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The agri-food sector is more complex than the industrial sector due to different climatic, geomorphologic and cultivation practice factors. Agriculture operations can significantly affect phenomena, such as erosion and leaching, and generate different types of emissions into the environment. These aspects should be considered when performing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study on agri-food products, mainly because these elements are influenced by both natural and human factors that generate negative health and ecotoxicological impacts. The “Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment - heavy metals (SALCA-HM)” allows for calculating heavy metal emissions at the life cycle inventory level as part of LCA at a regional level. This study aims to customise the SALCA-HM for five Italian agricultural products (i.e., durum and common wheat, grapes, olives, and citrus fruits), using region- and crop-specific data. The results showed that, even though all the factors relating to cultivation techniques are constant, the use of site-specific data makes it possible to highlight the influence of the orographic characteristics of the territory. Therefore, the high variability of the results can be perceived as a strength of this regionalised approach, thus overcoming several limitations by using national average data instead. More effort is needed to enable greater data availability both for policy and the scientific community.

Introduction: Greenhouse gases absorb the radiation reflected from the earth surface which would otherwise be sent back into space. The composition and mixture of these gases make life on earth possible. In recent years, human activity has affected both the composition and mixture of the atmosphere, modifying the climate. When climate changes, crop production is affected. There are many studies that consider the type and amount of production changes for particular crops, places and scenarios. Others attempt to expand knowledge about production changes and their impacts on economy and regional welfare. Climate change affects agriculture through direct and indirect affects i.e. temperature, and precipitation changes in the biological and physical environment. Restriction in water availability is one of the most dramatic consequences of climate change for the agricultural sector. Water availability is expected to be even more limited in the future. Scarcity of water is due to potential evapotranspiration increase. It is related to increase in air and earth surface temperatures. This phenomenon is important in low-precipitation seasons, and is even more severe in dry areas. The number of regions with loss of soil moisture is expected to increase, resulting in direct economic consequences on the production capacity. Considering the above decisions, the main objective of this paper is to integrate climate change into agricultural decision-making by using an Economic Modeling System to identify the impacts of climate change induced by greenhouse gas emissions on agricultural sector productions and available water resources in the down lands of the Taleghan Dam. Materials and Methods: In this study, the effects of greenhouse gases on climate variables of temperature and precipitation under emission scenarios A1B, A2 and B1 were evaluated using time series data from 1981- 2008 and General Circulation Models (GCM). Then Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) was used to survey the impacts of climate variables on the selected products yield. Changes in agricultural production, farmer’s gross profit and economic value of irrigation water were analyzed and compared with the base year by the regression analysis results in the Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) model. This methodology that was developed by Howitt (1995) to calibrate agricultural supply models has been used to link biophysical and economic information in an integrated biophysical and economic modeling framework and to assess the impacts of agricultural policies and scenarios. These models are also accepted for analyzing the impact of climate change and water resources management policies and scenarios. The PMP model used in this paper is a three-step procedure in which a non-linear cost function is calibrated to observe values of inputs usage in agricultural production. In the basic formulation, the first step is a linear program providing marginal values that are used in the second step to estimate the parameters for a non-linear cost function and a production function. In the third step, the calibrated production and cost functions are used in a non-linear optimization program. The solution to this non-linear program calibrates to observed values of production inputs and output. The required data in this paper were collected from meteorological stations and the relevant agencies in the Qazvin province. Regression functions estimated in Eviews software package and the PMP model were solved in GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling System) software. Results and Discussion: The results obtained in this paper showed that with emissions of greenhouse gases under the studied scenarios (A1B, A2 and B1), the average annual climate variables of temperature and precipitation changes from 1.64 to 2.28 °C and from20.92 to 1.1 mm, respectively. With these change, the yield of the most selected products decreases in the down lands of Taleghan Dam. Moreover, the obtained results showed that with emissions of greenhouse gases under the scenarios A1B, A2 and B1, the total acreage of the selected products changes from 2.18 to 4.09 percent. Total used water also decreases from 1.67 to 5.18 percent. Moreover, with emissions of greenhouse gas under the above scenarios total farmer’s gross profit decreases from 1.93 to 3.72 percent. However, the economic value of water increases from 4.27 to 13.6 percent in comparison with the base year. Conclusion: In this study finally, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the vicinity of the down lands of the Taleghan Dam, it is recommended that the government should use punitive tools (green complications) for polluting units and serve the private sectors in forestry projects in the vicinity of the industrial towns. Keywords: Agricultural productions, Climate change, Greenhouse Gases, Positive Mathematical Programming, Taleghan Dam

With the continuation of droughts and the reduction of environmental resources in rural areas, employment capacity in the agricultural sector has decreased. In this regard, one of the most important strategies is the establishment of rural industries, with particular attention to capacities such as the production of drought resistant products due to the emergence of the leading challenge. For this purpose, the aim of this study was to determine the proper location of industrial area, to locate the industrial zone of barberry and jujube products. The study area is rural areas of Birjand County. This research was conducted in year 2016 as a library, questionnaire and field study. Data analysis has been done using DEMETL and ANP techniques. For this purpose, a paired questionnaire was distributed among 15 experts, and using the Arcmap software, the information layers were extracted from the satellite DEM layer (Image TM, May 2012) and the climatic layer (2011-2011) in South Khorasan Province, and finally, the optimal industrial area was obtained.Access to water resources by a factor of (0.4529), suitable slope (0.4239), access to human resources (0.3125), faults (0.2250), the distance from the watercourse (0.1495) and access to the main thoroughfares (0.1119) industrial Area has the most weight in determining the optimal location. The services (0.0347) and access to urban centers and offices (0.0476) are the least important. Birjand county an area of 1043 Km2 of total area, only 7 Km2 it is appropriate to establish rural industrial area.

Changes in climate extremes under 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming may impact agricultural production across Central Asia. We used the simulated daily data of average temperature, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and precipitation provided by the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project and analyzed the current climate status and future projected changes of a set of climate extreme indices related to agricultural production under 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming. In addition, the possible impacts of climate change on agricultural production in Central Asia were discussed. The results show that the annual mean temperature in Central Asia will increase by 1.48 °C and 2.34 °C at 1.5 °C and 2 °C warming levels, respectively, compared to the base period (1986–2005), and the increasing trends are significant at the α = 0.01 level for all grids. The number of warm days and growing season length will increase. Under the 1.5 °C scenario, the mean annual total precipitation (PRCPTOT) and heavy precipitation (R95P) will experience increases of 7.68% and 26.55%, respectively, and the consecutive dry days (CDD) will be reduced by 1.1 days. However, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) shows significant drought conditions in most of Central Asia (more than 60%). Under the 2 °C scenario, there will be a 3.89% increase in PRCPTOT and a 24.78% increase in R95P. Nevertheless, accompanying the increase in CDD (0.8 day) and the decrease in SPEI, drought conditions will be further exacerbated. These results indicate that Central Asia is likely to face more severe ecological problems in the future, which will threaten the regional agricultural production and the food security. Therefore, adaptation strategies should be implemented immediately to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on Central Asia’s agriculture.

Abstract This study evaluated the use of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of shape, as a bio-indicator developmental stability (DS) in multiple populations of two different agricultural productions a) perennial (orchard) and b) annual (arable) crops on the carabid beetle Pterostichus melas melas (Creutzer, 1799) morphology. Shape variation and FA levels were estimated using geometric morphometrics. The results obtained using geometric morphometric analyses such as regressions (FA scores vs Shape) and partial least squares showed that carabids that inhabited the perennial agro-ecosystem seem to have adapted to the strong anthropogenic influence (i.e. IPM practices) at the phenotypic level, while the carabids inhabiting annual agro-ecosystems experience more unstable environments and their phenotypes seem to have been changed more recently. It was expected that phenotypes of the annual agro-ecosystems would be more variable than the long-established ones. Different IPM practices in agro-ecosystems generate different disturbance degrees in insect communities, and these effects can be successfully quantified by applying geometric morphometric techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El impacto de los parámetros climáticos para el tiempo en producciones agrícolas en el Condado de Dolj. Para una evaluación objetiva de las condiciones agrometeorologicas existentes en el área, en términos de su potencial agroproductivo, aparecio la necesidad de un estudio comparativo sobre las temporadas de crecimiento agrícolas y en el rango de 1980-2008, en el condado de Dolj. El régimen de agua de las plantas junto con el tratamiento térmico son algunos de los factores determinantes del rendimiento del metabolismo normal de la planta de cuerpo entero, teniendo de esta manera un papel fisiológico especial.

Food health and quality are the keywords recurring both into the VII Framework Programme of EU, both in the PNR and development plans arranged by several Italian regions. Essentially, the increase and definition of quality of agri-food products represent necessary tools to give new impulse and renovation to this sector. The late developments of European and Italian laws show a clear trend towards the need to give consumer clear indications on different qualitative aspects of agri-food products, besides their microbiological security. The capacity to increase the quantity of secondary metabolites (vitamins and antioxidants) in crops is particularly interesting for the development of products with high health value (functional food). Breeding programmes have already obtained lines improved about these characteristics. The need to develop assessment strategies giving scientifically reliable information on traceability and health of food derived from genetically modified plants. Assessment of the risk coming from genetically modified plants is mainly based on the so-called “principle of substantial equivalence” or “of comparative safety”, claiming that a transgenic genotype shouldn’t show any substantial change with respect of the corresponding non-transgenic genotype. These changes are obviously considered healthy in case of the current commercial varieties. The new “-omics” disciplines such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, born together with and subsequent to the complete sequencing of model genomes, can give an overview of first matters and food compositions, thus allowing the making of an overall assessment of their quality and safety. These new and sophisticated tools for molecular investigation can help and strengthen the commonly used methods, meeting the new requirements of traceability and authenticity certification.

This paper is based mainly of the 1572 Ottoman survey of Cyprus arranged by the Ottoman central administration after the Ottomans completely captured the island of Cyprus in the same year. This Ottoman Detailed Survey (Cyprus Mufassal Defteri), written in Ottoman Turkish, is now kept at the Archives of The General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of Turkey and was published as facsimile in 2013 in Ankara. We can find important data about the town of Paphos itself and its environs from this survey. According to this survey, the town of Paphos was one of the medium-sized towns of Cyprus with a population of 1,200-1,300 persons. Since Medieval times, many European travelers visited the town of Paphos, especially the Temple of Aphrodite and the Chapel of Seven Sleepers. After 1572, the Ottoman administration began to construct a fortress at the town of Paphos for military reasons. This paper provides much Ottoman data about the town of Paphos in 1572, rural life, villages, agricultural products and Ottoman taxation from the survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]