Population parameters of small pelagic fishes caught off Tawi-Tawi, Philippines

Growth and mortality parameters, exploitation rates and annual recruitment patterns were estimated from monthly length-frequency samples for Sardinella longiceps, S. fimbriata, S. Albella, Decapterus macrosoma, Dipterygonatus balteatus, Rastrelliger faughni and Encrasicolina heteroloba. These results provide the first sets of stock parameter estimates for these species off Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. The growth parameters derived were found comparable with previous estimates available for the same species from other localities. Recruitment was noted to be year-round and bimodal. Estimates of fishing mortality and exploitation rate were found to be presently above appropriate levels

Cognitive coherence in the evluation of a novel single item

Article published in Judgement and Decision-Makin

Maize silage for dairy cows: mitigation of methane emissions can be offset bij and use change

Increasing the digestibility of cattle rations by feeding grains and whole plant silages from maize have been identified as effective options to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The effect of ploughing grassland for maize crops have not been taken into account yet. A intensive dairy farm is used as an example to demonstrate the trade offs by this type of land use change when more maize silage is fed to dairy cows. The model DAIRY WISE has been used to calculate the mitigation by the changed ration, the Introductory Carbon Balance Model to calculate the changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen caused by ploughing grassland for maize crops. The losses of soil carbon and the loss of sequestration potential are much larger than the annual mitigation by feeding more maize. The ecosystem carbon payback time defines the years of mitigation that are needed before the emissions due to land use change are compensated. For ploughing grassland on sandy soils, the carbon payback time is 60 years. A higher global warming potential for methane can reduce the carbon payback time with 30%. Ploughing clay soils with a higher equilibrium level of soil organic matter increases the payback time by maximally 70%. The payback times occur only in the case of permanent maize cropping, grass maize rotations cause annual losses of nitrous oxide that are larger than the mitigation by feeding more maize

The Open-Loop Discounted Linear Quadratic Differential Game for Regular Higher Order Index Descriptor Systems

In this paper we consider the discounted linear quadratic differential game for descriptor systems that have an index larger than one. We derive both necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of an open-loop Nash (OLN) equilibrium. In a small macro-economic stabilization game we illustrate that the corresponding optimal response is generically cyclic.linear quadratic differential games;open-loop information structure;descriptor systems

'Beregenen op maat' krijgt remote sensing techniek

Ruim tien jaar geleden is Beregenen op Maat in Nederland geïntroduceerd. In 2009 vonden de ZLTO en de provincie Noord-Brabant het tijd om Beregenen op Maat een nieuwe impuls te geven. Met nieuwe computertechnieken en modules hebben Wageningen UR Livestock Research en Basfood BV een geavanceerd computersysteem ontwikkeld, waarbij veehouders via internet een actueel beregeningsadvies krijgen. De eerste ervaringen zijn veelbelovend

Berekening economische schade melkveehouderij in waterwingebied Losser

Om inzichtelijk te krijgen wat de gevolgen zijn van verdroging voor de bedrijfsuitkomsten zijn drie melkveebedrijven uit het gebied doorgerekend

EVALUATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN FARMERS IN KANAM AND WASE AREAS OF PLATEAU STATE

Increasing attention is being accorded the potential role of women farmers in Plateau State due to their significance in sustainable agricultural development. However, production impediments have often diminished the hope to fully utilise such potentials for the benefit of humanity. A study was conducted in Kanam and Wase L.G.As to examine production characteristics of women farmers in the study areas. 200 women farmers were selected from 8 wards by simple random sampling technique. However, 198 responses were available for analysis Descriptive statistics – frequency and corresponding percentages is used for analysis. The result of the study revealed that greater number of the women range between ages of 30-39 years. (52.%) Married women were majority (72.22%), primary school leavers were majority (40.40%) majority of them operate on their husband’s farm (68.18%) major source of finance is personal savings (83.33%) major farm enterprise are cattle, sheep, goat, crops (100%). Major source of labour is family labour (50.51%) common size of farm holding is less than 2 hectares (65.66%) constraints identified includes: Non Accessibility to land ownership (98.48%)Iinadequate access to reliable source of loanable funds (89.%) Non availability of village level technology (100%). The conclusion is that their production level is characterized by small holder agriculture with associated impediments. In view of the importance attached to role of women in agriculture, significant effort is required through effective extension services to alleviate the burden of the women.Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital,

Talking soil science with farmers

When agricultural researchers visit farms in order to gather information for their research programmes, farmers rarely get proper feedback. Research information on scientific concepts such as soil fertility and nutrient balances is often considered too abstract for them. Researchers in Kenya returned to farmers to discuss their results in the context of Farmer Field Schools. Through the workshops that ensued, they managed to find a common language to bridge the communication gap

On the Mean Summability by Cesaro (C,a) and Abel-Poisson Methods of Trigonometric Fourier Series in the Weighted Lorentz Spaces

In the paper the classical results on the mean convergence and summability of trigonometric Fourier series are extended to the weighted Lorentz spaces. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 46E30.Fourier series, Cesaro means, Abel Poisson