scholarly journals Evaluation and Screening of Co-Culture Farming Models in Rice Field Based on Food Productivity

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Jin ◽  
Candi Ge ◽  
Hui Gao ◽  
Hongcheng Zhang ◽  
Xiaolong Sun

Traditional farming practice of rice field co-culture is a time-tested example of sustainable agriculture, which increases food productivity of arable land with few adverse environmental impacts. However, the small-scale farming practice needs to be adjusted for modern agricultural production. Screening of rice field co-culture farming models is important in deciding the suitable model for industry-wide promotion. In this study, we aim to find the optimal rice field co-culture farming models for large-scale application, based on the notion of food productivity. We used experimental data from the Jiangsu Province of China and applied food-equivalent unit and arable-land-equivalent unit methods to examine applicable protocols for large-scale promotion of rice field co-culture farming models. Results indicate that the rice-loach and rice-catfish models achieve the highest food productivity; the rice-duck model increases the rice yield, while the rice-turtle and rice-crayfish models generate extra economic profits. Simultaneously considering economic benefits, staple food security, and regional food output, we recommend the rice-duck, rice-crayfish, and rice-catfish models. Simulating provincial promotion of the above three models, we conclude that food output increases from all three recommended models, as well as the land production capacity. The rice-catfish co-culture model has the most substantial food productivity. None of the three models threatens staple food security, as they do not compete for land resources with rice cultivation.

Author(s):  
Zulhadi Lalu

Irrigation facilities is one of the key factors in farming, especially for food crop farming, including rice. A smallscale irrigation system has an area of less than 500 hectares, and it is the backbone of family food security which in turn will lead to national food security. Damage irrigation system networks will threaten food production increase. In the future, irrigation infrastructure must be better managed so that agricultural sector can realize agricultural diversification, conserve wider irrigation system and maintain local wisdom and social capital in irrigation management. The objective of the paper is to analyze performance, problems and solutions of small irrigation systems in Indonesia, including small irrigation concepts and understanding, small irrigation performance and development, small irrigation development policies, factors affecting smallscale irrigation development, investments, and prospects. The paper also compares various performances, problems and solutions of small irrigation systems in other countries. Small scale irrigation performance is often better than large-scale irrigation, in the sense of water availability throughout the year and equitable water distribution for all service areas


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 50-63
Author(s):  
Confidence Ndlovu ◽  
Mandla Masuku

The paper has aimed to explore the effectiveness of small-scale farmers in improving household income and food security, particularly looking at the barriers to market access in rural areas. This study was undertaken in rural areas of Kanyamazane, Clau-Clau and Nyongane, South Africa, where small-scale producers depend on low-risk and low-return markets to generate household income from production, thus ensuring food security. To achieve the aim of this study, a qualitative approach was used to provide in-depth interpretation of the perspectives, experiences, and behavioural patterns of the small-scale farmers faced with market related issues. Small-scale farmers, agricultural extension officers, and municipal officials were purposefully selected to share their views, perceptions, and experiences on the effectiveness in accessing markets. The findings revealed that there was limited access to formal markets by small-scale farmers because of limited knowledge and capacity to meet market requirements. The study confirmed that a lack of marketing skills, institutional support services, and limited access to arable land, have directly negative effects on achieving livelihood outcomes. This study recommends a sustainable crop production method which reduces the costs of farming resources, such as pesticide and fertilizer, through organic methods to ensure food safety and enhanced nutrient quality. This study further encourages inclusive rural development, where small-scale producers are treated as stakeholders in agricultural policy formulation to enable access to financial resources and increase in production through the formation of cooperatives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
Leelananda Rajapaksha ◽  
DMC Champathi Gunathilake ◽  
SM Pathirana ◽  
TN Fernando

In Sri Lanka, 70% of 21 million population live in non-urban areas, and agriculture provides livelihood for approximately 40% of them. The agricultural marketing process in the country is a complex operation due to services and functions involved in moving a crop product from where it was produced to where it would finally be consumed. Further, with a wide range of agricultural crops being produced, post-harvest handling process create different degrees of quantitative and qualitative losses in a complex market chain, which are estimated at 20% to 40% for vegetables and 30% - 40% for fruits. Improper and non-scientific post-harvest practices and handling, gaps in integration of cold chain practices & elements with post-harvest process, and lack of knowledge & awareness on many related aspects at grass root farmer level etc. appear to contribute to losses that finally prevent due economic benefits reaching the small-scale producer. In order to increase the effectiveness of post-harvest process handling of fruit and vegetables, appropriate corrective measures targeting small scale producers as well as commercial scale producers need to be popularized and practiced. At small scale producer level, promotion of appropriate low-cost post-harvest practices and procedures, facilitating low-cost cold chain elements and user-friendly information flow mechanism on market situation would certainly help avoid some of the steps that lead to losses. Monitoring system of commercial post-harvest handling process that ensure scientific bulk handling, storage and transportation of fruit and vegetables, properly designed economic centers with well regulated environmentcontrolled storages etc. would greatly reduce loses in bulk handling, ensuring better food security in the island.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 551-561
Author(s):  
Ngo Thi Phuong Lan ◽  
Nguyen Van Kien

Background and objective: Vietnam is prioritizing agricultural production for food export capacity in all national policies. As a result, for three decades, its agriculture has been making quite many remarkable achievements.Methods: The most successful one is that the nation has become one of the world’s leading rice exporters and ensures its national food security. Through these endeavors, the Mekong River Delta (MRD), in particular, has emerged as a key region in ensuring national food security and rice export.Results: The new era can now see Vietnamese agriculture turning to place special emphasis on commodity quality and the improvement of the living environment. This is evidenced, for example, by the phenomenon that the MRD, as a rice basket of the whole country, is making moves back to nature-based agriculture with attempts to restore the natural ecology, including preserving and restoring local traditional rice seeds, adopting natural farming practices and minimizing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.Conclusion: The case studies of nature-based farming practices in the MRD indicate that, while the national agriculture is generally developing large-scale production, the small-scale farming in the region, integrated with tourist and educational activities on-site, is meeting the demands of a highly potential domestic niche market. Moreover, this model appears to be a sustainable farming approach that defines itself as a working green livelihood for the region.


Author(s):  
Claude Y. Laporte ◽  
Frédéric Chevalier

A 400-employee Canadian division of a large American engineering company has developed and implemented project management processes for their small-scale and medium-scale projects. The company was already using a robust project management process for their large-scale projects. The objectives of this project were to reduce cost overruns and project delays, standardize practices to facilitate the integration of new managers, increase the level of customer satisfaction and to reduce risk-related planning deviations. For this project, the engineering organization used the ISO/IEC 29110 standards developed specifically for very small entities, i.e. organizations, having up to 25 people. An analysis of the cost and the benefits of the implementation of small and medium scale project management processes was performed using the ISO economic benefits of standard methodology. The engineering enterprise estimated that, over a three-year timeframe, savings of about 780,000$ would be realized due to the implementation of project management processes using the ISO/IEC 29110 standard.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongzhong Tan ◽  
Ju He ◽  
Zhenning Yu ◽  
Yonghua Tan

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Solheim ◽  
Amy Oen ◽  
Bjørn Kalsnes ◽  
Vittoria Capobianco

<p>Nature-based solutions (NBS) are "inspired and supported by nature. They are cost-effective and simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience" (EU, 2015). The main objective of the H2020 project PHUSICOS is to demonstrate the implementation of nature-based solutions to reduce the risk of extreme weather events in vulnerable areas such as rural mountain landscapes. To meet this aim, three large-scale demonstration sites have been selected in Tuscany, Italy, The Pyrenees, France/Spain and the Gudbrandsdalen Valley, Norway as representative of hydro-meteorological hazards, vegetation, topography and infrastructure throughout rural and mountainous regions in Europe. Additionally, two small-scale concept cases are established in Kaunertal Valley, Austria and the Isar River Basin, Germany to test specific challenges. This presentation focuses on the three large scale demonstrator sites.</p><p>PHUSICOS started in 2018 and over the four-year period each demonstrator site shall propose and implement at least three NBS projects each. At present 9 NBSs have been proposed.</p><p>The Italian proposals, organized by Autorità di Bacino Distrettuale, ADBS, relate to the pollution, drought, erosion, and land degradation around lake Massaciuccoli in Tuscany. The measures are related to reduce the runoff from farmland to the channels and the lake, as well as to reduce the high salinity of the lake. Proposed measures include feeding water from the Serchio River to the lake, and the establishment of vegetation buffer strips between the farmed land and the channels and retention basins.</p><p>In the Pyrenees, the proposed measures, organized by Consorcio de la Comunidad de Trabajo de los Pirineos, CTP, are to reduce risk from several hydrometeorological hazards; flooding and torrents, erosion, snow avalanches and rock fall. The measures include afforestation to reduce snow avalanche release, modification of river banks and beds to reduce torrent hazard, revegetation to reduce erosive rock fall from till deposits, and the use of local wood to prevent release of rock fall as well as forest management to reduce block velocity and runout.</p><p>The Norwegian NBS proposal, organized by Oppland County Administration, is to reduce flooding, erosion, and problematic redeposition in a confluence zone between a tributary and the main river. The measure is a green, receded barrier, to provide flooding space for the river and secure adequate conditions for the riparian vegetation and several red-list species.</p><p>PHUSICOS aims to involve stakeholders in Living Lab processes at the demonstration sites and has succeeded to different degrees depending on the starting point of the NBSs towards their implementation. Baseline surveys of key monitoring parameters are also being performed for selected measures at the three sites.</p><p>The main challenges include getting the most representative stakeholders involved in the Living Lab process, and, perhaps most important, adhering to the local laws and regulations, including environmental and tendering processes. These local regulations are already delaying the progress towards implementation of the measures within the time frame of PHUSICOS. The presentation will elaborate on the selected NBS, their co-benefits and on the challenges, which may be limiting factors for such projects.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Tri Bastuti Purwantini ◽  
Rita Nur Suhaeti

<p>Irrigation facilities is one of the key factors in farming, especially for food crop farming, including rice. A small-scale irrigation system has an area of less than 500 hectares, and it is the backbone of family food security which in turn will lead to national food security. Damage irrigation system networks will threaten food production increase. In the future, irrigation infrastructure must be better managed so that agricultural sector can realize agricultural diversification, conserve wider irrigation system and maintain local wisdom and social capital in irrigation management. The objective of the paper is to analyze performance, problems and solutions of small irrigation systems in Indonesia, including small irrigation concepts and understanding, small irrigation performance and development, small irrigation development policies, factors affecting smallscale irrigation development, investments, and prospects. The paper also compares various performances, problems and solutions of small irrigation systems in other countries. Small scale irrigation performance is often better than large-scale irrigation, in the sense of water availability throughout the year and equitable water distribution for all service areas.</p><p> </p><p>Abstrak</p><p>Sarana irigasi merupakan faktor penting dalam usaha tani khususnya tanaman pangan. Sistem irigasi kecil dengan luas oncoran kurang dari 500 ha merupakan tulang punggung ketahanan pangan keluarga yang pada gilirannya bermuara pada ketahanan pangan tingkat nasional. Kerusakan jaringan sistem irigasi akan mengancam peningkatan produksi pangan. Di masa yang akan datang, infrastruktur irigasi harus dikelola secara lebih baik agar sektor pertanian dapat mewujudkan diversifikasi pertanian, semakin luasnya konservasi sistem irigasi, serta kearifan lokal dan modal sosial dalam pengelolaan irigasi dapat terpelihara. Tulisan ini bertujuan menganalisis kinerja, masalah dan solusi sistem irigasi kecil di Indonesia, termasuk konsep dan pengertian irigasi kecil, kinerja dan perkembangan irigasi kecil, kebijakan pengembangan irigasi kecil, faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi pengembangan investasi irigasi kecil, dan prospek pengembangan irigasi kecil. Dalam tulisan ini juga dibandingkan berbagai kinerja, masalah dan solusi dari sistem irigasi kecil di negera-negara lain. Kinerja irigasi kecil seringkali lebih baik dari irigasi skala besar, dalam arti ketersediaan air sepanjang tahun dan terdapat keadilan pembagian air untuk seluruh wilayah oncorannya.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1329-1355
Author(s):  
G. Salbego ◽  
M. Floris ◽  
E. Busnardo ◽  
M. Toaldo

Abstract. The main aim of this paper is to test economic benefits of landslide prevention measures vs. post-event emergency actions. To this end, small and large scale analyses were performed in a training area located in the North-Eastern Italian pre-Alps that was hit by an exceptional rainfall event occurred in November 2010. At the small-scale, landslide susceptibility was initially assessed using a simple probabilistic analysis, which allowed to highlight the main landslide conditioning factors and the most hazardous areas. However, this approach revealed to be quite insufficient to reach planned goals, so a large-scale case-by-case analysis was performed: a study case was defined, according to landslide occurrence frequency and assessment of elements at risk. Numerical modeling demonstrated that remedial works carried out after the landslide – water-removal intervention such as a drainage trench – could have improved slope stability if applied before its occurrence. Then, a cost-benefit analysis was finally employed. It defined that prevention would have been economically convenient compared to a non-preventive and passive attitude, allowing a 30% saving relative to total costs. Therefore, this kind of approach could be actually used as a mean toward preventive soil protection not only within the investigated case study, but also in all those hazardous areas where preventive measures are needed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibhas Sukhwani ◽  
Arie Nurzaman ◽  
Nadia Paramitha Kusumawardhani ◽  
Anwaar Mohammed AlHinai ◽  
Liu Hanyu ◽  
...  

Narrowing the food supply-demand gaps between urban and rural areas within a regional space has today become a serious challenge due to the growing urban population. Resultantly, urban markets are increasingly being dominated by industrial food chains, despite their negative socio-environmental impacts. To address this issue, this paper discusses the need and significance of ‘Collaborative Food Alliances’ (CFAs), which promote the direct supply of food products from rural farmers to urban residents through improved producer–consumer relationships. Based on the literature survey, this study underlines that the current CFAs are confronted with several challenges including the small scale of functioning and limited financing. While the current research on CFAs is focused on theoretical place-based studies, this paper argues that institutionalization of CFAs at a large scale is highly important for enhancing food security in urban areas. It mainly deliberates on two key aspects: (a) The process of institutionalizing CFAs and (b) A feasible financing mechanism to support CFAs. This paper emphasizes that urban local governments have a central role to play in institutionalizing CFAs, either as a lead agency or as a facilitator. It concludes with specific suggestions on three key determinants of multi-stakeholder engagement, financial constraints and policy coordination at a regional level.


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