The Impact of Agricultural Socialized Services to Promote the Farmland Scale Management Behavior of Smallholder Farmers: Empirical Evidence from the Rice-Growing Region of Southern China

Farmland scale management (FSM) is an essential strategy to establish an appropriate management scale for agricultural production, enhance smallholder farmer production efficiency, and improve the utilization rate of farmland. The Chinese government promotes farmland transfer as a tool to establish modern and moderate-scale agriculture. However, farmers remain unable to afford agricultural services and inputs required for appropriate FSM after farmland is transferred-in. This paper aims to examine the impact of agricultural socialized services (ASSs) on the FSM behavior of smallholder farmers through farmland transfer. A theoretical framework for the farmer household production aspect of this relationship is developed. A weighted least squares (WLS) model is applied to empirically examine smallholder farmers’ decisions to expand the scale of farmland induced by the promotion of ASSs based on data collected from 741 households in 2020 in the rice-growing region of southern China. The findings reveal that ASSs have a positive and significant impact on small farmers’ FSM. Small farmers’ behavior regarding farmland transfer is affected positively by the promotion of ASSs. The increase of ASSs encourages small farmers to transfer-in more farmland. However, the impact of ASSs on various steps of agricultural practice varied according to the FSM of smallholder farmers. Our findings imply that the government should take the development of ASSs as one of the main methods for promoting the establishment of moderate and large-scale agriculture and rural revitalization. Strengthening policies and financial support for both private and public ASS providers through financial innovation subsidies and preferential tax policies will help smallholder farmers reduce input costs and increase the scale of production and profits. The findings of this paper will provide a scientific basis and reference for the development of moderate-scale agriculture and rural revitalization.

Salmonella enterica Serovar Diversity, Distribution, and Prevalence in Public Access Waters from a Central California Coastal Leafy Green Growing Region during 2011 - 2016

Prevalence and serovar diversity of Salmonella enterica was measured during a five-year survey of surface waters in a 500 mi^2 agricultural region of the Central California Coast. Rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds were sampled bimonthly resulting in 2,979 samples. Overall prevalence was 56.4% with higher levels detected in Spring than in Fall. Small, but significant, differences in prevalence were detected based on sample locations. Detection of Salmonella was correlated positively with both significant rain events and, in some environments, levels of generic Escherichia coli . Analysis of 1,936 isolates revealed significant serovar diversity, with 91 different serovars detected. The most common isolated serovars were S. enterica subsp. enterica serovars I 6,8:d:- (406 isolates, 21.0%, and potentially monophasic Salmonella Muenchen), Give (334 isolates, 17.3%), Muenchen (158 isolates, 8.2%), Typhimurium (227 isolates, 11.7%), Oranienburg (106 isolates, 5.5%), and Montevideo (78 isolates, 4%). Sixteen of the 24 most common serovars detected in the region are among the serovars reported to cause the most human salmonellosis in the United States. Some of the serovars were associated with location and seasonal bias. Analysis of Xba I Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns of strains of serovars Typhimurium, Oranienburg, and Montevideo showed significant intra-serovar diversity. PFGE pulsotypes were identified in the region for multiple years of the survey, indicating persistence or regular re-introduction to the region. Importance Non-typhoidal Salmonella is the among the leading causes of bacterial foodborne illness and increasing numbers of outbreaks and recalls are due to contaminated produce. High prevalence and 91 different serovars were detected in this leafy green growing region. Seventeen serovars that cause most of the human salmonellosis in the United States were detected, with 16 of those serovars detected in multiple locations and multiple years of the 5-year survey. Understanding the widespread prevalence and diversity of Salmonella in the region will assist in promoting food safety practices and intervention methods for growers and regulators.

Techniques for Reducing the Abundance of Spring–Summer Flush Shoots in Southern Spanish Orange Orchards

The Mediterranean Basin is the second highest citrus growing region in the world behind China. Citrus trees are known to produce several flush shoots per year, particularly during the spring–summer season. Farmers endeavor to reduce the growth of summer shoots by means of hand pruning, especially those located at the top of the tree, as most of these shoots become vigorous, nutrient consuming, non-productive, and attractive to several pests. Furthermore, hand pruning substantially increases the costs of citrus orchards production. This research was therefore intended to study new different treatments to control spring–summer flush shoots and thus reduce growers’ investments in citrus production. Six different treatments were applied in two experimental and high density orange orchards over two consecutive years: (1) control; (2) topping (mechanical pruning); (3) dichlorprop-p; (4) triclopyr; (5) topping + dichlorprop-p; and (6) topping + triclopyr. The treatment of dichlorprop-p alone reduced the number of summer young shoots in both years. Moreover, these applications did not negatively affect yield or fruit quality. These mechanical methodologies help citrus growers manage the density of flush shoots and reduce hand labor costs in citrus orchards.

SELECTION OF THE REGION AND GRAPES VARIETIES FOR PRODUCTION OF DIETARY RED JUICE

The paper presents the analysis results of the vineyard and grape varieties for the production of juice with an advanced content of biologi-cally active substances. The grape varieties were analyzed from the perspective of the op-timal growing region, the requirements of cli-matic and growing conditions. The chemical composition of grapes and must from black grapes were analyzed. The importance of using juices in the diet due to the content of biologi-cally active substances, valuable for the human body was argued.

Options to Support Sustainable Trajectories in a Rural Landscape: Drivers, Rural Processes, and Local Perceptions in a Colombian Coffee-Growing Region

Trajectories of many rural landscapes in Latin America remain unsustainable. Options to support sustainable rural trajectories should be comprehensive and rooted in the interests of rural actors. We selected a municipality in a coffee-growing region in Colombia with an increasing urban–rural nexus to describe interactions between rural processes and their drivers while identifying and contextualising the perceptions of local actors on major constraints and opportunities for more inclusive and sustainable rural trajectories. We described these interactions by combining secondary data on main drivers, agricultural census data, and interviews with different local actors. Changes in population structure, volatility in coffee prices, in-/out-migration, deagrarianisation, and rurbanisation, among others, are reconfiguring the rural trajectories of the study area. Despite not being a major coffee region, farmers in the study area have developed different strategies, including intensification, diversification, replacement or abandonment of coffee production, and commercialisation. The perceptions of local actors and the multiplicity of agricultural households, food/land use systems, rural processes, and drivers described in this study suggest that more sustainable rural transitions need to be supported by inclusive, integrated, and transformative landscape planning approaches that align with local priorities. However, this transformation needs to be accompanied by changes at a systemic level that address the fundamental bottlenecks to real sustainability.

A Shore Thing - Flipping the Coast

<p>A Shore Thing explores an alternative approach to the way future development can occur within New Zealand’s coastal hinterland regions. As global cities continue to expand in size and population, the desire and necessity to move ‘away’ is becoming increasingly prevalent. Wellington is a city that is densifying, yet due to its natural topography, it cannot expand. Townships within the Greater Wellington region are already growing and developing with a lack of developmental strategies to deal with more ermanent residents. As part of this growth, Transmission Gully motorway is a major infrastructural development occurring within the region to improve the connection between the Kapiti Coast and Wellington. Questions are raised…How will this infrastructure affect the townships? Can they withstand an influx of residents? What will happen to the natural process within this landscape? The main intention of this thesis is to develop a scheme for how people could settle within hinterland regions, specifically Paekakariki on the Kapiti Coast. The implementation of Transmission Gully stimulates Kapiti’s potential as a satellite region to Wellington city. This thesis will explore how infrastructure and landscape urbanism can be employed within a rural landscape to achieve a considered strategy that mitigates future pressures on a growing region. The role of landscape architecture plays an important role when exploring and understanding the varying scales within the scheme to ensure a legible framework is generated that integrates ecology, infrastructure, housing and public life.</p>

A Shore Thing - Flipping the Coast

<p>A Shore Thing explores an alternative approach to the way future development can occur within New Zealand’s coastal hinterland regions. As global cities continue to expand in size and population, the desire and necessity to move ‘away’ is becoming increasingly prevalent. Wellington is a city that is densifying, yet due to its natural topography, it cannot expand. Townships within the Greater Wellington region are already growing and developing with a lack of developmental strategies to deal with more ermanent residents. As part of this growth, Transmission Gully motorway is a major infrastructural development occurring within the region to improve the connection between the Kapiti Coast and Wellington. Questions are raised…How will this infrastructure affect the townships? Can they withstand an influx of residents? What will happen to the natural process within this landscape? The main intention of this thesis is to develop a scheme for how people could settle within hinterland regions, specifically Paekakariki on the Kapiti Coast. The implementation of Transmission Gully stimulates Kapiti’s potential as a satellite region to Wellington city. This thesis will explore how infrastructure and landscape urbanism can be employed within a rural landscape to achieve a considered strategy that mitigates future pressures on a growing region. The role of landscape architecture plays an important role when exploring and understanding the varying scales within the scheme to ensure a legible framework is generated that integrates ecology, infrastructure, housing and public life.</p>

Evaluation of barley testing locations in Ontario

In order to develop new barley cultivars, promising genotypes are evaluated for their performance each year at a number of test locations representing the target region. In this study, we analyzed the Ontario barley registration trial data from 2015 to 2020 to understand the barley mega-environment in Ontario and to evaluate the suitability of the test locations. The analysis showed that the barley test locations fall into two mega-environments, with a major mega-environment consists of five test locations and a minor mega-environment with a single test location. Among the six test locations used for the barley registration trials, Palmerston was found to be the most desirable for the barley cultivar evaluation representing the Ontario barley growing region. This study also identified OB2930-35, a recently released cultivar, to be both high yielding and stable across Ontario. These findings are useful for future barley breeding and cultivar evaluation in Ontario.