High Labor Research Articles

The Agricultural Labor Market: Farmer Perception and the Influence on The Efficiency of Rice Farming

Therefore, this research aims to analyze the factors that influence the farmer's perspective regarding the labor provider service and the effect of the service that is used by the farmers on the technical efficiency level. This research uses the methodology that involves the utilization of logit regression analysis to test the cross-sectional data that was obtained from 200 farmers in Ngawi, Lumajang, Pasuruan, Malang in Indonesia as a sample. The measurement of technical efficiency uses the Cobb-Douglas production function with the Stochastic Production Frontier approach and the Tobit Regression model to determine the effect of labor provider business on technical efficiency. This research found that factors that influence the farmer's perception of the labor provider are age, land area, the worker’s wage, and the use of agricultural tools. The technical efficiency level can certainly still be improved by addressing the influencing factors, namely the use of information technology, agricultural mechanization, and the positive response towards the organizations that help in the availability of input, such as the labor provider service. The findings in this research provide an overview of how a farmer should perceive the agricultural labor provider service, especially in agriculture in the industrial or high labor wages areas.

РОЗРОБКА ТА ВИРОБНИЦТВО ЛЕГКИХ ЛІТАЛЬНИХ АПАРАТІВ СІЛЬСЬКОГОСПОДАРСЬКОГО ПРИЗНАЧЕННЯ

Issues of protecting plants from diseases and pests are becoming more and more urgent. Climate change causes an increase in the activity of weedy plants and insects harmful to agriculture. Because of this, the chemical treatment of fields by aviation in modern agriculture should serve the purpose of preserving the future harvest in both a qualitative and quantitative sense. An important role in this is played by the biological method of plant protection, which is quite effective and environmentally friendly. It is based on the use of living organisms, their waste products and biologically active substances that regulate the development and reproduction of harmful plant organisms. Scientists have developed technologies for the breeding of such zoophages to protect plants from plant pests: Trichogramma, predatory mite Phytoseiulus, encarzia, Aphidimyza gallica, etc., as well as the production of microbiological preparations to protect plants from diseases and pests, the high efficiency of their use has been proven. Aircraft (planes, helicopters, ultralight aircraft) that are registered in the State Register of Civil Aviation Aircraft of Ukraine and have a certificate for the right to perform aerochemical work are allowed to carry out aerial work on the application of pesticides during agrochemical activities on agricultural and forest crops. The requirements for the characteristics of the aircraft, directive requirements for the technology of production, operation and maintenance of airworthiness were formulated. The evaluation of the manufacturability of the considered products (agricultural LA) cannot be evaluated without taking into account the operational manufacturability, which largely determines the costs when performing work in the field. Along with the requirements for the manufacturability of the aircraft design, the so-called operational requirements are of great importance. These requirements determine the suitability of the structure and equipment for its maintenance and repair during the operation of the aircraft, taking into account the high quality of work, the least consumption of time, labor and materials. Satisfying operational requirements ensures reliability, durability of the aircraft, high labor productivity during maintenance, reduction of operational costs and efficiency of use of the aircraft fleet. The appearance of the trichogram required the development of special means for its introduction. An attempt to use existing means showed their unsuitability due to their low functional efficiency and high cost of work. The task was solved by increasing the manufacturability of agricultural aircraft during their production and operation. This made it possible to organize its serial production and operation in many farms of the country.

Preserving the Midwifery Model of Care on a High Acuity Labor and Delivery Unit: Midwives' Perspectives Working in a US Tribal Health System.

Today nearly 9 out of 10 certified nurse-midwives/certified midwives (CNMs/CMs) attend births in hospitals. As the demand for hospital midwifery care has increased over the last quarter century, CNM/CMs' scope of practice has expanded to include care for high-risk patients. Hospital CNMs/CMs are faced with the challenge of balancing support for physiologic birth with an increasingly complex pregnant population cared for in a medicalized ecosystem. Varied perceptions of patient risk and unique philosophies of care can lead to complex discussions between midwives and physicians on the most appropriate care plan for patients. This article shares the experiences and successes of a hospital midwifery practice in the Alaska Native Tribal Health System and explores strategies for promoting the midwifery model of care (MMOC). Midwives in this Tribal Health System experience robust interprofessional collaboration and an organizational focus on patient-centered relationship-based care. Interprofessional collaboration is noted to be among the most critical elements for protecting a MMOC in a hospital setting. Although distinct from one another, the medical and midwifery models can be complementary in the care of high-risk patients, and the Indigenous concept of Two-Eyed Seeing is offered as an approach to integrating the 2 models of care to achieve optimal care for birthing people and their families.

Event Argument Extraction for Rainstorm Disasters Based on Social Media: A Case Study of the 2021 Heavy Rains in Henan

Rainstorm disasters have wide-ranging impacts on communities, but traditional information collection methods are often hampered by high labor costs and limited coverage. Social media platforms such as Weibo provide new opportunities for monitoring and analyzing disaster-related information in real-time. In this paper, we present ETEN_BERT_QA, a novel model for extracting event arguments from Weibo rainstorm disaster texts. The model incorporates the event text enhancement network (ETEN) to enhance the extraction process by improving the semantic representation of event information in combination with event trigger words. To support our approach, we constructed RainEE, a dataset dedicated to rainstorm disaster event extraction, and implemented a two-step process, as follows: (1) event detection, which identifies trigger words and classifies them into event types, and (2) event argument extraction, which identifies event arguments and classifies them into argument roles. Our ETEN_BERT_QA model combines ETEN with a BERT-based question-answering mechanism to further improve the understanding of the event text. Experimental evaluations on the RainEE and DuEE datasets show that ETEN_BERT_QA significantly outperforms the baseline model in terms of accuracy and the number of event argument extractions, validating its effectiveness in analyzing rainstorm disaster-related Weibo texts.

From typology to criteria considered by farmers: what explains agroecological practice implementation in North-Sudanian Burkina Faso?

Cropping systems in the North-Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso face significant challenges related to poor yields, declining soil fertility and harsh climatic conditions. Together these necessitate a shift toward more sustainable farming practices. Agroecology aims to enhance yields while minimizing environmental harm through the use of ecological functions and has been promoted by researchers and farmers’ organizations as a solution. However, its implementation remains limited. This study investigated the criteria farmers consider when implementing agroecological practices at the farm level and how these criteria and their implementation are influenced by farm characteristics. Data collection methods included the serious game TAKIT, together with baseline and complementary household surveys (108 farmers each). Farm diversity was analyzed using a statistical typology. The influence of farm types, farm structural variables and the village location on (1) whether or not agroecological practices were implemented and (2) the criteria considered by farmers was explored. Four distinct farm types were identified: low resource endowed farms relying on off-farm income, low resource endowed farms relying on livestock income, medium resource endowed farms relying on agricultural and livestock income, and high resource endowed farms with diverse sources of income. There were no significant differences in the implementation of agroecological practices across farm types. Crop rotations were the most frequently implemented practice (by 91% of the study farmers), while the 2-by-2 line intercropping of sorghum-cowpea was the least implemented (9% of farmers). Implementation of zai pits varied significantly between villages, with farmers in Nagreonkoudogo more likely to use them than those in Tanvousse, due to differing soil characteristics. Farmers considered several criteria when deciding whether to implement agroecological practices, including the ability to improve yield and preserve soil. Constraints to their implementation included a lack of knowledge and their high labor requirements. These criteria did not differ across farm types, likely because they stem from shared environmental constraints or conditions. The study highlights the complexity of agroecological transitions in sub-Saharan Africa, and illustrates the need to adequately consider contextual conditions. The co-design of new practices, and the redesign of existing ones, should align with criteria considered by farmers.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of STLs for GPUs via Bounded Model Checking

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are becoming widespread, even in safety-critical applications. In that case, it is imperative to guarantee that the probability of producing critical failures due to hardware faults is lower than a given threshold. To detect possible permanent hardware faults as soon as they appear during the operational phase (e.g., due to aging), Software Test Libraries (STLs) have gained significant traction as a widely adopted test solution due to their effectiveness in terms of fault detection capabilities, test application time, and flexibility. However, a major drawback of this solution is the lack of automation in the STL generation phase. As a result, high manual labor is required for their generation. This becomes even more arduous in complex architectures that require in-depth knowledge to cover hard-to-test faults. In this paper, we introduce a methodology based on Bounded Model Checking to support the generation and improvement of stuck-at-oriented STLs for hard-to-test units in GPUs, showing that we can enhance the test coverage achieved by pre-existing STLs while also identifying a set of functionally untestable faults. To experimentally validate the proposed method’s effectiveness, we use the FlexGripPlus GPU model to target two hard-to-test units, one medium to low complexity sub-unit and one high complexity sub-unit, as study cases. For both units, we had pre-existing STLs written for the stuck-at model. Resorting to the proposed method, the STLs’ test coverage was increased by 9.57% and 2.19%, respectively. In addition, the method also identified a significant number of functionally untestable faults.

Tractography-Based Automated Identification of Retinogeniculate Visual Pathway With Novel Microstructure-Informed Supervised Contrastive Learning.

The retinogeniculate visual pathway (RGVP) is responsible for carrying visual information from the retina to the lateral geniculate nucleus. Identification and visualization of the RGVP are important in studying the anatomy of the visual system and can inform the treatment of related brain diseases. Diffusion MRI (dMRI) tractography is an advanced imaging method that uniquely enables invivo mapping of the 3D trajectory of the RGVP. Currently, identification of the RGVP from tractography data relies on expert (manual) selection of tractography streamlines, which is time-consuming, has high clinical and expert labor costs, and is affected by inter-observer variability. In this paper, we present a novel deep learning framework, DeepRGVP, to enable fast and accurate identification of the RGVP from dMRI tractography data. We design a novel microstructure-informed supervised contrastive learning method that leverages both streamline label and tissue microstructure information to determine positive and negative pairs. We propose a new streamline-level data augmentation method to address highly imbalanced training data, where the number of RGVP streamlines is much lower than that of non-RGVP streamlines. In the experiments, we perform comparisons with several state-of-the-art deep learning methods that were designed for tractography parcellation. Furthermore, to assess the generalizability of the proposed RGVP method, we apply our method to dMRI tractography data from neurosurgical patients with pituitary tumors. In comparison with the state-of-the-art methods, we show superior RGVP identification results using DeepRGVP with significantly higher accuracy and F1 scores. In the patient data experiment, we show DeepRGVP can successfully identify RGVPs despite the effect of lesions affecting the RGVPs. Overall, our study shows the high potential of using deep learning to automatically identify the RGVP.

AI-based autonomous UAV swarm system for weed detection and treatment: Enhancing organic orange orchard efficiency with agriculture 5.0

Weeds significantly threaten agricultural productivity by competing with crops for nutrients, particularly in organic farming, where chemical herbicides are prohibited. On Spain’s Mediterranean coast, organic citrus farms face increasing challenges from invasive species like Araujia sericifera and Cortaderia selloana, which further complicate cover crop management. This study introduces a swarm system of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with neural networks based on YOLOv10 for the detection and geo-location of these invasive weeds. The system achieves F1-scores of 0.78 for Araujia sericifera and 0.80 for Cortaderia selloana. Using GPS and RTK, the UAVs generate KML files to guide diffuser drones for precise, localized treatments with organic products. By automating the detection, treatment, and elimination of invasive species, the system enhances both productivity and sustainability in organic farming. Additionally, the proposed solution addresses the high labor costs associated with manual weeding by reducing the need for human intervention. A comprehensive economic analysis indicates potential savings ranging from 1810 to 2650 € per hectare, depending on farm size. This innovative approach not only improves weed control efficiency but also promotes environmental sustainability, offering a scalable solution for organic and conventional agriculture alike.

Development Of A User-Friendly Automated Poultry Feeding System

The huge cost and high labor demand associated with the current deep litter system of poultry farming poses a great challenge to poultry farming. These drawbacks which currently threatens this system of farming, have been attributed to the over-involvement of humans in almost all aspects of operation of this farming system. The consequences are increased disease outbreak, weakness and poor bird feeding. To ameliorated some of these challenges, an automated poultry feeding system is developed and presented in this paper. The proposed system mimics the roles of real-life poultry attendants in delivery of feed and water to birds at specified interval of time. The system controls the dispensing of poultry feed (liquid and solid) through a program written on ATmega328P microcontroller via the Arduino Uno. The system senses the level of feed and water in the respective trough and intelligently dispense water and feed in response to the sensed levels. The current system is able to effectively sense and predict the level of feed and water in the farm at an accuracy of 98.79% and dispense same within a response time of 50-60ms.

A Study of Trends and Factors Affecting the Agricultural Sector in Goa Since Liberation

This study analysed the trends in the deceleration of Goa’s agricultural sector, identified the challenges, and proposed measures for its revival. Compound growth rates, percentage shares, secondary data, and the Gini coefficient illustrated that this sector's growth rate fell to a negative value and that its employment share fell to less than 7 per cent of the total employment. Increased land inequality, a rise in unviable agricultural landholdings, the conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural land, declining yield rates, and high labour costs have all contributed to the difficulty of automated farming. The state must study the feasibility of small farm technology, train farmers in modern small farming practices, implement land tenancy reforms, and provide marketing-linked incentives to revive agriculture.

Impact of financial and internet support on SME performance: Moderating effect of technology adoption during COVID-19 pandemic

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are widely recognised as significant catalysts for economic growth at a worldwide level. The benefits that are frequently highlighted for their promotion, particularly in developing nations like Bangladesh, include their relatively high labor intensity, reliance on local technology and skills, contributions to the growth of entrepreneurialism and innovativeness, and industrial linkage expansion. The objective of this study is to examine the influence of financial and internet support on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic while also considering the moderating effect of technology adoption. By going through the literature, the study identified a number of factors namely financial support, ICT support, technological support played a strong role on SME performance during COVID-19. The present study utilises Partial Least Square (PLS) path modelling, a variance-based technique within the framework of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), to investigate the correlations. A well-structured questionnaire is prepared for collecting primary data from the SME owners or managers and finally 378 data have been collected from the different types of SME entrepreneurs through using purposive sampling technique. Eight hypotheses are tested and found seven positive relationships with moderating interaction of technology adoption between influential factors and SME performance (financial and non-financial).

Hybrid taguchi-grey relational analysis approach for optimizing cutter operational parameters in selective cauliflower harvesting

Cauliflower is an important winter crop grown in India, its curds are rich in nutritional profile, containing valuable minerals and vitamins. However, cauliflower harvesting is mainly accomplished by hands, which is time-consuming and requires a high labour force. On the other hand, most developed cauliflower harvesters are once over or single pass type, which harvests all plants irrespective of their maturity. So, the selective harvester could improve the cauliflower curds yield, and then decrease the labour requirement. To improve the cutting performance of the selective cauliflower harvester, the working parameters of the chainsaw cutting mechanism need to be considered and optimized. This research investigates the impact of cutting height, feed (push) force, and cutting speed on the efficiency of the cutter during harvest. The Taguchi approach, together with grey relational analysis (GRA), was employed to identify the most favorable combination of operational parameters. In addition, the variance analysis was conducted to statistically examine the impact of multiple parameters. The findings indicated that the feed force was the major parameter that influenced the cutting force, splitting failure levels, and cutting time. The most effective parameter combination consisted of a cutting height of 15 mm, a feed force of 10 N, and a cutting speed of 5 m/s. The grey relational grade of the ideal parameter combination has shown a 0.322 increase in comparison to the grade achieved with the initially selected parameter combination. This setting was further incorporated in the developed selective cauliflower harvester to improve the performance of its cutting mechanism.

Safety Dynamic Monitoring and Rapid Warning Methods for Mechanical Shaft

In the context of urban space constraints, subway and underground projects have become crucial strategies to alleviate urban congestion and enhance residents’ quality of life. However, pit engineering, a frequent accident area in geotechnical engineering, urgently requires innovative safety monitoring technologies. Traditional monitoring methods face challenges such as high labor costs, lengthy monitoring cycles, high-risk working environments, and over-reliance on human judgment. To address these issues, this paper introduces an innovative monitoring system integrating Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensing technology based on a subway pit project in Guangzhou. This system not only achieves fully automated data acquisition but also includes an intelligent monitoring cloud platform, providing unprecedented automated and intelligent monitoring solutions for support structures and the surrounding environment during mechanical shaft construction. The key findings of this paper include the following: (1) The breakthrough application of distributed optical fiber monitoring technology, including successfully deploying this advanced technology in complex pit engineering environments, enabling the precise and continuous monitoring of support structures and surrounding changes, and demonstrating its high effectiveness and intelligence in practical engineering. (2) The innovative design of an intelligent safety monitoring system. By integrating sensors and wireless communication technology, an efficient data networking architecture is constructed, supporting remote configuration and flexible adjustment of monitoring equipment, significantly enhancing data collection‘s real-time performance and continuity while greatly reducing safety risks for field staff, achieving an intelligent upgrade of monitoring work. (3) Comprehensive and accurate empirical analysis. During shaft excavation, the monitoring data collected by the system were stable and reliable, with all indicators maintained within reasonable ranges and closely matching expected changes caused by construction activities, validating the system’s practical application effectiveness in complex construction environments and providing a scientific basis for pit engineering safety management.

Inflation targeting and the real exchange rate trend: theoretical discussion and empirical evidence for developed and developing countries

Abstract Economic literature shows evidence that a competitive real exchange rate (RER), i.e., slightly undervalued, is key for development in developing countries. This paper discusses the connections between inflation targeting (IT) regimes and RER trends in economies highly open to capital flows. Following Rodrik’s (2008. The real exchange rate and economic growth, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Washington, 2008, vol. 39, no. 2 (Fall), 365–439), the RER trend is estimated for a sample of 31 out of the 38 developed and developing countries that, by the final year of the period covered in this study (2019), had already adopted IT. Covering the period 2000–2019, we showed that all developed and Latin American developing countries had an RER overvaluation trend, while the European, Asian and African (South Africa) developing countries registered an undervaluation trend in the same period. Through a dynamic panel data model, we tested and validated the following hypotheses, which, to the best of our knowledge, are a seminal contribution. We found in Latin American developing countries, whose ITs are centred on the main objective of pursuing price stability, the RER overvaluation trend (a by-product of this monetary policy regime) is driven by higher interest rate differentials to the USA and is harmful to their economic growth. In developed countries, this trend is not explained by their IT framework but by their high per capita income level, which reflects their high average labour productivity and development pattern. Yet, the trend of RER undervaluation in Asian and European developing countries and South Africa reflects their governments’ ability to combine a more flexible IT regime with a floating but managed exchange rate system aimed at preserving a competitive and stable RER in the long term.

Comparison of High and Low Dose Calcium Supplementation in Prevention of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy

Calcium supplementation during pregnancy may prevent high blood pressure and preterm labour. Out of 500 women, 480 completed the study. At hospital enrolment, the average systolic blood pressure (SBP) was similar between the two groups (116.10 mm Hg vs. 115.01 mm Hg; P = 0.215), as was the average diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (72.74 mm Hg vs. 72.12 mm Hg; P = 0.301). No significant increase in blood pressure was observed in the majority of pregnant women in either group until delivery. Only 2.5% of women in the low-dose group (LDG - group I) and 1.88% in the high-dose group (HDG - group II) developed pre-eclampsia by the end of the study, with no significant association between different calcium dosages and the occurrence of pre-eclampsia (P = 0.503). Regarding maternal complications, 0.63% of women in the group I and 0.21% in the group II experienced major complications during pregnancy or postpartum, but this was not statistically significant (P = 0.623). Among the 480 women, 475 had term labor, and only 5 had preterm deliveries (before 36 weeks of gestation). No maternal deaths were reported.Our study concluded that calcium supplementation, whether in low or high dose, provides significant benefit for pregnant women. The findings demonstrate a notable advantage in preventing pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), preterm labor, premature births, and related complications. Therefore, calcium supplementation is highly effective in preventing PIH, which in turn helps prevent pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. As both low and high dose Calcium are effective in preventing PE and Eclampsia, it may be recommended that low dose calcium supplementation may be helpful in prevention of HDP and have favourable feto-maternal outcome in a low resource setting like ours. Keywords: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), Blood Pressure, Pre-eclampsia, Calcium.

State-led Maritime Governance, Education and Training Nexus in South Africa

The maritime environment has a significant socio-economic impact on nations, regional and global economies. However, it also experiences many challenges related to safety, security, Education and Training (E & T) which stakeholders such as businesses and government through State institutions play a crucial role in addressing. In addition to high global labour demands, E & T challenges have related to the decreasing number of youth taking up maritime E & T. In addition, technological advancements affect costs, standards, and quality of maritime ET. The Republic of South Africa (RSA) has not been immune to these challenges. Public higher E & T institutions in RSA are the primary providers of tertiary maritime E & T but remain confronted by numerous challenges tied to organisational resources, State funding and the growing demand for increased internal and external capacity. This study’s objective was to examine maritime State-led interventions and challenges in selected public higher E & T institutions offering maritime studies in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), RSA. Guided by a Systems Thinking approach, this empirical study adopted a qualitative research methodology utilizing interviews with key knowledge holders and secondary data. It was found that there exists a consensual view that higher E & T institutions offering maritime studies in the province are well positioned to play a more meaningful role in addressing the country’s high unemployment rate. However, the current conditions in maritime E & T have undermined this and resulted in the pursuit of international partnerships to address local deficiencies. These findings are significant to stakeholders involved in maritime higher E & T, State-led maritime interventions, policymaking, governance, management, leadership and administration. The findings of the study also point to the need for a holistic understanding of maritime issues and challenges as maritime E & T is a complex global social space. This could eventually facilitate innovation, enhance leadership and contribute to meaningful and crucial partnerships between developed and more developing nations.

Constraints Faced by the Farmers in the Production and Marketing of Onions in the Western Undulating Zone of Odisha, India

This paper aimed to investigate the limitations associated with onion farming in the western undulating agroclimatic zone of Odisha, specifically regarding production, marketing, and storage. The study employed a multi-stage purposive sampling technique. The state was divided into 10 zones based on agro-climatic characteristics, and the district from the western undulating zone, Kalahandi districts, was purposively chosen since many farmers in these regions, like others in Odisha, cultivate onions throughout the winter season. A total of 90 farmers (45 from Bhawanipatna block and 45 from Golamunda block) were selected at random and interviewed directly for the purpose of study. Furthermore, the location, climatic conditions, and soil are ideal for onion cultivation. Kalahandi was chosen in 2021–2022. According to the survey, labour shortages for weeding, ignorance of improved varieties, high labour costs, ineffective and expensive weedicides, high seed costs, etc. were the top five problems faced by onion growers. The main difficulties faced by onion growers during marketing included low prices during harvest, which were followed by sharp price fluctuations, high transportation costs, payment delays, a lack of market news and information, a lack of storage facilities, etc. in the research area. To ensure an effective produce marketing system, the government, developmental agencies, marketing boards, and NAFED should intervene by enhancing the market infrastructure at the taluk and district levels and supplying timely market information. Farmers may be able to overcome the issue of price fluctuations if government authorities intervene promptly and announce an extension or announcement of the government support price for onion crops.

Job satisfaction and turnover: The role of creativity, engagement, and decent work amongst employees

Orientation: The South African public service faces the challenge of a high labour turnover among its employees. There is a need for strategies to not only keep employees happy at work but also to retain them.Research purpose: The study investigates the determinants of job satisfaction and turnover intention accounting for the role of employee creativity, engagement and decent work.Motivation for the study: There is a need for strategies to not only retain employees within the public service but also to ensure the employees are satisfied with their jobs.Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 304 employees working within the South African public service in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) (version 25) and the Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) software packages were used to analyse data.Main findings: It was established that higher ratings of decent work experience relate positively to employee ratings of engagement in the work and that they also influenced outcomes such as job satisfaction and employee turnover intentions.Practical/managerial implications: The findings are a useful precursor in improving not just the work experience for employees but also work related outcomes such as job satisfaction and turnover intention.Contribution/value-add: The study findings give practical interventions to address the challenge of high turnover and the dearth of job satisfaction among public service employees.

Club convergence in regional labor productivity: how do Australian states and territories compare to the US, UK, and Canadian subnational regions?

AbstractDeveloping strategies to enhance productivity growth requires identifying leading and lagging regions, industries, and growth drivers. However, there are limited cross-country studies using subnational data. Our study goes beyond the traditional country convergence approach and estimates labor productivity convergence using Philips and Sul’s club convergence approach and subnational data from 2004 to 2020. We aim to determine whether labor productivity growth rates in Australian states and territories are equal, converging, or divergent as compared to United States, United Kingdom, and Canadian subnational regions. The results show that five Australian jurisdictions, including Western Australia and New South Wales, are in the high labor productivity group (Club 1), while the remaining three i.e., Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and Queensland, are in the moderate growth group (Club 2). We also used fixed effects models with least squares dummy variable estimators to identify the club’s characteristics. The results show that regions with a high proportion of employees in information and communications technology, energy, mining, and resources experienced higher labor productivity growth than those with a manufacturing sector. Human capital, innovation, and household disposable income were associated with high labor productivity, whereas high old-age dependency and children-to-women ratios were associated with lower growth. These results are consistent with the macroeconomic phenomenon that economic development leads to inequality and polarization in certain regions of a country. Nonetheless, the findings are useful for decision-makers and researchers to use in benchmarking and improving regional strategies by identifying regional peers and factors that influence convergence or divergence that can be improved. The results provide insightful findings for consideration by policymakers seeking to boost labor productivity or to bridge regional gaps in productivity.

Integrating dynamic high-throughput phenotyping and genetic analysis to monitor growth variation in foxtail millet

BackgroundFoxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) Beauv] is a C4 graminoid crop cultivated mainly in the arid and semiarid regions of China for more than 7000 years. Its grain highly nutritious and is rich in starch, protein, essential vitamins such as carotenoids, folate, and minerals. To expand the utilisation of foxtail millet, efficient and precise methods for dynamic phenotyping of its growth stages are needed. Traditional foxtail millet monitoring methods have high labour costs and are inefficient and inaccurate, impeding the precise evaluation of foxtail millet genotypic variation.ResultsThis study introduces a high-throughput imaging system (HIS) with advanced image processing techniques to enhance monitoring efficiency and data quality. The HIS can accurately extract a range of key growth feature parameters, such as plant height (PH), convex hull area (CHA), side projected area (SPA) and colour distribution, from foxtail millet images. Compared with traditional manual measurements, this HIS improved data quality and phenotyping of the key foxtail millet growth traits. High-throughput phenotyping combined with a genome-wide association study (GWAS) revealed genetic loci associated with dynamic growth traits, particularly plant height (PH), in foxtail millet. The loci were linked to genes involved in the gibberellic acid (GA) synthesis pathway related to PH.ConclusionThe HIS developed in this study enables the efficient and dynamic monitoring of foxtail millet phenotypic traits. It significantly improves the quality of data obtained for phenotyping key growth traits. The integration of high-throughput phenotyping with GWAS provides new insights into the genetic underpinnings of dynamic growth traits, particularly plant height, by identifying associated genetic loci in the GA synthesis pathway. This methodological advancement opens new avenues for the precise phenotyping and exploration of genetic resources in foxtail millet, potentially enhancing its utilisation.