Crop damage by urban environment in Malaysia

Environmental pollutants are causing worldwide damage to plants, forests and crop production, among which, gaseous and particulate metal pollutants from heavy industries in many developed countries are of major concern. Many of these pollutants kill plants, cause stunted growth and premature aging, inhibit flowering and fruiting, cause a reduction in dry matter, and thereby results in a great reduction in crop production in many countries. This paper describes how an urban environment in Malaysia which is an agricultural based country affects plant growth and crop production.

Remote Sensing Based Rapid Assessment of Flood Crop Damage Using Novel Disaster Vegetation Damage Index(DVDI)

Accurate crop-specific damage assessment immediately after flood events is crucial for grain pricing,food policy,and agricultural trade.The main goal of this research is to estimate the crop-specific damage that occurs immediately after flood events by using a newly developed Disaster Vegetation Damage Index(DVDI).By incorporating the DVDI along with information on crop types and flood inundation extents,this research assessed crop damage for three case-study events:Iowa Severe Storms and Flooding(DR 4386),Nebraska Severe Storms and Flooding(DR 4387),and Texas Severe Storms and Flooding(DR 4272).Crop damage is assessed on a qualitative scale and reported at the county level for the selected flood cases in Iowa,Nebraska,and Texas.More than half of flooded corn has experienced no damage,whereas 60%of affected soybean has a higher degree of loss in most of the selected counties in Iowa.Similarly,a total of 350 ha of soybean has moderate to severe damage whereas corn has a negligible impact in Cuming,which is the most affected county in Nebraska.A total of 454 ha of corn are severely damaged in Anderson County,Texas.More than 200 ha of alfalfa have moderate to severe damage in Navarro County,Texas.The results of damage assessment are validated through the NDVI profile and yield loss in percentage.A linear relation is found between DVDI values and crop yield loss.An R2 value of 0.54 indicates the potentiality of DVDI for rapid crop damage estimation.The results also indicate the association between DVDI class and crop yield loss.

Managing crop damage caused by house mice(Mus domesticus)in Australia

A large-scale outbreak of the house mouse populations occurs in grain growing in Australia on average once every four years.High densities of mice cause major yield losses to cereal crops,and low to moderate densities of mice also cause some losses.Several predictive models based on rainfall patterns have been developed to forecast mouse density.These models carry some uncertainty and the economic value of basing management actions on these models is not clear.Baiting is the most commonly used method and zinc phosphide and other rodenticide bait are effective in reducing up to 90%of mouse populations.Ecologically-based best farming practice for controlling mice has recently been developed on the basis of long-term field studies of mouse populations.No effective biological control method has been developed for mice.However,grain growers still cannot make economically rational decisions to implement control because they do not know the pest threshold density(D_(T))above which the economic benefits of control exceed the economic costs of control.Applied predator-prey theory suggests that understanding the relationship between mouse density and damage is the basis for determining D_(T).Understanding this relationship is the first research priority for managing mouse damage.The other research priority is to develop a reliable method to estimate unbiased mouse density.

Assessing Human-Wildlife Conflict in the Periphery of Loango National Park in Gabon

Human-Wildlife Conflict in Gabon is a reality occurring in almost all protected areas in the country. These conflicts create real threats both for the survival of wildlife species and of human beings. This study was carried out at the periphery of Loango National Park in Gabon. This area is particular of seeing elephants wandering around villages. Respondents for the study were drawn from a wide range of stakeholders (State administrators, farmers and NGOs). Data was collected through administration of structured questionnaires and interview guide on the;socio-economic activities. Crops produced/destroyed. Animals are involved and economic loss is incurred due to conflicts. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16 and Kobo tool box. For qualitative data chi-square, descriptive statistic and linear regression model were also used. The results of the study showed that the elephants account for (60.1%) of crop destroyed followed by Ungulates (30.4%) and lastly by rodents (0.9%). The economic damage caused by the wildlife to crops valued at 72,084 USD in the zone in 2022. An urgent solution to this conflict is needed because the consequences are visible as well as the illegal repression by communities that have led to poisoning and killing of wildlife in the study area.

RF-CLASS： A remote-sensing-based flood crop loss assessment cyber-service system for supporting crop statistics and insurance decision-making

Floods often cause significant crop loss in the United States. Timely and objective information on flood-related crop loss, such as flooded acreage and degree of crop damage, is very important for crop monitoring and risk management in ag- ricultural and disaster-related decision-making at many concerned agencies. Currently concerned agencies mostly rely on field surveys to obtain crop loss information and compensate farmers＇ loss claim. Such methods are expensive, labor intensive, and time consumptive, especially for a large flood that affects a large geographic area. The results from such methods suffer from inaccuracy, subjectiveness, untimeliness, and lack of reproducibility. Recent studies have demonstrated that Earth observation （EO） data could be used in post-flood crop loss assessment for a large geographic area objectively, timely, accurately, and cost effectively. However, there is no operational decision support system, which employs such EO-based data and algorithms for operational flood-related crop decision-making. This paper describes the development of an EO-based flood crop loss assessment cyber-service system, RF-CLASS, for supporting flood-related crop statistics and insurance decision-making. Based on the service-orientated architecture, RF-CLASS has been implemented with open interoperability specifications to facilitate the interoperability with EO data systems, particularly the National Aeronautics and Space Administration （NASA） Earth Observing System Data and Information System （EOSDIS）, for automatically fetching the input data from the data systems. Validated EO algorithms have been implemented as web services in the system to operationally produce a set of flood-related products from EO data, such as flood frequency, flooded acreage, and degree of crop damage, for supporting decision-making in flood statistics and flood crop insurance policy. The system leverages recent advances in the remote sensing-based flood monitoring and assessment, the near-real-time availability of EO data, the service-oriented architecture, geospatial interoperability standards, and the standard-based geospatial web service technology. The prototypical system has automatically generated the flood crop loss products and demonstrated the feasibility of using such products to improve the agricultural decision-making. Evaluation of system by the end-user agencies indicates that significant improvement on flood-related crop decision-making has been achieved with the system.

气候变化对夏秋主要粮食作物的影响及对策研究(英文)

By using the full and accurate meteorological data,the changes of major meteorological factors in the half century during 1950-2008 in Xuzhou were analyzed.The results showed that the rainfall increased 23% in summer,and the temperature in winter,spring respectively rose by 1.9 and 2.5 ℃.It illustrated that the climate in Xuzhou had the obvious change.The more rainfall in summer caused that the flood disaster aggravated,and autumn maturing dry crops severely reduced the yield.The warming in winter caused that the wheat grew luxuriantly,and the frost resistance declined.In spring,the premature senility was easy to happen,which affected the high and stable yield.All of these directly affected the food security and peasant increase income.By the change of wheat suitable sowing date and contrasting,analyzing on the yields of paddy rice,dry crops,the necessity of adjusting the crops variety,sowing date and layout was demonstrated.The measures which answered the climate change were given,and the huge economic benefits which were brought by these measures were also analyzed.

Comparative assessment on rodent impacts and cultural perceptions of ecologically based rodent management in 3 Afro-Malagasy farming regions

Rodents generate negative consequences for smallholder farmers in Africa that directly impact household and livestock damage,food security,and public health.Ecologically Based Rodent Management(EBRM)seeks sustainable solutions for the mitigation of rodent damage through assessments of rodent population dynamics,agro-ecosystems,and socio-cultural contexts.We adopt a comparative approach across 3 rural Afro-Malagasy smallholder farming regions in South Africa,Tanzania,and Madagascar to assess the household impacts of rodent pests and current perceptions and preferences associated with several rodent control measures.We conducted focus group questionnaires and interviews in different study site locations.Rodents assert multiple impacts on Afro-Malagasy farmers demonstrating recurrent and emerging agricultural and household costs,and public health impacts.We identify a significant knowledge gap in educating communities about the application of different EBRM approaches in favor of acute poisons that are perceived to be more effective.Cultural issues and taboos also have a significant impact on the social acceptance of rodent hunting as well as biological control using indigenous predators.We advocate for an enhanced investigation of the socio-cultural beliefs associated with different rodent practices to understand the factors underlying social acceptance.A collaborative approach that integrates the perspectives of target communities to inform the design of EBRM initiatives according to the specific agro-ecosystem and socio-cultural context is necessary to ensure programmatic success.