Dairy farmers’ knowledge and perception of climate change in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of dairy farmers about climate change in dairy farms in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted following a cross-sectional research design (Bryman, 2012). The study was conducted mainly on dairy farms located on the south-eastern part of the Eastern Cape province in five districts out of the province’s six districts (Figure 1). These districts include Amathole, Chris Hani, OR Tambo and Cacadu; these regions were not included in a recent surveying study (Galloway et al., 2018). Findings In all, 71.7% of dairy farm workers heard about climate change from the television, and 60.4% of participants reported that they gathered information from radio. Eighty-two out of 106 (77.4%) correctly indicated that climate change is a significant long-term change in expected weather patterns over time, and almost 10% of the study participants had no clue about climate change. Approximately 63% of the respondents incorrectly referred to climate change as a mere hotness or coldness of the day, whereas the remainder of participants correctly refuted that definition of climate change. Most of the study participants correctly mentioned that climate change has an influence on dairy production (92.5%), it limits the dairy cows’ productivity (69.8%) and that dry matter intake of dairy cows is reduced under higher temperatures (75.5%). Research limitations/implications The use of questionnaire to gather data limits the study, as respondents relied on recall information. Also, the sample size and study area limits use of the study as an inference for the excluded parts of the Eastern Cape Province. Also, it focused only on dairy farm workers and did not request information from beef farmers. Practical implications This study imply that farmers without adequate knowledge of the impact of climate change keep complaining of a poor yield/ animal productivity and changing pattern of livestock diseases. Hence, a study such as the present one helps to bridge that gap and provide relevant governing authority the needed evidence for policy changes and intervention. Social implications Farmers will begin to get help from the government regarding climate change. Originality/value This a first study in South Africa seeking to document the knowledge of dairy farm workers about climate change and its impacts on productivity.

First Report of Rickettsia Asembonensis in Small Ruminants

Rickettsioses is an emerging infectious disease in Southeast Asia caused by different organisms in the Rickettsiae bacterial tribe, a gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium. There is limited information regarding the vertebrate hosts of Rickettsia spp. This study aims to detect and identify Rickettsia agents present in wildlife and domesticated animals in Malaysia using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and sequencing approach with phylogenetic analysis. Rickettsia sp. was detected in 2 (0.67%) of 300 animal blood samples. The positive samples were derived from a goat (5.56% of 18) and a sheep (2.22% of 45). Based on the analysis of the Rickettsia citrate synthase gene (gltA), both sequences demonstrated 99.64% sequence similarity to Rickettsia asembonensis, a species that is known to infect humans and macaques. This study reported for the first time the detection of R. asembonensis in sheep and goats in Malaysian farms, suggesting this species may be adapting in a wider range of animals, specifically farm animals, therefore, poses a zoonotic threat to the local populace particularly to the farm workers or animal handlers. The low infection rate of this pathogen yet is of public health importance highlighted the needs of continuous surveillance of emerging and reemerging pathogens among animal reservoirs.

Adoption of Chemical Pesticides Under Commercial Vegetable Cultivation inSri Ganganagar District of Rajasthan

The study was conducted in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan to assess the extent of use of chemical pesticides under commercial vegetable cultivation. The primary data were collected from 100 farm households across 18 villages from 2016 to 2019. Chemical insecticides were used by all farmers whereas biopesticides and botanical pesticides were used by <5% for insect pest control in vegetables. The average number of chemical pesticide sprays in a crop cycle was 14, 15, 15 and 13 in cauliflower, cabbage, tomato and pea crops respectively. Average quantity of chemical pesticides used was 4.23, 3.87, 5.16 and 3.47 kg active ingredient per hectare in cauliflower, cabbage, tomato and pea crops respectively. The study highlights the overuse and misuse of chemical pesticides in vegetable crops where the economic part is edible unlike cotton where the economic part is nonedible.The direct negative impact of chemical pesticides on health of farm workers is estimated in the paper.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN TURKESTAN VILLAGES AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SOVIET GOVERNMENT

The article describes the changes that took place in the social structure of the village of Turkestan at the beginning of the establishment of Soviet power, the dominance in agriculture of still individual small peasant farms. Formation of new social strata - collective farms and state farm workers, associated with new economic sectors of the economy - collective farms and state farms. KEY WORDS: village, farmer, farm, livestock, Turkestan, alienation, population, government, industry, poor, middle peasant, rich, religion, apparatus, individual farmer.

UPAH MENGUPAH PERTANIAN DALAM TINJAUAN FIQH MUAMALAH (Studi di Nagari Bukit Kandung Kecamatan X Koto Diatas Kabupaten Solok)

This article discusses the implementation of wages in agriculture in Nagari Bukit Kandung Subdistrict X Koto Atas, Solok Regency in a review of muamalah fiqh. The type of research is field research (field research). The data sources consist of primary data sources, namely from farmers and farm laborers who were carried out to 8 people and 4 farm workers, while the secondary data were obtained from documents in the form of the Bukit Kandung Nagari Profile that were related to this research, which could provide information or data. Addition to strengthen the primary data. Data collection techniques that the author uses are observation, interviews and documentation. The data processing that the author uses is qualitative. Based on the results of this study, the implementation of wages in agriculture carried out in Nagari Bukit Kandung District X Koto Diatas Solok Regency is farm laborers who ask for their wages to be given in advance before they carry out their work without an agreement to give their wages at the beginning. Because farm laborers ask for their wages to be given at the beginning, many farm workers work not as expected by farmers and there are also farm workers who are not on time to do the work that should be done. According to the muamalah fiqh review, the implementation of wages in agriculture in Nagari Bukit Kandung is not allowed because there is an element of gharar in the contract and there are parties who are disadvantaged in the contract, namely the owner of the fields.

Pola pengelolaan pendapatan keluarga buruh tani dalam rangka memenuhi kebutuhan hidup

Income management can be identified the pattern through income and expenditure streams. This study aims to determine the pattern of income management of farm labor families in Bakung Pringgodani Village in order to meet the needs of life. This research is a qualitative research with a case study method where researchers collect data will focus on a case encountered in a family of farm workers in Bakung Pringgodani Village. The obtained data were observed and analyzed carefully to the end with the aim of understanding a phenomenon or event experienced by the family farm laborers in the village of Bakung Pringgodani. The suggestions from this study are: Farm workers' families are expected to be able to make or arrange a written financial plan so that it can facilitate the allocation of income and control expenses in order to fulfill the needs of family life. Abstrak Pengelolaan pendapatan dapat diketahui dari pola pendapatan dan pengeluaran. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisa pola pengelolaan pendapatan pada keluarga petani untuk memenuhi kebutuhan mereka, di Desa Bakung Pringgodani. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif yang menggunakan metode studi kasus, dimana peneliti focus pada kasus-kasus yang dialami para keluarga petani di Desa Bakung Pringgodani. Data yang telah terkumpul diobservasi dan dianalisa untuk menjabarkan dan memahami fenomena yang dialami oleh para keluarga petani di Desa Bakung Pringgodani. Oleh karena itu, para keluarga petani disarankan untuk menyusun rencana keuangan tertulis untuk membantu pengalokasian pendapatan dan mengontrol pengeluaran dalam pemenuhan kebutuhan keluarga

The Influencing Factors of The Changing Profession of Coconut Farmers to Service Sector Workers in Pakuweru Village Tenga Subdistric

Background: The total area of the village is 600 hectares and the largest part of the land usage is coconut farming which is 497 hectares, while the rest are roads and rivers.Research purposes: The purpose of the study is to determine whether the wage of labors, the term of payment of wages , and the social prestige affect the job shiffting of agricultural workers to servive sector workers.Research methods: The research method used in this research is a quantitative approach. Research results: The result shows that the changing profession from coconut farm workers to the service workers is determined by 3 (three) factors, that are the wage of labors, the term of payment wages, and social prestige. These are proved by a signigicant level ( α)=0.05, with the result obtained in table with dk=98 is 1.984, it means that the regression coefficient is significant between variable x and variable y , where the value of b=0,92, which means that every increase of 100 units will cause the incracement 0,92 of Y.Conclusion: The influence of changing profession of coconut farmers to service workers determined by three factors that are is the wages factor, the term of paymenet wages, and the social prestige. These are proved by the result of significant level (α) + 0,05, result obtained is(α) = 0,05, so the table with dk= 98 is 1.984, this result means that the null hypothesis is rejected. Means that from the calculation between variable X and Y, where the value of b = 0,92, which means that every increase of 100 units will cause the incracement 0,92 of Y. Furthermore the corelation coefficient of 0,86 which is significant, indicates that there is a relationship or linkage between the wage factor , the term of payment wages , and social prestige towards the changing profession of farm workers, as well as in the regression analysis. The square of correlation coeficient (π ) which is the coeficient of determination amounted to 0,73 =73%. This implies that the effect of the jobshifting of farmer workers to service workers can be explained by wage factors, the length of payment day, and and social prestige , amounted to 73%.

Extent and Determinants of Poverty among Rural Non-Farm Workers in Punjab

The economy of Punjab has been undergoing the process of structural change. The share of the primary sector in total employment has declined at a slower rate. Trends have that people are shifting to the non-farm sector as there is little potential in the agricultural sector to generate additional employment opportunities. The number of non-farm workers is increasing continuously in Punjab. In the non-farm sector, most of the regular jobs are being created in manufacturing and services. The non-manufacturing sector is mainly creating casual employment opportunities. In this background, the present paper examines the poverty status of the rural non-farm workers in Punjab. Using a sample of 659 households from the three districts of Punjab, the study reveals that about 19 percent of the non-farm workers live below the poverty line and 5.27 percent are extremely poor. The incidence of poverty is higher among the SC households than other castes. The workers, who are employed in casual jobs, are more prone to poverty. The greatest proportion of those living below the poverty line can be found in the case of the workers employed in brick kilns and in electronics repair works. About 37 percent of those working as construction workers, loaders in the grain market or in MGNREGS, are living below the poverty line. All of the wage workers in these three categories are poor and vulnerable. The proportion of non poor workers increases and that of living below the poverty line declines with the increase in the level of education and increase in the size of land ownership.

Dairy Sheep and Goat Farmers: Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Their Associations with Health Management and Performance on Farms

The objectives were to determine the socio-demographic profiles of small ruminant dairy farmers and to study associations with management practices, production outcomes and health parameters on their farms. In total, 325 sheep flocks and 119 goat herds across Greece were included in the study and visited for collection of information. Socio-demographic characteristics of the dairy farmers and details of management practices, production outcomes and health parameters on their farms were recorded. For the analysis of results, multivariable models were created using mixed-effects logistic regression, with farms as the random effect. Most dairy farmers were male (93.2%), most were full-time professionals in farming (89.4%) and most had a farming family tradition (86.9%). The mean age was 47.0 years and the mean farming experience was 24.3 years. For 17.3% of the farmers, the highest level of education received was primary education, for 54.3% it was secondary education, for 16.4% it was post-secondary vocational training and for 12.0% it was tertiary education. In 35.4% of dairy farms, external farm workers were employed. Of the socio-demographic characteristics, farming experience was associated with geographical location of farms, management system, breed of animals, application of quarantine measures, laboratory evaluation of feedstuffs, ultrasonographic examination for pregnancy diagnosis, application of vaccination against clostridial infections, means of calculation of bodyweight for drug administration to animals, maintenance of colostrum bank, number of annual veterinary visits, annual milk production per animal, number of newborns and somatic cell counts and total bacterial counts in milk. Further, the employment of external farm workers on the farm was associated with management system, machine-milking, number and breed of animals, application of quarantine measures, laboratory evaluation of feedstuffs, ultrasonographic examination for pregnancy diagnosis, number of annual veterinary visits, annual milk production per animal, protein content in milk and number of newborns. The findings indicate that dairy sheep/goat farming is still a family-driven business, but, nevertheless, there are now younger people among these farmers, many of them with post-secondary education. Socio-demographic characteristics may influence the management practices applied, which in turn can have consequences for production and health results of the farms.