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Antiseptic paper soap is convenient because it is flexible, safe for the skin, easily foams, and relatively affordable. Measuring the ratio between the concentrations of NaOH, cooking oil, citronella oil, and aloe vera additives is needed to improve the quality of antiseptic paper soap. Testing the saponification rate, density, pH, water content, fatty acid (FA) level, and free alkali content is critical to determine the characteristics of antiseptic paper soap so that it meets the standards for solid bath soap according to SNI 3532-2021 which is closest to the characteristics of paper soap because SNI for paper soap is not yet available. The weight ratio of citronella oil to cooking oil used is 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3. The NaOH concentrations used were 30%, 40%, and 50% w/v. The natural additives used are 0%, 5%, and up to 10% of the total mass. The research results showed that saponification value of the antiseptic paper soap produced was 197.724 milligrams KOH/gram up to 206.138 milligrams KOH/gram, the pH of the antiseptic paper soap was 9.1-10.6, the water content value was 10.940%-23.863%, the alkali content value free is 0.044%-0.104%, total fatty acid (FA) content is 29.688%-45.734%. The best antiseptic paper soap is produced using 30% w/v NaOH with a weight ratio of citronella oil to cooking oil used of 1:1 and natural additives (aloe vera) 5% of the total mass.

Este artigo tem por objetivo identificar os fatores que têm afetado as receitas das exportações de celulose e papel e papelão, no período de 2001 a 2020. Especificamente pretende-se quantificar as variações nas receitas provenientes da taxa de câmbio, do preço internacional e da quantidade exportada de celulose e de papel e papelão e identificar os principais eventos associados essas variações. Para tanto, utilizou-se o método diferencial-estrutural, conhecido como shift-share, que decompõe as variações da receita de exportação em efeitos parciais proporcionado por outras variáveis relacionadas. Os resultados mostram que mesmo quando os efeitos do preço internacional e a taxa de câmbio são desfavoráveis a quantidade exportada de celulose e de papel e papelão tem sido crescente, e proporcionando efeito total positivo nas receitas das exportações. Somente em quatro grandes momentos houve queda nas receitas das exportações destes produtos, momentos estes que coincidem com a ocorrência das seguintes crises: atentado a torres gêmeas (2002), crise do subprime (2008), crise política interna (2016) e pandemia (Covid-2019). ABSTRACT: This paper aims to identify the factors that have affected revenues from pulp and paper and paperboard exports, in the period from 2001 to 2020. Specifically, it intends to quantify the variations in revenues arising from the exchange rate, the international price and the exported quantity of Wood pulp and paperbord and identify the main events associate these variations. For this purpose, the differential-structural method, known as shift-share, was used, which breaks down changes in export revenue into partial effects provided by other related variables. The results show that even when the effects of the international price and the exchange rate are unfavorable, the exported quantity of woodpulp and paperboard has been increasing, providing a positive overall effect on export revenues. Only in four major moments were there decreases in revenues from exports of these products, moments that coincide with the occurrence of the following crises: attack on the twin towers (2002), subprime crisis (2008), internal political crisis (2016) and pandemic (Covid- 2019).

Esse texto discute a formação do espaço econômico paranaense e sua relação com as atividades de base econômica ou exportação. A análise segue uma visão institucionalista a partir da teorização de Douglass North. A análise também se embasa em Pedro Calil Padis, por fazer um retrospecto eficaz dos primórdios do Paraná até o final dos anos 1960. Se parte do princípio de que várias economias regionais que surgiram no Brasil estavam em condições periféricas. O termo “periférico” é devido ao fato de a economia de cada uma dessas regiões ou Estados estar subordinada ao centro dinâmico do país devido a vários fatores, dentre eles a transferência de capital, fazendo com que o Paraná, com sua economia cafeeira, subsidiasse a indústria paulista. Abstract: This paper discusses the formation of the economic space of Paraná State and its relationship with economic-based activities or exports. The analysis follows an institutionalist vision based on Douglass North's theorization. The analysis is also based on Pedro Calil Padis, for making an effective retrospective of the beginnings of Paraná State until the end of the 1960s. It is based on the principle that several regional economies that emerged in Brazil were in peripheral conditions. The term “peripheral” is since the economy of each of these regions or states is subordinated to the dynamic center of the country due to several factors, including the transfer of capital, causing Paraná, with its coffee economy, to subsidize the São Paulo industry.

The disposal of paper mill wastewater (PMW) is a serious environmental issue for the Mediterranean countries. In present study, the Box-Behnken design was used to determine the optimum experimental conditions of coproduct sugarcane bagasse, yeast extract, inoculum size, and temperature on biodegradation of PMW by Pseudomonas putida. This species has manganese and lignin peroxidase activities inducing the valorisation of the treated paper mill effluent in agriculture. The variables involved in Box-Behnken design included sugarcane bagasse (0–0.5–1 ppm), yeast extract (1–2–3%), temperature (20–25–30 °C), and inoculum size (0.6–0.8–1) level with bacterial-treated PMW to determine the effects on batter chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color removal. Predicted values of parameters using model equations were in good agreement with the experimental values with R2 ≥ 0.94. The maximum color and COD removal were obtained at optimized conditions of 1 ppm sugarcane bagasse at 2% of yeast extract with 1.0 inoculum size in temperature 25 °C. It must be noted that the valorization and exploitation of a coproduct such as sugarcane and yeast extract can have a considerable impact on the COD and color removal of PMW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the research is to analyze English language scientific articles that have been published in the scientific journal entitled Annals PAAAE from 2009 to 2018 by using tools of text mining and text analysis, measuring how the frequency of key terms has changed, and to conclude the probable change of research focus of authors based on it. The subjects of the research are 393 English language articles that have been issued in the volumes of Annals PAAAE (Polish title is Roczniki Naukowe SERiA) from 2009 to 2018 (from Vol. 11 to Vol. 20), which are ready to download in pdf format on the website of the publishing house. Text mining and text analysis were conducted using own self-adapted routines of samples written in the R language programme. At the hierarchic cluster analysis, the Ward D method was used, and the association of frequency of terms was measured using Pearson’s correlation. It was found that the weight of research concerning the context of the product-production-market has increased, but there was low usage of the term “competitiveness”. What was of key significance was that in the case of clustering articles by author nationality, the role of the origin of the author has decreased as a determinant factor, which could suggest the uniformity of terminology as well as similarity of research topics and the researcher’s interests, which can initialize cooperation and common research. The growth of the number of articles elaborated on by international teams is also a projection of this tendency.

Ptalat adalah senyawa yang ditemukan dalam zat aditif yang sering ditambahkan ke dalam bahan kemasan berbasis kertas daur ulang. Zat yang berpotensi berbahaya yang ada dalam kertas daur ulang terkandung dalam residu tinta cetak, pernis, perekat dan zat lainnya. Makanan yang kontak langsung dengan kemasan kertas daur ulang dapat mengandung diisopropil-napatalene (DIPN), benzofenon, terfenil terhidrogenasi, amina aromatik primer, poliaromatik hidrokarbon (PAH), dan ptalat. Ptalat dapat bermigrasi dari kemasan ke dalam makanan, terutama untuk produk pangan berlemak. Salah satu jenis ptalat yaitu dibutil ptalat (DBP) dilaporkan dapat mengganggu sistem endokrin. Pada dosis tinggi, DBP telah terbukti merusak sistem reproduksi tikus. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi dan mengkuantifikasi DBP dari kemasan makanan berbasis daur ulang (dupleks) dan migrasinya ke dalam simulan pangan. Metode yang digunakan yaitu ekstraksi dengan pelarut yang dibantu ultrasonik (USE), diikuti dengan analisis kromatografi gas - spektrometri massa (GC-MS). Metode yang dikembangkan telah divalidasi, dengan nilai linearitas (R2) dari 0,999, rentang akurasi 89,98% - 102%, batas deteksi (LOD) dan batas kuantifikasi (LOQ) berturut-turut sebesar 0,04 mg/L dan 0,06 mg/L. Hasil analisis DBP dari lima kertas dupleks komersial berbeda nyata pada kisaran 1,7 hingga 5,8 mg/kg. Tingkat migrasi yang diukur dari kontak langsung antara kertas dan etanol 95% sebagai simulantpangan selama 2 jam pada suhu 40°C adalah 4,7 mg/dm2. Migrasi DBP melebihi nilai migrasi spesifik yang ditetapkan pada EU No. 10/2011 (0,3 mg/kg atau 0,05 mg/dm2). Hasil tersebut menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan kertas daur ulang sebagai kemasan primer produk pangan tidak dianjurkan, terutama untuk pangan berlemak.

The paper shows how the agri-sector is influenced by the emergence and development of the digitisation process. This is presented using a bibliometric analysis. The importance of studying and understanding the current challenges facing the agricultural sector including the emergence and development of the digitisation process of the sector is the main aim of this paper. All these challenges are felt by both the agricultural sector and the economy as a whole. This paper contributes to the literature. This is due to the bibliometric analysis through which the most important aspects of the challenges facing the entire agricultural sector today are observed. Among the current challenges facing the agricultural sector, climate change is among the most important. The results of the bibliometric analysis show that the keywords searched and their clustering confirm that the emergence and rapid development of digitisation brings both positive and negative effects to the whole agricultural sector. Following the search of Web of Science and Scopus databases, 203 papers were identified in Web of Science and Scopus using the phrase "the impact of digitization on agriculture". The bilbiometric analysis comprises several steps, including the analysis of the years of emergence of studies on the emergence of the digitisation process in agriculture. Thus, within this stage, the analysis of the years, it is signalled the transition from some aspects that concern the technological side to other economic and even human aspects. On the whole, there is a shift in research topics towards studying how the emergence and development of the digitisation process brings both positive and negative influences between the agricultural sector and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water management constitutes a challenge for contemporary Egypt, as the country faces a water shortage that, in certain areas, might endanger the basic needs of people in the dry season. This article seeks to understand the origin of water problems, and argues that beyond existing scarcity due to environmental challenges, current sociopolitical conditions play a significant role. Egypt is socially, economically, and environmentally in a difficult position to be sustainable. The paper utilizes the political ecology approach to shed light on the nexus between the fields mentioned above and tries to create an integrated and comprehensive strategy to analyze the water problems and possible solutions for contemporary Egypt. SWOT analysis helps evaluate the existing conditions (strengths and weaknesses) and potentialities (opportunities and threats) for the Egyptian agriculture and water management sector. Three different angles are utilized during the analysis: the infrastructural background (the economic aspect), the institutional basis (the political aspect), and the international impacts (the environmental aspect) that affect water policy. Regarding the mounting challenges, a slow change of the system is expected, but negative changes in the natural environment could accelerate pressure on Egyptian society and government to adjust. However, the support of international partners to maintain a politically and socially stable Egypt contributes to maintaining archaic political-economic structures that are unsustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste minimisation in paper industry activities can be done by applying cleaner production methods. The objective of this research was to study of opportunity of cleaner production implementation in sack kraft industry. These stages of research were identification of process stages, identification of problems, identification of cleaner production opportunities, feasibility analysis of technical, environmental and financial aspects, and election priority cleaner production opportunities with Exponential Comparison Method (ECM). The processes of the sack kraft production included stock preparation, sheet formation, pressing section, drying section, scrolling and cutting. These Sack Kraft Industry used 110 tonnes of cardboard afval and produced 90.742 tonnes of sack kraft, 3.65 tonnes failed paper, 2.443 tonnes scattered paper, 4.915 tonnes defected paper and 8.25 tonnes solid waste in the form of plastic and metal. The problems often had been occured were downtime machine, broken machine, solid waste production, failed paper, scattered paper, and defected paper. Recommendation of cleaner production opportunities were making pellets from solid waste as fuel substitution (PBP 0.1 years and B/C 8.31), application of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for machine maintenance (PBP 3.9 years and B/C 1.3), Good manufacturing practice training (PBP 0.63 years and B/C 2.58). The priority order of cleaner production using ECM was application of SOP for machine maintenance, GMP training, and making pellets as fuel substitution.

[Display omitted] • Self-folded honeycomb structure (SHS) was fabricated via stimuli-responsive materials. • Origami-inspired design for SHSs with energy-absorption properties was established. • Relationship of design, structure, and compression performance was elucidated. • Energy-absorption of 5-layered SHS was 6.67 times higher than that of 1-layered SHS. • Damage factor for protected object was successfully removed via pre-straining. The origami technique has been employed in the medical, space, and agricultural industries owing to its low cost and ease of use. In particular, the use of stimuli-responsive materials to automate origami fabrication has garnered interest. In this study, self-folded honeycomb structures (SHSs) were fabricated using the self-folding technique. A sheet of paper undergoes self-folding without human intervention via the physicochemical reactions between the paper and printing solution. Six SHSs with different mechanical properties were fabricated. The relationship between the design and structural parameters was examined. The energy-absorption performance of the structure improved by a factor of 15.2 on employing the optimal parameters. A consistent relationship between the design and compression performance was also discussed. By applying stacking technology, the energy-absorption performance increased by an average of 1753 N·mm per layer. The application of a pre-strain eliminated the compressive force peak that could damage the protected object, while maintaining 90 % of the energy-absorption performance. The proposed technology shows potential for the fabrication of tailored energy absorbers using stimuli-responsive materials, providing a groundbreaking technology for the packaging industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This Special Issue presents the seven best papers from the 30th IFAMA 2020 World Congress, reflecting the richness and quality of the agri-food business and management scholarship that IFAMA facilitates and promotes. They reveal the diversity of research topics and current practices related to the most pressing agri-food business and management issues. Whether the papers discuss vegetable producers cooperatives in Cambodia, innovation intermarries and enhancing collaboration in Sweden, or information nudges in ornamental plant labeling in the United States, the papers in this Special Issue illustrate the need for variegated professional and academic skills and expertise represented in IFAMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the current situation as regards the circular economy in agriculture in Romania, while also taking into consideration its global impact. We have here a system globally endorsed by the United Nations. It is also important for regional organisations such as the European Union or la Francophonie as the circular economy seems to have a high number of advantages in tackling climate change, creating a sustainable food chain, improving the organic character of the agriculture, etc. From that perspective Romania represents an interesting case study as it is both a European Union member state and a member of the Francophonie. It thus follows both sets of rules and recommendations in order to improve its status. The paper uses the bibliographic method and reviews the main documents that settle this aspect and presents the legal framework for circular economy. The put into practice of the circular economy in the Romanian agriculture would bring a series of advantages (environment, food safety, etc.) while also requiring systemic transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agro-industrial sectors in Ethiopia are highly expanding sector and offers substantial challenges for the environment and public health. The brewery industries use large quantities of water for their production processes and at the end, they discharged large amount of effluents that contains a high strength organic waste. The main objective of this review paper is to discuss and summarize the characteristics, treatment techniques, fertilizer potential and other available management options of breweries sludge generated from wastewater treatment plants. Recent (2015) research finding indicated that the brewery sludge contains a very high nitrogen and potassium content, i.e., 420.25 kg ha-1 and 840 kg ha-1 respectively compared to the control. Scientific evidences indicated that brewery sludge amended soil they have the tendency to produce more yields (4081.6 kg ha-1). Brewery sludge has also other beneficial advantages in production of biogas and building materials with co-digestion with other organic solid residues. The probable drawbacks of the use of sludge on agricultural land application is its pollutant loads including heavy metals, organic compounds and pathogens. Therefore, more research investigation has to be done on the possible sludge treatment mechanisms and the feasibility of sludge generated from brewery industries for agricultural recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During its life cycle, packaging comes into contact with various substances and even those it protects. Thus, for example, oil, water, and alcohol, if spilled on the packaging, can damage its functionality. In addition to exposure to chemicals, graphic products (packaging) can be exposed to moisture and UV radiation, which can negatively affect their stability during transport, storage, and handling. The choice of printing substrate can directly affect the stability of prints against different degrading influences. This paper explores the stability of thermochromic (TC) and conventional offset printing inks printed on environmentally friendly printing substrates intended for packaging applications (labelling). Results have confirmed that used printing substrates and printing inks give prints good rub resistance, but somewhat lower stability in terms of ethanol, water, and UV radiation. The choice of printing substrate can directly affect the stability of prints against different degrading influences. The resistance of prints to oil cannot be clearly defined since the samples were altered with the coloration of the oil. It can only be stated that oil reduced the functionality of the TC prints given that the samples were colored by the oil itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the premises and theories of public communication, this paper aims, through a qualitative study, to capture, on the one hand, the main aspects of the image of agricultural companies with direct impact on their profitability and, on the other hand, to identify the mechanisms of public communication that have the greatest impact on image formation. The importance of agricultural companies is becoming more and more strongly perceived lately, the post-Covid 19 experience, the danger of uncontrolled increase in prices of basic foods, have made it easier for public opinion to understand the role of agricultural companies in ensuring food security. Certain governmental strategies to promote Romanian products, cooperation on the short producer-consumer chain, have led to putting on the public agenda, especially in recent years, the role and importance of agricultural companies within the Romanian society. In this context, the paper aimed to analyze the specific public communication strategies in promoting agricultural companies for increasing their credibility, enhance their competitiveness and conquest new markets. The qualitative research conducted through the method of the self-administered structured questionnaire analyses how agricultural companies, through their communication strategies, use recommendations and European funds in promotional campaigns to increase market image and build their own brand. The scientific premises, on which the research was based, were validated, the responses showing a significant correlation regarding information, access to funds, or the use of online promotional campaigns for building the image and brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most active field in China's economic development, the digital economy is crucial to the high-quality development of enterprises. Taking Chinese-listed agricultural enterprises as research samples, this paper discusses the effect of the digital economy on promoting the high-quality development of agricultural enterprises and the mechanism behind it from the perspective of total factor productivity of enterprises. The study found that the digital economy significantly promoted the improvement of total factor productivity of agricultural enterprises and enabled the high-quality development of agricultural enterprises, and this conclusion remained valid after controlling for endogeneity and conducting robustness tests. In terms of action mechanisms, the digital economy is conducive to promoting green innovation and promoting the high-quality development of agricultural enterprises; However, entrepreneurial activity has a masking effect. Further analysis shows that the digital economy plays a more significant role in promoting non-resource-intensive agricultural enterprises located in northern China. At the same time, the higher the industrial structure and financial development level of the region, the more positive impact the digital economy can play. This study verifies the impact mechanism of the digital economy on the high-quality development of agricultural enterprises and provides enlightenment for China's the digital economy policy-making and enterprises' the high-quality development strategy decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the opportunities and challenges facing the land reform programme in South Africa and the role of the National African Farmers Union (NAFU SA). Topics include the background information of NAFU SA and its mission, a brief overview of the land reform in the region, and the condition of the agriculture businesses in the area.

Enterprise financial risk refers to the uncertainty of financial status caused by various internal and external factors during investment, financing, operations, and other activities, which may result in losses for the enterprise. Agricultural group enterprises engage in diversified businesses and have a large number of transactions. Characteristics such as natural disasters, financing difficulties, and strong seasonality of income and expenditure make agricultural enterprises face greater financial risks. Based on the perspective of evidence fusion, this paper takes the JS Agricultural Reclamation Group as the research object, puts forward a financial risk early warning model based on evidence theory, and innovatively puts forward the basic probability assignment of evidence obtained by whitening weight function, and uses evidence theory to fuse uncertain risk information. This paper makes an empirical study of 420 subsidiaries of the group and selects 10 subsidiaries as case study objects. The results show that the model proposed in this study can improve the prediction accuracy of the group's intelligent financial decision system and the existing literature and reduce the subjective factors and information loss in the risk assessment process. In addition, this study provides the probability interval of early warning results, which can expose small probability risks and provide a more reliable basis for regulators, enterprise managers, and investors to make efficient and correct decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aimed to identify the impact that Industry 4.0 can have on the service sector and how its combination can generate benefits for Sustainability 4.0 in the context of the Triple Bottom Line. Design/methodology/approach: A Systematic Literature Review (RSL) was developed using the following combinations of keywords on the Web of Science and Scopus databases: Industry 4.0 And Sustainability, Industry 4.0 And Service, and Industry 4.0 And Sustainable Development, in which 24 papers were selected. Findings: As a result, the authors found 100 benefits for sustainable development, which were further categorized into 54 advantages for the economic area, 25 for the social segment and 21 for environmental aspects. In this way, the results can help private companies understand the use of these technologies aimed at sustainable growth, plus bolstering the government to conduct public policies to encourage these practices in technology organizations. Practical implications: As a practical implication, this study offers insight into the evolution of sustainable development. It enables the emergence of works that wish to explore the service sector, providing relevant information for decision-making and influencing managers and policymakers on the importance of applying Industry 4.0 toward the sustainability of the service sector and its applications. Originality/value: The originality of this study lies in expanding the understanding generated by 4.0 technologies, by diverting attention from the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, which have abundant literature on the subject. With this, this work demonstrated that modern technologies have greater possibilities of an action directed at the service sector, in addition to being able to contribute to Sustainability 4.0 from the perspective of the sustainability tripod. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A simple µPAD based on Griess chemistry is presented for rapid determination of iodate. • A wide linear range offers potential applications of this µPAD for determining iodate levels in different kinds of samples. • The device is easy to fabricate with rapid operation. We report a convenient microfluidic paper-based analytical device (µPAD) for the determination of iodate. The µPAD was fabricated using an ink-stamp with a simple circle design. Colorimetric detection of iodate employs the oxidation of hydroxylamine by the iodate to generate nitrite which reacts with the Griess reagent producing an intense magenta color. The images were recorded by a digital camera, and converted to a green scale color intensity by ImageJ. Calibration of iodate was linear in the range of 50–400 mg L−1 with a detection limit of 38.1 mg L−1. With such a wide linear range, the method can be applied to various kinds of samples with the entire process completed in 50 s. Good precision of measurement was obtained (<2 %RSD). Iodate levels were determined using the µPADs in table salt and irrigation water samples. The measured concentrations of the samples correlated well with the values as found by the standard iodometric titration (no statistical difference at a 95% confidence level). The developed device is simple with easy fabrication and rapid operation. It is portable and cost-effective and therefore suitable for quality control of iodate levels in the manufacturing and agricultural industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the full article based on a conference paper. Pipe robots are used in agricultural engineering for transportation of materials. Also, they are used for cleaning the internal surfaces of the pipes. In the process of numerical investigation of dynamics of a pipe robot, a specific model for viscous friction is used. This influences the results of numerical calculations of dynamics of a pipe robot. A numerical procedure for more precise calculation of viscous friction is proposed in the paper. Results of investigations for two values of time steps are obtained and presented: without the proposed procedure and with it. Advantages of the improved calculation of viscous friction are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture holds a crucial position in maintaining livelihoods and securing food sources, particularly in nations such as Ethiopia, where a substantial portion of the population depends on agricultural pursuits. However, meeting the growing demand for food production amidst population growth presents considerable challenges. Recent advancements in technology, particularly in the areas of Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), and the Internet of Things (IoT) offer promising solutions to address these challenges. This paper explores the potential of integrating ML, DL, and IoT technologies in agriculture to revolutionize the sector. By harnessing data-driven insights, farmers can make informed decisions regarding crop management, soil health, and weather patterns, leading to optimized resource allocation and increased productivity. Moreover, IoT devices enable the real-time monitoring and control of agricultural operations, enhancing sustainability and productivity. Despite the opportunities presented by these technologies, there are also challenges to overcome, such as data quality, connectivity issues, and the need for farmer education. However, with concerted efforts and investment, Ethiopia and other agricultural regions can unlock the full potential of ML, DL, and IoT technologies to ensure food security, alleviate poverty, and drive economic development. This review paper offers perspectives on the present status, challenges, and future possibilities regarding the integration of ML, DL, and IoT in agriculture. It underscores the transformative potential of these technologies within the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global agriculture industry is encountering challenges due to labor shortages and the demand for increased efficiency. Currently, fruit yield estimation in guava orchards primarily depends on manual counting. Machine vision is an essential technology for enabling automatic yield estimation in guava production. To address the detection of guava in complex natural environments, this paper proposes an improved lightweight and efficient detection model, V-YOLO (VanillaNet-YOLO). By utilizing the more lightweight and efficient VanillaNet as the backbone network and modifying the head part of the model, we enhance detection accuracy, reduce the number of model parameters, and improve detection speed. Experimental results demonstrate that V-YOLO and YOLOv10n achieve the same mean average precision (mAP) of 95.0%, but V-YOLO uses only 43.2% of the parameters required by YOLOv10n, performs calculations at 41.4% of the computational cost, and exhibits a detection speed that is 2.67 times that of YOLOv10n. These findings indicate that V-YOLO can be employed for rapid detection and counting of guava, providing an effective method for visually estimating fruit yield in guava orchards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the significance of digital governance for sustainable rural development in China, emphasizing the collaborative efforts of village administrative organizations, new agricultural business entities, and peasant households. Utilizing an evolutionary game approach, we examine the decision-making behaviors and stability points of these three entities within the context of rural digital governance. Our analysis is grounded in a mechanism of interest linkage among the stakeholders, with numerical simulations used to assess the impact of key variables and parameters on their evolutionary outcomes. The paper reveals that village administrative organizations are highly sensitive to changes in performance gains, special subsidies, penalty losses, and benefit distribution coefficients. Enhancing these variables can significantly motivate these organizations to engage in digital governance. In contrast, new agricultural business entities and peasant households demonstrate a stronger and more consistent willingness to collaborate, minimally affected by variable changes, which suggests a solid economic and social foundation for rural digital governance in China. Our paper underscores the need for positive incentives and a robust fault-tolerance mechanism to foster collaboration among village administrative organizations. It also highlights the importance of integrating new agricultural business entities into the digital governance framework to promote sustainable rural development. These insights provide valuable theoretical and practical implications for policymakers aiming to enhance the efficacy and inclusivity of digital governance in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of groundwater is essential for agriculture, households, and industry. Concerns about its sustainability have been raised due to depletion and pollution in various parts of China. To address this, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is the most suitable approach for implementing integrated sustainability in groundwater resources. This research aimed to investigate the LCA of groundwater in China by analyzing its economic, environmental, and social sustainability based on various research papers conducted between 1999 and 2022, providing insights into the current state of research and suggesting sustainable measures for safeguarding groundwater resources in specific regions and industries in China. The study indicates that specific sector-wise measures should be taken to ensure sustainable groundwater protection in China. Intercropping and drip irrigation systems can be sustainable and effective methods for protecting groundwater in the agricultural sector. New power plants should be constructed in the water-rich southern regions, and long-term water-saving measures should be implemented in China's coal mining industry. All water resources should be integrated into the regional water supply system to reduce dependence on groundwater. Furthermore, more research is needed to investigate all elements of sustainable development in provinces that consume high amounts of groundwater but have limited storage capacity. These recommendations can be helpful to policymakers in promoting the sustainable development of groundwater resources in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture was and remains the support of human existence, representing the backbone of the Romanian rural economy. The gross domestic product represents a macroeconomic indicator of results, being the consequence of the efficient use of resources. In this context, the authors analyze the place that agriculture holds in achieving the gross domestic product in Romania compared to the European Union, as well as its dynamics. In this sense, the share of resources in the formation of the gross domestic product in the period 2000-2022 is presented. The main research methods used for this work are: analysis, synthesis, comparison and mathematical analysis. From the analysis carried out, conclusive ideas emerge, and the article becomes even more suggestive, in that it is accompanied by tables synthesized by the authors and relevant graphics that highlight and support the assessments that the authors make in the content of this article. At the end of the paper, the authors emphasize the fact that the GDP is the most complex indicator that reflects the transformations that the Romanian economy has gone through in recent years. From the point of view of the use of resources, it can be seen that the share of the agricultural sector has registered a downward evolution, which can be largely explained by the increase in the importance of industry and the service sector in the overall national economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Republic of Moldova has made significant strides in adopting organic farming practices, supported by government subsidies and strategic focus on market demand. This paper aims to analyze the economic performance of organic farms in Moldova and their impact on the sustainable development of the agricultural sector, using primary data collected from 63 organic farms benefiting from subsidies between 2020 and 2022. The agricultural sector in Moldova has experienced a gradual increase in cultivated land, with a noteworthy 9.5% dedicated to organic farming. Economically, farmers have seen substantial growth in income per hectare, credited to favorable climatic conditions and advanced technologies. Although organic farming contributes significantly, constituting approximately one-third of total income, conventional agriculture remains the primary contributor with two-thirds. The impact of subsidies from the National Fund for Agricultural and Rural Development is evident in farm development, as calculated profits per one lei of subsidy have surged from 1.51 to 10.43 lei in 2022. This underscores the effectiveness of government support in fostering growth and development within Moldova's agricultural sector, emphasizing a positive trajectory for sustainable agricultural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores to evaluate how Pakistan's agriculture is affected by climate change and to find techniques to mitigate and adapt to the changes. Pakistan's agriculture industry is drastically affected by climate change. The continuous inclination of temperature, shifting weather patterns, and more frequent climate change events are remarkably reducing crop yields, compromising food security and posing serious threats to rural livelihood. In order to evaluate the effects of climate change on agricultural output, water resources, and controlling pests, this study sought farmers in liable areas, reviewed a variety of literature in detail, and examined climate data. The paper also founds critical declines in crop yields, changes in developing seasons, and expanded irritation and sickness pressure. Farmers were observed using more groundwater, which resulted in a shortage of water and less fertile land. Pakistan needs to prioritize climateresilient agricultural techniques, raise farmer awareness and capacity building, improve water management, and encourage crop variety to ensure agricultural sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leisure agriculture in suburban towns provides important space for citizens to carry out leisure activities. This paper takes Xinkou town in Tianjin city as an example to analyze the development efficiency of leisure agriculture in suburban towns. On the premise of establishing the indicators for evaluating the development efficiency of leisure agriculture in Xinkou town, this paper first uses the data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the input and output indicators of leisure agriculture in 18 natural villages in Xinkou town, and calculates the comprehensive technical efficiency, target values, redundancy and returns to scale of leisure agriculture, and then evaluates the development efficiency of leisure agriculture in Xinkou town. Furthermore, by using the high/low clustering tool under the ArcGIS spatial statistics module, this paper conducts a high/low clustering analysis of the development efficiency of leisure agriculture in 18 natural villages of Xinkou town, and figures out the reasons for the high/low clustering of natural villages in Xinkou town spatially. After the research and analysis, the following conclusions are drawn: From the input–output perspective, except for Zhengzhuangzi village, Diliubu village, Yuejiakai village, and Dangcheng village, the development efficiency of leisure agriculture in other villages is relatively low due to their poor resource foundations, or deficiencies in management experience and transportation location. The development of leisure agriculture in Xinkou town is unbalanced, showing a pattern of polarized clusters: Diliubu village and Shuigaozhuang village form the most obvious high-value cluster, while Xiaoshawo village, Bijia village and Xuanjiayuan village form the most obvious low-value cluster, where the southeast corner of Xinkou town registers the lowest development efficiency value of leisure agriculture because it is far away from the town center and the main transportation arteries, and falls short of high-quality pastoral scenery. For the future development of leisure agriculture in Xinkou town, it is supposed to optimize the land use policy, provide active support to the competitive industrial and commercial capital, non-governmental capital, rural collective economic organizations, farmers' cooperatives, and family farms, strengthen the in-depth integration of industries, improve the support system for new-type leisure agriculture, and build leisure agriculture brands with local features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and background In recent years, there has been a notable resurgence of medium-scale commercial farms in Africa. However, scholarly focus on their capacity to drive structural transformation, promote inclusivity, empower communities, generate wealth, and enhance livelihoods has been limited. Specifically examining the Zimbabwean context, this article contends that medium-scale farms play pivotal roles in production, social reproduction, income generation, commercialisation, investment and capital accumulation. These contributions have been significant in facilitating structural transformation, wealth generation, and improved livelihoods. Goal and Objectives: The paper is primarily concerned with exploring the extent to which mediumscale commercial agriculture contributes to structural transformation, wealth creation and enhanced livelihoods in the Zimbabwean and wider African context. Methodology: The paper utilized a mixed methods research approach comprising of a survey and in-depth interviews which targeted 200 resettled households in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Results: Medium-scale farms possess the ability to play a role in structural transformation, wealth generation, and improved livelihoods. Factors such as land access, a supportive macroeconomic and policy environment, robust and inclusive land governance, and efficient administrative institutions hold promise in addressing and mitigating the challenges related to poverty, disenfranchisement, marginalization, and inequalities in power and resource allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemp has long been a traditional crop in Spain, although it almost disappeared in 1972. In that year the paper industry started using hemp as a raw material, and as a consequence, there was a renewed interest in the crop. At present, hemp is mainly grown in northeast Spain (800 ha). Farmers appreciate its agronomic and economic advantages but the future of the crop depends on the effect of the recent EU regulations and the ability of the industry to develop new hemp based products. The objective of this paper is to describe to hemp cropping practices, fibre processing and uses in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One type of aquaculture that is commonly found in Indonesia is freshwater fisheries in the form of densely stocked fish ponds. An important factor that supports the success of this aquaculture is an appropriate and scheduled feeding system the fish. To address this problem, this paper proposed a smart automation system was designed and implemented to perform feeding management with solar panel as the power. To enhance the productivity of the fish, this paper proposing a new contribution based on Internet of Things (IoT) solution that could control and monitoring the schedule time and amount of feeding and the food behavior of fish. This system is accessed through the Cayenne website and using LoRa TTGO SX1276 to microcontroller and it showed that the schedule and amount of feed was successful with a high accuracy and the panel system also worked well in monitoring and controlling the power system. From the results of testing the entire system, it can be concluded that the feeding automation system can help optimize the productivity of freshwater aquaculture, and provides an innovative solution which user-friendly, secure, scalable, low cost and go green, reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The survey of the structure of farms is carried out by all the member states of the European Union, with agricultural holding as the statistical unit of measure. Thus, all the member states of the European Union are based on the definition of agricultural exploitation where it is mentioned that "agricultural exploitation means a single unit, both from a technical and economic point of view, with a single management, which carries out its agricultural activities on the economic territory of the EU, either as a primary activity or as a secondary activity". The purpose of the paper is to highlight the evolution and importance of studying agriculture, more specifically agricultural holdings, by performing a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the specialized literature. Thus, to achieve the proposed goal, the web of science database was accessed in order to perform a bibliometric analysis. Thus, following the application of the bibliometric analysis, it can be argued that this sector has been given considerable interest, as evidenced by the high number of articles published recently, regarding the analysis of agricultural holdings. By querying the mentioned database, 26,804 scientific articles were found after the phrase "agricultural farms". Most such papers were published by authors from the US (28.4% of the total number of papers) and China (18.7% of the total number of papers) in the Journal of agricultural and food chemistry (1.52%) and Acta horticulture (1.39%). Because this topic of agricultural holdings is vast and many countries are involved in approaching it in different ways, further studies are recommended on analyzing the evolution and importance of agricultural holdings in different countries and identifying the discrepancies between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data mining, the purpose of this study is to forecast and analyze the growth of the cotton cultivation industry and the policy financial support demands in the Aksu region. Data mining is a method for maximizing the value of data via the application of numerous algorithms. In contrast to conventional data mining, which adheres to specific algorithms, data mining employs a variety of analysis algorithms to analyze raw data, such as image and panel data, and produce accurate results. In this paper, we propose a data mining method that combines the semantic segmentation algorithm of remote sensing images with various nonlinear regression algorithms to predict the demand for policy-based financial support in a specific region based on a combination of multiple factors, including agricultural crop cultivation area, catastrophe analyses, agricultural price and inflation rates, etc. This paper intends to estimate and analyze actual data pertaining to the cotton cultivation industry in Aksu, and this methodology can further improve the policy-based financial inverse model. The methods presented in this paper can further improve countercyclical regulation of policy finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to draw a research agenda for unveiling the underlying bottlenecks and possibilities for improving the agricultural total factor productivity in the European Union (EU). To this aim, the paper first surveys the key challenges for the modern agricultural economy. Then, the case of the EU is discussed by looking at the convergence in the partial productivity indicators (including the GHG emission) and growth efficiency that relate to the gap in the total factor productivity growth. The results suggest that the EU member states exhibited growth inefficiency (i.e., a gap in the total factor productivity growth) of 5–9% on average during 2004–2021. The paper also discusses the possibilities to utilize the production theory for assessing the pathways towards improvements in the productivity and sustainability of the EU agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the more pro-environmental attitudes of farmers influence the technical efficiency of agricultural sectors in EU regions (NUTS-2). To answer this, I employed data envelopment analysis (DEA) for efficiency analysis combined with the double bootstrapped truncated regression to investigate the relationship between environmental attitudes and technical efficiency. I found that this relationship is positive, i.e. pro--environmental attitudes were related to greater efficiency. An increase in the environmental attitude variable by one standard deviation led to an improvement in efficiency of 2.8-6 p.p. The higher share of farmers with formal training also proved to be a positive and significant determinant of efficiency. The share of arable land on which conventional tillage was used, and soil erosion proved to be significant but negative determinants of efficiency. Policymakers should present to farmers the environmental benefits of agricultural policy but should also highlight that greater environmental awareness translates into a more efficient operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]