on the Investigation on Citrus Industry in Shimen County

Small-scale farmer is defined by the domestic and foreign experts and scholars.They point out that since the fragmentation of production and the diseconomy of scale in small-scale farmer is inconsistent with the characteristics of scale and technology of modern agricultural production,it is necessary to eliminate the adverse effects of existing mode in order to provide theoretical references for the relevant researches.Citrus industry in Shimen County,Hunan Province,China is introduced from the aspects of natural geographical condition and socio-economic benefit.Impact of small-scale production mode on citrus production in Shimen County is discussed.Firstly,blindness of small-scale production is the main reason leading to overproduction of citrus.Secondly,small-scale production mode has limitation on the acceptance of new technologies,restricts the operation of geographical trademark,and constraints the enthusiasm of enterprises in entering the agricultural field.Finally,suggestions are put forward,such as encouraging the circulation of rural land,improving the organization degree of farmers,changing the work function of grass-roots government and perfecting the agricultural financial credit system.

Sustainable Potato Production in the Mountain Area of Ecuador, an Approach to Increase Productivity with Small Scale Farmers

Ecuador potato crop is family based production system. Potato production has two roles in their economy, the first is providing food for their families and the second is a source of income for the household. However small scale farmers have limited access to local markets and most of the sales are through intermediates’ who purchase directly in the field at the lowest price possible. Potato production challenges for the small-scale farmers are among others availability of quality potato seed, direct sales, purchase of agrochemical inputs to maintain their crops and lack of education. In 2021, only 4% of potato farmers used certified seed. Potato yield is still low around 16.1 t·ha-1, in the last 10 years the total potato cultivated area was reduced by at least 50%. The farmers produce “Bokashi” and other organic fertilizer and these are effective to improve soil fertility and plant health. Homemade bio-pesticides reduce agrochemical pesticides. The Decision Support System (DSS) is a handheld device to control late blight, minimizes fungicide applications and improve fungicide rotation. In 2018 Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (Lso), the causal agent of zebra chip, and its vector, the potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli, together created havoc for farmers and researchers. Promotion of early potato varieties INIAP—Libertad is an alternative to lower the impact of this newest pest.

Simulating the vegetation-producing process in small watersheds in the Loess Plateau of China

Small watersheds are the basic composition unit of the Loess Plateau in China. An accurate estimation of vegetation net primary productivity （NPP） is of great significance for eco-benefit evaluation in small watershed management in this region. Here we describe the development and testing of a vegetation-producing process model （VPP） of a small watershed in the Loess Plateau. The model couples three modules： radiation adjustment; soil hydrological processes; and vegetation carbon assimilation. Model validation indicates that the VPP model can be used to estimate the NPP of small watersheds in the region. With the VPP model, we estimated the spatial NPP distributions in the Yangou watershed for 2007. The results show that in the Yangou watershed the NPP is relatively low, averaging 168 g C/（m^2.a）. Trees and shrubs have a higher NPP than crops and grasses. The NPP is larger on the partly shaded and shaded slopes than on the partly sunny and sunny slopes. The NPP on the slopes increases gradually on 0-20° slopes and decreases slightly on slopes steeper than 20°. Our simulation indicates that the vegetation type is the most important factor in determining the NPP distribution in small watersheds in the Loess Plateau.

Response of vegetation net primary productivity to climate change scenarios in the Loess Plateau of China--A case study of the Yangou watershed

Vegetation net primary productivity(NPP)is a sensitive indicator to characterize the response of terrestrial ecosystems to the climate change.Projections of the NPP changes of the Loess Plateau under future climate scenarios have great significances in revealing the interactions among terrestrial ecosystems and climatic systems,as well as instructing future vegetation construction of this region.Here,we carried out a case study on the Yangou watershed in the Loess Plateau.Using the vegetation-producing process model(VPP)established for such small watersheds,we simulated the NPP of the Yangou watershed under different scenarios of climate changes.The results showed that the NPP significandy increased with the precipitation increasing and evidently decreased with the temperature increasing where the climate change occurred in the whole year or in the summer half year.However,where the climate change occurred in the winter half year,the increased precipitation had little effect on the NPP,and the increased temperature significantly reduced the NPP.There were clear differences among the response sensitivities of different vegetation types with trees and shrubs were more sensitive to the changes in temperature and precipitation than crops and grasses.Currently,the most favourable climate change scenario to the NPP in the Yangou watershed was T0P15 under which the precipitation increased by 15%and the temperature did not changed,in the whole year;in the meantime,the most unfavourable climate change scenarios was T2P-15 under which the precipitation declined by 15%and the temperature increased by 2℃,in the whole year.

Mechanism of the Effect of Bacillus coagulans on Production Performance of Laying Hens in Late Laying Period

[Objective]The paper was to investigate the mechanism of Bacillus coagulans preparation in improving production performance of laying hens in late period of laying.[Method]A total of 648 individuals of"Jingfen 1"laying hens(66 weeks of age)in late period of laying were randomly divided into four groups,six replicates each group,and each group had 27 individuals of laying hens.The laying hens in control group were fed with basal diet,and those in experimental groupsⅠ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ were fed with the basal diets added with 3.33×10^6,1×10^7,3.33×10^7 CFU/g B.coagulans,respectively.The pretrial lasted one week,and the formal test lasted eight weeks.[Result]Compared with the control group,the laying rate in group Ⅰ increased significantly,and the feed-gain ratio in experimental group Ⅱ decreased noticeably while the spleen index increased remarkably;the alkaline phosphatase activities and blood calcium content in experimental groups Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ increased significantly(P<0.05),while the triglyceride content decreased remarkably(P<0.05);the urea content in experimental groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ decreased obviously(P<0.05).Adding B.coagulans significantly increased the specific activity of amylase,lipase and protease in various intestinal mucosa of small intestine(P<0.05);adding B.coagulans significantly increased the content of follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH)and estradiol(E2),and significantly increased the mRNA expression of follicle stimulating hormone receptor gene(FSHR).[Conclusion]B.coagulans preparation could significantly improve the production performance of laying hens in late period of laying;appropriately enhance the immune capacity of laying hens;improve the serum biochemical indicators;increase the activity of digestive enzymes in the small intestine;and promote the release of gonadal hormone and the mRNA expression of FSHR gene in the ovary.

Small ruminant value chain in Al-Ruwaished District,Jordan

This study aims to assess the small ruminant value chain in Al-Ruwaished District,Jordan,to identify the potential intervention areas that could improve the production efficiency and guarantee the sustainability of the small ruminant sector in this area.Sheep breeding is the source of livelihood for most of the people in Al-Ruwaished District,which is characterized by the large number of sheep and goats.We surveyed 5.0% of the small ruminant holders in the study area and conducted individual interviews and surveys with the potential actors in the value chain to undertake a small ruminant value chain analysis.From the survey,we found that the small ruminant value chain consists of five core functions,namely,input supply,production management,marketing,processing,and consumption.Despite the stable impression given by the large number of holdings in the small ruminant sector,the surveyed results show a clear fragility in the value chain of small ruminants in this area.The small ruminant production system is negatively impacted by climate change,especially continuous drought.In addition,the high prices of feed that the farmer cannot afford with clear and real absence of the governmental and non-governmental support activities also impact the development of the value chain.The results of strengths,weaknesses,opportunities,and threats(SWOT)analysis reveal that the major constraints faced by this value chain could be divided into external and internal threats.Specifically,the most prominent external threats are the nature of the desert land and continuous drought,while the major internal threats are the absence of appropriate infrastructure,shortage of inputs,and weakness in the production management and marketing.We proposed solutions to these challenges to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of the sector,such as the formulation of emergency response plans to severe weather,qualifying farmers’skills,and establishment of agricultural cooperative societies.

New Thought about the Marketing Orientation of Middle and Small-sized Enterprises of China

The reasonable marketing orientation is related to the survival and the development of the enterprises. According to the disadvantages and superiority of the middle and small sized enterprises of our country, this paper analyzes the new thought about the marketing orientation from the aspects of marketing product orientation, marketing way orientation, marketing target orientation, marketing strategy orientation and marketing idea orientation. It has great theoretical and practical significance.

农业产业化联合体联农带农的嵌入式发展机制研究

农业产业化联合体促进小农户衔接现代农业是其功能彰显的应有之义。基于嵌入性视角,对四川林县橘香农业产业化联合体衔接小农户的生产性服务体系构建机制进行分析。该联合体经历了初步联合规模户、融入农民合作社和龙头企业引领共生三个阶段,力求实现农资采购、技术标准和销售服务环节的“三统一”。在此过程中,为了缩短龙头企业和本地农户的社会距离,联合体通过行政嵌入形成合作型产业治理、通过关系嵌入融入乡土社会、通过文化嵌入适应农户生计发展和通过认知嵌入增强农户对联合体运行稳定性预期。龙头企业在与乡土社会的良性互动中完成了“外来者”到“本地人”的身份转化,实现了联合体联农带农的目标。

民营小微外贸企业数字化转型升级的内在逻辑和实现途径——以社交媒体赋能促进新质生产力形成视角

企业规模门槛效应阻碍了小微企业数字化转型升级中新质生产力的形成,尤其是民营小微外贸企业受规模限制普遍对数字化转型升级抱有“用不起、不会用、不愿用”的消极态度。近年来,国外消费者通过社交媒体进行购物的新消费模式正在形成。社交媒体具有低成本、高覆盖和精准定位的特点,易于改造成为跨境信息传播、营销推广的重要平台,为民营小微外贸企业数字化转型升级带来了新视野,提供了新机遇。本文针对民营小微外贸企业“两大、四缺乏”的现状,揭示了数字化转型升级带来的“四升一降”效应,并提出利用信息获取与反馈、市场拓展与推广、跨境交流与合作等机制,企业通过建立专业化团队、制定清晰策略、优化线上渠道、加强客户沟通等路径,创新出“社交媒体数字营销+小微外贸企业生产”深度融合的外贸新模式,培育新质生产力,促进传统产业转型升级和高质量发展。

Kenyan Counties Geospatial Data Knowledge to Monitor Crop Production

Climate change effects have had negative effects on most farmers, both small and large-scale, with weather patterns increasingly becoming unpredictable, such that farmers are unable to plan well for their farming, resulting in reduced harvests and sometimes losses for farmers. Better availability of information such as weather patterns, suitable crops, nutrient requirements based on soil types and conditions would greatly alleviate these challenges. While geospatial information is being developed and improved continuously by researchers, its accessibility and use by the counties has not been established and cannot be identified as contributing to better crop production outcomes. The aim of this study, therefore, was to assess the awareness and status of geospatial data availability and use for crop production, and the level of the relevant capacities, both human and infrastructural, in selected Counties of Kenya. A survey was conducted in the four counties of Vihiga, Kilifi, Wajir and Nyeri and key informant interviews were conducted with both management and technical County Agricultural Officers, as well as sub-county agricultural extension officers. From the results of the survey, out of the four counties, only one has adequate infrastructure in terms of hard-ware, software and connectivity to conduct useful geospatial data acquisition and processing. While most indicated awareness of the existence of geospatial data, limited resources, low skills and knowledge have restricted any meaningful sourcing of and access to data, with only 38% moderately or highly skilled in acquisition, 48% in processing and 57% in interpretation and use of geospatial data. The study concludes that moderate skills and capacities available within the counties have considerable potential to make use the available geospatial data to inform farmers accordingly and improve their farming outcomes.

On-farm use of legume (<i>Phaseolus calcaratus</i>) and Ruzi grass on rumen fermentation and milk production in lactating dairy cows

The experiment was conducted on 10 small-holder dairy farmers under the administration of Dairy Promotion Organization of Thailand (DPO) in the Northeast region of Thailand. The aim of the research was to investigate the effect of legume (Phaseolus calcaratus, PC) as roughage mixed with Ruzi grass for dairy cows. Fours cows per farm were assigned into 2 groups including Ruzi grass (control) and PC mixed with ruzi grass (at the ratio 50:50), were given ad libitum as a roughage sources. All cows were offered a concentrate with ratio to milk yield of 1:2. The results revealed that roughage source did not affect on ruminal pH and temperature, ammonia nitrogen, blood urea nitrogen, and milk urea nitrogen concentrations. Total volatile fatty acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid proportions, and acetic acid to propionic acid ratio were not significantly different among treatments. Dry matter intake and digestibility of nutrient including dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were not significantly different among treatments. Moreover, amount of digested dry mater was similar among treatments. However, cows received PC mixed with Ruzi grass tended to be higher on dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein digestibility and dry matter digestible nutrient intake than control group. Milk yield, and 3.5% fat corrected milk were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in cow fed with PC mixed Ruzi grass than those the control group. Milk compositions and feed cost were similar among treatments;in contrast, the income and profit from milk selling were greater in cows fed with PC mixed with Ruzi grass than the control. High quality roughage such as PC mixed with Ruzi grass could be advantages for dairy farming in the Northeast of Thailand.

基于SMOTE-IKPCA-SeNet深度迁移学习的小批量生产质量预测研究

随着智能制造技术的发展和客户个性化需求的增加,多品种小批量生产方式逐渐成为制造业的主流。面向大批量生产、以统计过程控制为核心的质量管理方式并不适用于小批量生产。针对复杂生产过程存在参数多、非线性和交互作用的问题,提出利用深度迁移学习的方式将历史生产数据作为源域迁移至小样本目标产品数据进行质量预测。首先,通过合成少数类过采样技术(synthetic minority over-sampling technique,SMOTE)和改进的核主成分分析(improved kernel principal component analysis,IKPCA)算法筛选源域和目标域的可迁移特征,这不仅兼顾了特征重要性和可迁移性,还减少了“负迁移”,提高了模型泛化能力;然后,采用结合通道注意力机制的卷积神经网络SeNet构建基于深度迁移学习的质量预测模型。仿真结果表明,随着目标域样本的增加,所提方法的预测准确性明显优于广泛采用的支持向量机建模方法。同时,所提可迁移特征筛选方法显著提高了深度迁移学习的质量预测效果,为复杂的小批量生产过程质量保证提供了新方法。

小浆果在膳食补充品中的应用研究

针对小浆果在膳食补充品中应用存在的生物活性成分稳定性差、口感风味不佳、产品同质化严重等问题,本文从原料处理、提取工艺、微胶囊包埋、功能性复配等方面提出了优化对策。研究指出,采用速冻预处理、超临界萃取等绿色技术可显著提高花青素等活性成分的得率和稳定性;应用β-环糊精微胶囊技术可有效改善口感,延长风味保留时间;开发基于不同小浆果优势互补的复配产品,可拓宽功能定位,实现差异化竞争。这些集成创新方案为提升小浆果膳食补充品的附加值提供了新思路。