Workshop report European multifunctional farmers network : creating an European network of pioneers in multifunctional agriculture

This report describes the results of the Workshop European Multifunctional Farmers Network (EMFN) which was held on October 23, 2008 on the multifunctional farm “De Zonnehoeve” of Piet van IJzendoorn, at Zeewolde, the Netherlands. This workshop was part of the European Eemland Conference ‘Versatile Countryside’ which was held 22 – 24 October 2008 (see http://www.eeconference.eu/). This report introduces the of the European Multifunctional Farmers Network, and describes the program of the workshop and the results of the different sessions within the workshop. In addition, it provides the outcome of a pilot with international rural development students working with international multifunctional farmers, using the Interactive Strategic Management Method

Livestock farmers' attitude towards manure separation technology as future strategy

In this paper, an ordered probit model is used to assess the factors that affect the probability of livestock farmers having plans to adopt manure separation technology in the future. A survey, based on a postal and computerized questionnaire of representative dairy and pig farms in the Netherlands was carried out in 2009. The results show that age of farmer and a variable which accounts for the interaction between size and location of the farm are important variables explaining the probability of farmers having plans to adopt manure separation technology. Furthermore, farmers who agreed that future application norms are the driving force for considering adoption of manure separation technology were more likely to consider manure separation as the right strategy for their farm. This outcome implies that farmers are considering manure separation as a strategy to survive the more stringent future application norms. Policy implications are that young farmers with bigger Dutch size unit located in manure regions where there is oversupply of manure are more likely to adopt manure separation technology in the futur

Identification of a Novel Self-Sufficient Styrene Monooxygenase from Rhodococcus opacus 1CP.

Sequence analysis of a 9-kb genomic fragment of the actinobacterium Rhodococcus opacus 1CP led to identification of an open reading frame encoding a novel fusion protein, StyA2B, with a putative function in styrene metabolism via styrene oxide and phenylacetic acid. Gene cluster analysis indicated that the highly related fusion proteins of Nocardia farcinica IFM10152 and Arthrobacter aurescens TC1 are involved in a similar physiological process. Whereas 413 amino acids of the N terminus of StyA2B are highly similar to those of the oxygenases of two-component styrene monooxygenases (SMOs) from pseudomonads, the residual 160 amino acids of the C terminus show significant homology to the flavin reductases of these systems. Cloning and functional expression of His10-StyA2B revealed for the first time that the fusion protein does in fact catalyze two separate reactions. Strictly NADH-dependent reduction of flavins and highly enantioselective oxygenation of styrene to (S)-styrene oxide were shown. Inhibition studies and photometric analysis of recombinant StyA2B indicated the absence of tightly bound heme and flavin cofactors in this self-sufficient monooxygenase. StyA2B oxygenates a spectrum of aromatic compounds similar to those of two-component SMOs. However, the specific activities of the flavin-reducing and styrene-oxidizing functions of StyA2B are one to two orders of magnitude lower than those of StyA/StyB from Pseudomonas sp. strain VLB120

Strategisch Management Tool' Stragegieverkenning op basis van ondernemer, onderneming en omgeving, Rapportage

Dit rapport geeft de resultaten per afzonderlijk element kort weer: de ondernemer, de onderneming & de omgeving van uw bedrijf. Deze informatie geeft u de sterke en zwakke punten en de kansen en bedreigingen, zoals U die ziet. Daarna volgt de uitkomst van de berekende markt- en bedrijfsontwikkelingsstrategieën die het beste passen bij de huidige situatie. Uw eigen doel strategieën volgen hierop. Dit maakt het mogelijk om een zogenaamde GAP-analyse te tonen. Hiermee kunt u als ondernemer precies zien aan welke onderdelen van het ondernemerschap (de drie O's) er nog gewerkt moet worden om je doel strategieën te verwezenlijken. In de bijlagen kunt U een uitleg vinden van de verschillende elementen, factoren en strategieën die door de hele tool heen worden gebruikt

Support for Farmers' Cooperatives : case study report tthe role of Dutch transnational cooperatives in cooperative development

In order to foster the competitiveness of the food supply chain, the European Commission is committed to promote and facilitate the restructuring and consolidation of the agricultural sector by encouraging the creation of voluntary agricultural producer organisations. Within the framework of the SFC project, this case study report has been written on four (formerly) transnational Dutch cooperatives with operations abroad, especially in Hungary or other new member states. Of special interest for this case study is how they see their role concerning the cooperative development abroad

Pretreatment of a Soft Soil by Surcharging - A Case History

A normally consolidated silty clay deposit, varying in depth from 0 to 15 m, was pretreated by surcharging combined with P.V.C. vertical drains. Representative field values of the vertical coefficients of primary (0.0015 m2/kN) and secondary consolidation (0.01) were calculated from the settlements caused by a preliminary fill placed some six years prior to the detailed geotechnical studies. A conservative representative field value of the horizontal coefficient of primary consolidation was established to be 8 m2/year. Asaoka\u27s method was used to predict future settlements due to both primary and secondary consolidation. The vertical drains were installed at a spacing of 1.8 musing a modified crawler crane. The average daily output was 158 drains over 128 working days with an average cycle time per pair of drains of eight minutes. The total cost was $(A) 0.40 per cubic metre, or$(A) 3.23 per square metre of the area treated. Surcharging decreased the settlements due to primary and secondary consolidation. Calculated values of settlement over a 10 year period were 80 mm for a 15 m deposit with 50 mm being contributed by secondary consolidation

Ondernemerschap versterken door coachen, begeleiden en competenties ontwikkelen

Versterking van ondernemerschap is een belangrijke strategie om de transitie naar een duurzame landbouw te stimuleren. Maar hoe doe je dat? Bijvoorbeeld met de methode interactief strategisch management, die ondernemers ondersteunt bij het opzetten en uitvoeren van toekomstgerichte strategieë

Beperkte exportkansen voor kweekvis in Oost-Europa

Zodra de grenzen voor kweekvis in Rusland weer open zijn, kan dit een heel interessante afzetmarkt voor Nederlandse meervalachtigen zijn. Ondanks dat landen als Polen en Hongarije een duidelijke viscultuur hebben, zijn dit minder interessante exportmarkten, omdat de vraag sterk seizoensgebonden en prijsgericht is

Anderson-Mott transition as a quantum glass problem

We combine a recent mapping of the Anderson-Mott metal-insulator transition on a random-field problem with scaling concepts for random-field magnets to argue that disordered electrons near an Anderson-Mott transition show glass-like behavior. We first discuss attempts to interpret experimental results in terms of a conventional scaling picture, and argue that some of the difficulties encountered point towards a glassy nature of the electrons. We then develop a general scaling theory for a quantum glass, and discuss critical properties of both thermodynamic and transport variables in terms of it. Our most important conclusions are that for a correct interpretation of experiments one must distinguish between self-averaging and non-self averaging observables, and that dynamical or temperature scaling is not of power-law type but rather activated, i.e. given by a generalized Vogel-Fulcher law. Recent mutually contradicting experimental results on Si:P are discussed in the light of this, and new experiments are proposed to test the predictions of our quantum glass scaling theory.Comment: 25pp, REVTeX, 5 ps figs, final version as publishe

Mean field theory of the Mott-Anderson transition

We present a theory for disordered interacting electrons that can describe both the Mott and the Anderson transition in the respective limits of zero disorder and zero interaction. We use it to investigate the T=0 Mott-Anderson transition at a fixed electron density, as a the disorder strength is increased. Surprisingly, we find two critical values of disorder W_{nfl} and W_c. For W > W_{nfl}, the system enters a ``Griffiths'' phase, displaying metallic non-Fermi liquid behavior. At even stronger disorder, W=W_c > W_{nfl} the system undergoes a metal insulator transition, characterized by the linear vanishing of both the typical density of states and the typical quasiparticle weight.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, REVTEX, eps