A framework to monitor sustainability in the grains industry

Community awareness of the sustainable use of land, water and vegetation resources is increasing. The sustainable use of these resources is pivotal to sustainable farming systems. However, techniques for monitoring the sustainable management of these resources are poorly understood and untested. We propose a framework to benchmark and monitor resources in the grains industry. Eight steps are listed below to achieve these objectives: (i) define industry issues; (ii) identify the issues through growers, stakeholder and community consultation; (iii) identify indicators (measurable attributes, properties or characteristics) of sustainability through consultation with growers, stakeholders, experts and community members, relating to: crop productivity; resource maintenance/enhancement; biodiversity; economic viability; community viability; and institutional structure; (iv) develop and use selection criteria to select indicators that consider: responsiveness to change; ease of capture; community acceptance and involvement; interpretation; measurement error; stability, frequency and cost of measurement; spatial scale issues; and mapping capability in space and through time. The appropriateness of indicators can be evaluated using a decision making system such as a multiobjective decision support system (MO-DSS, a method to assist in decision making from multiple and conflicting objectives); (v) involve stakeholders and the community in the definition of goals and setting benchmarking and monitoring targets for sustainable farming; (vi) take preventive and corrective/remedial action; (vii) evaluate effectiveness of actions taken; and (viii) revise indicators as part of a continual improvement principle designed to achieve best management practice for sustainable farming systems. The major recommendations are to: (i) implement the framework for resources (land, water and vegetation, economic, community and institution) benchmarking and monitoring, and integrate this process with current activities so that awareness, implementation and evolution of sustainable resource management practices become normal practice in the grains industry; (ii) empower the grains industry to take the lead by using relevant sustainability indicators to benchmark and monitor resources; (iii) adopt a collaborative approach by involving various industry, community, catchment management and government agency groups to minimise implementation time. Monitoring programs such as Waterwatch, Soilcheck, Grasscheck and Topcrop should be utilised; (iv) encourage the adoption of a decision making system by growers and industry representatives as a participatory decision and evaluation process. Widespread use of sustainability indicators would assist in validating and refining these indicators and evaluating sustainable farming systems. The indicators could also assist in evaluating best management practices for the grains industry.

Download Full-text

Improving Best Management Practice Decisions in Mixed Land Use and/or Municipal Watersheds: Should Approaches Be Standardized?

Land ◽

10.3390/land10121402 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 1402

Author(s):

Jason A. Hubbart

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Management Practices ◽

Management Practice ◽

The United States ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Monitoring Methods ◽

Best Management ◽

Mixed Use ◽

Decision Making Processes

Best management practices (BMP) are defined in the United States Clean Water Act (CWA) as practices or measures that have been demonstrated to be successful in protecting a given water resource from nonpoint source pollution. Unfortunately, the greatest majority of BMPs remain unvalidated in terms of demonstrations of success. Further, there is not a broadly accepted or standardized process of BMP implementation and monitoring methods. Conceivably, if standardized BMP validations were a possibility, practices would be much more transferrable, comparable, and prescriptive. The purpose of this brief communication is to present a generalized yet integrated and customizable BMP decision-making process to encourage decision makers to more deliberately work towards the establishment of standardized approaches to BMP monitoring and validation in mixed-use and/or municipal watersheds. Decision-making processes and challenges to BMP implementation and monitoring are presented that should be considered to advance the practice(s) of BMP implementation. Acceptance of standard approaches may result in more organized and transferrable BMP implementation policies and increased confidence in the responsible use of taxpayer dollars through broad acceptance of methods that yield predictable and replicable results.

Download Full-text

Framework to prioritize watersheds for diffuse pollution management in the Republic of Korea: application of multi-criteria analysis using the Delphi method

Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ◽

10.5194/nhess-19-2767-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (12) ◽

pp. 2767-2779 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Gyumin Lee ◽

Kyung Soo Jun ◽

Minji Kang

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Point Source ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Delphi Technique ◽

Management Practices ◽

Point Sources ◽

Republic Of Korea ◽

Point Source Pollution ◽

Best Management ◽

Non Point Source Pollution

Abstract. This study aimed to develop a risk-based approach for determining control areas to manage non-point source pollution, developing a framework to prioritize catchments by considering the characteristics of polluted runoff from non-point sources. The best management, decision-making, and scientific approaches, such as the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and the Delphi technique, are required for the designation of control areas and the application of the best management practices to the control areas. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods can handle the diversity and complexity of non-point source pollution. The Delphi technique was employed for selecting the assessment criteria/sub-criteria and determining their weights. Sub-criteria for each catchment unit were scored with either a quantitative or qualitative scale. All non-point pollution sources in mainland Republic of Korea were included, with the exception of a few islands, with catchment prioritization and pollution vulnerability evaluations shown as thematic maps. This study contributes to the field by developing a new risk-based approach for ranking and prioritizing catchments; this provides valuable information for the Ministry of Environment to use to identify control areas and manage non-point source pollution.

Download Full-text

Participatory breeding in the Peruvian highlands: Opportunities and challenges for promoting conservation and sustainable use of underutilized crops

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems ◽

10.1017/s1742170514000179 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (5) ◽

pp. 408-417 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Gea Galluzzi ◽

Rigoberto Estrada ◽

Vidal Apaza ◽

Mirihan Gamarra ◽

Ángel Pérez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Management Practices ◽

Productivity Loss ◽

Sustainable Use ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Small Scale ◽

Underutilized Crops ◽

Early Results ◽

Participatory Breeding ◽

Population Sizes

AbstractUnderutilized crops tend to harbor high levels of genetic diversity, be maintained on-farm in small-scale farming systems and be relatively neglected by formal research and development strategies, including breeding programs. While high genetic variability allows these crops to adapt to marginal environments, inappropriate management practices and reductions in population sizes in individual farmers’ plots may lead to productivity loss and poor harvests. This situation further limits their cultivation and use, notwithstanding the potential these crops may hold for diversification of agricultural systems, food security and market development. Peru hosts a wealth of native agrobiodiversity, which includes many underutilized crops. To improve their performance and promote their continued conservation and use, a participatory breeding program was developed on five underutilized crops of the Peruvian highlands; the breeding approach, based on a combination of evolutionary and participatory methods, is designed to achieve a balance between yield improvement and maintenance of genetic diversity. Preliminary results in quinoa and amaranth are encouraging, fostering further engagement of farmers by increasing availability of quality seed for downstream uses. However, methodological, financial and institutional issues need to be addressed for the effort to be expanded and upscaled. This paper provides an overall description of the initiative as well as a discussion on early results obtained in quinoa and amaranth, highlighting those aspects that make this approach particularly relevant for minor crops and identifying the opportunities and challenges for the initiative to move forward.

Download Full-text

Sustainability Assessment of Annual and Permanent Crops: The Inspia Model

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11030738 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 738 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paula Trivino-Tarradas ◽

Manuel Gomez-Ariza ◽

Gottlieb Basch ◽

Emilio Gonzalez-Sanchez

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Management Practices ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Composite Index ◽

Strategic Decision ◽

Best Management ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Pie Chart

The Initiative for Sustainable Productive Agriculture (INSPIA) project promotes best management practices for agriculture, to enhance the provision of ecosystem services through better stewardship of soil and water resources while ensuring high levels of productivity. This paper presents the INSPIA methodology for the assessment of sustainability and for guiding farmers on strategic decision-making at farm level, applicable to any kind of cropland. The methodology is based on the application of 15 best management practices, which are assessed through a set of 31 basic sustainability indicators that cover the economic, social and environmental dimensions both agreed by a panel of experts. Basic indicators are then grouped into 12 aggregated indicators, to build the final INSPIA composite index. The INSPIA methodology provides farmers and advisers with a tool to understand sustainability and which, to a certain extent, serves to improve performance toward sustainability. Results are presented in three different ways: a bar diagram with the whole set of basic indicator-values; a pie chart representing the sustainability split in the aggregated indicators; and a final sustainability index. In the medium and long term, the INSPIA methodology can help to monitor and assess agricultural and environmental policy implementation, as well as help improve its decision-making processes in the future.

Download Full-text

Erosividade da chuva no município de Juramento-MG no período de 1987 a 2019

Revista Brasileira de Geografia Física ◽

10.26848/rbgf.v14.4.p1852-1860 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 1852-1860

Author(s):

José Ângeles Moreira de Oliveira

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Soil Conservation ◽

Management Practices ◽

Agricultural Sector ◽

Historical Data ◽

Water Erosion ◽

Rainfall Erosivity ◽

Best Management

The knowledge of the ability of erosion of rainfall in a given region, allows a better orientation for the adoption of best management practices and soil conservation, always aiming to reduce the impacts of water erosion. Thus, the objective of this study was to calculate the rate of rainfall erosivity (R) by the index EI30, aiming at a better planning for decision-making in the agricultural sector. For the performing of the work was used a series of historical data between the years of 1987 to 2019, relating to the precipitation in the municipality of Juramento-MG. The municipality of Juramento - MG it is classified as having moderate to strong erosivity with an erosivity factor (R) of 7.216,0 MJ mm ha-1 h-1. The higher erosivity indexes were found in the months of december 7.912,8 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 and january 10.289,2 MJ mm ha-1 h-1, coinciding with the wettest months 614,1 and 614,5 mm, respectively, and the months of july and august showed the lowest rates of rainfall erosivity 4,9 MJ mm ha-1 h-1 and 8,0 MJ mm ha-1 h-1, respectively, these being the months of lower rainfall 2,1 mm and 3,0 mm.

Download Full-text

B2E Relationships, Intranets, and Competency Management

Encyclopedia of Human Resources Information Systems ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-883-3.ch012 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 77-83

Author(s):

Jorge Valdés-Conca ◽

Lourdes Canós-Darós

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Human Resources ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Management Practices ◽

Dynamic Task ◽

Competency Models ◽

Decision Making System ◽

Management Approaches ◽

Definition Of ◽

Competency Management

Achieving success in today’s uncertain environment is a complex and dynamic task. Companies are forced to make keen decisions for survival, anticipating and even provoking the changes of the environment. In this context, the role played by the employees is the key to achieve such a goal. They are required to develop the adequate skills, attitudes, and behaviors for reaching excellent results in their daily tasks, in order to comply with the adaptation needs of the firm. For an efficient management of the staff, human resources (HR) managers may use several means. Two of most outstanding are the development of competency management practices and the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) to support business to employee (B2E) relationships. Regarding the former, current and trendy HR management approaches such as knowledge management or coaching are based in competency models (Fernández, 2005). As for the latter, the use of Web technologies has changed the way in which data and computational resources are brought to the desktop of the employees. Since Web based solutions are easy to establish (Power & Kaparthi, 2002), a plenty and quickly increasing number of resources can be made available in the intranet (Güntzer, Müller, Müller, & Schinmkat, 2007). The intranet’s main advantages are the increase in decision making efficiency and the decrease in the required time for internal and external communication. Both of these result in cutting down on coordination and communication costs, removing bottlenecks in the decision making system, and eliminating duplicated and routine administrative tasks. These positive effects could also be transferred onto human resource management (HRM) policies to lessen their subjectivity, with the help of a rigorous competency management system. This article presents a review and foundation for the design of an intranet for the development of B2E relationships, based in competency management theory as a means for transforming the firm’s HR into sources of competitive success. This proposal is the result of the authors’ research in competency-based HRM, after the HR models used in Spanish, American, or British companies. A stepwise methodology is outlined consisting of six stages: definition of objectives, data collection, intranet implementation, competency map analysis, competencies and job inventory preparation, and control of performance. Suggestions are provided for each stage on ways to leverage the strengths of the intranet application for enhancing the performance of human resources.

Download Full-text

Framework to prioritize watersheds for diffuse pollution management in Korea: application of multicriteria analysis using the Delphi method

10.5194/nhess-2019-152 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Gyumin Lee ◽

Kyung Soo Jun ◽

Minji Kang

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Point Source ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Delphi Technique ◽

Management Practices ◽

Point Sources ◽

Management Decision ◽

Point Source Pollution ◽

Best Management ◽

Non Point Source Pollution

Abstract. This study aimed to develop a risk-based approach for determining control areas to manage non-point source pollution, developing a framework to prioritize catchments by considering the characteristics of polluted runoff from non-point sources. The best management, decision-making, and scientific approaches, such as TOPSIS and Delphi technique, are required for the designation of control areas and the application of the best management practices to the control areas. Multicriteria decision-making methods can handle the diversity and complexity of non-point source pollution. The Delphi technique was employed for selecting the assessment criteria/sub-criteria and determining their weights. Sub-criteria for each catchment unit were scored with either a quantitative or qualitative scale. All non-point pollution sources in South Korea mainland were included, with the exception of a few islands, with catchment prioritization and pollution vulnerability evaluations shown as thematic maps. This study contributes to the field by developing a new risk-based approach for ranking and prioritizing catchments; this provides valuable information for the Ministry of Environment to use to identify control areas and manage non-point source pollution.

Download Full-text