Plants harbor a diverse microbiome existing as bacterial populations on the leaf surface (the phyllosphere) and within plant tissues (endophytes). The composition of this microbiome has been largely unexplored in fresh produce vegetables, where studies have tended to focus on pathogen detection...

This paper presents a new approach to evaluate the cost effectiveness of agri-environmental policies at sector level. Policy uptake, cumulative environmental effects and public expenditure are identified as the main determinants of cost-effectiveness. On the basis of the sector-consistent,...

An empirically-based approach was developed to forecast the use of family labour, external labour, contractors and off-farm work in the agentbased sector model SWISSland. The forecast was based on a two-phase procedure. In the first phase, a Bayesian network was used to estimate the agents’...

In den kommenden Jahren ändern sich wesentliche Rahmenbedingungen für die Almwirtschaft in Österreich, insbesondere als Folge der Reform der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik und dem Ende der EU-Milchquotenregelung. Vor diesem Hintergrund analysiert die vorliegende Studie die ökonomischen...

The origin of agricultural products is gaining in appreciation while often hard to determine for various reasons. Geographical origin may be resolved using a combination of chemical and physical analytical technologies. In the present case of Lily of the Valley (<i>Convallaria majalis</i>) rhizomes, we...

Subsistence Bhutanese farmers spread across different agro-ecological zones maintain large species and varietal diversity of different crops in their farm. However, no studies have been undertaken yet to assess why farmers conserve and maintain large agro-biodiversity, the extent of...

The efficacy of “gaseous” ozone in reducing numbers and re-growth of food-borne pathogens, (<i>Escherichia coli </i>and<i> Listeria </i>spp.), on leafy salads was investigated using spinach. A preliminary<i> in vivo</i> study showed 1-log reduction in six strains of <i>E. coli</i> and two species of <i>Listeria</i> spp. on...

This study provides empirical evidence of factors that influence the adoption of an improved groundnut variety (La Fleur 11), and chemical fertilizer in the Senegalese Groundnut Basin. Pooled cross-sectional time-series farm level data collected in the Basin are used to estimate univariate and...

Increasing foreign exchange problems and the deteriorating prices of traditional export commodities in developing countries are leading agricultural policy makers and donor agencies to seek diversification in export crop production. In Ghana, horticultural crops such as pineapples, mangoes and...

The aim of this paper is the evaluation of gross value added inequality in the field production businesses, including the definition of determinants that cause or eliminate the mentioned inequality. The fulfillment of this aim is based on the quantification and decomposition of the Gini...