Research on organic agriculture in the Netherlands : organisation, methodology and results

Chapters: 1. Organic agriculture in the Netherlands; 2. Dutch research on organic agriculture: approaches and characteristics; 3. Dutch knowledge infrastructure for organic agricultur'; 4. Sustainable systems; 5. Good soil: a good start; 6. Robust varieties and vigorous propagation material; 7. Prevention and control of weeds, pests and diseases; 8. Health and welfare of organic livestock; 9. Animal production and feeding; 10. Special branches: organic greenhouse production, bulbs, ornamentals and aquaculture; 11. Healthfulness and quality of products; 12. Economy, market and chain; 13. People and society. A publication of Wageningen UR and Louis Bolk Institut

A Review: Peanut Fatty Acids Determination Using Hyper Spectroscopy Imaging and Its Significance on Food Quality and Safety

This paper is a review of determination of peanut fatty acids by using Hyper Spectral Imaging (HSI) methods as a non-destructive food quality and safety monitoring. The key spectral areas are the visual and near-infrared wavelengths. Few have been published on determination of peanut fatty acids by using HSI as an efficient and effective method for evaluating the quality and safety of oil. Providentially, the use of HSI has been observed to have positive effects on determination of food quality and safety (Smith B. 2012). It has gained a wide recognition as a non-destructive, fast, quality and safety analysis, and assessment method for a wide range of food products.  Literature shows that, HSI is not commonly and widely used therefore this paper aspires to emphasize the use of HSI on improving the quality and safety of peanut oil and its products based on the determination of peanut fatty acids. The authors predicted that even in its current imperfect on the affordability, maintenance and complexity on finding solutions or model approaches to their food quality problems from optics, imaging, and spectroscopy, yet HSI is the best method than other current existing methods, and can give an idea of how to better meet market and consumer needs on high food quality and safety for their better healthy. Key words: Hyper spectral imaging, Peanut (Arachis hypogaea), oil, Oleic and linoleic fatty acid, Food quality, food safety

Study of Detached (Fresh) Leaf and Dried Leaf with Image Processing

Agriculture is the keystone of human being provisions on this world. Now with rising inhabitants we need the efficiency of the agriculture to be augmented a lot to meet the demands. In ancient days they used natural methods to boost the yield, such as using the animal dung as manure in the fields. That resulted increase in the productivity sufficient to meet the requirements of the population. Although later people started thinking of earning more profits by getting more result. So, there came a revolution called “Green Revolution”. So, in this paper we have carried out some methods to measure the plant growth by the means of having area of a leaf. The study gives aspect of comparing the detached leaf with the dried leaf and it will be helpful to researcher to evaluate the dryness and also it will be helpful for the analysis at the time of biodegradation of the leaves and for the generation of organic manures. In this paper we implemented image processing using IJ (Image J 1.48V – Java 1.6.0_20(32- bit)) to measure various image processing related functions. And images of plants we took from D. K. Parmar’s field. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15011

Organic produce from the Republic of South Africa. Exploring the conditions for enhancing trade in organic vegetables, fruit and wine

Conditions for enhancing the trade in organic products between the Netherlands and the Republic of South Africa were assessed by means of a SWOT analysis, based on information acquired through interviews and desk research. There is a large potential to enhance the trade in organic products between the two countries, although the following issues need to be addressed: the finalisation of the RSA legislation on organic production (which will enable large enough volumes to be produced and traded), skills development and the presence of an effective platform for organic production in the RS

Destiny or Free Will Decision? A Life Overview from the Perspective of an Informational Modeling of Consciousness Part I: Information, Consciousness and Life Cycle

We drive our lives permanently by decisions YES/NO, and even we no longer distinguish the elementary intermediary steps of such decisions most often, they form stereotyped chains that once triggered, they run unconsciously, daily facilitating our activities. We lead our lives actually by conscious decisions, each of such decisions establishing our future trajectory. The YES/NO dipole is actually the elemental evaluation and decisional unit in the informational transmission/reception equipment and lines and in computers, respectively. Based on a binary probabilistic system, this is defined as a unit of information (Bit). We operate therefore as an informational system and we actually live in a bipolar universe, which is fundamentally informational. Indeed, the laws of nature and its equilibrium or steady state conditions are based on bipolar units with opposite characteristics, such as action/reaction, attraction/rejection, gravity/anti-gravity, matter/antimatter, entropy/anti-entropy, to enumerate just a few examples. As part of this bipolar universe, we are also bipolar entities connected to information and matter. Starting from the informational features of the human being, seven informational components are identified, forming the informational system of the human body, distinguished by their different functions, reflected at the conscious level through the center Iknow (the memory, including whole life experience), Iwant (decisions center), Iove (emotions), Iam (body status), Icreate (informational genetic transmitter), Icreated (genetic generator inherited from parents) and Ibelieve, which is the gateway to the antientropic component, favorable to maintain the life structure and functioning. Taking into account the characteristics of these centers, it is discussed the life cycle and are deduced suitable conclusions concerning an optimal, active lifestyle, that would contribute to a successful life, aging and destiny

EFRC Bulletin 77

EFRC's regular newletter covering policy, agricutlural research, policy and advisory wor

Integrating Food Policy with Growing Health and Wellness Concerns: An Analytical Literature Review of the Issues Affecting Government, Industry, and Civil Society

Over the past few years, there has been growing global interest in the link between food and health. This paper provides a review of some of the recent literature describing these linkages. The first section provides an overview of findings that link the consumption of fruits and vegetables, meat, eggs, whole-grains, alcohol, sugar, dairy, fish, pulses, soy, and nuts to coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. The authors then summarize various international and domestic non-government organizations' views about these issues. The third section centres on the food industry and its responses to growing health concerns. The fourth section is an overview of public policy relating to food and health, including the use of food policy to change consumption behaviour and address obesity. This section also includes a discussion of the relevance of policies designed to discourage smoking to the current debate on obesity. The Conclusion highlights ways in which Canadian food policy can be adapted in order to better promote health and wellness.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Agribusiness,