ABSTRACT
This article reports on a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) technical assistance project entitled "Support to the implementation of mariculture in Kenya within an ecosystem approach", which supported pilot seaweed culture sites, with a specific focus on best management practices for production, post-harvest management and value addition. The article highlights the benefits reaped by the Kibuyuni Seaweed Women, one of five seaweed groups supported by the project.
ABSTRACT
In the Canadian Maritimes, many beekeepers rent honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), hives to growers of lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium (Ericaceae), for pollination services. Anecdotally, hives have less vigour following pollination, potentially due to higher Nosema spp. (Nosematidae) spore loads, the microsporidian causing nosemosis. We undertook a study to determine whether sending honey bee hives to lowbush blueberry fields for pollination (blueberry hives) results in higher Nosema spp. spore loads relative to hives remaining in apiaries (home hives). Nosema spp. spore loads were quantified using light microscopy. Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae were differentiated using polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Nosema spp. spore loads were greatest in April and May and declined to low levels from June to September. Ninety-eight per cent of Nosema detections were positive for N. ceranae. In April, blueberry hives had a lower spore load than home hives did;however, in June, spore loads were significantly higher in blueberry hives. No other differences in Nosema spp. spore loads were observed between hive types. We conclude that Nosema ceranae is the dominant Nosema species in the Canadian Maritimes and that using hives for lowbush blueberry pollination does not appear to influence long-term Nosema spp. spore loads.
ABSTRACT
Risks to human health and the environment owing to pesticide usage have arisen interest, increasing the demand for reducing pesticide consumption used on golf courses. However, standard guidelines or manuals for reducing pesticide usage on golf courses in Korea are lacking. Herein, the trends of pesticides on golf courses were investigated, and the optimal pesticide usage plan was proposed for continuous pesticide reduction. In 2019, there were 539 golf courses in Korea. With the increasing number of golf courses in 2010–2019, pesticide usage increased continuously. Fungicides accounted for more than half the pesticides used, followed by insecticides and herbicides. Except for golf courses that do not employ chemical pesticides, pesticide usage per unit area varied in the range of 0.02–65.81 kg ha−1 (average of 6.97 kg ha−1). In the US, best management practices and integrated pest management (IPM) have been stipulated and are operational in each state for pesticide management in golf courses, recognizing chemical pesticide usage to be the last approach for pest control and turf health maintenance. Considering that Korea globally ranks 10th in the number of golf facilities and courses, the establishment of IPM practices suitable for domestic conditions is essential.
ABSTRACT
This report presents the outcomes of the webinar on "the experience of the aquaculture sector through best practices and mitigation measures facing the COVID-19 crisis" which took place on 1 July 2020 and was conducted over the internet and hosted on the Zoom platform for webinars. It was organized by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in cooperation with the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI). The webinar aimed to address the pandemic's effects on aquaculture production as well as on supply chains, demand, local markets and trade, and to identify best practices and mitigation measures adopted by aquaculture farmers and countries. During the first thematic session, the experts highlighted the difficulties the aquaculture sector faced due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, several mitigation approaches were pointed out: (i) specific financial support programmes designed through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF);(ii) a strong national aquaculture strategy guaranteeing self-sufficiency along the entire supply chain of shrimp farming in Saudi Arabia;(iii) the issuing of subsidies and credit loans in a timely manner to help producers in Turkey;(iv) the development of an online platform for fish auctioning to boost fisheries supply chain in Oman;(v) companies opening direct communication channels between the government and the farms in the United Arab Emirates;and (vi) solidarity between the sector and consumers, which allowed for the achievement of 50 percent of the programmed goals in the fish feed and larval industry in Tunisia. Other points addressed during the second thematic session included specific measures adopted and proposed, such as the focus on different aquaculture final products (e.g. frozen fish) and the establishment of local hatcheries and fish feed factories. The Q/A session which followed concluded the webinar.
ABSTRACT
The increase in internet shopping and the reduction of visits to sales outlets has caused a migration of consumption to digital media, which may generate long-term transformations in the strategies of companies. [...]the objective of this research is to provide a conceptual proposal of the use of logistics as a competitive advantage in retail organizations, considering the best management practices for the logistics sector. INTRODUCTION Over the last decades, logistics has become an important factor of competitive advantage in retail business organizations, due to the importance of cost reduction, productivity increase, solutions offering, value addition to commercialized products and services and the optimization of processes in the supply chain, from raw material suppliers to the delivery of finished products to customers, who are increasingly demanding in this globalized market. According to a study by SBVC (2020), 91% of consumers say they are satisfied with their online shopping experience, ten percentage points more than their satisfaction with physical stores. In Tsai's (2008) view, the supply chain systemic approach contradicts to a great extent the archaic and extremely confrontational relationship between buyers and suppliers adopted in the negotiations previously established in the buying and selling processes, being replaced and known today by the approach called Efficient Consumer Response (ECR). Since the 2000s, the term supply chain is evidenced as a fundamental element, being strongly explored in the current scenario, evolving towards a supply network, with a more updated perspective and working in a globalized way, mainly due to the increase in the flow of imports and exports, being a primordial and fundamental factor for the survival and maintenance of