Single-Center Experience with Mass Paraquat Exposure in Nine Patients

Paraquat dichloride is a widely used, highly toxic chemical herbicide and a significant cause of fatal poisonings. Toxicity is thought to be secondary to generation of reactive oxygen species. Hours after exposure, patients may experience signs and symptoms ranging from nausea to multi-system organ failure. To mitigate complications and death, immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide and corticosteroid-based therapies have shown to be an effective option in limited studies. Our objective is to report our center’s experience treating patients that had been exposed to paraquat over a two-day period. Patients were identified using our Institutional Burn Center registry, and linked to the clinical and administrative data. Demographics, length of stay, costs and mortality were evaluated. There were nine patients admitted from the exposure. All were male. All survived. Eight were undocumented migrant farmers. The average age was 36 years (25-59 years). The average length of stay was 3.3 days (2-5 days). Seventy-eight percent had cutaneous injury, but only one required debridement and placement of a skin substitute. Thirty-three percent complained of continued shortness of breath after discharge. Average total hospital cost was $28,131 ($9,500-$51,000). Paraquat is a highly toxic herbicide and exposure can be fatal if not treated promptly. Immediate decontamination and repeated pulse therapy with cyclophosphamide and methylprednisolone may be life-saving.

Profile of migrants for cocoa production and agronomic characteristics of cocoa farms in Western Côte d'Ivoire

The mountainous relief of the West of Côte d'Ivoire and the large savannahs next to forests didn’t make this zone very excellent for cocoa production. However, for the last decade, an important influx of farming population has been observed in this area. The objective of this study is to analyze the dynamics of the settlement of migrant farmers in the West region of Côte d’Ivoire, using the department of Biankouma as a case of study. So, individual surveys were conducted among 203 cocoa farmers from 15 villages in the department of Biankouma, who had migrated to this region, It was found that the majority of these farmers are natives of Côte d'Ivoire (38.3%) and non-natives (33.5%) from countries in the West Africa region. The migratory flow to this region is mainly internal, with 95.6% of farmers coming from 11 Districts and 55 localities in the country. While initially (i.e., before 1985), farmers came from towns near Duékoué (11.8%), these waves of movement from towns in neighboring districts (Bas-Sassandra and Sassandra-Marahoué) to the Western Region will experience their highest rates between 2002 and 2013. Observations drawn from our research findings support the hypothesis that the political-military crisis that the country has experienced has accentuated migratory flows of farmers for cocoa production in western Côte d'Ivoire and these migratory flows could be the cause of the degradation of forest cover in the Biankouma Department.

Copra processing issue of migrant farmers in tidal land of South Sumatra

The study was carried out in the tidal land region of Pendowo Harjo Village, Sungsang District, Banyuasin District, South Sumatra Province, with the goal of calculating the production costs and income gained, as well as determining the financial feasibility of the copra processing business. Simple random selection was used to choose sample farmers, with 45 sample farmers managing the copra processing business chosen from a total of 235 population members. All sample farmers were Bugis ethnic migrant farmers. The analysis results showed that with an average area of 1.15 hectares, an income of IDR 2,530,886.98 was obtained. The production costs incurred were IDR 1,756,328.15 resulting in an income of IDR 774,558.83 per arable area per production process (for a period of 3 months). The NPV value was IDR 102,638,789.00, with the IRR value was 49.92 per cent, and the Net B/C value was 2.28. These figures show that a copra processing business can be developed in the area financially.

Sharecropping arrangement in the contemporary agricultural economy of Ghana: A study of Techiman North District and Sefwi Wiawso Municipality, Ghana

The desire for plantation farms and the availability of fertile uncultivated lands coupled with the influx of migrant farmers into the plantation frontiers during the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries largely occasioned the emergence of the share cropping mechanism in the then Gold Coast. Using two districts in Ghana, this study examined sharecroppers land access mode in the contemporary agricultural economy of Ghana. Mixed methods research was used in this study and focused on sharecrop-tenants as well as the sharecrop-landlords as the key research respondents. The results show that across the two areas, abunu system of tenancy was the dominant sharecropping arrangement. The benefit share of the landlord has moved from one-third (1/3) per the traditional abusa tenant system to 50% under the modern abunu system for tree crop plantations. The tenant-farmers’ percentage share has, however, declined from 2/3 to ½ under the current abunu system and in some cases the sharing arrangement is restricted to the proceeds and not the land. Again, the tenants now have to make upfront monetary payment in order to access land, which was not the case in the past. The share tenancy arrangement is on an evolutionary trajectory towards equalizing entitlements to proceeds, in a manner that seems to disadvantage the tenant farmers and keep them in the cycle of tenancy. The study underscores the need for further research to fully understand the drivers of these variations and emerging trends of the sharecropping land access dynamics for an informed policy response.

The safe use of pesticides among migrant workers in Tha Sao sub-district, Sai Yok district, Kanchanaburi province

This research aimed to determine safety behaviors of migrant agricultural workers of Mon ethnic in pesticide use in Kanchanaburi province. This research was a cross-sectional study with a sample group of 30 Mon migrant workers by using a questionnaire. The research result found out that the majority of the migrant farmers have good level of safety behaviors but they showed low level of knowledge in pesticides use. This study recommended that the related authorities should disseminate information and provide training program regarding safe use of pesticides for farmers and pesticide retailers by using comprehensible publishing media with illustration and local language, while the improvement of living and working conditions.

Impact of conversion from rice farms to oil palm plantations on socio-economic aspects of ex-migrants in Indonesia

This paper aims to investigate the impact of land conversion from rice farming to oil palm plantations on the socio-economic aspects of ex-migrants in the South Sumatra tidal swamp, Indonesia. Land conversion from rice farming to oil palm plantations is a form of adaptation for ex-migrant farmers and will increase food deficits in Indonesia. Ex-migrant farmers initially cultivated food crops with conventional technology. This pattern has been changing, which have led to the formation of two large groups of farms, namely rice-based farms implementing mechanisation, and oil palm-based plantations. The results showed that changes from rice farming to oil palm plantations did not make the economy of farm households better. Between the two groups of farmers, there is no difference in arable land, the labour allocation for agriculture and the farmers’ income. In addition, there is not much difference between farmers’ participation in on-farm and out-farm activities. The area of arable land owned, the husbands’age, and family size variables are determinants of farmers’ choice to participate in other jobs activities and influence farmers’ income. Thus, changes in crops from rice to oil palm have no impact on cultivation area, labour allocation, income, on-farm and out-farm activities.

Integrasi Usaha Tanaman Pangan dan Sapi Potong Serta Analisis Keuangannya pada Petani Transmigran di Bengkulu Tengah (BUSINESS INTEGRATION OF FOOD CROPS AND BEEF CATTLE AND ITS FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF TRANS MIGRANTS FARMERS IN CENTRAL BENGKULU)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the financial value of food crops and beef cattle integrated farming trans migrants in Central Bengkulu. The research was carried out in Margo Mulyo Village, Pondok Kubang Sub-district, and Central Bengkulu Regency of Bengkulu Province from year 2017 to May 2018, by applying survey methodology. Secondary data were obtained from Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Plantation of Central Bengkulu Regency and the primary data were gathered from respondents by purposive random sampling as many as 20 trans migrant farmers. Data were analyzed descriptively and economic analysis of business feasibility. The result of the research showed that the absorption of labor trans migrant farmers about 154.22 man days/ ha, corn cultivation business about 154.22 man days/ha and business livestock beef cattle around 139.4 man days/ha. Rice cultivation which expended by IDR 5,314,740,-/harvest, yielded net profit of IDR 4,938,495,-/harvest with B/C ratio of 0.96±0.23 Corn cultivation which expended by IDR 5,260,650,-/harvest, yielded net profit by IDR 1,100,600,-/harvest with B/C ratio of 0.24±0.09. Whilst beef cattle keeping, which expended of IDR 47,200,500,-/year, yielded net profit of IDR 5,902,500,-/ year with B/C ratio 0.14±.0.07 Integrated farming of food crops and cattle was financially beneficial.