This report provides an overall assessment of land fragmentation problems in East Africa. Many parts of East Africa have become highly fragmented, putting development systems and activities in these areas at risk of c...This report provides an overall assessment of land fragmentation problems in East Africa. Many parts of East Africa have become highly fragmented, putting development systems and activities in these areas at risk of complete collapse. Land fragmentation occurs when land gets converted for agriculture, industrialization, or urbanization, invaded by non-local plants, or enclosed for individual use and by subdividing farmlands into subsequent smaller units called parcels with varying average farm sizes. Fragmentation results from inappropriate agricultural development processes and ineffective land use planning that fails to recognize how farmland is used, and the importance of its interconnected areas. Insecurity of tenure and resource rights are key factors in making this possible. Land fragmentation is one of the key reasons why the ability of most resources in East Africa becomes scarcer, and those remaining become “privatized” by more powerful community members—keen to maintain their access to them. Such individualistic attitudes are new and disadvantage the poorest even further by affecting the traditional customary safety nets and agricultural outputs. Neither the government nor customary governance systems effectively protect resource access for the poorest. This review summary report identifies the key causes, measures, and implications, government interventions, and the common remedies to land fragmentation problems in the East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania including neighboring Ethiopia, and the Sudan. The findings indicated from 2005 to 2015, the population kept increasing for all the named countries in East Africa with Rwanda and Uganda having a substantial increase in population density. The study review further explores the trend in the performance of agriculture by average farm sizes within the intervals of five years by highlighting their strong linkages and found that the average farm size has declined drastically, especially for Kenya. This can only mean that small farms kept becoming smaller and smaller and that there were more small-scale farmers. The results further depicted that the major and commonly cultivated food crops among the East African countries include maize, sorghum, rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, Irish potatoes, beans, peas, etc., with maize yields (Mt/ha) in 2003 for Uganda being the highest (1.79 Mt/ha) and the lowest in Rwanda (0.77 Mt/ha) respectively. Therefore, from the review results, recommendations are being made as to how the negative impacts of land fragmentation on agricultural productivity can be reduced or mitigated. One way is by community sensitization and awareness about the importance of land consolidation and its proposition on farm productivity.展开更多
Rice has a huge impact on socio-economic growth,and ensuring its sustainability and optimal utilization is vital.This review provides an insight into the role of smart farming in enhancing rice productivity.The applic...Rice has a huge impact on socio-economic growth,and ensuring its sustainability and optimal utilization is vital.This review provides an insight into the role of smart farming in enhancing rice productivity.The applications of smart farming in rice production including yield estimation,smart irrigation systems,monitoring disease and growth,and predicting rice quality and classifications are highlighted.The challenges of smart farming in sustainable rice production to enhance the understanding of researchers,policymakers,and stakeholders are discussed.Numerous efforts have been exerted to combat the issues in rice production in order to promote rice sector development.The effective implementation of smart farming in rice production has been facilitated by various technical advancements,particularly the integration of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence.The future prospects of smart farming in transforming existing rice production practices are also elucidated.Through the utilization of smart farming,the rice industry can attain sustainable and resilient production systems that could mitigate environmental impact and safeguard food security.Thus,the rice industry holds a bright future in transforming current rice production practices into a new outlook in rice smart farming development.展开更多
This study's goal is to present a dynamic portrait of the farm-buildings environment in Occitania,in Southern France,in order to better identify the transitions underway in agri-food chains.To this end,we undertoo...This study's goal is to present a dynamic portrait of the farm-buildings environment in Occitania,in Southern France,in order to better identify the transitions underway in agri-food chains.To this end,we undertook a ter-ritorial diagnosis based on actor statements,using 28 semi-structured interviews across Occitania.This diagnosis was enriched by graphic modelling,which enabled the spatialization of the dynamics described.We show that the process of standardisation of farm buildings prevails in the majority of the territories studied.This phenomenon has intensified in recent years with the development of vast photovoltaic-roofed sheds,accentuating the farm-land conversion and soil sealing.At the same time,in areas with strong environmental,landscape and heritage contexts,a'new adventure in farm buildings'(2022 survey)is taking shape.It is primarily driven by local short food chains,which rely on self-construction,repurposing and refurbishment,the sharing of tools and equipment,and which favour the use and reuse of local resources.This study shows that farm-buildings dynamics crystallise many challenges confronting the reterritorialisation of agriculture and food production.展开更多
The results from a recent s tudy show that in the past five years,the transfer of rural labourers from agri-cultural work to non-agricultural sectors has accelerated and some 50 million rural labourers have made the s...The results from a recent s tudy show that in the past five years,the transfer of rural labourers from agri-cultural work to non-agricultural sectors has accelerated and some 50 million rural labourers have made the switch.This figure was produced by the State Statistical Bureau(SSB)based on data from Chind s 1%popu-1ation sample survey and annual popu-lation statistics.展开更多
Multidrug-resistant(MDR)Enterobacteriaceae critically threaten duck farming and public health.The phenotypes,genotypes,and associated mobile genetic elements(MGEs)of MDR Enterobacteriaceae isolated from 6 duck farms i...Multidrug-resistant(MDR)Enterobacteriaceae critically threaten duck farming and public health.The phenotypes,genotypes,and associated mobile genetic elements(MGEs)of MDR Enterobacteriaceae isolated from 6 duck farms in Zhejiang Province,China,were investigated.A total of 215 isolates were identified as Escherichia coli(64.65%),Klebsiella pneumoniae(12.09%),Proteus mirabilis(10.23%),Salmonella(8.84%),and Enterobacter cloacae(4.19%).Meanwhile,all isolates were resistant to at least two antibiotics.Most isolates carried tet(A)(85.12%),blaTEM(78.60%)and sul1(67.44%)resistance genes.Gene co-occurrence analysis showed that the resistance genes were associated with IS26 and integrons.A conjugative IncFII plasmid pSDM004 containing all the above MGEs was detected in Proteus mirabilis isolate SDM004.This isolate was resistant to 18 antibiotics and carried the blaNDM-5 gene.MGEs,especially plasmids,are the primary antibiotic resistance gene transmission route in duck farms.These findings provide a theoretical basis for the rational use of antibiotics in farms which are substantial for evaluating public health and food safety.展开更多
Elevation is one of many components that influence agriculture, and this in turn affects the level of both inputs and outputs of farmers. This article focuses on the productivity and technical efficiency of 100 cocoa ...Elevation is one of many components that influence agriculture, and this in turn affects the level of both inputs and outputs of farmers. This article focuses on the productivity and technical efficiency of 100 cocoa farms using cross-sectional data from areas ranging from 190 to 1021 m above sea level which were classified as low, medium, and high elevation in Davao City, considered as the chocolate capital of the Philippines. Using stochastic frontier analysis, the results showed that the cost of inputs per ha and the number of cocoa trees per ha significantly increase yield. Farms at high elevations were less technically efficient, as this entails lower temperatures and increased rainfall, and cocoa farming in those areas and conditions can be more challenging, especially with changes in farming practices, terrain, and distance to markets. Other significant variables were age of cocoa farms, married farmers, and age of the farmers. Older farms may be more developed, farmers who are married benefit from their spouses being able to readily contribute as farm labor, and lastly, older farmers' inefficiency may likely stem from nonadaptation of newer farming practices. With an average technical efficiency of 0.61, 0.63, and 0.26 in low, medium, and high elevation areas, respectively, farmers therefore have an incentive to improve farm practices and consider topographical variations found in high elevation areas. Recommendations for the improvement of technical efficiency of cocoa farms are better connectivity to markets, enhancing farm practices, and continuation and improvement of government programs on cocoa with an added emphasis on research. For farmers in high elevation areas, mitigating solutions such as sustainable agriculture practices and ecolabelling are key to improving efficiency and minimizing the potential negative impact on upland farming systems. Moreover, such adaptation measures may also contribute to sustainability of cocoa farming in high elevation areas.展开更多
To address uncertainty as well as transient stability constraints simultaneously in the preventive control of windfarm systems, a novel three-stage optimization strategy is established in this paper. In the first stag...To address uncertainty as well as transient stability constraints simultaneously in the preventive control of windfarm systems, a novel three-stage optimization strategy is established in this paper. In the first stage, the probabilisticmulti-objective particle swarm optimization based on the point estimate method is employed to cope with thestochastic factors. The transient security region of the system is accurately ensured by the interior point methodin the second stage. Finally, the verification of the final optimal objectives and satisfied constraints are enforcedin the last stage. Furthermore, the proposed strategy is a general framework that can combine other optimizationalgorithms. The proposed methodology is tested on the modified WSCC 9-bus system and the New England 39-bussystem. The results verify the feasibility of the method.展开更多
With the increasing demand for electrical services,wind farm layout optimization has been one of the biggest challenges that we have to deal with.Despite the promising performance of the heuristic algorithm on the rou...With the increasing demand for electrical services,wind farm layout optimization has been one of the biggest challenges that we have to deal with.Despite the promising performance of the heuristic algorithm on the route network design problem,the expressive capability and search performance of the algorithm on multi-objective problems remain unexplored.In this paper,the wind farm layout optimization problem is defined.Then,a multi-objective algorithm based on Graph Neural Network(GNN)and Variable Neighborhood Search(VNS)algorithm is proposed.GNN provides the basis representations for the following search algorithm so that the expressiveness and search accuracy of the algorithm can be improved.The multi-objective VNS algorithm is put forward by combining it with the multi-objective optimization algorithm to solve the problem with multiple objectives.The proposed algorithm is applied to the 18-node simulation example to evaluate the feasibility and practicality of the developed optimization strategy.The experiment on the simulation example shows that the proposed algorithm yields a reduction of 6.1% in Point of Common Coupling(PCC)over the current state-of-the-art algorithm,which means that the proposed algorithm designs a layout that improves the quality of the power supply by 6.1%at the same cost.The ablation experiments show that the proposed algorithm improves the power quality by more than 8.6% and 7.8% compared to both the original VNS algorithm and the multi-objective VNS algorithm.展开更多
Introduction: On the outskirts of Ndjamena, semi-industrial poultry farming and traditional poultry farming are practised informally on almost all poultry farms in Chad. This type of poultry farming is faced with real...Introduction: On the outskirts of Ndjamena, semi-industrial poultry farming and traditional poultry farming are practised informally on almost all poultry farms in Chad. This type of poultry farming is faced with real health problems attributable to a lack of monitoring of the vaccination schedule, inadequate compliance with biosecurity measures and poor application of the Ichikawa rule based on the 5 M’s. Objective: The aim of this article is to identify the microorganisms responsible for contamination of poultry farms in the study area. Method: The study was carried out from 28/04/2022 to 31/01/2023 on the basis of 300 samples taken from feed, drinking water, droppings and scrapings from poultry housing surfaces in the 30 farms that served as a framework for our research. Sampling was of the simple random type, and farms were selected on the basis of the farmers’ consent. The data were recorded on pre-established survey forms. Our study was cross-sectional, descriptive and prospective. Bacteria were isolated using the reference method NF EN ISO 6579 for Salmonella spp. and cultured on the specific medium eosin methylene blue (EMB) for Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas and Citrobacter freundii. Results: The following results emerged from this study: Escherichia coli (5.33%), Pseudomonas (1.33%), Citrobacter freundii (12%) and Salmonella paratyphi (21.68%). Conclusion: Of the 300 samples analysed, 121 (40.33%) were contaminated with pathogens. This high level of contamination is a health problem. The study shows that biosecurity is less satisfactory on the farms visited. Nevertheless, farms with a very satisfactory level of biosafety ensure food safety and variety for the population.展开更多
Wind energy has been widely applied in power generation to alleviate climate problems.The wind turbine layout of a wind farm is a primary factor of impacting power conversion efficiency due to the wake effect that red...Wind energy has been widely applied in power generation to alleviate climate problems.The wind turbine layout of a wind farm is a primary factor of impacting power conversion efficiency due to the wake effect that reduces the power outputs of wind turbines located in downstream.Wind farm layout optimization(WFLO)aims to reduce the wake effect for maximizing the power outputs of the wind farm.Nevertheless,the wake effect among wind turbines increases significantly as the number of wind turbines increases in the wind farm,which severely affect power conversion efficiency.Conventional heuristic algorithms suffer from issues of low solution quality and local optimum for large-scale WFLO under complex wind scenarios.Thus,a chaotic local search-based genetic learning particle swarm optimizer(CGPSO)is proposed to optimize large-scale WFLO problems.CGPSO is tested on four larger-scale wind farms under four complex wind scenarios and compares with eight state-of-the-art algorithms.The experiment results indicate that CGPSO significantly outperforms its competitors in terms of performance,stability,and robustness.To be specific,a success and failure memories-based selection is proposed to choose a chaotic map for chaotic search local.It improves the solution quality.The parameter and search pattern of chaotic local search are also analyzed for WFLO problems.展开更多
Wind farms generally consist of a single turbine installed with the same hub height. As the scale of turbines increases,wake interference between turbines becomes increasingly significant, especially for floating wind...Wind farms generally consist of a single turbine installed with the same hub height. As the scale of turbines increases,wake interference between turbines becomes increasingly significant, especially for floating wind turbines(FWT).Some researchers find that wind farms with multiple hub heights could increase the annual energy production(AEP),while previous studies also indicate that wake meandering could increase fatigue loading. This study investigates the wake interaction within a hybrid floating wind farm with multiple hub heights. In this study, FAST.Farm is employed to simulate a hybrid wind farm which consists of four semi-submersible FWTs(5MW and 15MW) with two different hub heights. Three typical wind speeds(below-rated, rated, and over-rated) are considered in this paper to investigate the wake meandering effects on the dynamics of two FWTs. Damage equivalent loads(DEL) of the turbine critical components are computed and analyzed for several arrangements determined by the different spacing of the four turbines. The result shows that the dynamic wake meandering significantly affects downstream turbines’ global loadings and load effects. Differences in DEL show that blade-root flapwise bending moments and mooring fairlead tensions are sensitive to the spacing of the turbines.展开更多
Reducing agricultural carbon emissions is important to enable carbon emission peaking by 2030 in China.However,China's transformation towards large-scale farming brings uncertainties to carbon emission reduction.T...Reducing agricultural carbon emissions is important to enable carbon emission peaking by 2030 in China.However,China's transformation towards large-scale farming brings uncertainties to carbon emission reduction.This study quantifies the carbon emissions from cropping based on life cycle assessment and estimates the effects of farm size on carbon emissions using a fixed effects model.Furthermore,the variations of the carbon emissions from cropping driven by the changes in farm size in future years are projected through scenario analysis.Results demonstrate an inverted U-shaped change in total carbon emission from cropping as farm size increases,which is dominated by the changes in the carbon emission from fertilizer.Projections illustrate that large-scale farming transformation will postpone the peak year of total carbon emission from cropping until 2048 if the change in farm size follows a historical trend,although it is conducive to reducing total carbon emission in the long run.The findings indicate that environmental regulations to reduce fertilizer usages should be strengthened for carbon emission abatement in the early stage of large-scale farming transformation,which are also informative to other developing countries with small farm size.展开更多
A healthy intestine plays an important role in the growth and development of farm animals.In small intestine,Paneth cells are well known for their regulation of intestinal microbiota and intestinal stem cells(ISCs).Al...A healthy intestine plays an important role in the growth and development of farm animals.In small intestine,Paneth cells are well known for their regulation of intestinal microbiota and intestinal stem cells(ISCs).Although there has been a lot of studies and reviews on human and murine Paneth cells under intestinal homeostasis or disorders,little is known about Paneth cells in farm animals.Most farm animals possess Paneth cells in their small intestine,as identified by various staining methods,and Paneth cells of various livestock species exhibit noticeable differences in cell shape,granule number,and intestinal distribution.Paneth cells in farm animals and their antimicrobial peptides(AMPs)are susceptible to multiple factors such as dietary nutrients and intestinal infection.Thus,the comprehensive understanding of Paneth cells in different livestock species will contribute to the improvement of intestinal health.This review first summarizes the current status of Paneth cells in pig,cattle,sheep,horse,chicken and rabbit,and points out future directions for the investigation of Paneth cells in the reviewed animals.展开更多
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of different rates of organic farming aid (OFA) and inorganic fertilizer on the productivity of maize, chemical and microbial properties of soil for higher economic valu...The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of different rates of organic farming aid (OFA) and inorganic fertilizer on the productivity of maize, chemical and microbial properties of soil for higher economic value. Field experiments were conducted during the 2020 and 2021 cropping seasons at the research fields of CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute located at Nyankpala in the Guinea savannah agroecology of Ghana. The study consisted of five treatment combinations: full rate of OFA, full rate of NPK, 1/2 OFA + 1/2 NPK, full OFA + 1/2 NPK and a control (no OFA and no NPK) which were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Analysis of variance indicated significant (P 0.05) treatment and year interaction effect for all the growth parameters except for plant height, leaf area and leaf area index. Apart from hundred seed weight, treatment and year interaction effect for all the yield and yield components was significant (P 0.05). Application of full rate of NPK (90:60:60) resulted in the highest grain yield of 4960 kg·ha<sup>-1</sup>, however it was statistically similar to those obtained by the combined application of full rate of OFA (250 ml·ha<sup>-1</sup>) + 1/2 NPK and 1/2 OFA + 1/2 NPK with grain yield of 4856 kg·ha<sup>-1</sup> and 4639 kg·ha<sup>-1</sup> respectively. There was also a yield advantage of 197. 5%, 191.3%, 178.3 and 79.1% over the control for full NPK rate, full OFA rate + 1/2 NPK rate, 1/2 OFA rate + 1/2 NPK and full OFA rate respectively. Application of full OFA rate + 1/2 NPK enhanced soil basal respiration (evolved CO<sub>2</sub>) and mineralizable C, implying that, combination of full OFA rate and NPK fertilizer would be necessary to boost soil microbial activity and soil labile nutrient pool (labile C pool). This suggests that combined use of full OFA rate + 1/2 NPK fertilizer can be a better strategic tool for improving soil quality. The highest benefit cost ratios (BCR) of 2.58 and 3.77 were obtained following the application of full OFA rate + 1/2 NPK and 1/2 OFA rate + 1/2 NPK respectively. Hence, it could be concluded that complementary use of OFA and NPK is more profitable than using single inputs (either OFA or NPK). Thus, in promoting technology packages to farmers, development practitioners must carefully consider the complementary of inputs that are cost-effective but economically rewarding.展开更多
Caesarean section is dramatically increased throughout the world in recent years. Rupture of the uterus is a devastating complication in trial of labour following previous Caesarean section. Evidence suggests that the...Caesarean section is dramatically increased throughout the world in recent years. Rupture of the uterus is a devastating complication in trial of labour following previous Caesarean section. Evidence suggests that the size of the uterine scar and the residual myometrial thickness (RMT) are associated directly with the risk of uterine rupture and risk of dehiscence in subsequent deliveries. Impact of the prelabour and labour Cesarean section on the RMT has not been studied in detail. Objectives: To compare RMT, Caesarean scar defects and to evaluate the elasticity of the Caesarean scar between women who underwent prelabour and labour Caesarean sections. Methods: This was a Cross sectional analytical study. Women who underwent Caesarean section in their first pregnancy were recruited. Sample was stratified to prelabour and labour Caesarean section groups. Transvaginal ultrasound scan was performed six months following the Caesarean section. Dimensions of the uterus, uterine scar defect, RMT and elastosonography of the uterine scar were assessed. Results: A total of 240 postpartum women were analyzed. Uterine niche was detectable in 194 subjects. Prelabour CS group had demonstrated 91.7% (n = 110) scar defects (uterine niche) out of 120 cases and the rate among labour CS group was 70% (n = 84). There was a significant difference in the presence of uterine niche among 2 groups as Prelabour group was found to have more scar defects (p mm (SD 1.2) and 4.99 mm (SD 1.3) respectively and there was no significant difference (t = 0.38, p = 0.71). There was no significant difference between the dimensions of the uterine CS defects of the studied groups. Prelabour CS group had significantly higher Target strain [0.28 vs. 0.24 (t = 2.12, p = 0.04)] and significantly less strain ratio [1.45 vs. 1.55 (t -2.42, p = 0.04)] than labour CS group indicating a better scar in prelabour group. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in RMT and uterine scar defects between prelabour and labour Caesarean section groups. But prelabour Caesarean section scars were less stiff than labour Caesarean section scars. Further studies are warranted to elaborate on the association.展开更多
Smart farming has become a strategic approach of sustainable agriculture management and monitoring with the infrastructure to exploit modern technologies,including big data,the cloud,and the Internet of Things(IoT).Ma...Smart farming has become a strategic approach of sustainable agriculture management and monitoring with the infrastructure to exploit modern technologies,including big data,the cloud,and the Internet of Things(IoT).Many researchers try to integrate IoT-based smart farming on cloud platforms effectively.They define various frameworks on smart farming and monitoring system and still lacks to define effective data management schemes.Since IoT-cloud systems involve massive structured and unstructured data,data optimization comes into the picture.Hence,this research designs an Information-Centric IoT-based Smart Farming with Dynamic Data Optimization(ICISF-DDO),which enhances the performance of the smart farming infrastructure with minimal energy consumption and improved lifetime.Here,a conceptual framework of the proposed scheme and statistical design model has beenwell defined.The information storage and management with DDO has been expanded individually to show the effective use of membership parameters in data optimization.The simulation outcomes state that the proposed ICISF-DDO can surpass existing smart farming systems with a data optimization ratio of 97.71%,reliability ratio of 98.63%,a coverage ratio of 99.67%,least sensor error rate of 8.96%,and efficient energy consumption ratio of 4.84%.展开更多
文摘This report provides an overall assessment of land fragmentation problems in East Africa. Many parts of East Africa have become highly fragmented, putting development systems and activities in these areas at risk of complete collapse. Land fragmentation occurs when land gets converted for agriculture, industrialization, or urbanization, invaded by non-local plants, or enclosed for individual use and by subdividing farmlands into subsequent smaller units called parcels with varying average farm sizes. Fragmentation results from inappropriate agricultural development processes and ineffective land use planning that fails to recognize how farmland is used, and the importance of its interconnected areas. Insecurity of tenure and resource rights are key factors in making this possible. Land fragmentation is one of the key reasons why the ability of most resources in East Africa becomes scarcer, and those remaining become “privatized” by more powerful community members—keen to maintain their access to them. Such individualistic attitudes are new and disadvantage the poorest even further by affecting the traditional customary safety nets and agricultural outputs. Neither the government nor customary governance systems effectively protect resource access for the poorest. This review summary report identifies the key causes, measures, and implications, government interventions, and the common remedies to land fragmentation problems in the East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania including neighboring Ethiopia, and the Sudan. The findings indicated from 2005 to 2015, the population kept increasing for all the named countries in East Africa with Rwanda and Uganda having a substantial increase in population density. The study review further explores the trend in the performance of agriculture by average farm sizes within the intervals of five years by highlighting their strong linkages and found that the average farm size has declined drastically, especially for Kenya. This can only mean that small farms kept becoming smaller and smaller and that there were more small-scale farmers. The results further depicted that the major and commonly cultivated food crops among the East African countries include maize, sorghum, rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, Irish potatoes, beans, peas, etc., with maize yields (Mt/ha) in 2003 for Uganda being the highest (1.79 Mt/ha) and the lowest in Rwanda (0.77 Mt/ha) respectively. Therefore, from the review results, recommendations are being made as to how the negative impacts of land fragmentation on agricultural productivity can be reduced or mitigated. One way is by community sensitization and awareness about the importance of land consolidation and its proposition on farm productivity.
基金The authors wish to acknowledge the Ministry of Higher Education,Malaysia for financial support via the Transdisciplinary Research Grant Scheme Project(Grant No.TRGS/1/2020/UPM/02/7).
文摘Rice has a huge impact on socio-economic growth,and ensuring its sustainability and optimal utilization is vital.This review provides an insight into the role of smart farming in enhancing rice productivity.The applications of smart farming in rice production including yield estimation,smart irrigation systems,monitoring disease and growth,and predicting rice quality and classifications are highlighted.The challenges of smart farming in sustainable rice production to enhance the understanding of researchers,policymakers,and stakeholders are discussed.Numerous efforts have been exerted to combat the issues in rice production in order to promote rice sector development.The effective implementation of smart farming in rice production has been facilitated by various technical advancements,particularly the integration of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence.The future prospects of smart farming in transforming existing rice production practices are also elucidated.Through the utilization of smart farming,the rice industry can attain sustainable and resilient production systems that could mitigate environmental impact and safeguard food security.Thus,the rice industry holds a bright future in transforming current rice production practices into a new outlook in rice smart farming development.
文摘This study's goal is to present a dynamic portrait of the farm-buildings environment in Occitania,in Southern France,in order to better identify the transitions underway in agri-food chains.To this end,we undertook a ter-ritorial diagnosis based on actor statements,using 28 semi-structured interviews across Occitania.This diagnosis was enriched by graphic modelling,which enabled the spatialization of the dynamics described.We show that the process of standardisation of farm buildings prevails in the majority of the territories studied.This phenomenon has intensified in recent years with the development of vast photovoltaic-roofed sheds,accentuating the farm-land conversion and soil sealing.At the same time,in areas with strong environmental,landscape and heritage contexts,a'new adventure in farm buildings'(2022 survey)is taking shape.It is primarily driven by local short food chains,which rely on self-construction,repurposing and refurbishment,the sharing of tools and equipment,and which favour the use and reuse of local resources.This study shows that farm-buildings dynamics crystallise many challenges confronting the reterritorialisation of agriculture and food production.
文摘The results from a recent s tudy show that in the past five years,the transfer of rural labourers from agri-cultural work to non-agricultural sectors has accelerated and some 50 million rural labourers have made the switch.This figure was produced by the State Statistical Bureau(SSB)based on data from Chind s 1%popu-1ation sample survey and annual popu-lation statistics.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32172188)Science and Technology Cooperation Project of ZheJiang Province(2023SNJF058-3)。
文摘Multidrug-resistant(MDR)Enterobacteriaceae critically threaten duck farming and public health.The phenotypes,genotypes,and associated mobile genetic elements(MGEs)of MDR Enterobacteriaceae isolated from 6 duck farms in Zhejiang Province,China,were investigated.A total of 215 isolates were identified as Escherichia coli(64.65%),Klebsiella pneumoniae(12.09%),Proteus mirabilis(10.23%),Salmonella(8.84%),and Enterobacter cloacae(4.19%).Meanwhile,all isolates were resistant to at least two antibiotics.Most isolates carried tet(A)(85.12%),blaTEM(78.60%)and sul1(67.44%)resistance genes.Gene co-occurrence analysis showed that the resistance genes were associated with IS26 and integrons.A conjugative IncFII plasmid pSDM004 containing all the above MGEs was detected in Proteus mirabilis isolate SDM004.This isolate was resistant to 18 antibiotics and carried the blaNDM-5 gene.MGEs,especially plasmids,are the primary antibiotic resistance gene transmission route in duck farms.These findings provide a theoretical basis for the rational use of antibiotics in farms which are substantial for evaluating public health and food safety.
文摘Elevation is one of many components that influence agriculture, and this in turn affects the level of both inputs and outputs of farmers. This article focuses on the productivity and technical efficiency of 100 cocoa farms using cross-sectional data from areas ranging from 190 to 1021 m above sea level which were classified as low, medium, and high elevation in Davao City, considered as the chocolate capital of the Philippines. Using stochastic frontier analysis, the results showed that the cost of inputs per ha and the number of cocoa trees per ha significantly increase yield. Farms at high elevations were less technically efficient, as this entails lower temperatures and increased rainfall, and cocoa farming in those areas and conditions can be more challenging, especially with changes in farming practices, terrain, and distance to markets. Other significant variables were age of cocoa farms, married farmers, and age of the farmers. Older farms may be more developed, farmers who are married benefit from their spouses being able to readily contribute as farm labor, and lastly, older farmers' inefficiency may likely stem from nonadaptation of newer farming practices. With an average technical efficiency of 0.61, 0.63, and 0.26 in low, medium, and high elevation areas, respectively, farmers therefore have an incentive to improve farm practices and consider topographical variations found in high elevation areas. Recommendations for the improvement of technical efficiency of cocoa farms are better connectivity to markets, enhancing farm practices, and continuation and improvement of government programs on cocoa with an added emphasis on research. For farmers in high elevation areas, mitigating solutions such as sustainable agriculture practices and ecolabelling are key to improving efficiency and minimizing the potential negative impact on upland farming systems. Moreover, such adaptation measures may also contribute to sustainability of cocoa farming in high elevation areas.
文摘To address uncertainty as well as transient stability constraints simultaneously in the preventive control of windfarm systems, a novel three-stage optimization strategy is established in this paper. In the first stage, the probabilisticmulti-objective particle swarm optimization based on the point estimate method is employed to cope with thestochastic factors. The transient security region of the system is accurately ensured by the interior point methodin the second stage. Finally, the verification of the final optimal objectives and satisfied constraints are enforcedin the last stage. Furthermore, the proposed strategy is a general framework that can combine other optimizationalgorithms. The proposed methodology is tested on the modified WSCC 9-bus system and the New England 39-bussystem. The results verify the feasibility of the method.
基金supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province(LY19A020001).
文摘With the increasing demand for electrical services,wind farm layout optimization has been one of the biggest challenges that we have to deal with.Despite the promising performance of the heuristic algorithm on the route network design problem,the expressive capability and search performance of the algorithm on multi-objective problems remain unexplored.In this paper,the wind farm layout optimization problem is defined.Then,a multi-objective algorithm based on Graph Neural Network(GNN)and Variable Neighborhood Search(VNS)algorithm is proposed.GNN provides the basis representations for the following search algorithm so that the expressiveness and search accuracy of the algorithm can be improved.The multi-objective VNS algorithm is put forward by combining it with the multi-objective optimization algorithm to solve the problem with multiple objectives.The proposed algorithm is applied to the 18-node simulation example to evaluate the feasibility and practicality of the developed optimization strategy.The experiment on the simulation example shows that the proposed algorithm yields a reduction of 6.1% in Point of Common Coupling(PCC)over the current state-of-the-art algorithm,which means that the proposed algorithm designs a layout that improves the quality of the power supply by 6.1%at the same cost.The ablation experiments show that the proposed algorithm improves the power quality by more than 8.6% and 7.8% compared to both the original VNS algorithm and the multi-objective VNS algorithm.
文摘Introduction: On the outskirts of Ndjamena, semi-industrial poultry farming and traditional poultry farming are practised informally on almost all poultry farms in Chad. This type of poultry farming is faced with real health problems attributable to a lack of monitoring of the vaccination schedule, inadequate compliance with biosecurity measures and poor application of the Ichikawa rule based on the 5 M’s. Objective: The aim of this article is to identify the microorganisms responsible for contamination of poultry farms in the study area. Method: The study was carried out from 28/04/2022 to 31/01/2023 on the basis of 300 samples taken from feed, drinking water, droppings and scrapings from poultry housing surfaces in the 30 farms that served as a framework for our research. Sampling was of the simple random type, and farms were selected on the basis of the farmers’ consent. The data were recorded on pre-established survey forms. Our study was cross-sectional, descriptive and prospective. Bacteria were isolated using the reference method NF EN ISO 6579 for Salmonella spp. and cultured on the specific medium eosin methylene blue (EMB) for Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas and Citrobacter freundii. Results: The following results emerged from this study: Escherichia coli (5.33%), Pseudomonas (1.33%), Citrobacter freundii (12%) and Salmonella paratyphi (21.68%). Conclusion: Of the 300 samples analysed, 121 (40.33%) were contaminated with pathogens. This high level of contamination is a health problem. The study shows that biosecurity is less satisfactory on the farms visited. Nevertheless, farms with a very satisfactory level of biosafety ensure food safety and variety for the population.
基金partially supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science(JSPS)KAKENHI(JP22H03643)Japan Science and Technology Agency(JST)Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation(SPRING)(JPMJSP2145)JST through the Establishment of University Fellowships towards the Creation of Science Technology Innovation(JPMJFS2115)。
文摘Wind energy has been widely applied in power generation to alleviate climate problems.The wind turbine layout of a wind farm is a primary factor of impacting power conversion efficiency due to the wake effect that reduces the power outputs of wind turbines located in downstream.Wind farm layout optimization(WFLO)aims to reduce the wake effect for maximizing the power outputs of the wind farm.Nevertheless,the wake effect among wind turbines increases significantly as the number of wind turbines increases in the wind farm,which severely affect power conversion efficiency.Conventional heuristic algorithms suffer from issues of low solution quality and local optimum for large-scale WFLO under complex wind scenarios.Thus,a chaotic local search-based genetic learning particle swarm optimizer(CGPSO)is proposed to optimize large-scale WFLO problems.CGPSO is tested on four larger-scale wind farms under four complex wind scenarios and compares with eight state-of-the-art algorithms.The experiment results indicate that CGPSO significantly outperforms its competitors in terms of performance,stability,and robustness.To be specific,a success and failure memories-based selection is proposed to choose a chaotic map for chaotic search local.It improves the solution quality.The parameter and search pattern of chaotic local search are also analyzed for WFLO problems.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.51909109 and 52101314)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No.BK20190967)。
文摘Wind farms generally consist of a single turbine installed with the same hub height. As the scale of turbines increases,wake interference between turbines becomes increasingly significant, especially for floating wind turbines(FWT).Some researchers find that wind farms with multiple hub heights could increase the annual energy production(AEP),while previous studies also indicate that wake meandering could increase fatigue loading. This study investigates the wake interaction within a hybrid floating wind farm with multiple hub heights. In this study, FAST.Farm is employed to simulate a hybrid wind farm which consists of four semi-submersible FWTs(5MW and 15MW) with two different hub heights. Three typical wind speeds(below-rated, rated, and over-rated) are considered in this paper to investigate the wake meandering effects on the dynamics of two FWTs. Damage equivalent loads(DEL) of the turbine critical components are computed and analyzed for several arrangements determined by the different spacing of the four turbines. The result shows that the dynamic wake meandering significantly affects downstream turbines’ global loadings and load effects. Differences in DEL show that blade-root flapwise bending moments and mooring fairlead tensions are sensitive to the spacing of the turbines.
基金the Natural Science Foundation of China–Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation Joint Agricultural Research Project(NSFC–BMGF72261147758)+2 种基金the National Social Science Foundation of Chinathe China Resource,Environmental and Development Research Institute,Nanjing Agricultural University,Chinathe Research Funding Project of Anhui Agricultural University,China(rc402108)。
文摘Reducing agricultural carbon emissions is important to enable carbon emission peaking by 2030 in China.However,China's transformation towards large-scale farming brings uncertainties to carbon emission reduction.This study quantifies the carbon emissions from cropping based on life cycle assessment and estimates the effects of farm size on carbon emissions using a fixed effects model.Furthermore,the variations of the carbon emissions from cropping driven by the changes in farm size in future years are projected through scenario analysis.Results demonstrate an inverted U-shaped change in total carbon emission from cropping as farm size increases,which is dominated by the changes in the carbon emission from fertilizer.Projections illustrate that large-scale farming transformation will postpone the peak year of total carbon emission from cropping until 2048 if the change in farm size follows a historical trend,although it is conducive to reducing total carbon emission in the long run.The findings indicate that environmental regulations to reduce fertilizer usages should be strengthened for carbon emission abatement in the early stage of large-scale farming transformation,which are also informative to other developing countries with small farm size.
基金the Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U22A20511)China Agriculture Research System(CARS-36)Hubei Provincial Key R&D Program(2021BBA083).
文摘A healthy intestine plays an important role in the growth and development of farm animals.In small intestine,Paneth cells are well known for their regulation of intestinal microbiota and intestinal stem cells(ISCs).Although there has been a lot of studies and reviews on human and murine Paneth cells under intestinal homeostasis or disorders,little is known about Paneth cells in farm animals.Most farm animals possess Paneth cells in their small intestine,as identified by various staining methods,and Paneth cells of various livestock species exhibit noticeable differences in cell shape,granule number,and intestinal distribution.Paneth cells in farm animals and their antimicrobial peptides(AMPs)are susceptible to multiple factors such as dietary nutrients and intestinal infection.Thus,the comprehensive understanding of Paneth cells in different livestock species will contribute to the improvement of intestinal health.This review first summarizes the current status of Paneth cells in pig,cattle,sheep,horse,chicken and rabbit,and points out future directions for the investigation of Paneth cells in the reviewed animals.
文摘The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of different rates of organic farming aid (OFA) and inorganic fertilizer on the productivity of maize, chemical and microbial properties of soil for higher economic value. Field experiments were conducted during the 2020 and 2021 cropping seasons at the research fields of CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute located at Nyankpala in the Guinea savannah agroecology of Ghana. The study consisted of five treatment combinations: full rate of OFA, full rate of NPK, 1/2 OFA + 1/2 NPK, full OFA + 1/2 NPK and a control (no OFA and no NPK) which were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Analysis of variance indicated significant (P 0.05) treatment and year interaction effect for all the growth parameters except for plant height, leaf area and leaf area index. Apart from hundred seed weight, treatment and year interaction effect for all the yield and yield components was significant (P 0.05). Application of full rate of NPK (90:60:60) resulted in the highest grain yield of 4960 kg·ha<sup>-1</sup>, however it was statistically similar to those obtained by the combined application of full rate of OFA (250 ml·ha<sup>-1</sup>) + 1/2 NPK and 1/2 OFA + 1/2 NPK with grain yield of 4856 kg·ha<sup>-1</sup> and 4639 kg·ha<sup>-1</sup> respectively. There was also a yield advantage of 197. 5%, 191.3%, 178.3 and 79.1% over the control for full NPK rate, full OFA rate + 1/2 NPK rate, 1/2 OFA rate + 1/2 NPK and full OFA rate respectively. Application of full OFA rate + 1/2 NPK enhanced soil basal respiration (evolved CO<sub>2</sub>) and mineralizable C, implying that, combination of full OFA rate and NPK fertilizer would be necessary to boost soil microbial activity and soil labile nutrient pool (labile C pool). This suggests that combined use of full OFA rate + 1/2 NPK fertilizer can be a better strategic tool for improving soil quality. The highest benefit cost ratios (BCR) of 2.58 and 3.77 were obtained following the application of full OFA rate + 1/2 NPK and 1/2 OFA rate + 1/2 NPK respectively. Hence, it could be concluded that complementary use of OFA and NPK is more profitable than using single inputs (either OFA or NPK). Thus, in promoting technology packages to farmers, development practitioners must carefully consider the complementary of inputs that are cost-effective but economically rewarding.
文摘Caesarean section is dramatically increased throughout the world in recent years. Rupture of the uterus is a devastating complication in trial of labour following previous Caesarean section. Evidence suggests that the size of the uterine scar and the residual myometrial thickness (RMT) are associated directly with the risk of uterine rupture and risk of dehiscence in subsequent deliveries. Impact of the prelabour and labour Cesarean section on the RMT has not been studied in detail. Objectives: To compare RMT, Caesarean scar defects and to evaluate the elasticity of the Caesarean scar between women who underwent prelabour and labour Caesarean sections. Methods: This was a Cross sectional analytical study. Women who underwent Caesarean section in their first pregnancy were recruited. Sample was stratified to prelabour and labour Caesarean section groups. Transvaginal ultrasound scan was performed six months following the Caesarean section. Dimensions of the uterus, uterine scar defect, RMT and elastosonography of the uterine scar were assessed. Results: A total of 240 postpartum women were analyzed. Uterine niche was detectable in 194 subjects. Prelabour CS group had demonstrated 91.7% (n = 110) scar defects (uterine niche) out of 120 cases and the rate among labour CS group was 70% (n = 84). There was a significant difference in the presence of uterine niche among 2 groups as Prelabour group was found to have more scar defects (p mm (SD 1.2) and 4.99 mm (SD 1.3) respectively and there was no significant difference (t = 0.38, p = 0.71). There was no significant difference between the dimensions of the uterine CS defects of the studied groups. Prelabour CS group had significantly higher Target strain [0.28 vs. 0.24 (t = 2.12, p = 0.04)] and significantly less strain ratio [1.45 vs. 1.55 (t -2.42, p = 0.04)] than labour CS group indicating a better scar in prelabour group. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in RMT and uterine scar defects between prelabour and labour Caesarean section groups. But prelabour Caesarean section scars were less stiff than labour Caesarean section scars. Further studies are warranted to elaborate on the association.
文摘Smart farming has become a strategic approach of sustainable agriculture management and monitoring with the infrastructure to exploit modern technologies,including big data,the cloud,and the Internet of Things(IoT).Many researchers try to integrate IoT-based smart farming on cloud platforms effectively.They define various frameworks on smart farming and monitoring system and still lacks to define effective data management schemes.Since IoT-cloud systems involve massive structured and unstructured data,data optimization comes into the picture.Hence,this research designs an Information-Centric IoT-based Smart Farming with Dynamic Data Optimization(ICISF-DDO),which enhances the performance of the smart farming infrastructure with minimal energy consumption and improved lifetime.Here,a conceptual framework of the proposed scheme and statistical design model has beenwell defined.The information storage and management with DDO has been expanded individually to show the effective use of membership parameters in data optimization.The simulation outcomes state that the proposed ICISF-DDO can surpass existing smart farming systems with a data optimization ratio of 97.71%,reliability ratio of 98.63%,a coverage ratio of 99.67%,least sensor error rate of 8.96%,and efficient energy consumption ratio of 4.84%.