Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Driving Factors of "Non-Grain Production” in Hubei Province Based on a Non-Grain Index

Non-grain production (NGP) on cultivated land has become a common phenomenon due to the prosperity of the rural economy and the optimisation of the agricultural structure. However, the excessive use of cultivating land for NGP has threatened food production and the sustainable use of cultivated land. To halt this trend and to ensure food security, the authors of this paper applied a novel non-grain index to measure NGP, which could reflect multiple NGP activities;designated Hubei Province as its object of research;and revealed NGP's spatio-temporal patterns of the past 30 years. We then assessed the characteristics of NGP based on spatial autocorrelation analysis, the Theil index, and geographically weighted regression. The results showed that the value of the non-grain index grew from 0.497 to 1.113 as NGP increased significantly in Hubei Province. The number of high-NGP counties increased, spatial agglomeration became obvious, and the eastern and western sides of Hubei Province witnessed an observable growth in NGP. As a result, the NGP in the eastern and western regions overtook production in the central region. Despite a series of historical subsidy policies and agricultural modernisation initiatives that promoted the planting of grain crops, the policy of "grain on valuable cultivated land” could be better implemented. We conclude by making some suggestions for reducing NGP and protecting cultivated land.

Research progress on distribution and exposure risk of microbial aerosols in animal houses.

Environmental aerosols in animal houses are closely related to the productive performance and health level of animals living in the houses. Preferable housing environments can improve animal welfare and production efficiency, so it is necessary to monitor and study these environments. In recent years, there have been many large-scale outbreaks of respiratory diseases related to biological aerosols, especially the novel coronavirus that has been sweeping the world. This has attracted much attention to the mode of aerosol transmission. With the rapid development of large-scale and intensive breeding, microbial aerosols have gradually become the main factor of environmental pollution in animal houses. They not only lead to a large-scale outbreak of infectious diseases, but they also have a certain impact on the health of animals and employees in the houses and increase the difficulty of prevention and control of animal-borne diseases. This paper reviews the distribution, harm, and control measures of microbial aerosols in animal house environments in order to improve people's understanding of them.

Acts of Citizenship in Time and Space among Agricultural Migrant Workers in Quebec during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Migrant farm workers recruited under Canada's temporary employment programs work in difficult environments, under poor working conditions, and live in unsafe housing in remote rural communities. Fearful of repatriation or replacement, many accept their working and living conditions as part of a necessary sacrifice to improve their living conditions and those of their families in the countries of origin. At the same time, some migrant farm workers assert their agency by escaping from farms, subverting regulations, or challenging various forms of discipline used to control their bodies and activities. Following Isin and Nielsen (2008), we refer to these actions as "acts of citizenship." Drawing on research conducted among migrant farm workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the province of Quebec, Canada, we situate these acts, particularly the tendency to escape from abusive and exploitative working relationships, in a particular space and time shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, we demonstrate the link between these acts and certain conditions and opportunities that arose at that time, such as increased support for migrant farmworkers by a non-governmental organization and the facilitation of movement of migrant farmworkers across the Canada-U.S.-border by the "migration industry."

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on milk production per hectare in Ecuadorian herds

Dairy production systems in Ecuador have been studied in the last 10 years. During the Covid-2019 pandemic, the entire human society was harmed and agricultural activities affected by the disease and by the restrictions implemented to prevent its spread. The dairy industry did not escape this global situation and was affected in various countries. Reports from Ecuador and Asian countries indicate the unfavorable effect that this global health emergency situation had on dairy production. However, according to a report by the Argentine Dairy Chain Observatory1, world milk production had a constant growth of around 3%. It is considered that the activities carried out by veterinarians, milking and animal handling operators, inseminators and by the personnel dedicated to the management of paddocks were affected by Covid-19. Likewise, the supply of medicines, agricultural inputs and technology had a critical situation due to the pandemic. In addition, the response times were not always adequate, especially due to the absenteeism of livestock personnel, human mortality and effects on the health and well-being of people . Therefore, it is of interest to investigate the effects the pandemic could have on the country's cattle farms. The objective of this work was to evaluate whether the pandemic period affected milk production per hectare per year in Ecuadorian herds.

IMPACT OF SELF - CONGRUITY AND DESTINATION IMAGE ON TOURIST LOYALTY: EVIDENCE FROM RECREATION FARM TOURISM

Purpose: This paper's objective was to evaluate the impact of self-congruity and destination image on tourist loyalty at recreation farm destinations. Theoretical framework: The relationship between self-congruity, destination image, and destination loyalty is based on the theory of social distance, have been studied for a long time (Liu et al., 2012). However, numerous questions regarding the unstable relationship between self-congruity and destination loyalty still need to be answered. More studies must evaluate the relationship between self-congruity, destination image, and visitors' loyalty to recreation farm destinations. Design/methodology/approach: PLS-SEM method was applied. 270 valid questionnaires were qualified for analysis, accounting for 67.5% of the total questionnaires issued and satisfying the sample size required. The questionnaires were distributed and asked directly to visitors visiting the Ba Vi, Hanoi recreation farms from June to July 2022, when Hanoi began to open to visitors after two years closed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding: The analysis found that destination image directly affects self-congruity, and both destination image and self-congruity directly influence visitor satisfaction and loyalty. Satisfaction also has a direct influence on tourist loyalty. The indirect relationships between destination image and self-congruity with tourist loyalty are indicated. Its results confirmed the role of mediators of satisfaction in this study and considered contributing to academic theory. Research, Practical & Social implications: This study provides recommendations for tourism managers and marketers in improving the image of the destination and increasing satisfaction as well as improving the visitor return rate related to the Recreation Farm Tourism. Originality/value: This study contributes significantly to the literature because it demonstrated an indirect relationship between destination image, self-congruity, and loyalty through satisfaction. © 2023 AOS-Estratagia and Inovacao. All Rights Reserved.

"This Is Where We Have Scored”: Exploring the Interface between Project and Institutional Sustainability Facilitated by a Faith-Based Development Organisation in Sierra Leone

This paper explores the issue of project sustainability through an analysis of the experiences of a Faith-Based Development Organisation (FBDO) in Bo, Sierra Leone. The FBDO in question was approached by members of their local Catholic Women Association (CWA) to help them with the planning and management of a farm that had been donated to them by a chief. They agreed to this, and a series of workshops were held in June 2014, along with follow-up discussions with local experts and businesses as to what could be done to help support the women in their endeavour. Amongst other priorities, the women identified the need for the farm to produce food, income and help with their development. However, an outbreak of the Ebola virus that occurred between 2014 and 2016, following as it did on the back of an 11-year (1991–2002) civil war in Sierra Leone, led to a re-evaluation of the farm project in the eyes of the FBDO as they decided to shift to earlier priorities in education and health care. Given the constraints regarding resources and personnel, community projects, such as the CWA farm project, became of much lesser importance even though it resonated strongly with the goals of the FBDO and government, and had garnered much support amongst international donors. The paper sets out that story, beginning with the workshops and discussions held in 2014, and the ramifications of these responses to various ‘shocks', such as those presented by the civil war and disease outbreaks (Ebola and COVID-19);it also provides recommendations that might be of use regarding the interface between project and institutional sustainability within FBDOs and, indeed, the wider community of development organisations.

Disaggregated impacts of off-farm work participation on household vulnerability to food poverty in Ghana.

This study examines disaggregated impacts of participation in off-farm employment on household vulnerability to food poverty in Ghana. We use household-level data collected from smallholder farmers in Ghana. This study employs the multinomial endogenous switching regression model to account for selection bias due to both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Our results indicate that participation in off-farm employment activities, such as petty trading, significantly decreases household vulnerability to food poverty. Our findings further show that households that do participate in arts and crafts as an off-farm activity are more vulnerable to food poverty had they not participated. This paper provides useful policy insights to enable smallholders involved in off-farm work activities to improve food consumption expenditure and reduce their risk of food poverty.

How recreational farm operators use dynamic capabilities to respond to COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic has devastated economic activities around the world. The tourism industry is facing severe challenges, such as reduced tourist flow and the lack of tourist consumption at desti-nations. Recreational farms are one of the business types of agricultural tourism in Taiwan and have the char-acteristics of small and medium-sized agriculture businesses. The operator is facing an uncertain environment in the epidemic market, and the operator's dynamic capability is considered to be effective in coping with the current environment. In this study, 20 selected recreational farms were interviewed to explore how operators use dynamic capabilities to make responses. The results show that recreational farms have the three elements of dynamic capabilities: sense, seize, and transform, to change farm marketing channels and develop new products or services to respond to the new market. Recreational farm operators adopted resource optimization, computerization, and cost control strategies to respond to the market. Management implications: A successful implementation of recreational farm offers requires-the reallocation of resources, -the planning of new products and services, and-the improvement of service processes to create new business and to address additional target groups.The COVID-19 pandemic forces a systematic positioning or repositioning of the business.

Ambivalent Resonance: Advocacy for Secure Status for Migrant Farm Workers in Spain, Italy and Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Drawing on insights from scholarship on contentious action frames, this article examines the framing of demands for social justice for migrant farmworkers in Spain, Italy and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus particularly on how activists in each country aligned their action frames with prevalent public discourses on the essential contribution migrants make to agricultural production, the need to guarantee "health for all,” and "increased vulnerability” of migrants' lives during the global health crisis. Using these diagnostic frames, activists in the three countries called for secure legal status for all migrants. Drawing on the literature on contentious action frames, we then analyze if action frames advanced by activists during the COVID-19 pandemic "resonated” with the understanding of these issues by policymakers. We challenge an approach to understanding resonance in binary terms as either present or absent. Instead, we introduce the notion of "ambivalent resonance” to draw attention to the fact that some frames are accepted only partially or only by some policymakers but not the others, as was the case in the three countries under study. We then situate this ambivalent resonance in the context of immigration priorities and recent trends in immigration policy development in these three countries and suggest that activists can build on ambivalences to advance migrant rights to status © 2023, Studies in Social Justice.All Rights Reserved.

Preface

Climate change has led to the increase of heat exposure or natural hazard due to extreme weather. This anthropological climate change phenomenon has negatively altered the most fundamental natural resources for living organism: air, water, and soil. Air has been polluted and warming due to human activities. The quantity of freshwater keeps on depleting, while the ground water recharge intervened with chemical and biological contamination. The sustainability of soil as the natural planting media is under threat due to land use conversion and soil quality degradation. Water acidification and temperature increase have been proved to change the salinity of seawater. Those are the impact of the increasing greenhouse gas emission in the earth's atmosphere.The 8th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC) aims to accommodate and to discuss the regional findings related the adaptation and mitigation strategies on climate change worldwide. The meaning to hold ICCC is getting more and more important. This conference can alert the creeping disaster. The contribution of all the participants, distinguished guests to this conference would make our world better and progress our scientific knowledge. Sharing the insight into the recent research and the cutting-edge technologies should enhance our ability and it might give us the breakthrough ideas on our sustainability under climate change. ICCC would be fruitful for every participant and be a great chance to approach the scientific solution for our common goals.Faculty of Agriculture of Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Indonesia is very proud to organize the 8th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC). International Conference on Climate Change has been playing a significant contribution to formulate the strategies to cope with the emerged problems due to the climate change, as well as to support the sustainable development goal achievement. Sebelas Maret University has been seriously taking part to minimize the climate change impact, by promoting environment-friend programs, such as the green campus program and prohibiting the motor-vehicle to enter the campus every month. Sebelas Maret University also realizes that the responsibility of maintaining this earth should be by everyone. Each of us plays a significant contribution to minimize the global warming of this earth. That is why Faculty of Agriculture of Sebelas Maret University organize such events to discuss the findings related the earth-protection.We hope this conference will resulting into valuable recommendations in focusing and improving the natural resources management as well as improving the human's living efficiency to bring the greenhouse gas emission down. We need to produce alternative technologies as the climatic resilience strategies to overcome the key climate-change sensitive pathways, as well as to support the achievements some global goals in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Accordingly, the topic of the 8th ICCC is "Environmental Management towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the Changing Climate”.The 8th ICCC was organized by Faculty of Agriculture, Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia, in collaboration with Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand and The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Gifu University, Japan. The 8th ICCC was held at The Asian Institute of Technology Conference Center, Thailand from 17-18 November 2022. The 8th ICCC was conducted in the Hybrid method because travel restrictions are still enforced by some countries to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Besides, providing options for attending the 8th ICCC virtually is more comfortable for participants and presenters with limitedness of budgets.The 8th ICCC 2022 delivers great appreciation to Prof. Dr. Samanhudi, Dean of Faculty of Agriculture, Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia;Professor Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand;and Prof. Dr. Ken Hiramatsu, Dean of United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, ifu University, Japan;for formal support to the conference.Gratitude presented to the invited speakers: Prof. Dr. Avishek Datta from Head of Department of Food, Agriculture, and Bioresources, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand;Prof. Dr. Eric van Hullenbusch from Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, France;Dr. Taku M. Saitoh from Gifu University, Japan;Dr. Jauhari Syamsiyah from Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia;and Dr. James MacGregor from Eco-Plannet, Canada.List of Committee of the 8th ICCC 202 is available in this Pdf.

Rural tourism in India-a perspective on the role of rural middle class in engendering the experience economy

This chapter challenges the urban bias in studies on the middle class in India and underlines the need to focus on the significant role rural middle class plays in economic diversification. Given that more than 23% of the upper middle class are located in rural India, it is surprising to note that their contribution in supporting experience economy remains under-researched. Thus, this chapter fills a key gap in existing studies on rural tourism in India by underlining how rural middle-class has triggered a huge demand for travel within the country itself for rural cultural programmes and different schemes to promote rural heritage sights. © 2022 Gunjan Saxena.

Indian agriculture and rural economy in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic

The aim of the paper is the analysis of the changes in Indian agriculture during the pandemic. The following research questions were put forward: What is the diversification of the Indian agriculture and rural economy in terms of COVID-19?;What is the percentage change in overall agricultural commodities production, in farm-gate prices for commodities in agriculture and the allied sector and in the availability of agri-inputs? The theoretical part of the paper depicted the following issues: India's role in global farming;rural economy issues, economic recovery, and the agricultural sector in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. The studies that were conducted include: documentation, statistical, comparative, and dynamics analysis. The results showed that the Indian agriculture and rural economy in terms of COVID-19 had different tendencies. With businesses across all industries forced to shut down, the economy ground to a halt. Even while farming operations were spared during the lockdown's early stages, the agricultural value chain nonetheless experienced widespread disruptions. This was devastating to the rural Indian economy.

Global Atmospheric Composition Needs from Future Ultraviolet–Visible–Near-Infrared (UV–Vis–NIR) NOAA Satellite Instruments

Presentations spanned a range of applications: the public health impacts of poor air quality and environmental justice;greenhouse gas measuring, monitoring, reporting, and verification (GHG MMRV);stratospheric ozone monitoring;and various applications of satellite observations to improve models, including data assimilation in global Earth system models. The combination of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and NO2 retrievals can improve confidence in emissions inventories and model performance, and together these data products would be of use in future air quality management tools. The ability to retrieve additional trace gases (e.g., ethane, isoprene, and ammonia) in the thermal IR along with those measured in the UV–Vis–NIR region would be extremely useful for air quality applications, including source apportionment analysis (e.g., for oil/natural gas extraction, biogenic, and agricultural sources). Ground-level ozone is one of six criteria pollutants for which the EPA sets National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect against human health and welfare effects.

The new world: lived experience of agricultural workers about the COVID-19 pandemic crisis (case study: Chardavol Township)

The purpose of this study is to examine the lived experiences of agricultural workers in the Chardavol Township about the new world. The present study is a qualitative research that has been done using an interpretive paradigm and interpretive phenomenological method. The statistical population of the study includes all villagers active in the agricultural sector in Zanjire Sofla village in Chardavol Township in Ilam province. 14 participants were selected by purposive sampling method until theoretical saturation. The semi-structured interview method was used to collect information from participants and Van Mannen's (1990) method was used to analyze the data obtained from the semi-structured interviews. The results showed that a main theme entitled "New World" and 7 sub-themes including new lifestyle, a distinct consumption pattern, the integration and synergy of tensions, understanding the cross-sectional remedial shock, the symmetry of old and new vulnerabilities, socio-protective isolation and low government presence and the tendency to counter-value measures and the experience of the new sin is experienced by the participants.

Plant-made vaccines against viral diseases in humans and farm animals.

Plants provide not only food and feed, but also herbal medicines and various raw materials for industry. Moreover, plants can be green factories producing high value bioproducts such as biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. Advantages of plant-based production platforms include easy scale-up, cost effectiveness, and high safety as plants are not hosts for human and animal pathogens. Plant cells perform many post-translational modifications that are present in humans and animals and can be essential for biological activity of produced recombinant proteins. Stimulated by progress in plant transformation technologies, substantial efforts have been made in both the public and the private sectors to develop plant-based vaccine production platforms. Recent promising examples include plant-made vaccines against COVID-19 and Ebola. The COVIFENZ® COVID-19 vaccine produced in Nicotiana benthamiana has been approved in Canada, and several plant-made influenza vaccines have undergone clinical trials. In this review, we discuss the status of vaccine production in plants and the state of the art in downstream processing according to good manufacturing practice (GMP). We discuss different production approaches, including stable transgenic plants and transient expression technologies, and review selected applications in the area of human and veterinary vaccines. We also highlight specific challenges associated with viral vaccine production for different target organisms, including lower vertebrates (e.g., farmed fish), and discuss future perspectives for the field.

Aeroponics. (L'Accademia per il post Covid-19.)

Aeroponics is a particular soilless or hydroponic cultivation technique used in greenhouses and in indoor farms. The technical characteristics of aeroponic systems and their advantages, which has recently aroused new interest from the commercial sector, are summarized here.

Use of e-commerce in the commercialization of family farming products: a systematic literature review

Family farming is an important food supplier, but it faces difficulties in commercialize its production. Alternative forms of commercialization of agricultural products have been emerging, and an inclination towards the use of e-commerce is perceived, which has also helped in the disclosure of its products. The objective of this study was to present the state of the art in research that relates family farming to the use of e-commerce and its disclosure strategies in recent years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. The technical procedure used was a systematic literature review, following the Methodi Ordinatio protocol. The results showed that e-commerce has helped family farmers in the commercialization and disclosure of their products, bringing economic and social benefits. Additionally, gaps in future research on the subject were pointed out.

Impact of the "coronavirus" emergency on Italian livestock systems

This report describes the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the productive and economic aspects of livestock and aquaculture production in Italy, including farm management, labour, income, marketing and consumption of animal products (meat, fish, eggs, milk and dairy products), consumer behaviour, food safety, agrotourism and disease control.

Marked rebound of agricultural fire emissions in Asia after the outbreak of COVID-19

East and South Asia are major hotspots of crop straw burning worldwide, with profound impacts on air quality and climate change. The Northeast China Plain (NECP) and Punjab, India, are two of the most fertile areas for crop production, which have large-scale agricultural fires during post-harvest seasons. Leveraging established fire-emission databases and satellite-retrieved agricultural fire spots, we show that, while the years 2018 and 2019 recorded low agricultural fire emissions in both the NECP and Punjab, probably due to the implementation of crop straw sustainable management, fire emissions markedly rebounded in 2020, reaching about 190% and 150% of 2019 levels, respectively. The COVID-19 lockdown measures somewhat disrupted eco-friendly crop straw management through restrictions on labor and transportation availability, such that farmers may have had to burn off crop wastes to clear up the land. We further demonstrate that the increased fire emissions in the NECP resulted in serious particulate matter pollution during the fire season in spring 2020, as opposed to considerable decreases in particles from fossil fuel emissions caused by the COVID-19 lockdown. This study suggests the unintended impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agricultural sector and human health.