Production Circumstances Research Articles

THE BRIDGING ROLE OF INTERMEDIARIES IN FOOD PRODUCTION NETWORKS: INDIAN ORGANIC PEPPER IN GERMANY

ABSTRACTProcesses of globalisation create flows of goods and information and lead to the phenomenon of transnational cultural processes. The culture of food consumption is a distinct example for this. The paper aims to unravel the way tribal farmers of Kerala are integrated into the global economy. This is linked to the question how intermediaries construct global production networks (GPN) and play a bridging role in the diffusion of information. This includes, for example, information on the circumstances of production as well as the distinctive life‐style consumption of consumers. Based on the case of organic pepper, grown by indigenous Mannan people, it will show how the embeddedness of the production of pepper is marketed in another cultural surrounding. The paper combines the GPN approach with elements from the global value chain and the commodity cultures literature.

Indigenous chicken production in Kenya: II. Prospects for research and development

Poultry production and in particular indigenous chicken (IC) production has been recognised as an avenue to improve livelihoods of the rural households. Previous attempts to improve their productivity have had little success due to, among others, lack of a holistic approach in solving the constraints and dissemination of inappropriate technologies given the production circumstances and market dynamics. Marketing as a constraint is often blamed for the failure of interventions to improve livelihoods, despite lack of saturation for IC products at local and national levels and the increasing demand for the same. This paper highlights the past improvement attempts and suggests strategies to improve IC productivity and thereby improve the livelihood of the rural households which are the custodians of these genetic resources. It is concluded that there is potential for improvement of IC production in Kenya given the available genetic and physical resources. However, a holistic strategy that increases productivity without increasing production costs or leading to loss of biodiversity must be developed. Such a strategy must take into account the various uses of the IC in a rural household.

Indigenous chicken production in Kenya: I. Current status

The majority of the Kenyan population resides in the rural areas and is characterised by low income and food insecurity leading to high levels of poverty. Poultry production and in particular indigenous chicken (IC) production play a significant role in the economic and social life of these resource-poor households, contributing to cheap source of animal proteins and cash income. Indigenous chickens are present whenever there are human settlements and their economic strength lies in their low cost of production which is a characteristic of the resource-poor rural households. They are highly adapted to the harsh scavenging conditions, poor nutrition and disease and/or parasite challenges. Their low productivity has hindered their exploitation. This paper highlights the current IC production circumstances with a view to identifying the major challenges which need to be addressed in order to improve the IC productivity and thereby improve the livelihood of the rural households who are the custodian of these genetic resources. It is concluded that the IC in Kenya posses high genetic diversity and are popular among the consumers. There is potential to improve IC productivity in Kenya and therefore individual and national efforts are required that takes into account the whole IC production value chain.

Application of risk-rated profit model functions in estimation of economic values for indigenous chicken breeding

The economic values for productive (egg number, average daily gain, live weight, and mature weight) and functional (fertility, hatchability, broodiness, survival rate, feed intake, and egg weight) traits were derived for three production systems utilizing indigenous chicken in Kenya. The production systems considered were free-range, semi-intensive, and intensive system and were evaluated based on fixed flock size and fixed feed resource production circumstances. A bio-economic model that combined potential performances, feeding strategies, optimum culling strategies, farmer's preferences and accounted for imperfect knowledge concerning risk attitude of farmers and economic dynamics was employed to derive risk-rated economic values. The economic values for all the traits were highest in free-range system under the two production circumstances and decreased with level of intensification. The economic values for egg number, average daily gain, live weight, fertility, hatchability, and survival rate were positive while those for mature weight, broodiness, egg weight, and feed intake were negative. Generally, the economic values estimated under fixed feed resource production circumstances were higher than those derived under fixed flock size. The difference between economic values estimated using simple (traditional) and risk-rated profit model functions ranged from -47.26% to +67.11% indicating that inclusion of risks in estimation of economic values is important. The results of this study suggest that improvement targeting egg number, average daily gain, live weight, fertility, hatchability, and survival rate would have a positive impact on profitability of indigenous chicken production in Kenya.

Genomic selection - Revolutionary breeding practice in Domestic animals

With more and more Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) being identified throughout the genome, some of those SNPs will be found to be located within candidate genes, allowing the researchers to use the candidate gene approach on a genomewide scale. SNPs have some drawbacks but when compared to other markers they are more efficient and SNP consortium is growing to meet the requirements of genome-wide scans. Genomic selection should be able to at least double the rate of genetic gain in the dairy industry but the incorporation of genomic information into the breeding programs must be carefully considered. One needs to have around 2000 genotypes means a large reference population (population with both phenotype and genotype recorded) to achieve meaningful increases in accuracy. The available information, selection objectives, production circumstances and benefit/cost analysis must be evaluated in order to decide whether or not the population is suitable for GS implementation, and which would be the most convenient way, if any, for its implementation. Animal breeders will need to lead the way on the integration of genomic and phenotypic data into a new era of genome-enabled animal improvement and management.

Impact of production strategies and animal performance on economic values of dairy sheep traits

The objective of this study was to carry out a sensitivity analysis on the impact of various production strategies and performance levels on the relative economic values (REVs) of traits in dairy sheep. A bio-economic model implemented in the program package ECOWEIGHT was used to simulate the profit function for a semi-extensive production system with the Slovak multi-purpose breed Improved Valachian and to calculate the REV of 14 production and functional traits. The following production strategies were analysed: differing proportions of milk processed to cheese, customary weaning and early weaning of lambs with immediate sale or sale after artificial rearing, seasonal lambing in winter and aseasonal lambing in autumn. Results of the sensitivity analysis are presented in detail for the four economically most important traits: 150 days milk yield, conception rate of ewes, litter size and ewe productive lifetime. Impacts of the differences in the mean value of each of these four traits on REVs of all other traits were also examined. Simulated changes in the production circumstances had a higher impact on the REV for milk yield than on REVs of the other traits investigated. The proportion of milk processed to cheese, weaning management strategy for lambs and level of milk yield were the main factors influencing the REV of milk yield. The REVs for conception rate of ewes were highly sensitive to the current mean level of the trait. The REV of ewe productive lifetime was most sensitive to variation in ewe conception rate, and the REV of litter size was most affected by weaning strategy for lambs. On the basis of the results of sensitivity analyses, it is recommended that economic values of traits for the overall breeding objective for dairy sheep be calculated as the weighted average of the economic values obtained for the most common production strategies of Slovak dairy sheep farms and that economic values be adjusted after substantial changes in performance levels of the traits.

Estimating farmers' preferences in selection of indigenous chicken genetic resources using non-market attributes

The objective of this paper was to estimate the farmers' preferences based on the non-market traits in selection, breeding and conservation of indigenous chicken. The study was carried out in four selected counties of Kenya. Data were collected using structured questionnaires with the use of multi-attribute elicitation techniques applied to 450 rural households. Conjoint analysis through an ordered probit model was used to analyse the data. The study identified traits preferred by the farmers based on their current low-input production circumstances. Using these traits, indigenous chicken can be selected for higher productivity and performance while retaining their diversity and adaptability. In general, the determination of the importance of various attributes elucidates to the stakeholders some valuable aspects that would assist them in overcoming some of the major constraints of indigenous chicken production in rural areas and at the same time provides vital information for selection, conservation and development of breeding programmes.

No-till in northern, western and south-western Europe: A review of problems and opportunities for crop production and the environment

Recent literature on no-till is reviewed with particular emphasis on research on commercial uptake and environmental concerns in northern, western and south-western Europe. Increased interest in no-till, and minimum or reduced tillage, results from changes in the economic circumstances of crop production, the opportunity to increase the area of more profitable autumn-sown crops and increased concern about environmental damage associated with soil inversion by ploughing. Highly contrasting soil and climate types within and between these regions exert a strong influence on the success of no-till. While no-till may often result in crop yields which equal or exceed those obtained after ploughing, modest reductions in yield may be tolerated if production costs are lower than with ploughing. The relative costs of fuel and herbicides have changed appreciably in recent years making no-till more attractive commercially. While effective weed control is an essential aspect of no-till, current herbicide technology may not yet fully achieve this. In northern regions no-till usually allows earlier drilling of winter-sown crops but will give lower soil temperature and higher moisture content in spring, causing delayed drilling of spring-sown crops. No-till soils have greater bulk density and bearing capacity than ploughed soils with a pronounced vertical orientation of macroporosity allowing penetration of roots and water, especially in view of the increased population of deep-burrowing earthworms. Particular care must be taken with no-till to minimise soil damage at harvest and to ensure the even distribution of crop residues prior to drilling. Reduced erosion and runoff after adoption of no-till are widely observed and are of particular importance in southwestern Europe. No-till reduces losses of phosphorus in runoff and, in some cases, reduces the loss of nitrate through leaching. Emissions of greenhouse gases CO 2 and N 2O from no-till soils are highly variable and depend on complex interactions of soil properties. Emission of CO 2 from fuel during machinery usage is always appreciably reduced with no-till. Increased soil organic carbon in surface layers of no-till soils is widely found but may not be associated with increased carbon sequestration throughout the profile. The evaluation of the relative carbon balance for no-till and ploughing depends upon complex inter-relationships between soil and climate factors which are as yet poorly understood. Adoption of no-till could be encouraged by government financial assistance in recognition of environmental benefits, although future restrictions on the use of herbicides may be a deterrent. Opportunities for further research on no-till are outlined.

Effects of sex control and twinning on economic optimization of culling cows in Japanese Black cow-calf production systems

The effects of sex control and twinning techniques on determination of optimal culling parity of cows in beef cow-calf production systems were deterministically analyzed using a herd model simulation. The model simulated the annualized net revenue as an economic indicator during the whole life cycle of a cow. Biological factors (survivability, growth, reproduction, and feed requirements) and economic factors (returns from sales of live calves and cows' carcasses and production costs) were included in the model. Some biological and economic parameters relating to these factors were altered from a base condition in order to adapt the production systems with sex control and twinning techniques. Based on the model, early culling was optimal for all production systems when biological efficiency was used as an indicator of production; however, later culling was optimal for single production, but slightly earlier culling was optimal for twin production, when annualized net revenue was evaluated. The introduction of sex control did not greatly affect the determination of the optimal culling parity of cows. When production included the sex control, female sexing increased biological efficiency, whereas male sexing increased annualized net revenue. In the present beef cow-calf production circumstances in Japan, introduction of sex control did not have economically appreciable effects, but twinning was economically beneficial. For production involving sex control, improvement in the conception rate per mating and/or reduction of technical cost were required for this technology to be profitable.

Characterization of indigenous chicken production systems in Kenya

Indigenous chicken (IC) and their production systems were characterized to understand how the whole system operates for purposes of identifying threats and opportunities for holistic improvement. A survey involving 594 households was conducted in six counties with the highest population of IC in Kenya using structured questionnaires. Data on IC farmers' management practices were collected and analysed and inbreeding levels calculated based on the effective population size. Indigenous chicken were ranked highest as a source of livestock income by households in medium- to high-potential agricultural areas, but trailed goats in arid and semi-arid areas. The production system practised was mainly low-input and small-scale free range, with mean flock size of 22.40 chickens per household. The mean effective population size was 16.02, translating to high levels of inbreeding (3.12%). Provision for food and cash income were the main reasons for raising IC, whilst high mortality due to diseases, poor nutrition, housing and marketing channels were the major constraints faced by farmers. Management strategies targeting improved healthcare, nutrition and housing require urgent mitigation measures, whilst rural access road network needs to be developed for ease of market accessibility. Sustainable genetic improvement programmes that account for farmers' multiple objectives, market requirements and the production circumstances should be developed for a full realization of IC productivity.

An integrated sustainability performance assessment and benchmarking of breweries

Breweries are responding to some sustainability challenges but many of them find sustainability assessment and reporting to be very complex, difficult, and time-consuming tasks. Despite several existing frameworks for the sustainability assessment of companies, none of them specifically addresses breweries. They do not provide them with a transparent, comprehensive, and integrated approach to sustainability assessment, adjusted to the particular circumstances of traditional beer production. In view of these requirements by the brewing industry, this article aims to support breweries in sustainability assessment activities by proposing a methodology for integrated performance assessment. This methodology proposes environmental, societal, economic, and integrated indicators reflecting the characteristics of the brewing industry, compatible with those general indicators proposed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Although it is important to assess sustainability using several indicators, it may sometimes be difficult to make decisions based on a wide number of performance measurements. Thus, the proposed methodology gradually aggregates sustainable development indicators into sustainability sub-indices and, finally, to a composite sustainability index that tracks integrated information on the economic, environmental, and societal performances of a brewery over time. They can be used both internally, for the identification of “hot spots” and externally, for sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement. Since breweries strive to outperform their competitors, the proposed methodology enables the benchmarking of a brewery against best performance practices, as a catalyst for improvement and innovation, by providing benchmark values for each indicator. The case study presented in this article illustrates how the proposed methodology could be easily applied in practice, and stimulates breweries to test their effectiveness themselves.

Economic values for production and functional traits in Valle del Belice dairy sheep using profit functions

A deterministic static model was used to estimate the economic values (EV) of production (MY, milk yield; BW, birth weight; and ADG, average daily gain) and functional traits (ASR, adult survival rate; LSR, lamb survival rate; FE, fertility; PR, prolificacy; and LW ewe, mature weight of ewe) in Valle del Belice dairy sheep. In this study, values for the biological parameters and the production traits used in the model were taken from real data, by surveying 15 Valle del Belice farmers and reflected the production circumstances of pasture based dairy production systems. In this system feed cost accounted for 95% of total variable costs, whereas fixed costs were low and reflected traditional and small ruminants’ husbandry system. A base situation with a fixed number of animals was considered to estimate the EV for the traits considered in this study. Economic values were positive for production traits: € 0.31 (MY, kg), € 4.40 (BW, kg) and € 0.15 (ADG, g) and for functional traits: € 2.15 (ASR, %), € 0.78 (LSR, %), € 2.64 (FE, %), € 0.39 (PR, %), except for LW ewe that was negative (€ −0.08, kg). Sensitivity analysis of EV to changes in prices indicated that future economic values for traits might change dependent on output and price levels, in particular on milk and meat price level. This study suggests that genetic improvement of milk production, lamb and adult survival rate, fertility and prolificacy will have a positive effect on profitability of pasture based dairy production system.

A Landholder-Based Approach to the Design of Private-Land Conservation Programs

Many ecosystems exist primarily, or solely, on privately owned (freehold) or managed (leasehold) land. In rural and semirural areas, local and regional government agencies are commonly responsible for encouraging landholders to conserve native vegetation and species on these private properties. Yet these agencies often lack the capacity to design and implement conservation programs tailored to rural and semirural landholdings and instead offer one program to all landholders. Landholders may elect not to participate because the program is irrelevant to their property or personal needs; consequently, vegetation-retention objectives may not be achieved. We differentiated landholders in Queensland, Australia, according to whether they derived income from the land (production landholders) or not (nonproduction landholders). We compared these two groups to identify similarities and differences that may inform the use of policy instruments (e.g., voluntary, economic, and regulatory) in conservation program design. We interviewed 45 landholders participating in three different conservation agreement programs (price-based rate [property tax] rebate; market-based tender; and voluntary, permanent covenant). Production landholders were more likely to participate in short-term programs that offered large financial incentives that applied to <25% of their property. Nonproduction landholders were more likely to participate in long-term programs that were voluntary or offered small financial incentives that applied to >75% of their property. These results may be explained by significant differences in the personal circumstances of production and nonproduction landholders (income, education, health) and differences in their norms (beliefs about how an individual is expected to act) and attitudes. Knowledge of these differences may allow for development of conservation programs that better meet the needs of landholders and thus increase participation in conservation programs and retention of native vegetation.

Qualified for Evaluation? A GM Potato and the Orders of Rural Worth

This paper examines a small-scale attempt to support collective evaluation of a transgenic potato variety. By mobilizing Laurent Thevenot’s ideas on the connectedness of the ontological and normative, it investigates how the controversial object was associated with coordinating perspectives or “orders of worth” in two focus groups. In these groups, the GM potato qualified for evaluation in relation to deterministic market forces. However, it was unclear whether the potato would operate as a beneficial market asset or merely as an accelerator of ever tougher competition. The innovation also had a tendency to disappear out of sight or to receive capacities as a transgenic application of whatever kind. Hence, it was only with effort that the discussions delved into the specific realities and circumstances of the Finnish potato production. When they did, some particular demands posed by the blight resistant potato became visible and discussable. These scripts concerned the counterparts of contract production, possibly favoring the reorganization of producers into larger associations of highly specialized professionals. However, since practical implications and possibilities received little attention, the paper suggests that more attention needs to be put into organization and preparation of multi-stakeholder evaluations. The emergence of learning potential greatly depends on the abilities and willingness of the participants to engage with speculative experiments or reality tests. This is a risky strategy for anyone who hopes that a meeting will remain within a particular scope or that it will reach a particular conclusion.

Investigar y curar: conocimientos y profilaxis del bocio endémico en Argentina (1916- 1958)

The present paper focuses on the reconstruction of the historical circumstances of knowledge production as well as and the debates about endemic goiter disease during the period 1916-1955 in Argentina. Taking into account the social, political and material dimensions, this text explores the re-signification of scientific and medical knowledge oriented to the prevention and health treatment, through the positioning of several social actors engaged all along the period, and the diverse historical and institutional contexts.

Availability, addiction and alternatives: three criteria for assessing the impact of peak minerals on society

The concept of ‘peaks’ in the production of natural resources has attracted attention in the area of energy production, with concerns about ‘peak oil’ driving recent research and investment in alternative sources of energy. There are fundamental and important differences between a peak in the production of oil and peaks in the production of metalliferous minerals, but in both cases production changes from ‘easier and less expensive’ early in a resource’s life to ‘difficult and expensive’ as time progresses. The impacts of this change in production circumstances require critical consideration in the governance of national and sub-national mineral endowments. This paper develops a framework for evaluating the impacts of changing patterns of mineral production. The framework considers three criteria: availability of a resource (considering its geological characteristics and geographical distribution); society’s addiction to the resource (its centrality and criticality to economic, social and environmental systems); and the possibility of finding alternatives (whether the resource can be substituted or recovered). An initial assessment against these criteria provides an overview of how a production peak might affect the production of minerals in Australia and the impacts that this might have on the Australian economy. Assessing important resources against these three criteria will be imperative in future considerations regarding the roles minerals and metals play as service providers in our economic, social and environmental systems. Additionally, this analysis should prompt a reassessment of the value of minerals beyond economic measures. Indicators derived from these criteria will inform strategies that can address future changes in production characteristics – meeting challenges with strong governance, and realising opportunities with proactive policy.

Environmental-Friendly Cutting of Automotive Parts Made of Aluminium Castings

Through an example of an automotive component, the lecture introduces difficulties, arising during the turning operations of high silicon content aluminium castings. It evaluates the production, running currently with cutting fluid flood-type application; introduces the preliminary tests, carried out before change-over to the green manufacturing; furthermore, the circumstances of the tests, carried out with the method of DoE at High Speed Machining. The results of measurements, carried out with different tool materials and edge constructions, will be evaluated from the point of view of surface roughness minimisation. The results of topographic (3D) measurements of the machined surface will be compared with the results, gained with the electron-microscope; the disturbing phenomena, arising during the turning operation with diamond tool, will be analysed. Finally, the production circumstances will be determined in order to ensure the prescribed surface roughness - despite the increased productivity and the environmentally friendly cutting.

The rhetoric of the transnational: interpretation and identity in Gla and Temur Babluani's L'Hritage/Legacy (2006)

The Franco-Georgian film L'Hritage/Legacy (2006), which focuses on a group of French tourists travelling through Georgia, exemplifies both in its content and in its production circumstances qualities frequently regarded as transnational. Recognized as having an increasingly vital currency in contemporary cinema, with its emphasis on the movement of people and capital across borders, the transnational nevertheless remains a disputed category. In Legacy, an idea of the transnational in terms of the encounter between cultures is explored and questioned. Focusing on interpretation and intelligibility as a problem, the film seeks to move beyond the touristic binaries of the travel film, using the encounter with the foreign other as a form of rhetoric. Playing with the gaps in comprehension for its (mainly) Western viewers, the film therefore brings into play the unstable, transitional space in between cultural identities. In this sense, the film inscribes its own resistance to categorization within national cinema terms.

S-Glutathionylation Regulates Inflammatory Activities of S100A9

Reactive oxygen species generated by activated neutrophils can cause oxidative stress and tissue damage. S100A8 (A8) and S100A9 (A9), abundant in neutrophil cytoplasm, are exquisitely sensitive to oxidation, which may alter their functions. Murine A8 is a neutrophil chemoattractant, but it suppresses leukocyte transmigration in the microcirculation when S-nitrosylated. Glutathione (GSH) modulates intracellular redox, and S-glutathionylation can protect susceptible proteins from oxidative damage and regulate function. We characterized S-glutathionylation of A9; GSSG and GSNO generated S-glutathionylated A8 (A8-SSG) and A9 (A9-SSG) in vitro, whereas only A9-SSG was detected in cytosol of neutrophils activated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) but not with fMLP or opsonized zymosan. S-Glutathionylation exposed more hydrophobic regions in Zn(2+)-bound A9 but did not alter Zn(2+) binding affinity. A9-SSG had reduced capacity to form heterocomplexes with A8, but the arachidonic acid binding capacities of A8/A9 and A8/A9-SSG were similar. A9 and A8/A9 bind endothelial cells; S-glutathionylation reduced binding. We found little effect of A9 or A9-SSG on neutrophil CD11b/CD18 expression or neutrophil adhesion to endothelial cells. However, A9, A9-SSG and A8/A9 promoted neutrophil adhesion to fibronectin but, in the presence of A8, A9-mediated adhesion was abrogated by glutathionylation. S-Glutathionylation of A9 may protect its oxidation to higher oligomers and reduce neutrophil binding to the extracellular matrix. This may regulate the magnitude of neutrophil migration in the extravasculature, and together with the functional changes we reported for S-nitrosylated A8, particular oxidative modifications of these proteins may limit tissue damage in acute inflammation.

Lavinia as Coauthor of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus

This article stresses the collaborative circumstances of Lavinia's production in order to identify the character's particular disruptive and creative agency within Titus Andronicus . Lavinia functions as a coauthor, intervening in and utilizing Rome's abundant tales. Shakespeare's character does not reiterate the Lucretian stories of suicide and sacrifice that fill the play. Rape does not abject her, but rather forcibly removes her from Titus's tale of purity. Through her survival, Lavinia makes the collapsing narrative strategies of the Andronici and the Goths impossible to ignore. She serves to incorporate others in a collaborative tale that highlights the play's inherently hybrid narratives.