Big Farms Research Articles

From Field to Market: The Challenges Faced by Onion Growers in Chitradurga, Karnataka, India

Horticultural crops are integral to the Indian economy, serving as a major source of employment, and supplying vital raw materials to the food processing sector. Their cultivation leads to enhanced farm profitability, driven by increased yields and improved market opportunities. Moreover, the export of horticultural produce significantly contributes to foreign exchange earnings, further strengthening India's economic framework. Onion grows extensively across the nation in a variety of climates. India is the world's second-largest producer of onions. It ranks first in terms of acreage, third in terms of exports, and contributes roughly 22.83% to global production. The present study was conducted in 2023 in the Chitradurga district of Karnataka, aimed to identify the challenges faced by onion growers and gather their recommendations for addressing these issues. A total of 120 farmers were selected for the study, comprising sixty small and sixty big farmers. Utilizing an ex post facto research design, data were collected through a pre-tested, structured interview method. The findings highlighted several key constraints in onion cultivation, including limited awareness of nutrient management, price fluctuations in the market, and inadequate access to credit. The majority of farmers recommended the implementation of a minimum support price for onions and timely provision of credit at low-interest rate to mitigate these challenges.

EVALUATING CASSAVA FARMERS’ LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FADAMA III-ADDITIONAL FINANCING PROJECT IN EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA

The study assessed the cassava farmers’ level of participation in Fadama III- additional financing in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Two hundred and forty (240) cassava farmers were chosen through a multi-stage sampling procedure to participate in the Fadama III- additional financing project. A multistage sampling procedure was used to obtain primary data from 240 cassava farmers participating in Fadama III- additional financing project. A timetable for conducting interviews was utilized to gather primary data, which were then analyzed using basic statistical methods like frequency, percentage, mean, and Likert-type scale. The study's findings showed that the cassava farmers in the research region actively engaged in the creation of business plans need assessments, input and project distribution, and training sessions. It also demonstrated how cassava growers profited from better input availability, higher farm yields, workshops and training, bigger farms, easier access to market data, lower labour costs, and infrastructure support. The respondents cited several significant issues that impede agricultural productivity, including late arrival of inputs, the unsatisfactory attitude of some Fadama staff, lack of market information, inadequate communication channels, poverty, poor access to loans, and fear of crop failure and disease assault. To overcome the significant obstacle of late farm input arrival, it is highly recommended that governments at all levels and the World Bank guarantee the timely release of farm inputs to cassava farmers. This will encourage cassava farmers to actively participate in Fadama III- additional financing project in the study area.

The meaning of animal well-being for farmers and dairy farm employees

Dairy farms in Sweden have undergone a structural change. The number of family farms has decreased, while the number of large dairy farms with employees caring for the animals has increased. This changing situation has created a new farming landscape. From that perspective, it is crucial to gain insight into what factors contribute to the well-being of humans and animals on big dairy farms. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted on three farms. Farmers and employees were interviewed. The material was analysed using a qualitative approach inspired by qualitative content analysis. For the farmers and employees, animal well-being was central for various reasons and from different perspectives. Despite the differences, the impact of animal well-being was interlinked between the two groups. An increased and deeper understanding of the different perspectives and needs arising from the different roles of farmers and employees can provide new knowledge about factors important for improvinganimal well-being.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND CONSTRAINTS FACED BY DAIRY FARMERS

Socio-economic status of farmer is the position of an individual on the socio economic scale, which is determined by a combination of social and economic factors such as education, income, occupation, herd size and milk production. The present study was conducted in Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Gandhinagar district of North Gujarat. The data was collected from 180 dairy farmers from 18 villages of selected districts by personal interviewing. The result revealed that majority of dairy farmers were (78.89 per cent) in middle age group, (79.99 per cent) educated up to high school to graduate level, (81.67 per cent) were engaged in dairy farming along with agriculture, (70.00 per cent) had medium level of experience in dairy farming, medium level of knowledge and adoption about recommended animal husbandry practices. They had medium level of extension participation and mass media exposure and majority of them had received one training in a year regarding on scientific dairy farming. With regards to socio-economic characteristics the majority of dairy farmers (41.67 per cent) were in medium to big farmer category, (57.22 per cent) had small sized herd and economic motivation.

Participatory mapping of local stakeholders’ perceptions of nature’s contributions to people in an intensified agricultural area in the Colombian Andes

ABSTRACT Intensification of agricultural land use in traditional Andean production landscapes has led to changes in the provision of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) that can threaten people’s wellbeing. Understanding local stakeholders’ valuation of these NCP is crucial for improving land use decisions. We implemented a spatially explicit and participatory NCP valuation method, using semi-structured interviews and participatory mapping, followed by a spatial multi-criteria decision analysis, to identify priority areas for NCP provision in a highly intensified production landscape in the Colombian Andes. We considered multiple value types, ecological, economical and sociocultural, and the points of view of different actors, orienting this towards decision-making on land use. Our results show that local actors can identify and value a wide range of NCP. However, there are also significant differences between actors. Environmentalists attached special importance to regulating NCP, while agricultural laborers focused more on agriculture-related material NCP. As we expected, tourism entrepreneurs especially valued non-material NCP related to their business experiences. Small-scale farmers tended to put more importance on regulating and non-material NCP than big farmers did. Although there was a consensus between actors as to the importance of natural ecosystems for NCP provision, agricultural actors tended to attach more importance to material NCP in areas deemed important for regulating and non-material NCP by other actors. Our main results confirm the importance of involving different stakeholders in spatial NCP valuation exercises, recognizing their different points of view to help identify possible trade-offs and synergies related to land use.

Co-occurrence of mycotoxins and other fungal metabolites in total mixed rations of cows from dairy farms in Punjab, Pakistan

After India and the USA, Pakistan is the third country leading in global dairy production, a sector of very high socioeconomic relevance in Asia. Mycotoxins can affect animal health, reproduction and productivity. This study analysed a broad range of co-occurring mycotoxins and fungal secondary metabolites derived from Alternaria, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium and other fungal species. To complete this, a validated multi-metabolite liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometric (LC/ESI–MS/MS) method was employed, detecting 96 of > 500 tested secondary fungal metabolites. This first preliminary study demonstrated that total mixed rations (TMRs) (n = 30) from big commercial dairy cattle farms (> 200 lactating cows) in Punjab, Pakistan, presented ubiquitous contamination with mixtures of mycotoxins. The mean of mycotoxins per sample was 14, ranging from 11 to 20 mycotoxins among all TMR samples. Metabolites derived from other fungi and Fusarium spp. showed the highest levels, frequency and diversity among the detected fungal compounds. Among the most prevalent mycotoxins were Fusarium toxins like fumonisins B1 (FB1) (93%), B2 (FB2) (100%) and B3 (FB3) (77%) and others. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) was evidenced in 40% of the samples, and 7% exceeded the EU maximum limit for feeding dairy cattle (5 µg/kg at 88% dry matter). No other mycotoxin exceeds the EU guidance values (GVs). Additionally, we found that dietary ingredients like corn grain, soybean meal and canola meal were related to increased contamination of some mycotoxins (like FB1, FB2 and FB3) in TMR from the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Among typical forage sources, the content of maize silage was ubiquitous. Individually, the detected mycotoxins represented relatively low levels. However, under a realistic scenario, long-term exposure to multiple mycotoxins and other fungal secondary metabolites can exert unpredictable effects on animal health, reproduction and productivity. Except for ergot alkaloids (73%), all the groups of metabolites (i.e. derived from Alternaria spp., Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp., Penicillium spp. and other fungi) occurred in 100% of the TMR samples. At individual levels, no other mycotoxins than AFB1 represented a considerable risk; however, the high levels of co-occurrence with several mycotoxins/metabolites suggest that long-term exposure should be considered because of their potential toxicological interactions (additive or synergistic effects).

Šalek roots of Anton Martin Slomšek

The existing knowledge about the genealogy and the ancestors of Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek, Prince-Bishop of Lavant (1800–1862), who had lived or originated in the Šalek Valley, is largely owed to two priests–Franc Kovačič (1867–1939) and especially Maks Goričar (1885–1941). The bishop’s grandfather Gašper Slomšek (ca. 1718–1779) moved to the Šalek Valley in the mid-eighteenth century from his native hamlet of Slom near Ponikva. The maiden name of his wife, Ana Apat, meaning abbot, was first documented in 1575 in her native village of Družmirje near Šoštanj. Ana Apat descended from a well-to-do tavernkeeper’s family in Družmirje, and her father Jakob was also the market-town dweller of Šoštanj, where his ancestors had most probably lived for at least two generations. At the end of the eighteenth century, the bishop’s father Marko and uncle Valentin Slomšek moved to Slom, where they took over their ancestors’ big farm, which subsequently became the home of Bishop Anton Martin Slomšek.

Legislative protection of agricultural land

The agricultural land (AL) needs to be protected due to the steady growth of the global population and the demand for the food, living, work and recreation. The legislation in the area of AL protection in Slovakia has had almost 70-year tradition and 5 regulations with various effectivity of protection have been passed. These regulations reflect the social relations, technical advance, legal culture, as well as the experience of lawmakers. The basic characteristics for the land protection were defined by the social relations in the country. The first years are characterized by the collectivization of land, which changed the individual private farmsteads to collective. The alignment of public and private legal interests in the agricultural sector was disrupted by decisions of the Communist party and the scientific view on the concept of land protection conflicted with the political interests. This 40-year period caused a disruption of the relationship between the farmers and the land, which has not been restored up to the present day. The transformational era is characterized by a downfall of big state farms and a transformation to the market economy. The agrarian policy after 1990 was dominated by a conflict between the efforts to restore the private farmsteads from the era before 1950 and the need to preserve the big agricultural companies, which would be adequately competitive in the free market. The last era is linked to the accession of the Slovak Republic to the European Union in 2004. Since this year, the concept of land protection has been synchronized with the scientific, political and legislative perception of land in the international area and the land protection has been a subject of a vast legal regulation. The degree of land protection is a result of multiple laws and lower regulations and decrees and their synergic effect is expected in the practice. The paper analyses 5 regulations which are focused on the AL protection, and its aim is to quantify the legislative protection level between years 1951 and 2020. The value of agricultural land protection index (ALPI) is increasing with time and it reflects the weak and strong aspects of the protection in the context of social, economic, and ecological potential of the land. The analysis monitors 107 directive, control, and economic tools for AL protection. The results are presented in graphs and the relevant information is highlighted and explained. The results show the favourable evolution of the land protection in Slovakia. In the discussion, there is a space for the effectiveness assessment of the observed regulations, for the comparison of the objectives of the individual regulations and the practical results of the effect of these regulations on social relations. The statistics of the land evolution in the observed 70-year period are good indicators for this purpose. Since the analysis shows the negatives of the regulations, it provides new impulses and can be inspiration for the lawmakers. The method used for the regulation assessment or the comparison of regulations can be applied in various fields of science.

Leaf Disease Detection System

Abstract: Agricultural productivity is something on which economy highly depends. This is the one of the reasons that disease detection in plants plays an important role in agriculture field, as having disease in plants are quite natural. If proper care is not taken in this area then it causes serious effects on plants and due to which respective product quality, quantity or productivity is affected. For instance a disease named little leaf disease is a hazardous disease found in pine trees in United States. Detection of plant disease through some automatic technique is beneficial as it reduces a large work of monitoring in big farms of crops, and at very early stage itself it detects the symptoms of diseases i.e. when they appear on plant leaves. This paper introduces an efficient approach to identify healthy and diseased or an infected leaf using image processing and machine learning techniques. Various diseases damage the chlorophyll of leaves and affect with brown or black marks on the leaf area. These can be detected using image prepossessing, image segmentation. Support Vector Machine (SVM) is one of the machine learning algorithms is used for classification. The Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) resulted in a improved accuracy of recognition compared to the SVM approach.

Smart Collar for Cattle Tracking and Health Monitoring Using IoT on ESP32

In Indonesia, there is still no real-time system for monitoring the health of cattle. Instead, a microchip RFID ear tag is used, which is implanted in the cow, but there is still no connection to the Internet of Things to help cattle producers with monitoring. The existing monitoring still relies on human labour, which is undoubtedly inefficient, particularly if you have to keep track on the health of many cows on a big farm. Cattle's movement, heart rate, and body temperature may all be read via a collar gadget. By gathering information from temperature sensors, heart rate sensors, and an inertial measurement unit installed on a dairy cow's neck, information is sent via the internet. To provide normal, less normal, and abnormal health categorization outputs, the gathered data is saved and categorised using machine learning. Also, depending on the axis sensor, generate a graphic output.

Big Farmer

Short story: in an Australia of the near future, politicians, farmers, activists and the agribusiness industry face the unintended consequences of breeding huge, genetically modified pigs. Speculative fiction by Catie Gressier and Lauri Turner.

Hydrogeochemical characterization of the alluvial aquifer of Catania Plain, Sicily (South Italy)

A hydrogeochemical study was carried out on the shallow Catania Plain alluvial aquifer, in eastern Sicily to reconstruct its hydrogeological structure, the meteoric recharge and to assess the influence of human activities on groundwater. To characterize the geochemistry of the shallow aquifer, two sampling campaigns were carried out, August–October 2004 and April–May 2005 in 47 sites distributed throughout the plain. The samples were collected and analyzed for physical–chemical parameters and major ions, as well as stable isotopes (δ18O and δ2H). Alluvial deposits with heterogeneous grain sizes constitute the aquifer. Varying conditions of vertical and horizontal permeability lead to the presence of a multilayered aquifer with different conditions of confinement and partial interconnection among layers. The sampled waters were separated into four groups of different compositions due to the water–rock interaction with the different lithologies present in and around the study area. Maps of electrical conductivity and sulfate show a systematic control of land use, in correspondence with the biggest farms. High sulfate concentration is due to both the natural interaction between local meteoric waters and Etna’s plume and the mixing with groundwater coming from the area where evaporitic rocks of the Gessoso Solfifera formation are present. In addition, anthropogenic contamination cannot be ruled out. A rain gauge network, consisting of 3 sites located at different altitudes, was installed to collect rain waters to determine isotopic data (δ2H and δ18O) and to measure the monthly rainfall amount. Based on the isotopic composition of sampled waters, it has been established that beyond the direct meteoric recharge, the recharging areas are in the North (Mt. Etna) and the South (Hyblean Plateau).

MANAGEMENT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAMILY FARMS IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION: ASSESSMENT OF THEIR ROLE AND MEASURES TO SUPPORT THEIR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The Survival of Family Farms: Socioemotional Wealth and Factors Affecting Intention to Continue the Business are considered. In most of FAO's program countries in Europe and Central Asia, the farm structure is dominated by smallholder farmers and small family farms. Small farms have many needs and limitations to their effective operation and development, which are outlined in the work and require special support. Smallholders and family farms are often economically unviable, and the rural population remains the poorest and most vulnerable. Despite this, they are potentially a key resource for achieving sustainable economic, social and environmental development of the country. Family farming – both globally and in Europe and Central Asia – is an important component in achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this regard, a key goal of the SDGs is to double agricultural productivity and incomes nsmall food producers by 2030. For these reasons, supporting small farmers and family farms is one of the main priorities in Europe and Central Asia. In Ukraine, the development of small farming is significantly limited due to policy and market failures that have occurred over the past 20 years. Governments, private sector actors, and civil society organizations must work together to address these challenges and create an enabling environment for agricultural enterprises to thrive. By doing so, agricultural enterprises can play a crucial role in promoting economic growth, reducing poverty, and ensuring food security for the world's growing population. As indicated above, very few policy interventions targeting smallholders have been identified, and most public agricultural policy is horizontal and primarily being absorbed by bigger farms. Implementing proposed measures will boost effective management of family farms developing.

Smallholder farmers practices of crops livestock integration in the district of Aguié (Niger): Agricultural production and livestock feed

Crop production and livestock are main economic activities of most populations in Maradi region. The objective of this work is to study agricultural production and livestock feeding in terms of farming practices of crops livestock integration in 4 villages of Aguié. The results of surveys randomly conducted on a sample of 78 farmers showed that farmers were categorized into two groups, which are farmers (67%) and agro-pastoralists (33%). However, the multivariate analysis of data highlighted existence of three categories of agro-pastoralist farmers, distinct in terms of their means of existence and levels of integration. It was counted 21% of population who have plows and seeders, while 51% have carts. According to distribution of oxen in farms, a proportion of 51% were small farms have no draft oxen, while 45% of farms have a draft oxen, 3 % of farms have a pair of oxen and 1 % of farms has five (5) draft oxen. Cereal production in Kg is 862 ± 419 for Small Farms (SF); 1008 ± 132.7 for Medium Farms (MF) and 5748 ± 4068 for Big Farms (BF). As for production (Kg) of legumes; SF produce on average 293 ±139.3, MF 452 ± 123.7 and the BF 991 ± 208.5. With regard to sales and self-consumption of cereals and legumes, BF carry out these practices in large quantities. In MF, for a millet production of 4,155.99 ± 613.49 kg, the millet stovers are 2,068.85 ± 305.39 kg. Cowpea production in BF is 359.08 ±135.25 kg for 65.64 ± 24.72 kg of cowpea haulms. The sorghum stovers for BF, MF and SF is respectively 566.2; 276.8 and 125.2 kg with land capital in Ha of 8.1 (BF), 3 (MF) and 1.8 (SF). Despite fodder available which is 2,227.5 kg for 0.58 TLU in the SF; 2,441.1 kg for 1.63 TLU at the MF level and 4,414.5 kg for 3.03 TLU, fodder balance is in deficit in all farms according to fodder requirement (Kg/270 days).

Use of Renewable Energy in Agriculture in Terms of Sustainability: Hatay/Turkey Example

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of renewable energy in agriculture and environmental sustainability. Data was obtained with a face to face survey from 120 farmers whom selected randomly from the districts of Hatay province. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to analyze whether the numerical variables fit the normal distribution or not. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for nonparametric data. The variables found to be significant in the Kruskal- Wallis test were interpreted by using the Mann-Whitney U test. It is found out that age, education level, farm size, total energy cost and income of farmers had a significant relation between groups. Also, differences were identified between farmers' opinions about the use of renewable energy sources and their agricultural practices. Energy is one of the most expensive inputs in agricultural production (especially in irrigation) in the region. The annual total energy amount of the farmers was ₺48.991,60. The total cost of energy affects farmers' information resources. Big farms have a high level of technology use. As a result, the importance of agriculture, energy, environmental protection and sustainability has been evaluated and related recommendations were developed for the region.

The prevalence of Galleria mellonella and Achoria grisella in Apis mellifera Colonies in the Ludhiana District

Wax moths are a worldwide pest of honeybee colonies. They belong to the Galleriinae subfamily of the Pyralidae family in the order Lepidoptera. The Greater wax moth (Achroia grisella) and the Lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella) are the two species of wax moths (Galleria mellonella). The Greater Wax Moth is the most disastrous in apiaries causing annual financial losses. Furthermore, larval feeding deteriorates wax combs and destroys hive frames and wooden elements. Wax moths feed on hive products such as wax, cast-off honey bee pupal skin, larval bee remnants, pollen, encapsulated honey bee excrement found on brood cell walls, honey bee cocoon silk and honey bee cocoon silk. They produce massive amounts of the web by entering the comb's midrib. Almost all Asian honeybee, hives are infested with wax moths. In 2021-22, GWM and LWM activities were carried out in storage at Big Bee Farm, Atwal Bee Farm and Tiwana Bee Farm. Galleria mellonella and Achroia grisella seasonally began in March, peaked in July and August and then began to decline. The highest G. mellonella and A. grisella population densities were seen during the months with mean temperatures of 32–34 degrees Celsius and relative humidity of 70–80% (50–55 RH per cent). During the winter, the study found the fewest wax moth larvae, pupae and adults in all bee storage farms.

Smart incubator for empowering poultry farmers by maximizing egg hatching success

The poultry industry plays a vital role in ensuring the global food supply, and efficient egg incubation is crucial for successful poultry farming. Traditional egg incubation methods have relied on manual monitoring and control, resulting in suboptimal hatch rates and increased labor requirements. However, the emergence of smart technologies has revolutionized the field of egg incubation, leading to the development of the Smart Egg Incubation System. The Smart Egg Incubation System integrates advanced technology, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML), to optimize the incubation process and enhance hatch rates. The system employs a network of sensors to monitor and collect real-time data on temperature, humidity, egg turning, and ventilation within the incubation environment. This paper also proposes a commercial incubators website that will help to market incubators available for companies and hold their company profiles, where customers will tend to explore what they need pertaining to incubators and egg incubator accessories, helping to meet the needs of local farmers. This will help small enterprises to grow and get affordable incubators and accessories to eliminate the distance in business affairs for both local farms and big farms. An AI chatbot will also be available specifically designed to assist farmers in monitoring and managing chicken incubators effectively. The chatbot aims to provide real-time information and support to farmers, addressing their needs related to purchasing incubators, understanding incubator capacities, hatching periods, and addressing miscellaneous questions. The AI chatbot acts as a reliable virtual assistant, offering farmers guidance on where to purchase suitable incubators tailored to their specific requirements. By analyzing a comprehensive database of reputable suppliers and their offerings, the chatbot offers recommendations based on factors such as incubator size, cost, features, and customer reviews.

马尾松和杉木人工林细根碳氮磷化学计量特征随土层深度的变化

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 马尾松和杉木人工林细根碳氮磷化学计量特征随土层深度的变化 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202203250740 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 福建省杰出青年基金项目滚动资助项目(2014J07005) Variation of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometric characteristics of fine roots in Masson pine and Chinese fir plantations with soil depth Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: Fujian Outstanding Youth Rolling Grant Project (2014J07005) 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:为探究马尾松和杉木人工林细根碳(C)、氮(N)、磷(P)浓度及其化学计量比随土层深度变化的特征,于2011年4月在福建省三明市金丝湾森林公园陈大林业采育场内测定马尾松和杉木人工林五个土层深度(0-10 cm、10-20 cm、20-40 cm、40-60 cm、60-80 cm)细根的C、N、P浓度、比根长(SRL)及其土壤养分浓度,结果表明:林分类型显著影响细根C浓度,但对细根N、P浓度无显著影响,马尾松人工林细根C浓度显著大于杉木人工林。土层深度显著影响马尾松和杉木人工林细根N、P浓度,对C浓度无影响,细根N、P浓度随土壤深度的增加呈指数下降。马尾松和杉木人工林细根N、P浓度与土壤全氮(TN)、全磷(TP)浓度以及SRL均呈正相关。拟合直线表明马尾松人工林和杉木人工林细根N养分获取能力的不同,马尾松对N养分的获取能力更强,而杉木通过SRL获取养分的能力比马尾松更强,可能体现了两种人工林细根N获取策略的差异。马尾松和杉木人工林在不同土层细根N ∶ P比值(33.5±2.81、30.18±2.10)均大于16,表明两者均受P限制,但细根N ∶ P不受土壤N ∶ P和SRL的影响。马尾松和杉木人工林细根N和P浓度受土层深度的影响,与土壤养分和细根形态特征变化有关。 Abstract:In order to examine the characteristics of fine root carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) concentrations and their stoichiometric ratios changing with soil depth in Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) and Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations, the experiments were conducted in April 2011, in Jinsiwan Forest Park, Sanming City, Fujian Province. The samples of fine roots in five soil depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-40 cm, 40-60 cm, 60-80 cm) of Masson pine and Chinese fir plantations were collected in the big forestry breeding farm to determine C, N and P concentration as well as specific root length (SRL). Soil nutrient contents were also measured. The results showed that forest type significantly influenced fine root C concentration, but not fine root N and P concentration, and that fine root C concentration was significantly greater in the plantation of Masson pine than in the plantation of Chinese fir. Soil depth significantly influenced fine root N and P concentrations, but not C concentrations, and fine root N and P concentrations decreased exponentially with increasing soil depth in both pinus sylvestris and fir plantations. Fine root N and P concentrations were positively correlated with soil Total nitrogen (TN) and Total phosphorus (TP) concentrations as well as SRL in both Horsetail Pine and Fir plantations. The fitted straight lines indicated the difference in the fine root N nutrient acquisition capacity between horsetail pine and fir plantations, with horsetail pine having a greater ability to acquire N nutrients and fir having a greater ability to acquire nutrients through SRL than horsetail pine, possibly reflecting the difference in fine root N acquisition strategies between the two plantations. The fine root N ∶ P ratios (33.5±2.81 and 30.18±2.10) of both horsetail pine and fir plantations were greater than 16 in different soil layers, indicating that both were P-limited, but fine root N ∶ P was not influenced by soil N ∶ P and SRL. Fine root N and P concentrations in plantations of horsetail pine and fir were influenced by soil depth and were related to changes in soil nutrients and fine root morphological characteristics. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Socio economic conditions of depressed class women labour in construction sector of Bangalore city

The unfortunate socio-economic conditions of women workers on construction sites in major cities have become far worse than previously thought and seen.This was corroborated by the field survey conducted in construction sites of Bangalore city.The construction sites taken for survey were the new multi storeyed buildings from Bangalore Mysore Road, Kengeri and UllalUpanagara Koramangala and JP nagar.For this study 150 samples of migrant women workers were collected.The other factor was all of them were from scheduled castes .The rationale behind the study was firstly to find out if their conditions have improved post pandemic and secondly to understand how farthe government schemes and welfare boards have served their purpose? Has all these social security measures alleviated their problems to a certain extentnor not? The main objective were to find out if their socio economic status changed after migration and to find out if there was any possibility to avail help from the government schemes other than Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bhima Yojane and Prsdhan Mantri Suraksha Bhima Yojana or get help from NGO’s. Research gap showed that there was many shortcomings for these distressed groups as they were sidelined repeatedly but why was it so.? Did they avail of 1% cess meant for construction workers.? Research Methodology followed was using both primary and secondary data though it was a primary study. Descriptive analysis was followed. Simple random sampling was carried out and percentage method was used for data analysis. The findings indicated that most of the time they were not paid the full amount, often fell sick besides there was no prevention for the on site accidents and no immediate medical help was forth coming. Conclusion showed that this problem of distress migration arose because of severe drought conditions in many north Karnataka states and their inability to work as agricultural labourers as big farmers preferred to use tractors. Socially and economically they were a totally repressed lot and suffered more post pandemic in their quest to sustain themselves and their families.

The Blue-Collar Sun by Lucas Farrell

Reviewed by: The Blue-Collar Sun by Lucas Farrell Laura C. Stevenson (bio) the blue-collar sun Lucas Farrell Green Writers Press https://www.ipgbook.com/the-blue-collar-sun-products-9781733653459.php?page_id=21 80 pages; Print, $16.95 Lucas Farrell, whose the blue-collar sun won the 2020 Sundog Poetry Book Award, is a Vermont farmer. The combination of farming, poetry, and Vermont may conjure up an image of Robert Frost, but a century clearly separates Farrell's generation from Frost's. Big Picture Farm, which Farrell owns with his wife, the artist Louisa Conrad, includes a B&B and a confectionery as well as a flock of forty goats. Farrell's poetry is similarly twenty-first century, inclined to experiments in form and structure that extend considerably beyond playing tennis without a net. Like all good poetry, however, it is based on nuanced observation of the world. The prose poem "Sugaring," for instance, begins with a wittily apt description of the conditions under which sap is collected: "The snowy fields have softened to a raw chèvre." The poetry also contain startling lines that linger long with the reader once the book is closed, for example, "The world is hard to find once you start looking for it." The book is divided into four parts. The first, "this is your animal," consists of nine short poems, mostly written since Farrell and Conrad set up their farm. The next three sections are products of the artist's residency the pair spent in Skagaströnd, Iceland, during 2009. The second part, "i approached a little farewell," is an erasure set in nonconsecutive pages of the Nobel Prize–winning [End Page 129] novel Under the Glacier (1968), by Halldór Laxness, as translated by Magnus Magnusson. In 2010, some of its poems appeared in collaboration with Conrad's art in the exhibit To the Thawing Wind at the Freies Museum in Berlin (https://emilietrice-portfolio.com/to-the-thawing-wind). The third part, "the blue-collar sun," was published as a chapbook in 2009 by Alice Blue Books. And the fourth part, "a description of the hook i am capable of," was initially published in DIAGRAM (2010) with Conrad's illustrations and photographs, some of which are beautifully reproduced here. The result is a collection of works that are, as Farrell has pointed out in a recent interview with Literary North, as different from each other as the seasons in Vermont (https://literarynorth.org/blog/2021/4/1/interview-lucas-farrell). The simile is apt, but like the order of the book's parts, it implies sequential poetic development, starting with the shorter initial pieces and progressing to the ambitious longer works. In fact, the reverse is true. The last three sections, which date back twelve years, are rhetorical experiments with the boundaries between poetry and prose; their content is much influenced by the effects of climate change just below the Arctic Circle. The influence is visually portrayed in the erasure, where instead of blacking out the text of Laxness's Under the Glacier, Farrell has had it printed in light gray, so that while still readable, it seems to be fading. Against that disappearing background, Farrell's poem, printed in black, stands out as starkly as a glacial erratic: [End Page 130] The same sense of ecological loss touches the prose poem-essay "a description of the hook I am capable of," which contains, among meditations on a fishhook stuck in Conrad's boot, a portrait of the fishing village in which she and Farrell lived during their residency, and from which they could walk along the Atlantic coast. To where a band of old warehouses was once erected to serve a particular function they no longer serve. And in that way, they are just like the hook. The short of it is that these warehouses used to process a kind of fish that is no longer fished here. And not just here, but anywhere really. The herring that used to sustain the village have been fished into extinction, "Which itself results in a superabundance of hooks." The meditation continues with thoughts on the complicated village, all of whose...