A Methodological Approach for Prioritization and Rationalization of Field Genebank Accessions of Coffee Genetic Resources: A Case Study of CATIE International Coffee Collection, Costa Rica

Good management of coffee collections is important because they ensure long-term availability of germplasm to guarantee the sustainability of coffee value chain. The conservation of coffee genetic resources is essential to provide the raw materials for breeding and improvement of the crop. Many genetic resources of wild arabica coffee have been collected in the second half of the 20th century by several international collecting missions, including by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, ORSTOM (now IRD), Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), and IPGRI (now Bioversity International), and are conserved in several national genebanks and at the CATIE International Coffee Collection (CICC) in Turrialba, Costa Rica. Over the past decades, many of the original accessions of the CICC have become threatened due to age, pests and diseases, inadequate management, and waterlogging. There is thus an urgent need to rejuvenate and rationalize the collection to ensure the long-term maintenance of the genetic diversity of the original accessions. Here we present the methodological approach we followed to carry out an in-depth assessment of the status of the coffee collection at CATIE and to prioritize accession-specific actions for the rationalization of the collection. This can be used as a model for other collections to assess and rationalize their own field genebank, with a view to improving their management in the most cost-effective way. The study identified many discrepancies between the number of accessions in the field and genebank records and revealed that 80 accessions have been lost from the collection since 2014 and that approximately 80% of the accessions were threatened and in need of intervention. Furthermore, the in-depth study identified the most diverse and valued accessions for the rationalization of the CICC field genebank and those that are in urgent need of safety duplication.

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Sustainability-Oriented Innovations in Food Waste Management Technology

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13010210 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 210

Author(s):

Carlos Martin-Rios ◽

Anastasia Hofmann ◽

Naomi Mackenzie

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Value Chain ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Third Party ◽

World Population ◽

Scarce Resources ◽

Innovation Activities ◽

Food And Agriculture ◽

Food And Agriculture Organization

Food is essential to our survival, yet the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that about 820 million people were undernourished in 2018. In this context, food waste generation is a particularly salient issue. Wasting food means missing opportunities to feed the growing world population and consuming scarce resources, such as land, water and energy used in the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food. Firms in HORECA (hospitality, restaurant and catering) represent a considerable share of total food waste and, more importantly, are characterized by an overall low sense of awareness about the sustainability-oriented innovation opportunities and challenges of minimizing food waste. This article draws on an in-depth case study to explore the use of technological advancements in downstream value chain. This case study draws on a tech startup providing services for HORECA companies to address a new way for companies to solve the food waste challenge. Adopting technological innovations to quantify and minimize wastage via collaborations with third-party companies can be a strategic and cost-effective way to supplement a company’s open innovation activities.

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Revaluation of agri-food waste to obtain bioethanol

RECUBRIMIENTO COMESTIBLE CON BASE DE PIÑON MEXICANO (Jatropha curcas) SOBRE LA CALIDAD DE CHAYOTE MINIMAMENTE PROCESADO ◽

10.32854/agrop.v14i7.1920 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Cintya Valerio Cárdenas ◽

Patricia De la Cruz Burelo ◽

David Guerrero Zárate ◽

Zaritma Yamilet Montejo García

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Value Chain ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Sugar Content ◽

Total Sugar ◽

Organic Fraction ◽

Total Sugar Content ◽

Rapid Decomposition ◽

Fungal Decomposition

Objective: to produce bioethanol from the alcoholic fermentation of agri-food waste.Design/methodology/approach: food waste was collected for one month and separated into fruit and fabaceous waste; its size was reduced and then washed with hot acetone. A batch of 100 g of residue underwent acid hydrolysis with 5 %H 2 SO 4 at 125 °C, the hydrolysate was fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae at 30 °C for 48 h; the ferment was then distilled at 78 °C. The sugar content was determined following the phenol-sulfuric method. Brix degrees, density andpercentage w/w ethanol were measured with a densimeter.Results: from the fruit residues, an organic fraction was obtained with a total sugar content of 53.3 g/100 g of residue and 9.6 °Brix, generating 45 mL of distillate with 3.8 % w/w of bioethanol. From the fabaceae residues, an organic fraction was obtained with a total sugar content of 19.4 g and 4.140 °Brix, generating 30 mL of distillate with 2.54 % w/w of bioethanol.Study limitations/implications: Rapid decomposition of waste due to bacterial and fungal decomposition complicates long-term storage.Findings/conclusions: fermentable sugars can be obtained from the evaluated agri-food waste to obtain bioethanol. In this way, they can be integrated into the value chain as raw materials, reducing their accumulation and the environmental impact generated by their final disposal.

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Patents and the CGIAR system of International Agricultural Research Centres' germplasm collections under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Australian Journal of Agricultural Research ◽

10.1071/ar03161 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 55 (3) ◽

pp. 307 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Charles Lawson

Keyword(s):

Intellectual Property ◽

Genetic Resources ◽

Agricultural Research ◽

Plant Genetic Resources ◽

International Treaty ◽

International Agricultural Research ◽

Germplasm Collections ◽

Food And Agriculture ◽

Research Centres

A key controversy in negotiating the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and the likely long-term effectiveness of the agreement, is the way in which the intellectual property provisions are interpreted and applied to the key genetic resources forming the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system of International Agricultural Research Centres' (IARC) collections. This paper reviews the intellectual property provisions in the treaty and examines the likely consequences from patenting under the Patents Act 1990 over materials derived from these collections. The consequence is argued to be significant and, over time, these practices are likely to deplete the usefulness of these collections and undermine the relevance of the treaty. The paper concludes that Australia's interests might best be served by arguing that access to these collections, and the other materials under the treaty, be subject to a non-exclusive, royalty free licence for any use of the derived materials to develop useful new plant varieties.

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GNL, competizione e sicurezza di approvvigionamento: il segmento dello shipping

ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ◽

10.3280/efe2009-001009 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 137-159

Author(s):

Susanna Dorigoni ◽

Luigi Mazzei ◽

Federico Pontoni ◽

Antonio Sileo

Keyword(s):

Natural Gas ◽

Value Chain ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Spot Market ◽

Market Liquidity ◽

The Other ◽

Spot Price ◽

Security Of Supply ◽

Evolutionary Trajectory

- In the last few years, one of the main concerns of European Union in the energetic field has been that of facilitating the safeguard of raw materials' security of supply, especially that of natural gas. Import through LNG chain, that is, through the employment of LNG tankers for gas transportation, has been identified by the European Council as one of the instruments to achieve these goals. In fact, import via LNG does not require, for the importer, such investments as to determine an indissoluble physical tie between producer and buyer, as happens for transport via pipeline (Chernyavs'ka et al., 2002). In other words, investments in pipelines are very specific. Moreover, as they are made in order to support specific transactions, contracts usually take the form of long-term agreements with minimum offtake requirements (take or pay clauses): such contracts definitely contribute to the "cartelization" of the market, hindering competition. Unlike investments in pipelines, those in the LNG chain present a much lower degree of specificity: in fact, even though the construction of a regasification plant is generally tied to the stipulation of a long-term agreement (with take or pay clause), LNG chain costs have significantly decreased over time (until a few years ago) and, moreover, it is getting increasingly common that part of plant capacity is made available for spot transactions. What's more, once the contract is expired and the investment is sunk, the importer may satisfy his gas supply needs on the basis of his relative gains. As far as LNG import contractual practices are concerned, significant changes have started to take places in the last few years, both in terms of agreements' length - average duration has significantly decreased - and in terms of price indexation - in the most developed markets LNG price is tied to gas spot price (IEA, 2006). One of the many possible advantages of transport via LNG is that liquefied gas enables European importers to widen their gas suppliers portfolio. Increased possibilities of choice for importers, the widening of the group of exporting countries, and the increased integration of the European market, thanks to the possibility of redirecting cargoes depending on single countries' supply-demand balance, would contribute decisively to security of supply, market globalization and competition (between importers) in the industry (IEA, 2004). Yet, it must be stressed that import via tanker appears to be competitive with import via pipe only for the medium-long distances. As far as LNG chain is concerned, the element that so far has attracted the least attention, though being not less important than the other two, is certainly shipping. Being the link between the producing/exporting country and the importing country, and having been subject to major changes in the last few years, it is particularly interesting to analyze it singularly, aiming to understand how it is linked to the other elements of LNG value chain, besides studying industry dynamics. This paper will address this issue, aiming also to understand what has been and what will be in the future the evolutionary trajectory of this segment, starting from an analysis of operative and planned gas tankers, their size, their routes and their contractual situation. This analysis can be useful to make hypothesis about the growth of the spot market and, consequently, of market liquidity.Keywords: LNG, gas tankers, security of supply, competition, regasification plants, spot market, natural gas international tradeJEL classifications: L95, K12, F14, L11Parole chiave: GNL, navi gasiere, sicurezza dell'approvvigionamento, competizione, rigassificatori, mercato spot, commercio internazionale di gas naturale

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Status and future pathways of resin tapping in Nepal: Appeal for special attention

Nepal Journal of Environmental Science ◽

10.3126/njes.v9i2.41527 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 35-43

Author(s):

Vivek Thapa Chhetri ◽

Sachin Timilsina

Keyword(s):

Value Chain ◽

Swot Analysis ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Policy Framework ◽

Rural People ◽

Long Run ◽

Upgrading Strategies ◽

The Right

Resin tapping was pioneered five decades ago since the Laxmi Tapping industry started tapping in western Nepal in 1973. Resin tapping is acknowledged as a cost-effective, viable, and adjuvant source of income for rural people with the potentiality for payment for ecosystem services (PES) outside the resin tapping period. This paper explores the SWOT analysis of resin tapping and future pathways to improve this enterprise in Nepal. The systematic and comprehensive literature search was conducted in Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Scopus; and PRISMA flowchart summarizes the search strategy of the literature survey. SWOT analysis concludes that resin tapping has more strengths and opportunities, but this enterprise is currently under threat due to the shutting down of many resin enterprises with royalty hikes and no incentive. Poor tapping techniques lead to the depletion of pine resources in the long term, so the weakness of the rill method should be counteracted by the modern, cost-effective, more efficient borehole method practiced in many developed countries for resin production. Implementation of the proper policy framework, provision of incentives for enterprise, and sufficient research to create a knowledge base about resin tapping is an urgent need to minimize threats and pedal this enterprise in the right direction. We insist policymakers and stakeholders adopt the integrated forest-based enterprise approach for enabling environment in resin tapping and recommend nine promising value chain upgrading strategies as pragmatic endorsements to execute this enterprise in the long run.

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Enterprise Activity Modeling in Walnut Sector in Ukraine

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132313027 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (23) ◽

pp. 13027

Author(s):

Vitalii Lutsiak ◽

Taras Hutsol ◽

Nataliia Kovalenko ◽

Dariusz Kwaśniewski ◽

Zbigniew Kowalczyk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Business Model ◽

Value Chain ◽

Business Models ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Agricultural Enterprises ◽

Activity Modeling ◽

Marketing Activities ◽

The Given ◽

Enterprise Activity

The main goal of this study was to provide a critical analysis of the oil and fat sub-complex for deep walnut processing, to determine and compare the profitability of enterprises’ activities under different business models for implementation in the agro-food value chain. The latter was considered as an important factor for the development of the domestic market of walnuts and export opportunities. Business modeling of the enterprise activity in the oil and fat sub-complex for deep walnut processing was carried out. The stages of production and marketing activities of the enterprise from the garden planting or the purchase of the processed raw materials to the sale of the processed raw materials and products obtained from walnut processing depending on the chosen business model were considered. A comparative analysis of profitability of the enterprise activity and absolute values of income and profitability indicators under various business models of the enterprise activity were shown. The most cost-effective business-model entailed the combination of walnut production and its processing, which will provide profitability of up to 4640.32% in the 20th year of the project implementation. The results of the given study are intended for the agricultural enterprises of central region of Ukraine.

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Long Term Monitoring (2014–2018) of Multi-Mycotoxins in South African Commercial Maize and Wheat with a Locally Developed and Validated LC-MS/MS Method

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins11050271 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 271 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Hannalien Meyer ◽

Zanele Diana Skhosana ◽

Mamsy Motlanthe ◽

Wiana Louw ◽

Egmont Rohwer

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Value Chain ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Food And Feed ◽

Main Production ◽

Fit For Purpose ◽

The Mean ◽

Term Monitoring

Mycotoxins occur worldwide in the major grains, and producers, traders and processors are all challenged to prevent serious health problems for consumers. The challenges originate with pre-harvest fungi infections in the grain fields, increased contamination during improper storage and, finally, the mycotoxin accumulation in commercial food and feed products. Little is known about the multi-mycotoxin occurrence in maize and wheat commercially produced in South Africa. This is the first comprehensive study that reports on the multi-mycotoxin occurrence in South African produced maize and wheat crops after harvest, over four production seasons, in all the production regions of the country. The study was made possible with the development of a fit-for-purpose, cost-effective LC-MS/MS multi-mycotoxin method, validated for 13 “regulated” mycotoxins. A low mycotoxin risk was found in South African produced wheat, with only deoxynivalenol (DON) in 12.5% of the 160 samples at levels well below the 2000 µg/kg South African (SA) regulatory level. It was concluded that aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is seldom present in South African produced commercial maize. The concentrations, regional variation and seasonal trends of deoxynivalenol and fumonisins, the two most prevalent mycotoxins, and of zearalenone (ZON), are reported for white and yellow maize in all the production provinces, based on the analytical results of 1400 maize samples. A threefold to eightfold increase in deoxynivalenol mean concentrations in white maize was observed in the main production regions in the fourth season, with 8.9% samples above 2000 µg/kg. A strong correlation was found between higher deoxynivalenol concentrations and the presence of 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON). The mean fumonisin concentrations were well below the 4000 µg/kg South African regulatory value. A possible shift in the incidence and severity of mycotoxigenic Fusarium spp. in the provinces must be investigated. The variations and trends highlight the importance of a continuous monitoring of multi-mycotoxins in South Africa along the grain value chain.

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Usefulness of Certain Animal/Plant Genetic Resources in Enhancing Food and Nutritional Security under Changing Climatic Conditions

Grassroots Journal of Natural Resources ◽

10.33002/nr2581.6853.01012 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 13-25

Author(s):

P. Jayaseela Rao ◽

G. Prabhakara Rao ◽

Paresh Chandra Kole

Keyword(s):

Genetic Resources ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Plant Genetic Resources ◽

Mammalian Species ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Domestic Animal ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Nutritional Security ◽

Food And Agriculture

Genetic resources for food and agriculture are the biological basis for world food and nutrition security that can improve the livelihoods. India is one of the mega biodiversity centres, endowed with wide floristic, microbial, animal, marine and freshwater/estuarine diversity. About 40 mammalian species have been domesticated for food but the major contribution in livestock production is from 14 species. It has been estimated that some 1500 breeds of the domestic animal species in the world are now at high risk of extinction. About 30% of plant species are endemic to India. Global climatic conditions are changing due to indiscriminate anthropogenic activities, leading to loss of biodiversity, ecosystem and natural environment. The genetic erosion of wild and semi-wild relatives of the domesticated crops and animals is alarming due to threats to ecosystems/breeding habitats. Further, they are vulnerable to changing climatic conditions. This germplasm provides raw materials for breeding improvement in terms of higher yields, which in turn enhances food production and nutritional security. Therefore, all the available genetic resources should be conserved for the present and future generations for sustainable development in the years to come.

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Reinventing the Portuguese knitwear industry: the case of Pedrosa & Rodrigues private label management model

Industria Textila ◽

10.35530/it.072.05.202035 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 72 (05) ◽

pp. 469-476

Author(s):

GRAÇA GUEDES ◽

PAULO VAZ

Keyword(s):

Business Model ◽

Value Chain ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Private Label ◽

Management Model ◽

Modern Concept ◽

Materials Development ◽

New Strategy

During the first decade of this century, the Portuguese knitwear industry, and textile cluster, were strongly affected by globalisation and seemed destined to decline. The Portuguese knitwear industry developed for decades a business model based on price as the main competitive factor, and that model was no longer able to support competitiveness against low wages countries. Portuguese knitwear industry made a dramatic change towards a competition based on value to the client. The companies adopted as primary differentiation drives technological innovation, design, fashion, and services customer-oriented, together with more presence on international fairs and exhibitions. The new strategy resulted in the significant growth of exports that reached 40% from 2009 to 2018. The restructuring of the cluster, however, changed it significantly, and the number of companies was reduced by almost 50%. The competitive change made the entire Portuguese textile cluster an international case study where the modern concept of private label business model is central. The business model of private label adopted by the most competitive knitwear companies considered a full package of services to international clients. It integrated the collection’s design, raw materials development, superior finishing, careful and cost-effective confection and sophisticated logistics. Pedrosa & Rodrigues, SA. is a midcap company from Barcelos County, North of Portugal, and is a highly successful example of the new competitive paradigms. This new model is now leading the Portuguese knitwear industry to a higher level in the value chain and gives it a strong reputation worldwide.

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Extending Alkenes’ Value Chain to Functionalized Polyolefins

10.5772/intechopen.99078 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zahra Balzade ◽

Farhad Sharif ◽

Seyed Reza Ghaffarian Anbaran

Keyword(s):

Crude Oil ◽

Value Chain ◽

High Performance ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Cost Effective ◽

New Paradigm ◽

Profit Margins ◽

Performance Engineering ◽

Liquid Petroleum Gas ◽

Crude Oil Distillation

Naphtha is one of the crude oil distillation products, bringing almost the lowest value-addition to crude oil, compared to other refinery products such as liquid petroleum gas, gasoline, and diesel. However, Naphtha can be converted to one of the highest value products at the end of the value chain, i.e., polyolefins. Although the production of conventional commodity polyolefins from crude oil, is considered as one of the final products in alkenes’ value chain, there are specialty polyolefins with higher values. Specialty polyolefins are small volume, high-performance thermoplastics with high-profit margins compared to traditional commodity polyolefins. Recently, some special purpose functionalized polyolefins have been developed as efficient substituents for high-performance engineering thermoplastics. Polyolefins are exploited as cost-effective platforms to produce these functionalized thermoplastics. They are promising candidates for replacing high-performance polymers with high-cost raw materials and elaborate production processes. So, functional polyolefins have introduced a new paradigm in the production of high-performance thermoplastics, extending the alkenes’ value chain and increasing profitability. High-performance specialty polyolefins may find exceptional markets in niche applications. In this chapter, the commercial specialty and functional polyolefins’ current situation and prospects are reviewed.

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