Economic development, transport investment, and urbanization in Mexico: causality and effects

Vicente German-Soto Alexsandra De la Peña Flores Karina García (2023, [Artículo, Artículo])

The transport investment is often used as a tool for economic development and urbanization. However, there is still debate about whether transport improvements promote development and urbanization or, conversely, these latter create the conditions that stimulate the transport. In theory, the transport system contributes to development and urbanization because it speeds up the exchange of goods and services, but the effects can also be reversed, so the direction of causality is not so easily identified. This work uses Mexican state information of the 1988-2018 period, grouped as panel, to know both magnitude and direction of the impacts. Methodology consists in cointegration tests and VECM regressions. The results reveal that long-term causality goes from economic development to transport and its subsectors, which means that economic development is a necessary condition to modernize transport in Mexico. For urbanization, the causality and magnitude of the effects vary depending on the transport subsector. The total economy and passenger sector’s investments cause urbanization, but transportation and subsectors of cargo carriers and communications estimate two-way causality. The conclusions suggest that urbanization depends on improvements in transportation and the latter, in turn, on economic development.

Desarrollo regional Transporte Economía urbana Causalidad Modelo VECM CIENCIAS SOCIALES CIENCIAS SOCIALES Economic development, Granger-Causality, VECM Models, Productivity, Urban Economics

Seasonal patterns in rice and wheat residue burning and surface PM2.5 concentration in northern India

Carlo Montes Tek Sapkota Balwinder-Singh (2022, [Artículo])

Biomass Burning Emission Inventory Active Fires CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AIR QUALITY BIOMASS BURNING EMISSION FIRES

Crop performance and nitrogen use-efficiency in maize under conservation agriculture coupled with sub-surface drip fertigation

C.M. Parihar Hari Sankar Nayak Renu Pandey ML JAT (2021, [Artículo])

Biological Yield Permanent Beds Yield Attributes CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA YIELDS NITROGEN NUTRIENT UPTAKE CROP PERFORMANCE MAIZE

Biofortification to avoid malnutrition in humans in a changing climate: Enhancing micronutrient bioavailability in seed, tuber, and storage roots

Ana Luisa Garcia-Oliveira Mahalingam Govindaraj Rodomiro Ortiz (2023, [Artículo])

Bioaccessibility and Absorption Biofortified Crop Cultivars Genes and Genetic Markers Nutrient Acquisition Transport and Storage CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA BIOAVAILABILITY ABSORPTION CLIMATE CHANGE GENETIC MARKERS GENETIC ENGINEERING NUTRIENTS TRANSPORT STORAGE

Molecular characterization of divergent isolates of Citrus bent leaf viroid (CBLVd) from citrus cultivars of Punjab, Pakistan

Abdelfattah DABABAT Yong Suk Chung (2023, [Artículo])

Biological Indexing Sequencing Analysis Citrus Orchards CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS CITRUS RNA DNA

Optimization of N dose in rice under conservation agriculture with sub-surface drip fertigation

C.M. Parihar Hari Sankar Nayak Renu Pandey Avinash Kumar ML JAT (2021, [Artículo])

Biological Yield Economic N Dose Yield Attributes CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA YIELDS NITROGEN ZERO TILLAGE DIRECT SOWING RICE

Sustainable urban mobility: An alternative for air pollution in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area

José Antonio Olivares Mendoza Clemente Hernandez-Rodriguez Luz Alicia Jimenez Portugal (2023, [Artículo, Artículo])

The objective of this paper is to evaluate whether the low-carbon transport strategy (subway, rapid transit bus system -Macrobús-, trolleybus, and shared bicycles) implemented in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (AMG) from 2000 to 2019 improves air quality. Sustainable urban mobility is the movement of people in cities in a way that generates the least impact on the environment. We analyze three actions of government intervention in the same sense. This is the first study for Guadalajara, the third-largest city in Mexico. We use robust Newey-West estimators and endogenously model pollution disruptions using the Bai Perron approach. Our results suggest that this type of public transport reduces SO2, NO2, O3, and CO, though we find an increase in PM10. We also identified that when the service of the first line of the Bus Rapid Transit was consolidated CO, O3 and PM10 decreased. In addition, the improvement in the connectivity of the bus network with the subway means that only NO2 diminished. Finally, the entry into operation of the shared bicycle program reduced PM10, while increasing O3 and in SO2. In short, sustainable urban mobility is an alternative to making the transit of people efficient, while mitigating air pollution in the AMG.

Contaminación del aire Transporte urbano Bicicletas compartidas Autobuses de tránsito rápido Metro CIENCIAS SOCIALES CIENCIAS SOCIALES Air pollution Urban transport Bus Rapid Transit

Saneamiento del vaso Cencali, Villahermosa, Tabasco. II. Diseño del proceso

ANNE MARGRETHE HANSEN HANSEN Franklin Torres-Bejarano (2008, [Artículo])

Este artículo es el segundo de dos partes que resumen las actividades y los estudios realizados durante la evaluación y el diseño del proceso de saneamiento del vaso Cencali, en el centro de Villahermosa, Tabasco, México. El estado hipereutrófico de este cuerpo de agua está constituido principalmente por la acumulación de una gran cantidad de sedimentos provenientes de escurrimientos urbanos y aguas residuales. Por lo tanto, se identificó la remoción de estos sedimentos como medida más urgente para el rescate del vaso. La ubicación del vaso, el reducido espacio disponible en zonas adyacentes, así como las características propias de los sedimentos, impidieron un diseño tradicional del proceso. Por ello se diseñó y adaptó un proceso que consiste en los componentes de dragado por bombeo, sedimentación, transporte y secado de los sedimentos. De acuerdo con el análisis de humedad de sedimentos y experimentos piloto de bombeo, la mezcla de agua-sedimento dragada tenía entre 65 y 85% de humedad, resultando en volúmenes a remover entre 50,400 m3 y 130,000 m3. Para controlar y reducir el volumen de sedimentos transportados y evitar tiempos y costos excesivos, se diseñó una tecnología de sedimentación en cuatro tanques flotantes-sumergibles colocadas en el vaso Cencali. Además, se propuso un concepto para el futuro mantenimiento del vaso, consistente en la combinación de procesos de sedimentación y dragado en una depresión topográfica construida dentro del vaso para este propósito.

Lagunas urbanas Dragado Transporte de sedimentos Disposición de sedimentos Villahermosa, Tabasco INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA

Forest proximity positively affects natural enemy mediated control of fall armyworm in Southern Africa

Frédéric Baudron Terence Sunderland (2022, [Artículo])

Insectivorous Birds Bat Predation Maize Cultivation CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA FALL ARMYWORMS BIOLOGICAL PEST CONTROL INSECTIVOROUS ANIMALS MAIZE PREDATOR PREY RELATIONS

The input reduction principle of agroecology is wrong when it comes to mineral fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa

Gatien Falconnier Marc Corbeels Frédéric Baudron Antoine Couëdel leonard rusinamhodzi bernard vanlauwe Ken Giller (2023, [Artículo])

Can farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) boost crop yields and improve food availability without using more mineral fertilizer? This question has been at the center of lively debates among the civil society, policy-makers, and in academic editorials. Proponents of the “yes” answer have put forward the “input reduction” principle of agroecology, i.e. by relying on agrobiodiversity, recycling and better efficiency, agroecological practices such as the use of legumes and manure can increase crop productivity without the need for more mineral fertilizer. We reviewed decades of scientific literature on nutrient balances in SSA, biological nitrogen fixation of tropical legumes, manure production and use in smallholder farming systems, and the environmental impact of mineral fertilizer. Our analyses show that more mineral fertilizer is needed in SSA for five reasons: (i) the starting point in SSA is that agricultural production is “agroecological” by default, that is, very low mineral fertilizer use, widespread mixed crop-livestock systems and large crop diversity including legumes, but leading to poor soil fertility as a result of widespread soil nutrient mining, (ii) the nitrogen needs of crops cannot be adequately met solely through biological nitrogen fixation by legumes and recycling of animal manure, (iii) other nutrients like phosphorus and potassium need to be replaced continuously, (iv) mineral fertilizers, if used appropriately, cause little harm to the environment, and (v) reducing the use of mineral fertilizers would hamper productivity gains and contribute indirectly to agricultural expansion and to deforestation. Yet, the agroecological principles directly related to soil fertility—recycling, efficiency, diversity—remain key in improving soil health and nutrient-use efficiency, and are critical to sustaining crop productivity in the long run. We argue for a nuanced position that acknowledges the critical need for more mineral fertilizers in SSA, in combination with the use of agroecological practices and adequate policy support.

Manure Crop Yields Smallholder Farming Systems Environmental Hazards CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA BIOLOGICAL NITROGEN FIXATION LEGUMES NUTRIENT BALANCE SOIL FERTILITY AGROECOLOGY YIELD INCREASES LITERATURE REVIEWS