Phenology of flowering and fruiting and effect of KNO3 and H2O2 on germination process of amorphophallus muelleri blume

Amorphophallus muelleriBlume also known as Indonesian Konjac (IK, in short) is a wild plant that spreads out in Indonesia especially in the southern part. The genus Amorphophalluscan also be found in some countries in South-East Asia. The IK tuber contains glucomannan, a compound which has high economic value as raw material in many industries such as food, drink, pharmacy, cosmetics, paper, rubber, textile, film industries and many others. The plant is easy to cultivate. Due to the economic benefit of IK tubers and to the easiness of its cultivation, this study was carried out to increase the productivity of glucomannan. The current productivity is still low compared to foreign demand. For example, in 2020 alone, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Indonesia, only 12 % of foreign demand have been fulfilled. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase the productivity of IK tubers. This is the main problem of this research. Its objectives were two-fold. First, was to study the effect of tuber weight on flowering percentage, flower size, and fruiting which is represented by the number of fruits and the number of seeds. Second, was to find out the right concentration of KNO3and H2O2solutions as well as the soaking time in those solutions to break the dormancy period and to increase the germination rate. For these purposes, a laboratory experiment using completely randomized design with three treatments was conducted and the collected data were analyzed using general linear model, analysis of variance and multiple comparison test. The results indicate that the tuber weight significantly affects the flowering percentage, flower size, number of fruits and number of seeds of IK. The heavier the planted tuber, the higher the flowering percentage and the larger the flower size, number of fruits and number of seeds. The response on dormancy breaking treatment indicates that there is no significant effect of soaking treatment in KNO3 and H2O2 solutions on dormancy period of the IK seeds. The KNO3and H2O2solutions have only effect on increasing the germination rate and on shortening the time period for seeds to germinate. Moreover, unlike H2O2, there is no residual effect of KNO3on seeding growth, and on weight and shape of the IK tuber. To the knowledge of the authors, these findings are unprecedented and could thus,contribute to the literature.

Internationalization, Digitalization And Sustainability Development UMKM Woven Bag Products In Ngawi District

In times like this, MSMEs have a lot of limitations in developing the business of Internationalization, Digitalization and Sustainability even though MSME players have developed internationalization by serving domestic and foreign demand as has been done by MSMEs woven bag products in Kab. Ngawi. The purpose of this study was to determine the strategies that have been carried out by the woven bag UMKM actors in the district. Ngawi in the development of internationalization, digitization, and sustainability which may not be done by other MSME actors sometimes.This study finds that in carrying out international development, product innovations are needed especially during the current Covid-19 pandemic to be able to help the continuity of a company or MSME business, as well as the role of digitalization which is a very vital technology that must be applied every time it does development through social media such as Facebook, IG, WA, Promotion, and others, as well as the sustainability of a relationship in doing business and products, must be maintained.

Emerging Countries as the Main Destinations for European Value-Added Exports

Nowadays, production chains may cross the borders of several continents in search of greater profitability. In order to more accurately calculate countries’ foreign demand, value-added exports should be used rather than gross exports. This study takes the value-added exports calculated for European Union countries and uses extended gravity models to analyze the determinants of this trade, differentiating between countries according to the main destinations for their value-added, USA, Russia and China. The results reveal certain changes according to the economic period analyzed and the destination of the goods, with respect to key variables such as the wealth of the exporting country, the level of logistics performance and distance. In 2014, China registered an improvement in its position compared to Russia.

Youth as Agenda-Setters between Donors and Beneficiaries: The Limited Role of Libyan Youth after 2011

Based on interviews with young Libyan professionals carried out between 2017 and 2018, this paper examines their role as agenda-setters in international organizations operating in their country since 2011. The growing foreign demand for local expertise after the fall of the old regime was met mostly by the young activists who had helped organize the 2011 uprisings. For foreign organizations, Libyan youth have come to embody brokers, fixers, go-betweens, and persons-in-between, becoming key supporting actors in international project implementation. Despite the opportunities seemingly afforded by the collapse of the old regime, this paper shows that Libyan youth, torn between desires for political change and professional advancement, have struggled to influence the agendas of international organizations, leading to feelings of disenfranchisement. The transformative capacity of international projects is thus often limited by this new class of young, globalized elites who are disengaged from the local needs and realities facing Libyan civil society.

Agricultural Trade and Structural Change: Evidence from Paraguay

We study how international trade affects structural change in an agricultural exporting country. For this purpose, we calibrate a three-sector growth model to quantify the role of international trade in explaining structural change patterns observed in Paraguay. This country experienced a significant rise in net agricultural exports as a percentage of aggregate output during the period 1962–2012. We find the following results. First, international trade is crucial to explain the sectoral composition of employment in this country. The model including trade explains 84.2% of observed changes in employment shares during this period, while the model without trade can only account for 35.6% of observed changes. Second, employment in agriculture remains large in order to satisfy foreign demand. Third, employment shifts directly from agriculture into services in the long run, bypassing manufacturing. These patterns can only be explained by the rise in net agricultural exports.

Determinants of Export Performance in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has adopted different policy measures geared at promoting exports. As a result the real value of export has increased by more than 13 folds during 1980-2018 periods; however, its share in gross domestic product and import bills is being very small. Therefore, this article aimed to investigate the factors responsible for export performance over the period 1980-2018 by using the bound co-integration approach. In the long run, the regression analysis implies that real economic growth, inflation and the foreign demand are found to have a positive effect, whereas openness and the share of agriculture have a negative effect. Real economic growth, inflation and the foreign demand depressingly affect the export supply in the short run whereas openness affects positively but the share of agriculture was not found to be crucial. Thus, in order Ethiopia economy to improve its own export supply, focusing on industrial sector, ensuring and expanding vocational and technical education, trying to reduce marketing costs through the process by making transparent, and diversifying the destination are very crucial policy tools.