Identifying and investigating pesticide application types to promote a more sustainable pesticide use: the case of smallholders in Boyacá, Colombia

The present paper investigates pesticide application types adopted by smallholder potato producers in the Department of Boyacá , Colombia. In this region, environmental, health and adverse economic effects due to pesticide mis- or over-use respectively have been observed. Firstly, pesticide application types were identified based on input-effectiveness. Secondly, their determinants of adoption were investigated. Finally suggestions were given to develop intervention options for transition towards a more sustainable pesticide use. Three application types were identified for fungicide and insecticide. The types differed in terms of input (intensity of pesticide application), effect (damage control), frequency of application, average quantity applied per application, chemical class, and productivity. Then, the determinants of different pesticide application types were investigated with a multinomial logistic regression approach and applying the integrative agent centred (IAC) framework. The area of the plot, attendance at training sessions and educational and income levels were among the most relevant determinants. The analysis suggested that better pesticide use could be fostered to reduce pesticide-related risks in the region. Intervention options were outlined, which may help in targeting this issue. They aim not only at educating farmers, but to change their social and institutional context, by involving other agents of the agricultural system (i.e. pesticide producers), facilitating new institutional settings (i.e. cooperatives) and targeting social dynamics (i.e. conformity to social norms)

The need and design of computerized farm management tools

In the 1980s the author was responsible for the development and marketing of on-farm computer systems in Sweden. Despite the efforts to use the best available knowledge and technology, the adoption rate was lower than expected. The aim of this review is to explain the slow adoption rate and suggest how computerized management tools should be designed to meet the needs of farmers. Many studies have been made trying to understand this problem, among others by the author. These studies are referred to in this review together with mainly reference to psychological literature. One main explanation of the slow adoption of on-farm computer systems is that computerized management tools produce analytic information, while farmers are using to a great extent intuitive thinking and intuition for decision making. According to one study, even the farmers using analytic thinking, in addition to their intuition, prefer “intuitive” information. Analytic methods have to be used in computerized management tools, of course, but the adoption experience suggests that the output information from on-farm computer systems should be further processed to fit intuitive thinking

Analysis of a new quaternary encoding for increased data throughput

Quaternary logic has the ability to be faster and consume less energy than conventional CMOS logic. Previous works on quaternary logic have only studied how quaternary logic works when the data size is compressed in order to save energy, which we will refer to as quaternary compression encoding. This thesis proposes and evaluates a new quaternary encoding, called the merging encoding, that focuses on increasing the data through put instead of compressing the size.The merging and compression systems have also been compared against each other. The merging encoding has been evaluated by simulating a Kogge-Stoneadder, and by testing how resistant that adder is against errors. We found that the merging encoding system does work as intended but that it is slightly worse at resisting errors, 35% worse than the compression encoding system. While error resistance is one of the hardest theoretical problems that quaternarylogic is facing, other aspects also exist. Some of these aspects, such as energy consumption and speed, have not been studied in this study but will bein future research papers

Analysis of a new quaternary encoding for increased data throughput

Quaternary logic has the ability to be faster and consume less energy than conventional CMOS logic. Previous works on quaternary logic have only studied how quaternary logic works when the data size is compressed in order to save energy, which we will refer to as quaternary compression encoding. This thesis proposes and evaluates a new quaternary encoding, called the merging encoding, that focuses on increasing the data through put instead of compressing the size.The merging and compression systems have also been compared against each other. The merging encoding has been evaluated by simulating a Kogge-Stoneadder, and by testing how resistant that adder is against errors. We found that the merging encoding system does work as intended but that it is slightly worse at resisting errors, 35% worse than the compression encoding system. While error resistance is one of the hardest theoretical problems that quaternarylogic is facing, other aspects also exist. Some of these aspects, such as energy consumption and speed, have not been studied in this study but will bein future research papers

Stavovi makedonskih poljoprivrednika prema pristupu EU

Macedonia has been a candidate-country for EU membership since 2005. The EU integrative process, without doubt, will have an impact on the Macedonian economy and particularly on the agricultural sector. So far, the farmers’ attitude and intentions with regard to the EU integration and accession have not been thoroughly investigated. Respectively, the objective of the paper is to provide understanding of the Macedonian farmers’ attitude and behavioural intentions in the context of EU accession and the potential policy and market changes. Furthermore, another issue is to establish whether there are significant discrepancies among farmers and their attitude towards EU accession. The results revealed that the farmer community in the country is quite heterogeneous in terms of farm and farmers’ profiles and farm management practices. The cluster analysis suggests that there are four clusters according to which the variables explaining the attitudes were significantly different, provisionally labelled as “optimist “, “moderate”, “restrained” and “sceptic”.Makedonija je država kandidat za ulazak u EU od 2005. Integracijski proces će nedvojbeno imati utjecaj na makedonsku ekonomiju, posebice na područuju poljoprivrede. Do sada nisu vršena značajnija istraživanja u vezi stavova i namjera poljoprivrednika u odnosu na integracije i pristup EU. U tom smislu, svrha ovoga rada jest pružiti uvid u stavove makedonskih poljoprivrednika i njihovih reakcija u kontekstu pristupa EU te potencijalne politike i promjena na tržištu. Nadalje, predmet istraživanja bilo je i utvrđivanje postoje li razlike između poljoprivrednika i njihovih stavova prema pristupanju EU. Rezultati su pokazali da su poljoprivrednici u zemlji poprilično heterogeni u smislu farme, profila poljoprivrednika i prakse vođenja farmi. Klaster analizom utvrđene su četiri grupe čije varijable reprezentiraju značajno različite stavove, provizorno označene kao „optimistični“, „umjereni“, „suzdržani“ i „skeptični“

Attitude of Macedonian farmers towards EU accession

Macedonia has been a candidate-country for EU membership since 2005. The EU integrative process, without doubt, will have an impact on the Macedonian economy and particularly on the agricultural sector. So far, the farmers’ attitude and intentions with regard to the EU integration and accession have not been thoroughly investigated. Respectively, the objective of the paper is to provide understanding of the Macedonian farmers’ attitude and behavioural intentions in the context of EU accession and the potential policy and market changes. Furthermore, another issue is to establish whether there are significant discrepancies among farmers and their attitude towards EU accession. The results revealed that the farmer community in the country is quite heterogeneous in terms of farm and farmers’ profiles and farm management practices. The cluster analysis suggests that there are four clusters according to which the variables explaining the attitudes were significantly different, provisionally labelled as “optimist “, “moderate”, “restrained” and “sceptic”......Makedonija je država kandidat za ulazak u EU od 2005. Integracijski proces će nedvojbeno imati utjecaj na makedonsku ekonomiju, posebice na područuju poljoprivrede. Do sada nisu vršena značajnija istraživanja u vezi stavova i namjera poljoprivrednika u odnosu na integracije i pristup EU. U tom smislu, svrha ovoga rada jest pružiti uvid u stavove makedonskih poljoprivrednika i njihovih reakcija u kontekstu pristupa EU te potencijalne politike i promjena na tržištu. Nadalje, predmet istraživanja bilo je i utvrđivanje postoje li razlike između poljoprivrednika i njihovih stavova prema pristupanju EU. Rezultati su pokazali da su poljoprivrednici u zemlji poprilično heterogeni u smislu farme, profila poljoprivrednika i prakse vođenja farmi. Klaster analizom utvrđene su četiri grupe čije varijable reprezentiraju značajno različite stavove, provizorno označene kao „optimistični“, „umjereni“, „suzdržani“ i „skeptični“

Expectations motivating the Macedonian farmers in attaining EU standards

EU accession means reaching EU standards, and the agricultural sector will expectedly be one of the key areas that will require adjustment in the case of Macedonian farmers. This paper is investigating the factors that motivate farmers to a certain planned adjustments, in order to provide further existence. This problem is addressed through the lenses of the theory of planned behaviour, by the use of factor analysis and stepwise regression. The results showed the perception of the market as the strongest motivational factor, and as such it should be used when designing the educational/informational approaches to farmers