A novel data dissemination model for organic data flows

The number of computing devices of the IoT are expected to grow exponentially. To address the communication needs of the IoT, research is being done to develop new networking architectures and to extend existing architectures. An area that lacks attention in these efforts is the emphasis on utilisation of omnipresent local data. There are a number of issues (e.g., underutilisation of local resources and dependence on cloud based data) that need to be addressed to exploit the benefits of utilising local data. We present a novel data dissemination model, called the Organic Data Dissemination (ODD) model to utilise the omni-present data around us, where devices deployed with the ODD model are able to operate even without the existence of networking infrastructure. The realisation of the ODD model requires innovations in many different area including the areas of opportunistic communications, naming of information, direct peer-to-peer communications and reinforcement learning. This paper focuses on highlighting the usage of the ODD model in real application scenarios and the details of the architectural components

Strategic Research Agenda for organic food and farming

The TP Organics Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) was finalised in December 2009. The purpose of the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) is to enable research, development and knowledge transfer that will deliver relevant outcomes – results that will contribute to the improvement of the organic sector and other low external input systems. The document has been developed through a dynamic consultative process that ran from 2008 to 2009. It involved a wide range of stakeholders who enthusiastically joined the effort to define organic research priorities. From December 2008 to February; the expert groups elaborated the first draft. The consultative process involved the active participation of many different countries. Consultation involved researchers, advisors, members of inspection/certification bodies, as well as different users/beneficiaries of the research such as farmers, processors, market actors and members of civil society organisations throughout Europe and further afield in order to gather the research needs of the whole organic sector

Implementation Action Plan for organic food and farming research

The Implementation Action Plan completes TP Organics’ trilogy of key documents of the Research Vision to 2025 (Niggli et al 2008) and the Strategic Research Agenda (Schmid et al 2009). The Implementation Action Plan addresses important areas for a successful implementation of the Strategic Research Agenda. It explores the strength of Europe’s organic sector on the world stage with about one quarter of the world’s organic agricultural land in 2008 and accounting for more than half of the global organic market. The aims and objectives of organic farming reflect a broad range of societal demands on the multiple roles of agriculture and food production of not only producing commodities but also ecosystem services. These are important for Europe’s economic success, the resilience of its farms and prosperity in its rural areas. The organic sector is a leading market for quality and authenticity: values at the heart of European food culture. Innovation is important across the EU economy, and no less so within the organic sector. The Implementation Action Plan devotes its third chapter to considering how innovation can be stimulated through organic food and farming research and, crucially, translated into changes in business and agricultural practice. TP Organics argues for a broad understanding of innovation that includes technology, know-how and social/organisational innovations. Accordingly, innovation can involve different actors throughout the food sector. Many examples illustrate innovations in the organic sector includign and beyond technology. The various restrictions imposed by organic standards have driven change and turned organic farms and food businesses into creative living laboratories for smart and green innovations and the sector will continue to generate new examples. The research topics proposed by TP Organics in the Strategic Research Agenda can drive innovation in areas as wide ranging as production practices for crops, technologies for livestock, food processing, quality management, on-farm renewable energy or insights into the effects of consumption of organic products on disease and wellbeing and life style of citizens. Importantly, many approaches developed within the sector are relevant and useful beyond the specific sector. The fourth chapter addresses knowledge management in organic agriculture, focusing on the further development of participatory research methods. Participatory (or trans-disciplinary) models recognise the worth and importance of different forms of knowledge and reduced boundaries between the generators and the users of knowledge, while respecting and benefitting from transparent division of tasks. The emphasis on joint creation and exchange of knowledge makes them valuable as part of a knowledge management toolkit as they have the capacity to enhance the translation of research outcomes into practical changes and lead to real-world progress. The Implementation Action Plan argues for the wider application of participatory methods in publicly-funded research and also proposes some criteria for evaluating participatory research, such as the involvement and satisfaction of stakeholders as well as real improvements in sustainability and delivery of public goods/services. European agriculture faces specific challenges but at the same time Europe has a unique potential for the development of agro-ecology based solutions that must be supported through well focused research. TP Organics believes that the most effective approaches in agriculture and food research will be systems-based, multi- and trans-disciplinary, and that in the development of research priorities, the interconnections between biodiversity, dietary diversity, functional diversity and health must be taken into account. Chapter five of the action plan identifies six themes which could be used to organise research and innovation activities in agriculture under Europe’s 8th Framework Programme on Research Cooperation: • Eco-functional intensification – A new area of agricultural research which aims to harness beneficial activities of the ecosystem to increase productivity in agriculture. • The economics of high output / low input farming Developing reliable economic and environmental assessments of new recycling, renewable-based and efficiency-boosting technologies for agriculture. • Health care schemes for livestock Shifting from therapeutics to livestock health care schemes based on good husbandry and disease prevention. • Resilience and “sustainagility” Dealing with a more rapidly changing environment by focusing on ‘adaptive capacity’ to help build resilience of farmers, farms and production methods. • From farm diversity to food diversity and health and wellbeing of citizens Building on existing initiatives to reconnect consumers and producers, use a ‘whole food chain’ approach to improve availability of natural and authentic foods. • Creating centres of innovation in farming communities A network of centres in Europe applying and developing trans-disciplinary and participatory scientific approaches to support innovation among farmers and SMEs and improving research capacities across Europe

Economic and social impacts of Integrated Aquaculture-Agriculture technologies in Bangladesh

This study estimated the adoption rate of integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) technologies in Bangladesh and their impact on poverty and fish and food consumption in adopting households. We used a novel, simulation-based approach to impact assessment called Tradeoff Analysis for Multi-Dimensional Impact Assessment (TOA-MD). We used the TOA-MD model to demonstrate how it is possible to use available data to estimate adoption rates in relevant populations, and to quantify impacts on distributional outcomes such as poverty and food security, thus demonstrating ex ante the potential for further investment in technology dissemination. The analysis used baseline and end-of-project survey data from WorldFish-implemented Development of Sustainable Aquaculture Project (DSAP), promoting IAA. This dataset was used to simulate adoption and assess its impacts on poverty and food security in the target population. We found that, if adopted, IAA had a significant positive impact on reducing poverty and improving food security and income

SusOrganic - Development of quality standards and optimised processing methods for organic produce - Final report

The SusOrganic project aimed to develop improved drying and cooling/freezing processes for organic products in terms of sustainability and objective product quality criteria. Initially, the consortium focused on a predefined set products to investigate (fish, meat, fruits and vegetables). Contacting participants in the fruit and vegetable sector showed that there is only little perceived need for making changes for the improvement of the processes. At the same time, it became clear that hops and herb producers (drying) face several challenges in terms of product quality and cost of drying processes. Therefore, the range of products was extended to these products. The results of a consumer survey conducted as part the project showed clearly that consumers trust in the organic label, but also tend to mix up the term organic with regional or fair ­trade. Further, the primary production on farm and not the processing is explicitly included in the consumers’ evaluation of sustainability. Appearance of organic products was found to be one of the least important quality criteria or attributes regarding buying decisions. However, there are indications that an imperfect appearance could be a quality attribute for consumers, as the product then is perceived to be processed without artificial additives. Regarding drying operations, small scale producers in the organic sector often work with old and/or modified techniques and technologies, which often leads to an inefficient drying processes due to high energy consumptions and decreased product quality. Inappropriate air volume flow and distribution often cause inefficient removal of the moisture from the product and heterogeneous drying throughout the bulk. Guidelines for improvement of the physical setup of existing driers as well as designs for new drying operations, including novel drying strategies were developed. Besides chilling and freezing, the innovative idea of superchilling was included into the project.The superchilled cold chain is only a few degrees colder than the refrigeration chain but has a significant impact on the preservation characteristic due to shock frosting of the outer layer of the product and the further distribution of very small ice crystals throughout the product during storage. Super­chilling of organically grown salmon eliminated the demand of ice for transport, resulting in both, a reduction of energy costs and a better value chain performance in terms of carbon foot printing. This is mainly due to the significantly reduced transport volume and weight without the presence of ice. The product quality is not different but the shelf life is extended compared to chilled fish. This means that the high quality of organic salmon can be maintained over a longer time period, which can be helpful,e.g. to reach far distant markets. The same trend was found for superchilled organic meat products such as pork and chicken. The consortium also developed innovative noninvasive measurement and control systems and improved drying strategies and systems for fruits, vegetables, herbs, hops and meat. Those systems are based on changes occurring inside the product and therefore require observation strategies of the product during the drying process. Through auditing campaigns as well as pilot scale drying tests it has been possible to develop optimisation strategies for both herb and hops commodities, which can help reduce microbial spoilage and retain higher levels of volatile product components whilst reducing the energy demands. These results can be applied with modifications to the other commodities under investigation. The environmental and cost performance of superchilling of salmon and drying of meat, fruit and vegetables were also investigated and the findings indicated that both superchilling and drying could improve sustainability of organic food value chains especially in case of far distant markets. An additional outcome of the project, beyond the original scope was the development of a noninvasive, visual sensor based detection system for authenticity checks of meat products in terms of fresh and prefrozen meats

WoodCircus, Underpinning the vital role of the forest-based sector in the Circular Bioeconomy. D2.2 Resource Efficiency, Side Streams and Value Chain Analysis – WP2 Final Report

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