Dead level contour technical design parameters required for sustainable crop production in semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe

Menas Wuta Isaiah Nyagumbo (2021, [Artículo])

Maize Yield Optimum Interval Dead Level Contours CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA TECHNOLOGY DRY SPELLS MAIZE YIELDS RAINWATER HARVESTING

Value chain research and development: The quest for impact

Jason Donovan (2023, [Artículo])

Motivation: For decades, governments, donors, and practitioners have promoted market-based development approaches (MBDA), most recently in the form of value chain development (VCD), to spur economic growth and reduce poverty. Changes in approaches have been shaped by funders, practitioners and researchers in ways that are incompletely appreciated. Purpose: We address the following questions: (1) how have researchers and practitioners shaped discussions on MBDA?; and (2) how has research stimulated practice, and how has practice informed research? We hypothesize that stronger exchange between researchers and practitioners increases the relevance and impact of value chain research and development. Methods and approach: We adopt Downs' (1972) concept of issue-attention cycles, which posits that attention to a particular issue follows a pattern where, first, excitement builds over potential solutions; followed by disenchantment as the inherent complexity, trade-offs, and resources required to solve it become apparent; and consequently attention moves on to a new issue. We review the literature on MBDA to see how far this framing applies. Findings: We identify five cycles of approaches to market-based development over the last 40 or more years: (1) non-traditional agricultural exports; (2) small and medium enterprise development; (3) value chains with a globalization perspective; (4) value chains with an agri-business perspective; and (5) value chain development. The shaping and sequencing of these cycles reflect researchers' tendency to analyse and criticize MBDA, while providing limited guidance on workable improvements; practitioners' reluctance to engage in critical reflection on their programmes; and an institutional and funding environment that encourages new approaches. Policy implications: Future MBDA will benefit from stronger engagement between researchers, practitioners, and funders. Before shifting attention to new concepts and approaches, achievements and failures in previous cycles need to be scrutinized. Evidence-based practice should extend for the length of the issue-attention cycle; preferably it should arrest the cycling of attention. Funders can help by requiring grantees to critically reflect on past action, by providing “safe spaces” for sharing such reflections, and by engaging in joint learning with practitioners and researchers.

Agri-Food Value Chains Issue-Attention Cycles Market-Based Development Approaches CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA VALUE CHAINS PRIVATE SECTOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT SMALLHOLDERS

Metodología predictiva para el análisis de asiento trasero en pruebas de anclaje de cinturón de seguridad

Predictive methodology for rear seat analysis in seat belt anchorage testings

José Guadalupe Velasco Ortega GIOVANNI VIDAL FLORES (2023, [Artículo])

Se presenta una metodología a seguir para el análisis de un asiento trasero durante la prueba de anclaje del cinturón de seguridad, establecida en la norma FMVSS 210 por sus siglas en ingles Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Es importante destacar que el cinturón de seguridad reduce el riesgo de lesiones, y en caso de colisión, el cinturón ayuda a distribuir la fuerza del impacto en una superficie más grande es decir la estructura metálica del asiento, lo que se busca es minimizar el riesgo de lesiones graves. La metodología propuesta tiene el fin de predecir el desempeño como función del desplazamiento de la estructura metálica mediante el uso del elemento finito (FEM). En esta metodología, se analiza la menor cantidad de elementos que compone la estructura del asiento con el propósito de reducir el tiempo del análisis, considerando solo los elementos y componentes que tienen mayor efecto con el desempeño del cinturón de seguridad, generando el análisis más rápido y eficiente. Al contrastar los resultados obtenidos a través del análisis mediante elemento finito con las pruebas reales se determinó que el método FEM es eficaz para predecir los puntos débiles de la estructura metálica que influyen en el desplazamiento y/o deformación del asiento durante la prueba.

A methodology is presented for analysis of a rear seat during the Safety Belt Anchorage test established in FMVSS 210 [1], which stands for Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. It is important to note that the safety belt reduces the risk of injury, and in the event of a collision, the belt helps distribute the force of the impact over a larger surface area, namely the metal structure of the seat. The goal is to minimize the risk of serious injuries. The goal of proposed methodology is to predict the performance as a function of displacement of the metal structure by using Finite Element Method (FEM). In this methodology, the minimum number of elements that make up the seat structure is analyzed in order to reduce analysis time, considering only the elements that play and have effect on the performance of the safety belt, thus generating a faster and more efficient analysis. By comparing the results obtained through Finite Element Method with the actual test, it was determined that the FEM method is effective in predicting the weak points of the metal structure that influence the displacement and/or deformation of the seat during the test.

FVMSS 210 Método de elemento finito Asiento trasero Prueba de anclaje Cinturón de seguridad Finite element method Rear seat Anchorage test Seat belt INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS TECNOLÓGICAS OTRAS ESPECIALIDADES TECNOLÓGICAS OTRAS OTRAS

Addressing agricultural labour issues is key to biodiversity-smart farming

Thomas Daum Frédéric Baudron Matin Qaim Ingo Grass (2023, [Artículo])

There is an urgent need for agricultural development strategies that reconcile agricultural production and biodiversity conservation. This is especially true in the Global South where population growth is rapid and much of the world's remaining biodiversity is located. Combining conceptual thoughts with empirical insights from case studies in Indonesia and Ethiopia, we argue that such strategies will have to pay more attention to agricultural labour dynamics. Farmers have a strong motivation to reduce the heavy toil associated with farming by adopting technologies that save labour but can negatively affect biodiversity. Labour constraints can also prevent farmers from adopting technologies that improve biodiversity but increase labour intensity. Without explicitly accounting for labour issues, conservation efforts can hardly be successful. We hence highlight the need for biodiversity-smart agriculture, that is farming practices or systems that reconcile biodiversity with land and labour productivity. Our empirical insights suggest that technological and institutional options to reconcile farmers' socio-economic goals and biodiversity conservation exist but that more needs to be done to implement such options at scale.

Land Sharing Trade-Offs CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION LABOUR SUSTAINABILITY

Remedies for the Inconsistences in the Times of Execution of the Unsorted Database Search Algorithm within the Wave Approach

Manuel Ávila Aoki José Benito Elizalde Salas (2017, [Artículo])

The typical semiclassical wave version of the unsorted database search algorithm based on a system of coupled simple harmonic oscillators does not consider an important ingredient of Grovers original algorithm as it is quantum entanglement. The role of entanglement in the wave version of the unsorted database search algorithm is explored and contradictions with the time of execution of Grovers algorithm are found. We remedy the contradictions by employing two arguments, one of them qualitative and the other quantitative. For the qualitative argument we employ the probabilistic nature of a legitimate quantum algorithm and remedy the above inconsistence. Within the quantitative argument we identify a parameter in the wave version of the unsorted database search algorithm which is related to entanglement. The contradiction with the time of execution of Grovers algorithm is solved by choosing an appropriate values of such a parameter which incorporates entanglement to the wave version of the unsorted database search algorithm. The utility of the present arguments are evident if the wave version of the unsorted data base search algorithm is experimentally implemented through a system of N quantum dots with a harmonic oscillator potential as a confinement potential for each of the quantum dots. Each of the above N vibrating quantum dots must be coupled to an extra single vibrating quantum dot which entangles to all of them. In order to obtain optimal results, the coupling constants of the mentioned quantum dots should be adjusted in the way described in the present work.

Computación Unsorted database search Grover algorithm wave entanglement queries time Computación Unsorted database search Grover algorithm wave entanglement queries time INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA

Evaluation of Kenya stem rust observation nursery wheat genotypes for yield and yield components under artificial rust conditions

Mandeep Randhawa (2021, [Artículo])

Grain Yield Yield Stability Genotype x Season Interaction CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA WHEAT HERITABILITY YIELDS RUSTS GENOTYPES

Soil CO2 efflux fluctuates in three different annual seasons in a semideciduous tropical forest in Yucatan, Mexico

El flujo de CO2 del suelo fluctúa en tres temporadas del año en un bosque tropical semideciduo de Yucatán, México

Fernando Arellano-Martín JUAN MANUEL DUPUY RADA ROBERTH ARMANDO US SANTAMARIA José Luis Andrade Torres (2022, [Artículo])

Tropical forest soils store a third of the global terrestrial carbon and control carbon dioxide (CO2) terrestrial effluxes to the atmosphere produced by root and microbial respiration. Soil CO2 efflux varies in time and space and is known to be strongly influenced by soil temperature and water content. However, little is known about the influence of seasonality on soil CO2 efflux, especially in tropical dry forests. This study evaluated soil CO2 efflux, soil temperature, and soil volumetric water content in a semideciduous tropical forest of the Yucatan Peninsula under two sites (flat areas close to and far from hills), and three seasons: dry, wet, and early dry (a transition between the rainy and dry seasons) throughout a year. Additionally, six 24-h periods of soil CO2 efflux were measured within these three seasons. The mean annual soil CO2 efflux was 4±2.2 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1, like the mean soil CO2 efflux during the early dry season. In all seasons, soil CO2 efflux increased linearly with soil moisture, which explained 45% of the spatial-temporal variation of soil CO2 efflux. Soil CO2 efflux was higher close to than far from hills in some months. The daily variation of soil CO2 efflux was less important than its spatial and seasonal variation likely due to small diel variations in temperature. Transition seasons are common in many tropical dry forests, and they should be taken into consideration to have a better understanding of the annual soil CO2 efflux, especially under future climate-change scenarios. © 2022 Mexican Society of Soil Science. All Rights Reserved.

EARLY DRY SEASON SOIL TEMPERATURE SOIL VOLUMETRIC WATER CONTENT TROPICAL DRY FOREST BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA BIOLOGÍA VEGETAL (BOTÁNICA) ECOLOGÍA VEGETAL ECOLOGÍA VEGETAL

Automated in-season rice crop mapping using Sentinel time-series data and Google Earth Engine: A case study in climate-risk prone Bangladesh

Mustafa Kamal Timothy Joseph Krupnik (2024, [Artículo])

High-resolution mapping of rice fields is crucial for understanding and managing rice cultivation in countries like Bangladesh, particularly in the face of climate change. Rice is a vital crop, cultivated in small scale farms that contributes significantly to the economy and food security in Bangladesh. Accurate mapping can facilitate improved rice production, the development of sustainable agricultural management policies, and formulation of strategies for adapting to climatic risks. To address the need for timely and accurate rice mapping, we developed a framework specifically designed for the diverse environmental conditions in Bangladesh. We utilized Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time-series data to identify transplantation and peak seasons and employed the multi-Otsu automatic thresholding approach to map rice during the peak season (April–May). We also compared the performance of a random forest (RF) classifier with the multi-Otsu approach using two different data combinations: D1, which utilizes data from the transplantation and peak seasons (D1 RF) and D2, which utilizes data from the transplantation to the harvest seasons (D2 RF). Our results demonstrated that the multi-Otsu approach achieved an overall classification accuracy (OCA) ranging from 61.18% to 94.43% across all crop zones. The D2 RF showed the highest mean OCA (92.15%) among the fourteen crop zones, followed by D1 RF (89.47%) and multi-Otsu (85.27%). Although the multi-Otsu approach had relatively lower OCA, it proved effective in accurately mapping rice areas prior to harvest, eliminating the need for training samples that can be challenging to obtain during the growing season. In-season rice area maps generated through this framework are crucial for timely decision-making regarding adaptive management in response to climatic stresses and forecasting area-wide productivity. The scalability of our framework across space and time makes it particularly suitable for addressing field data scarcity challenges in countries like Bangladesh and offers the potential for future operationalization.

Synthetic Aperture Radar Random Forest Boro Rice In-Season Maps CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SAR (RADAR) RICE FLOODING CLIMATE CHANGE

Seasonal climate forecasts (SCFs) based risk management strategies: A case study of rainfed rice cultivation in India

Nand Lal Kushwaha Paresh Shirsath Dipaka Ranjan Sena (2022, [Artículo])

FResampler1 Seasonal Climate Forecasts Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CLIMATE CHANGE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS YIELDS RICE RISK MANAGEMENT

Noteworthy record of the kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) and its relation to physiographic characteristics in Baja California, Mexico

SARAHI SANDOVAL ESPINOZA MARIANA DELGADO FERNANDEZ Jonathan Gabriel Escobar Flores (2017, [Artículo])

"The kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) lives in sandy and shallow soils of the Pacific coastal plains and the ecoregion of San Felipe desert. The reports of this species are scarce and in Mexico it is listed as a threatened species. The populations of V. macrotis tend to decrease due to the change in the habitat to agricultural land, which has been one of the causes of the disappearance of kit fox populations in Mexico. As part of the project “Characterisation of water bodies in Sierra Santa Isabel, Baja California”, 12 camera traps were placed in six watering holes that are visited by wildlife from January to August 2015. Digital terrain elevation models were used to describe three variables: roughness, slope inclination and orientation; these variables are essential for the kit fox to build its burrows, catch its preys and escape from predators. The analyses were also carried out in localities where this carnivore had previously been recorded in Baja California. An analysis of variance was used to determine the existence of similarities or differences between the topographical characteristics of the historical localities and the new record. The first photographic record of the kit fox was obtained in one of the watering holes located within the Valle de los Cirios Flora and Fauna Protection Area. The analyses of variance confirmed that there are no significant differences between roughness (F(4, 780) = 0.11, P > 0.05), slope inclination (F(4, 1275) = 0.319, P > 0.05) and orientation (F(4, 15) = 0.41, P > 0.05), between the historical localities and the site where the new record was obtained. Other carnivores were also recorded in the watering hole, such as the cougar (Puma concolor), bobcat (Lynx rufus), coyote (Canis latrans) and gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). The presence of the kit fox is likely occasional in the watering hole, because the slopes are greater than 10 degrees and, therefore, these sites are unsuitable for the construction of burrows. However, flat sites with sandy substrates that empty into the Gulf of California occur at a distance of less than 5 km from the watering hole, which are therefore suitable to be inhabited by the kit fox. the analysis of topographic variables of the historical records coupled with camera traps jointly confirmed that the site with the new record has characteristics that are suitable for the kit fox."

"La zorra norteña (Vulpes macrotis) habita en los suelos arenosos y pocos profundos de las planicies costeras del pacifico y de la ecorregión del desierto de San Felipe. Los reportes de esta especie son escasos y en México esta enlistada como una especie amenazada. Las poblaciones de V. macrotis tienden a disminuir por la transformación del hábitat a tierras agrícolas, la cual ha sido una de las causantes de la extirpación de poblaciones de zorra norteña en México. Como parte del proyecto “Caracterización de los cuerpos de agua en Sierra Santa Isabel, Baja California”, se colocaron 12 cámaras trampa en seis aguajes que son visitados por la fauna silvestre de enero a agosto de 2015. Mediante modelos digitales de elevación del terreno se describieron tres variables: rugosidad, pendiente y orientación de las laderas, estas variables son esenciales para que la zorra norteña construya sus madrigueras, capture a sus presas y escape de sus depredadores. Los análisis también se realizaron en localidades que previamente se había registrado a este carnívoro en Baja California. Por medio de un análisis de varianza de una vía se determinó si existen similitudes o diferencias entre las características topográficas de las localidades históricas y el nuevo registro. En uno de los aguajes que se ubica dentro del Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Valle de los Cirios, se obtuvo el primero registro fotográfico de la zorra norteña. Con los análisis de varianza se confirmó que no hay diferencias significativas entre la rugosidad (F(4, 780) = 0.11, P > 0.05), pendiente (F(4, 1275) = 0.319, P > 0.05) y orientación (F(4, 15) = 0.41, P > 0.05), entre las localidades históricas y el sitio donde se obtuvo el nuevo registro. En el aguaje también se registraron otro carnívoros, como el puma (Puma concolor), gato montés (Lynx rufus), coyote (Canis latrans) y zorra gris (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). La presencia de la zorra norteña posiblemente es ocasional en el aguaje, debido a que las pendientes en el lugar son mayores a 10 grados y por lo tanto estos sitios no son idóneos para la construcción de madrigueras. Sin embargo, a una distancia menor a 5 km del aguaje se encuentran sitios planos con sustratos arenosos que desembocan al Golfo de California, y por lo tanto son idóneos para que la zorra norteña sea residente de esos lugares..."

Vulpes macrotis, Baja California BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA BIOLOGÍA ANIMAL (ZOOLOGÍA) MAMÍFEROS MAMÍFEROS