Perceptions and Acceptance of Desalinated Seawater for Irrigation: A Case Study in the Níjar District (Southeast Spain)

In the context of increasing demand for irrigation water—but, at the same time, with the constraints in the supply from traditional resources—desalinated seawater has been recognized as one of the alternative sources of water to increase the supply for agricultural irrigation. However, its use among farmers has not yet started to expand. Policy makers need to understand what is causing the low acceptance levels of farmers, and how their attitudes could be improved. This is the first study that has conducted an analysis of farmers’ perceptions and acceptance of the use of desalinated seawater for irrigation. The study is based on collected data from a survey completed by farmers in southeastern Spain who do not use desalinated seawater. The main results indicate that desalinated seawater as a water supply source has the lowest acceptance level for farmers. Barriers for its use are price, the need for additional fertilization, and the perception that it would negatively affect the yield and crop quality. The farmers’ general level of knowledge about the impact of using desalinated seawater in agriculture is extremely low. Furthermore, farmers consider it a priority that their startup investment should be subsidized and that water prices should be reduced. Based on the study findings, this paper makes recommendations for the decision-making process in order to improve farmers’ acceptance levels

The Sustainable Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility: A Global Analysis and Future Trends

Due to the process of globalization, companies are obligated to observe corporate social responsibility and best practices from a sustainability approach towards their stakeholders and society. The explicit aim is to determine the relevance of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its relationship with sustainability, in order to establish trends and future lines of research. The evolution of global research on this subject has been studied from 2001 to 2018. For this purpose, a bibliometric analysis of 1832 articles has been applied, obtaining results of the scientific productivity of the journals, authors, institutions, and countries that contribute to this research. Evidence shows a growing interest in studying the relationship between socially responsible practices and the dimension of sustainability. The main category is Business, Management, and Accounting. The most productive journals are the Journal of Business Ethics and Sustainability. The authors with the most articles are García-Sánchez, Moneva, and Moratis, while Kolk is the most cited. The most prolific institution is the University of Salamanca. The United States is the country with the most publications and quotes. France and China are the countries with the largest number of international collaborations in their work. Global research has been on an upward trend with optimal publication rates in recent years

Profit Analysis of Papaya Crops under Greenhouses as an Alternative to Traditional Intensive Horticulture in Southeast Spain

The high-yield agricultural model in Almería is based on eight different crops. Having led fruit and vegetable exports in Spain for more than 50 years, a decrease in melon and watermelon growing areas in Almería caused a change in supply that affected the model’s profit. Papaya cultivation could reactivate the profit of the agricultural model in Almería and also improve the available product range. The papaya crop needs greenhouse infrastructures high enough to contain the growth and size of the plants during a cycle crop, which is possible in most of the greenhouses of the Horticultural production model of Almería. The papaya harvests obtained in the region meet the quality requirements demanded by European markets. Furthermore, yields obtained are equal or higher than yields obtained by other producing countries. This crop improves profit compared with the profit obtained from the rotation of other horticultural crops that have been traditionally grown in the region

Forest Ecosystem Services: An Analysis of Worldwide Research

The relevance of forests to sustain human well-being and the serious threats they face have led to a notable increase of research works on forest ecosystem services during the last few years. This paper analyses the worldwide research dynamics on forest ecosystem services in the period from 1998 to 2017. A bibliometric analysis of 4284 articles was conducted. The results showed that the number of published research articles has especially increased during the last five years. In total, 68.63% of the articles were published in this period. This research line experiences a growing trend superior to the general publishing trend on forest research. In spite of this increase, its relative significance within the forest research is still limited. The most productive subject areas corresponded to Environmental Science, Agricultural and Biological Sciences and Social Sciences Economic topics are understudied. The scientific production is published in a wide range of journals. The three first publishing countries are United States, China and the United Kingdom. The most productive authors are attached to diverse research centres and their contributions are relatively recent. A high level of international cooperation has been observed between countries, institutions and authors. The findings of this study are useful for researchers since they give them an overview of the worldwide research trends on forest ecosystem services

The Role of Women in a Family Economy. A Bibliometric Analysis in Contexts of Poverty

The concept of family economy in the context of extreme poverty is of interest when it comes to analyzing the strategies displayed to prevent or reduce the effects of this situation of exclusion. Gender roles in the nucleus of the family institution will indicate the distribution of these tasks, so that we can understand, in the case of the role of women, the specific weight of their actions in this scenario. For this work, an investigation of our object of study was carried out for the period 1968–2019. A bibliometric analysis of 2182 articles was carried out in which the final versions of articles, books, and book chapters whose subject matter was related to the categories of family economy and poverty were included. The most productive journal was the Journal of Development Economics, while World Economies was the most cited. The authors with the most articles were Ravaillon, Sadoulet, and Lanjouw. The most productive institution was the World Bank. The country with the most publications and citations was the United States. Future research should focus on analyzing the role of women within the family economy in the context of poverty. Thus, a line of research is proposed that also includes the proposals from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which means an urgent call for action by all countries

Sustainable Water Use in Agriculture: A Review of Worldwide Research

Sustainability of water use in agriculture is a line of research that has gained in importance worldwide. The present study reviewed 25 years of international research on sustainable water use in agriculture. A bibliometric analysis was developed to sample 2084 articles. Results indicate exponential growth in the number of articles published per year, with research in this field having acquired a global scale. Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences are the main categories. Three journals—Agricultural Water Management, Water Resources Management and Nongye Gongcheng Xuebao Agricultural Engineering—published the most of the articles. China, the U.S., Australia, India and Germany produced the most research. The three institutions that published the most articles were all Chinese (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Agricultural University and Northwest A&F University). The most cited authors were Ridoutt, Hoekstra and Zhang. The keywords most frequently used include: water-use, irrigation, water-management, water-supply, and sustainability. A network map shows three clusters that focus on the environmental, agronomic and management aspects. The findings of this study can assist researchers in this field by providing an overview of research on the sustainability of hydric resources

Management of agricultural waste biomass as raw material for the construction sector: an analysis of sustainable and circular alternatives

The agricultural and construction sectors demand enormous amounts of natural resources and generate environmental impacts that negatively affect ecosystems. One of the main problems is the generation and inadequate management of waste. For this reason, under the approaches of the new sustainable and circular models, waste valorization has been prioritised as a strategy for advancing towards the sustainability of production systems. This research aims to carry out a general analysis of Agricultural Waste Biomass (AWB) in the production of bio-based products for the construction sector. Bibliometric techniques were applied for the general analysis of the scientific production obtained from Scopus. A systematic review identified the main research approaches. In addition, European projects were reviewed to assess the practical application. This study is novel and provides relevant contributions to new trends in the valorisation of AWB in the building sector and the sustainability benefits. For policymakers, it is a source of information on the contribution of new policies to scientific advances and the aspects that need to be strengthened to improve sustainable and circular practices in both sectors

Meaningful learning in the development of digital skills. Trend analysis

En la generación de los nacidos en un entorno digital, los dispositivos se entienden como algo natural en la manera de obtener información instantánea. El sistema educativo se ha adaptado y ha desarrollado nuevos modelos pedagógicos, para aunar la docencia con las características intrínsecas de los estudiantes digitales. En este escenario, el aprendizaje significativo provee al sistema educativo de un modelo activo que permite que al estudiante asociar la información nueva con la que ya posee, reajustando y reconstruyendo ambas en el proceso. En este contexto, las nuevas tecnologías actúan como herramientas mediadoras del aprendizaje, favoreciendo las prácticas pedagógicas en las relaciones entre docente y estudiantes. La aplicación de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación fomentan la adquisición de habilidades, destrezas y conocimientos para su posterior aplicación profesional y social. Así, el objetivo del estudio fue identificar las publicaciones científicas relacionadas con el aprendizaje significativo y las tecnologías aplicadas en la educación superior durante el período 2000 a 2019. Se realizó un análisis bibliométrico de la literatura científica. Se identificaron 1.161 documentos sobre esta temática. Los resultados del análisis revelaron que la productividad científica se ha incrementado desde el año 2010, verificando el profundo interés por los nuevos recursos tecnológicos aplicados a la enseñanza. Las principales tendencias de investigación incluyen el impacto en los procesos cognitivos, motivaciones y del rendimiento académico de los estudiantes.In the generation of those born in a digital environment, devices are understood as something natural in the way of obtaining instant information. The educational system has adapted and developed new pedagogical models, to combine teaching with the intrinsic characteristics of digital students. In this scenario, meaningful learning provides the educational system with an active model that allows the student to associate the new information with the one they already have, readjusting and rebuilding both in the process. In this context, new technologies act as mediating tools for learning, favoring pedagogical practices in teacher-student relationships. The application of Information and Communication Technologies promote the acquisition of abilities, skills and knowledge for its subsequent professional and social application. Thus, the objective of the study was to identify the scientific publications related to significant learning and the technologies applied in higher education during the period 2000 to 2019. A bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature was carried out. For this, 1,161 documents on this topic were identified. The results of the analysis revealed that scientific productivity has increased since 2010, verifying the deep interest in new technological resources applied to teaching. The main research trends include the impact on students' cognitive processes, motivations, and academic performance.Universidad Pablo de Olavid

Analysis of the Circular Economic Production Models and Their Approach in Agriculture and Agricultural Waste Biomass Management

As of now, circular economic production models of the circular economy (CEPMs), which include circular economy, bioeconomy, and circular bioeconomy, are among the main tools characterizing development policies in different countries. During the last five years, policies and strategies regarding CEPMs have promoted and contributed to the development of research on this topic. The evolution and most relevant aspects of the three CEPMs previously mentioned have been analyzed from a sample of 2190 scientific publications obtained from the Scopus database. Bibliometric analysis has been used to evaluate the approach of these models in agriculture and to introduce the ways in which they address the management of agricultural waste biomass (AWB). Results show that the circular economy is the most studied and prioritized model in China and most European countries, with the UK leading the way. Germany leads in topics related to the bioeconomy. The management policies and strategies of the circular bioeconomy are key to promoting research focused on AWB valorization since bioenergy and/or biofuel production continue to be a priority

As cooperativas de crédito espanholas e a luta contra a exclusão financeira

The aim of this study is to show the importance of Spain’s credit cooperative sector, while also offering a brief view of how families’ savings patterns have evolved. The second section describes the origins of the sector in Spain, emphasizing the relationship between these entities and the primary sector, which is the main source of finance. Later, by describing the features of the credit cooperative sector, as well as offering a profile of its members and its advantages over other forms of banking, some causes are presented for the transformation of these cooperatives, a change they have undergone without losing their focus on members. Accordingly, the third section of this study presents the benefits that credit cooperatives can offer when it comes to financial exclusion, especially when they have become the only social bank in Spain due to the planned demutualization of the savings bank sector.El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en presentar la importancia del sector de cooperativas de crédito en España, al tiempo que se ofrece una breve visión de la evolución de las pautas de ahorro financiero de las familias. En concreto, el segundo apartado describe los orígenes del sector en España, haciendo énfasis en la relación que existe entre estas entidades y el sector primario, al que financia de manera preferente. Posteriormente, tras describir las características del sector de cooperativas de crédito, el perfil de sus socios y las ventajas sobre otras formas bancarias, se exponen algunas causas que están provocando su transformación, sin perder de vista su orientación hacia el socio. Es por ello que, en la tercera sección de este trabajo se plantean las bondades que las cooperativas de crédito pueden ofrecer a la hora de limitar la exclusión financiera, máxime cuando se han convertido en el único exponente de la banca social en España, tras la desmutualización planificada del sector de cajas de ahorros.O objetivo deste trabalho consiste em apresentar a importância do setor de cooperativas de crédito na Espanha, ao mesmo tempo em que se oferece uma breve visão da evolução das pautas de poupança financeira das famílias. Em concreto, a segunda seção descreve as origens do setor na Espanha e enfatiza a relação existente entre essas entidades e o setor primário, ao qual financia de maneira preferente. Em seguida, após descrever as características do setor de cooperativas de crédito, o perfil dos seus sócios e as vantagens sobre outras formas bancárias, expõem-se algumas causas que estão provocando sua transformação, sem perder de vista sua orientação ao sócio. Na terceira seção deste texto, apresentam-se os benefícios que as cooperativas de crédito podem oferecer na hora de limitar a exclusão financeira, principalmente quando se converteram no único expoente da banca social na Espanha, depois da des- mutualização planejada do setor de caixas de poupança