Effects of an integrated harvest system on the quality of olive fruit for small producers

Small producers confront specific challenges when they opt to produce high-quality olive fruit. Limited resources for investing in harvest machinery and manpower are the main reasons for continuing a traditional harvest method that puts the final product and its economic value at risk. This paper discusses the efficiency of an integrated harvest system as a possible solution to these specific challenges. The system is formed by a newly designed manual harvesting device and the use of a cooling room near the olive grove. Both systems were evaluated to assess their feasibility for optimum conditions before processing. The combined effect of the harvesting method and cold storage on the fruit characteristics (incidence of decay, skin color, weight loss, firmness, respiration, and ethylene production) was evaluated on three different varieties (‘Arbequina’, ‘Picual’ and ‘Verdial’) and four different storage times (0, 4, 8, and 14 days). The results indicate that the proposed harvesting method in combination with an appropriate cooling system offers an affordable alternative for obtaining fruit with the best physiological characteristics.

Effects of a manual harvesting device on the quality of the fermented green olives (cv. Manzanilla)

In order to make harvesting table olives profitable, mechanical harvesting has become an absolute necessity. Many small Andalusian producers face structural and financial constraints in implementing the mechanisation of harvesting and, as a consequence, the fruit is still harvested manually. A manual inverted umbrella (MIU), initially designed for harvesting oil olives, was evaluated in order to determine the extent in which this device can optimise the harvesting without jeopardising the fruit quality. Simultaneously, the effects of a diluted lye treatment, applied to prevent the proliferation of brown spots caused by bruising during mechanical harvesting, was also studied. The quality of the harvested fruit was evaluated after complete fermentation. The results indicate that when no diluted lye treatment was applied, using the MIU resulted in a slightly inferior fruit quality. However, when the amount of heavily damaged fruit is taken as a standard, the MIU presented results comparable to those obtained by manual harvesting. The MIU does, therefore, offer small producers an efficient alternative, given that manual harvesting costs are up to three times higher than the costs incurred during MIU harvesting.

Transforming a home refrigerator into a BOD prototype for statice vernalization

Vernalization, natural or artificial, is a physiological requirement of some plants to meet the need for low temperatures for its complete development to occur. The objective of this article is to describe a protocol of transforming a domestic refrigerator into a BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) prototype aimed at vernalizing propagating materials statice crop. The first step is to install a temperature controller to maintain a constant temperature inside the refrigerator (10 °C). Thinking of seedling vernalization, it is still necessary to install a system of lights inside the refrigerator. The control of the time that the lights remain on inside the prototype is carried out by installing a Timer adjusted so that the lights remained on, uninterruptedly, for 10 hours. To test the effective ness of the prototype, an on-farm experiment was carried out with the statice (Limonium sinuatum L.) crop at 5 locations in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The seedlings were vernalized at an internal temperature of 10 °C and photoperiod of 10 hours for 3 weeks. The duration of this experiment was 8 months and at the end of this observed that statice plants were correctly vernalized because the plants emitted flower stems and showed satisfactory development throughout the growing cycle. Therefore, that the adaptation of a domestic refrigerator as a BOD economically viable and easy mounting prototype is possible. Being an excellent alternative to small producers.

Chatbot as Rural Extensionist for Small Beekeepers

Beekeeping is an important activity for the country, generating jobs and income for several rural families. However, the lack of technical assistance reduces the chances of success in production. So our objective with this work was to create a chatbot capable of taking technical assistance to small producers. We created the chatbee and delivered it to beekeepers and small producers who intend to enter the area, and at the end of 90 days we sent a form with some questions to be answered, and from the answers we realized that the function of bringing technical assistance was carried out by the chatbot.

From the Fragrant Highlands to the Netherlands: A Case Study on the Evolution of the Adoption of Ethical Value Chains for Kerinci Cinnamon

<p>The concept of ethical value chains emerged as a response to conventional trade that has put a strain on small producers in the resource periphery. The alternative chains are said to allow trade to be carried out in fairer terms and for the benefits to be distributed to all actors in the value chains. This concept however, has not been widely used in the global spice industry. This research aims to investigate the nature and evolution of ethical value chains of an Indonesian cinnamon commodity. As part of the resource periphery, Indonesia is the leading producer of cinnamon, with 66% of the world’s cinnamon supply coming from this country. The cinnamon industry itself has long been an important source of income for the people of Kerinci, the largest cinnamon producing area in Indonesia. Using a qualitative case study, this research examined TAKTIK, a farmers’ group in Kerinci, which is known to have been implementing some form of ethical practices in their value chains. The study found that ethical practices occurred as a result of a value chains intervention programme conducted by an International NGO and a local NGO. Ethical value chains were adopted through the establishment of a farmers’ organisation, adoption of organic farming and certification, and Geographical Indications registration. This study finds that the factors that prompted the adoption of the ethical practices varied among value chain actors. However, there was a common goal of improving the livelihood of farmers and realising more equitable commodity trade. This research enriches the global literature on ethical value chains, particularly on spice commodity and the benefits of adoption for value chain actors.</p>

From the Fragrant Highlands to the Netherlands: A Case Study on the Evolution of the Adoption of Ethical Value Chains for Kerinci Cinnamon

<p>The concept of ethical value chains emerged as a response to conventional trade that has put a strain on small producers in the resource periphery. The alternative chains are said to allow trade to be carried out in fairer terms and for the benefits to be distributed to all actors in the value chains. This concept however, has not been widely used in the global spice industry. This research aims to investigate the nature and evolution of ethical value chains of an Indonesian cinnamon commodity. As part of the resource periphery, Indonesia is the leading producer of cinnamon, with 66% of the world’s cinnamon supply coming from this country. The cinnamon industry itself has long been an important source of income for the people of Kerinci, the largest cinnamon producing area in Indonesia. Using a qualitative case study, this research examined TAKTIK, a farmers’ group in Kerinci, which is known to have been implementing some form of ethical practices in their value chains. The study found that ethical practices occurred as a result of a value chains intervention programme conducted by an International NGO and a local NGO. Ethical value chains were adopted through the establishment of a farmers’ organisation, adoption of organic farming and certification, and Geographical Indications registration. This study finds that the factors that prompted the adoption of the ethical practices varied among value chain actors. However, there was a common goal of improving the livelihood of farmers and realising more equitable commodity trade. This research enriches the global literature on ethical value chains, particularly on spice commodity and the benefits of adoption for value chain actors.</p>

Missed Opportunities and Future Challenges: Globalisation, Small-Farmers and the Expanding Chilean Non-Traditional Fruit Sector

<p>The following research revisits, re-examines and builds on previous and ongoing critical work into the rise of non-traditional fruit exports in Chile. The work is principally concerned with the negative distributional impacts on small-scale producers in light of the country's extensive neoliberal reforms of the mid 1970s and 1980's and their continuation under successive Concertacion governments since 1990. Attention is placed on revisiting and better understanding the phenomenon observed by Murray (1997) ten years earlier, that saw small-scale producers enter into grossly uneven bargaining relationships with large fruit export firms that tended to expose them to a disproportionately high proportion of the risks associated with exporting in the global marketplace. At the time, these processes were shown to be driving many small-scale producers into a cycle of debt- resulting in land concentration and greater inequality in the locality. In the absence of government intervention, it was predicted that these patterns would continue to threaten the livelihood and economic sustainability of the Chilean peasantry. The following dissertation demonstrates that in the ten years since 1994 significant land concentration has indeed continued to take place as predicted within the original research locality, El Palqui. But unlike in the past, where land was dominated by large haciendas, today, it is equally large, capital intensive producers - including a handful of internationally owned export firms - who are progressively extending their grip over the Chilean countryside. In light of these changes, it could therefore be argued that the Chilean countryside is developing a character gravely reminiscent of Chile's pre-reform 'semi-feudal' system. With even those small producers, who have supposedly 'successfully inserted' into the global economy facing serious financial hardship, the future looks bleak for the Chilean peasantry. This thesis argues that the continuation of land concentration is a by-product of successive Chilean governments' persistent failure to assist small-producers during and after the critical transitional phase from an inward oriented development model to an outward oriented export-led model. This failure to act represents a missed opportunity to effectively integrate smaller producers into the export sector in a manner which might have been conducive to growth with equity.</p>

Missed Opportunities and Future Challenges: Globalisation, Small-Farmers and the Expanding Chilean Non-Traditional Fruit Sector

<p>The following research revisits, re-examines and builds on previous and ongoing critical work into the rise of non-traditional fruit exports in Chile. The work is principally concerned with the negative distributional impacts on small-scale producers in light of the country's extensive neoliberal reforms of the mid 1970s and 1980's and their continuation under successive Concertacion governments since 1990. Attention is placed on revisiting and better understanding the phenomenon observed by Murray (1997) ten years earlier, that saw small-scale producers enter into grossly uneven bargaining relationships with large fruit export firms that tended to expose them to a disproportionately high proportion of the risks associated with exporting in the global marketplace. At the time, these processes were shown to be driving many small-scale producers into a cycle of debt- resulting in land concentration and greater inequality in the locality. In the absence of government intervention, it was predicted that these patterns would continue to threaten the livelihood and economic sustainability of the Chilean peasantry. The following dissertation demonstrates that in the ten years since 1994 significant land concentration has indeed continued to take place as predicted within the original research locality, El Palqui. But unlike in the past, where land was dominated by large haciendas, today, it is equally large, capital intensive producers - including a handful of internationally owned export firms - who are progressively extending their grip over the Chilean countryside. In light of these changes, it could therefore be argued that the Chilean countryside is developing a character gravely reminiscent of Chile's pre-reform 'semi-feudal' system. With even those small producers, who have supposedly 'successfully inserted' into the global economy facing serious financial hardship, the future looks bleak for the Chilean peasantry. This thesis argues that the continuation of land concentration is a by-product of successive Chilean governments' persistent failure to assist small-producers during and after the critical transitional phase from an inward oriented development model to an outward oriented export-led model. This failure to act represents a missed opportunity to effectively integrate smaller producers into the export sector in a manner which might have been conducive to growth with equity.</p>

Estrategias de asociatividad para la comercialización de productos agroecológicos

The associativity took a leading role, due to times of crisis, in this way it constituted a contribution to the problems of small producers in the cooperative and associative sector of the popular and solidarity economic model in the current market. This article is based on the analysis of strategies to promote the commercialization and marketing of agro-ecological foods that faced the new demands between producers and consumers. This work was developed with a theoretical character, for which an extensive bibliographic study of publications of the last five years was carried out, referring to associativity strategies. The results revealed the popular and solidarity sector investigated resorted to associativity as a collective model to increase their equitable competitiveness among the autonomous groups of small and medium producers. In addition, They adopted strategies of continuous improvement for cooperative work in a network, training and social integration, technological innovation and the change of agricultural practices. Hence, it is concluded that associativity constituted a strategy of fundamental importance towards the cooperative and comprehensive development of collective groups in the context investigated to be developed in the following article.

SEMIAUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING THERMAL COMFORT AND REDUCING RICE WASTE IN THE POULTRY BREEDING PROCESS OF SMALL PRODUCERS FROM THE INTERIOR OF THE AMAZON REGION

In the Amazon region, the reality of the conventional laying poultry production chain consists of farms with structures that are inferior to those in other regions, with a massive presence of small poultry farmers, without a water, food and air conditioning automation system. The need for improvements in the poultry process that the small producer needs to produce can be linked to the relationship of implementing technology for monitoring equipment or systems. Therefore, the motivation of this study was the creation of a semi-automated system to optimize the thermal comfort of birds and reduce feed waste in the laying poultry production process for small producers in the interior of the Amazon region in order to reduce mortality and maximize the profit. The methodology designated for the construction of this research was based on the nature of applied research, with a view to the qualitative-quantitative approach, through technical procedures of a case study. After assembly of the semi-automated system for feeding, adding the total savings for feed consumption would be 1964.20 kg of feed, in reais it would be R$ 7,856.80. And for the ambiance system, we have savings on the energy bill of 60.94 reais a month and 731.31 reais a year. The semi-automated systems suggested for small poultry farmers in the Amazon region theoretically fulfill their objective, both for the improvement of waste and for the provision of animal welfare and increased profitability.