Composer avec l'État : voies d'engagement des jeunes diplômés dans l'agriculture au Maroc

Au Maroc, les transformations du milieu rural et le manque d'opportunités de travail en milieu urbain incitent de plus en plus de jeunes diplômés, partis en ville, à retourner dans leurs villages d'origine pour y tenter un ancrage socioprofessionnel. Par l'analyse des trajectoires individuelles de jeunes diplômés de la région de Séfrou, nous montrons dans cet article comment ils s'approchent de l'État pour négocier la mise en place de projets agricoles collectifs. Les parcours de ces jeunes révèlent les voies possibles de leur insertion dans une dynamique économique et territoriale locale. (Résumé d'auteur

improving parking availability prediction in smart cities with iot and ensemble based model

Abstract Smart cities are part of the ongoing advances in technology to provide a better life quality to its inhabitants. Urban mobility is one of the most important components of smart cities. Due to the growing number of vehicles in these cities, urban traffic congestion is becoming more common. In addition, finding places to park even in car parks is not easy for drivers who run in circles. Studies have shown that drivers looking for parking spaces contribute up to 30% to traffic congestion. In this context, it is necessary to predict the spaces available to drivers in parking lots where they want to park. We propose in this paper a new system that integrates the IoT and a predictive model based on ensemble methods to optimize the prediction of the availability of parking spaces in smart parking. The tests that we carried out on the Birmingham parking data set allowed to reach a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.06% on average with the algorithm of Bagging Regression (BR). This results have thus improved the best existing performance by over 6.6% while dramatically reducing system complexity

Variable Levels of Tolerance to water Stress (Drought) and Associated Biochemical Markers in Tunisian Barley Landraces

[EN] Due to its high tolerance to abiotic stress, barley (Hordeum vulgare) is cultivated in many arid areas of the world. In the present study, we evaluate the tolerance to water stress (drought) in nine accessions of ¿Ardhaoui¿ barley landraces from different regions of Tunisia. The genetic diversity of the accessions is evaluated with six SSR markers. Seedlings from the nine accessions are subjected to water stress by completely stopping irrigation for three weeks. A high genetic diversity is detected among the nine accessions, with no relationships between genetic distance and geographical or ecogeographical zone. The analysis of growth parameters and biochemical markers in the water stress-treated plants in comparison to their respective controls indicated great variability among the studied accessions. Accession 2, from El May Island, displayed high tolerance to drought. Increased amounts of proline in water-stressed plants could not be correlated with a better response to drought, as the most tolerant accessions contained lower levels of this osmolyte. A good correlation was established between the reduction of growth and degradation of chlorophylls and increased levels of malondialdehyde and total phenolics. These biochemical markers may be useful for identifying drought tolerant materials in barleyPietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a pre-doctoral (Programa FPI de la UPV-Subprograma 1/2013 call) contract.Dbira, S.; Al Hassan, M.; Gramazio, P.; Ferchichi, A.; Vicente, O.; Prohens, J.; Boscaiu, M. (2018). Variable Levels of Tolerance to water Stress (Drought) and Associated Biochemical Markers in Tunisian Barley Landraces. Molecules. 23(3). doi:10.3390/molecules23030613S23

Effect of PGPR and mixed cropping on mycorrhizal status, soil fertility, and date palm productivity under organic farming system

A field study was carried out for two years at an organic farm under arid climate in Morocco to investigate the effect of an integrated biofertilization approach on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal (AMF) abundance and infectivity, soil fertility, yield, and fruit quality of date palm. The biofertilization approach included three management practices namely application of compost, inoculation with a consortium of native PGPR strains originally isolated from date palms of Drâa-Tafilalet region (Pseudomonas koreensis, Serratia nematodiphila, S. marcescens, and Klebsiella sp.) and using mixed-cropping with sorghum. Accordingly, four treatments were established in this study: 1) mixed-cropping with sorghum, 2) PGPR inoculation, 3) sorghum + PGPR, and 4) control (without sorghum or PGPR). All treatments received compost as organic amendment. Results revealed that mixed-cropping with sorghum significantly increased AMF colonization intensity and spore density by more than 50% and 29%, respectively. Sorghum association also resulted in a significant increase in organic matter concentrations of up to 2.95% against 2.45% in monocropping soils. The integrated biofertilization approach resulted in the highest yield with an increase rate of 10.6% and 12.1% in the first and the second year, respectively compared to date palms receiving compost alone. Similarly, the mineral composition and quality characteristics of date fruits were significantly improved. The enhancement of soil fertility and date palm productivity under harsh environmental conditions represents a first step towards the adoption of sustainable practices in the region and in similar areas

Dévoiler les réseaux locaux d'innovation dans les grands périmètres irrigués: Quels nouveaux défis pour les agricultures irriguées ?

ACL (facteur d'impact)International audienceThe design and diffusion of technical innovations in large-scale irrigation schemes in Morocco have generally been understood as necessarily stemming from centralized public policies. This situation tends to mask farmers' local initiatives. We analyzed local networks for innovation and coordination practices among local actors, in the case of the introduction of citrus plantations in an agrarian reform cooperative of the Gharb irrigation scheme. These networks and practices appeared as the motor for innovation around which revolved social and technical stakes and an issue of identity construction. Revealing these dynamics provides guidance for renewing the approaches to support farmers and more generally rural communities.Au Maroc, le développement et la diffusion des innovations techniques dans les grands périmètres irrigués ont longtemps été conçus comme relevant nécessairement de politiques dirigistes, ce qui a masqué les initiatives locales des agriculteurs. Une analyse des réseaux locaux de dialogue et des pratiques de coordination des acteurs a été effectuée, dans le cas de l'introduction des agrumes par les agriculteurs d'une coopérative de la réforme agraire, dans le périmètre irrigué du Gharb. Ces réseaux et ces pratiques sont apparus comme moteurs d'une innovation autour de laquelle se cristallisent des enjeux à la fois techniques et sociaux, mais aussi de construction identitaire. La mise en évidence de ces dynamiques ouvre des pistes pour renouveler les méthodes d'appui aux agriculteurs et plus généralement aux communautés rurales

Furfural Analogs as Sustainable Corrosion Inhibitors—Predictive Efficiency Using DFT and Monte Carlo Simulations on the Cu(111), Fe(110), Al(111) and Sn(111) Surfaces in Acid Media

Nowadays, theoretical calculation tools have become powerful in predicting the behavior of corrosion inhibitors on the surface of metals and, therefore, avoiding energy consumption and the cost of experimental tests. This work aims to predict the inhibitory power of some furan derivatives on Cu (111), Fe (110), Al (111) and Sn (111) surfaces in acidic media. For this purpose, three furan derivatives—furan-2-carbaldehyde (FF1), 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (FF2) and 5-(hydroxymethyl)furoic acid (FF3)—have been selected to compare their intrinsic properties against corrosion as well as their behavior on iron (Fe), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al) and tin (Sn) surfaces in acid medium. Typically, the anti-corrosive properties of FF1, FF2 and FF3 were studied by using quantum chemical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. Density Functional Theory (DFT), lowest unoccupied (ELUMO) and highest occupied (EHOMO) molecular orbital energies, energy gap (∆E), chemical hardness (η), softness (σ), electronegativity (χ), electrophilicity (ω) and nucleophilicity (ε) have been calculated and discussed. Theoretical vibrational spectra were also calculated to exhibit the functional groups in the selected chemicals. On the other hand, the adsorption behaviors of FF1, FF2 and FF3 were studied on the Fe(110), Cu(111), Al(111) and Sn(111) surfaces. As a result, the adsorption energies of all molecules are ordered as Fe(110) < Cu(111) < Al(111) < Sn(111) and FF3 seems to be more effective as a corrosion inhibitor due to the existence of both carboxylic acid and hydroxyl groups, which consist of favorable sites of adsorption into the metal surface