Contribution to the economic impact assessment of policy options to regulate animal cloning for food production with an economic simulation model

The EU is currently evaluating different policy options towards the use of cloning or products derived from cloned animals in the food chain. This study presents a first attempt to quantify the likely effects of different policy scenarios on international trade and EU domestic production. In the context of the Impact Asessment process the JRC was requested to simulate via a modelling study the economic impact of selected policy options. Based on a literature review and the specific constraints for this study, the choice was made to perform the analysis through the use of a computable general equilibrium model and focus on the dairy and beef sector . The different model scenarios are constructed based on combinations of the discussed policy options such as a ban or traceability and labelling requirements with the productivity increase associated with cloning. The results show that only the situation where trade with countries using the technique of cloning is suspended has an effect on competitiveness. This suspension could be due to express prohibitions or a de facto decision by exporters when traceability and labeling costs increase. Unde this scenario imports drop significantly which is followed by a slight increase in domestic production and prices, especially for beef and cattle.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Contribution to the economic impact assessment of policy options to regulate animal cloning for food production with an economic simulation model

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Documentation of the European Comission’s EU module of the Aglink-Cosimo modelling system

This report documents the EU module of Aglink-Cosimo model. Aglink-Cosimo is a recursive-dynamic, partial equilibrium, supply demand model of world agriculture developed by the OECD and FAO Secretariats. The model is used to simulate development of annual supply, demand and prices for the main agricultural commodities produced, consumed and traded worldwide. Aglink-Cosimo covers 44 individual countries and 12 regions, and 40 commodities clearing markets at the world level. At the EU level, the Aglink-Cosimo model is used to produce the "Prospects for Agricultural Markets and Income in the EU". This is a yearly exercise that provides a detailed overview of EU agricultural markets with a 10 year time horizon. It incorporates information from policy makers and market experts in the European Commission, stakeholders, researchers and modellers. The EU Outlook intends to provide a broad consensus about the evolution of European Agriculture in the medium-term. It serves as reference timeline for counterfactual policy analysis and market analysis done in numerous research sites in Europe. The report includes a detailed presentation and discussion of the structure and specific features of the model, along with the theoretical underpinnings. It also documents the process of calibration such as to obtain a medium-term baseline and different efforts towards the validation of results. Nonetheless, different applications in the area of uncertainty analysis and the use of partial stochastics are also included.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Patterns of diversification in two African forest shrews: Sylvisorex johnstoni and Sylvisorex ollula (Soricidae, Insectivora) in relation to paleo-environmental changes

International audienceWe analysed the phylogeographic patterns of two congeneric and syntopic species of forest shrews and compared them with biogeographical scenarios proposed for the Central African tropical forest. Our results, based on 82 partial 16s rRNA mitochondrial sequences, suggest that both species must have originated in the Plio-Pleistocene and that their haplotype distributions could reflect the effect of forest fragmentation and expansion associated with paleoclimatic fluctuations during the Pleistocene. However, it seems that the two species responded very differently to environmental changes. While Sylvisorex johnstoni populations exhibit ancient haplotype segregation that may even represent currently unrecognised allopatric species, Sylvisorex ollula haplotypes are much less differentiated and suggest that this taxon has undergone a recent range expansion. The observed differences between these taxa may be explained by their presumably different ecological requirements and colonisation abilities, which in turn may be the result of a significant difference in body size between the two species. In conclusion, our results suggest that it is necessary to incorporate several ecologically well-documented species in studies that attempt to infer evolutionary processes from phylogeographic pattern

Variabilité génétique de productivité et d'efficience d'utilisation de l'eau au sein du groupe Populus

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Relationships among productivity determinants in two poplar hybrid families grown during three years at two contrasting sites

International audienceThe objective of this study was to evaluate the environmental, temporal and genetic stability of the relationships between growth and a selection of tree architectural, leaf and phenological traits (selection based on the conclusions of previous studies carried out on the same experimental trial). Therefore, the growth of two hybrid families, Populus deltoides ‘S9-2’ • Populus nigra ‘Ghoy’ (D • N family, 180 F1) and P. deltoides ‘S9-2’ • Populus trichocarpa ‘V24’ (D • T family, 182 F1), was investigated during a 3-year period at two sites, i.e., in northern Italy and central France. At the end of the second growing season, all trees were coppiced and the resprouts were thinned to a single stem. At the end of each growing season, stem circumference and height were measured for all F1 hybrids. The number of sylleptic branches, individual leaf area (LA) and petiole length of the largest leaf along the main stem, production of new leaves, bud flush and bud set were estimated for a selection of genotypes (31 F1) per family at each site during the course of the 3-year experiment. The D • T family was clearly the most productive family and displayed the highest heterosis values. However, there appeared to be a compromise between good growth at a given site and stability between the two different sites, both at family and at genotype levels. Particularly, the less performing trees were stable between Italy and France. Among the studied growth components, the number of sylleptic branches and individual LA of the largest leaf along the main stem were the best growth predictors, irrespective of site and family. Growth strategies in terms of leaf development differed between the two families. Hence, leaf production rate was strongly associated with growth of the D • N family only. These results have important consequences for the use of the studied traits as selection criteria in breeding programmes