29 CFR 780.112 - General meaning of “agriculture or horticultural commodities.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Agricultural Or Horticultural Commodities § 780.112 General meaning of “agriculture or horticultural commodities.” Section 3(f) of the Act defines as...

29 CFR 780.112 - General meaning of “agriculture or horticultural commodities.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Agricultural Or Horticultural Commodities § 780.112 General meaning of “agriculture or horticultural commodities.” Section 3(f) of the Act defines as...

29 CFR 780.112 - General meaning of “agriculture or horticultural commodities.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Agricultural Or Horticultural Commodities § 780.112 General meaning of “agriculture or horticultural commodities.” Section 3(f) of the Act defines as...

29 CFR 780.112 - General meaning of “agriculture or horticultural commodities.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... EXEMPTIONS APPLICABLE TO AGRICULTURE, PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES, AND RELATED SUBJECTS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT General Scope of Agriculture Agricultural Or Horticultural Commodities § 780.112 General meaning of “agriculture or horticultural commodities.” Section 3(f) of the Act defines as...

Agriculture and the Community: The Sociological Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heffernan, William D.; Campbell, Rex R.

Emergence of a dual agricultural system, need for sophisticated knowledge and equipment, declining importance of labor, and geographic and organizational concentration of the production and processing of certain commodities are creating changes in rural communities. While some changes will have negative social/economic impacts, the importance of…

Agricultural factors affecting Fusarium communities in wheat kernels.

PubMed

Karlsson, Ida; Friberg, Hanna; Kolseth, Anna-Karin; Steinberg, Christian; Persson, Paula

2017-07-03

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating disease of cereals caused by Fusarium fungi. The disease is of great economic importance especially owing to reduced grain quality due to contamination by a range of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium. Disease control and prediction is difficult because of the many Fusarium species associated with FHB. Different species may respond differently to control methods and can have both competitive and synergistic interactions. Therefore, it is important to understand how agricultural practices affect Fusarium at the community level. Lower levels of Fusarium mycotoxin contamination of organically produced cereals compared with conventionally produced have been reported, but the causes of these differences are not well understood. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of agricultural factors on Fusarium abundance and community composition in different cropping systems. Winter wheat kernels were collected from 18 organically and conventionally cultivated fields in Sweden, paired based on their geographical distance and the wheat cultivar grown. We characterised the Fusarium community in harvested wheat kernels using 454 sequencing of translation elongation factor 1-α amplicons. In addition, we quantified Fusarium spp. using real-time PCR to reveal differences in biomass between fields. We identified 12 Fusarium operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with a median of 4.5 OTUs per field. Fusarium graminearum was the most abundant species, while F. avenaceum had the highest occurrence. The abundance of Fusarium spp. ranged two orders of magnitude between fields. Two pairs of Fusarium species co-occurred between fields: F. poae with F. tricinctum and F. culmorum with F. sporotrichoides. We could not detect any difference in Fusarium communities between the organic and conventional systems. However, agricultural intensity, measured as the number of pesticide applications and the amount of nitrogen fertiliser applied, had an

The SDGs Will Require Integrated Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health at the Community Level.

PubMed

Canavan, Chelsey R; Graybill, Lauren; Fawzi, Wafaie; Kinabo, Joyce

2016-03-01

Child malnutrition is an urgent and complex issue and requires integrated approaches across agriculture, nutrition, and health. This issue has gained prominence at the global level. While national-level efforts are underway in many countries, there is little information on how to integrate at the community level. Here, we offer a community-based approach using cadres of agricultural and community health workers, drawing on qualitative work we have conducted in Tanzania. Agriculture is an important driver of nutritional and health outcomes, and improving child health will require practical solutions for integration that can add to the evidence base. © The Author(s) 2016.

A Guide for Using Illinois Standards for Quality Agriculture Programs in Community Colleges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois Univ., Urbana. Dept. of Vocational and Technical Education.

As a result of a project to prepare standards for agricultural occupations programs in Illinois community colleges, this guide was developed to assist local community college instructors, administrators, and other local persons in the evaluation of local agricultural occupations programs. The first section of the guide explains (how standards…

Relations between retired agricultural land, water quality, and aquatic-community health, Minnesota River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Christensen, Victoria G.; Lee, Kathy E.; McLees, James M.; Niemela, Scott L.

2012-01-01

The relative importance of agricultural land retirement on water quality and aquatic-community health was investigated in the Minnesota River Basin. Eighty-two sites, with drainage areas ranging from 4.3 to 2200 km2, were examined for nutrient concentrations, measures of aquatic-community health (e.g., fish index of biotic integrity [IBI] scores), and environmental factors (e.g., drainage area and amount of agricultural land retirement). The relation of proximity of agricultural land retirement to the stream was determined by calculating the land retirement percent in various riparian zones. Spearman's rho results indicated that IBI score was not correlated to the percentage of agricultural land retirement at the basin scale (p = 0.070); however, IBI score was correlated to retired land percentage in the 50- to 400-m riparian zones surrounding the streams (p < 0.05), indicating that riparian agricultural land retirement may have more influence on aquatic-community health than does agricultural land retirement in upland areas. Multivariate analysis of covariance and analysis of covariance models indicated that other environmental factors (such as drainage area and lacustrine and palustrine features) commonly were correlated to aquatic-community health measures, as were in-stream factors (standard deviation of water depth and substrate type). These results indicate that although agricultural land retirement is significantly related to fish communities as measured by the IBI scores, a combination of basin, riparian, and in-stream factors act together to influence IBI scores.

Community Colleges and Agricultural Education: Strategies for Serving a New Market.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arman, Hal D.

In this period of limited financial resources and educational manpower, community colleges can benefit from the application of strategic management techniques to determine how to use their resources most effectively while addressing community needs. At Delta College, this approach was adopted to assess community needs for agricultural programs and…

Do Riparian Buffers Protect Stream Invertebrate Communities in South American Atlantic Forest Agricultural Areas?

PubMed

Hunt, L; Marrochi, N; Bonetto, C; Liess, M; Buss, D F; Vieira da Silva, C; Chiu, M-C; Resh, V H

2017-12-01

We investigated the influence and relative importance of insecticides and other agricultural stressors in determining variability in invertebrate communities in small streams in intensive soy-production regions of Brazil and Paraguay. In Paraguay we sampled 17 sites on tributaries of the Pirapó River in the state of Itapúa and in Brazil we sampled 18 sites on tributaries of the San Francisco River in the state of Paraná. The riparian buffer zones generally contained native Atlantic forest remnants and/or introduced tree species at various stages of growth. In Brazil the stream buffer width was negatively correlated with sediment insecticide concentrations and buffer width was found to have moderate importance in mitigating effects on some sensitive taxa such as mayflies. However, in both regions insecticides had low relative importance in explaining variability in invertebrate communities, while various habitat parameters were more important. In Brazil, the percent coverage of soft depositional sediment in streams was the most important agriculture-related explanatory variable, and the overall stream-habitat score was the most important variable in Paraguay streams. Paraguay and Brazil both have laws requiring forested riparian buffers. The ample forested riparian buffer zones typical of streams in these regions are likely to have mitigated the effects of pesticides on stream invertebrate communities. This study provides evidence that riparian buffer regulations in the Atlantic Forest region are protecting stream ecosystems from pesticides and other agricultural stressors. Further studies are needed to determine the minimum buffer widths necessary to achieve optimal protection.

Fish communities of benchmark streams in agricultural areas of eastern Wisconsin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sullivan, D.J.; Peterson, E.M.

1997-01-01

warmwater species. Two sites had insufficient deep-water habitat to support large numbers offish, especially top carnivores. Finally, one stream may be too cool to support enough warmwater species and too warm to support trout. In general, two methods of evaluating site habitat indicate that habitat is not a limiting factor for fish communities. However, two sites were rated as fair according to both habitat evaluation methods due to low base flow. Two sites rated below good according to one habitat evaluation method but rated good or excellent according to the other. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of data for 17 sites showed three station groupings. These groupings fell along RHU divisions and each group was associated with one of three trout species. A species-richness gradient was evident on the station-ordination diagram. Intolerant species were associated with each grouping, a reflection of the generally high water quality at the sites. However, no significant differences were found between IBI scores or habitat indices among the site groupings. The DCA axis 1 and 2 scores correlated with average velocity and percent pool as well as RHU factors percent sandy surficial deposits, percent wetland, percent agriculture, and bedrock. Average velocity was highest at three sites which also had among the highest measured flow and largest drainage areas. Percent pool was generally lower at sites with smaller percentages of sandy surficial deposits, with one exception. The usefulness of ordination methods in conjunction with more traditional methods of defining biotic integrity (IB I) has been noted in previous studies. In this study, however, perhaps because of the relative homogeneity of the benchmark streams, the IBI did not correlate with the same kinds of factors as the DCA axis scores did. 

How agricultural management shapes soil microbial communities: patterns emerging from genetic and genomic studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daly, Amanda; Grandy, A. Stuart

2016-04-01

Agriculture is a predominant land use and thus a large influence on global carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) balances, climate, and human health. If we are to produce food, fiber, and fuel sustainably we must maximize agricultural yield while minimizing negative environmental consequences, goals towards which we have made great strides through agronomic advances. However, most agronomic strategies have been designed with a view of soil as a black box, largely ignoring the way management is mediated by soil biota. Because soil microbes play a central role in many of the processes that deliver nutrients to crops and support their health and productivity, agricultural management strategies targeted to exploit or support microbial activity should deliver additional benefits. To do this we must determine how microbial community structure and function are shaped by agricultural practices, but until recently our characterizations of soil microbial communities in agricultural soils have been largely limited to broad taxonomic classes due to methodological constraints. With advances in high-throughput genetic and genomic sequencing techniques, better taxonomic resolution now enables us to determine how agricultural management affects specific microbes and, in turn, nutrient cycling outcomes. Here we unite findings from published research that includes genetic or genomic data about microbial community structure (e.g. 454, Illumina, clone libraries, qPCR) in soils under agricultural management regimes that differ in type and extent of tillage, cropping selections and rotations, inclusion of cover crops, organic amendments, and/or synthetic fertilizer application. We delineate patterns linking agricultural management to microbial diversity, biomass, C- and N-content, and abundance of microbial taxa; furthermore, where available, we compare patterns in microbial communities to patterns in soil extracellular enzyme activities, catabolic profiles, inorganic nitrogen pools, and nitrogen

Compartmentalized metabolic network reconstruction of microbial communities to determine the effect of agricultural intervention on soils

PubMed Central

Álvarez-Yela, Astrid Catalina; Gómez-Cano, Fabio; Zambrano, María Mercedes; Husserl, Johana; Danies, Giovanna; Restrepo, Silvia; González-Barrios, Andrés Fernando

2017-01-01

Soil microbial communities are responsible for a wide range of ecological processes and have an important economic impact in agriculture. Determining the metabolic processes performed by microbial communities is crucial for understanding and managing ecosystem properties. Metagenomic approaches allow the elucidation of the main metabolic processes that determine the performance of microbial communities under different environmental conditions and perturbations. Here we present the first compartmentalized metabolic reconstruction at a metagenomics scale of a microbial ecosystem. This systematic approach conceives a meta-organism without boundaries between individual organisms and allows the in silico evaluation of the effect of agricultural intervention on soils at a metagenomics level. To characterize the microbial ecosystems, topological properties, taxonomic and metabolic profiles, as well as a Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) were considered. Furthermore, topological and optimization algorithms were implemented to carry out the curation of the models, to ensure the continuity of the fluxes between the metabolic pathways, and to confirm the metabolite exchange between subcellular compartments. The proposed models provide specific information about ecosystems that are generally overlooked in non-compartmentalized or non-curated networks, like the influence of transport reactions in the metabolic processes, especially the important effect on mitochondrial processes, as well as provide more accurate results of the fluxes used to optimize the metabolic processes within the microbial community. PMID:28767679

Agriculture and Community Development Interface. Joint Meeting of the Southern Region State Leaders for Agriculture and Natural Resources and Community Resource Development Proceedings (October 8-11, 1989, Williamsburg, Virginia).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warner, Paul D., Ed.; Campbell, Raymond, Ed.

This document is a summary of remarks presented at a joint meeting of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Community Resource Development state leaders in 1989. The focus of the meeting was economic viability, rural extension and education, water quality, waste management, biotechnology, low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA), and rural…

General aviation and community development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sincoff, M. Z. (Editor); Dajani, J. S. (Editor)

1975-01-01

The summer program is summarized. The reports presented concern (1) general aviation components, (2) general aviation environment, (3) community perspective, and (4) transportation and general aviation in Virginia.

Climate warming and agricultural stressors interact to determine stream macroinvertebrate community dynamics.

PubMed

Piggott, Jeremy J; Townsend, Colin R; Matthaei, Christoph D

2015-05-01

Global climate change is likely to modify the ecological consequences of currently acting stressors, but potentially important interactions between climate warming and land-use related stressors remain largely unknown. Agriculture affects streams and rivers worldwide, including via nutrient enrichment and increased fine sediment input. We manipulated nutrients (simulating agricultural run-off) and deposited fine sediment (simulating agricultural erosion) (two levels each) and water temperature (eight levels, 0-6°C above ambient) simultaneously in 128 streamside mesocosms to determine the individual and combined effects of the three stressors on macroinvertebrate community dynamics (community composition and body size structure of benthic, drift and insect emergence assemblages). All three stressors had pervasive individual effects, but in combination often produced additive or antagonistic outcomes. Changes in benthic community composition showed a complex interplay among habitat quality (with or without sediment), resource availability (with or without nutrient enrichment) and the behavioural/physiological tendency to drift or emerge as temperature rose. The presence of sediment and raised temperature both resulted in a community of smaller organisms. Deposited fine sediment strongly increased the propensity to drift. Stressor effects were most prominent in the benthic assemblage, frequently reflected by opposite patterns in individuals quitting the benthos (in terms of their propensity to drift or emerge). Of particular importance is that community measures of stream health routinely used around the world (taxon richness, EPT richness and diversity) all showed complex three-way interactions, with either a consistently stronger temperature response or a reversal of its direction when one or both agricultural stressors were also in operation. The negative effects of added fine sediment, which were often stronger at raised temperatures, suggest that streams already

Leadership Program Planning: Assessing the Needs and Interests of the Agricultural Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaufman, Eric K.; Rateau, Richard J.; Ellis, Keyana C.; Kasperbauer, Holly Jo; Stacklin, Laura R.

2010-01-01

Needs assessment is the first step in developing a leadership education program. During the spring of 2008 researchers and program planners conducted focus groups sessions with representatives from Virginia's agricultural community with the goal of assessing the leadership development interests and needs of that community. As one focus group…

Pre-Employment Laboratory Training. General Agricultural Mechanics Volume II. Instructional Materials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas A and M Univ., College Station. Vocational Instructional Services.

This course outline, the second volume of a two-volume set, consists of lesson plans for pre-employment laboratory training in general agricultural mechanics. Covered in the eight lessons included in this volume are cold metal work, soldering, agricultural safety programs, farm shops, farm structures, farm and ranch electrification, soil and water…

A Comparison of Agriculture in the United States and the European Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newman, Mark; And Others

It is difficult to compare the United States and European Community (EC) agricultural sectors for several reasons. For one thing, the European community is an economic association of 12 independent nations, each of which has its own national methods of data collection and statistical presentation. The problem of comparing the two sectors is…

Agricultural legacies in forest environments: tree communities, soil properties, and light availability.

PubMed

Flinn, Kathryn M; Marks, P L

2007-03-01

Temperate deciduous forests across much of Europe and eastern North America reflect legacies of past land use, particularly in the diversity and composition of plant communities. Intense disturbances, such as clearing forests for agriculture, may cause persistent environmental changes that continue to shape vegetation patterns as landscapes recover. We assessed the long-term consequences of agriculture for environmental conditions in central New York forests, including tree community structure and composition, soil physical and chemical properties, and light availability. To isolate the effects of agriculture, we compared 20 adjacent pairs of forests that were never cleared for agriculture (primary forests) and forests that established 85-100 years ago on plowed fields (secondary forests). Tree communities in primary and secondary forests had similar stem density, though secondary forests had 14% greater basal area. Species composition differed dramatically between the two forest types, with primary forests dominated by Acer saccharum and Fagus grandifolia and secondary forests by Acer rubrum and Pinus strobus. Primary and secondary forests showed no consistent differences in soil physical properties or in the principal gradient of soil fertility associated with soil pH. Within stands, however, soil water content and pH were more variable in primary forests. Secondary forest soils had 15% less organic matter, 16% less total carbon, and 29% less extractable phosphorus in the top 10 cm than adjacent primary stands, though the ranges of the forest types mostly overlapped. Understory light availability in primary and secondary forests was similar. These results suggest that, within 100 years, post-agricultural stands have recovered conditions comparable to less disturbed forests in many attributes, including tree size and number, soil physical properties, soil chemical properties associated with pH, and understory light availability. The principal legacies of

Agricultural Communities: The Interrelationship of Agriculture, Business, Industry, and Government in the Rural Economy. A Symposium (Washington, DC. May 19-20, 1983).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Congressional Research Service.

Experts from government, academia, and interest groups met to discuss and explore the impact of changes in agriculture, industry, and government in shaping events in rural agricultural communities. Texts of 15 of the 18 papers are reproduced in the proceedings, along with the letter of submittal, overview, an agenda, and a list of presenters and…

Interdependencies of Agriculture and Rural Communities in the Twenty-First Century: The North Central Region. Conference Proceedings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korsching, Peter F., Ed.; Gildner, Judith E., Ed.

Texts of 12 research papers are presented in this proceedings of a 1985 conference specifically focusing on the interdependence of agriculture and rural communities. Titles of Session I papers providing information on the current situation and trends in agriculture and rural communities are "An Overview of the Nonmetro Economy and the Role of…

Building Better Rural Places: Federal Programs for Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry, Conservation and Community Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berton, Valerie; Butler, Jennifer

This guide is written for those seeking help from federal programs to foster innovative enterprises in agriculture and forestry in the United States. The guide describes program resources in value-added and diversified agriculture and forestry, sustainable land management, and community development. Programs are included based upon whether they…

1. General view looking southwest showing complex of agricultural outbuildings ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. General view looking southwest showing complex of agricultural outbuildings located northeast of the main house. - Edgewood Farm, West side of State Route 600, .8 mile north of State Route 778, Clover, Halifax County, VA

3. General view looking northerly toward complex of agricultural outbuildings ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

3. General view looking northerly toward complex of agricultural outbuildings located north of the main house. - Edgewood Farm, West side of State Route 600, .8 mile north of State Route 778, Clover, Halifax County, VA

Agricultural Change: Consequences for Southern Farms and Rural Communities. Westview Special Studies in Agricultural Science and Policy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Molnar, Joseph J., Ed.

The 17 articles in this volume are designed to shed light on what farmers are experiencing during the current farm crisis and why. They also examine what current agricultural change means for rural life and rural communities, and what southern farming may be like in the foreseeable future. The articles represent contemporary research and…

The Response of Farmland Bird Communities to Agricultural Intensity as Influenced by Its Spatial Aggregation

PubMed Central

Teillard, Félix; Jiguet, Frédéric; Tichit, Muriel

2015-01-01

The shape of the relationship between biodiversity and agricultural intensity determines the range of intensities that should be targeted by conservation policies to obtain the greatest environmental benefits. Although preliminary evidence of this relationship exists, the influence of the spatial arrangement of intensity on biodiversity remains untested. We conducted a nationwide study linking agricultural intensity and its spatial arrangement to a farmland bird community of 22 species. Intensity was described with a continuous indicator based on Input Cost per hectare, which was relevant for both livestock and crop production. We used the French Breeding Bird Survey to compute several descriptors of the farmland bird community along the intensity gradient and tested for the significance of an interaction effect between intensity and its spatial aggregation on these descriptors. We found that the bird community was comprised of both winner and loser species with regard to intensity. The community composition descriptors (trophic level, specialisation, and specialisation for grassland indices) displayed non-linear relationships to intensity, with steeper slopes in the lower intensity range. We found a significant interaction effect between intensity and its spatial aggregation on the grassland specialisation index of the bird community; the effect of agricultural intensity was strengthened by its spatial aggregation. We suggest that an opportunity to improve the effectiveness of conservation policies exists by targeting measures in areas where intensity is moderate to low and aggregated. The effect of the aggregation of agricultural intensity on biodiversity should be considered in other scales and taxa when developing optimal policy targeting and intensity allocation strategies. PMID:25799552

Agricultural Programs at the Post High School Level; Special Report Prepared for the Pacific Regional Seminar in Agricultural Education (Olympia, May 15-19, 1967).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hensel, James W.

A general overview of post-high school education in agriculture is presented to show the wide variety of programs and their curricular structure for use by school administrators. Representative agricultural programs in community colleges, junior colleges, vocational and technical schools, area schools, and in specialized technical training…

Investigation of denitrifying microbe communities within an agricultural drainage system fitted with low-grade weirs

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Enhancing wetland characteristics in agricultural drainage ditches with the use of low-grade weirs, has been identified as a potential best management practice (BMP) to mitigate nutrient runoff from agriculture landscapes. This study examined microbe community abundance and diversity involved in den...

Autotrophic growth of nitrifying community in an agricultural soil

PubMed Central

Xia, Weiwei; Zhang, Caixia; Zeng, Xiaowei; Feng, Youzhi; Weng, Jiahua; Lin, Xiangui; Zhu, Jianguo; Xiong, Zhengqin; Xu, Jian; Cai, Zucong; Jia, Zhongjun

2011-01-01

The two-step nitrification process is an integral part of the global nitrogen cycle, and it is accomplished by distinctly different nitrifiers. By combining DNA-based stable isotope probing (SIP) and high-throughput pyrosequencing, we present the molecular evidence for autotrophic growth of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in agricultural soil upon ammonium fertilization. Time-course incubation of SIP microcosms indicated that the amoA genes of AOB was increasingly labeled by 13CO2 after incubation for 3, 7 and 28 days during active nitrification, whereas labeling of the AOA amoA gene was detected to a much lesser extent only after a 28-day incubation. Phylogenetic analysis of the 13C-labeled amoA and 16S rRNA genes revealed that the Nitrosospira cluster 3-like sequences dominate the active AOB community and that active AOA is affiliated with the moderately thermophilic Nitrososphaera gargensis from a hot spring. The higher relative frequency of Nitrospira-like NOB in the 13C-labeled DNA suggests that it may be more actively involved in nitrite oxidation than Nitrobacter-like NOB. Furthermore, the acetylene inhibition technique showed that 13CO2 assimilation by AOB, AOA and NOB occurs only when ammonia oxidation is not blocked, which provides strong hints for the chemolithoautotrophy of nitrifying community in complex soil environments. These results show that the microbial community of AOB and NOB dominates the nitrification process in the agricultural soil tested. PMID:21326337

Effects of agricultural practices of three crops on the soil communities under Mediterranean conditions: field evaluation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leitão, Sara; José Cerejeira, Maria; Abreu, Manuela; Sousa, José Paulo

2014-05-01

Sustainable agricultural production relies on soil communities as the main actors in key soil processes necessary to maintain sustainable soil functioning. Soil biodiversity influences soil physical and chemical characteristics and thus the sustainability of crop and agro-ecosystems functioning. Agricultural practices (e.g.: soil tillage, pesticides and fertilizer applications, irrigation) may affects negatively or positively soil biodiversity and abundances by modifying the relationships between organisms in the soil ecosystem. The present study aimed to study the influence of agricultural practices of three crops (potato, onion and maize) under Mediterranean climate conditions on soil macro- and mesofauna during their entire crop cycles. Effects on soil communities were assessed at a higher tier of environmental risk assessment comprising field testing of indigenous edaphic communities in a selected study-site located in a major agriculture region of Central Portugal, Ribatejo e Oeste, neighbouring protected wetlands. A reference site near the agricultural field site was selected as a Control site to compare the terrestrial communities' composition and variation along the crop cycle. The field soil and Control site soil are sandy loam soils. Crops irrigation was performed by center-pivot (automated sprinkler that rotates in a half a circle area) and by sprinklers. Soil macro- and mesofauna were collected at both sites (field and Control) using two methodologies through pitfall trapping and soil sampling. The community of soil macro- and mesofauna of the three crops field varied versus control site along the crops cycles. Main differences were due to arachnids, coleopterans, ants and adult Diptera presence and abundance. The feeding activity of soil fauna between control site and crop areas varied only for potato and onion crops vs. control site but not among crops. Concentration of pesticides residues in soil did not cause apparent negative effects on the soil

Community College General Academic Course Guide Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Austin. Div. of Community and Technical Colleges.

The Community College General Academic Course Guide Manual (ACGM) is the official list of approved numbers for general academic transfer courses that may be offered by public community and technical colleges in Texas for state funding. This edition of the ACGM, effective September 1996, contains the latest information available for academic…

Changes in soil microbial community structure influenced by agricultural management practices in a mediterranean agro-ecosystem.

PubMed

García-Orenes, Fuensanta; Morugán-Coronado, Alicia; Zornoza, Raul; Cerdà, Artemi; Scow, Kate

2013-01-01

Agricultural practices have proven to be unsuitable in many cases, causing considerable reductions in soil quality. Land management practices can provide solutions to this problem and contribute to get a sustainable agriculture model. The main objective of this work was to assess the effect of different agricultural management practices on soil microbial community structure (evaluated as abundance of phospholipid fatty acids, PLFA). Five different treatments were selected, based on the most common practices used by farmers in the study area (eastern Spain): residual herbicides, tillage, tillage with oats and oats straw mulching; these agricultural practices were evaluated against an abandoned land after farming and an adjacent long term wild forest coverage. The results showed a substantial level of differentiation in the microbial community structure, in terms of management practices, which was highly associated with soil organic matter content. Addition of oats straw led to a microbial community structure closer to wild forest coverage soil, associated with increases in organic carbon, microbial biomass and fungal abundances. The microbial community composition of the abandoned agricultural soil was characterised by increases in both fungal abundances and the metabolic quotient (soil respiration per unit of microbial biomass), suggesting an increase in the stability of organic carbon. The ratio of bacteria:fungi was higher in wild forest coverage and land abandoned systems, as well as in the soil treated with oat straw. The most intensively managed soils showed higher abundances of bacteria and actinobacteria. Thus, the application of organic matter, such as oats straw, appears to be a sustainable management practice that enhances organic carbon, microbial biomass and activity and fungal abundances, thereby changing the microbial community structure to one more similar to those observed in soils under wild forest coverage.

Multi-Scale Associations between Vegetation Cover and Woodland Bird Communities across a Large Agricultural Region

PubMed Central

Ikin, Karen; Barton, Philip S.; Stirnemann, Ingrid A.; Stein, John R.; Michael, Damian; Crane, Mason; Okada, Sachiko; Lindenmayer, David B.

2014-01-01

Improving biodiversity conservation in fragmented agricultural landscapes has become an important global issue. Vegetation at the patch and landscape-scale is important for species occupancy and diversity, yet few previous studies have explored multi-scale associations between vegetation and community assemblages. Here, we investigated how patch and landscape-scale vegetation cover structure woodland bird communities. We asked: (1) How is the bird community associated with the vegetation structure of woodland patches and the amount of vegetation cover in the surrounding landscape? (2) Do species of conservation concern respond to woodland vegetation structure and surrounding vegetation cover differently to other species in the community? And (3) Can the relationships between the bird community and the woodland vegetation structure and surrounding vegetation cover be explained by the ecological traits of the species comprising the bird community? We studied 103 woodland patches (0.5 - 53.8 ha) over two time periods across a large (6,800 km2) agricultural region in southeastern Australia. We found that both patch vegetation and surrounding woody vegetation cover were important for structuring the bird community, and that these relationships were consistent over time. In particular, the occurrence of mistletoe within the patches and high values of woody vegetation cover within 1,000 ha and 10,000 ha were important, especially for bird species of conservation concern. We found that the majority of these species displayed similar, positive responses to patch and landscape vegetation attributes. We also found that these relationships were related to the foraging and nesting traits of the bird community. Our findings suggest that management strategies to increase both remnant vegetation quality and the cover of surrounding woody vegetation in fragmented agricultural landscapes may lead to improved conservation of bird communities. PMID:24830684

Multi-scale associations between vegetation cover and woodland bird communities across a large agricultural region.

PubMed

Ikin, Karen; Barton, Philip S; Stirnemann, Ingrid A; Stein, John R; Michael, Damian; Crane, Mason; Okada, Sachiko; Lindenmayer, David B

2014-01-01

Improving biodiversity conservation in fragmented agricultural landscapes has become an important global issue. Vegetation at the patch and landscape-scale is important for species occupancy and diversity, yet few previous studies have explored multi-scale associations between vegetation and community assemblages. Here, we investigated how patch and landscape-scale vegetation cover structure woodland bird communities. We asked: (1) How is the bird community associated with the vegetation structure of woodland patches and the amount of vegetation cover in the surrounding landscape? (2) Do species of conservation concern respond to woodland vegetation structure and surrounding vegetation cover differently to other species in the community? And (3) Can the relationships between the bird community and the woodland vegetation structure and surrounding vegetation cover be explained by the ecological traits of the species comprising the bird community? We studied 103 woodland patches (0.5 - 53.8 ha) over two time periods across a large (6,800 km(2)) agricultural region in southeastern Australia. We found that both patch vegetation and surrounding woody vegetation cover were important for structuring the bird community, and that these relationships were consistent over time. In particular, the occurrence of mistletoe within the patches and high values of woody vegetation cover within 1,000 ha and 10,000 ha were important, especially for bird species of conservation concern. We found that the majority of these species displayed similar, positive responses to patch and landscape vegetation attributes. We also found that these relationships were related to the foraging and nesting traits of the bird community. Our findings suggest that management strategies to increase both remnant vegetation quality and the cover of surrounding woody vegetation in fragmented agricultural landscapes may lead to improved conservation of bird communities.

Administrative Problems of Technical Assistance to Community Development and Agricultural Extension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Safa-Isfahani, Manouchehr

An attempt was made to analyze the administrative problems of United States technical assistance to community development and agricultural extension programs in the Philippines, Pakistan, Iran, Thailand, and Nigeria, with emphasis on field problems and on the point of view of local administrators, field technicians, and local people. The concept…

Agricultural and Social Resiliency of Small-Scale Agriculture to Economic and Climatic Shocks: A Comparison of Subsistence versus Market-Based Agricultural Approaches in Rural Guatemala

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malard, J. J.; Melgar-Quiñonez, H.; Pineda, P.; Gálvez, J.; Adamowski, J. F.

2014-12-01

Agricultural production is heavily dependent not only on climate but also on markets as well as on the social and community systems managing the agroecosystem. In addition, the ultimate goal of agricultural production, human food security, is also affected not only by net agricultural production but also by similar economic and social factors. These complex feedbacks assume a particular importance in the case of smallholder farms in the tropics, where alternative rural development policies have led to different and contrasting agricultural management systems. Current approaches at comparing such systems generally study their environmental, economic or social components in isolation, potentially missing important interconnections. This research uses a participatory systems dynamics modelling (SDM) framework to compare two small-scale agricultural approaches in rural Guatemala which differ in their social, economic and ecosystem management decisions. The first case study community, in Quiché, has adopted a subsistence-based system that aims to use low levels of outside inputs to produce food for their own consumption, while the second, in Sololá, has opted for market-based agriculture that uses high input levels to obtain marketable crops in order to assure income for the purchase of food and other necessities. Each of these systems has its respective vulnerabilities; while the Sololá community suffers from more environmental degradation issues (soils and pests), the Quiché community, given lower monetary incomes, is more vulnerable to events whose responses require a significant monetary expenditure. Through the SDM approach, we incorporate local stakeholder knowledge of the respective systems, including biophysical and socioeconomic variables, into a joint biophysical and socioeconomic model for each community. These models then allow for the comparison of the resilience of both types of socio-agroecosystems in the face of climatic, economic and biological

Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids (F3HK): An innovative community supported agriculture intervention to prevent childhood obesity in low-income families and strengthen local agricultural economies.

PubMed

Seguin, Rebecca A; Morgan, Emily H; Hanson, Karla L; Ammerman, Alice S; Jilcott Pitts, Stephanie B; Kolodinsky, Jane; Sitaker, Marilyn; Becot, Florence A; Connor, Leah M; Garner, Jennifer A; McGuirt, Jared T

2017-04-08

Childhood obesity persists in the United States and is associated with serious health problems. Higher rates of obesity among children from disadvantaged households may be, in part, attributable to disparities in access to healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. Community supported agriculture can improve access to and consumption of fresh produce, but the upfront payment structure, logistical barriers, and unfamiliarity with produce items may inhibit participation by low-income families. The aim of this project is to assess the impact of subsidized, or "cost-offset," community supported agriculture participation coupled with tailored nutrition education for low-income families with children. The Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids community-based, randomized intervention trial will build on formative and longitudinal research to examine the impact of cost-offset community supported agriculture on diet and other health behaviors as well as the economic impacts on local economies. The intervention will involve reduced-price community supported agriculture shares which can be paid for on a weekly basis, nine skill-based and seasonally-tailored healthy eating classes, and the provision of basic kitchen tools. Low income families with at least one child aged 2-12 years will be recruited to join existing community supported agriculture programs in New York, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington. In each program, families will be randomized 1:1 to intervention or delayed intervention groups. Data will be collected at baseline, and in the fall and spring for 3 years. The primary outcomes are children's intake of fruits and vegetables and foods high in sugar and/or (solid) fat, as well as diet quality; secondary outcomes include physical, behavioral, psychosocial, and environmental variables. Cost-effectiveness and economic impact at the farm and community levels also will be assessed. This integrated project will provide important information and contribute to the

40 CFR 49.10411 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.10411 Section 49.10411 Protection of... for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. (a) Beginning...

Microbial Community-Level Physiological Profiles (CLPP) and herbicide mineralization potential in groundwater affected by agricultural land use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janniche, Gry Sander; Spliid, Henrik; Albrechtsen, Hans-Jørgen

2012-10-01

Diffuse groundwater pollution from agricultural land use may impact the microbial groundwater community, which was investigated as Community-Level Physiological Profiles (CLPP) using EcoPlate™. Water was sampled from seven piezometers and a spring in a small agricultural catchment with diffuse herbicide and nitrate pollution. Based on the Shannon-Wiener and Simpson's diversity indices the diversity in the microbial communities was high. The response from the EcoPlates™ showed which substrates support groundwater bacteria, and all 31 carbon sources were utilized by organisms from at least one water sample. However, only nine carbon sources were utilized by all water samples: D-Mannitol, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, putrescine, D-galacturonic acid, itaconic acid, 4-hydroxy benzoic acid, tween 40, tween 80, and L-asparagine. In all water samples the microorganisms preferred D-mannitol, D-galacturonic acid, tween 40, and 4-hydroxy benzoic acid as substrates, whereas none preferred 2-hydroxy benzoic acid, α-D-lactose, D,L-α-glycerol phosphate, α-ketobutyric acid, L-threonine and glycyl-L-glutamic acid. Principal Component Analysis of the CLPP's clustered the most agriculturally affected groundwater samples, indicating that the agricultural land use affects the groundwater microbial communities. Furthermore, the ability to mineralize atrazine and isoproturon, which have been used in the catchment, was also associated with this cluster.

40 CFR 49.11021 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.11021 Section 49.11021 Protection of... Reservation, Oregon § 49.11021 Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and...

40 CFR 49.10411 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.10411 Section 49.10411 Protection of... Tribe of Idaho § 49.10411 Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and...

40 CFR 49.10411 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.10411 Section 49.10411 Protection of... Tribe of Idaho § 49.10411 Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and...

40 CFR 49.11021 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.11021 Section 49.11021 Protection of... Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon § 49.11021 Permits for general open burning, agricultural...

40 CFR 49.10411 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.10411 Section 49.10411 Protection of... Tribe of Idaho § 49.10411 Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and...

40 CFR 49.11021 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.11021 Section 49.11021 Protection of... Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon § 49.11021 Permits for general open burning, agricultural...

40 CFR 49.10411 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.10411 Section 49.10411 Protection of... Tribe of Idaho § 49.10411 Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and...

40 CFR 49.11021 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.11021 Section 49.11021 Protection of... Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon § 49.11021 Permits for general open burning, agricultural...

40 CFR 49.11021 - Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Permits for general open burning, agricultural burning, and forestry and silvicultural burning. 49.11021 Section 49.11021 Protection of... Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon § 49.11021 Permits for general open burning, agricultural...

Landscape Analysis of Nutrition-sensitive Agriculture Policy Development in Senegal.

PubMed

Lachat, Carl; Nago, Eunice; Ka, Abdoulaye; Vermeylen, Harm; Fanzo, Jessica; Mahy, Lina; Wüstefeld, Marzella; Kolsteren, Patrick

2015-06-01

Unlocking the agricultural potential of Africa offers a genuine opportunity to address malnutrition and drive development of the continent. Using Senegal as a case study, to identify gaps and opportunities to strengthen agricultural policies with nutrition-sensitive approaches. We carried out a systematic analysis of 13 policy documents that related to food production, agriculture, food security, or nutrition. Next, we collected data during a participatory analysis with 32 national stakeholders and in-depth interviews with 15 national experts of technical directorates of the different ministries that deal with agriculture and food production. The current agricultural context has various elements that are considered to enhance its nutrition sensitivity. On average, 8.3 of the 17 Food and Agriculture Organization guiding principles for agriculture programming for nutrition were included in the policies reviewed. Ensuring food security and increasing dietary diversity were considered to be the principal objectives of agricultural policies. Although there was considerable agreement that agriculture can contribute to nutrition, current agricultural programs generally do not target communities on the basis of their nutritional vulnerability. Agricultural programs were reported to have specific components to target female beneficiaries but were generally not used as delivery platforms for nutritional interventions. The findings of this study indicate the need for a coherent policy environment across the food system that aligns recommendations at the national level with local action on the ground. In addition, specific activities are needed to develop a shared understanding of nutrition and public health nutrition within the agricultural community in Senegal. © The Author(s) 2015.

Beyond the Farmgate: Factors Related to Agricultural Performance in Two Dairy Communities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cruise, James; Lyson, Thomas A.

1991-01-01

In two marginal dairy communities with similar physical environment, ethnic composition, and farm structure, a significant difference in productivity (milk yield per cow) was related to differences in educational attainment of farmers, proximity to an urban area, and availability of marketing outlets and agricultural information sources. Contains…

The impact of gold mining and agricultural concessions on the tree cover and local communities in northern Myanmar.

PubMed

Papworth, Sarah; Rao, Madhu; Oo, Myint Myint; Latt, Kyaw Thinn; Tizard, Robert; Pienkowski, Thomas; Carrasco, L Roman

2017-04-24

Myanmar offers unique opportunities for both biodiversity conservation and foreign direct investment due to projected economic growth linked to natural resource exploitation. Industrial-scale development introduces new land uses into the landscape, with unknown repercussions for local communities and biodiversity conservation. We use participatory mapping of 31 communities, focus groups in 28 communities, and analyses of forest cover change during 2000-2010 using MODIS vegetation continuous fields images, to understand the social and environmental impacts of gold mining and agricultural concessions in Myanmar's Hukaung Valley (~21,800 km 2 ). Local communities, particularly the poorest households, benefit from work and trade opportunities offered by gold mining and agricultural companies but continue to depend on forests for house construction materials, food, and income from the sale of forest resources. However, gold mining and agricultural concessions reduce tree cover, potentially reducing access to forest resources and further marginalizing these households. Our analyses do not provide evidence that long-term resident communities contributed to forest cover loss between 2000 and 2010. We argue that landscape management, which recognizes local community rights to customary community use areas, and appropriate zoning for commercial land uses and protected areas could contribute to both local livelihoods and protect biodiversity throughout Myanmar during economic growth.

The impact of gold mining and agricultural concessions on the tree cover and local communities in northern Myanmar

PubMed Central

Papworth, Sarah; Rao, Madhu; Oo, Myint Myint; Latt, Kyaw Thinn; Tizard, Robert; Pienkowski, Thomas; Carrasco, L. Roman

2017-01-01

Myanmar offers unique opportunities for both biodiversity conservation and foreign direct investment due to projected economic growth linked to natural resource exploitation. Industrial-scale development introduces new land uses into the landscape, with unknown repercussions for local communities and biodiversity conservation. We use participatory mapping of 31 communities, focus groups in 28 communities, and analyses of forest cover change during 2000–2010 using MODIS vegetation continuous fields images, to understand the social and environmental impacts of gold mining and agricultural concessions in Myanmar’s Hukaung Valley (~21,800 km2). Local communities, particularly the poorest households, benefit from work and trade opportunities offered by gold mining and agricultural companies but continue to depend on forests for house construction materials, food, and income from the sale of forest resources. However, gold mining and agricultural concessions reduce tree cover, potentially reducing access to forest resources and further marginalizing these households. Our analyses do not provide evidence that long-term resident communities contributed to forest cover loss between 2000 and 2010. We argue that landscape management, which recognizes local community rights to customary community use areas, and appropriate zoning for commercial land uses and protected areas could contribute to both local livelihoods and protect biodiversity throughout Myanmar during economic growth. PMID:28436455

Soil microbial community response to land use change in an agricultural landscape of western Kenya.

PubMed

Bossio, D A; Girvan, M S; Verchot, L; Bullimore, J; Borelli, T; Albrecht, A; Scow, K M; Ball, A S; Pretty, J N; Osborn, A M

2005-01-01

Tropical agroecosystems are subject to degradation processes such as losses in soil carbon, nutrient depletion, and reduced water holding capacity that occur rapidly resulting in a reduction in soil fertility that can be difficult to reverse. In this research, a polyphasic methodology has been used to investigate changes in microbial community structure and function in a series of tropical soils in western Kenya. These soils have different land usage with both wooded and agricultural soils at Kakamega and Ochinga, whereas at Ochinga, Leuro, Teso, and Ugunja a replicated field experiment compared traditional continuous maize cropping against an improved N-fixing fallow system. For all sites, principal component analysis of 16S rRNA gene denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles revealed that soil type was the key determinant of total bacterial community structure, with secondary variation found between wooded and agricultural soils. Similarly, phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis also separated wooded from agricultural soils, primarily on the basis of higher abundance of monounsaturated fatty acids, anteiso- and iso-branched fatty acids, and methyl-branched fatty acids in the wooded soils. At Kakamega and Ochinga wooded soils had between five 5 and 10-fold higher levels of soil carbon and microbial biomass carbon than agricultural soils from the same location, whereas total enzyme activities were also lower in the agricultural sites. Soils with woody vegetation had a lower percentage of phosphatase activity and higher cellulase and chitinase activities than the agricultural soils. BIOLOG analysis showed woodland soils to have the greatest substrate diversity. Throughout the study the two functional indicators (enzyme activity and BIOLOG), however, showed lower specificity with respect to soil type and land usage than did the compositional indicators (DGGE and PLFA). In the field experiment comparing two types of maize cropping, both the maize yields

Exploring the evolutionary ecology of fungal endophytes in agricultural systems: using functional traits to reveal mechanisms in community processes

PubMed Central

Saunders, Megan; Glenn, Anthony E; Kohn, Linda M

2010-01-01

All plants, including crop species, harbor a community of fungal endophyte species, yet we know little about the biotic factors that are important in endophyte community assembly. We suggest that the most direct route to understanding the mechanisms underlying community assembly is through the study of functional trait variation in the host and its fungal consortium. We review studies on crop endophytes that investigate plant and fungal traits likely to be important in endophyte community processes. We focus on approaches that could speed detection of general trends in endophyte community assembly: (i) use of the ‘assembly rules’ concept to identify specific mechanisms that influence endophyte community dynamics, (ii) measurement of functional trait variation in plants and fungi to better understand endophyte community processes and plant–fungal interactions, and (iii) investigation of microbe–microbe interactions, and fungal traits that mediate them. This approach is well suited for research in agricultural systems, where pair-wise host–fungus interactions and mechanisms of fungal–fungal competition have frequently been described. Areas for consideration include the possibility that human manipulation of crop phenotype and deployment of fungal biocontrol species can significantly influence endophyte community assembly. Evaluation of endophyte assembly rules may help to fine-tune crop management strategies. PMID:25567944

Roles of Extension Officers to Promote Social Capital in Japanese Agricultural Communities

PubMed Central

Takemura, Kosuke; Uchida, Yukiko; Yoshikawa, Sakiko

2014-01-01

Social capital has been found to be correlated with community welfare, but it is not easy to build and maintain it. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the role of professional coordinators of social relationships to create and maintain social capital in a community. We focused on extension officers in Japanese agricultural communities, who help farmers in both technical and social matters. A large nation-wide survey of extension officers as well as two supplementary surveys were conducted. We found that (1) social capital-related activities (e.g., assistance for building organizations among farmers) were particularly effective for solving problems; (2) social capital (trust relationships) among community residents increased their life quality; (3) social capital in local communities was correlated with extension officers' own communication skills and harmonious relationships among their colleagues. In sum, social capital in local communities is maintained by coordinators with professional social skills. PMID:24642575

Bacterial endophyte communities of three agricultural important grass species differ in their response towards management regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wemheuer, Franziska; Kaiser, Kristin; Karlovsky, Petr; Daniel, Rolf; Vidal, Stefan; Wemheuer, Bernd

2017-01-01

Endophytic bacteria are critical for plant growth and health. However, compositional and functional responses of bacterial endophyte communities towards agricultural practices are still poorly understood. Hence, we analyzed the influence of fertilizer application and mowing frequency on bacterial endophytes in three agriculturally important grass species. For this purpose, we examined bacterial endophytic communities in aerial plant parts of Dactylis glomerata L., Festuca rubra L., and Lolium perenne L. by pyrotag sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes over two consecutive years. Although management regimes influenced endophyte communities, observed responses were grass species-specific. This might be attributed to several bacteria specifically associated with a single grass species. We further predicted functional profiles from obtained 16S rRNA data. These profiles revealed that predicted abundances of genes involved in plant growth promotion or nitrogen metabolism differed between grass species and between management regimes. Moreover, structural and functional community patterns showed no correlation to each other indicating that plant species-specific selection of endophytes is driven by functional rather than phylogenetic traits. The unique combination of 16S rRNA data and functional profiles provided a holistic picture of compositional and functional responses of bacterial endophytes in agricultural relevant grass species towards management practices.

Climate change and Australian agriculture: a review of the threats facing rural communities and the health policy landscape.

PubMed

Hanna, Elizabeth G; Bell, Erica; King, Debra; Woodruff, Rosalie

2011-03-01

Population health is a function of social and environmental health determinants. Climate change is predicted to bring significant alterations to ecological systems on which human health and livelihoods depend; the air, water, plant, and animal health. Agricultural systems are intrinsically linked with environmental conditions, which are already under threat in much of southern Australian because of rising heat and protracted drying. The direct impact of increasing heat waves on human physiology and survival has recently been well studied. More diffusely, increasing drought periods may challenge the viability of agriculture in some regions, and hence those communities that depend on primary production. A worst case scenario may herald the collapse of some communities. Human health impacts arising from such transition would be profound. This article summarizes existing rural health challenges and presents the current evidence plus future predictions of climate change impacts on Australian agriculture to argue the need for significant augmentation of public health and existing health policy frameworks. The article concludes by suggesting that adaptation to climate change requires planning for worst case scenario outcomes to avert catastrophic impacts on rural communities. This will involve national policy planning as much as regional-level leadership for rapid development of adaptive strategies in agriculture and other key areas of rural communities.

Community Change and the Farm Sector: Impacts of Rural Development on Agriculture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaulieu, Lionel J.; Molnar, Joseph J.

Findings from current literature form the basis for this examination of five critical elements of change and development within the local community setting which impact on agriculture: population, employment, land, water, and environment. Renewed rural population growth during the 1970's has reversed small farm trends but placed strains on local…

Variations in Bacterial Community in a Temperate Lake Associated with an Agricultural Watershed.

PubMed

Song, Liyan; Li, Lei

2016-08-01

Terrestrially derived carbon and nutrients are washed into lakes, providing nutritional drivers for both microbial heterotrophy and phototrophy. Changes in the quantity and diversity of carbon and nutrients exported from watersheds in response to alterations in long-term land use have led to a need for evaluation of the linkage between watershed-exported carbon and nutrients and bacterial community structure in watershed associated lakes. To learn more about these interactions, we investigated Muskrat Lake in Michigan, which has a well-defined moderately sized watershed dominated by agriculture. We measured the water chemistry, characterized the dissolved organic carbon, and determined the structure of the bacterial communities at the inlet and center of this lake (five depths per site) over the summer and fall of 2008. The lake had temporal and rain event-based fluctuations in water chemistry, as well as temporal and rain event-dependent shifts in bacterial communities as measured by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism. Agricultural watershed inputs were observed in the lake during and after rain events. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and 454 pyrosequencing of the bacterial communities indicated that there were differences over time and that the dominant phylotypes shifted between summer and late fall. Some populations (e.g., Polynucleobacter and Mycobacterium) increased during fall, while others (e.g., Gemmatimonas) diminished. Redundancy and partitioning analyses showed that water chemistry is highly correlated with variations in the bacterial community of the lake, which explained 34 % of the variations in the bacterial community. Dissolved organic carbon had the greatest effects on variations in the Muskrat Lake bacterial community (2 %). The results of this study provide information that will enable a better understanding of the interaction between the bacterial community of lakes and changes in chemical properties as a

Changes in soil oribatid communities associated with conversion from conventional to organic agriculture.

PubMed

Khalil, Mohamed A; Al-Assiuty, Abdel-Naieem I M; van Straalen, Nico M; Al-Assiuty, Basma A

2016-02-01

We investigated the effects of switching from conventional management to organic management on the abundance and community composition of soil-living oribatid mites in clover fields in an experimental agricultural station at Al-Fayoum, Egypt. The site had two adjacent fields with identical vegetation cover but different management. Fifteen random soil samples were collected monthly from each of three plots per field, from October to March. We characterized the soils with respect to various physicochemical variables as well as fungal community composition, and estimated mite densities through core sampling. Organic fields had a significantly more abundant oribatid community than did conventional fields. Also the abundance of soil fungi was greater in the organically managed field. Organic management promoted common oribatid mite species with a wide ecological amplitude that already had a high abundance where such common species are more responsive to changes in agricultural management. However, some species of mite responded indifferent or negative to the switch from conventional to organic management. Overall, the differences between the two ecological systems were mainly quantitative. Species diversities of both mite and fungal communities did not differ much between the two management systems. Diversity (H0) and equitability (E) of soil oribatid communities were higher in conventional plots than in the organic plots during the first 2 months but indistinguishable thereafter. Our study confirmed that organic management stimulates soilorganic matter build-up, with positive effects on both fungal and oribatid mite abundance and possible long-term effects on soil function.

The Common Market Concept: Using Community Based Resources in New Ways to Deliver Innovative Agriculture Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Upchurch, Jim; Fischer, Larry

The cooperative agricultural programs described in this report were undertaken by John Wood Community College (JWCC) as part of a "common market" instructional delivery system, which utilizes existing community resources through contractual agreements with area schools, businesses, and government agencies. The report first provides a rationale for…

Hunting or habitat? Drivers of waterbird abundance and community structure in agricultural wetlands of southern India.

PubMed

Ramachandran, Ramesh; Kumar, Ajith; Gopi Sundar, Kolla S; Bhalla, Ravinder Singh

2017-09-01

The relative impacts of hunting and habitat on waterbird community were studied in agricultural wetlands of southern India. We surveyed wetlands to document waterbird community, and interviewed hunters to document hunting intensity, targeted species, and the motivations for hunting. Our results show that hunting leads to drastic declines in waterbird diversity and numbers, and skew the community towards smaller species. Hunting intensity, water spread, and vegetation cover were the three most important determinants of waterbird abundance and community structure. Species richness, density of piscivorous species, and medium-sized species (31-65 cm) were most affected by hunting. Out of 53 species recorded, 47 were hunted, with a preference for larger birds. Although illegal, hunting has increased in recent years and is driven by market demand. This challenges the widely held belief that waterbird hunting in India is a low intensity, subsistence activity, and undermines the importance of agricultural wetlands in waterbird conservation.

Ambient ammonia exposures in an agricultural community and pediatric asthma morbidity

PubMed Central

Loftus, Christine; Yost, Michael; Sampson, Paul; Torres, Elizabeth; Arias, Griselda; Vasquez, Victoria Breckwich; Hartin, Kris; Armstrong, Jenna; Tchong-French, Maria; Vedal, Sverre; Bhatti, Parveen; Karr, Catherine

2015-01-01

Background Large-scale animal feeding operations compromise regional air quality in the rural United States through emission of pollutants such as ammonia gas. Exposure to airborne pollution from animal feeding operations may cause pediatric asthma exacerbations in surrounding communities. Objectives To describe spatial and temporal patterns in ambient ammonia concentrations in an agricultural region, and to investigate associations between short-term fluctuations in ammonia and subsequent changes in respiratory health in children with asthma. Methods For 13 months in the Yakima Valley of Washington State, 14 monitors sampled ammonia in outdoor air for 24-hour periods every 6 days. School-age children with asthma (n=51) were followed for two health outcomes: biweekly reports of asthma symptoms and quick relief medication usage, and daily measurements of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). We assessed associations between each outcome and ammonia using generalized estimating equations. Results 24-hour ammonia concentrations varied from 0.2 to 238.1 μg/m3 during the study period and displayed a strong correlation with proximity to animal feeding operations. FEV1% was 3.8% lower (95% CI: 0.2, 7.3) per interquartile increase in one-day lagged ammonia concentration and 3.0% lower (95% CI: 0.5, 5.8) for two-day lagged concentration. We observed no associations between self-reported asthma symptoms or medication usage and estimated ammonia exposure. Conclusions Ammonia concentrations were elevated in this community and strongly predicted by proximity to animal feeding operations. Ammonia's association with acute lung function decrements in children with asthma in the surrounding community may be causal or, alternatively, ammonia may be a marker for other pollutants from animal feeding operations associated with respiratory effects. PMID:26352250

Temporal dynamics influenced by global change: bee community phenology in urban, agricultural, and natural landscapes.

PubMed

Leong, Misha; Ponisio, Lauren C; Kremen, Claire; Thorp, Robbin W; Roderick, George K

2016-03-01

Urbanization and agricultural intensification of landscapes are important drivers of global change, which in turn have direct impacts on local ecological communities leading to shifts in species distributions and interactions. Here, we illustrate how human-altered landscapes, with novel ornamental and crop plant communities, result not only in changes to local community diversity of floral-dependent species, but also in shifts in seasonal abundance of bee pollinators. Three years of data on the spatio-temporal distributions of 91 bee species show that seasonal patterns of abundance and species richness in human-altered landscapes varied significantly less compared to natural habitats in which floral resources are relatively scarce in the dry summer months. These findings demonstrate that anthropogenic environmental changes in urban and agricultural systems, here mediated through changes in plant resources and water inputs, can alter the temporal dynamics of pollinators that depend on them. Changes in phenology of interactions can be an important, though frequently overlooked, mechanism of global change. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Pre-Employment Laboratory Training. General Agricultural Mechanics Volume I. Instructional Materials.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas A and M Univ., College Station. Vocational Instructional Services.

This course outline, the first volume of a two-volume set, consists of lesson plans for pre-employment laboratory training in general agricultural mechanics. Covered in the 12 lessons included in this volume are selecting tractors and engines, diagnosing engine conditions, servicing electrical systems, servicing cooling systems, servicing fuel and…

Alternative scenarios of bioenergy crop production in an agricultural landscape and implications for bird communities.

PubMed

Blank, Peter J; Williams, Carol L; Sample, David W; Meehan, Timothy D; Turner, Monica G

2016-01-01

Increased demand and government mandates for bioenergy crops in the United States could require a large allocation of agricultural land to bioenergy feedstock production and substantially alter current landscape patterns. Incorporating bioenergy landscape design into land-use decision making could help maximize benefits and minimize trade-offs among alternative land uses. We developed spatially explicit landscape scenarios of increased bioenergy crop production in an 80-km radius agricultural landscape centered on a potential biomass-processing energy facility and evaluated the consequences of each scenario for bird communities. Our scenarios included conversion of existing annual row crops to perennial bioenergy grasslands and conversion of existing grasslands to annual bioenergy row crops. The scenarios explored combinations of four biomass crop types (three potential grassland crops along a gradient of plant diversity and one annual row crop [corn]), three land conversion percentages to bioenergy crops (10%, 20%, or 30% of row crops or grasslands), and three spatial configurations of biomass crop fields (random, clustered near similar field types, or centered on the processing plant), yielding 36 scenarios. For each scenario, we predicted the impact on four bird community metrics: species richness, total bird density, species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) density, and SGCN hotspots (SGCN birds/ha ≥ 2). Bird community metrics consistently increased with conversion of row crops to bioenergy grasslands and consistently decreased with conversion of grasslands to bioenergy row crops. Spatial arrangement of bioenergy fields had strong effects on the bird community and in some cases was more influential than the amount converted to bioenergy crops. Clustering grasslands had a stronger positive influence on the bird community than locating grasslands near the central plant or at random. Expansion of bioenergy grasslands onto marginal agricultural lands will

Assessing the effect of agricultural land abandonment on bird communities in southern-eastern Europe.

PubMed

Zakkak, Sylvia; Radovic, Andreja; Nikolov, Stoyan C; Shumka, Spase; Kakalis, Lefteris; Kati, Vassiliki

2015-12-01

Agricultural land abandonment is recognized as a major environmental threat in Europe, being particularly pronounced in south-eastern Europe, where knowledge on its effects is limited. Taking the Balkan Peninsula as a case study, we investigated agricultural abandonment impact on passerine communities at regional level. We set up a standard methodology for site selection (70 sites) and data collection, along a well-defined forest-encroachment gradient that reflects land abandonment in four countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece. Regardless the different socio-economic and political histories in the Balkans that led to diverse land abandonment patterns in space and time, rural abandonment had a consistent negative effect on bird communities, while regional-level analysis revealed patterns that were hidden at local level. The general trends were an increase of forest-dwelling bird species at the expense of farmland birds, the decline of overall bird species richness, as well as the decline of Species of European Conservation Concern (SPECs) richness and abundance. Many farmland bird species declined with land abandonment, whereas few forest species benefited from the process. In conclusion, our results support CAP towards hampering rural land abandonment and preserving semi-open rural mosaics in remote upland areas, using a suite of management measures carefully tailored to local needs. The maintenance of traditional rural landscapes should be prioritized in the Balkans, through the timely identification of HNV farmland that is most prone to abandonment. We also suggest that coordinated transnational research is needed, for a better assessment of conservation options in remote rural landscapes at European scale, including the enhancement of wild grazers' populations as an alternative in areas where traditional land management is rather unlikely to be re-established. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Methodological Considerations in Researching Community Services in the Northeast. A Northeast Regional Community Services Study. New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 836, September 1975.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Derr, Donn A., Ed.; And Others

Documenting several elements relative to regional research on community services in 10 northeastern states as experienced in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Regional Research Project NE-77 (1971), this monograph represents the NE-77 technical committee's effort to identify basic research issues re: the delivery of community services in rural…

Comparisons of diazotrophic communities in native and agricultural desert ecosystems reveal plants as important drivers in diversity

PubMed Central

Köberl, Martina; Erlacher, Armin; Ramadan, Elshahat M.; El-Arabi, Tarek F.; Müller, Henry; Bragina, Anastasia; Berg, Gabriele

2015-01-01

Diazotrophs provide the only biological source of fixed atmospheric nitrogen in the biosphere. Although they are the key player for plant-available nitrogen, less is known about their diversity and potential importance in arid ecosystems. We investigated the nitrogenase gene diversity in native and agricultural desert soil as well as within root-associated microbiota of medicinal plants grown in Egypt through the combination of nifH-specific qPCR, fingerprints, amplicon pyrosequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization–confocal laser scanning microscopy. Although the diazotrophic microbiota were characterized by generally high abundances and diversity, statistically significant differences were found between both soils, the different microhabitats, and between the investigated plants (Matricaria chamomilla L., Calendula officinalis L. and Solanum distichum Schumach. and Thonn.). We observed a considerable community shift from desert to agriculturally used soil that demonstrated a higher abundance and diversity in the agro-ecosystem. The endorhiza was characterized by lower abundances and only a subset of species when compared to the rhizosphere. While the microbiomes of the Asteraceae were similar and dominated by potential root-nodulating rhizobia acquired primarily from soil, the perennial S. distichum generally formed associations with free-living nitrogen fixers. These results underline the importance of diazotrophs in desert ecosystems and additionally identify plants as important drivers in functional gene pool diversity. PMID:26705571

Comparisons of diazotrophic communities in native and agricultural desert ecosystems reveal plants as important drivers in diversity.

PubMed

Köberl, Martina; Erlacher, Armin; Ramadan, Elshahat M; El-Arabi, Tarek F; Müller, Henry; Bragina, Anastasia; Berg, Gabriele

2016-02-01

Diazotrophs provide the only biological source of fixed atmospheric nitrogen in the biosphere. Although they are the key player for plant-available nitrogen, less is known about their diversity and potential importance in arid ecosystems. We investigated the nitrogenase gene diversity in native and agricultural desert soil as well as within root-associated microbiota of medicinal plants grown in Egypt through the combination of nifH-specific qPCR, fingerprints, amplicon pyrosequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization-confocal laser scanning microscopy. Although the diazotrophic microbiota were characterized by generally high abundances and diversity, statistically significant differences were found between both soils, the different microhabitats, and between the investigated plants (Matricaria chamomilla L., Calendula officinalis L. and Solanum distichum Schumach. and Thonn.). We observed a considerable community shift from desert to agriculturally used soil that demonstrated a higher abundance and diversity in the agro-ecosystem. The endorhiza was characterized by lower abundances and only a subset of species when compared to the rhizosphere. While the microbiomes of the Asteraceae were similar and dominated by potential root-nodulating rhizobia acquired primarily from soil, the perennial S. distichum generally formed associations with free-living nitrogen fixers. These results underline the importance of diazotrophs in desert ecosystems and additionally identify plants as important drivers in functional gene pool diversity. © FEMS 2015.

Profiling Nematode Communities in Unmanaged Flowerbed and Agricultural Field Soils in Japan by DNA Barcode Sequencing

PubMed Central

Morise, Hisashi; Miyazaki, Erika; Yoshimitsu, Shoko; Eki, Toshihiko

2012-01-01

Soil nematodes play crucial roles in the soil food web and are a suitable indicator for assessing soil environments and ecosystems. Previous nematode community analyses based on nematode morphology classification have been shown to be useful for assessing various soil environments. Here we have conducted DNA barcode analysis for soil nematode community analyses in Japanese soils. We isolated nematodes from two different environmental soils of an unmanaged flowerbed and an agricultural field using the improved flotation-sieving method. Small subunit (SSU) rDNA fragments were directly amplified from each of 68 (flowerbed samples) and 48 (field samples) isolated nematodes to determine the nucleotide sequence. Sixteen and thirteen operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained by multiple sequence alignment from the flowerbed and agricultural field nematodes, respectively. All 29 SSU rDNA-derived OTUs (rOTUs) were further mapped onto a phylogenetic tree with 107 known nematode species. Interestingly, the two nematode communities examined were clearly distinct from each other in terms of trophic groups: Animal predators and plant feeders were markedly abundant in the flowerbed soils, in contrast, bacterial feeders were dominantly observed in the agricultural field soils. The data from the flowerbed nematodes suggests a possible food web among two different trophic nematode groups and plants (weeds) in the closed soil environment. Finally, DNA sequences derived from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (COI) gene were determined as a DNA barcode from 43 agricultural field soil nematodes. These nematodes were assigned to 13 rDNA-derived OTUs, but in the COI gene analysis were assigned to 23 COI gene-derived OTUs (cOTUs), indicating that COI gene-based barcoding may provide higher taxonomic resolution than conventional SSU rDNA-barcoding in soil nematode community analysis. PMID:23284767

Traditional Agriculture and Permaculture.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pierce, Dick

1997-01-01

Discusses benefits of combining traditional agricultural techniques with the concepts of "permaculture," a framework for revitalizing traditions, culture, and spirituality. Describes school, college, and community projects that have assisted American Indian communities in revitalizing sustainable agricultural practices that incorporate…

Effects of low concentrations of glyphosate-based herbicide factor 540® on an agricultural stream freshwater phytoplankton community.

PubMed

Smedbol, Élise; Gomes, Marcelo Pedrosa; Paquet, Serge; Labrecque, Michel; Lepage, Laurent; Lucotte, Marc; Juneau, Philippe

2018-02-01

Residual glyphosate from glyphosate based herbicides (GBH) are ubiquitously detected in streams draining agricultural fields, and may affect phytoplankton communities present in these ecosystems. Here, the effects of the exposure (96 h) of a phytoplankton community collected in an agricultural stream to various glyphosate concentrations (1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 μg l -1 ) of Factor 540 ® GBH were investigated. The lowest GBH concentration of 1 μg l -1 reduced chlorophyll a and carotenoid contents. Low glyphosate concentrations, such as 5 and 10 μg l -1 , promoted changes in the community's structure and reduced the diversity of the main algal species. At glyphosate concentrations ranging from 50 to 1000 μg l -1 , the phytoplankton community's composition was modified and new main species appeared. The highest glyphosate concentrations (500 and 1000 μg l -1 ) affected the shikimate content, the lipid peroxidation and the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase). These results indicate that GBH can modify structural and functional properties of freshwater phytoplankton communities living in streams located in agricultural areas at glyphosate concentrations much inferior to the 800 μg l -1 threshold set by the Canadian guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamics of communities of bacteria and ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in response to simazine attenuation in agricultural soil.

PubMed

Wan, Rui; Wang, Zhao; Xie, Shuguang

2014-02-15

Autochthonous microbiota plays a crucial role in natural attenuation of s-triazine herbicides in agricultural soil. Soil microcosm study was carried out to investigate the shift in the structures of soil autochthonous microbial communities and the potential degraders associated with natural simazine attenuation. The relative abundance of soil autochthonous degraders and the structures of microbial communities were assessed using quantitative PCR (q-PCR) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP), respectively. Phylogenetic composition of bacterial community was also characterized using clone library analysis. Soil autochthonous microbiota could almost completely clean up simazine (100 mg kg(-1)) in 10 days after herbicide application, indicating a strong self-remediation potential of agricultural soil. A significant increase in the proportion of s-triazine-degrading atzC gene was found in 6 days after simazine amendment. Simazine application could alter the community structures of total bacteria and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB). AOA were more responsive to simazine application compared to AOB and bacteria. Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were the dominant bacterial groups either at the initial stage after simazine amendment or at the end stage of herbicide biodegradation, but Actinobacteria predominated at the middle stage of biodegradation. Microorganisms from several bacterial genera might be involved in simazine biodegradation. This work could add some new insights on the bioremediation of herbicides contaminated agricultural soils. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perceived agricultural runoff impact on drinking water.

PubMed

Crampton, Andrea; Ragusa, Angela T

2014-09-01

Agricultural runoff into surface water is a problem in Australia, as it is in arguably all agriculturally active countries. While farm practices and resource management measures are employed to reduce downstream effects, they are often either technically insufficient or practically unsustainable. Therefore, consumers may still be exposed to agrichemicals whenever they turn on the tap. For rural residents surrounded by agriculture, the link between agriculture and water quality is easy to make and thus informed decisions about water consumption are possible. Urban residents, however, are removed from agricultural activity and indeed drinking water sources. Urban and rural residents were interviewed to identify perceptions of agriculture's impact on drinking water. Rural residents thought agriculture could impact their water quality and, in many cases, actively avoided it, often preferring tank to surface water sources. Urban residents generally did not perceive agriculture to pose health risks to their drinking water. Although there are more agricultural contaminants recognised in the latest Australian Drinking Water Guidelines than previously, we argue this is insufficient to enhance consumer protection. Health authorities may better serve the public by improving their proactivity and providing communities and water utilities with the capacity to effectively monitor and address agricultural runoff.

Sponsors of Agricultural Literacies: Intersections of Institutional and Local Knowledge in a Farming Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galbreath, Marcy L.

2015-01-01

Many of the agricultural literacies engendering twentieth-century farming practices and shaping contemporary concepts of food and nutrition in the United States arose through scientific research at land-grant colleges. This article examines how those literacies reached and interacted with local communities through institutional entities such as…

Teaching Diversified Organic Crop Production Using the Community Supported Agriculture Farming System Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falk, Constance L.; Pao, Pauline; Cramer, Christopher S.

2005-01-01

An organic garden operated as a community supported agriculture (CSA) venture on the New Mexico State University (NMSU) main campus was begun in January 2002. Students enroll in an organic vegetable production class during spring and fall semesters to help manage and work on the project. The CSA model of farming involves the sale of shares to…

Seasonal Patterns in Microbial Community Composition in Denitrifying Bioreactors Treating Subsurface Agricultural Drainage.

PubMed

Porter, Matthew D; Andrus, J Malia; Bartolerio, Nicholas A; Rodriguez, Luis F; Zhang, Yuanhui; Zilles, Julie L; Kent, Angela D

2015-10-01

Denitrifying bioreactors, consisting of water flow control structures and a woodchip-filled trench, are a promising approach for removing nitrate from agricultural subsurface or tile drainage systems. To better understand the seasonal dynamics and the ecological drivers of the microbial communities responsible for denitrification in these bioreactors, we employed microbial community "fingerprinting" techniques in a time-series examination of three denitrifying bioreactors over 2 years, looking at bacteria, fungi, and the denitrifier functional group responsible for the final step of complete denitrification. Our analysis revealed that microbial community composition responds to depth and seasonal variation in moisture content and inundation of the bioreactor media, as well as temperature. Using a geostatistical analysis approach, we observed recurring temporal patterns in bacterial and denitrifying bacterial community composition in these bioreactors, consistent with annual cycling. The fungal communities were more stable, having longer temporal autocorrelations, and did not show significant annual cycling. These results suggest a recurring seasonal cycle in the denitrifying bioreactor microbial community, likely due to seasonal variation in moisture content.

The Development of Media Activities by Undergraduate Students in Order to Promote Agricultural Tourism Community Enterprise According to the Principles of Social Service Learning and Community-Based Leaning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thamwipat, Kuntida; Princhankol, Pornpapatsorn; Yampinij, Sakesun; Meejaleurn, Sopon

2018-01-01

This research was aimed to develop media activities by undergraduate students to promote agricultural tourism community enterprise according to the principles of social service learning and community-based learning, 2) to evaluate the quality of such media activities, 3) to measure the income of the community after the development of media…

Simazine application inhibits nitrification and changes the ammonia-oxidizing bacterial communities in a fertilized agricultural soil.

PubMed

Hernández, Marcela; Jia, Zhongjun; Conrad, Ralf; Seeger, Michael

2011-12-01

s-Triazine herbicides are widely used for weed control, and are persistent in soils. Nitrification is an essential process in the global nitrogen cycle in soil, and involves ammonia-oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing Archaea (AOA). In this study, we evaluated the effect of the s-triazine herbicide simazine on the nitrification and on the structure of ammonia-oxidizing microbial communities in a fertilized agricultural soil. The effect of simazine on AOB and AOA were studied by PCR-amplification of amoA genes of nitrifying Bacteria and Archaea in soil microcosms and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses. Simazine [50 μg g(-1) dry weight soil (d.w.s)] completely inhibited the nitrification processes in the fertilized agricultural soil. The inhibition by simazine of ammonia oxidation observed was similar to the reduction of ammonia oxidation by the nitrification inhibitor acetylene. The application of simazine-affected AOB community DGGE patterns in the agricultural soil amended with ammonium, whereas no significant changes in the AOA community were observed. The DGGE analyses strongly suggest that simazine inhibited Nitrosobacteria and specifically Nitrosospira species. In conclusion, our results suggest that the s-triazine herbicide not only inhibits the target susceptible plants but also inhibits the ammonia oxidation and the AOB in fertilized soils. © 2011 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Community Colleges: General Information and Resources. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foote, Elizabeth

This digest offers general information about American community colleges and lists a variety of sources of additional information about these institutions. The digest provides the defining characteristics of community colleges and information on their curricula; statistics on enrollments and student characteristics; information on faculty…

Environmental Hazard and General Labeling for Pyrethroid and Synergized Pyrethrins Non-Agricultural Outdoor Products

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA approved certain optional modifications to the “Environmental Hazard Statements” and general “Directions for Use” for pyrethroid and pyrethrins non-agricultural outdoor products. Find out about these changes.

Agriculture, Communities, and New Social Movements: East European Ruralities in the Process of Restructuring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorlach, Krzysztof; Lostak, Michal; Mooney, Patrick H.

2008-01-01

This paper examines the usefulness of the new social movements (NSMs) paradigm in the changing context of East European post-communist societies and their agricultural systems and rural communities. Starting with statements formulated in Western sociology in the context of Western democratic societies about NSMs as a protest against modernity, the…

Effect of Organic Diet Intervention on Pesticide Exposures in Young Children Living in Low-Income Urban and Agricultural Communities.

PubMed

Bradman, Asa; Quirós-Alcalá, Lesliam; Castorina, Rosemary; Aguilar Schall, Raul; Camacho, Jose; Holland, Nina T; Barr, Dana Boyd; Eskenazi, Brenda

2015-10-01

Recent organic diet intervention studies suggest that diet is a significant source of pesticide exposure in young children. These studies have focused on children living in suburban communities. We aimed to determine whether consuming an organic diet reduced urinary pesticide metabolite concentrations in 40 Mexican-American children, 3-6 years of age, living in California urban and agricultural communities. In 2006, we collected urine samples over 16 consecutive days from children who consumed conventionally grown food for 4 days, organic food for 7 days, and then conventionally grown food for 5 days. We measured 23 metabolites, reflecting potential exposure to organophosphorous (OP), pyrethroid, and other pesticides used in homes and agriculture. We used linear mixed-effects models to evaluate the effects of diet on urinary metabolite concentrations. For six metabolites with detection frequencies > 50%, adjusted geometric mean concentrations during the organic phase were generally lower for all children, and were significant for total dialkylphosphates (DAPs) and dimethyl DAPs (DMs; metabolites of OP insecticides) and 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, a herbicide), with reductions of 40%, 49%, and 25%, respectively (p < 0.01). Chemical-specific metabolite concentrations for several OP pesticides, pyrethroids, and herbicides were either infrequently detected and/or not significantly affected by diet. Concentrations for most of the frequently detected metabolites were generally higher in Salinas compared with Oakland children, with DMs and metolachlor at or near significance (p = 0.06 and 0.03, respectively). An organic diet was significantly associated with reduced urinary concentrations of nonspecific dimethyl OP insecticide metabolites and the herbicide 2,4-D in children. Additional research is needed to clarify the relative importance of dietary and non-dietary sources of pesticide exposures to young children.

Distinct responses of bacterial communities to agricultural and urban impacts in temperate southern African estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matcher, G. F.; Froneman, P. W.; Meiklejohn, I.; Dorrington, R. A.

2018-01-01

Worldwide, estuaries are regarded as amongst the most ecologically threatened ecosystems and are increasingly being impacted by urban development, agricultural activities and reduced freshwater inflow. In this study, we examined the influence of different human activities on the diversity and structure of bacterial communities in the water column and sediment in three distinct, temperate permanently open estuarine systems within the same geographic region of southern Africa. The Kariega system is freshwater-deprived and is considered to be relatively pristine; the Kowie estuary is marine-dominated and impacted by urban development, while the Sundays system is fresh-water dominated and impacted by agricultural activity in its catchment. The bacterial communities in all three systems comprise predominantly heterotrophic species belonging to the Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria phyla with little overlap between bacterioplankton and benthic bacterial communities at the species level. There was overlap between the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of the Kowie and Kariega, both marine-influenced estuaries. However, lower species richness in the Kowie, likely reflects the impact of human settlements along the estuary. The dominant OTUs in the Sundays River system were distinct from those of the Kariega and Kowie estuaries with an overall decrease in species richness and evenness. This study provides an important snapshot into the microbial population structures of permanently open temperate estuarine systems and the influence of anthropogenic impacts on bacterial diversity and community structure.

Spatial and Temporal Variation of Archaeal, Bacterial and Fungal Communities in Agricultural Soils

PubMed Central

Pereira e Silva, Michele C.; Dias, Armando Cavalcante Franco; van Elsas, Jan Dirk; Salles, Joana Falcão

2012-01-01

Background Soil microbial communities are in constant change at many different temporal and spatial scales. However, the importance of these changes to the turnover of the soil microbial communities has been rarely studied simultaneously in space and time. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, we explored the temporal and spatial responses of soil bacterial, archaeal and fungal β-diversities to abiotic parameters. Taking into account data from a 3-year sampling period, we analyzed the abundances and community structures of Archaea, Bacteria and Fungi along with key soil chemical parameters. We questioned how these abiotic variables influence the turnover of bacterial, archaeal and fungal communities and how they impact the long-term patterns of changes of the aforementioned soil communities. Interestingly, we found that the bacterial and fungal β-diversities are quite stable over time, whereas archaeal diversity showed significantly higher fluctuations. These fluctuations were reflected in temporal turnover caused by soil management through addition of N-fertilizers. Conclusions Our study showed that management practices applied to agricultural soils might not significantly affect the bacterial and fungal communities, but cause slow and long-term changes in the abundance and structure of the archaeal community. Moreover, the results suggest that, to different extents, abiotic and biotic factors determine the community assembly of archaeal, bacterial and fungal communities. PMID:23284712

How Agricultural Science Trumps Rural Community in the Discourse of Selected U.S. History Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howley, Marged; Howley, Aimee; Eppley, Karen

2013-01-01

Using narrative from 6 high school American history textbooks published between 1956 and 2009, this study investigated changes in how textbook authors presented the topics of agricultural science, farming, and community. Although some critical discourse analyses have examined textbooks' treatment of different population groups (e.g., African…

7 CFR 210.12 - Student, parent and community involvement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... general community in activities to enhance the Program. (b) Food service management companies. School food authorities contracting with a food service management company shall comply with the provisions of § 210.16(a... Section 210.12 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FOOD AND NUTRITION...

Climate warming and agricultural stressors interact to determine stream periphyton community composition.

PubMed

Piggott, Jeremy J; Salis, Romana K; Lear, Gavin; Townsend, Colin R; Matthaei, Christoph D

2015-01-01

Lack of knowledge about how the various drivers of global climate change will interact with multiple stressors already affecting ecosystems is the basis for great uncertainty in projections of future biological change. Despite concerns about the impacts of changes in land use, eutrophication and climate warming in running waters, the interactive effects of these stressors on stream periphyton are largely unknown. We manipulated nutrients (simulating agricultural runoff), deposited fine sediment (simulating agricultural erosion) (two levels each) and water temperature (eight levels, 0-6 °C above ambient) simultaneously in 128 streamside mesocosms. Our aim was to determine the individual and combined effects of the three stressors on the algal and bacterial constituents of the periphyton. All three stressors had pervasive individual effects, but in combination frequently produced synergisms at the population level and antagonisms at the community level. Depending on sediment and nutrient conditions, the effect of raised temperature frequently produced contrasting response patterns, with stronger or opposing effects when one or both stressors were augmented. Thus, warming tended to interact negatively with nutrients or sediment by weakening or reversing positive temperature effects or strengthening negative ones. Five classes of algal growth morphology were all affected in complex ways by raised temperature, suggesting that these measures may prove unreliable in biomonitoring programs in a warming climate. The evenness and diversity of the most abundant bacterial taxa increased with temperature at ambient but not with enriched nutrient levels, indicating that warming coupled with nutrient limitation may lead to a more evenly distributed bacterial community as temperatures rise. Freshwater management decisions that seek to avoid or mitigate the negative effects of agricultural land use on stream periphyton should be informed by knowledge of the interactive effects of

Microbial community structure and dynamics during anaerobic digestion of various agricultural waste materials.

PubMed

Ziganshin, Ayrat M; Liebetrau, Jan; Pröter, Jürgen; Kleinsteuber, Sabine

2013-06-01

The influence of the feedstock type on the microbial communities involved in anaerobic digestion was investigated in laboratory-scale biogas reactors fed with different agricultural waste materials. Community composition and dynamics over 2 months of reactors' operation were investigated by amplicon sequencing and profiling terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms of 16S rRNA genes. Major bacterial taxa belonged to the Clostridia and Bacteroidetes, whereas the archaeal community was dominated by methanogenic archaea of the orders Methanomicrobiales and Methanosarcinales. Correlation analysis revealed that the community composition was mainly influenced by the feedstock type with the exception of a temperature shift from 38 to 55 °C which caused the most pronounced community shifts. Bacterial communities involved in the anaerobic digestion of conventional substrates such as maize silage combined with cattle manure were relatively stable and similar to each other. In contrast, special waste materials such as chicken manure or Jatropha press cake were digested by very distinct and less diverse communities, indicating partial ammonia inhibition or the influence of other inhibiting factors. Anaerobic digestion of chicken manure relied on syntrophic acetate oxidation as the dominant acetate-consuming process due to the inhibition of aceticlastic methanogenesis. Jatropha as substrate led to the enrichment of fiber-degrading specialists belonging to the genera Actinomyces and Fibrobacter.

Fish community dynamics following dam removal in a fragmented agricultural stream

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kornis, Matthew; Weidel, Brian C.; Powers, Stephens; Diebel, Matthew W.; Cline, Timpthy; Fox, Justin; Kitchell, James F.

2014-01-01

Habitat fragmentation impedes dispersal of aquatic fauna, and barrier removal is increasingly used to increase stream network connectivity and facilitate fish dispersal. Improved understanding of fish community response to barrier removal is needed, especially in fragmented agricultural streams where numerous antiquated dams are likely destined for removal. We examined post-removal responses in two distinct fish communities formerly separated by a small aging mill dam. The dam was removed midway through the 6 year study, enabling passage for downstream fishes affiliated with a connected reservoir into previously inaccessible habitat, thus creating the potential for taxonomic homogenization between upstream and downstream communities. Both communities changed substantially post-removal. Two previously excluded species (white sucker, yellow perch) established substantial populations upstream of the former dam, contributing to a doubling of total fish biomass. Meanwhile, numerical density of pre-existing upstream fishes declined. Downstream, largemouth bass density was inversely correlated with prey fish density throughout the study, while post-removal declines in bluegill density coincided with cooler water temperature and increased suspended and benthic fine sediment. Upstream and downstream fish communities became more similar post-removal, represented by a shift in Bray-Curtis index from 14 to 41 % similarity. Our findings emphasize that barrier removal in highly fragmented stream networks can facilitate the unintended and possibly undesirable spread of species into headwater streams, including dispersal of species from remaining reservoirs. We suggest that knowledge of dispersal patterns for key piscivore and competitor species in both the target system and neighboring systems may help predict community outcomes following barrier removal.

Representing Water Scarcity in Future Agricultural Assessments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winter, Jonathan M.; Lopez, Jose R.; Ruane, Alexander C.; Young, Charles A.; Scanlon, Bridget R.; Rosenzweig, Cynthia

2017-01-01

Globally, irrigated agriculture is both essential for food production and the largest user of water. A major challenge for hydrologic and agricultural research communities is assessing the sustainability of irrigated croplands under climate variability and change. Simulations of irrigated croplands generally lack key interactions between water supply, water distribution, and agricultural water demand. In this article, we explore the critical interface between water resources and agriculture by motivating, developing, and illustrating the application of an integrated modeling framework to advance simulations of irrigated croplands. We motivate the framework by examining historical dynamics of irrigation water withdrawals in the United States and quantitatively reviewing previous modeling studies of irrigated croplands with a focus on representations of water supply, agricultural water demand, and impacts on crop yields when water demand exceeds water supply. We then describe the integrated modeling framework for simulating irrigated croplands, which links trends and scenarios with water supply, water allocation, and agricultural water demand. Finally, we provide examples of efforts that leverage the framework to improve simulations of irrigated croplands as well as identify opportunities for interventions that increase agricultural productivity, resiliency, and sustainability.

Agriculture Education. Agriculture Structures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuttgart Public Schools, AR.

This curriculum guide is designed for group instruction of secondary agricultural education students enrolled in one or two semester-long courses in agriculture structures. The guide presents units of study in the following areas: (1) shop safety, (2) identification and general use of hand tools, (3) power tools, (4) carpentry, (5) blueprint…

Using logic models in a community-based agricultural injury prevention project.

PubMed

Helitzer, Deborah; Willging, Cathleen; Hathorn, Gary; Benally, Jeannie

2009-01-01

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has long promoted the logic model as a useful tool in an evaluator's portfolio. Because a logic model supports a systematic approach to designing interventions, it is equally useful for program planners. Undertaken with community stakeholders, a logic model process articulates the underlying foundations of a particular programmatic effort and enhances program design and evaluation. Most often presented as sequenced diagrams or flow charts, logic models demonstrate relationships among the following components: statement of a problem, various causal and mitigating factors related to that problem, available resources to address the problem, theoretical foundations of the selected intervention, intervention goals and planned activities, and anticipated short- and long-term outcomes. This article describes a case example of how a logic model process was used to help community stakeholders on the Navajo Nation conceive, design, implement, and evaluate agricultural injury prevention projects.

Pyrosequencing reveals changes in soil bacterial communities after conversion of Yungas forests to agriculture.

PubMed

Montecchia, Marcela S; Tosi, Micaela; Soria, Marcelo A; Vogrig, Jimena A; Sydorenko, Oksana; Correa, Olga S

2015-01-01

The Southern Andean Yungas in Northwest Argentina constitute one of the main biodiversity hotspots in the world. Considerable changes in land use have taken place in this ecoregion, predominantly related to forest conversion to croplands, inducing losses in above-ground biodiversity and with potential impact on soil microbial communities. In this study, we used high-throughput pyrosequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene to assess whether land-use change and time under agriculture affect the composition and diversity of soil bacterial communities. We selected two areas dedicated to sugarcane and soybean production, comprising both short- and long-term agricultural sites, and used the adjacent native forest soils as a reference. Land-use change altered the composition of bacterial communities, with differences between productive areas despite the similarities between both forests. At the phylum level, only Verrucomicrobia and Firmicutes changed in abundance after deforestation for sugarcane and soybean cropping, respectively. In cultivated soils, Verrucomicrobia decreased sharply (~80%), while Firmicutes were more abundant. Despite the fact that local diversity was increased in sugarcane systems and was not altered by soybean cropping, phylogenetic beta diversity declined along both chronosequences, evidencing a homogenization of soil bacterial communities over time. In spite of the detected alteration in composition and diversity, we found a core microbiome resistant to the disturbances caused by the conversion of forests to cultivated lands and few or none exclusive OTUs for each land-use type. The overall changes in the relative abundance of copiotrophic and oligotrophic taxa may have an impact in soil ecosystem functionality. However, communities with many taxa in common may also share many functional attributes, allowing to maintain at least some soil ecosystem services after forest conversion to croplands.

Pyrosequencing Reveals Changes in Soil Bacterial Communities after Conversion of Yungas Forests to Agriculture

PubMed Central

Montecchia, Marcela S.; Tosi, Micaela; Soria, Marcelo A.; Vogrig, Jimena A.; Sydorenko, Oksana; Correa, Olga S.

2015-01-01

The Southern Andean Yungas in Northwest Argentina constitute one of the main biodiversity hotspots in the world. Considerable changes in land use have taken place in this ecoregion, predominantly related to forest conversion to croplands, inducing losses in above-ground biodiversity and with potential impact on soil microbial communities. In this study, we used high-throughput pyrosequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene to assess whether land-use change and time under agriculture affect the composition and diversity of soil bacterial communities. We selected two areas dedicated to sugarcane and soybean production, comprising both short- and long-term agricultural sites, and used the adjacent native forest soils as a reference. Land-use change altered the composition of bacterial communities, with differences between productive areas despite the similarities between both forests. At the phylum level, only Verrucomicrobia and Firmicutes changed in abundance after deforestation for sugarcane and soybean cropping, respectively. In cultivated soils, Verrucomicrobia decreased sharply (~80%), while Firmicutes were more abundant. Despite the fact that local diversity was increased in sugarcane systems and was not altered by soybean cropping, phylogenetic beta diversity declined along both chronosequences, evidencing a homogenization of soil bacterial communities over time. In spite of the detected alteration in composition and diversity, we found a core microbiome resistant to the disturbances caused by the conversion of forests to cultivated lands and few or none exclusive OTUs for each land-use type. The overall changes in the relative abundance of copiotrophic and oligotrophic taxa may have an impact in soil ecosystem functionality. However, communities with many taxa in common may also share many functional attributes, allowing to maintain at least some soil ecosystem services after forest conversion to croplands. PMID:25793893

Impacts of agricultural irrigation on nearby freshwater ecosystems: the seasonal influence of triazine herbicides in benthic algal communities.

PubMed

Lorente, Carmen; Causapé, Jesús; Glud, Ronnie N; Hancke, Kasper; Merchán, Daniel; Muñiz, Selene; Val, Jonatan; Navarro, Enrique

2015-01-15

A small hydrological basin (Lerma, NE Spain), transformed from its natural state (steppe) to rain-fed agriculture and recently to irrigation agriculture, has been monitored across four seasons of an agricultural year. The goal of this study was to assess how and whether agricultural activities impacted the nearby freshwater ecosystems via runoff. Specifically, we assessed the toxicity of three triazine herbicides, terbuthylazine, atrazine and simazine on the photosynthetic efficiency and structure of algal benthic biofilms (i.e., phototropic periphyton) in the small creek draining the basin. It was expected that the seasonal runoff of the herbicides in the creek affected the sensitivity of the periphyton in accord with the rationale of the Pollution Induced Community Tolerance (PICT): the exposure of the community to pollutants result in the replacement of sensitive species by more tolerant ones. In this way, PICT can serve to establish causal linkages between pollutants and the observed biological impacts. The periphyton presented significantly different sensitivities against terbuthylazine through the year in accord with the seasonal application of this herbicide in the crops nowadays. The sensitivity of already banned herbicides, atrazine and simazine does not display a clear seasonality. The different sensitivities to herbicides were in agreement with the expected exposures scenarios, according to the agricultural calendar, but not with the concentrations measured in water, which altogether indicates that the use of PICT approach may serve for long-term monitoring purposes. That will provide not only causal links between the occurrence of chemicals and their impacts on natural communities, but also information about the occurrence of chemicals that may escape from traditional sampling methods (water analysis). In addition, the EC50 and EC10 of periphyton for terbuthylazine or simazine are the first to be published and can be used for impact assessments

[General practitioners, community physicians and hospital physicians--how different are they?].

PubMed

Førde, R; Aasland, O G; Akre, V

1996-09-30

In 1993, 9,226 practising physicians in Norway received extensive questionnaires about their health, working and living conditions. In this article we compare municipality employed community physicians (n = 972), general practitioners in private practice (n = 869), and hospital physicians (n = 3,160) with regard to demographic variables and their experience of stress, professional autonomy and job satisfaction. General practitioners report higher job satisfaction and more autonomy than community and hospital physicians, whereas community physicians seem to have a somewhat higher stress level than the two other categories. The experience of general well being, however, is the same in the three groups. General practitioners also spend more time with patients, and are much more satisfied with their income.

United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Eastern Regional Research Center Core Technologies

PubMed Central

Nunez, A.; Strahan, G.; Soroka, D.S.; Damert, W.; Needleman, D.

2011-01-01

The Core Technologies (CT) unit, located at the Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC), is a centralized resource of specialized instrumentation and technologies. Its objective is to provide supplementary research data processing, interpretation, analysis and consultation for a broad range of research programs approved by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the in-house research arm of the United States Department of Agriculture. The CT unit is comprised of four research related components: genetic analysis, proteomicsbiopolymers mass spectrometry, electron microscopy, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). In addition, the Research Data Systems, the information pipeline of the CT, provides the means to facilitate data distribution to researchers, stakeholders, and the general public. The availability of integrated resource laboratories assures professional and dependable support to the goals of the ARS community.

International Community Development Statistical Bulletin. Spring 1968 General Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Community Development Foundation, New York, NY.

The Spring 1968 general edition of the International Community Development Statistical Bulletin describes its reporting system based on the International Standard Classification of Community Development Activities and a special project registration and progress form; briefly summarizes overall international data; and presents statistics on…

7 CFR 25.102 - Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress... ENTERPRISE COMMUNITIES Area Requirements § 25.102 Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress. (a) Pervasive poverty. Conditions of poverty must be reasonably distributed throughout the entire nominated area...

Kids and communities count: reaching migrant children and families with the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT).

PubMed

Liller, K D; Pintado, I

2005-08-01

The Kids and Communities Count Farm Safety Lesson is a follow-up to our Kids Count Lesson that used the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT) and was previously delivered to nearly 2,000 fifth-grade students in Hillsborough County, Florida. This year, the lesson was administered in two migrant schools and included a parent survey and a presentation of the lesson in a community setting. The lesson covers animal, machinery, water, and general safety topics applicable to farming in Florida. A staggered pretest-posttest study design was followed whereby school 1 (N = 66) received a multiple-choice pretest and posttest and school 2 (N = 91) received the posttest only, for a total sample size of 157 participants. Results of the study showed a significant increase in the mean number of correct answers on the posttest compared to the pretest, such that the mean score improved from 5.0 on the pretest to 6.6 on the posttest (paired t-test, p = 0.000). The results of the parent survey and the administration of the lesson in the community showed that over 50% of the 106 parent participants reported that their children were practicing safe farm behaviors since the lesson; however, there was a particular need to address pesticide safety in the community. This study shows the efficacy of the Kids Count lesson in improving farm safety knowledge among migrant school children, and the applicability and acceptance of the lesson by parents and community members.

7 CFR 25.102 - Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress... ENTERPRISE COMMUNITIES Area Requirements § 25.102 Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress. (a..., levels of public assistance, numbers of persons or families in poverty or similar data. (b) Unemployment...

7 CFR 25.102 - Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress... ENTERPRISE COMMUNITIES Area Requirements § 25.102 Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress. (a..., levels of public assistance, numbers of persons or families in poverty or similar data. (b) Unemployment...

7 CFR 25.102 - Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress... ENTERPRISE COMMUNITIES Area Requirements § 25.102 Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress. (a..., levels of public assistance, numbers of persons or families in poverty or similar data. (b) Unemployment...

7 CFR 25.102 - Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress... ENTERPRISE COMMUNITIES Area Requirements § 25.102 Pervasive poverty, unemployment and general distress. (a..., levels of public assistance, numbers of persons or families in poverty or similar data. (b) Unemployment...

Work characteristics and pesticide exposures among migrant agricultural families: a community-based research approach.

PubMed

McCauley, L A; Lasarev, M R; Higgins, G; Rothlein, J; Muniz, J; Ebbert, C; Phillips, J

2001-05-01

There are few data on pesticide exposures of migrant Latino farmworker children, and access to this vulnerable population is often difficult. In this paper we describe a community-based approach to implement culturally appropriate research methods with a migrant Latino farmworker community in Oregon. Assessments were conducted in 96 farmworker homes and 24 grower homes in two agricultural communities in Oregon. Measurements included surveys of pesticide use and work protection practices and analyses of home-dust samples for pesticide residues of major organophosphates used in area crops. Results indicate that migrant farmworker housing is diverse, and the amounts and types of pesticide residues found in homes differ. Azinphos-methyl (AZM) was the pesticide residue found most often in both farmworker and grower homes. The median level of AZM in farmworker homes was 1.45 ppm compared to 1.64 ppm in the entry area of grower homes. The median level of AZM in the play areas of grower homes was 0.71 ppm. The levels of AZM in migrant farmworker homes were most associated with the distance from fields and the number of agricultural workers in the home. Although the levels of AZM in growers and farmworker homes were comparable in certain areas, potential for disproportionate exposures occur in areas of the homes where children are most likely to play. The relationship between home resident density, levels of pesticide residues, and play behaviors of children merit further attention.

Work characteristics and pesticide exposures among migrant agricultural families: a community-based research approach.

PubMed Central

McCauley, L A; Lasarev, M R; Higgins, G; Rothlein, J; Muniz, J; Ebbert, C; Phillips, J

2001-01-01

There are few data on pesticide exposures of migrant Latino farmworker children, and access to this vulnerable population is often difficult. In this paper we describe a community-based approach to implement culturally appropriate research methods with a migrant Latino farmworker community in Oregon. Assessments were conducted in 96 farmworker homes and 24 grower homes in two agricultural communities in Oregon. Measurements included surveys of pesticide use and work protection practices and analyses of home-dust samples for pesticide residues of major organophosphates used in area crops. Results indicate that migrant farmworker housing is diverse, and the amounts and types of pesticide residues found in homes differ. Azinphos-methyl (AZM) was the pesticide residue found most often in both farmworker and grower homes. The median level of AZM in farmworker homes was 1.45 ppm compared to 1.64 ppm in the entry area of grower homes. The median level of AZM in the play areas of grower homes was 0.71 ppm. The levels of AZM in migrant farmworker homes were most associated with the distance from fields and the number of agricultural workers in the home. Although the levels of AZM in growers and farmworker homes were comparable in certain areas, potential for disproportionate exposures occur in areas of the homes where children are most likely to play. The relationship between home resident density, levels of pesticide residues, and play behaviors of children merit further attention. PMID:11401767

Chronic interstitial nephritis in agricultural communities: a worldwide epidemic with social, occupational and environmental determinants.

PubMed

Jayasumana, Channa; Orantes, Carlos; Herrera, Raul; Almaguer, Miguel; Lopez, Laura; Silva, Luis Carlos; Ordunez, Pedro; Siribaddana, Sisira; Gunatilake, Sarath; De Broe, Marc E

2017-02-01

Increase in the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is observed in Central America, Sri Lanka and other tropical countries. It is named chronic interstitial nephritis in agricultural communities (CINAC). CINAC is defined as a form of CKD that affects mainly young men, occasionally women. Its aetiology is not linked to diabetes, hypertension, glomerulopathies or other known causes. CINAC patients live and work in poor agricultural communities located in CINAC endemic areas with a hot tropical climate, and are exposed to toxic agrochemicals through work, by ingestion of contaminated food and water, or by inhalation. The disease is characterized by low or absent proteinuria, small kidneys with irregular contours in CKD stages 3–4 presenting tubulo-interstitial lesions and glomerulosclerosis at renal biopsy. Although the aetiology of CINAC is unclear, it appears to be multifactorial. Two hypotheses emphasizing different primary triggers have been proposed: one related to toxic exposures in the agricultural communities, the other related to heat stress with repeated episodes of dehydration heath stress and dehydration. Existing evidence supports occupational and environmental toxins as the primary trigger. The heat stress and dehydration hypothesis, however, cannot explain: why the incidence of CINAC went up along with increasing mechanization of paddy farming in the 1990s; the non-existence of CINAC in hotter northern Sri Lanka, Cuba and Myanmar where agrochemicals are sparsely used; the mosaic geographical pattern in CINAC endemic areas; the presence of CINAC among women, children and adolescents who are not exposed to the harsh working conditions; and the observed extra renal manifestations of CINAC. This indicates that heat stress and dehydration may be a contributory or even a necessary risk factor, but which is not able to cause CINAC by itself.

Effects of different agricultural managements in soil microbial community structure in a semi-arid Mediterranean region.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Orenes, Fuensanta; Morugan, Alicia; Mataix-Solera, Jorge; Scow, Kate

2013-04-01

Agriculture has been practiced in semi-arid Mediterranean regions for 10.000 years and in many cases these practices have been unsuitable causing land degradation for millennium and an important loss of soil quality. The land management can provide solutions to find the best agricultural practices in order to maintain the soil quality and get a sustainable agriculture model. Microbiological properties are the most sensitive and rapid indicators of soil perturbations and land use managements. The study of microbial community and diversity has an important interest as indicators of changes in soil quality. The main objective of this work was to asses the effect of different agricultural management practices in soil microbial community (evaluated as abundance of phospholipid fatty acids, PLFA). Four different treatments were selected, based on the most commonly practices applied by farmers in the study area, "El Teularet Experimental Station", located at the Enguera Range in the southern part of the Valencia province (eastern Spain). These treatments were: a) ploughing, b) herbicides c) mulch, using the types applied by organic farmers to develop a sustainable agriculture, such as oat straw and d) control that was established as plot where the treatment was abandonment after farming. An adjacent area with the same type of soil, but with natural vegetation was used as a standard or reference high quality soil. Soil samples were taken to evaluate the changes in microbial soil structure, analysing the abundance of PLFA. The results showed a major content of total PLFA in soils treated with oats straw, being these results similar to the content of PLFA in the soil with natural vegetation, also these soils were similar in the distribution of abundance of different PLFA studied. However, the herbicide and tillage treatments showed great differences regarding the soil used as reference (soil under natural vegetation).

Perspective: General Education at the Community College, 1952-1978. Comparing Two Reports: General Education in Action--B. Lamar Johnson [and] General Education in a Changing Society--Miami-Dade Community College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Donald R., Jr.

The values, goals, and organization of general education have been highly controversial subjects in higher education for years. Two different perspectives are provided by B. Lamar Johnson's "General Education in Action" (1952) and Miami-Dade Community College's (MDCC's) "General Education in a Changing Society" (1978). Concerns…

agriGO v2.0: a GO analysis toolkit for the agricultural community, 2017 update.

PubMed

Tian, Tian; Liu, Yue; Yan, Hengyu; You, Qi; Yi, Xin; Du, Zhou; Xu, Wenying; Su, Zhen

2017-07-03

The agriGO platform, which has been serving the scientific community for >10 years, specifically focuses on gene ontology (GO) enrichment analyses of plant and agricultural species. We continuously maintain and update the databases and accommodate the various requests of our global users. Here, we present our updated agriGO that has a largely expanded number of supporting species (394) and datatypes (865). In addition, a larger number of species have been classified into groups covering crops, vegetables, fish, birds and insects closely related to the agricultural community. We further improved the computational efficiency, including the batch analysis and P-value distribution (PVD), and the user-friendliness of the web pages. More visualization features were added to the platform, including SEACOMPARE (cross comparison of singular enrichment analysis), direct acyclic graph (DAG) and Scatter Plots, which can be merged by choosing any significant GO term. The updated platform agriGO v2.0 is now publicly accessible at http://systemsbiology.cau.edu.cn/agriGOv2/. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

agriGO v2.0: a GO analysis toolkit for the agricultural community, 2017 update

PubMed Central

Tian, Tian; Liu, Yue; Yan, Hengyu; You, Qi; Yi, Xin; Du, Zhou

2017-01-01

Abstract The agriGO platform, which has been serving the scientific community for >10 years, specifically focuses on gene ontology (GO) enrichment analyses of plant and agricultural species. We continuously maintain and update the databases and accommodate the various requests of our global users. Here, we present our updated agriGO that has a largely expanded number of supporting species (394) and datatypes (865). In addition, a larger number of species have been classified into groups covering crops, vegetables, fish, birds and insects closely related to the agricultural community. We further improved the computational efficiency, including the batch analysis and P-value distribution (PVD), and the user-friendliness of the web pages. More visualization features were added to the platform, including SEACOMPARE (cross comparison of singular enrichment analysis), direct acyclic graph (DAG) and Scatter Plots, which can be merged by choosing any significant GO term. The updated platform agriGO v2.0 is now publicly accessible at http://systemsbiology.cau.edu.cn/agriGOv2/. PMID:28472432

Algal and Invertebrate Community Composition along Agricultural Gradients: A Comparative Study from Two Regions of the Eastern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Calhoun, Daniel L.; Gregory, M. Brian; Weyers, Holly S.

2008-01-01

Benthic algal and invertebrate communities in two Coastal Plain regions of the Eastern United States?the Delmarva Peninsula (27 sites) and Georgia Upper Coastal Plain (29 sites)?were assessed to determine if aspects of agricultural land use and nutrient conditions (dissolved and whole-water nitrogen and phosphorus) could be linked to biological community compositions. Extensive effort was made to compile land-use data describing the basin and riparian conditions at multiple scales to determine if scale played a role in these relations. Large differences in nutrient condition were found between the two study areas, wherein on average, the Delmarva sites had three times the total phosphorus and total nitrogen as did the sites in the Georgia Upper Coastal Plain. A statistical approach was undertaken that included multivariate correlations between Bray-Curtis similarity matrices of the biological communities and Euclidean similarity matrices of instream nutrients and land-use categories. Invertebrate assemblage composition was most associated with land use near the sampled reach, and algal diatom assemblage composition was most associated with land use farther from the streams and into the watersheds. Link tree analyses were conducted to isolate portions of nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordinations of community compositions that could be explained by break points in abiotic datasets. Invertebrate communities were better defined by factors such as agricultural land use near streams and geographic position. Algal communities were better defined by agricultural land use at the basin scale and instream nutrient chemistry. Algal autecological indices were more correlated with gradients of nutrient condition than were typically employed invertebrate metrics and may hold more promise in indicating nutrient impairment in these regions. Nutrient conditions in the respective study areas are compared to draft nutrient criteria established by the U.S. Environmental Protection

Safety and Certification Considerations for Expanding the Use of UAS in Precision Agriculture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayhurst, Kelly J.; Maddalon, Jeffrey M.; Neogi, Natasha A.; Vertstynen, Harry A.

2016-01-01

The agricultural community is actively engaged in adopting new technologies such as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to help assess the condition of crops and develop appropriate treatment plans. In the United States, agricultural use of UAS has largely been limited to small UAS, generally weighing less than 55 lb and operating within the line of sight of a remote pilot. A variety of small UAS are being used to monitor and map crops, while only a few are being used to apply agricultural inputs based on the results of remote sensing. Larger UAS with substantial payload capacity could provide an option for site-specific application of agricultural inputs in a timely fashion, without substantive damage to the crops or soil. A recent study by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) investigated certification requirements needed to enable the use of larger UAS to support the precision agriculture industry. This paper provides a brief introduction to aircraft certification relevant to agricultural UAS, an overview of and results from the NASA study, and a discussion of how those results might affect the precision agriculture community. Specific topics of interest include business model considerations for unmanned aerial applicators and a comparison with current means of variable rate application. The intent of the paper is to inform the precision agriculture community of evolving technologies that will enable broader use of unmanned vehicles to reduce costs, reduce environmental impacts, and enhance yield, especially for specialty crops that are grown on small to medium size farms.

Community-Supported Agriculture Promotion Act

THOMAS, 112th Congress

Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT

2011-07-26

Senate - 07/26/2011 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Agricultural management and labile carbon additions affect soil microbial community structure and interact with carbon and nitrogen cycling.

PubMed

Berthrong, Sean T; Buckley, Daniel H; Drinkwater, Laurie E

2013-07-01

We investigated how conversion from conventional agriculture to organic management affected the structure and biogeochemical function of soil microbial communities. We hypothesized the following. (1) Changing agricultural management practices will alter soil microbial community structure driven by increasing microbial diversity in organic management. (2) Organically managed soil microbial communities will mineralize more N and will also mineralize more N in response to substrate addition than conventionally managed soil communities. (3) Microbial communities under organic management will be more efficient and respire less added C. Soils from organically and conventionally managed agroecosystems were incubated with and without glucose ((13)C) additions at constant soil moisture. We extracted soil genomic DNA before and after incubation for TRFLP community fingerprinting of soil bacteria and fungi. We measured soil C and N pools before and after incubation, and we tracked total C respired and N mineralized at several points during the incubation. Twenty years of organic management altered soil bacterial and fungal community structure compared to continuous conventional management with the bacterial differences caused primarily by a large increase in diversity. Organically managed soils mineralized twice as much NO3 (-) as conventionally managed ones (44 vs. 23 μg N/g soil, respectively) and increased mineralization when labile C was added. There was no difference in respiration, but organically managed soils had larger pools of C suggesting greater efficiency in terms of respiration per unit soil C. These results indicate that the organic management induced a change in community composition resulting in a more diverse community with enhanced activity towards labile substrates and greater capacity to mineralize N.

Agricultural Technology Opportunities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Carolina State Board of Education, Raleigh. Agricultural Technology Education Section.

Agricultural education programs available through North Carolina's newly created system of industrial education center, technical institutes, and community colleges are described. The information is for use by administrators, and teachers of adult agricultural courses and counselors of high school dropouts and graduates. It describes the need for…

Epidemiological characteristics of chronic kidney disease of non-traditional causes in women of agricultural communities of El Salvador.

PubMed

Orantes Navarro, Carlos M; Herrera Valdés, Raúl; López, Miguel Almaguer; Calero, Denis J; Fuentes de Morales, Jackeline; Alvarado Ascencio, Nelly P; Vela Parada, Xavier F; Zelaya Quezada, Susana M; Granados Castro, Delmy V; Orellana de Figueroa, Patricia

2015-01-01

In El Salvador end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was the first cause of hospital mortality overall, the first cause of hospital deaths in men, and the fifth cause of hospital mortality in women in 2013. In agricultural communities, chronic kidney disease (CKD) occurs predominantly in male agricultural workers, but it also affects women to a lesser degree, even those who are not involved in agricultural work. Internationally, most epidemiological CKD studies emphasize men and no epidemiological studies focused exclusively on women. To describe the epidemiological characteristics of CKD in females in agricultural communities of El Salvador. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out in 2009 - 2011 based on active screening for CKD and risk factors in women aged ≥ 18 years in 3 disadvantaged populations of El Salvador: Bajo Lempa (Usulután Department), Guayapa Abajo (Ahuachapán Department), and Las Brisas (San Miguel Department). Epidemiological and clinical data were gathered through personal history, as well as urinalysis for renal damage markers, determinations of serum creatinine and glucose, and estimation of glomerular filtration rates. CKD cases were confirmed at 3 months. Prevalence of CKD was 13.9% in 1,412 women from 1,306 families studied. Chronic kidney disease of nontraditional causes (CKDu), not attributed to diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or proteinuric primary glomerulopathy (proteinuria > 1 g/L) was 6.6%. Prevalence of chronic renal failure was 6.8%. Prevalence of renal damage markers was 9.8% (microalbuminuria (30 - 300 mg/L) 5.7%; macroalbuminuria (> 300 mg/L) 2%; and hematuria, 2.1%. Prevalence of chronic kidney disease risk factors was: diabetes mellitus, 9.3%; hypertension, 23%; family history of CKD, 16%; family history of diabetes mellitus (DM), 18.7%; family history of hypertension (HT), 31.9%; obesity, 21%; central obesity, 30.7%; NSAID use, 84.3%; agricultural occupation, 15.2%; and contact with agrochemicals, 33.1%. CKD in

Historical assessments and comparisons of benthic communities and physical habitat in two agricultural streams in California's San Joaquin watershed.

PubMed

Hall, Lenwood W; Killen, William D

2006-01-01

This study was designed to assess trends in physical habitat and benthic communities (macroinvertebrates) annually in two agricultural streams (Del Puerto Creek and Salt Slough) in California's San Joaquin Valley from 2001 to 2005, determine the relationship between benthic communities and both water quality and physical habitat from both streams over the 5-year period, and compare benthic communities and physical habitat in both streams from 2001 to 2005. Physical habitat, measured with 10 metrics and a total score, was reported to be fairly stable over 5 years in Del Puerto Creek but somewhat variable in Salt Slough. Benthic communities, measured with 18 metrics, were reported to be marginally variable over time in Del Puerto Creek but fairly stable in Salt Slough. Rank correlation analysis for both water bodies combined showed that channel alteration, embeddedness, riparian buffer, and velocity/depth/diversity were the most important physical habitat metrics influencing the various benthic metrics. Correlations of water quality parameters and benthic community metrics for both water bodies combined showed that turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity were the most important water quality parameters influencing the different benthic metrics. A comparison of physical habitat metrics (including total score) for both water bodies over the 5-year period showed that habitat metrics were more positive in Del Puerto Creek when compared to Salt Slough. A comparison of benthic metrics in both water bodies showed that approximately one-third of the metrics were significantly different between the two water bodies. Generally, the more positive benthic metric scores were reported in Del Puerto Creek, which suggests that the communities in this creek are more robust than Salt Slough.

Beta diversity at different spatial scales: plant communities in organic and conventional agriculture.

PubMed

Gabriel, Doreen; Roschewitz, Indra; Tscharntke, Teja; Thies, Carsten

2006-10-01

Biodiversity studies that guide agricultural subsidy policy have generally compared farming systems at a single spatial scale: the field. However, diversity patterns vary across spatial scales. Here, we examined the effects of farming system (organic vs. conventional) and position in the field (edge vs. center) on plant species richness in wheat fields at three spatial scales. We quantified alpha-, beta-, and gamma-diversity at the microscale in 800 plots, at the mesoscale in 40 fields, and at the macroscale in three regions using the additive partitioning approach, and evaluated the relative contribution of beta-diversity at each spatial scale to total observed species richness. We found that alpha-, beta-, and gamma-diversity were higher in organic than conventional fields and higher at the field edge than in the field center at all spatial scales. In both farming systems, beta-diversity at the meso- and macroscale explained most of the overall species richness (up to 37% and 25%, respectively), indicating considerable differences in community composition among fields and regions due to environmental heterogeneity. The spatial scale at which beta-diversity contributed the most to overall species richness differed between rare and common species. Total richness of rare species (present in < or = 5% of total samples) was mainly explained by differences in community composition at the meso- and macroscale (up to 27% and 48%, respectively), but only in organic fields. Total richness of common species (present in > or = 25% of total samples) was explained by differences in community composition at the micro- and mesoscale (up to 29% and 47%, respectively), i.e., among plots and fields, independent of farming system. Our results show that organic farming made the greatest contribution to total species richness at the meso (among fields) and macro (among regions) scale due to environmental heterogeneity. Hence, agri-environment schemes should exploit this large

From waste to resource: a systems-based approach to sustainable community development through equitable enterprise and agriculturally-derived polymeric composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teipel, Elisa

Rural communities in developing countries are most vulnerable to the plight of requiring repeated infusions of charitable aid over time. Micro-business opportunities that effectively break the cycle of poverty in resource-rich countries in the developing world are limited. However, a strong model for global commerce can break the cycle of donor-based economic supplements and limited local economic growth. Sustainable economic development can materialize when a robust framework combines engineering with the generous investment of profits back into the community. This research presents a novel, systems-based approach to sustainable community development in which a waste-to-resource methodology catalyzes the disruption of rural poverty. The framework developed in this thesis was applied to the rural communities of Cagmanaba and Badian, Philippines. An initial assessment of these communities showed that community members are extremely poor, but they possess an abundant natural resource: coconuts. The various parts of the coconut offer excellent potential value in global commerce. Today the sale of coconut water is on the rise, and coconut oil is an established $3 billion market annually that is also growing rapidly. Since these current industries harvest only two parts of the coconut (meat and water), the 50 billion coconuts that grow annually leave behind approximately 100 billion pounds of coconut shell and husk as agricultural waste. Coconuts thus provide an opportunity to create and test a waste-to-resource model. Intensive materials analysis, research, development, and optimization proved that coconut shell, currently burned as a fuel or discarded as agricultural waste, can be manufactured into high-grade coconut shell powder (CSP), which can be a viable filler in polymeric composites. This framework was modeled and tested as a case study in a manufacturing facility known as a Community Transformation Plant (CTP) in Cagmanaba, Philippines. The CTP enables local

Intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity across Europe.

PubMed

Tsiafouli, Maria A; Thébault, Elisa; Sgardelis, Stefanos P; de Ruiter, Peter C; van der Putten, Wim H; Birkhofer, Klaus; Hemerik, Lia; de Vries, Franciska T; Bardgett, Richard D; Brady, Mark Vincent; Bjornlund, Lisa; Jørgensen, Helene Bracht; Christensen, Sören; Hertefeldt, Tina D'; Hotes, Stefan; Gera Hol, W H; Frouz, Jan; Liiri, Mira; Mortimer, Simon R; Setälä, Heikki; Tzanopoulos, Joseph; Uteseny, Karoline; Pižl, Václav; Stary, Josef; Wolters, Volkmar; Hedlund, Katarina

2015-02-01

Soil biodiversity plays a key role in regulating the processes that underpin the delivery of ecosystem goods and services in terrestrial ecosystems. Agricultural intensification is known to change the diversity of individual groups of soil biota, but less is known about how intensification affects biodiversity of the soil food web as a whole, and whether or not these effects may be generalized across regions. We examined biodiversity in soil food webs from grasslands, extensive, and intensive rotations in four agricultural regions across Europe: in Sweden, the UK, the Czech Republic and Greece. Effects of land-use intensity were quantified based on structure and diversity among functional groups in the soil food web, as well as on community-weighted mean body mass of soil fauna. We also elucidate land-use intensity effects on diversity of taxonomic units within taxonomic groups of soil fauna. We found that between regions soil food web diversity measures were variable, but that increasing land-use intensity caused highly consistent responses. In particular, land-use intensification reduced the complexity in the soil food webs, as well as the community-weighted mean body mass of soil fauna. In all regions across Europe, species richness of earthworms, Collembolans, and oribatid mites was negatively affected by increased land-use intensity. The taxonomic distinctness, which is a measure of taxonomic relatedness of species in a community that is independent of species richness, was also reduced by land-use intensification. We conclude that intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity, making soil food webs less diverse and composed of smaller bodied organisms. Land-use intensification results in fewer functional groups of soil biota with fewer and taxonomically more closely related species. We discuss how these changes in soil biodiversity due to land-use intensification may threaten the functioning of soil in agricultural production systems. © 2014 John Wiley

First 101 Robotic General Surgery Cases in a Community Hospital

PubMed Central

Robertson, Jarrod C.; Alrajhi, Sharifah

2016-01-01

Background and Objectives: The general surgeon's robotic learning curve may improve if the experience is classified into categories based on the complexity of the procedures in a small community hospital. The intraoperative time should decrease and the incidence of complications should be comparable to conventional laparoscopy. The learning curve of a single robotic general surgeon in a small community hospital using the da Vinci S platform was analyzed. Methods: Measured parameters were operative time, console time, conversion rates, complications, surgical site infections (SSIs), surgical site occurrences (SSOs), length of stay, and patient demographics. Results: Between March 2014 and August 2015, 101 robotic general surgery cases were performed by a single surgeon in a 266-bed community hospital, including laparoscopic cholecystectomies, inguinal hernia repairs; ventral, incisional, and umbilical hernia repairs; and colorectal, foregut, bariatric, and miscellaneous procedures. Ninety-nine of the cases were completed robotically. Seven patients were readmitted within 30 days. There were 8 complications (7.92%). There were no mortalities and all complications were resolved with good outcomes. The mean operative time was 233.0 minutes. The mean console operative time was 117.6 minutes. Conclusion: A robotic general surgery program can be safely implemented in a small community hospital with extensive training of the surgical team through basic robotic skills courses as well as supplemental educational experiences. Although the use of the robotic platform in general surgery could be limited to complex procedures such as foregut and colorectal surgery, it can also be safely used in a large variety of operations with results similar to those of conventional laparoscopy. PMID:27667913

First 101 Robotic General Surgery Cases in a Community Hospital.

PubMed

Oviedo, Rodolfo J; Robertson, Jarrod C; Alrajhi, Sharifah

2016-01-01

The general surgeon's robotic learning curve may improve if the experience is classified into categories based on the complexity of the procedures in a small community hospital. The intraoperative time should decrease and the incidence of complications should be comparable to conventional laparoscopy. The learning curve of a single robotic general surgeon in a small community hospital using the da Vinci S platform was analyzed. Measured parameters were operative time, console time, conversion rates, complications, surgical site infections (SSIs), surgical site occurrences (SSOs), length of stay, and patient demographics. Between March 2014 and August 2015, 101 robotic general surgery cases were performed by a single surgeon in a 266-bed community hospital, including laparoscopic cholecystectomies, inguinal hernia repairs; ventral, incisional, and umbilical hernia repairs; and colorectal, foregut, bariatric, and miscellaneous procedures. Ninety-nine of the cases were completed robotically. Seven patients were readmitted within 30 days. There were 8 complications (7.92%). There were no mortalities and all complications were resolved with good outcomes. The mean operative time was 233.0 minutes. The mean console operative time was 117.6 minutes. A robotic general surgery program can be safely implemented in a small community hospital with extensive training of the surgical team through basic robotic skills courses as well as supplemental educational experiences. Although the use of the robotic platform in general surgery could be limited to complex procedures such as foregut and colorectal surgery, it can also be safely used in a large variety of operations with results similar to those of conventional laparoscopy.

Agricultural matrices affect ground ant assemblage composition inside forest fragments

PubMed Central

Dos Santos, Iracenir Andrade; Ramos, Flavio Nunes; Majer, Jonathan David; Vilela, Evaldo Ferreira

2018-01-01

The establishment of agricultural matrices generally involves deforestation, which leads to fragmentation of the remaining forest. This fragmentation can affect forest dynamics both positively and negatively. Since most animal species are affected, certain groups can be used to measure the impact of such fragmentation. This study aimed to measure the impacts of agricultural crops (matrices) on ant communities of adjacent lower montane Atlantic rainforest fragments. We sampled nine forest fragments at locations surrounded by different agricultural matrices, namely: coffee (3 replicates); sugarcane (3); and pasture (3). At each site we installed pitfall traps along a 500 m transect from the interior of the matrix to the interior of the fragment (20 pitfall traps ~25 m apart). Each transect was partitioned into four categories: interior of the matrix; edge of the matrix; edge of the fragment; and interior of the fragment. For each sample site, we measured ant species richness and ant community composition within each transect category. Ant richness and composition differed between fragments and matrices. Each sample location had a specific composition of ants, probably because of the influence of the nature and management of the agricultural matrices. Species composition in the coffee matrix had the highest similarity to its corresponding fragment. The variability in species composition within forest fragments surrounded by pasture was greatest when compared with forest fragments surrounded by sugarcane or, to a lesser extent, coffee. Functional guild composition differed between locations, but the most representative guild was ‘generalist’ both in the agricultural matrices and forest fragments. Our results are important for understanding how agricultural matrices act on ant communities, and also, how these isolated forest fragments could act as an island of biodiversity in an ‘ocean of crops’. PMID:29791493

Agricultural matrices affect ground ant assemblage composition inside forest fragments.

PubMed

Assis, Diego Santana; Dos Santos, Iracenir Andrade; Ramos, Flavio Nunes; Barrios-Rojas, Katty Elena; Majer, Jonathan David; Vilela, Evaldo Ferreira

2018-01-01

The establishment of agricultural matrices generally involves deforestation, which leads to fragmentation of the remaining forest. This fragmentation can affect forest dynamics both positively and negatively. Since most animal species are affected, certain groups can be used to measure the impact of such fragmentation. This study aimed to measure the impacts of agricultural crops (matrices) on ant communities of adjacent lower montane Atlantic rainforest fragments. We sampled nine forest fragments at locations surrounded by different agricultural matrices, namely: coffee (3 replicates); sugarcane (3); and pasture (3). At each site we installed pitfall traps along a 500 m transect from the interior of the matrix to the interior of the fragment (20 pitfall traps ~25 m apart). Each transect was partitioned into four categories: interior of the matrix; edge of the matrix; edge of the fragment; and interior of the fragment. For each sample site, we measured ant species richness and ant community composition within each transect category. Ant richness and composition differed between fragments and matrices. Each sample location had a specific composition of ants, probably because of the influence of the nature and management of the agricultural matrices. Species composition in the coffee matrix had the highest similarity to its corresponding fragment. The variability in species composition within forest fragments surrounded by pasture was greatest when compared with forest fragments surrounded by sugarcane or, to a lesser extent, coffee. Functional guild composition differed between locations, but the most representative guild was 'generalist' both in the agricultural matrices and forest fragments. Our results are important for understanding how agricultural matrices act on ant communities, and also, how these isolated forest fragments could act as an island of biodiversity in an 'ocean of crops'.

Utilisation of community pharmacists by the general public in Malaysia.

PubMed

Chua, Siew Siang; Lim, Kien Ping; Lee, Hong Gee

2013-02-01

The study was conducted to assess how the general public in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, utilised community pharmacists. This was a prospective observational study which documented interactions between community pharmacists and their customers. A researcher was stationed in 10 participating community pharmacies around the Klang Valley to observe and record all the interactions, using a structured data-collection form. KEYS FINDINGS: Interactions between 1914 customers and the pharmacists of the 10 community pharmacies were recorded. A total of 2199 requests were made by these customers. The main types of request were for medications by brand name (32.2%), advice on minor health problems (25.9%) and for health supplements (11.7%). Only 65 prescriptions were received by the community pharmacies; that is, fewer than two prescriptions per pharmacy per day. The pharmacists provided counselling for only 54.4% of the requests where a medication or health supplement was dispensed. Counselling by pharmacist was significantly associated with the type of request (P < 0.001). The main reason for the general public to visit a community pharmacy in Malaysia was to purchase a particular medication. Few prescriptions were filled at community pharmacies in Malaysia, indicating the under-utilisation of community pharmacists as a safety net for prescribed medications in primary care. © 2012 The Authors. IJPP © 2012 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

General Shop Competencies in Vocational Agriculture for 9th and 10th Grade Classes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Novotny, Ronald; And Others

The document presents unit plans which offer list of experiences and competencies to be learned for general shop occupations in vocational agriculture. The units include: (1) arc welding, (2) oxy-acetylene welding, (3) flat concrete, (4) concrete block, (5) lumber patterns and wood building materials, (6) metal fasteners, (7) wood adhesives, (8)…

Year-round metagenomes reveal remarkably stable microbial communities in agricultural soils and novel ammonia oxidizers responding to fertilization

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Insight to what underlies the seasonal dynamics of indigenous soil microbial communities in agricultural soils, especially after major activities such as nitrogen fertilization, remain elusive. More detailed understanding of population dynamics will have important implications for modeling efforts a...

What variables affect public perceptions for EMS meeting general community needs?

PubMed

Blau, Gary; Hochner, Arthur; Portwood, James

2012-01-01

In the fall, 2010, a phone survey of 928 respondents examined two research questions: does the general public perceive Emergency Medical Services (EMS) as meeting their community needs? And what factors or correlates help to explain EMS meeting community needs? To maximize geographical representation across the contiguous United States, a clustered stratified sampling strategy was used based upon zip codes across the 48 states. Results showed strong support by the sample for perceiving that EMS was meeting their general community needs. 17 percent of the variance in EMS meeting community needs was collectively explained by the demographic and perceptual variables in the regression model. Of the correlates tested, the strongest relationship was found between greater admiration for EMS professionals and higher perception of EMS meeting community needs. Study limitations included sampling households with only landline (no cell) phones, using a simulated emergency situation, and not collecting gender data.

Comparative review of multifunctionality and ecosystem services in sustainable agriculture.

PubMed

Huang, Jiao; Tichit, Muriel; Poulot, Monique; Darly, Ségolène; Li, Shuangcheng; Petit, Caroline; Aubry, Christine

2015-02-01

Two scientific communities with broad interest in sustainable agriculture independently focus on multifunctional agriculture or ecosystem services. These communities have limited interaction and exchange, and each group faces research challenges according to independently operating paradigms. This paper presents a comparative review of published research in multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services. The motivation for this work is to improve communication, integrate experimental approaches, and propose areas of consensus and dialog for the two communities. This extensive analysis of publication trends, ideologies, and approaches enables formulation of four main conclusions. First, the two communities are closely related through their use of the term "function." However, multifunctional agriculture considers functions as agricultural activity outputs and prefers farm-centred approaches, whereas ecosystem services considers ecosystem functions in the provision of services and prefers service-centred approaches. Second, research approaches to common questions in these two communities share some similarities, and there would be great value in integrating these approaches. Third, the two communities have potential for dialog regarding the bundle of ecosystem services and the spectrum of multifunctional agriculture, or regarding land sharing and land sparing. Fourth, we propose an integrated conceptual framework that distinguishes six groups of ecosystem services and disservices in the agricultural landscape, and combines the concepts of multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services. This integrated framework improves applications of multifunctional agriculture and ecosystem services for operational use. Future research should examine if the framework can be readily adapted for modelling specific problems in agricultural management. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceived Influencers of the Decline on Performance of Students in Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education's Agriculture Examination Results

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sibanda, Clyde; Hulela, Keba; Tselaesele, Nelson

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate factors perceived to contribute to the decline of students' performance in the Botswana's General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) agriculture results. Ninety-one agriculture examiners were randomly sampled out of 100 teachers who were invited to mark the 2012 end of year examination scripts. A…

Combined Analyses of Bacterial, Fungal and Nematode Communities in Andosolic Agricultural Soils in Japan

PubMed Central

Bao, Zhihua; Ikunaga, Yoko; Matsushita, Yuko; Morimoto, Sho; Takada-Hoshino, Yuko; Okada, Hiroaki; Oba, Hirosuke; Takemoto, Shuhei; Niwa, Shigeru; Ohigashi, Kentaro; Suzuki, Chika; Nagaoka, Kazunari; Takenaka, Makoto; Urashima, Yasufumi; Sekiguchi, Hiroyuki; Kushida, Atsuhiko; Toyota, Koki; Saito, Masanori; Tsushima, Seiya

2012-01-01

We simultaneously examined the bacteria, fungi and nematode communities in Andosols from four agro-geographical sites in Japan using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) and statistical analyses to test the effects of environmental factors including soil properties on these communities depending on geographical sites. Statistical analyses such as Principal component analysis (PCA) and Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the compositions of the three soil biota communities were strongly affected by geographical sites, which were in turn strongly associated with soil characteristics such as total C (TC), total N (TN), C/N ratio and annual mean soil temperature (ST). In particular, the TC, TN and C/N ratio had stronger effects on bacterial and fungal communities than on the nematode community. Additionally, two-way cluster analysis using the combined DGGE profile also indicated that all soil samples were classified into four clusters corresponding to the four sites, showing high site specificity of soil samples, and all DNA bands were classified into four clusters, showing the coexistence of specific DGGE bands of bacteria, fungi and nematodes in Andosol fields. The results of this study suggest that geography relative to soil properties has a simultaneous impact on soil microbial and nematode community compositions. This is the first combined profile analysis of bacteria, fungi and nematodes at different sites with agricultural Andosols. PMID:22223474

Combined analyses of bacterial, fungal and nematode communities in andosolic agricultural soils in Japan.

PubMed

Bao, Zhihua; Ikunaga, Yoko; Matsushita, Yuko; Morimoto, Sho; Takada-Hoshino, Yuko; Okada, Hiroaki; Oba, Hirosuke; Takemoto, Shuhei; Niwa, Shigeru; Ohigashi, Kentaro; Suzuki, Chika; Nagaoka, Kazunari; Takenaka, Makoto; Urashima, Yasufumi; Sekiguchi, Hiroyuki; Kushida, Atsuhiko; Toyota, Koki; Saito, Masanori; Tsushima, Seiya

2012-01-01

We simultaneously examined the bacteria, fungi and nematode communities in Andosols from four agro-geographical sites in Japan using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) and statistical analyses to test the effects of environmental factors including soil properties on these communities depending on geographical sites. Statistical analyses such as Principal component analysis (PCA) and Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the compositions of the three soil biota communities were strongly affected by geographical sites, which were in turn strongly associated with soil characteristics such as total C (TC), total N (TN), C/N ratio and annual mean soil temperature (ST). In particular, the TC, TN and C/N ratio had stronger effects on bacterial and fungal communities than on the nematode community. Additionally, two-way cluster analysis using the combined DGGE profile also indicated that all soil samples were classified into four clusters corresponding to the four sites, showing high site specificity of soil samples, and all DNA bands were classified into four clusters, showing the coexistence of specific DGGE bands of bacteria, fungi and nematodes in Andosol fields. The results of this study suggest that geography relative to soil properties has a simultaneous impact on soil microbial and nematode community compositions. This is the first combined profile analysis of bacteria, fungi and nematodes at different sites with agricultural Andosols.

Long-term agricultural fertilization alters arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community composition and barley (Hordeum vulgare) mycorrhizal carbon and phosphorus exchange.

PubMed

Williams, Alwyn; Manoharan, Lokeshwaran; Rosenstock, Nicholas P; Olsson, Pål Axel; Hedlund, Katarina

2017-01-01

Agricultural fertilization significantly affects arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) community composition. However, the functional implications of community shifts are unknown, limiting understanding of the role of AMF in agriculture. We assessed AMF community composition at four sites managed under the same nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer regimes for 55 yr. We also established a glasshouse experiment with the same soils to investigate AMF-barley (Hordeum vulgare) nutrient exchange, using carbon ( 13 C) and 33 P isotopic labelling. N fertilization affected AMF community composition, reducing diversity; P had no effect. In the glasshouse, AMF contribution to plant P declined with P fertilization, but was unaffected by N. Barley C allocation to AMF also declined with P fertilization. As N fertilization increased, C allocation to AMF per unit of P exchanged increased. This occurred with and without P fertilization, and was concomitant with reduced barley biomass. AMF community composition showed no relationship with glasshouse experiment results. The results indicate that plants can reduce C allocation to AMF in response to P fertilization. Under N fertilization, plants allocate an increasing amount of C to AMF and receive relatively less P. This suggests an alteration in the terms of P-C exchange under N fertilization regardless of soil P status. © 2016 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2016 New Phytologist Trust.

Microbial Community of High Arsenic Groundwater in Agricultural Irrigation Area of Hetao Plain, Inner Mongolia

PubMed Central

Wang, Yanhong; Li, Ping; Jiang, Zhou; Sinkkonen, Aki; Wang, Shi; Tu, Jin; Wei, Dazhun; Dong, Hailiang; Wang, Yanxin

2016-01-01

Microbial communities can play important role in arsenic release in groundwater aquifers. To investigate the microbial communities in high arsenic groundwater aquifers in agricultural irrigation area, 17 groundwater samples with different arsenic concentrations were collected along the agricultural drainage channels of Hangjinhouqi County, Inner Mongolia and examined by illumina MiSeq sequencing approach targeting the V4 region of the 16S rRNA genes. Both principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering results indicated that these samples were divided into two groups (high and low arsenic groups) according to the variation of geochemical characteristics. Arsenic concentrations showed strongly positive correlations with NH4+ and total organic carbon (TOC). Sequencing results revealed that a total of 329–2823 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were observed at the 97% OTU level. Microbial richness and diversity of high arsenic groundwater samples along the drainage channels were lower than those of low arsenic groundwater samples but higher than those of high arsenic groundwaters from strongly reducing areas. The microbial community structure in groundwater along the drainage channels was different from those in strongly reducing arsenic-rich aquifers of Hetao Plain and other high arsenic groundwater aquifers including Bangladesh, West Bengal, and Vietnam. Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas dominated with high percentages in both high and low arsenic groundwaters. Alishewanella, Psychrobacter, Methylotenera, and Crenothrix showed relatively high abundances in high arsenic groundwater, while Rheinheimera and the unidentified OP3 were predominant populations in low arsenic groundwater. Archaeal populations displayed a low occurrence and mainly dominated by methanogens such as Methanocorpusculum and Methanospirillum. Microbial community compositions were different between high and low arsenic groundwater samples based on the results of principal coordinate

Policy Issues for Education in General Agriculture in UK Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whittemore, C. T.

1996-01-01

At present, substantial research funding for agriculture departments in British research universities is not forthcoming. Present policies could widen the divide between pure and applied sciences and between scientific education for agricultural scientists and technical education for agricultural generalists. (SK)

Crop monoculture rather than agriculture reduces the spatial turnover of soil bacterial communities at a regional scale.

PubMed

Figuerola, Eva L M; Guerrero, Leandro D; Türkowsky, Dominique; Wall, Luis G; Erijman, Leonardo

2015-03-01

The goal of this study was to investigate the spatial turnover of soil bacterial communities in response to environmental changes introduced by the practices of soybean monoculture or crop rotations, relative to grassland soils. Amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was used to analyse bacterial diversity in producer fields through three successive cropping cycles within one and a half years, across a regional scale of the Argentinean Pampas. Unlike local diversity, which was not significantly affected by land use type, agricultural management had a strong influence on β-diversity patterns. Distributions of pairwise distances between all soils samples under soybean monoculture had significantly lower β-diversity and narrower breadth compared with distributions of pairwise distances between soils managed with crop rotation. Interestingly, good agricultural practices had similar degree of β-diversity as natural grasslands. The higher phylogenetic relatedness of bacterial communities in soils under monoculture across the region was likely determined by the observed loss of endemic species, and affected mostly to phyla with low regional diversity, such as Acidobacteria, Verrucomicrobia and the candidates phyla SPAM and WS3. These results suggest that the implementation of good agricultural practices, including crop rotation, may be critical for the long-term conservation of soil biodiversity. © 2014 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

"Something good can grow here": chicago urban agriculture food projects.

PubMed

Hatchett, Lena; Brown, Loretta; Hopkins, Joan; Larsen, Kelly; Fournier, Eliza

2015-01-01

Food security is a challenge facing many African-American low-income communities nationally. Community and university partners have established urban agriculture programs to improve access to high quality affordable fruits and vegetables by growing, distributing, and selling food in urban neighborhoods. While the challenge of food security is within communities of color, few studies have described these urban agriculture programs and documented their impact on the crew members who work in the programs and live in the low-income communities. More information is needed on the program impact for crew and community health promotion. Using a survey and focus group discussion from the crew and staff we describe the program and activities of four Chicago Urban Agriculture programs. We summarized the impact these programs have on crew members' perception of urban agriculture, health habits, community engagement, and community health promotion in low-income African-American neighborhoods.

Martin Luther King, Jr., General Hospital and community involvement.

PubMed

Humphrey, M M

1973-07-01

Community involvement is not just one facet of the new Martin Luther King, Jr., General Hospital's existence. It is the mainstream from which all other activities flow. In addition to meeting the conventional needs of a conventional hospital staff with the core collection of texts and journals, this library goes one step further. It acts as a resource for its community health workers, dietitians, and nurses in their various outreach programs. It serves as a stimulus for the high school or community college student who may be curious about a health career. It also finds time to provide reading material for its patients.

Toward a Comprehensive Hypothesis of Chronic Interstitial Nephritis in Agricultural Communities.

PubMed

Orantes-Navarro, Carlos Manuel; Herrera-Valdés, Raúl; Almaguer-López, Miguel; López-Marín, Laura; Vela-Parada, Xavier Fernando; Hernandez-Cuchillas, Marcelo; Barba, Lilly M

2017-03-01

Over the past 20 years, there has been an increase in chronic interstitial nephritis in agricultural communities (CINAC) not associated with traditional risk factors. This disease has become an important public health problem and is observed in several countries in Central America and Asia. CINAC predominantly affects young male farmers between the third and fifth decades of life with women, children, and adolescents less often affected. Clinically, CINAC behaves like a chronic tubulointerstitial nephropathy but with systemic manifestations not attributable to kidney disease. Kidney biopsy reveals chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis with variable glomerulosclerosis and mild chronic vascular damage, with the severity depending on sex, occupation, and CKD stage. The presence of toxicological, occupational, and environmental risk factors within these communities suggests a multifactorial etiology for CINAC. This may include exposure to agrochemicals, a contaminated environment, repeated episodes of dehydration with heat stress, and an underlying genetic predisposition. An understanding of these interacting factors using a multidisciplinary approach with international cooperation and the formulation of a comprehensive hypothesis are essential for the development of public health programs to prevent this devastating epidemic. Copyright © 2016 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Ecological agriculture: future of agriculture for Chinese material medica].

PubMed

Guo, Lan-Ping; Wang, Tie-Lin; Yang, Wan-Zhen; Zhou, Liang-Yun; Chen, Nai-Fu; Han, Bang-Xing; Huang, Lu-Qi

2017-01-01

The ecological agriculture of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is generally acknowledged as the most advanced agricultural mode. However, it's still a doubt whether ecological agriculture could be widely applied in TCM agriculture. In this study, we first analyze both the differences and relationships between ecological and organic agriculture, which suggesting that ecological agriculture does not need all the inputs as traditional agriculture. After introducing the situation of ecological agriculture from all across the world, we analyze the differences and characteristics between ecological and chemical agricultures. Considered with the big challenge caused by chemical agriculture, we pointed out that ecological agriculture could definitely replace chemical agriculture. Last but not the least, combined with the situation and problems of Chinese agriculture, we analyze the distinctive advantages of TCM ecological agriculture from 3 aspects as its unique quality characteristics, its unique habitat requirements in production and its unique application and market characteristics, respectively. In conclusion, ecological agriculture is the straight way of TCM agriculture. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Perspectives on impacts of water quality on agriculture and community well-being-a key informant study from Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Thoradeniya, Bhadranie; Pinto, Uthpala; Maheshwari, Basant

2017-11-04

Integrated management of water quality is critical for sustaining food production and achieving overall well-being of a community. Further, understanding people's perceptions and engagement can play an important role in achieving water and food security. The main aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of community and other stakeholders as to how water quality impacts on agriculture, livelihood and community well-being within rural farming communities of two dry zone districts of Sri Lanka. The study adopted 'key informant interviews' as the methodology to investigate community and other stakeholder perspectives to collect primary data over a period of four months. The interview contents were then examined using a frequency matrix and graphed using an Excel graphing tool. The raw text was also analysed to understand the broader patterns in the text. A fuzzy logic cognitive map (FCM) was developed using the relationships between various concepts and linkages provided by the key informants. All key informants were concerned with the quality of drinking water they consume and the water used for their food preparation. Key informants representing the farming community indicated that the use of poor quality groundwater with higher levels of hardness has made growing crops difficult in the region. The key informants also identified extensive and ongoing use of agro-chemicals and fertilisers as a major source of pollution in water bodies in both spatio-temporal scale. Based on key informant interviews, possible initiatives that can help improve surface water and groundwater qualities for both drinking and agricultural use in the dry zone of Sri Lanka can be categorised into four broader themes, viz., provision of filtering/treatment systems, reduction in the use of agro-chemical and fertilisers, education of community stakeholders and support of alternative options for portable water supplies. The study indicates that in the key informants' view of

Year-round shotgun metagenomes reveal stable microbial communities in agricultural soils and novel ammonia oxidizers responding to fertilization.

PubMed

Orellana, Luis H; Chee-Sanford, Joanne C; Sanford, Robert A; Löffler, Frank E; Konstantinidis, Konstantinos T

2017-11-03

The dynamics of individual microbial populations and their gene functions in agricultural soils, especially after major activities such as nitrogen (N) fertilization, remain elusive but are important for better understanding nutrient cycling. Here, we analyzed 20 short-read metagenomes collected at four time points across one year from two depths (0-5 and 20-30 cm) in two Midwestern agricultural sites representing contrasting soil textures (sandy versus silty-loam), with similar cropping histories. Although microbial community taxonomic and functional compositions differed between the two locations and depths, they were more stable within a depth/site throughout the year than communities in natural water-based ecosystems. For example, among the 69 population genomes assembled from the metagenomes, 75% showed less than 2-fold change in abundance between any two sampling points. Interestingly, six deep-branching Thaumarchaeota and three complete ammonia oxidizer (comammox) Nitrospira populations increased up to 5-fold in abundance upon the addition of N fertilizer. These results indicated that indigenous archaeal ammonia oxidizers may respond faster (more copiotrophic) to N fertilization than previously thought. None of 29 recovered putative denitrifier genomes encoded the complete denitrification pathway, suggesting that denitrification is carried out by a collection of different populations. Altogether, our study identified novel microbial populations and genes responding to seasonal and human-induced perturbations in agricultural soils that should facilitate future monitoring efforts and N-related studies. Importance Even though the impact of agricultural management on the microbial community structure has already been recognized, understanding of the dynamics of individual microbial populations and what functions each population encodes are limited. Yet, this information is important for better understanding nutrient cycling, with potentially important

Long-term historical analysis of benthic communities and physical habitat in an agricultural stream in California's San Joaquin River watershed.

PubMed

Hall, Lenwood W; Killen, William D; Alden, Raymond

2009-05-01

This study was designed to characterize long-term annual temporal and spatial trends (2001 to 2007) in physical habitat and benthic communities and to determine relationships of habitat and benthic communities during this 7-year period in an agricultural stream in the San Joaquin River watershed in California (Del Puerto Creek). The canonical discriminant analysis indicated that there were no overall significant temporal patterns for the habitat metrics although spatial patterns were prominent for nearly all the habitat metrics. Channel alteration, riparian vegetative zone, bank stability, vegetative protection and frequency of riffles/bends were the primary habitat metrics associated with these site effects. Approximately 3,700 to 4,500 individual macroinvertebrates were picked and identified from five Del Puerto Creek sites sampled annually from 2001 to 2007. The total number of taxa by year ranged from 81 in 2003 to 106 in 2007. These benthic assemblages were generally comprised of tolerant to moderately tolerant taxa such as blackflies, oligochaetes, snails and chironomids. The metrics % predators, % EPT index, % collectors/filterers and % shredders were the benthic metrics that were most associated with the temporal effects. Ephemeroptera taxa, trichoptera taxa, and % sensitive EPT index were the benthic metrics that were most associated with the site effects. The most upstream site in Del Puerto Creek had the most robust and healthy benthic communites. Strong statistical relationships were reported between certain benthic metrics and habitat metrics. Overall, samples taken from site-year combinations with sediments that were qualitatively less muddy (less fines) and that had higher habitat metric scores for embeddedness, riparian vegetative zone, and channel alteration tended to have benthic communities characterized by higher values of the benthic metrics such as EPT taxa, Ephemeroptera taxa, EPT index, abundance, and taxonomic richness, among others

Spider diversity in coffee agroecosystems: the influence of agricultural intensification and aggressive ants.

PubMed

Marín, Linda; Perfecto, Ivette

2013-04-01

Spiders are a very diverse group of invertebrate predators found in agroecosystems and natural systems. However, spider distribution, abundance, and eventually their ecological function in ecosystems can be influenced by abiotic and biotic factors such as agricultural intensification and dominant ants. Here we explore the influence of both agricultural intensification and the dominant arboreal ant Azteca instabilis on the spider community in coffee agroecosystems in southern Mexico. To measure the influence of the arboreal ant Azteca instabilis (F. Smith) on the spider community inhabiting the coffee layer of coffee agroecosystems, spiders were collected from coffee plants that were and were not patrolled by the ant in sites differing in agricultural intensification. For 2008, generalized linear mixed models showed that spider diversity was affected positively by agricultural intensification but not by the ant. However, results suggested that some spider species were associated with A. instabilis. Therefore, in 2009 we concentrated our research on the effect of A. instabilis on spider diversity and composition. For 2009, generalized linear mixed models show that spider richness and abundance per plant were significantly higher in the presence of A. instabilis. In addition, analyses of visual counts of insects and sticky traps data show that more resources were present in plants patrolled by the ant. The positive effect of A. instabilis on spiders seems to be caused by at least two mechanisms: high abundance of insects and protection against predators.

40 CFR 161.55 - Agricultural vs. non-agricultural pesticides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... pesticides. 161.55 Section 161.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL PESTICIDES General Provisions § 161.55 Agricultural vs. non-agricultural pesticides. Section 25(a)(1) of FIFRA instructs the...

40 CFR 161.55 - Agricultural vs. non-agricultural pesticides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... pesticides. 161.55 Section 161.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL PESTICIDES General Provisions § 161.55 Agricultural vs. non-agricultural pesticides. Section 25(a)(1) of FIFRA instructs the...

40 CFR 161.55 - Agricultural vs. non-agricultural pesticides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... pesticides. 161.55 Section 161.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL PESTICIDES General Provisions § 161.55 Agricultural vs. non-agricultural pesticides. Section 25(a)(1) of FIFRA instructs the...

Knowledge, perceptions and practices of farming communities on linkages between malaria and agriculture in Mvomero District, Tanzania.

PubMed

Mboera, Leonard E G; Shayo, Elizabeth H; Senkoro, Kesheni P; Rumisha, Susan F; Mlozi, Malongo R S; Mayala, Benjamin K

2010-02-01

This study was carried out to determine knowledge, perceptions and practices of farming communities on linkages between agriculture and malaria in Mvomero District in Tanzania. A total of 661 adult males and females were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Most respondents (85.6%) were engaged in crop production. Significantly, a larger proportion (55.2%) of the respondents had primary school education (P<0.001). Majority (88.2%) respondents described malaria as the most important public health problem. However, only 48.2% of the respondents had high knowledge of malaria. The level of knowledge on malaria was associated with level of education of the respondent. Those who had attended at least primary school education were more knowledgeable that those without formal education. A significantly larger proportion (67%) of the respondents experienced most malaria episodes during the rainy season (P<0.001). Respondents with low knowledge on malaria experienced 2.3 times more malaria cases in their households than those with higher knowledge. Respondents with low knowledge preferred to seek care from health facilities (OR: 7.28) than those with high knowledge (OR: 0.15). Rice farming was significantly associated with malaria transmission compared to either maize or sugarcane farming (P<0.001). Cattle, sheep and goats were the domestic animals most frequently incriminated to create aquatic habitats for mosquito breeding. Householders with formal education (OR: 4.6, CI: 1.33-15.89, P-value=0.016) and higher knowledge (OR: 1.7, CI: 1.15-2.55, P-value=0.008) reported to incur large losses when having a malaria case than those without education/low knowledge. Majority (60.2%) of the respondent owned at least an insecticide treated mosquito net (ITN). Respondents with higher knowledge of malaria were likely to own at least an ITN than those with low knowledge (P<0.001). In conclusion, the knowledge on malaria and its linkage with agriculture among farming

Martin Luther King, Jr., General Hospital and, Community Involvement

PubMed Central

Humphrey, M. Moss

1973-01-01

Community involvement is not just one facet of the new Martin Luther King, Jr., General Hospital's existence. It is the mainstream from which all other activities flow. In addition to meeting the conventional needs of a conventional hospital staff with the core collection of texts and journals, this library goes one step further. It acts as a resource for its community health workers, dietitians, and nurses in their various outreach programs. It serves as a stimulus for the high school or community college student who may be curious about a health career. It also finds time to provide reading material for its patients. PMID:4725343

Vocational Agriculture Computer Handbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kentucky State Dept. of Education, Frankfort.

This document is a catalog of reviews of computer software suitable for use in vocational agriculture programs. The reviews were made by vocational agriculture teachers in Kentucky. The reviews cover software on the following topics: farm management, crop production, livestock production, horticulture, agricultural mechanics, general agriculture,…

40 CFR 161.55 - Agricultural vs. non-agricultural pesticides.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Agricultural vs. non-agricultural pesticides. 161.55 Section 161.55 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL PESTICIDES General Provisions § 161...

Agriculture and Provincial Reconstruction Teams: Assessing the Effectiveness of Agricultural Advisor Projects in Afghanistan

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-11

employment in nonfarm sectors of the economy. Thus, agricultural development can contribute to the education of a rural population and assist the movement...categorized according to the ANDS objectives. In the ANDS, the four expected outcomes of the Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Strategy are: (1...States (U.S.) government, the U.S. Army, and the international community have identified rural and agricultural development as key components of long

Mapping and determinism of soil microbial community distribution across an agricultural landscape

PubMed Central

Constancias, Florentin; Terrat, Sébastien; Saby, Nicolas P A; Horrigue, Walid; Villerd, Jean; Guillemin, Jean-Philippe; Biju-Duval, Luc; Nowak, Virginie; Dequiedt, Samuel; Ranjard, Lionel; Chemidlin Prévost-Bouré, Nicolas

2015-01-01

Despite the relevance of landscape, regarding the spatial patterning of microbial communities and the relative influence of environmental parameters versus human activities, few investigations have been conducted at this scale. Here, we used a systematic grid to characterize the distribution of soil microbial communities at 278 sites across a monitored agricultural landscape of 13 km². Molecular microbial biomass was estimated by soil DNA recovery and bacterial diversity by 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. Geostatistics provided the first maps of microbial community at this scale and revealed a heterogeneous but spatially structured distribution of microbial biomass and diversity with patches of several hundreds of meters. Variance partitioning revealed that both microbial abundance and bacterial diversity distribution were highly dependent of soil properties and land use (total variance explained ranged between 55% and 78%). Microbial biomass and bacterial richness distributions were mainly explained by soil pH and texture whereas bacterial evenness distribution was mainly related to land management. Bacterial diversity (richness, evenness, and Shannon index) was positively influenced by cropping intensity and especially by soil tillage, resulting in spots of low microbial diversity in soils under forest management. Spatial descriptors also explained a small but significant portion of the microbial distribution suggesting that landscape configuration also shapes microbial biomass and bacterial diversity. PMID:25833770

Mapping and determinism of soil microbial community distribution across an agricultural landscape.

PubMed

Constancias, Florentin; Terrat, Sébastien; Saby, Nicolas P A; Horrigue, Walid; Villerd, Jean; Guillemin, Jean-Philippe; Biju-Duval, Luc; Nowak, Virginie; Dequiedt, Samuel; Ranjard, Lionel; Chemidlin Prévost-Bouré, Nicolas

2015-06-01

Despite the relevance of landscape, regarding the spatial patterning of microbial communities and the relative influence of environmental parameters versus human activities, few investigations have been conducted at this scale. Here, we used a systematic grid to characterize the distribution of soil microbial communities at 278 sites across a monitored agricultural landscape of 13 km². Molecular microbial biomass was estimated by soil DNA recovery and bacterial diversity by 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. Geostatistics provided the first maps of microbial community at this scale and revealed a heterogeneous but spatially structured distribution of microbial biomass and diversity with patches of several hundreds of meters. Variance partitioning revealed that both microbial abundance and bacterial diversity distribution were highly dependent of soil properties and land use (total variance explained ranged between 55% and 78%). Microbial biomass and bacterial richness distributions were mainly explained by soil pH and texture whereas bacterial evenness distribution was mainly related to land management. Bacterial diversity (richness, evenness, and Shannon index) was positively influenced by cropping intensity and especially by soil tillage, resulting in spots of low microbial diversity in soils under forest management. Spatial descriptors also explained a small but significant portion of the microbial distribution suggesting that landscape configuration also shapes microbial biomass and bacterial diversity. © 2015 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-30

State for Women’s Affairs: Ibtehal al-Zeiday Party: Dawa Minister of Tourism and Antiquities: Liwa Smeisim Party: Sadrist Trend Minister of Finance...Iraqi academic community Governance Strengthening Project This quarter, USAID was in the final stages of awarding a contract to implement the Gover ...industries: Hydrocarbon extraction, light industry, agriculture, tourism , and trade U.S. Presence Diplomatic: Consulate General in Erbil Total U.S

Analysis of microbial community variation during the mixed culture fermentation of agricultural peel wastes to produce lactic acid.

PubMed

Liang, Shaobo; Gliniewicz, Karol; Gerritsen, Alida T; McDonald, Armando G

2016-05-01

Mixed cultures fermentation can be used to convert organic wastes into various chemicals and fuels. This study examined the fermentation performance of four batch reactors fed with different agricultural (orange, banana, and potato (mechanical and steam)) peel wastes using mixed cultures, and monitored the interval variation of reactor microbial communities with 16S rRNA genes using Illumina sequencing. All four reactors produced similar chemical profile with lactic acid (LA) as dominant compound. Acetic acid and ethanol were also observed with small fractions. The Illumina sequencing results revealed the diversity of microbial community decreased during fermentation and a community of largely lactic acid producing bacteria dominated by species of Lactobacillus developed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sentinel monitoring of general community health during the 1998 World Football Cup.

PubMed

Hanslik, T; Espinoza, P; Boelle, P Y; Cantin-Bertaux, D; Gallichon, B; Quendez, S; Aïm, J L; Retel, O; Ballereau, M; Gorodetzky, N; Flahault, A

2001-04-01

Present knowledge of the consequences of mass gatherings for the health of the community is scant. Our objective was to determine the impact of the 1998 World Football Cup on general community health. We set up an electronic sentinel disease surveillance, before, during and after the World Football Cup tournament held in France from June 10 to July 12, 1998. Medical activity, and the daily number of cases of communicable, environmental, and societal diseases relating to mass gatherings were surveyed. The incidence of the pathologies surveyed in real time during and after the World Cup versus the pre-Cup reference period was the main outcome measure. Five sentinel networks participated, comprising 553 general practitioners, 60 hospital adult emergency departments, 19 private emergency community services, 4 community health centres, and the medical centre of the Paris airports. Throughout the 66-day study period, physicians reported 558,829 medical encounters via 21,532 connections to the computer. Compared to the reference period, the level of medical activity reflected by the pathological items surveyed remained stable during the study period. The 1998 World Football Cup had no epidemiological impact on general community health, as observed by sentinel networks located downstream of the specific health services provided by the French authorities to ensure high standards of safety.

Soil and geography are more important determinants of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal communities than management practices in Swiss agricultural soils.

PubMed

Jansa, Jan; Erb, Angela; Oberholzer, Hans-Rudolf; Smilauer, Petr; Egli, Simon

2014-04-01

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous soil fungi, forming mutualistic symbiosis with a majority of terrestrial plant species. They are abundant in nearly all soils, less diverse than soil prokaryotes and other intensively studied soil organisms and thus are promising candidates for universal indicators of land management legacies and soil quality degradation. However, insufficient data on how the composition of indigenous AMF varies along soil and landscape gradients have hampered the definition of baselines and effect thresholds to date. Here, indigenous AMF communities in 154 agricultural soils collected across Switzerland were profiled by quantitative real-time PCR with taxon-specific markers for six widespread AMF species. To identify the key determinants of AMF community composition, the profiles were related to soil properties, land management and site geography. Our results indicate a number of well-supported dependencies between abundances of certain AMF taxa and soil properties such as pH, soil fertility and texture, and a surprising lack of effect of available soil phosphorus on the AMF community profiles. Site geography, especially the altitude and large geographical distance, strongly affected AMF communities. Unexpected was the apparent lack of a strong land management effect on the AMF communities as compared to the other predictors, which could be due to the rarity of highly intensive and unsustainable land management in Swiss agriculture. In spite of the extensive coverage of large geographical and soil gradients, we did not identify any taxon suitable as an indicator of land use among the six taxa we studied. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A small-scale land-sparing approach to conserving biological diversity in tropical agricultural landscapes.

PubMed

Chandler, Richard B; King, David I; Raudales, Raul; Trubey, Richard; Chandler, Carlin; Chávez, Víctor Julio Arce

2013-08-01

Two contrasting strategies have been proposed for conserving biological diversity while meeting the increasing demand for agricultural products: land sparing and land sharing production systems. Land sparing involves increasing yield to reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture, whereas land-sharing agricultural practices incorporate elements of native ecosystems into the production system itself. Although the conservation value of these systems has been extensively debated, empirical studies are lacking. We compared bird communities in shade coffee, a widely practiced land-sharing system in which shade trees are maintained within the coffee plantation, with bird communities in a novel, small-scale, land-sparing coffee-production system (integrated open canopy or IOC coffee) in which farmers obtain higher yields under little or no shade while conserving an area of forest equal to the area under cultivation. Species richness and diversity of forest-dependent birds were higher in the IOC coffee farms than in the shade coffee farms, and community composition was more similar between IOC coffee and primary forest than between shade coffee and primary forest. Our study represents the first empirical comparison of well-defined land sparing and land sharing production systems. Because IOC coffee farms can be established by allowing forest to regenerate on degraded land, widespread adoption of this system could lead to substantial increases in forest cover and carbon sequestration without compromising agricultural yield or threatening the livelihoods of traditional small farmers. However, we studied small farms (<5 ha); thus, our results may not generalize to large-scale land-sharing systems. Furthermore, rather than concluding that land sparing is generally superior to land sharing, we suggest that the optimal approach depends on the crop, local climate, and existing land-use patterns. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Microbial Community Structure and Enzyme Activities in Semiarid Agricultural Soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acosta-Martinez, V. A.; Zobeck, T. M.; Gill, T. E.; Kennedy, A. C.

2002-12-01

The effect of agricultural management practices on the microbial community structure and enzyme activities of semiarid soils of different textures in the Southern High Plains of Texas were investigated. The soils (sandy clay loam, fine sandy loam and loam) were under continuous cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) or in rotations with peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) or wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and had different water management (irrigated or dryland) and tillage (conservation or conventional). Microbial community structure was investigated using fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis by gas chromatography and enzyme activities, involved in C, N, P and S cycling of soils, were measured (mg product released per kg soil per h). The activities of b-glucosidase, b-glucosaminidase, alkaline phosphatase, and arylsulfatase were significantly (P<0.05) increased in soils under cotton rotated with sorghum or wheat, and due to conservation tillage in comparison to continuous cotton under conventional tillage. Principal component analysis showed FAME profiles of these soils separated distinctly along PC1 (20 %) and PC2 (13 %) due to their differences in soil texture and management. No significant differences were detected in FAME profiles due to management practices for the same soils in this sampling period. Enzyme activities provide early indications of the benefits in microbial populations and activities and soil organic matter under crop rotations and conservation tillage in comparison to the typical practices in semiarid regions of continuous cotton and conventional tillage.

Influence of biochar on heavy metals and microbial community during composting of river sediment with agricultural wastes.

PubMed

Chen, Yaoning; Liu, Yao; Li, Yuanping; Wu, Yanxin; Chen, Yanrong; Zeng, Guangming; Zhang, Jiachao; Li, Hui

2017-11-01

Studies were performed to evaluate influence of biochar addition on physico-chemical process, heavy metals transformation and bacterial community diversity during composting of sediment with agricultural wastes. Simultaneously, the relationships between those parameters including heavy metals and bacterial community compositions were evaluated by redundancy analysis (RDA). The results show that the extraction efficiency of DTPA extractable heavy metals decreased in both piles, and reduced more in pile with biochar addition about 0.1-2.96%. Biochar addition dramatically influenced the bacterial community structure during the composting process. Moreover, the bacterial community composition was significantly correlated with C/N ratio, water soluble carbon (WSC), and organic matter (OM) (P<0.05) in pile with biochar addition; while significantly correlated with temperature, WSC, and C/N ratio in pile which was free of biochar. This study would provide some valuable information for improving the composting for disposal of river sediment with heavy metals contamination. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring and Examining General Self-Efficacy among Community College Students: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Yu; Starobin, Soko S.

2018-01-01

This study examined a psychosocial mechanism of how general self-efficacy interacts with other key factors and influences degree aspiration for students enrolled in an urban diverse community college. Using general self-efficacy scales, the authors hypothesized the General Self-efficacy model for Community College students (the GSE-CC model). A…

Spatial variation in the bacterial and denitrifying bacterial community in a biofilter treating subsurface agricultural drainage.

PubMed

Andrus, J Malia; Porter, Matthew D; Rodríguez, Luis F; Kuehlhorn, Timothy; Cooke, Richard A C; Zhang, Yuanhui; Kent, Angela D; Zilles, Julie L

2014-02-01

Denitrifying biofilters can remove agricultural nitrates from subsurface drainage, reducing nitrate pollution that contributes to coastal hypoxic zones. The performance and reliability of natural and engineered systems dependent upon microbially mediated processes, such as the denitrifying biofilters, can be affected by the spatial structure of their microbial communities. Furthermore, our understanding of the relationship between microbial community composition and function is influenced by the spatial distribution of samples.In this study we characterized the spatial structure of bacterial communities in a denitrifying biofilter in central Illinois. Bacterial communities were assessed using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis for bacteria and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism of nosZ for denitrifying bacteria.Non-metric multidimensional scaling and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) analyses indicated that bacteria showed statistically significant spatial structure by depth and transect,while denitrifying bacteria did not exhibit significant spatial structure. For determination of spatial patterns, we developed a package of automated functions for the R statistical environment that allows directional analysis of microbial community composition data using either ANOSIM or Mantel statistics.Applying this package to the biofilter data, the flow path correlation range for the bacterial community was 6.4 m at the shallower, periodically in undated depth and 10.7 m at the deeper, continually submerged depth. These spatial structures suggest a strong influence of hydrology on the microbial community composition in these denitrifying biofilters. Understanding such spatial structure can also guide optimal sample collection strategies for microbial community analyses.

[Promotion of community-based care in Africa: example of community general practice in Benin].

PubMed

Caplain, Roland; Yacoubou, Ismaïl; Adedemy, Didier; Sani, Alidou; Takam, Sandrine; Desplats, Dominique

2014-01-01

Considerable effort has been made to provide rural African populations with basic health care, but the quality of this care remains unsatisfactory due to the absence of first-line GPs. This is a paradoxical situation in view of the large number of physicians trained in medical schools in French-speaking Africa and Madagascar. of the lack of GPs working in rural areas is a real concern, as many young doctors remain unemployed in cities. For more than 20 years, the NGO Santé Sud has proposed a Community General Medicine concept, which, combined with a support system, has allowed the installation of more than 200 community GPs in Mali and Madagascar. The advantage of this concept is that it provides family medicine and primary health care in the same practice. Since 2009, Santé Sud supports an installation project in rural areas of northern Benin, where community GPs work independently, as a complementary partner of the public sector. Since 2013, the installation process comprises a university degree created with the University of Parakou Faculty of Medicine. Based on this experience in Benin, the authors show that the presence of a first-line general practitioner is an original strategy that provides a major contribution to health promotion : reducing health inequalities between rural and urban populations, allowing women to receive medically assisted childbirth close to home, developing family planning activities, education and health care for chronic diseases, strengthening health coverage by participating in vaccination campaigns, etc. Due to their functions and proximity, community GPs represent an added value for health promotion.

Tracking environmental dynamics and agricultural intensification in southern Mali

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tappan, G. Gray; McGahuey, M.

2007-01-01

The Office de la Haute Vallée du Fleuve Niger (OHVN) zone in southern Mali is a small but important agricultural production region. Against a background of environmental degradation including decades of declining rainfall, soil erosion, and human pressure on forest resources, numerous farming communities stand out through the use of improved soil and water management practices that have improved agricultural and environmental conditions. Field surveys conducted in 1998–2001 indicated that environmental and agricultural conditions have improved in the past decade. In an effort to better quantify environmental trends, we conducted a study using medium- and high-resolution remotely sensed images from 1965 to 2001 in order to analyze land use and land cover trends in 21 village territories. The trends show clear indications of agricultural intensification and diversification among villages that have received assistance from the OHVN agricultural development agency. Some communities have improved environmental conditions by protecting their forest resources through community management actions. Four decades of remotely sensed images played a practical role in tracking and quantifying environmental and agricultural conditions over time.

Community supported agriculture programs: a novel venue for theory-based health behavior change interventions.

PubMed

Wharton, Christopher M; Hughner, Renee Shaw; MacMillan, Lexi; Dumitrescu, Claudia

2015-01-01

Local foods programs such as community supported agriculture programs (CSAs) and farmers' markets have increased greatly in popularity. However, little research has been conducted regarding the effect of involvement in local foods programs on diet-related attitudes and behaviors. A series of focus groups was conducted to identify the motives that propel individuals to join a CSA, the experiences of belonging to a CSA, and the diet-related outcomes of CSA membership. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a framework to categorize findings, data suggest the potential of CSAs as a viable intervention strategy for promoting healthful diets and behaviors.

Young Agricultural Workers in California.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arroyo, Michele Gonzalez; Kurre, Laura

This report examines the extent to which young people work in California agriculture and describes work-related hazards and injuries among young agricultural workers. Data were gathered through a literature review; discussion groups with parents, community groups, and English-as-a-second-language students in the San Joaquin Valley; surveys of 295…

Oregon Agriculture II Curriculum Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oregon State Univ., Corvallis. Dept. of Agricultural Education.

Developed as a guide for use by vocational agricultural teachers in preparing curriculum to meet local community/regional needs, this package provides materials for a course on production agriculture and agribusiness occupations. The purpose of the course is to provide 10th grade students with fundamental concepts and skills necessary to explore…

[Ecological agriculture: future of Good Agriculture Practice of Chinese materia medica].

PubMed

Guo, Lan-ping; Zhou, Liang-yun; Mo, Ge; Wang, Sheng; Huang, Lu-qi

2015-09-01

Based on the ecological and economic problems in Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) of Chinese material medica, we introduced the origin, concept, features and operative technology of eco-agriculture worldwide, emphasizing its modes on different biological levels of landscape, ecosystem, community, population, individual and gene in China. And on this basis, we analyzed the background and current situation of eco-agriculture of Chinese materia medica, and proposed its development ideas and key tasks, including: (1) Analysis and planning of the production pattern of Chinese material medica national wide. (2) Typical features extraction of regional agriculture of Chinese materia medica. (3) Investigation of the interaction and its mechanism between typical Chinese materia medica in each region and the micro-ecology of rhizosphere soil. (4) Study on technology of eco-agriculture of Chinese materia medica. (5) Extraction and solidification of eco-agriculture modes of Chinese materia medica. (6) Study on the theory of eco-agriculture of Chinese materia medica. Also we pointed out that GAP and eco-agriculture of Chinese material medica are both different and relative, but they are not contradictory with their own features. It is an irresistible trend to promote eco-agriculture in the GAP of Chinese material medica and coordinate ecological and economic development.

General surgery graduates may be ill prepared to enter rural or community surgical practice.

PubMed

Gillman, Lawrence M; Vergis, Ashley

2013-06-01

Rural/community surgery presents unique challenges to general surgeons. Not only are they required to perform "classic" general surgery procedures, but they are also often expected to be competent in other surgical disciplines. Final-year Canadian-trained residents in general surgery were asked to complete the survey. The survey explored chief residents' career plans for the following year and whether or not they would independently perform various procedures, some general surgical, and others now considered within the domain of the subspecialties. Sixty-four residents (71%) completed the survey. Twenty percent planned to undertake a rural surgical practice, 17% an urban community practice, and 55% had confirmed fellowships. Most residents (>90%) expressed comfort with basic general surgical procedures. However, residents were less comfortable with subspecialty procedures that are still performed by general surgeons in many rural practices. More than half of graduating general surgery residents are choosing subspecialty fellowship training over proceeding directly to practice. Those choosing a rural or community practice are likely to feel ill prepared to replace existing surgeons. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Agriculturally important microbial biofilms: Present status and future prospects.

PubMed

Velmourougane, Kulandaivelu; Prasanna, Radha; Saxena, Anil Kumar

2017-07-01

Microbial biofilms are a fascinating subject, due to their significant roles in the environment, industry, and health. Advances in biochemical and molecular techniques have helped in enhancing our understanding of biofilm structure and development. In the past, research on biofilms primarily focussed on health and industrial sectors; however, lately, biofilms in agriculture are gaining attention due to their immense potential in crop production, protection, and improvement. Biofilms play an important role in colonization of surfaces - soil, roots, or shoots of plants and enable proliferation in the desired niche, besides enhancing soil fertility. Although reports are available on microbial biofilms in general; scanty information is published on biofilm formation by agriculturally important microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, bacterial-fungal) and their interactions in the ecosystem. Better understanding of agriculturally important bacterial-fungal communities and their interactions can have several implications on climate change, soil quality, plant nutrition, plant protection, bioremediation, etc. Understanding the factors and genes involved in biofilm formation will help to develop more effective strategies for sustainable and environment-friendly agriculture. The present review brings together fundamental aspects of biofilms, in relation to their formation, regulatory mechanisms, genes involved, and their application in different fields, with special emphasis on agriculturally important microbial biofilms. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Oregon Agriculture I Curriculum Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oregon State Univ., Corvallis. Dept. of Agricultural Education.

This curriculum package was developed to be used as a guide for high school vocational agriculture teachers in Oregon preparing a curriculum to meet local community/regional needs. A second goal of this curriculum is to eliminate sex-bias or sex-role stereotyping in vocational agriculture classes. The curriculum contains 20 units. Topics covered…

Some Preliminary Findings of Structural Changes in Rural Communities Stemming from the "Farm Crisis." Department of Agricultural Economics Staff Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, Duane A.; And Others

Analysis of secondary data from 1980-85 revealed economic, demographic, social, and psychological effects of the current "farm crisis" on rural communities in Nebraska. Agriculturally dependent counties were found to have a widening income disparity with state and metropolitan county averages, declining retail sales, slower increase in…

General Guide for Community College System Physical Planning. 2nd Printing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mogi, Hitoshi

Part I describes a general outline for producing long range development plans for the Hawaii Community College System. Long-range planning is defined and discussed in terms of basic elements of academic requirements, quality of campus, space requirements, environmental factors, administrative factors, and adjustment factors of the general plans.…

Directing General Education Outcomes. New Directions for Community Colleges, Number 81.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raisman, Neal A., Ed.

1993-01-01

The articles in this collection recommend ways of bringing greater direction and focus to community college general education and thereby enhancing the fulfillment of collegiate missions and augmenting student learning. The sourcebook contains: (1) "Toward a Second Wave of Reform," by Jerry G. Gaff, which reviews the general education reforms of…

General Prospectus of Agricultural Education for Young Men and Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dublin (Ireland).

Designed to acquaint young men and women with the agricultural education programs currently available in Ireland's institutions of vocational and higher education, this prospectus describes the educational requirements, facilities, and programs under the auspices of Ireland's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Specifically, this document…

Cross-Site Soil Microbial Communities under Tillage Regimes: Fungistasis and Microbial Biomarkers

PubMed Central

Yrjälä, Kim; Alakukku, Laura; Palojärvi, Ansa

2012-01-01

The exploitation of soil ecosystem services by agricultural management strategies requires knowledge of microbial communities in different management regimes. Crop cover by no-till management protects the soil surface, reducing the risk of erosion and nutrient leaching, but might increase straw residue-borne and soilborne plant-pathogenic fungi. A cross-site study of soil microbial communities and Fusarium fungistasis was conducted on six long-term agricultural fields with no-till and moldboard-plowed treatments. Microbial communities were studied at the topsoil surface (0 to 5 cm) and bottom (10 to 20 cm) by general bacterial and actinobacterial terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analyses. Fusarium culmorum soil fungistasis describing soil receptivity to plant-pathogenic fungi was explored by using the surface layer method. Soil depth had a significant impact on general bacterial as well as actinobacterial communities and PLFA profiles in no-till treatment, with a clear spatial distinction of communities (P < 0.05), whereas the depth-related separation of microbial communities was not observed in plowed fields. The fungal biomass was higher in no-till surface soil than in plowed soil (P < 0.07). Soil total microbial biomass and fungal biomass correlated with fungistasis (P < 0.02 for the sum of PLFAs; P < 0.001 for PLFA 18:2ω6). Our cross-site study demonstrated that agricultural management strategies can have a major impact on soil microbial community structures, indicating that it is possible to influence the soil processes with management decisions. The interactions between plant-pathogenic fungi and soil microbial communities are multifaceted, and a high level of fungistasis could be linked to the high microbial biomass in soil but not to the specific management strategy. PMID:22983972

Volatile organic compound emissions from straw-amended agricultural soils and their relations to bacterial communities: A laboratory study.

PubMed

Zhao, Juan; Wang, Zhe; Wu, Ting; Wang, Xinming; Dai, Wanhong; Zhang, Yujie; Wang, Ran; Zhang, Yonggan; Shi, Chengfei

2016-07-01

A laboratory study was conducted to investigate volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from agricultural soil amended with wheat straw and their associations with bacterial communities for a period of 66days under non-flooded and flooded conditions. The results indicated that ethene, propene, ethanol, i-propanol, 2-butanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, 2-butanone, 2-pentanone and acetophenone were the 10 most abundant VOCs, making up over 90% of the total VOCs released under the two water conditions. The mean emission of total VOCs from the amended soils under the non-flooded condition (5924ng C/(kg·hr)) was significantly higher than that under the flooded condition (2211ng C/(kg·hr)). One "peak emission window" appeared at days 0-44 or 4-44, and over 95% of the VOC emissions occurred during the first month under the two water conditions. Bacterial community analysis using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) showed that a relative increase of Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and γ-Proteobacteria but a relative decrease of Acidobacteria with time were observed after straw amendments under the two water conditions. Cluster analysis revealed that the soil bacterial communities changed greatly with incubation time, which was in line with the variation of the VOC emissions over the experimental period. Most of the above top 10 VOCs correlated positively with the predominant bacterial species of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Verrucomicrobia but correlated negatively with the dominant bacterial species of Actinobacteria under the two water conditions. These results suggested that bacterial communities might play an important role in VOC emissions from straw-amended agricultural soils. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Socioeconomic Impacts of Agricultural Processing Plants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leistritz, F. Larry; Sell, Randall S.

2001-01-01

Studies in four North Dakota communities that had suffered economic and population decline in the 1980s examined the economic and community impacts of new agricultural processing plants in the late 1990s, including effects on residents' incomes, total and school-age population, needs for day care and community services, housing needs, public…

Climate change, agricultural insecticide exposure, and risk for freshwater communities.

PubMed

Kattwinkel, Mira; Kühne, Jan-Valentin; Foit, Kaarina; Liess, Matthias

2011-09-01

Climate change exerts direct effects on ecosystems but has additional indirect effects due to changes in agricultural practice. These include the increased use of pesticides, changes in the areas that are cultivated, and changes in the crops cultivated. It is well known that pesticides, and in particular insecticides, affect aquatic ecosystems adversely. To implement effective mitigation measures it is necessary to identify areas that are affected currently and those that will be affected in the future. As a consequence, we predicted potential exposure to insecticide (insecticide runoff potential, RP) under current conditions (1990) and under a model scenario of future climate and land use (2090) using a spatially explicit model on a continental scale, with a focus on Europe. Space-for-time substitution was used to predict future levels of insecticide application, intensity of agricultural land use, and cultivated crops. To assess the indirect effects of climate change, evaluation of the risk of insecticide exposure was based on a trait-based, climate-insensitive indicator system (SPEAR, SPEcies At Risk). To this end, RP and landscape characteristics that are relevant for the recovery of affected populations were combined to estimate the ecological risk (ER) of insecticides for freshwater communities. We predicted a strong increase in the application of, and aquatic exposure to, insecticides under the future scenario, especially in central and northern Europe. This, in turn, will result in a severe increase in ER in these regions. Hence, the proportion of stream sites adjacent to arable land that do not meet the requirements for good ecological status as defined by the EU Water Framework Directive will increase (from 33% to 39% for the EU-25 countries), in particular in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries (from 6% to 19%). Such spatially explicit mapping of risk enables the planning of adaptation and mitigation strategies including vegetated buffer strips and

Theme: Trends and Issues Affecting the Future of Agricultural Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agricultural Education Magazine, 2000

2000-01-01

Articles discuss trends and issues in agricultural education, community and technical colleges, career/technical studies, Australian agriculture, agricultural science and technology programs in urban areas, genetic engineering, the impact of changing technologies on agricultural education, volunteers, and performance-based assessment. (JOW)

Community hospitals and general practice: extended attachments for medical students.

PubMed

Grant, J; Ramsay, A; Bain, J

1997-09-01

The first year experience of an innovative experiment in undergraduate medical education is described. The study investigated the educational effectiveness of prolonged clinical attachments for medical undergraduates in community hospital-based general practice. It has also assessed the ability of students to take some responsibility for their own learning in a clinically challenging environment. A retrospective evaluation of the experience obtained during the 3 month attachments for a self-selected group of fourth year Dundee medical school undergraduates was made. These undergraduates were placed in 10 mainly rural Scottish general practices with attached community hospitals providing a wide spectrum of inpatient and outpatient medical and surgical care. Students were assessed on the satisfactory completion of a portfolio of learning experiences and a practical clinical skills list. They were also required to submit a clinical project based on some aspect of their work during the attachment. The initial results showed a high degree of student and tutor satisfaction with the attachments. The assessment of all 10 of the students' educational achievements in their attachment were regarded as satisfactory and two were assessed as outstanding. Tutor assessment confirmed the validity of the initiative. Prolonged attachments in community hospital-based general practice for medical undergraduates have proved educationally valid and popular with both students and tutors. The development and dissemination of this model on a wider scale has resource issues which require to be addressed.

HEALTH AND EXPOSURE RESEARCH FOR THE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY: THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY

EPA Science Inventory

The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) is a collaborative effort between the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The AHS is the...

Intensive agriculture erodes β-diversity at large scales.

PubMed

Karp, Daniel S; Rominger, Andrew J; Zook, Jim; Ranganathan, Jai; Ehrlich, Paul R; Daily, Gretchen C

2012-09-01

Biodiversity is declining from unprecedented land conversions that replace diverse, low-intensity agriculture with vast expanses under homogeneous, intensive production. Despite documented losses of species richness, consequences for β-diversity, changes in community composition between sites, are largely unknown, especially in the tropics. Using a 10-year data set on Costa Rican birds, we find that low-intensity agriculture sustained β-diversity across large scales on a par with forest. In high-intensity agriculture, low local (α) diversity inflated β-diversity as a statistical artefact. Therefore, at small spatial scales, intensive agriculture appeared to retain β-diversity. Unlike in forest or low-intensity systems, however, high-intensity agriculture also homogenised vegetation structure over large distances, thereby decoupling the fundamental ecological pattern of bird communities changing with geographical distance. This ~40% decline in species turnover indicates a significant decline in β-diversity at large spatial scales. These findings point the way towards multi-functional agricultural systems that maintain agricultural productivity while simultaneously conserving biodiversity. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Socio-hydrological model to inform community adaptation to seasonal drought and climate variability in rural agricultural watersheds in Costa Rica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hund, S. V.; Johnson, M. S.; Morillas, L.; McDaniels, T.; Romero Valpreda, J.; Allen, D. M.

2017-12-01

Climate variability and seasonal droughts associated with ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) and increasing water demand due to growing population are leading to serious water conflicts in the wet-dry tropics of Central America. Integrated methods are needed to understand the linkages of these complex socio-hydrological systems and design reliable adaption strategies in a period of global change. With increasing pressure on surface and groundwater resources during long annual dry seasons, rural agricultural communities suffer water shortages, especially in those years preceded by wet seasons with lower rainfall (and reduced groundwater recharge). To support community resilience to rainfall variability and droughts, we conducted a combination of fieldwork (development of hydrologic monitoring system and local stakeholder cooperation), and hydrological modeling for two watersheds with a shared aquifer (Potrero and Caimital) in Northwestern Costa Rica. The agricultural land use of the region and the many rural villages that draw directly on their local water resource and live in close interaction with their watersheds necessitated a socio-hydrological systems approach. In this talk we present results from our hydrologic modeling, for which we used the WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning) model and locally recorded data. With the integrated water supply and demand features of the WEAP model, we were able to synthesize both the hydrological system and the societal system (specifically, household and agricultural water use), and show feedbacks such as that water use tends to increase during the dry season, likely exacerbating water shortages issues. Further, applying a range of ENSO related rainfall scenarios to the model demonstrated that community adaptation will become in particular important in response to lower water availability in future El Niño years. In collaboration with local stakeholders, we identified a set of feasible adaptation strategies to seasonal

Systems development and difficulties in implementing procedures for elder abuse prevention among private community general support centers in Japan.

PubMed

Nakanishi, Miharu; Nakashima, Taeko; Yamaoka, Yukako; Hada, Keiko; Tanaka, Hideaki

2014-01-01

The present study examines differences in systems development and difficulties in implementing procedures for elder abuse prevention in 1,119 private and 606 public community general support centers under the public long-term care insurance program in Japan. The private community general support centers showed more difficulty implementing procedures than the public community general support centers. Controlling for the type of municipality, progress in systems development did not differ between the private and public community general support centers. Further research should examine how the characteristics of municipal governments are related to systems development in community general support centers.

7 CFR 900.600 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 8 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 900.600 Section 900.600 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL REGULATIONS Information...

7 CFR 900.600 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 8 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General. 900.600 Section 900.600 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; FRUITS, VEGETABLES, NUTS), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL REGULATIONS Information...

7 CFR 900.600 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 8 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General. 900.600 Section 900.600 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL REGULATIONS Information...

7 CFR 900.600 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 8 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 900.600 Section 900.600 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (MARKETING AGREEMENTS AND ORDERS; FRUITS, VEGETABLES, NUTS), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL REGULATIONS Information...

Introduction to Agricultural Business Unit. Student Reference for Agricultural Science I Core Curriculum. [Volume 19, Number 20.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Timko, Joseph J.; Birkenholz, Robert J.

This student reference on agricultural business, designed to accompany the lessons outlined in the 1984 instructor's guide, "Introduction to Agricultural Business," has seven lessons: (1) introduction to agribusiness; (2) careers in agribusiness; (3) agribusiness in the community; (4) the role of the employee in an agribusiness; (5)…

Agricultural Trade Negotiations: Stalemate in the Uruguay Round

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-02-01

230627 initiate radical reform of the Common Agricultural Policy . This policy has been a cornerstone of the European Community. In its October 1990...objectives of its Common Agricultural Policy . The EC has been more concerned with maintaining its members’ significant rural population and income...of the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee and the 10 commodity-specific Agricultural Technical Advi- sory Committees.6 As requested, we did not

Views of the Scottish general public on community pharmacy weight management services: international implications.

PubMed

Weidmann, Anita Elaine; Cunningham, Scott; Gray, Gwen; Hansford, Denise; Bermano, Giovanna; Stewart, Derek

2012-04-01

Obesity has reached pandemic levels, with more than 1.5 billion adults being affected worldwide. In Scotland two-thirds of men and more than half of women are either overweight or obese, placing Scotland overall third behind the United States of America and Mexico. All community pharmacies in Scotland are contracted to provide public health services such as smoking cessation and there is increasing interest in their contribution to weight management. Researching this area in Scotland may provide valuable information to facilitate the development of community pharmacy services in other parts of the UK and internationally. To describe the views of the Scottish general public on the provision of weight management services via community pharmacies. General public in Scotland. A cross-sectional postal questionnaire survey of 6,000 randomly selected members of the Scottish general public aged 18 years and over. Views on community pharmacy led weight management services. Questionnaires were returned by 20.6% (n = 1,236). Over half 60.1% (n = 751) agreed or strongly agreed that they had easy access to pharmacy services in general and around one-third agreed (35%; n = 438) that it was more convenient to obtain weight management advice from a pharmacist than it is to make an appointment with a GP. Most respondents however lacked awareness of the types of health services available through community pharmacy (13.2%; n = 162) and would not feel comfortable speaking to a pharmacist or medicines counter assistant about weight related issues (25%; n = 320). Concerns over privacy (47.3%; n = 592) and perceived lack of pharmacists' specialist knowledge (open comments) were identified as potential barriers to service uptake by the general public. Overall, respondents appear to be receptive to the idea of accessing weight management services through community pharmacy but a perceived lack of privacy, poor knowledge of pharmacists' skill level and of public health services available to

7 CFR 900.300 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 8 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 900.300 Section 900.300 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements... to Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as Amended § 900.300 General. Unless otherwise...

The economic impact of more sustainable water use in agriculture: A computable general equilibrium analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calzadilla, Alvaro; Rehdanz, Katrin; Tol, Richard S. J.

2010-04-01

SummaryAgriculture is the largest consumer of freshwater resources - around 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals are used for food production. These agricultural products are traded internationally. A full understanding of water use is, therefore, impossible without understanding the international market for food and related products, such as textiles. Based on the global general equilibrium model GTAP-W, we offer a method for investigating the role of green (rain) and blue (irrigation) water resources in agriculture and within the context of international trade. We use future projections of allowable water withdrawals for surface water and groundwater to define two alternative water management scenarios. The first scenario explores a deterioration of current trends and policies in the water sector (water crisis scenario). The second scenario assumes an improvement in policies and trends in the water sector and eliminates groundwater overdraft world-wide, increasing water allocation for the environment (sustainable water use scenario). In both scenarios, welfare gains or losses are not only associated with changes in agricultural water consumption. Under the water crisis scenario, welfare not only rises for regions where water consumption increases (China, South East Asia and the USA). Welfare gains are considerable for Japan and South Korea, Southeast Asia and Western Europe as well. These regions benefit from higher levels of irrigated production and lower food prices. Alternatively, under the sustainable water use scenario, welfare losses not only affect regions where overdrafting is occurring. Welfare decreases in other regions as well. These results indicate that, for water use, there is a clear trade-off between economic welfare and environmental sustainability.

Vocational Agriculture in Ponape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dayrit, Ruben S.

1975-01-01

The general objectives of agriculture education in both the elementary and secondary schools in Ponape District are to develop interest in agriculture among students and to provide practical and technical skills in growing crops and raising domestic animals. (Author)

Soil microbial communities as suitable bioindicators of trace metal pollution in agricultural volcanic soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parelho, Carolina; dos Santos Rodrigues, Armindo; do Carmo Barreto, Maria; Gonçalo Ferreira, Nuno; Garcia, Patrícia

2015-04-01

Summary: The biological, chemical and physical properties of soil confer unique characteristics that enhance or influence its overall biodiversity. The adaptive character of soil microbial communities (SMCs) to metal pollution allows discriminating soil health, since changes in microbial populations and activities may function as excellent indicators of soil pollutants. Volcanic soils are unique naturally fertile resources, extensively used for agricultural purposes and with particular physicochemical properties that may result in accumulation of toxic substances, such as trace metals (TM). In our previous works, we identified priority TM affecting agricultural Andosols under different agricultural land uses. Within this particular context, the objectives of this study were to (i) assess the effect of soil TM pollution in different agricultural systems (conventional, traditional and organic) on the following soil properties: microbial biomass carbon, basal soil respiration, metabolic quotient, enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase and dehydrogenase) and RNA to DNA ratio; and (ii) evaluate the impact of TM in the soil ecosystem using the integrated biomarker response (IBR) based on a set of biochemical responses of SMCs. This multi-biomarker approach will support the development of the "Trace Metal Footprint" for different agricultural land uses in volcanic soils. Methods: The study was conducted in S. Miguel Island (Azores, Portugal). Microbial biomass carbon was measured by chloroform-fumigation-incubation-assay (Vance et al., 1987). Basal respiration was determined by the Jenkinson & Powlson (1976) technique. Metabolic quotient was calculated as the ratio of basal respiration to microbial biomass C (Sparkling & West, 1988). The enzymatic activities of β-glucosidase and acid phosphatase were determined by the Dick et al. (1996) method and dehydrogenase activity by the Rossel et al. (1997) method. The RNA and DNA were co-extracted from the same

The Family Therapist's Role in Treating Families in Rural Communities: A General Systems Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bagarozzi, Dennis A.

1982-01-01

Demonstrates how concepts derived from General Systems Theory can be used to understand and treat families living in impoverished, isolated rural communities in the South. Suggests interventions frequently need to be directed at the community system as a whole if community rules are to be modified for second-order change. (Author)

Toward malaysian sustainable agriculture in 21st century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khorramnia, K.; Shariff, A. R. M.; Rahim, A. Abdul; Mansor, S.

2014-02-01

Sustainable agriculture should be able to meet various social goals and objectives so that it can be maintained for an indefinite period without significant negative impacts on environment and natural resources. A wide variety of agricultural activities are running in Malaysia. Maintaining high quality of agricultural products with lower environmental impacts through a sustainable economic viability and life satisfaction of farmers and community are important factors helping to meet sustainable agriculture. Human resources are playing key role in directing the community toward sustainable development. The trend of improving the human development index in Malaysia is highest in the East Asia and the Pacific, high human development countries and the world, since 2000. Precision agriculture is providing strong tools to achieve sustainable agriculture. Different types of sensors, positioning and navigation systems, GIS, software and variable rate technology are well known components of precision agriculture. Drones and robots are promising tools that enabling farmers and managers to collect information or perform particular actions in remote areas or tough conditions. According to a survey, forestry and timber, rubber production and oil palm estates are three main agricultural divisions that precision agriculture may improve the productivity in respect to area of cropland/worker. Main factors affecting the adoption of precision agriculture in Malaysia are: a) Political and legal supports, b) Decision support systems and user interfaces c) Experienced research team works d) National educational policy e) Success in commercialization of precision agriculture system.

Agriculture: Laws and Regulations that Apply to Your Agricultural Operation by Farm Activity

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A general description of EPA’s requirements applicable to agriculture, and should only be used as a guide. Since rules and regulations may change use this information is a starting place to determine which regulations apply to your agricultural operation.

Response of the bacterial community in an on-farm biopurification system, to which diverse pesticides are introduced over an agricultural season.

PubMed

Holmsgaard, Peter N; Dealtry, Simone; Dunon, Vincent; Heuer, Holger; Hansen, Lars H; Springael, Dirk; Smalla, Kornelia; Riber, Leise; Sørensen, Søren J

2017-10-01

A biopurification system (BPS) is used on-farm to clean pesticide-contaminated wastewater. Due to high pesticide loads, a BPS represents a hot spot for the proliferation and selection as well as the genetic adaptation of discrete pesticide degrading microorganisms. However, while considerable knowledge exists on the biodegradation of specific pesticides in BPSs, the bacterial community composition of these systems has hardly been explored. In this work, the Shannon diversity, the richness and the composition of the bacterial community within an operational BPS receiving wastewater contaminated with various pesticides was, for the first time, elucidated over the course of an agricultural season, using DGGE profiling and pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene fragments amplified from total community DNA. During the agricultural season, an increase in the concentration of pesticides in the BPS was observed along with the detection of significant community changes including a decrease in microbial diversity. Additionally, a significant increase in the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, mainly the Gammaproteobacteria, was found, and OTUs (operational taxonomic units) affiliated to Pseudomonas responded positively during the course of the season. Furthermore, a banding-pattern analysis of 16S rRNA gene-based DGGE fingerprinting, targeting the Alpha- and Betaproteobacteria as well as the Actinobacteria, indicated that the Betaproteobacteria might play an important role. Interestingly, a decrease of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes was observed, indicating their selective disadvantage in a BPS, to which pesticides have been introduced. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Why Do Information Gaps Persist in African Smallholder Agriculture? Perspectives from Farmers Lacking Exposure to Conservation Agriculture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Brendan; Llewellyn, Rick; Nuberg, Ian

2018-01-01

Purpose: To explore why substantial agricultural information gaps persist in African smallholder farming communities and how to reduce them. Design/methodology/approach: Using conservation agriculture (CA) as a case study, we deeply explore with 29 smallholder farmers why they are yet to obtain sufficient information to enable practice evaluation.…

7 CFR 1806.21 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 1806.21 Section 1806.21 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL REGULATIONS...

7 CFR 1900.52 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 1900.52 Section 1900.52 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE... GENERAL Adverse Decisions and Administrative Appeals § 1900.52 General. This subpart specifies procedures...

Denitrification in Agriculturally Impacted Streams: Seasonal Changes in Structure and Function of the Bacterial Community

PubMed Central

Manis, Erin; Royer, Todd V.; Johnson, Laura T.; Leff, Laura G.

2014-01-01

Denitrifiers remove fixed nitrogen from aquatic environments and hydrologic conditions are one potential driver of denitrification rate and denitrifier community composition. In this study, two agriculturally impacted streams in the Sugar Creek watershed in Indiana, USA with different hydrologic regimes were examined; one stream is seasonally ephemeral because of its source (tile drainage), whereas the other stream has permanent flow. Additionally, a simulated flooding experiment was performed on the riparian benches of the ephemeral stream during a dry period. Denitrification activity was assayed using the chloramphenicol amended acetylene block method and bacterial communities were examined based on quantitative PCR and terminal restriction length polymorphisms of the nitrous oxide reductase (nosZ) and 16S rRNA genes. In the stream channel, hydrology had a substantial impact on denitrification rates, likely by significantly lowering water potential in sediments. Clear patterns in denitrification rates were observed among pre-drying, dry, and post-drying dates; however, a less clear scenario was apparent when analyzing bacterial community structure suggesting that denitrifier community structure and denitrification rate were not strongly coupled. This implies that the nature of the response to short-term hydrologic changes was physiological rather than increases in abundance of denitrifiers or changes in composition of the denitrifier community. Flooding of riparian bench soils had a short-term, transient effect on denitrification rate. Our results imply that brief flooding of riparian zones is unlikely to contribute substantially to removal of nitrate (NO3 -) and that seasonal drying of stream channels has a negative impact on NO3 - removal, particularly because of the time lag required for denitrification to rebound. This time lag is presumably attributable to the time required for the denitrifiers to respond physiologically rather than a change in abundance or

7 CFR 3015.101 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 3015.101 Section 3015.101 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE UNIFORM FEDERAL ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS Payment Requirements § 3015.101 General. Methods and...

7 CFR 653.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 653.1 Section 653.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SUPPORT ACTIVITIES TECHNICAL STANDARDS § 653.1 General. The Natural Resources Conservation Service...

7 CFR 94.300 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 94.300 Section 94.300 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections... AND EGG PRODUCTS Processed Poultry Products § 94.300 General. Laboratory services of processed poultry...

7 CFR 1900.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 1900.1 Section 1900.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE... GENERAL Delegations of Authority § 1900.1 General. The authorities contained in this subpart apply to all...

7 CFR 1951.890 - Office of Inspector General and Office of General Counsel referrals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Office of Inspector General and Office of General Counsel referrals. 1951.890 Section 1951.890 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ...

Evaluation of the leucine incorporation technique for detection of pollution-induced community tolerance to copper in a long-term agricultural field trial with urban waste fertilizers.

PubMed

Lekfeldt, Jonas Duus Stevens; Magid, Jakob; Holm, Peter E; Nybroe, Ole; Brandt, Kristian Koefoed

2014-11-01

Copper (Cu) is known to accumulate in agricultural soils receiving urban waste products as fertilizers. We here report the use of the leucine incorporation technique to determine pollution-induced community tolerance (Leu-PICT) to Cu in a long-term agricultural field trial. A significantly increased bacterial community tolerance to Cu was observed for soils amended with organic waste fertilizers and was positively correlated with total soil Cu. However, metal speciation and whole-cell bacterial biosensor analysis demonstrated that the observed PICT responses could be explained entirely by Cu speciation and bioavailability artifacts during Leu-PICT detection. Hence, the agricultural application of urban wastes (sewage sludge or composted municipal waste) simulating more than 100 years of use did not result in sufficient accumulation of Cu to select for Cu resistance. Our findings also have implications for previously published PICT field studies and demonstrate that stringent PICT detection criteria are needed for field identification of specific toxicants. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing biosynthetic potential of agricultural groundwater through metagenomic sequencing: A diverse anammox community dominates nitrate-rich groundwater

PubMed Central

Applegate, Olin; Li, Xunde; Kliegman, Joseph I.; Langelier, Charles; Atwill, Edward R.; Harter, Thomas; DeRisi, Joseph L.

2017-01-01

Background Climate change produces extremes in both temperature and precipitation causing increased drought severity and increased reliance on groundwater resources. Agricultural practices, which rely on groundwater, are sensitive to but also sources of contaminants, including nitrate. How agricultural contamination drives groundwater geochemistry through microbial metabolism is poorly understood. Methods On an active cow dairy in the Central Valley of California, we sampled groundwater from three wells at depths of 4.3 m (two wells) and 100 m (one well) below ground surface (bgs) as well as an effluent surface water lagoon that fertilizes surrounding corn fields. We analyzed the samples for concentrations of solutes, heavy metals, and USDA pathogenic bacteria of the Escherichia coli and Enterococcus groups as part of a long term groundwater monitoring study. Whole metagenome shotgun sequencing and assembly revealed taxonomic composition and metabolic potential of the community. Results Elevated nitrate and dissolved organic carbon occurred at 4.3m but not at 100m bgs. Metagenomics confirmed chemical observations and revealed several Planctomycete genomes, including a new Brocadiaceae lineage and a likely Planctomycetes OM190, as well novel diversity and high abundance of nano-prokaryotes from the Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR), the Diapherotrites, Parvarchaeota, Aenigmarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota, Nanohaloarchaea (DPANN) and the Thaumarchaeota, Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota, Korarchaeota (TACK) superphyla. Pathway analysis suggests community interactions based on complimentary primary metabolic pathways and abundant secondary metabolite operons encoding antimicrobials and quorum sensing systems. Conclusions The metagenomes show strong resemblance to activated sludge communities from a nitrogen removal reactor at a wastewater treatment plant, suggesting that natural bioremediation occurs through microbial metabolism. Elevated nitrate and rich secondary metabolite

Alterations in soil microbial community composition and biomass following agricultural land use change.

PubMed

Zhang, Qian; Wu, Junjun; Yang, Fan; Lei, Yao; Zhang, Quanfa; Cheng, Xiaoli

2016-11-04

The effect of agricultural land use change on soil microbial community composition and biomass remains a widely debated topic. Here, we investigated soil microbial community composition and biomass [e.g., bacteria (B), fungi (F), Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Actinomycete (ACT)] using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) analysis, and basal microbial respiration in afforested, cropland and adjacent uncultivated soils in central China. We also investigated soil organic carbon and nitrogen (SOC and SON), labile carbon and nitrogen (LC and LN), recalcitrant carbon and nitrogen (RC and RN), pH, moisture, and temperature. Afforestation averaged higher microbial PLFA biomass compared with cropland and uncultivated soils with higher values in top soils than deep soils. The microbial PLFA biomass was strongly correlated with SON and LC. Higher SOC, SON, LC, LN, moisture and lower pH in afforested soils could be explained approximately 87.3% of total variation of higher total PLFAs. Afforestation also enhanced the F: B ratios compared with cropland. The basal microbial respiration was higher while the basal microbial respiration on a per-unit-PLFA basis was lower in afforested land than adjacent cropland and uncultivated land, suggesting afforestation may increase soil C utilization efficiency and decrease respiration loss in afforested soils.

Alterations in soil microbial community composition and biomass following agricultural land use change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qian; Wu, Junjun; Yang, Fan; Lei, Yao; Zhang, Quanfa; Cheng, Xiaoli

2016-11-01

The effect of agricultural land use change on soil microbial community composition and biomass remains a widely debated topic. Here, we investigated soil microbial community composition and biomass [e.g., bacteria (B), fungi (F), Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Actinomycete (ACT)] using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) analysis, and basal microbial respiration in afforested, cropland and adjacent uncultivated soils in central China. We also investigated soil organic carbon and nitrogen (SOC and SON), labile carbon and nitrogen (LC and LN), recalcitrant carbon and nitrogen (RC and RN), pH, moisture, and temperature. Afforestation averaged higher microbial PLFA biomass compared with cropland and uncultivated soils with higher values in top soils than deep soils. The microbial PLFA biomass was strongly correlated with SON and LC. Higher SOC, SON, LC, LN, moisture and lower pH in afforested soils could be explained approximately 87.3% of total variation of higher total PLFAs. Afforestation also enhanced the F: B ratios compared with cropland. The basal microbial respiration was higher while the basal microbial respiration on a per-unit-PLFA basis was lower in afforested land than adjacent cropland and uncultivated land, suggesting afforestation may increase soil C utilization efficiency and decrease respiration loss in afforested soils.

7 CFR 1580.101 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General statement. 1580.101 Section 1580.101 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FARMERS § 1580.101 General statement. This part...

7 CFR 622.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 622.30 Section 622.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WATER RESOURCES WATERSHED PROJECTS Planning § 622.30 General. (a) Watershed projects are to be...

7 CFR 622.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 622.30 Section 622.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WATER RESOURCES WATERSHED PROJECTS Planning § 622.30 General. (a) Watershed projects are to be...

7 CFR 622.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General. 622.30 Section 622.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WATER RESOURCES WATERSHED PROJECTS Planning § 622.30 General. (a) Watershed projects are to be...

7 CFR 622.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General. 622.30 Section 622.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WATER RESOURCES WATERSHED PROJECTS Planning § 622.30 General. (a) Watershed projects are to be...

7 CFR 622.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 622.30 Section 622.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WATER RESOURCES WATERSHED PROJECTS Planning § 622.30 General. (a) Watershed projects are to be...

7 CFR 3015.15 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 3015.15 Section 3015.15 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE UNIFORM FEDERAL ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS Bonding and Insurance § 3015.15 General. In administering...

7 CFR 780.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 7 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General. 780.1 Section 780.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL PROGRAMS APPEAL REGULATIONS § 780.1 General. This part sets forth rules applicable to appealability reviews...

Older people's care experience in community and general hospitals: a comparative study.

PubMed

Green, John; Forster, Anne; Young, John; Small, Neil; Spink, Joanna

2008-07-01

Community hospitals are an important component of the post-acute care pathway for older people. The objective of this study was to describe and contrast patients' and carers' experiences of community and general hospitals. Interviews with patients and carers revealed similarities in the perceptions of care between the two settings. These included appreciation of staff sensitivity, a sense of security, encouragement of independence and lack of activity. The community hospital was appreciated for its location, atmosphere, accommodation, greater sense of freedom, quality of food and staff attitudes. UK health policy promotes the development of community hospitals. This should be progressed in a way that retains key strengths of the specific service they offer.

The effectiveness of three sets of school-based instructional materials and community training on the acquisition and generalization of community laundry skills by students with severe handicaps.

PubMed

Morrow, S A; Bates, P E

1987-01-01

This study examined the effectiveness of three sets of school-based instructional materials and community training on acquisition and generalization of a community laundry skill by nine students with severe handicaps. School-based instruction involved artificial materials (pictures), simulated materials (cardboard replica of a community washing machine), and natural materials (modified home model washing machine). Generalization assessments were conducted at two different community laundromats, on two machines represented fully by the school-based instructional materials and two machines not represented fully by these materials. After three phases of school-based instruction, the students were provided ten community training trials in one laundromat setting and a final assessment was conducted in both the trained and untrained community settings. A multiple probe design across students was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the three types of school instruction and community training. After systematic training, most of the students increased their laundry performance with all three sets of school-based materials; however, generalization of these acquired skills was limited in the two community settings. Direct training in one of the community settings resulted in more efficient acquisition of the laundry skills and enhanced generalization to the untrained laundromat setting for most of the students. Results of this study are discussed in regard to the issue of school versus community-based instruction and recommendations are made for future research in this area.

7 CFR 2903.15 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 2903.15 Section 2903.15 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Award Administration § 2903.15 General. Within the limit of funds...

7 CFR 2903.15 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 2903.15 Section 2903.15 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Award Administration § 2903.15 General. Within the limit of funds...

7 CFR 2903.15 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General. 2903.15 Section 2903.15 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Award Administration § 2903.15 General. Within the limit of funds...

7 CFR 2903.15 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General. 2903.15 Section 2903.15 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Award Administration § 2903.15 General. Within the limit of funds...

7 CFR 2903.15 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 2903.15 Section 2903.15 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIODIESEL FUEL EDUCATION PROGRAM Award Administration § 2903.15 General. Within the limit of funds...

Molokai Farm Project. An Agricultural Training Program of the Maui Community College, University of Hawaii. Report for Fiscal Year 1982-83.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawaii State Dept. of Agriculture, Honolulu.

The Molokai Farm Project at Maui Community College grew out of a grant for a Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurship Demonstration Program. The program, which can lead either to an associate degree or to a certification of completion for any number of smaller units of course work, is designed to develop students' managerial proficiency and the…

Diné (Navajo) parents' and community leaders' perceptions of agriculture-related injury risk to youth: a social narrative.

PubMed

Shumway, K; Pate, M L; McNeal, L G

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to provide a formative needs assessment of Diné (Navajo) parents for the prevention of childhood injuries resulting from livestock and horses. The research objectives were to identify parents' perceived livestock and horse related injury risks to Diné children and describe Diné community stakeholder input on prevention interventions for reducing injury risks to children associated with livestock and horse related activities on farms or ranches. The assessment used a survey constructed of closed and open-response questions to gauge Diné farmers' and ranchers' perceptions of injury risks to children who live or work on agricultural operations. Additional questions were asked to gauge Diné acceptance of an online training program as a prevention intervention to reduce livestock and horse related injuries to children. A total of 96 individuals agreed to participate in the survey and provided usable responses. A total of 53.2% (f = 50) of participants were female. Sixty-three percent of participants (f = 58) perceived that youth who work with intact male livestock were at high risk for injury. A total of 25 individuals perceived that youth who ride horses without equestrian helmets were at high risk for injury. Approximately 96% (f = 89) of those surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they would use an online training program to promote agricultural health and safety for Diné youth. When participants were asked if there were safety issues associated with having youth working on a farm or ranch, a very large portion felt that the biggest issue was a lack of education and instruction from elders. A recommendation for an injury prevention practice included developing a user-friendly online network, giving parents and community leaders access to resources to assist in educating youth in local agricultural traditions integrated with safety training.

Weaving Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge with Formal Education to Enhance Community Food Security: School Competition as a Pedagogical Space in Rural Anchetty, India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shukla, Shailesh; Barkman, Janna; Patel, Kirit

2017-01-01

Like many socially and economically disadvantaged farming communities around the world, the Anchetty region of Tamil Nadu, India, has been experiencing serious food security challenges mainly due to the loss of traditional foods such as small millets and associated crops (SMAC) and associated indigenous agricultural knowledge (IAK). Drawing on…

Sustainable Uses of FGD Gypsum in Agricultural Systems: Introduction.

PubMed

Watts, Dexter B; Dick, Warren A

2014-01-01

Interest in using gypsum as a management tool to improve crop yields and soil and water quality has recently increased. Abundant supply and availability of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum, a by-product of scrubbing sulfur from combustion gases at coal-fired power plants, in major agricultural producing regions within the last two decades has attributed to this interest. Currently, published data on the long-term sustainability of FGD gypsum use in agricultural systems is limited. This has led to organization of the American Society of Agronomy's Community "By-product Gypsum Uses in Agriculture" and a special collection of nine technical research articles on various issues related to FGD gypsum uses in agricultural systems. A brief review of FGD gypsum, rationale for the special collection, overviews of articles, knowledge gaps, and future research directions are presented in this introductory paper. The nine articles are focused in three general areas: (i) mercury and other trace element impacts, (ii) water quality impacts, and (iii) agronomic responses and soil physical changes. While this is not an exhaustive review of the topic, results indicate that FGD gypsum use in sustainable agricultural production systems is promising. The environmental impacts of FGD gypsum are mostly positive, with only a few negative results observed, even when applied at rates representing cumulative 80-year applications. Thus, FGD gypsum, if properly managed, seems to represent an important potential input into agricultural systems. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

7 CFR 36.1 - General information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General information. 36.1 Section 36.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... GRADE STANDARDS § 36.1 General information. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS or agency) of the U...

7 CFR 510.1 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General statement. 510.1 Section 510.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PUBLIC INFORMATION § 510.1 General statement. This part is issued in accordance with the...

7 CFR 3430.312 - Emphasis on sustainable agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Emphasis on sustainable agriculture. 3430.312 Section 3430.312 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVE AND NONCOMPETITIVE NON-FORMULA FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS-GENERAL...

7 CFR 3430.312 - Emphasis on sustainable agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Emphasis on sustainable agriculture. 3430.312 Section 3430.312 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVE AND NONCOMPETITIVE NON-FORMULA FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS-GENERAL...

7 CFR 3430.312 - Emphasis on sustainable agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Emphasis on sustainable agriculture. 3430.312 Section 3430.312 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVE AND NONCOMPETITIVE NON-FORMULA FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS-GENERAL...

7 CFR 3430.312 - Emphasis on sustainable agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Emphasis on sustainable agriculture. 3430.312 Section 3430.312 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMPETITIVE AND NONCOMPETITIVE NON-FORMULA FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS-GENERAL...

Response of benthic algae to environmental gradients in an agriculturally dominated landscape

USGS Publications Warehouse

Munn, M.D.; Black, R.W.; Gruber, S.J.

2002-01-01

Benthic algal communities were assessed in an agriculturally dominated landscape in the Central Columbia Plateau, Washington, to determine which environmental variables best explained species distributions, and whether algae species optima models were useful in predicting specific water-quality parameters. Land uses in the study area included forest, range, urban, and agriculture. Most of the streams in this region can be characterized as open-channel systems influenced by intensive dryland (nonirrigated) and irrigated agriculture. Algal communities in forested streams were dominated by blue-green algae, with communities in urban and range streams dominated by diatoms. The predominance of either blue-greens or diatoms in agricultural streams varied greatly depending on the specific site. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated a strong gradient effect of several key environmental variables on benthic algal community composition. Conductivity and % agriculture were the dominant explanatory variables when all sites (n = 24) were included in the CCA; water velocity replaced conductivity when the CCA included only agricultural and urban sites. Other significant explanatory variables included dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), orthophosphate (OP), discharge, and precipitation. Regression and calibration models accurately predicted conductivity based on benthic algal communities, with OP having slightly lower predictability. The model for DIN was poor, and therefore may be less useful in this system. Thirty-four algal taxa were identified as potential indicators of conductivity and nutrient conditions, with most indicators being diatoms except for the blue-greens Anabaenasp. and Lyngbya sp.

Minnesota 4-H Science of Agriculture Challenge: Infusing Agricultural Science and Engineering Concepts into 4-H Youth Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Joshua E.; Rugg, Bradley; Davis, Sharon

2016-01-01

Youth involved in 4-H projects have been engaged in science-related endeavors for years. Since 2006, 4-H has invested considerable resources in the advancement of science learning. The new Minnesota 4-H Science of Agriculture Challenge program challenges 4-H youth to work together to identify agriculture-related issues in their communities and to…

7 CFR 1610.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 1610.1 Section 1610.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL TELEPHONE BANK, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOAN POLICIES § 1610.1 General. Loans made by the Governor of the Rural Telephone Bank (the “Bank”) will be made...

THE AGRICULTURAL HEALTH STUDY: COLLABORATIVE HEALTH AND EXPOSURE RESEARCH FOR THE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY

EPA Science Inventory

The abstract describes the collaborative effort between the NCI, the NIEHS, the U.S. EPA, and NIOSH to conduct the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). The AHS is a prospective epidemiological study to identify factors that may affect the rate of cancer and other diseases among farme...

Identifying the characteristic of SundaParahiyangan landscape for a model of sustainable agricultural landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dahlan, M. Z.; Nurhayati, H. S. A.; Mugnisjah, W. Q.

2017-10-01

This study was an explorative study of the various forms of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Sundanese people in the context of sustainable agriculture. The qualitative method was used to identify SundaParahiyangan landscape by using Rapid Participatory Rural Appraisal throughsemi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and field survey. The Landscape Characteristic Assessment and Community Sustainability Assessment were used to analyze the characteristic of landscape to achieve the sustainable agricultural landscape criteria proposed by US Department of Agriculture. The results revealed that the SundaParahiyangan agricultural landscape has a unique characteristic as a result of the long-term adaptation of agricultural society to theirlandscape through a learning process for generations. In general, this character was reflected in the typical of Sundanese’s agroecosystems such as forest garden, mixed garden, paddy field, and home garden. In addition, concept of kabuyutan is one of the TEKs related to understanding and utilization of landscape has been adapted on revitalizing the role of landscape surrounding the agroecosystem as the buffer zone by calculating and designating protected areas. To support the sustainability of production area, integrated practices of agroforestry with low-external-input and sustainable agriculture (LEISA) system can be applied in utilizing and managing agricultural resources.

Capacity Building in NASA Remote Sensing Data for Meteorological and Agricultural Communities in East Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granger, S. L.; Andreadis, K.; Das, N. N.; Macharia, D.

2015-12-01

Across the globe, planners and decision makers are hampered by a lack of historic data and scant in situ observations on which to base policy and action plans. Data is often sorely lacking in poorly developed regions such as East Africa where people are vulnerable to a changing climate, extreme weather events, and economies and food security are tied directly to rain fed agriculture or pastoral cultures. NASA global remote sensing observations and research are promising in this regard, as they have great potential to inform policy- and decision-making at global, regional and even local scales the world over, However that potential is not realized as often as it should for a variety of reasons: the data stores are often impenetrable requiring special expertise to "crack the code", sustainability of observations remains a concern, and research and data are not focused on applications, thus results don't "fit" in existing tools or are developed for a short-term science objective without long-term use in mind. Although there are good examples of the use of NASA Earth Science research and observations for applications, capacity is lacking and must be built to advance the use of remote sensing for applications and to ease transition of research to the stakeholder. Capacity building is a critical component to transition Earth science research results to stakeholder communities, and is more than traditional training,, it has been described as…."the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in the fast-changing world. Best practices and lessons learned from recent capacity building efforts for Agricultural and Environmental Ministires in East African in support of a NASA-SERVIR Applied Science Project to provide estimates of hydrologic extremes tied to crop yield are described.

Standards for Agricultural Occupations Programs in Illinois Community Colleges. Interim Report of the Community College Phase [Phase I] of Project RD1-A8-564 Entitled "Standards for Illinois ABAO Post-Secondary Programs and Secondary Programs in Cook County".

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Robert W.; Hemp, Paul E.

A study was made of Phase 1 of the long-term standards program for agricultural occupations programs for Illinois community colleges. The unique feature of this project was the procedure used to maximize the input of community college teachers in the validation and revision of the national standards. Survey instruments were sent to community…

Bacterial community structure and abundances of antibiotic resistance genes in heavy metals contaminated agricultural soil.

PubMed

Zhang, Fengli; Zhao, Xiaoxue; Li, Qingbo; Liu, Jia; Ding, Jizhe; Wu, Huiying; Zhao, Zongsheng; Ba, Yue; Cheng, Xuemin; Cui, Liuxin; Li, Hongping; Zhu, Jingyuan

2018-04-01

Soil contamination with heavy metals is a worldwide problem especially in China. The interrelation of soil bacterial community structure, antibiotic resistance genes, and heavy metal contamination in soil is still unclear. Here, seven agricultural areas (G1-G7) with heavy metal contamination were sampled with different distances (741 to 2556 m) to the factory. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and Shannon index were used to analyze bacterial community diversity. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect the relative abundance of ARGs sul1, sul2, tetA, tetM, tetW, one mobile genetic elements (MGE) inti1. Results showed that all samples were polluted by Cadmium (Cd), and some of them were polluted by lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn). DGGE showed that the most abundant bacterial species were found in G7 with the lightest heavy metal contamination. The results of the principal component analysis and clustering analysis both showed that G7 could not be classified with other samples. The relative abundance of sul1 was correlated with Cu, Zn concentration. Gene sul2 are positively related with total phosphorus, and tetM was associated with organic matter. Total gene abundances and relative abundance of inti1 both correlated with organic matter. Redundancy analysis showed that Zn and sul2 were significantly related with bacterial community structure. Together, our results indicate a complex linkage between soil heavy metal concentration, bacterial community composition, and some global disseminated ARG abundance.

7 CFR 900.600 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL REGULATIONS Information Collection § 900.600 General. This subpart shall contain such requirements as pertain to the information...

Risk factors for Entamoeba histolytica infection in an agricultural community in Hanam province, Vietnam

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Entamoeba histolytica is an important protozoan intestinal infection in resource-poor settings, including Vietnam. The study objective was to assess risk factors of E. histolytica infection in a community in Vietnam, where wastewater and human excreta are used in agriculture. A case-control study was conducted among residents of Hanam province, Northern Vietnam. Cases (n = 46) infected with E. histolytica and non-infected controls (n = 138) were identified in a cross-sectional survey among 794 randomly selected individuals and matched for age, sex and place of residence. Potential risk factors including exposure to human and animal excreta and household wastewater were assessed with a questionnaire. Results People from households with an average socio-economic status had a much higher risk of E. histolytica infection (odds ratio [OR]=4.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3-14.0) compared with those from households with a good socioeconomic status. Those individuals who never or rarely used soap for hand washing had a 3.4 times higher risk for infection (OR=3.4, 95% CI: 1.1-10.0), compared to those who used always soap. In contrast, none of the factors related to use of human or animal excreta was statistically significant associated with E. histolytica infection. People having close contact with domestic animals presented a greater risk of E. histolytica infection (OR = 5.9, 95% CI: 1.8-19.0) than those without animal contact. E. histolytica infection was not associated with direct contact with Nhue river water, pond water and household's sanitary conditions, type of latrine or water source used. Conclusions Our study suggests that in settings where human and animal excreta and Nhue River water are intensively used in agriculture, socio-economic and personal hygiene factors determine infection with E. histolytica, rather than exposure to human and animal excreta in agricultural activities. PMID:21663665

Gender roles and perceptions of malaria risk in agricultural communities of Mwea Division in Central Kenya.

PubMed

Woldu, Dawit Okubatsion; Haile, Zelalem Teka

2015-01-01

We examined gender differences in the perception of high malaria risk in women and factors associated with a high number of malaria episodes in the Mwea Division of Central Kenya. Ethnographic and successive free listing interviews (an open-ended data collection technique used to show the relation of items in a given domain) with 53 key informants and structured interviews conducted from June to October 2010 with 250 respondents who represented the socioeconomic and geographical diversity of the area were analyzed. Qualitative text analysis and inferential statistics were employed. While a greater proportion of men (51.6%) attributed women's high malaria risk to their "biological weakness," most women believed that their high malaria risk was related to their role in the agricultural fields (43.6%) and to their household responsibilities (23.1%). Compared to men, women were more likely to work in wet aspects of agricultural activities (χ(2) (2, N = 153) = 13.47, p < .01). Women were nearly twice as likely as men to report high episodes of malaria (adjusted odds ratio: 2.54; 95% confidence interval: 1.05-6.15). Culturally prescribed gender roles in agricultural communities in Mwea may play an important role in explaining disparity in reported malaria incidence. While identification of ecological and economic determinants of malaria is important, gender-based research can make a significant contribution to the development of effective and sustainable malaria reduction strategies.

Wellness general of the United States: a creative approach to promote family and community health.

PubMed

Haber, David

2002-10-01

This article offers a creative approach to promote family and community health, beginning with the conversion of the office of Surgeon General of the United States into the Wellness General of the United States. The content ranges from federal initiatives to promote quality health research to individuals and families who will be the beneficiaries at medical clinics and community health programs. The proposal recommends changes to institutions and policies, including junk food taxes, the National Institutes of Health, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, the Healthy People 2010 initiative, the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set, the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee, state health mandates, local health plans, community medical clinics, and community health programs. The goal is to stimulate ideas and actions among policymakers, researchers, practitioners, educators, and students.

If you see one, have you seen them all?: Community-wide effects of insecticide cross-resistance in zooplankton populations near and far from agriculture.

PubMed

Bendis, Randall J; Relyea, Rick A

2016-08-01

The worldwide use of pesticides has led to increases in agricultural yields by reducing crop losses. However, increased pesticide use has resulted in pesticide-resistant pest species and recent studies have discovered pesticide-resistance in non-target species living close to farms. Such increased tolerance not only affects the species, but can alter the entire food web. Given that some species can evolve not only resistance to a single pesticide, but also cross-resistance to other pesticides that share the same mode of action, one would predict that cross-resistance to pesticides would also have effects on the entire community and affect community stability. To address this hypothesis, we conducted an outdoor mesocosm experiment comprised of 200 identical aquatic communities with phytoplankton, periphyton, and leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens) tadpoles. To these communities, we added one of four Daphnia pulex populations that we previously discovered were either resistant or sensitive to the insecticide of chlorpyrifos as a result of living close to or far from agriculture, respectively. We then exposed the communities to either no insecticide or three different concentrations of AChE-inhibiting insecticides (chlorpyrifos, malathion or carbaryl) or sodium channel-inhibiting insecticides (permethrin or cypermethrin). We discovered that communities containing sensitive Daphnia pulex experienced phytoplankton blooms and subsequent cascades through all trophic groups including amphibians at moderate to high concentrations of all five insecticides. However, communities containing resistant D. pulex were buffered from these effects at low to moderate concentrations of all AChE-inhibiting insecticides, but were not buffered against the pyrethroid insecticides. These data suggest that a simple change in the population-level resistance of zooplankton to a single insecticide can have widespread consequences for community stability and that the effects can be extrapolated

7 CFR 2018.251 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General statement. 2018.251 Section 2018.251 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS...) ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS GENERAL Availability of Information § 2018.251 General statement. In keeping with the...

7 CFR 2018.251 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General statement. 2018.251 Section 2018.251 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS...) ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS GENERAL Availability of Information § 2018.251 General statement. In keeping with the...

7 CFR 2018.251 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General statement. 2018.251 Section 2018.251 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS...) ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS GENERAL Availability of Information § 2018.251 General statement. In keeping with the...

7 CFR 2018.251 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General statement. 2018.251 Section 2018.251 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS...) ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS GENERAL Availability of Information § 2018.251 General statement. In keeping with the...

7 CFR 2018.251 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General statement. 2018.251 Section 2018.251 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS...) ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS GENERAL Availability of Information § 2018.251 General statement. In keeping with the...

Representative Agricultural Pathways: A Trans-Disciplinary Approach to Agricultural Model Inter-comparison, Improvement, Climate Impact Assessment and Stakeholder Engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antle, J. M.; Valdivia, R. O.; Claessens, L.; Nelson, G. C.; Rosenzweig, C.; Ruane, A. C.; Vervoort, J.

2013-12-01

The global change research community has recognized that new pathway and scenario concepts are needed to implement impact and vulnerability assessment that is logically consistent across local, regional and global scales. For impact and vulnerability assessment, new socio-economic pathway and scenario concepts are being developed. Representative Agricultural Pathways (RAPs) are designed to extend global pathways to provide the detail needed for global and regional assessment of agricultural systems. In addition, research by the Agricultural Model Inter-comparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) shows that RAPs provide a powerful way to engage stakeholders in climate-related research throughout the research process and in communication of research results. RAPs are based on the integrated assessment framework developed by AgMIP. This framework shows that both bio-physical and socio-economic drivers are essential components of agricultural pathways and logically precede the definition of adaptation and mitigation scenarios that embody associated capabilities and challenges. This approach is based on a trans-disciplinary process for designing pathways and then translating them into parameter sets for bio-physical and economic models that are components of agricultural integrated assessments of climate impact, adaptation and mitigation. RAPs must be designed to be part of a logically consistent set of drivers and outcomes from global to regional and local. Global RAPs are designed to be consistent with higher-level global socio-economic pathways, but add key agricultural drivers such as agricultural growth trends that are not specified in more general pathways, as illustrated in a recent inter-comparison of global agricultural models. To create pathways at regional or local scales, further detail is needed. At this level, teams of scientists and other experts with knowledge of the agricultural systems and regions work together through a step-wise process. Experiences

Influence of local riparian cover and watershed runoff potential on invertebrate communities in agricultural streams in the Minnesota River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

ZumBerge, Jeremy Ryan; Perry, James A.; Lee, Kathy E.

2003-01-01

While it is difficult to determine the relative influence of watershed runoff potential and local riparian cover, invertebrate communities may be more strongly influenced by local wooded riparian cover than by watershed runoff potential. Invertebrate community measures indicate greater degradation at the open riparian cover, high runoff potential sites and less degradation at the wooded riparian cover, low runoff potential sites. In addition, differences between streams with wooded riparian cover and sites with open riparian cover were greater in watersheds with high runoff potential. The variance explained by riparian cover and runoff potential is relatively independent of other land-use effects. Wooded riparian cover influences invertebrate community composition by its relation to the other physical environmental variables. This study indicates that wooded riparian cover may be effective in maintaining stream biotic integrity in watersheds dominated by agricultural land use.

Resident Perceptions in Growth-Impacted Western Agricultural Communities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mileti, Dennis S.; And Others

A study of community satisfaction in two eastern Colorado towns found that residents' perceptions of their communities were significantly related to demographic and residential/migrational characteristics. Questionnaires were sent to 450 telephone subscribers, selected randomly from the 1977 directories for both communities; 49% were completed and…

7 CFR 22.104 - General policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General policy. 22.104 Section 22.104 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION General § 22.104 General policy. Federal implementation of the Act will be consistent with the President's policy of decentralized...

7 CFR 22.104 - General policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General policy. 22.104 Section 22.104 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION General § 22.104 General policy. Federal implementation of the Act will be consistent with the President's policy of decentralized...

7 CFR 22.104 - General policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General policy. 22.104 Section 22.104 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION General § 22.104 General policy. Federal implementation of the Act will be consistent with the President's policy of decentralized...

7 CFR 22.104 - General policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General policy. 22.104 Section 22.104 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture RURAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION General § 22.104 General policy. Federal implementation of the Act will be consistent with the President's policy of decentralized...

Capitalizing on Federal Agencies' Intentions To Protect Youth Working in Agriculture.

PubMed

Murphy, Dennis J

2017-01-01

Nearly 750,000 youth work on farms across the United States. The U.S. Department of Labor's (U.S. DOL) Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Hazardous Occupations Orders for Agriculture (HOOA) applies to approximately 37% of these youth. The HOOA regulations had not been updated since their inception in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. An attempt by U.S. DOL to update the regulations in 2011 was met with fierce opposition by the agricultural community, and the proposed updated regulations were withdrawn. One impactful outcome of these two events was a rededication by USDA and the farm community to address agricultural youth farm safety through education rather than through regulation. An agriculturally based National Steering Committee has developed consensus Belief Statements and Guiding Principles to proactively influence agricultural youth safety. In this case, USDA was clearly a 'sphere of influence' for youth agricultural safety.

The roles and values of wild foods in agricultural systems

PubMed Central

Bharucha, Zareen; Pretty, Jules

2010-01-01

Almost every ecosystem has been amended so that plants and animals can be used as food, fibre, fodder, medicines, traps and weapons. Historically, wild plants and animals were sole dietary components for hunter–gatherer and forager cultures. Today, they remain key to many agricultural communities. The mean use of wild foods by agricultural and forager communities in 22 countries of Asia and Africa (36 studies) is 90–100 species per location. Aggregate country estimates can reach 300–800 species (e.g. India, Ethiopia, Kenya). The mean use of wild species is 120 per community for indigenous communities in both industrialized and developing countries. Many of these wild foods are actively managed, suggesting there is a false dichotomy around ideas of the agricultural and the wild: hunter–gatherers and foragers farm and manage their environments, and cultivators use many wild plants and animals. Yet, provision of and access to these sources of food may be declining as natural habitats come under increasing pressure from development, conservation-exclusions and agricultural expansion. Despite their value, wild foods are excluded from official statistics on economic values of natural resources. It is clear that wild plants and animals continue to form a significant proportion of the global food basket, and while a variety of social and ecological drivers are acting to reduce wild food use, their importance may be set to grow as pressures on agricultural productivity increase. PMID:20713393

Examining shifts in Carabidae assemblages across a forest-agriculture ecotone.

PubMed

Leslie, T W; Biddinger, D J; Rohr, J R; Hulting, A G; Mortensen, D A; Fleischer, S J

2014-02-01

Northeastern U.S. farms are often situated adjacent to forestland due to the heterogeneous nature of the landscape. We investigated how forested areas influence Carabidae diversity within nearby crop fields by establishing transects of pitfall traps. Trapping extended across a forest-agriculture ecotone consisting of maize, an intermediate mowed grass margin, and a forest edge. Carabidae diversity was compared among the three habitats, and community and population dynamics were assessed along the transect. We used a principal response curve to examine and visualize community change across a spatial gradient. The highest levels of richness and evenness were observed in the forest community, and carabid assemblages shifted significantly across the ecotone, especially at the forest-grass interface. Despite strong ecotone effects, population distributions showed that some species were found in all three habitats and seemed to thrive at the ecotone. Based on similarity indices, carabid assemblages collected in maize adjacent to forest differed from carabid assemblages in maize not adjacent to forest. We conclude that forest carabid assemblages exhibit high degrees of dissimilarity with those found in agricultural fields and forested areas should thus be retained in agricultural landscapes to increase biodiversity at the landscape scale. However, ecotone species found at forest edges can still noticeably influence carabid community composition within neighboring agricultural fields. Further studies should determine how these shifts in carabid assemblages influence agroecosystem services in relation to ecosystem services observed in fields embedded in an agricultural matrix.

Factors associated with health-related quality of life among Indian women in mining and agriculture.

PubMed

D'Souza, Melba Sheila; Karkada, Subrahmanya Nairy; Somayaji, Ganesha

2013-01-22

Women facing social and economic disadvantage in stressed communities of developing countries are at greater risk due to health problems. This paper investigates the relationships between structural, health and psychosocial predictors among women in mining and agricultural communities. This paper is a report of a study of the predictors of the health-related quality of life among Indian women in mining and agricultural communities. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. The instruments used are SF-36 Health Survey and Coping Strategy Checklist. ANOVA, MANOVA and GLM were used in the analysis. The study was conducted between January-September 2008 with randomly selected women in a mining (145) and an agricultural community (133) in India. Women in the agricultural community had significantly increased Physical Health, Mental Health and SF36 scores compared with those in the mining community. Years of stay, education and employment were significant predictors among women in the agricultural community. 39% (33%) and 40% (26%) of the variance in Physical and Mental health respectively among women in agricultural and mining communities are predicted by the structural, health and psychosocial variables. Perceived health status should be recognised as an important assessment of Physical and Mental Health among women in rural stressed communities. Cognitive, emotional and behavioural coping strategies are significant predictors of health related quality of life. Implications. Nurses should use the SF-36 as a diagnostic tool for assessing health related quality of life among women and discuss coping strategies, so that these can target women's adaptive behaviour. This should be an essential part of the nursing process for facilitating adaptive process for improved health related quality of life.

7 CFR 402.1 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General statement. 402.1 Section 402.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION ENDORSEMENT § 402.1 General statement. The Federal Crop Insurance Act...

7 CFR 402.1 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General statement. 402.1 Section 402.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CATASTROPHIC RISK PROTECTION ENDORSEMENT § 402.1 General statement. The Federal Crop Insurance Act...

7 CFR 94.300 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) COMMODITY LABORATORY TESTING PROGRAMS POULTRY AND EGG PRODUCTS Processed Poultry Products § 94.300 General. Laboratory services of processed poultry... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 94.300 Section 94.300 Agriculture Regulations...

7 CFR 94.300 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

..., Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) COMMODITY LABORATORY TESTING PROGRAMS POULTRY AND EGG PRODUCTS Processed Poultry Products § 94.300 General. Laboratory services of processed poultry... 7 Agriculture 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 94.300 Section 94.300 Agriculture Regulations...

Population and community structure shifts of ammonia oxidizers after four-year successive biochar application to agricultural acidic and alkaline soils.

PubMed

He, Lili; Bi, Yucui; Zhao, Jin; Pittelkow, Cameron M; Zhao, Xu; Wang, Shenqiang; Xing, Guangxi

2018-04-01

Long-term studies that advance our mechanistic understanding of biochar (BC)‑nitrogen (N) interactions in agricultural soils are lacking. In this study, soil potential nitrification rates (PNR), the abundance and composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) communities following 4-year of BC application were investigated using the shaken-slurry procedure and molecular sequencing techniques for an acidic Oxisol (QU) and an alkaline Cambisol (YU). Soils were obtained from an outdoor soil column experiment with straw-BC application rates of 0 (BC0), 2.25 (BC2.25) and 11.3 (BC11.3) Mgha -1 per cropping season for eight consecutive wheat/millet seasons. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing techniques were performed to quantify and sequence amoA gene copies and composition of AOA and AOB. Results showed that QU had lower PNR and a higher ratio of amoA gene copies of AOA to AOB than YU, PNR of QU with BC application was significantly associated with the amoA gene of AOB. Similar to previous short-term findings, BC application enhanced QU soil nitrification, which may be explained by the significant increase in AOB abundance and a shift in AOB community structure from Nitrosospira cluster 2 toward cluster 3, along with the disappearance of some obligate acidophile AOA groups, leading to the appearance of ammonia-oxidizers from neutral-alkaline soils in BC-amended acid soils. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that soil pH was the most important factor driving shifts in ammonia-oxidizers composition. Although BC application did not have significant effects on PNR in YU, BC11.3 decreased AOA and AOB gene copies and influenced the relative abundance of community structure. Our findings represent the first investigation of long-term BC effects on AOA and AOB communities in agricultural soils using 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing, showing that BC application can alter soil

Mortality in the Agricultural Health Study: 1993 - 2007

EPA Science Inventory

Comparing agricultural cohorts with the general population is challenging because the general healthiness of farmers may mask potential adverse health effects of farming. Using data from the Agricultural Health Study, a cohort of 89,656 pesticide applicators and their spouses (

Temporal Dynamics of Abundance and Composition of Nitrogen-Fixing Communities across Agricultural Soils

PubMed Central

Pereira e Silva, Michele C.; Schloter-Hai, Brigitte; Schloter, Michael; van Elsas, Jan Dirk; Salles, Joana Falcão

2013-01-01

Background Despite the fact that the fixation of nitrogen is one of the most significant nutrient processes in the terrestrial ecosystem, a thorough study of the spatial and temporal patterns in the abundance and distribution of N-fixing communities has been missing so far. Methodology/Principal Findings In order to understand the dynamics of diazotrophic communities and their resilience to external changes, we quantified the abundance and characterized the bacterial community structures based on the nifH gene, using real-time PCR, PCR-DGGE and 454-pyrosequencing, across four representative Dutch soils during one growing season. In general, higher nifH gene copy numbers were observed in soils with higher pH than in those with lower pH, but lower numbers were related to increased nitrate and ammonium levels. Results from nifH gene pyrosequencing confirmed the observed PCR-DGGE patterns, which indicated that the N fixers are highly dynamic across time, shifting around 60%. Forward selection on CCA analysis identified N availability as the main driver of these variations, as well as of the evenness of the communities, leading to very unequal communities. Moreover, deep sequencing of the nifH gene revealed that sandy soils (B and D) had the lowest percentage of shared OTUs across time, compared with clayey soils (G and K), indicating the presence of a community under constant change. Cosmopolitan nifH species (present throughout the season) were affiliated with Bradyrhizobium , Azospirillum and Methylocistis, whereas other species increased their abundances progressively over time, when appropriate conditions were met, as was notably the case for Paenibacilus and Burkholderia. Conclusions Our study provides the first in-depth pyrosequencing analysis of the N-fixing community at both spatial and temporal scales, providing insights into the cosmopolitan and specific portions of the nitrogen fixing bacterial communities in soil. PMID:24058578

Interdependence of soil and agricultural practice in a two - year phytoremediation in situ experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nwaichi, Eucharia; Onyeike, Eugene; Frac, Magdalena; Iwo, Godknows

2016-04-01

A two - year plant - based soil clean - up was carried out at a crude oil spill agricultural site in a Niger Delta community in Nigeria to access further clean - up potentials of Cymbopogon citratus. Applied diagnostic ratios identified mixed petrogenic and pyrogenic sources as the main contributors of PAHs. Up to 90.8% sequestration was obtained for carcinogenic PAHs especially Benz (a) pyrene in a 2 - phase manner. A community level approach for assessing patterns of sole carbon source utilization by mixed microbial samples was employed to differentiate spatial and temporal changes in the soil microbial communities. In relation to pollution, soil conditioning notably decreased the lag times and showed mixed effects for colour development rates, maximum absorbance and the overall community pattern. For rate and utilization of different carbon substrates in BIOLOG wells, after day 3, in comparison to control soil communities, contamination with hydrocarbons and associated types increased amines and amides consumption. Consumption of carbohydrates in all polluted and unamended regimes decreased markedlyin comparison to those cultivated with C. citratus. We found a direct relationship between cellulose breakdown, measurable with B-glucosidase activity, organic matter content and CO2 realease within all soils in the present study. Organic amendment rendered most studied contaminants unavailable for uptake in preference to inorganic fertilizer in both study years. Generally, phytoremediation improved significantly the microbial community activity and thus would promote ecosystem restoration in relation to most patronised techniques. Supplementation with required nutrients, in a long - term design would present many ecological benefits. Keywords: Agricultural soils; Recovery; Hydrocarbon pollution; Ecology; Management practice.

Women Entering Agriculture: A Study of College Graduates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thompson, Orville E.; And Others

A study examined the educational and labor market experiences of female graduates of agricultural programs. During the study, researchers interviewed 95 female and 84 male graduates of agricultural programs at 3 community colleges and 6 universities in California between the years 1977 and 1979. Survey participants were asked to supply various…

7 CFR 2.4 - General officers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General officers. 2.4 Section 2.4 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND GENERAL... Services; the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; the Under Secretary for Research...

7 CFR 2.4 - General officers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General officers. 2.4 Section 2.4 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND GENERAL... Services; the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; the Under Secretary for Research...

7 CFR 2.4 - General officers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General officers. 2.4 Section 2.4 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND GENERAL..., Nutrition, and Consumer Services; the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; the Under...

7 CFR 2.4 - General officers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General officers. 2.4 Section 2.4 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND GENERAL... Services; the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; the Under Secretary for Research...

7 CFR 2.4 - General officers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General officers. 2.4 Section 2.4 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND GENERAL... Services; the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; the Under Secretary for Research...

Heavy metal immobilization and microbial community abundance by vegetable waste and pine cone biochar of agricultural soils.

PubMed

Igalavithana, Avanthi Deshani; Lee, Sung-Eun; Lee, Young Han; Tsang, Daniel C W; Rinklebe, Jörg; Kwon, Eilhann E; Ok, Yong Sik

2017-05-01

In order to determine the efficacy of vegetable waste and pine cone biochar for immobilization of metal/metalloid (lead and arsenic) and abundance of microbial community in different agricultural soils, we applied the biochar produced at two different temperatures to two contaminated soils. Biochar was produced by vegetable waste, pine cone, and their mixture (1:1 ww -1 ) at 200 °C (torrefied biomass) and 500 °C (biochar). Contaminated soils were incubated with 5% (ww -1 ) torrefied biomass or biochar. Sequential extraction, thermodynamic modeling, and scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to evaluate the metal immobilization. Microbial communities were characterized by microbial fatty acid profiles and microbial activity was assessed by dehydrogenase activity. Vegetable waste and the mixture of vegetable waste and pine cone biochar exhibited greater ability for Pb immobilization than pine cone biochar and three torrefied biomass, and vegetable waste biochar was found to be most effective. However, torrefied biomass was most effective in increasing both microbial community and dehydrogenase activity. This study confirms that vegetable waste could be a vital biomass to produce biochar to immobilize Pb, and increase the microbial communities and enzyme activity in soils. Biomass and pyrolytic temperature were not found to be effective in the immobilization of As in this study. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Linking vegetable preferences, health and local food systems through community-supported agriculture.

PubMed

Wilkins, Jennifer L; Farrell, Tracy J; Rangarajan, Anusuya

2015-09-01

The objective of the present study was to explore the influence of participation in community-supported agriculture (CSA) on vegetable exposure, vegetable intake during and after the CSA season, and preference related to locally produced vegetables acquired directly from CSA growers. Quantitative surveys were administered at three time points in two harvest seasons to four groups of CSA participants: new full-paying, returning full-paying, new subsidized and returning subsidized members. Questionnaires included a vegetable frequency measure and measures of new and changed vegetable preference. Comparisons were made between new and returning CSA members and between those receiving subsidies and full-paying members. The research was conducted in a rural county in New York, USA. CSA members who agreed to participate in the study. Analysis was based on 151 usable questionnaires. CSA participants reported higher intake of eleven different vegetables during the CSA season, with a sustained increase in some winter vegetables. Over half of the respondents reported trying at least one, and up to eleven, new vegetables. Sustained preferences for CSA items were reported. While those who choose to join a CSA may be more likely to acquire new and expanded vegetable preferences than those who do not, the CSA experience has the potential to enhance vegetable exposure, augment vegetable preference and increase overall vegetable consumption. Dietary patterns encouraged through CSA participation can promote preferences and consumer demand that support local production and seasonal availability. Emphasis on fresh and fresh stored locally produced vegetables is consistent with sustainable community-based food systems.

7 CFR 3011.1 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General statement. 3011.1 Section 3011.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC § 3011.1 General statement. This part is issued in...

Pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides and neurodevelopmental effects in children living in agricultural communities from South-Eastern Spain.

PubMed

González-Alzaga, Beatriz; Hernández, Antonio F; Rodríguez-Barranco, Miguel; Gómez, Inmaculada; Aguilar-Garduño, Clemente; López-Flores, Inmaculada; Parrón, Tesifón; Lacasaña, Marina

2015-12-01

Childrens exposure to neurotoxic compounds poses a major problem to public health because oftheir actively developing brain that makes them highly vulnerable. However, limited information is available on neuropsychological effects in children associated with pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides. To evaluate the association between current and pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides and their effects on neurodevelopment in children aged 6–11 years living in agricultural communities from South-Eastern Spain. An ambispective study was conducted on 305 children aged 6–11 years randomly selected from public schools of the study area. Current exposure to organophosphate pesticides was assessed measuring children's urinary levels of dialkylphosphates (DAPs). Both prenatal and postnatal residential exposure to pesticides was estimated by developing a geographical information system (GIS) technology-based index that integrated distance-weighted measure of agricultural surface, time-series of crop areas per municipality and year, and land-use maps. Neuropsychological performance was evaluated with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). The association of pre- and postnatal and current pesticide exposure with WISC-IV scale scores was assessed using multivariate linear regression models and generalized estimating equation (GEE) models, respectively. Greater urinary DAP levels were associated with a poorer performance on intelligence quotient and verbal comprehension domain, with effects being more prominent in boys than in girls. The influence of an increase in 10 ha per year in crop surface around the child's residence during the postnatal period was associated with decreased intelligence quotient, processing speed and verbal comprehension scores. As regards prenatal exposure to pesticides, a poor processing speed performance was observed. These effects were also more prominent in boys than in girls. Our results suggest that

Stigmatising attitudes towards people with mental disorders: a comparison of Australian health professionals with the general community.

PubMed

Reavley, Nicola J; Mackinnon, Andrew J; Morgan, Amy J; Jorm, Anthony F

2014-05-01

The aim of this paper was to explore attitudes towards people with mental disorders among Australian health professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists and general practitioners (GPs)) and to compare their attitudes with members of the general community. The study involved a postal survey of 518 GPs, 506 psychiatrists and 498 clinical psychologists and a telephone survey of 6019 members of the general community. Participants were given a case vignette describing a person with either depression, depression with suicidal thoughts, early schizophrenia, chronic schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or social phobia and two questionnaires to assess stigmatising attitudes (the Depression Stigma Scale and the Social Distance Scale). Exploratory structural equation modelling was used to elucidate the structure of stigma as measured by the two scales, to establish dimensions of stigma and to compare patterns of association according to gender, age, vignette and professional grouping. The measurement characteristics of stigmatising attitudes in health professionals were found to be comparable to those in members of the general community in social distance and also in personal and perceived attitude stigma, with each forming distinct dimensions and each comprising 'Weak-not-sick' and 'Dangerous/unpredictable' components. Among health professionals, female gender, age and being a GP were associated with higher scores on the personal stigma scales. Mental health professionals had lower scores on the personal 'Weak-not-sick' and 'Dangerous/unpredictable' scales than members of the general community, while there were no significant differences in the desire for social distance between health professionals and the general community. While mental health professionals have less stigmatising attitudes than the general public, the greater beliefs in dangerousness and personal weakness by GPs should be addressed.

Agricultural field reclamation utilizing native grass crop production

Treesearch

J. Cure

2013-01-01

Developing a method of agricultural field reclamation to native grasses in the Lower San Pedro Watershed could prove to be a valuable tool for educational and practical purposes. Agricultural field reclamation utilizing native grass crop production will address water table depletion, soil degradation and the economic viability of the communities within the watershed....

Impacts of Stratospheric Black Carbon on Agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, L.; Robock, A.; Elliott, J. W.

2017-12-01

A regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan could inject 5 Tg of soot into the stratosphere, which would absorb sunlight, decrease global surface temperature by about 1°C for 5-10 years and have major impacts on precipitation and the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface. Using two global gridded crop models forced by one global climate model simulation, we investigate the impacts on agricultural productivity in various nations. The crop model in the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM-crop4.5) and the parallel Decision Support System for Agricultural Technology (pDSSAT) in the parallel System for Integrating Impact Models and Sectors are participating in the Global Gridded Crop Model Intercomparison. We force these two crop models with output from the Whole Atmospheric Community Climate Model to characterize the global agricultural impact from climate changes due to a regional nuclear war. Crops in CLM-crop4.5 include maize, rice, soybean, cotton and sugarcane, and crops in pDSSAT include maize, rice, soybean and wheat. Although the two crop models require a different time frequency of weather input, we downscale the climate model output to provide consistent temperature, precipitation and solar radiation inputs. In general, CLM-crop4.5 simulates a larger global average reduction of maize and soybean production relative to pDSSAT. Global rice production shows negligible change with climate anomalies from a regional nuclear war. Cotton and sugarcane benefit from a regional nuclear war from CLM-crop4.5 simulation, and global wheat production would decrease significantly in the pDSSAT simulation. The regional crop yield responses to a regional nuclear conflict are different for each crop, and we present the changes in production on a national basis. These models do not include the crop responses to changes in ozone, ultraviolet radiation, or diffuse radiation, and we would like to encourage more modelers to improve crop models to account for those

Community Garden Information Systems: Analyzing and Strengthening Community-Based Resource Sharing Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loria, Kristen

2013-01-01

Extension professionals play an increasingly central role in supporting community garden and other community-based agriculture projects. With growing interest in community gardens as tools to improve community health and vitality, the best strategies for supporting these projects should be explored. Due to the importance of inter-personal networks…

Conventionalization, Civic Engagement, and the Sustainability of Organic Agriculture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldberger, Jessica R.

2011-01-01

It is often assumed that organic farming is synonymous with sustainable agriculture. The broad goals of sustainable agriculture include economic profitability, environmental stewardship, and community vitality. However, the "question of sustainability" (Ikerd, 2008) can be asked of any type of farming, including organic production. One…

Unexpected stimulation of soil methane uptake as emergent property of agricultural soils following bio-based residue application.

PubMed

Ho, Adrian; Reim, Andreas; Kim, Sang Yoon; Meima-Franke, Marion; Termorshuizen, Aad; de Boer, Wietse; van der Putten, Wim H; Bodelier, Paul L E

2015-10-01

Intensification of agriculture to meet the global food, feed, and bioenergy demand entail increasing re-investment of carbon compounds (residues) into agro-systems to prevent decline of soil quality and fertility. However, agricultural intensification decreases soil methane uptake, reducing, and even causing the loss of the methane sink function. In contrast to wetland agricultural soils (rice paddies), the methanotrophic potential in well-aerated agricultural soils have received little attention, presumably due to the anticipated low or negligible methane uptake capacity in these soils. Consequently, a detailed study verifying or refuting this assumption is still lacking. Exemplifying a typical agricultural practice, we determined the impact of bio-based residue application on soil methane flux, and determined the methanotrophic potential, including a qualitative (diagnostic microarray) and quantitative (group-specific qPCR assays) analysis of the methanotrophic community after residue amendments over 2 months. Unexpectedly, after amendments with specific residues, we detected a significant transient stimulation of methane uptake confirmed by both the methane flux measurements and methane oxidation assay. This stimulation was apparently a result of induced cell-specific activity, rather than growth of the methanotroph population. Although transient, the heightened methane uptake offsets up to 16% of total gaseous CO2 emitted during the incubation. The methanotrophic community, predominantly comprised of Methylosinus may facilitate methane oxidation in the agricultural soils. While agricultural soils are generally regarded as a net methane source or a relatively weak methane sink, our results show that methane oxidation rate can be stimulated, leading to higher soil methane uptake. Hence, even if agriculture exerts an adverse impact on soil methane uptake, implementing carefully designed management strategies (e.g. repeated application of specific residues) may

Factors associated with health-related quality of life among Indian women in mining and agriculture

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Women facing social and economic disadvantage in stressed communities of developing countries are at greater risk due to health problems. This paper investigates the relationships between structural, health and psychosocial predictors among women in mining and agricultural communities. This paper is a report of a study of the predictors of the health-related quality of life among Indian women in mining and agricultural communities. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. The instruments used are SF-36 Health Survey and Coping Strategy Checklist. ANOVA, MANOVA and GLM were used in the analysis. The study was conducted between January-September 2008 with randomly selected women in a mining (145) and an agricultural community (133) in India. Results Women in the agricultural community had significantly increased Physical Health, Mental Health and SF36 scores compared with those in the mining community. Years of stay, education and employment were significant predictors among women in the agricultural community. 39% (33%) and 40% (26%) of the variance in Physical and Mental health respectively among women in agricultural and mining communities are predicted by the structural, health and psychosocial variables. Conclusion Perceived health status should be recognised as an important assessment of Physical and Mental Health among women in rural stressed communities. Cognitive, emotional and behavioural coping strategies are significant predictors of health related quality of life. Implications. Nurses should use the SF-36 as a diagnostic tool for assessing health related quality of life among women and discuss coping strategies, so that these can target women’s adaptive behaviour. This should be an essential part of the nursing process for facilitating adaptive process for improved health related quality of life. PMID:23336256

Temporal and spatial assessment of water quality, physical habitat, and benthic communities in an impaired agricultural stream in California's San Joaquin Valley.

PubMed

Hall, Lenwood W; Killen, William D

2005-01-01

The goal of this study was to characterize and discuss the relationships among water quality, physical habitat, and benthic community data collected annually over a three-year period (2000--2002) in an impaired agricultural stream (Orestimba Creek) in California's San Joaquin River watershed. Conductivity, pH, and turbidity were the most important water quality conditions influencing the various benthic metrics. Significantly higher flow conditions and lower dissolved oxygen values were reported in Orestimba Creek in 2001; increased turbidity conditions were reported in 2002. Channel alteration, riparian buffer, sediment deposition, and channel flow were the most important physical habitat metrics influencing the various benthic metrics. Higher total physical habitat scores were reported in 2001 when compared with 2002. The most dominant benthic taxa collected during all three years of sampling were oligochaetes and chironomids. Oligochaetes are found in stressful environments while chironomids can be either sensitive or tolerant to environmental stressors depending on the species. Populations of both daphnids and the exotic clam Corbicula were reported to increase over time. Both of these taxa are generally tolerant to most types of environmental degradation. The exception is that daphnids are highly sensitive to organophosphate insecticides. The % filterers increased over time, which suggests an increase in environmental disturbance. The % collectors decreased from 2000 to 2002, which suggests an improvement in environmental conditions. The presence of approximately 100 taxa in Orestimba Creek during each of the three years of sampling implies that benthic communities in this stream are fairly diverse, considering their ephemeral environment, but without a clear definition of benthic community expectations based on established referenc conditions it is unknown if this water body is actually impaired.

7 CFR 1.212 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 1.212 Section 1.212 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Appearance of USDA Employees as Witnesses in Judicial or Administrative Proceedings § 1.212 General. No USDA employee may provide testimony or produce documents in a...

7 CFR 1.212 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General. 1.212 Section 1.212 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Appearance of USDA Employees as Witnesses in Judicial or Administrative Proceedings § 1.212 General. No USDA employee may provide testimony or produce documents in a...

7 CFR 1.212 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General. 1.212 Section 1.212 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Appearance of USDA Employees as Witnesses in Judicial or Administrative Proceedings § 1.212 General. No USDA employee may provide testimony or produce documents in a...

7 CFR 1.212 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 1.212 Section 1.212 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Appearance of USDA Employees as Witnesses in Judicial or Administrative Proceedings § 1.212 General. No USDA employee may provide testimony or produce documents in a...

7 CFR 1.212 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 1.212 Section 1.212 Agriculture Office of the Secretary of Agriculture ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS Appearance of USDA Employees as Witnesses in Judicial or Administrative Proceedings § 1.212 General. No USDA employee may provide testimony or produce documents in a...

Medium Range Flood Forecasting for Agriculture Damage Reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fakhruddin, S. H. M.

2014-12-01

Early warning is a key element for disaster risk reduction. In recent decades, major advancements have been made in medium range and seasonal flood forecasting. This progress provides a great opportunity to reduce agriculture damage and improve advisories for early action and planning for flood hazards. This approach can facilitate proactive rather than reactive management of the adverse consequences of floods. In the agricultural sector, for instance, farmers can take a diversity of options such as changing cropping patterns, applying fertilizer, irrigating and changing planting timing. An experimental medium range (1-10 day) flood forecasting model has been developed for Bangladesh and Thailand. It provides 51 sets of discharge ensemble forecasts of 1-10 days with significant persistence and high certainty. This type of forecast could assist farmers and other stakeholders for differential preparedness activities. These ensembles probabilistic flood forecasts have been customized based on user-needs for community-level application focused on agriculture system. The vulnerabilities of agriculture system were calculated based on exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Indicators for risk and vulnerability assessment were conducted through community consultations. The forecast lead time requirement, user-needs, impacts and management options for crops were identified through focus group discussions, informal interviews and community surveys. This paper illustrates potential applications of such ensembles for probabilistic medium range flood forecasts in a way that is not commonly practiced globally today.

Appraisal of cooperation with a palliative care case manager by general practitioners and community nurses: a cross-sectional questionnaire study.

PubMed

van der Plas, Annicka G M; Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje D; Vissers, Kris C; Deliens, Luc; Jansen, Wim J J; Francke, Anneke L

2016-01-01

To investigate how general practitioners and community nurses value the support that they receive from a nurse case manager with expertise in palliative care, whether they think the case manager is helpful in realizing appropriate care and what characteristics of the patient and case management are associated with this view. For sustainable palliative care in an ageing society, basic palliative care is provided by generalists and specialist palliative care is reserved for complex situations. Acceptance of and cooperation with specialist palliative care providers by the general practitioner and community nurse is pivotal. Cross-sectional questionnaire study. Questionnaire data from 168 general practitioners and 125 community nurses were analysed using chi-square tests, univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Data were gathered between March 2011-December 2013. Of general practitioners, 46% rated the case manager as helpful in realizing care that is appropriate for the patient; for community nurses this was 49%. The case manager did not hinder the process of care and had added value for patients, according to the general practitioners and community nurses. The tasks of the case manager were associated with whether or not the case manager was helpful in realizing appropriate care, whereas patient characteristics and the number of contacts with the case manager were not. General practitioners and community nurses are moderately positive about the support from the case manager. To improve cooperation further, case managers should invest in contact with general practitioners and community nurses. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Recommendations to the Illinois General Assembly on Zoning for Community Residences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities, Springfield.

The Illinois General Assembly enacted the Community Residence Location Planning Act (CRLPA) to provide assistance to the state's 110 home rule municipalities to help bring their zoning ordinances into compliance with 1988 amendments to the U.S. Fair Housing Act. This report presents the results of this effort and offers recommendations to the…

Leadership and Funding: Changes Ahead for Agricultural Safety and Health.

PubMed

Murphy, Dennis J; Lee, Barbara C

2018-01-01

For the last several decades, financial support for agricultural safety and health programs and professionals has primarily been covered by public dollars through federal and state government grant programs and appropriations. This federal and state funding provided a tremendous boost to farm safety and health professionals and program efforts for 30+ years and has provided the foundation and structure for current agricultural safety and health efforts and activities. However, there is reason to question long-term sustainability of a sufficient level of federal and state dollars for agricultural safety and health. Public funding for agricultural safety and health has never quite kept up to inflation, but even more ominous is that the entire agricultural safety and health program has been proposed for elimination each year by the White House budget beginning with the fiscal year 2012. It seems prudent, perhaps even imperative, for the agricultural safety and health community to find alternative support mechanisms. We suggest that now is a great time for agricultural businesses, services, and organizations to step up their financial support. Fortunately, several positive examples have recently surfaced within the agricultural community. As the agricultural industry continues to be a dominant enterprise in the United States, the integration of significant funding and the role of leadership from within the industry must continue to expand.

How to enhance public health service utilization in community pharmacy?: general public and health providers' perspectives.

PubMed

Saramunee, Kritsanee; Krska, Janet; Mackridge, Adam; Richards, Jacqueline; Suttajit, Siritree; Phillips-Howard, Penelope

2014-01-01

Community pharmacists (PHs) in England are increasingly providing a range of public health services. However, the general public view pharmacists as drug experts and not experts in health, and therefore, services may be underutilized. To explore experiences and views of 4 groups of participants, the general public, PHs, general practitioners (GPs), and other stakeholders (STs) on pharmacy-based public health services, and identify potential factors affecting service use. The study was undertaken in a locality of North West England. Three focus groups were conducted with the general public (n=16), grouped by socioeconomic status. Fourteen semistructured interviews were undertaken with PHs (n=9), GPs (n=2), and STs (n=3). Discussions/interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. All 4 groups of participants agreed that community pharmacies are a good source of advice on medicines and minor ailments but were less supportive of public health services. Six factors were identified affecting utilization of pharmacy services: community pharmacy environment, pharmacist and support staff, service publicity, general public, GP services, and health care system and policies. Crucial obstacles that could inhibit service utilization are perceptions of both the general public and other health providers toward pharmacists' competencies, privacy and confidentiality in pharmacies, high dispensing workload, and inadequate financial support. Networking between local health professionals could enhance confidence in service delivery, general awareness, and thus utilization. Community pharmacy has the potential to deliver public health services, although the impact on public health may be limited. Addressing the factors identified could help to increase utilization and impact of pharmacy public health services. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Level of Agricultural Education Advisory Council Implementation in Idaho Secondary Agricultural Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Masser, Douglas T.; Falk, Jeremy M.; Foster, Daniel D.

2014-01-01

Advisory councils are community-specific and are major components of agricultural education programs. This descriptive study was conducted to further strengthen what is known about advisory councils and provide a basis for continued improvement in local programs. The specific purpose of the research study was to describe how Idaho agricultural…

Agricultural occupational health and safety perspectives among Latino-American youth.

PubMed

Perla, M E; Iman, Esmeralda; Campos, Leticia; Perkins, Alexandra; Liebman, Amy K; Miller, Mary E; Beaudet, Nancy J; Karr, Catherine J

2015-01-01

Agricultural work is one of the most dangerous jobs for adolescents. Through a university-community partnership, the authors surveyed young primarily acculturated Latino-American farmworkers 14 to 18 years of age regarding their agricultural work experience. Topics included occupational health and safety education, work history, and information sources. The authors also evaluated the Rapid Clinical Assessment Tool (RCAT), a pictorial tool for identifying agricultural tasks to enhance discussion with clinical providers. One hundred forty youth with farmwork experience completed the survey; 6% reported a previous work-related injury or illness and 53% reported receiving some workplace health and safety training. Correct identification of legally restricted duties for youth varied but were generally low: participants identified working alone past 8 pm (57%), driving a forklift (56%), doing roofing work (39%), working in freezers (34%), and driving a delivery vehicle (30%). The Internet was identified as the most likely and reliable place youth would go to find information on workplace health and safety. Few (15%) reported clinician-initiated conversations on occupational health; however, a high proportion responded positively to questions regarding the usefulness of the RCAT for this purpose. This study highlights the need for workplace health and safety guidance for youth employed in agriculture. The results support Internet-based outreach and use of the RCAT to help facilitate occupational health discussions in clinical settings.

Agricultural Occupational Health and Safety Perspectives Among Latino-American Youth

PubMed Central

Perla, M. E.; Iman, Esmeralda; Campos, Leticia; Perkins, Alexandra; Liebman, Amy K.; Miller, Mary E.; Beaudet, Nancy J.; Karr, Catherine J.

2018-01-01

Agricultural work is one of the most dangerous jobs for adolescents. Through a university-community partnership, the authors surveyed young primarily acculturated Latino-American farmworkers 14 to 18 years of age regarding their agricultural work experience. Topics included occupational health and safety education, work history, and information sources. The authors also evaluated the Rapid Clinical Assessment Tool (RCAT), a pictorial tool for identifying agricultural tasks to enhance discussion with clinical providers. One hundred forty youth with farmwork experience completed the survey; 6% reported a previous work-related injury or illness and 53% reported receiving some workplace health and safety training. Correct identification of legally restricted duties for youth varied but were generally low: participants identified working alone past 8 PM (57%), driving a forklift (56%), doing roofing work (39%), working in freezers (34%), and driving a delivery vehicle (30%). The Internet was identified as the most likely and reliable place youth would go to find information on workplace health and safety. Few (15%) reported clinician-initiated conversations on occupational health; however, a high proportion responded positively to questions regarding the usefulness of the RCAT for this purpose. This study highlights the need for workplace health and safety guidance for youth employed in agriculture. The results support Internet-based outreach and use of the RCAT to help facilitate occupational health discussions in clinical settings. PMID:25906275

7 CFR 762.140 - General servicing responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 7 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General servicing responsibilities. 762.140 Section 762.140 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL PROGRAMS GUARANTEED FARM LOANS § 762.140 General servicing responsibilities...

Spanish for Agricultural Purposes: The Basic Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mainous, Bruce H.; And Others

This manual, part of a one-semester course for North American agriculture specialists preparing to work in Latin America, is built around specimens of agricultural writing in Spanish. The manual contains 12 lessons on general agriculture, sugar production, grain production, geography, forestry, animal husbandry, soy bean production, agricultural…

Attributed community mining using joint general non-negative matrix factorization with graph Laplacian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zigang; Li, Lixiang; Peng, Haipeng; Liu, Yuhong; Yang, Yixian

2018-04-01

Community mining for complex social networks with link and attribute information plays an important role according to different application needs. In this paper, based on our proposed general non-negative matrix factorization (GNMF) algorithm without dimension matching constraints in our previous work, we propose the joint GNMF with graph Laplacian (LJGNMF) to implement community mining of complex social networks with link and attribute information according to different application needs. Theoretical derivation result shows that the proposed LJGNMF is fully compatible with previous methods of integrating traditional NMF and symmetric NMF. In addition, experimental results show that the proposed LJGNMF can meet the needs of different community minings by adjusting its parameters, and the effect is better than traditional NMF in the community vertices attributes entropy.

7 CFR 90.101 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 90.101 Section 90.101 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) COMMODITY LABORATORY TESTING PROGRAMS...

The Evolution of General Education Requirements at Prince George's Community College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barshay, Robert; Cant, Catherine

In August 1981, a task force was created at Maryland's Prince George's Community College (PGCC) to analyze the college's General Education (GE) requirements in terms of their appropriateness as a major component of Associate Degree (AD) programs. Rather than increase the number of GE requirements, the task force sought to identify the skills,…

7 CFR 98.100 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 98.100 Section 98.100 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) COMMODITY LABORATORY TESTING PROGRAMS MEALS...

7 CFR 91.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 91.1 Section 91.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) COMMODITY LABORATORY TESTING PROGRAMS SERVICES...

Community and job satisfactions: an argument for reciprocal influence based on the principle of stimulus generalization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gavin, J.; Montgomery, J.C.

The principle of stimulus generalization provided the underlying argument for a test of hypotheses regarding the association of community and job satisfactions and a critique of related theory and research. Two-stage least squares (2SLS) analysis made possible the examination of reciprocal causation, a notion inherent in the theoretical argument. Data were obtained from 276 employees of a Western U.S. coal mine as part of a work attitudes survey. The 2SLS analysis indicated a significant impact of community satisfaction on job satisfaction and an effect of borderline significance of job on community satisfaction. Theory-based correlational comparisons were made on groups ofmore » employees residing in four distinct communities, high and low tenure groups, males and females, and different levels in the mine's hierarchy. The pattern of correlations was generally consistent with predictions, but significance tests for differences yielded equivocal support. When considered in the context of previous studies, the data upheld a reciprocal causal model and the explanatory principle of stimulus generalization for understanding the relation of community and job satisfactions. Sample characteristics necessitate cautious interpretation and the model per se might best be viewed as a heuristic framework for more definitive research.« less

Education for Agricultural Improvement: Teacher Certification at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burlbaw, Lynn M.; Williams, Lauren; Kelly, Larry J.

2017-01-01

Texas A&M University has long been known for its engineering and agricultural programs. Only in the last 50 years has its reputation included the preparation of teachers for general education in the public schools of Texas. However, agricultural education has been an integral part of the institution's mandate since early in the 20th century.…

7 CFR 75.41 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 75.41 Section 75.41 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG...

7 CFR 75.41 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General. 75.41 Section 75.41 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG...

7 CFR 75.41 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General. 75.41 Section 75.41 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG...

7 CFR 3015.41 - General program income.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General program income. 3015.41 Section 3015.41 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE UNIFORM FEDERAL ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS Grant Related Income § 3015.41 General...

Adaptation to climate change in agriculture in Bangladesh: The role of formal institutions.

PubMed

Islam, Md Torikul; Nursey-Bray, Melissa

2017-09-15

Bangladesh is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and adaptation is emerging as a key policy response. Place based programs that build adaptive capacity are needed. This paper explores the effectiveness of formal institutions in climate change adaptation for agriculture from the perspectives of farmers and institutional communities of practice within two drought-prone areas in Bangladesh. Our findings show that formal institutions via their communities of practice play an important role in building place based capacity for mitigation and adaptation strategies in agriculture. Over-emphasis on technology, lack of acknowledgement of cultural factors and a failure of institutional communities of practice to mediate and create linkages with informal institutional communities of practice remain barriers. We argue that in order for formal institutions to play an ongoing and crucial role in building adaptive agriculture in Bangladesh, they must incorporate cultural mechanisms and build partnerships with more community based informal institutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 226.1 - General purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General purpose and scope. 226.1 Section 226.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM General § 226.1 General purpose and scope. This part announces the...

7 CFR 225.1 - General purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General purpose and scope. 225.1 Section 225.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM General § 225.1 General purpose and scope. This part establishes the regulations...

Influence of agriculture on aquatic invertebrate communities of temporary wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Euliss, Ned H.; Mushet, David M.

1999-01-01

We evaluated the influence of intensive agriculture on invertebrate communities of temporary wetlands as indicated by aquatic invertebrate resting eggs, shells, and cases remaining after wetlands dried. To facilitate the comparison, we sampled 19 wetlands within cropland areas and 19 wetlands within grassland areas. We found resting eggs, shells, and cases of significantly more taxa and greater numbers of cladoceran resting eggs (ephippia), planorbid and physid snail shells, and ostracod shells in wetlands within grasslands than in croplands. We also successfully incubated greater numbers of cladocerans and ostracods from soil samples collected from grassland sites. We were unable to detect differences in the viability of cladoceran ephippia between grassland and cropland wetlands, but our sample size was small due to an absence of ephippia in most cropland wetlands sampled; 74% of the cropland wetlands were devoid of cladoceran ephippia whereas ephippia were well represented in nearly all of our grassland sites. Our results corroborate findings of other investigators that prairie pothole wetlands have been negatively impacted by human activ-, ities. Our study demonstrates that aquatic invertebrates of temporary wetlands have, been negatively impacted by intensive agriculture and suggests that future studies need to assess the influence of agricultural practices on wetland-dependant wildlife.

Labor Factor Efficiency in the Agricultural Industry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

R?y, Inna U.; Shakulikova, Gulzada T.; Kozhakhmetova, Gulnar A.; Lashkareva, Olga V.; Bondarenko, Elena G.; Bermukhambetova, Botagoz B.; Baimagambetova, Zamzagul A.; Zhetessova, Mariyam T.; Beketova, Kamar N.; Anafiyaeva, Zhibek

2016-01-01

Agricultural problems associated with prospects of the rural population and agriculture in general have recently become an important factor in the modern economic policy development. The urgency of finding ways to improve the labor resource efficiency in agriculture pursuant to the state tasks is determined by the need to restore the agricultural…

7 CFR 1700.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 1700.1 Section 1700.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.... (c) The Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) established the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) on October...

7 CFR 3800.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) WORLD AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK BOARD, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS § 3800.1 General. The World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) was established on June 3, 1977, by Secretary's Memorandum 1920, entitled “World Food and Agricultural Outlook and...

Historical agriculture alters the effects of fire on understory plant beta diversity.

PubMed

Mattingly, W Brett; Orrock, John L; Collins, Cathy D; Brudvig, Lars A; Damschen, Ellen I; Veldman, Joseph W; Walker, Joan L

2015-02-01

Land-use legacies are known to shape the diversity and distribution of plant communities, but we lack an understanding of whether historical land use influences community responses to contemporary disturbances. Because human-modified landscapes often bear a history of multiple land-use activities, this contingency can challenge our understanding of land-use impacts on plant diversity. We address this contingency by evaluating how beta diversity (the spatial variability of species composition), an important component of regional biodiversity, is shaped by interactions between historical agriculture and prescribed fire, two prominent disturbances that are often coincident in terrestrial ecosystems. At three study locations spanning 450 km in the southeastern United States, we surveyed longleaf pine woodland understory plant communities across 232 remnant and post-agricultural sites with differing prescribed fire regimes. Our results demonstrate that agricultural legacies are a strong predictor of beta diversity, but the direction of this land-use effect differed among the three study locations. Further, although beta diversity increased with prescribed fire frequency at each study location, this effect was influenced by agricultural land-use history, such that positive fire effects were only documented among sites that lacked a history of agriculture at two of our three study locations. Our study not only highlights the role of historical agriculture in shaping beta diversity in a fire-maintained ecosystem but also illustrates how this effect can be contingent upon fire regime and geographic location. We suggest that interactions among historical and contemporary land-use activities may help to explain dissimilarities in plant communities among sites in human-dominated landscapes.

Efficacy of Bioremediation of Agricultural Runoff Using Bacterial Communities in Woodchip Bioreactors.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mortensen, Z. H.; Leandro, M.; Silveus, J. M.

2016-12-01

California's agricultural sector is fundamental in the State's economic growth and is responsible for supplying a large portion of the country's produce. In order to meet the market's demand for crop production the region's agrarian landscape requires an abundance of nutrient rich irrigation. The resultant agricultural effluent is a source of increased nutrient content in California's watershed and groundwater systems, promoting eutrophication and contributing to negative impacts on local ecosystems and human health. Previous studies have examined the denitrification potential of woodchip bioreactors. However, research has been deficient regarding specific variables that may affect the remediation process. To evaluate the efficacy of woodchip bioreactors in remediating waters containing high nitrate concentrations, denitrification rates were examined and parameters such as temperature, laminar flow, and hydraulic residence times were measured to identify potential methods for increasing denitrification efficiency. By measuring the rate of denitrification in a controlled environment where potentially confounding factors can be manipulated, physical components affecting the efficiency of woodchip bioreactors were examined to assess effects. Our research suggests the implementation of woodchip bioreactors to treat agricultural runoff would significantly reduce the concentration of nitrate in agricultural effluent and contribute to the mitigation of negative impacts associated with agricultural irrigation. Future research should focus on the ability of woodchip bioreactors to successfully remediate other agricultural pollutants, such as phosphates and pesticides, to optimize the efficiency of the bioremediation process.

European Community.

PubMed

1987-05-01

The European Community was established in 1951 to reconcile France and Germany after World War II and to make possible the eventual federation of Europe. By 1986, there were 12 member countries: France, Italy, Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, and Portugal. Principal areas of concern are internal and external trade, agriculture, monetary coordination, fisheries, common industrial and commercial policies, assistance, science and research, and common social and regional policies. The European Community has a budget of US$34.035 billion/year, funded by customs duties and 1.4% of each member's value-added tax. The treaties establishing the European Community call for members to form a common market, a common customs tariff, and common agricultural, transport, economic, and nuclear policies. Major European Community institutions include the Commission, Council of Ministers, European Parliament, Court of Justice, and Economic and Social Committee. The Community is the world's largest trading unit, accounting for 15% of world trade. The 2 main goals of the Community's industrial policy are to create an open internal market and to promote technological innovation in order to improve international competitiveness. The European Community aims to contribute to the economic and social development of Third World countries as well.

pH is the primary determinant of the bacterial community structure in agricultural soils impacted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yucheng; Zeng, Jun; Zhu, Qinghe; Zhang, Zhenfa; Lin, Xiangui

2017-01-01

Acidification and pollution are two major threats to agricultural ecosystems; however, microbial community responses to co-existed soil acidification and pollution remain less explored. In this study, arable soils of broad pH (4.26-8.43) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) gradients (0.18-20.68 mg kg-1) were collected from vegetable farmlands. Bacterial community characteristics including abundance, diversity and composition were revealed by quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing. The bacterial 16S rRNA gene copies significantly correlated with soil carbon and nitrogen contents, suggesting the control of nutrients accessibility on bacterial abundance. The bacterial diversity was strongly related to soil pH, with higher diversity in neutral samples and lower in acidic samples. Soil pH was also identified by an ordination analysis as important factor shaping bacterial community composition. The relative abundances of some dominant phyla varied along the pH gradient, and the enrichment of a few phylotypes suggested their adaptation to low pH condition. In contrast, at the current pollution level, PAH showed marginal effects on soil bacterial community. Overall, these findings suggest pH was the primary determinant of bacterial community in these arable soils, indicative of a more substantial influence of acidification than PAH pollution on bacteria driven ecological processes.

Mercury Cycling in Agricultural and Non-agricultural Wetlands of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, California: Sediment Biogeochemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marvin-Dipasquale, M. C.; Windham-Myers, L.; Alpers, C. N.; Agee, J. L.; Cox, M. H.; Kakouros, E.; Wren, S. L.

2007-12-01

The Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area (YBWA) is part of the larger Yolo Bypass floodwater protection zone associated with the Sacramento River and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California. Land use in the YBWA consists of white and wild rice fields, seasonally flooded fallow agricultural fields, and permanently and seasonally flooded non-agricultural wetlands used for resident and migratory waterfowl. A recent assessment of mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) loads indicates that the Yolo Bypass is responsible for a high proportion of the aqueous MeHg entering the Delta, and that biota from the Yolo Bypass are considerably elevated in MeHg. The current study examines benthic MeHg production and biogeochemical controls on this process, as a function of YBWA land use, wetland management, and agricultural practices during the 2007 rice growing season (June to October). Preliminary results indicate that in the week following initial flooding of agricultural fields, prior to the establishment of rice plants, the microbial community in the 0-2 cm surface sediment zone exhibited very little potential Hg(II)-methylation activity compared to the permanent wetland habitat (as assessed via the 203Hg(II)- methylation assay). Approximately 1 month after flooding, rice plants were established and the activity of the resident Hg(II)-methylating microbial community had increased substantially in all agricultural fields, although the observed rates of MeHg production were still much lower than those observed in the permanent wetland setting. Ongoing field sampling includes analysis of reactive Hg(II) in sediments and of iron and sulfur redox species in sediments and pore waters.

BIOMASS GASIFICATION FOR AGRICULTURAL ENERGY SOURCES AND SOIL ENRICHMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Phase I of the Biomass Gasification Project gave birth to many success stories and demonstrated enormous potential for members of the local agricultural community and for students within the university.

Community-building

Watauga County Cooperative Ext...

7 CFR 1942.117 - General requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... § 1942.117 General requirements. (a) Reserve requirements. Loans under this subpart are subject to the... 7 Agriculture 13 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true General requirements. 1942.117 Section 1942.117 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS...

7 CFR 3600.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS § 3600.1 General. The National Agricultural Statistics... Statistical Reporting Service concurrent with an internal restructuring. Primary NASS responsibilities are...

7 CFR 3600.1 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS § 3600.1 General. The National Agricultural Statistics... Statistical Reporting Service concurrent with an internal restructuring. Primary NASS responsibilities are...

The European Union Food Distribution programme for the Most Deprived Persons of the community, 1987-2013: From agricultural policy to social inclusion policy?

PubMed

Caraher, Martin

2015-07-01

The European Union Food Distribution programme for the Most Deprived Persons (MDP) of the community ran from 1987 until 2013. It was funded from Common Agricultural Policy budgets. The programme initially made use of surplus foods from the food mountains resulting from intervention stocks. This food was then distributed through aid agencies within member states, coordinated at a national government level. Reform of the CAP and global rises in food prices resulted in an increase in budget from €300 to €500 million Euros in 2010 with the added power to buy food on the open market. This led to a formal challenge to the scheme on the basis that buying goods on the open market shifted the emphasis from an agricultural/financial basis to a social one. A court ruling found that because the program was no longer used for removing surpluses the link to agriculture policy has become tenuous and therefore had no basis in community law. As a result of this legal challenge a number of policy compromises ensured the MDP would continue until the end of 2013 with a reduced budget. The scheme has been superseded by a new scheme in March 2014 called the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). This is seen as a social programme. The way that policy and politics developed and changed the MDP programme are set out. The article tracks its move from being an agricultural policy to a social welfare one. The key policy players and actors in this move are set out as are the changing context and policy frameworks. The replacement of the MDP by FEAD is discussed as is how intensive lobbying in 2012/13 resulted in the development of a new Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Non-target impact of fungicide tetraconazole on microbial communities in soils with different agricultural management.

PubMed

Sułowicz, Sławomir; Cycoń, Mariusz; Piotrowska-Seget, Zofia

2016-08-01

Effect of the fungicide tetraconazole on microbial community in silt loam soils from orchard with long history of triazole application and from grassland with no known history of fungicide usage was investigated. Triazole tetraconazole that had never been used on these soils before was applied at the field rate and at tenfold the FR. Response of microbial communities to tetraconazole was investigated during 28-day laboratory experiment by determination of changes in their biomass and structure (phospholipid fatty acids method-PLFA), activity (fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis-FDA) as well as changes in genetic (DGGE) and functional (Biolog) diversity. Obtained results indicated that the response of soil microorganisms to tetraconazole depended on the management of the soils. DGGE patterns revealed that both dosages of fungicide affected the structure of bacterial community and the impact on genetic diversity and richness was more prominent in orchard soil. Values of stress indices-the saturated/monounsaturated PLFAs ratio and the cyclo/monounsaturated precursors ratio, were almost twice as high and the Gram-negative/Gram-positive ratio was significantly lower in the orchard soil compared with the grassland soil. Results of principal component analysis of PLFA and Biolog profiles revealed significant impact of tetraconazole in orchard soil on day 28, whereas changes in these profiles obtained for grassland soil were insignificant or transient. Obtained results indicated that orchards soil seems to be more vulnerable to tetraconazole application compared to grassland soil. History of pesticide application and agricultural management should be taken into account in assessing of environmental impact of studied pesticides.

7 CFR 58.917 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 AND THE EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT (CONTINUED) GRADING AND INSPECTION, GENERAL...

Response of Nitrifier and Denitrifier Abundance and Microbial Community Structure to Experimental Warming in an Agricultural Ecosystem

PubMed Central

Waghmode, Tatoba R.; Chen, Shuaimin; Li, Jiazhen; Sun, Ruibo; Liu, Binbin; Hu, Chunsheng

2018-01-01

activity and microbial community response to climate warming in agricultural ecosystems. PMID:29593703

The value of agricultural wetlands as invertebrate resources for wintering shorebirds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Taft, Oriane W.; Haig, Susan M.

2005-01-01

Agricultural landscapes have received little recognition for the food resources they provide to wintering waterbirds. In the Willamette Valley of Oregon, modest yet significant populations of wintering shorebirds (Charadriiformes) regularly use hundreds of dispersed wetlands on agricultural lands. Benthic invertebrates are a critical resource for the survival of overwintering shorebirds, yet the abundance of invertebrate resources in agricultural wetlands such as these has not been quantified. To evaluate the importance of agricultural wetlands to a population of wintering shorebirds, the density, biomass, and general community composition of invertebrates available to birds were quantified at a sample of Willamette Valley sites during a wet (1999–2000) and a dry winter (2000–2001). Invertebrate densities ranged among wetlands from 173 to 1925 (mean ± S.E.: 936 ± 106) individuals/m2 in the wet winter, and from 214 to 3484 (1028 ± 155) individuals/m2 in the dry winter. Total invertebrate estimated biomass among wetlands ranged from 35 to 652 (mean ± S.E.: 364 ± 35) mg/m2 in the wet winter, and from 85 to 1405 (437 ± 62) mg/m2 in the dry winter. These estimates for food abundance were comparable to that observed in some other important freshwater wintering regions in North America.

7 CFR 1450.200 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 1450.200 Section 1450.200 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS BIOMASS CROP ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (BCAP) Establishment...

7 CFR 1450.200 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 1450.200 Section 1450.200 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS BIOMASS CROP ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (BCAP) Establishment...

7 CFR 1450.200 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General. 1450.200 Section 1450.200 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS BIOMASS CROP ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (BCAP) Establishment...

7 CFR 1450.200 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false General. 1450.200 Section 1450.200 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS BIOMASS CROP ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (BCAP) Establishment...

Ask a Question | National Agricultural Library

Science.gov Websites

Nutrition Invasive Species Marketing and Trade Natural Resources and Environment Plants and Crops Research Animal Welfare Food and Nutrition General Collections Quarterly Review Pasture, Forage and Rangeland Farmers Sustainable Agriculture Veterans in Agriculture Food and Human Nutrition Dietary Guidelines and

Restructuring U.S. Agriculture: Implications for Rural Education and Other Community Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bird, Alan R.

Restructuring of U.S. agriculture ("neoindustrialization") is having important effects on rural residents, requiring adaptations of supporting institutions such as education. Neoindustrialization involves concentration, specialization, and vertical and horizontal integration of agricultural production and marketing, as well as further…

Outdoor near-roadway, community and residential pollen, carbon dioxide and particulate matter measurements in the urban core of an agricultural region in central CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shendell, Derek G.; Therkorn, Jennifer H.; Yamamoto, Naomichi; Meng, Qingyu; Kelly, Sarah W.; Foster, Christine A.

2012-04-01

We can control asthma through proper clinical and environmental management and education. The U.S. population is growing, urbanizing and aging; seniors of low-to-middle income families are working and living longer. We conducted community-based participatory research in Visalia, Tulare County, California with a prospective, cross-sectional repeated measures design and quantitative and qualitative process; home environment and health-related outcomes data were collected. In this paper, we presented results of the air quality sampling-pollen, carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulate matter (PM) outdoors away from most major sources (agricultural fields, large pollinating trees, etc)-at a community central site close to a mobile line source and participant homes in the cooling season, July, 2009. Weather was hot and dry with light winds; diurnal variation ranged between 65-107 °F (18-42 °C) and 12-76% relative humidity at the study's central site. Co-located active (reference) and passive (PAAS) samplers were used for pollen; passive monitoring for CO2 (Telaire 7001) and active sampling for PM were conducted. Overall, we observed spatial variability in CO2, fine PM (PM2.5), and pollen counts. Weekday and study week average CO2 and PM2.5 concentrations were higher near study homes compared to central site sampling points, but peak measures and overnight/pre-dawn time period averages were elevated at the central site. Pollen counts were typically lower at homes-even if grass, trees, flowers or potted plants were present-compared to the central site closer to and generally downwind from commercial agricultural tree production. Data are new; the nine-county San Joaquin Valley has one pollen count station in the national network, and two of four government outdoor air monitoring stations in the county are in national parks. We suggest-given poor air quality in large part due to PM-adding routine pollen counts to regional/state agency air monitoring sites and more CO2 and PM

Agricultural applications of insect ecological genomics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Agricultural entomology is poised to benefit from the application of ecological genomics, in particular the fields of biofuels generation and pest insect control. Metagenomic methods can characterize microbial communities of termites, wood-boring beetles and other insects, and transcriptomic approa...

Afforestation alters community structure of soil fungi.

PubMed

Carson, Jennifer K; Gleeson, Deirdre B; Clipson, Nicholas; Murphy, Daniel V

2010-07-01

Relatively little is known about the effect of afforestation on soil fungal communities. This study demonstrated that afforestation altered fungal community structure and that changes were correlated to pools of soil C. Pasture at three locations on the same soil type was afforested with Eucalyptus globulus or Pinus pinaster. The structure of fungal communities under the three land uses was measured after 13y using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA). Afforestation significantly altered the structure of fungal communities. The effect of location on the structure of fungal communities was limited to pasture soils; although these contained the same plant species, the relative composition of each species varied between locations. Differences in the structure of fungal communities between pasture, E. globulus and P. pinaster were significantly correlated with changes in the amount of total organic C and microbial biomass-C in soil. Afforestation of patches of agricultural land may contribute to conserving soil fungi in agricultural landscapes by supporting fungal communities with different composition to agricultural soils. Copyright © 2010 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 1463.100 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 1463.100 Section 1463.100 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS 2005-2014 TOBACCO TRANSITION PROGRAM Tobacco Transition...

Habitat restoration promotes pollinator persistence and colonization in intensively managed agriculture.

PubMed

M'Gonigle, Leithen K; Ponisio, Lauren C; Cutler, Kerry; Kremen, Claire

2015-09-01

Widespread evidence of pollinator declines has led to policies supporting habitat restoration including in agricultural landscapes. Yet, little is yet known about the effectiveness of these restoration techniques for promoting stable populations and communities of pollinators, especially in intensively managed agricultural landscapes. Introducing floral resources, such as flowering hedgerows, to enhance intensively cultivated agricultural landscapes is known to increase the abundances of native insect pollinators in and around restored areas. Whether this is a result of local short-term concentration at flowers or indicative of true increases in the persistence and species richness of these communities remains unclear. It is also unknown whether this practice supports species of conservation concern (e.g., those with more specialized dietary requirements). Analyzing occupancies of native bees and syrphid flies from 330 surveys across 15 sites over eight years, we found that hedgerow restoration promotes rates of between-season persistence and colonization as compared with unrestored field edges. Enhanced persistence and colonization, in turn, led to the formation of more species-rich communities. We also find that hedgerows benefit floral resource specialists more than generalists, emphasizing the value of this restoration technique for conservation in agricultural landscapes.

AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

FARQUHAR, R.N.

AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION HAS LONG EMPHASIZED TECHNICAL ADVISORY SERVICE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE SOCIOECONOMIC ASPECTS OF FARM PRODUCTION AND FARM LIFE. ONLY IN TASMANIA HAS FARM MANAGEMENT BEEN STRESSED. DEMANDS FOR THE WHOLE-FARM APPROACH HAVE PRODUCED A TREND TOWARD GENERALISM FOR DISTRICT OFFICERS IN MOST STATES. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,…

A qualitative study of why general practitioners admit to community hospitals.

PubMed

Grant, James A; Dowell, Jon

2002-08-01

Intermediate care, which is provided by community hospitals, is increasingly seen as one way of reducing pressure on secondary care. However, despite evidence of wide variation, there is little literature describing how general practitioners (GPs) use these hospitals. Because of the control they have over decisions to admit, development of these units depends on the cooperation of GPs. To identify and understand the factors influencing the decision to admit to a community hospital. A qualitative interview study. Twenty-seven practitioners from ten practices supporting five community hospitals in one region of Tayside, Scotland Secondary support was identical for all sites. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of GPs representing those who had the most and the least use of the five community hospitals. A qualitative anaysis was performed to determine thefactors that practitioners considered important when making decisions about admission. Results were presented to the study group for validation. All admissions required adequate capacity in the community hospital system. Primarily social admissions were straight forward requiring only adequate hospital nursing, and GP capacity. More typical admissions involving social and medical needs required consideration of the professional concerns and the personal influences on the doctor as well as the potential benefits to the patient. As medical complexity increased the doctor's comfort/discomfort became the deciding factor. Provided there was adequate capacity, the GPs perceived the level of comfort to be the prime determinant of which patients are admitted to community hospitals and which are referred to secondary care.

A qualitative study of why general practitioners admit to community hospitals.

PubMed Central

Grant, James A; Dowell, Jon

2002-01-01

BACKGROUND: Intermediate care, which is provided by community hospitals, is increasingly seen as one way of reducing pressure on secondary care. However, despite evidence of wide variation, there is little literature describing how general practitioners (GPs) use these hospitals. Because of the control they have over decisions to admit, development of these units depends on the cooperation of GPs. AIM: To identify and understand the factors influencing the decision to admit to a community hospital. DESIGN OF STUDY: A qualitative interview study. SETTING: Twenty-seven practitioners from ten practices supporting five community hospitals in one region of Tayside, Scotland Secondary support was identical for all sites. METHOD: In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of GPs representing those who had the most and the least use of the five community hospitals. A qualitative anaysis was performed to determine thefactors that practitioners considered important when making decisions about admission. Results were presented to the study group for validation. RESULTS: All admissions required adequate capacity in the community hospital system. Primarily social admissions were straight forward requiring only adequate hospital nursing, and GP capacity. More typical admissions involving social and medical needs required consideration of the professional concerns and the personal influences on the doctor as well as the potential benefits to the patient. As medical complexity increased the doctor's comfort/discomfort became the deciding factor. CONCLUSION: Provided there was adequate capacity, the GPs perceived the level of comfort to be the prime determinant of which patients are admitted to community hospitals and which are referred to secondary care. PMID:12171220

The importance of agricultural lands for Himalayan birds in winter.

PubMed

Elsen, Paul R; Kalyanaraman, Ramnarayan; Ramesh, Krishnamurthy; Wilcove, David S

2017-04-01

The impacts of land-use change on biodiversity in the Himalayas are poorly known, notwithstanding widespread deforestation and agricultural intensification in this highly biodiverse region. Although intact primary forests harbor many Himalayan birds during breeding, a large number of bird species use agricultural lands during winter. We assessed how Himalayan bird species richness, abundance, and composition during winter are affected by forest loss stemming from agriculture and grazing. Bird surveys along 12 elevational transects within primary forest, low-intensity agriculture, mixed subsistence agriculture, and intensively grazed pastures in winter revealed that bird species richness and abundance were greatest in low-intensity and mixed agriculture, intermediate in grazed pastures, and lowest in primary forest at both local and landscape scales; over twice as many species and individuals were recorded in low-intensity agriculture than in primary forest. Bird communities in primary forests were distinct from those in all other land-use classes, but only 4 species were unique to primary forests. Low-, medium-, and high-intensity agriculture harbored 32 unique species. Of the species observed in primary forest, 80% had equal or greater abundance in low-intensity agricultural lands, underscoring the value of these lands in retaining diverse community assemblages at high densities in winter. Among disturbed landscapes, bird species richness and abundance declined as land-use intensity increased, especially in high-intensity pastures. Our results suggest that agricultural landscapes are important for most Himalayan bird species in winter. But agricultural intensification-especially increased grazing-will likely result in biodiversity losses. Given that forest reserves alone may inadequately conserve Himalayan birds in winter, comprehensive conservation strategies in the region must go beyond protecting intact primary forests and ensure that low-intensity agricultural

Oregon Agriculture IV Curriculum Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oregon State Univ., Corvallis. Dept. of Agricultural Education.

This curriculum package is designed to assist teachers in preparing fourth-year vocational agricultural curricula to meet local community or regional needs. Provided in the introductory section are instructions for using the guide, suggestions for designing curricula that are sex fair and that are suitable for use with disadvantaged and disabled…

Utilization of Advisory Councils in Pennsylvania Secondary Agricultural Education Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Daniel D.; Masser, Douglas T.; Falk, Jeremy M.; Sankey Rice, Laura L.

2015-01-01

Advisory councils are a vital component of the program-planning process in career and technical education programs, providing an important link from the community to the program. The purpose of this research study was to describe how Pennsylvania agricultural educators used and perceived agricultural education advisory councils. The results…

Capacity Building to Support Governmental Meteorological and Agricultural Communities in East Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granger, S. L.; Macharia, D.; Das, N.; Andreadis, K.; Ines, A.

2016-12-01

There is a recognized need for data to support decision-making and planning in East Africa where people and national economies depend on rain fed agriculture and are vulnerable to a changing climate and extreme weather events. However, capacity to use existing global data stores and transition promising tools is a gap that severely limits the use and adoption of these data and tools. Although most people think of capacity building as simply training, it is really much more than that and has been more thoroughly described in the public health community as…."the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in the fast-changing world." Data and tools from NASA and other providers are often not used as they could be for technical and institutional reasons. On the technical side, there is the perception that global data stores are impenetrable requiring special expertise to access them, even if the data can be accessed, the technical expertise to understand and use the data and tools may be lacking, and there can be a mismatch between science data and existing user tools. On the institutional side, it may be perceived that remote sensing data and tools are too "expensive", support from upper management may be non-existent due to limited resources or lack of interest, and there can be a lack of appreciation of data and statistics in decision making. How do we overcome some of these barriers to advance the use of remote sensing for applications and to ease transition of data and tools to stakeholders? Experience from recent capacity building efforts in East Africa in support of a NASA-SERVIR Applied Science Project to provide estimates of hydrologic extremes tied to crop yield will be discussed.

The International Congress of Mechanical Engineering and Agricultural Sciences - CIIMCA 2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Remolina-Millán, Aduljay; Hernández-Arroyo, Emil

2014-06-01

The organizing committee of The International Congress of Mechanical Engineering and Agricultural Sciences - CIIMCA 2013 - are pleased to present CIIMCA-2013: the first international conference focused on subjects of materials science, mechanical engineering and renewable energy organized by Mechanical Engineering Faculty of the ''Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana'' in Bucaramanga, Colombia. This conference aims to be a place to produce discussions on whole topics of the congress, between the scientists of Colombia and the world. We strongly believe that knowledge is fundamental to the development of our countries. For that reason this multidisciplinary conference is looking forward to integrate engineering, agricultural science and nanoscience and nanotechnology to produce a synergy of this area of knowledge and to achieve scientific and technological developments. Agriculture is a very important topic for our conference; in Colombia, agricultural science needs more attention from the scientific community and the government. In the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering we are beginning to work on these issues to produce knowledge and improve the conditions in our country. The CIIMCA conference is a great opportunity to create interpersonal relationships and networks between scientists around the world. The interaction between scientists is very important in the process of the construction of knowledge. The general chairman encourages and invites you to make friends, relationships and participate strongly in the symposia and all program activities. PhD Aduljay Remolina-Millán Principal Chairman, International Mechanical Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Congress - CIIMCA Msc Emil Hernández-Arroyo Principal Chairman, International Mechanical Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Congress - CIIMCA Conference photograph Conference photograph 'Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana seccional Bucaramanga' host of the first International Mechanical Engineering and

Overcoming Language and Literacy Barriers in Safety and Health Training of Agricultural Workers

PubMed Central

Arcury, Thomas A.; Estrada, Jorge M.; Quandt, Sara A.

2010-01-01

The workforce in all areas of United States agriculture and forestry is becoming increasingly diverse in language, culture, and education. Many agricultural workers are immigrants who have limited English language skills and limited educational attainment. Providing safety and health training to this large, diverse, dispersed, and often transient population of workers is challenging. This review, prepared for the 2010 Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conference, “Be Safe, Be Profitable: Protecting Workers in Agriculture,” is divided into five sections. First, we describe the occupational and demographic characteristics of agricultural workers in the US to highlight their safety and health training needs. Second, we summarize current research on the social and cultural attributes of agricultural workers and agricultural employers that affect the provision of safety and health training. Worker and employer attributes include language, literacy, financial limitations, work beliefs, and health beliefs. Third, we review current initiatives addressing safety and health training for agricultural workers that consider worker language and literacy. These initiatives are limited to a few specific topics (e.g., pesticides, heat stress); they do not provide general programs of safety training that would help establish a culture of workplace safety. However, several innovative approaches to health and safety training are being implemented, including the use of community-based participatory approaches and lay health promoter programs. Fourth, the limited industry response for safety training with this linguistically diverse and educationally limited workforce is summarized. Finally, gaps in knowledge and practice are summarized and recommendations to develop educationally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate safety and health training are presented. PMID:20665309

7 CFR 1794.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 1794.30 Section 1794.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... significant effect on the quality of the human environment, RUS may require additional environmental...

7 CFR 1794.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 1794.30 Section 1794.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... significant effect on the quality of the human environment, RUS may require additional environmental...

7 CFR 1794.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 1794.30 Section 1794.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... significant effect on the quality of the human environment, RUS may require additional environmental...

7 CFR 1794.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2014-01-01 2013-01-01 true General. 1794.30 Section 1794.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... significant effect on the quality of the human environment, RUS may require additional environmental...

7 CFR 1794.30 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General. 1794.30 Section 1794.30 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... significant effect on the quality of the human environment, RUS may require additional environmental...

7 CFR 51.1140 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

.... paradisi and C. grandis). Separate U.S. standards apply to tangerines. The standards for internal quality... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 51.1140 Section 51.1140 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing...

7 CFR 1738.10 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 1738.10 Section 1738.10 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... provide funds, on a technology neutral basis, for the costs of construction, improvement, and acquisition...

Full-scale agricultural biogas plant metal content and process parameters in relation to bacterial and archaeal microbial communities over 2.5 year span.

PubMed

Repinc, Sabina Kolbl; Šket, Robert; Zavec, Domen; Mikuš, Katarina Vogel; Fermoso, Fernando G; Stres, Blaž

2018-05-01

A start-up of 4 MW agricultural biogas plant in Vučja vas, Slovenia, was monitored from 2011 to 2014. The start-up was carried out in 3 weeks with the intake of biomass from three operating full-scale 1-2 MW donor agricultural biogas plants. The samples were taken from donor digesters and from two serial digesters during the start-up over the course of 2.5 years. Bacterial and Archaeal microbial communities progressively diverged from the composition of donor digesters during the start-up phase. The rate of change of Bacterial community decreased exponentially over the first 2.5 years as dynamics within the first 70 days was comparable to that of the next 1.5 years, whereas approximately constant rate was observed for Archaea. Despite rearrangements, the microbial communities remained functionally stable and produced biogas throughout the whole 2.5 years of observation. All systems parameters measured were ordered according to their Kernel density (Gaussian function) ranging from the most dispersed (substrate categories used as cosubstrates, quantities of each cosubstrate, substate dry and volatile matter, process parameters) towards progressively least dispersed (trace metal and ion profiles, aromatic-polyphenolic compounds, biogas plant functional output (energy)). No deficiency was detected in trace metal content as the distribution of metals and elements fluctuated within the suggested limits for biogas over 2.5 year observation. In contrast to the recorded process variables, Bacterial and Archaeal microbial communities exhibited directed changes oriented in time. Variation partitioning showed that a large fraction of variability in the Bacterial and Archaeal microbial communities (55% and 61%, respectively) remained unexplained despite numerous measured variables (n = 44) and stable biogas production. Our results show that the observed reorganization of microbial communities was not directly associated with impact on the full-scale biogas reactor

A qualitative exploration of opinions on the community pharmacists' role amongst the general public in Scotland.

PubMed

Gidman, Wendy; Cowley, Joseph

2013-10-01

To understand members of the public's opinions and experiences of pharmacy services. This exploratory study employed qualitative methods. Five focus groups were conducted with 26 members of the public resident in Scotland in March 2010. The groups comprised those perceived to be users and non-users of community pharmacy. A topic guide was developed to prompt discussion. Each focus group was recorded, transcribed, anonymised and analysed using thematic analysis. Participants made positive comments about pharmacy services although many preferred to see a general practitioner (GP). Participants discussed using pharmacies for convenience, often because they were unable to access GPs. Pharmacists were perceived principally to be suppliers of medicine, although there was some recognition of roles in dealing with minor ailments and providing advice. For those with serious and long-standing health matters GPs were usually the professional of choice for most health needs. Community pharmacy was seen to offer incomplete services which did not co-ordinate well with other primary-care services. The pharmacy environment and retail setting were not considered to be ideal for private healthcare consultations. This study suggests that despite recent initiatives to extend the role of community pharmacists many members of the general public continue to prefer a GP-led service. Importantly GPs inspire public confidence as well as offering comprehensive services and private consultation facilities. Improved communication and information sharing between community pharmacists and general practice could support community pharmacist-role expansion. © 2012 The Authors. IJPP © 2012 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Soil Bacterial Community Response to Differences in Agricultural Management along with Seasonal Changes in a Mediterranean Region

PubMed Central

Bevivino, Annamaria; Paganin, Patrizia; Bacci, Giovanni; Florio, Alessandro; Pellicer, Maite Sampedro; Papaleo, Maria Cristiana; Mengoni, Alessio; Ledda, Luigi; Fani, Renato; Benedetti, Anna; Dalmastri, Claudia

2014-01-01

Land-use change is considered likely to be one of main drivers of biodiversity changes in grassland ecosystems. To gain insight into the impact of land use on the underlying soil bacterial communities, we aimed at determining the effects of agricultural management, along with seasonal variations, on soil bacterial community in a Mediterranean ecosystem where different land-use and plant cover types led to the creation of a soil and vegetation gradient. A set of soils subjected to different anthropogenic impact in a typical Mediterranean landscape, dominated by Quercus suber L., was examined in spring and autumn: a natural cork-oak forest, a pasture, a managed meadow, and two vineyards (ploughed and grass covered). Land uses affected the chemical and structural composition of the most stabilised fractions of soil organic matter and reduced soil C stocks and labile organic matter at both sampling season. A significant effect of land uses on bacterial community structure as well as an interaction effect between land uses and season was revealed by the EP index. Cluster analysis of culture-dependent DGGE patterns showed a different seasonal distribution of soil bacterial populations with subgroups associated to different land uses, in agreement with culture-independent T-RFLP results. Soils subjected to low human inputs (cork-oak forest and pasture) showed a more stable bacterial community than those with high human input (vineyards and managed meadow). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the predominance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes phyla with differences in class composition across the site, suggesting that the microbial composition changes in response to land uses. Taken altogether, our data suggest that soil bacterial communities were seasonally distinct and exhibited compositional shifts that tracked with changes in land use and soil management. These findings may contribute to future searches for bacterial bio-indicators of soil

[Towards a renewable and sustainable agriculture. Biological agriculture: from marginal vanguard to spearhead of the agriculture of the future].

PubMed

Diek Van Mansvelt, J

1992-01-01

This work seeks to demonstrate how different types of organic agriculture can meet the need for renewable and sustainable agriculture, rural development, and management of the land and water resources. An obstacle to the spread of organic agriculture is the widespread perception that without intensive factors of production, demographic growth will necessarily outstrip the available food resources. Calculation of economic costs and benefits at present carries greater weight in planning than do soil erosion, deforestation, extinction of species, disappearance of habitats, and similar environmental damage. The different types of organic agriculture do not follow rigid rules and are not defined solely by the nonuse of nitrogenous fertilizers and pesticides. One of the main principles or organic agriculture is to respect local soil and climatic conditions. Self-sufficiency regarding external factors of production and an emphasis on recycling and optimal use of natural resources were concept ahead of their time when they initially were introduced in the 1920s. The specialization which restructured agriculture over the past century has seriously damaged the system of mixed agriculture and the chain of food production. The solution will be to seek for each region an appropriate balance linking animals and agricultural production in an organic process. The objective of organic agriculture, also known as autonomous ecosystem management, is to preserve as far as possible the balance between needs for food and fiber on the 1 hand and the potential of local ecosystems on the other. General principles of organic agriculture include mixed exploitation in which both plants and animals have specific functions in the context of their local soil and climatic characteristics. Different types of crop rotation are practiced to optimize mutual interactions between crops, and the varied organic cycles are also optimized within the framework of anorganic management in accord with nature

pH is the primary determinant of the bacterial community structure in agricultural soils impacted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollution

PubMed Central

Wu, Yucheng; Zeng, Jun; Zhu, Qinghe; Zhang, Zhenfa; Lin, Xiangui

2017-01-01

Acidification and pollution are two major threats to agricultural ecosystems; however, microbial community responses to co-existed soil acidification and pollution remain less explored. In this study, arable soils of broad pH (4.26–8.43) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) gradients (0.18–20.68 mg kg−1) were collected from vegetable farmlands. Bacterial community characteristics including abundance, diversity and composition were revealed by quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing. The bacterial 16S rRNA gene copies significantly correlated with soil carbon and nitrogen contents, suggesting the control of nutrients accessibility on bacterial abundance. The bacterial diversity was strongly related to soil pH, with higher diversity in neutral samples and lower in acidic samples. Soil pH was also identified by an ordination analysis as important factor shaping bacterial community composition. The relative abundances of some dominant phyla varied along the pH gradient, and the enrichment of a few phylotypes suggested their adaptation to low pH condition. In contrast, at the current pollution level, PAH showed marginal effects on soil bacterial community. Overall, these findings suggest pH was the primary determinant of bacterial community in these arable soils, indicative of a more substantial influence of acidification than PAH pollution on bacteria driven ecological processes. PMID:28051171

7 CFR 3601.1 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General statement. 3601.1 Section 3601.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... of records of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to the public. ...

7 CFR 3601.1 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General statement. 3601.1 Section 3601.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... of records of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to the public. ...

Metaproteome analysis to determine the metabolically active part of a thermophilic microbial community producing biogas from agricultural biomass.

PubMed

Hanreich, Angelika; Heyer, Robert; Benndorf, Dirk; Rapp, Erdmann; Pioch, Markus; Reichl, Udo; Klocke, Michael

2012-07-01

Complex consortia of microorganisms are responsible for biogas production. A lot of information about the taxonomic structure and enzymatic potential of such communities has been collected by a variety of gene-based approaches, yet little is known about which of all the assumable metabolic pathways are active throughout the process of biogas formation. To tackle this problem, we established a protocol for the metaproteomic analysis of samples taken from biogas reactors fed with agricultural biomass. In contrast to previous studies where an anaerobic digester was fed with synthetic wastewater, the complex matrix in this study required the extraction of proteins with liquid phenol and the application of paper bridge loading for 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Proteins were subjected to nanoHPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) coupled to tandem mass spectrometry for characterization. Several housekeeping proteins as well as methanogenesis-related enzymes were identified by a MASCOT search and de novo sequencing, which proved the feasibility of our approach. The establishment of such an approach is the basis for further metaproteomic studies of biogas-producing communities. In particular, the apparent status of metabolic activities within the communities can be monitored. The knowledge collected from such experiments could lead to further improvements of biogas production.

7 CFR 945.120 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 8 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 945.120 Section 945.120 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements... entry of any such potatoes into trade channels other than those for which intended. Such information and...

7 CFR 948.120 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 8 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 948.120 Section 948.120 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements... shipments as safeguards against the entry of any such potatoes into trade channels other than those for...

7 CFR 2902.48 - General purpose household cleaners.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General purpose household cleaners. 2902.48 Section 2902.48 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) OFFICE OF ENERGY POLICY AND NEW USES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GUIDELINES FOR DESIGNATING BIOBASED PRODUCTS FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENT Designated Items § 2902.48 General...

7 CFR 1001.1 - General provisions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 9 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true General provisions. 1001.1 Section 1001.1 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Marketing Agreements and Orders; Milk), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE MILK IN THE NORTHEAST MARKETING AREA Order Regulating...

The role of N2O derived from crop-based biofuels, and from agriculture in general, in Earth's climate

PubMed Central

Smith, Keith A.; Mosier, Arvin R.; Crutzen, Paul J.; Winiwarter, Wilfried

2012-01-01

In earlier work, we compared the amount of newly fixed nitrogen (N, as synthetic fertilizer and biologically fixed N) entering agricultural systems globally to the total emission of nitrous oxide (N2O). We obtained an N2O emission factor (EF) of 3–5%, and applied it to biofuel production. For ‘first-generation’ biofuels, e.g. biodiesel from rapeseed and bioethanol from corn (maize), that require N fertilizer, N2O from biofuel production could cause (depending on N uptake efficiency) as much or more global warming as that avoided by replacement of fossil fuel by the biofuel. Our subsequent calculations in a follow-up paper, using published life cycle analysis (LCA) models, led to broadly similar conclusions. The N2O EF applies to agricultural crops in general, not just to biofuel crops, and has made possible a top-down estimate of global emissions from agriculture. Independent modelling by another group using bottom-up IPCC inventory methodology has shown good agreement at the global scale with our top-down estimate. Work by Davidson showed that the rate of accumulation of N2O in the atmosphere in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries was greater than that predicted from agricultural inputs limited to fertilizer N and biologically fixed N (Davidson, E. A. 2009 Nat. Geosci. 2, 659–662.). However, by also including soil organic N mineralized following land-use change and NOx deposited from the atmosphere in our estimates of the reactive N entering the agricultural cycle, we have now obtained a good fit between the observed atmospheric N2O concentrations from 1860 to 2000 and those calculated on the basis of a 4 per cent EF for the reactive N. PMID:22451102

Drawing and Sketching in Agricultural Mechanics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montana State Univ., Bozeman. Dept. of Agricultural and Industrial Education.

This unit of instruction on drawing and sketching in agricultural mechanics is designed especially for use with freshman vocational agriculture students. A unit plan discusses the general aims and goals, lesson titles, student and teacher activities, a list of necessary special equipment and references. The unit consists of nine lessons. A lesson…

Effect of Agricultural Amendments on Cajanus cajan (Pigeon Pea) and Its Rhizospheric Microbial Communities--A Comparison between Chemical Fertilizers and Bioinoculants.

PubMed

Gupta, Rashi; Bisaria, V S; Sharma, Shilpi

2015-01-01

Inoculation of leguminous seeds with bioinoculants has been practiced in agriculture for decades to ameliorate grain yield by enhanced growth parameters and soil fertility. However, effective enhancement of plant growth parameters results not only from the direct effects these bioinoculants impose on them but also from their non-target effects. The ability of bioinoculants to reduce the application of chemicals for obtaining optimum yield of legume appears to be of great ecological and economic importance. In the present study, we compared the influence of seed inoculation of Cajanus cajan with a microbial consortium, comprising Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Trichoderma harzianum, with that of application of chemical fertilizers on plant's growth parameters and its rhizospheric microbial communities. Real-time PCR assay was carried out to target the structure (16S rRNA) and function (nitrogen cycle) of rhizospheric microbiota, using both DNA and RNA as markers. The results showed that the microbial consortium was the most efficient in increasing grain yield (2.5-fold), even better than the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers (by 1.2-fold) and showed enhancement in nifH and amoA transcripts by 2.7- and 2.0-fold, respectively. No adverse effects of bioinoculants' application were observed over the rhizospheric microbial community, rendering the consortium to be safe for release in agricultural fields.

Insights into the structure of plant-insect communities: Specialism and generalism in a regional set of non-pollinating fig wasp communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farache, F. H. A.; Cruaud, A.; Rasplus, J.-Y.; Cerezini, M. T.; Rattis, L.; Kjellberg, F.; Pereira, R. A. S.

2018-07-01

Insects show a multitude of symbiotic interactions that may vary in degree of specialization and structure. Gall-inducing insects and their parasitoids are thought to be relatively specialized organisms, but despite their ecological importance, the organization and structure of the interactions they establish with their hosts has seldom been investigated in tropical communities. Non-pollinating fig wasps (NPFW) are particularly interesting organisms for the study of ecological networks because most species strictly develop their offspring within fig inflorescences, and show a multitude of life history strategies. They can be gall-makers, cleptoparasites or parasitoids of pollinating or of other non-pollinating fig wasps. Here we analysed a set of non-pollinating fig wasp communities associated with six species of Ficus section Americanae over a wide area. This allowed us to investigate patterns of specialization in a diverse community composed of monophagous and polyphagous species. We observed that most NPFW species were cleptoparasites and parasitoids, colonizing figs several days after oviposition by pollinators. Most species that occurred in more than one host were much more abundant in a single preferential host, suggesting specialization. The food web established between wasps and figs shows structural properties that are typical of specific antagonistic relationships, especially of endophagous insect networks. Two species that occurred in all available hosts were highly abundant in the network, suggesting that in some cases generalized species can be more competitive than strict specialists. The Neotropical and, to a lesser extent, Afrotropical NPFW communities seem to be more generalized than other NPFW communities. However, evidence of host sharing in the Old World is quite limited, since most studies have focused on particular taxonomic groups (genera) of wasps instead of sampling the whole NPFW community. Moreover, the lack of quantitative information in

7 CFR 601.2 - Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture. 601.2 Section 601.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL FUNCTIONS § 601.2 Functions reserved to...

7 CFR 601.2 - Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture. 601.2 Section 601.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL FUNCTIONS § 601.2 Functions reserved to...

7 CFR 601.2 - Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture. 601.2 Section 601.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL FUNCTIONS § 601.2 Functions reserved to...

7 CFR 601.2 - Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture. 601.2 Section 601.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL FUNCTIONS § 601.2 Functions reserved to...

7 CFR 601.2 - Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 6 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Functions reserved to the Secretary of Agriculture. 601.2 Section 601.2 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL FUNCTIONS § 601.2 Functions reserved to...

7 CFR 1794.40 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General. 1794.40 Section 1794.40 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... will have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment, the preparation of an EIS shall...

7 CFR 1794.40 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2014-01-01 2013-01-01 true General. 1794.40 Section 1794.40 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... will have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment, the preparation of an EIS shall...

7 CFR 1794.40 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General. 1794.40 Section 1794.40 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... will have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment, the preparation of an EIS shall...

7 CFR 1794.40 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General. 1794.40 Section 1794.40 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... will have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment, the preparation of an EIS shall...

7 CFR 1794.40 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General. 1794.40 Section 1794.40 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... will have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment, the preparation of an EIS shall...

Anthropology in Agricultural Health and Safety Research and Intervention.

PubMed

Arcury, Thomas

2017-01-01

Agriculture remains a dangerous industry, even as agricultural science and technology continue to advance. Research that goes beyond technological changes to address safety culture and policy are needed to improve health and safety in agriculture. In this commentary, I consider the potential for anthropology to contribute to agricultural health and safety research by addressing three aims: (1) I briefly consider what the articles in this issue of the Journal of Agromedicine say about anthropologists in agricultural health and safety; (2) I discuss what anthropologists can add to agricultural health and safety research; and (3) I examine ways in which anthropologists can participate in agricultural health and safety research. In using their traditions of rigorous field research to understand how those working in agriculture perceive and interpret factors affecting occupational health and safety (their "emic" perspective), and translating this perspective to improve the understanding of occupational health professionals and policy makers (an "etic" perspective), anthropologists can expose myths that limit improvements in agricultural health and safety. Addressing significant questions, working with the most vulnerable agricultural communities, and being outside establishment agriculture provide anthropologists with the opportunity to improve health and safety policy and regulation in agriculture.

Teaching Materials for Environmental Related Courses in Agriculture Occupations Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bohning, Kermit B.; Stitt, Thomas R.

The lesson plans were designed to provide the practicing applied biological and agricultural occupations teacher with a series of units setting down a basic foundation in Environmental Education. Nine lesson plans cover (1) ecosystems and agriculture, (2) biotic communities and food chains, (3) energy and nutrient flow, (4) land use and supply,…

The influence of long-term copper contaminated agricultural soil at different pH levels on microbial communities and springtail transcriptional regulation.

PubMed

de Boer, Tjalf E; Taş, Neslihan; Braster, Martin; Temminghoff, Erwin J M; Röling, Wilfred F M; Roelofs, Dick

2012-01-03

Copper has long been applied for agricultural practises. Like other metals, copper is highly persistent in the environment and biologically active long after its use has ceased. Here we present a unique study on the long-term effects (27 years) of copper and pH on soil microbial communities and on the springtail Folsomia candida an important representative of the soil macrofauna, in an experiment with a full factorial, random block design. Bacterial communities were mostly affected by pH. These effects were prominent in Acidobacteria, while Actinobacteria and Gammaroteobacteria communities were affected by original and bioavailable copper. Reproduction and survival of the collembolan F. candida was not affected by the studied copper concentrations. However, the transcriptomic responses to copper reflected a mechanism of copper transport and detoxification, while pH exerted effects on nucleotide and protein metabolism and (acute) inflammatory response. We conclude that microbial community structure reflected the history of copper contamination, while gene expression analysis of F. candida is associated with the current level of bioavailable copper. The study is a first step in the development of a molecular strategy aiming at a more comprehensive assessment of various aspects of soil quality and ecotoxicology.

Pond tadpoles with generalized morphology: is it time to reconsider their functional roles in aquatic communities?

PubMed

Petranka, James W; Kennedy, Caroline A

1999-09-01

With rare exceptions, anuran larvae have traditionally been considered to occupy lower trophic levels in aquatic communities where they function as microphagous suspension feeders. This view is being challenged by studies showing that tadpoles with generalized morphology often function as macrophagous predators. Here, we review the literature concerning macrophagy by tadpoles and provide two additional examples involving generalized tadpoles. In the first, we demonstrate with laboratory and field experiments that wood frog (Rana sylvatica) tadpoles are major predators of macroinvertebrates in ponds. In the second, we show that green frog (R. clamitans) tadpoles can cause catastrophic reproductive failure of the wood frog via egg predation. These results and data from other studies challenge the assumption that generalized tadpoles function as filter-feeding omnivores, and question the general applicability of community organization models which assume that predation risk increases with pond permanence. We suggest that predation risk is greater in temporary ponds than in more permanent ponds for many organisms that are vulnerable to predation by tadpoles. This being so, a conditional model based upon interactions that are species-specific, life-stage-specific, and context-dependent may better explain community organization along hydrological gradients than models which assume that temporary ponds have few or no predators.

Does general surgery residency prepare surgeons for community practice in British Columbia?

PubMed Central

Hwang, Hamish

2009-01-01

Background Preparing surgeons for clinical practice is a challenging task for postgraduate training programs across Canada. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a single surgeon entering practice was adequately prepared by comparing the type and volume of surgical procedures experienced in the last 3 years of training with that in the first year of clinical practice. Methods During the last 3 years of general surgery training, I logged all procedures. In practice, the Medical Services Plan (MSP) of British Columbia tracks all procedures. Using MSP remittance reports, I compiled the procedures performed in my first year of practice. I totaled the number of procedures and broke them down into categories (general, colorectal, laparoscopic, endoscopic, hepatobiliary, oncologic, pediatric, thoracic, vascular and other). I then compared residency training with community practice. Results I logged a total of 1170 procedures in the last 3 years of residency. Of these, 452 were performed during community rotations. The procedures during residency could be broken down as follows: 392 general, 18 colorectal, 242 laparoscopic, 103 endoscopic, 85 hepatobiliary, 142 oncologic, 1 pediatric, 78 thoracic, 92 vascular and 17 other. I performed a total of 1440 procedures in the first year of practice. In practice the break down was 398 general, 15 colorectal, 101 laparoscopic, 654 endoscopic, 2 hepatobiliary, 77 oncologic, 10 pediatric, 0 thoracic, 70 vascular and 113 other. Conclusion On the whole, residency provided excellent preparation for clinical practice based on my experience. Areas of potential improvement included endoscopy, pediatric surgery and “other,” which comprised mostly hand surgery. PMID:19503663

Oregon Agriculture III Curriculum Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oregon State Univ., Corvallis. Dept. of Agricultural Education.

This curriculum package is designed to be used as a guide for vocational agricultural teachers to use in preparing a third-year curriculum to meet local community or regional needs. The introductory section of the guide is a teacher orientation that covers such topics as the use of these curriculum materials with disadvantaged and handicapped…

7 CFR 1942.17 - Community facilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 13 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Community facilities. 1942.17 Section 1942.17...) PROGRAM REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) ASSOCIATIONS Community Facility Loans § 1942.17 Community facilities. (a... successor agency under Public Law 103-354 policies and requirements pertaining to loans for community...

SUMMARIES OF RESEARCH STUDIES IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION FOR THE PACIFIC REGION, 1965.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MCCOMAS, J.D.

TWENTY DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS, STAFF STUDIES, AND MASTERS' THESES IN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION ARE REPORTED IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS -- AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES, CIVIL DEFENSE, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, CURRICULUM, EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION, DROPOUTS, EXTENSION EDUCATION, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES, JUNIOR COLLEGES, LAND LABORATORIES, OCCUPATIONAL…

7 CFR 1726.175 - General plant materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false General plant materials. 1726.175 Section 1726.175... AGRICULTURE ELECTRIC SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES General Plant § 1726.175 General plant... determine the procurement method that best meets its needs for purchase of general plant material and...

7 CFR 1726.175 - General plant materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General plant materials. 1726.175 Section 1726.175... AGRICULTURE ELECTRIC SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES General Plant § 1726.175 General plant... determine the procurement method that best meets its needs for purchase of general plant material and...

7 CFR 1726.175 - General plant materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false General plant materials. 1726.175 Section 1726.175... AGRICULTURE ELECTRIC SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES General Plant § 1726.175 General plant... determine the procurement method that best meets its needs for purchase of general plant material and...

7 CFR 1726.175 - General plant materials.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 11 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false General plant materials. 1726.175 Section 1726.175... AGRICULTURE ELECTRIC SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES General Plant § 1726.175 General plant... determine the procurement method that best meets its needs for purchase of general plant material and...

A Guide for Planning Facilities for Vocational Agriculture in Texas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hindman, Neal; Eggenberger, Lewis

A guide to assist those concerned in planning adequate, well-designed facilities for departments of vocational agriculture that will serve their communities in the future. The program of vocational agriculture is an integral part of the total educational program of a school and considerable thought and careful study should be given to locating the…

7 CFR 2.66 - Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.