Carbon assessment for cocoa cropping systems in Lampung, Indonesia

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) production plays a key role in the economics of Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest cocoa bean producing country. With more than 1.6 million hectares of land planted with cocoa, small improvements in emissions efficiencies or carbon sequestration opportunities can have a relatively large mitigating effect on emissions from agroforestry and land use. The carbon assessment in Lampung, Sumatra was done to evaluate environmental impacts of cocoa as a commodity through estimation of carbon stock and carbon footprint, GHG emissions during the cultivation of cocoa in different cropping systems. Segmentation of cropping systems along density of intercropping, inputs use intensity and residue management practices identify opportunities for climate smart practices tailored to each segment

Carbon assessment for Robusta coffee production systems in Vietnam: a case study in Dak Lak

Carbon assessments have proliferated to identify climate friendly practices in Arabica producing systems, though little attention is given to Robusta. In this study, we evaluated the climate impact of Robusta production via quantification of carbon stock and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the intensive shaded and unshaded coffee farms of the world’s largest Robusta producing region, Vietnam’s Central Highlands. We find due to the linear relationship between fertilizer use and yields, emissions from input use on a per unit product basis are not significantly different between the intensive and less intensive systems. However, when accounting for carbon sequestered in shade and coffee trees, the less intensive systems are carbon positive (sequestering more than they emit) per unit of green coffee bean produced

On asymptotic behaviors and convergence rates related to weak limiting distributions of geometric random sums

summary:Geometric random sums arise in various applied problems like physics, biology, economics, risk processes, stochastic finance, queuing theory, reliability models, regenerative models, etc. Their asymptotic behaviors with convergence rates become a big subject of interest. The main purpose of this paper is to study the asymptotic behaviors of normalized geometric random sums of independent and identically distributed random variables via Gnedenko's Transfer Theorem. Moreover, using the Zolotarev probability metric, the rates of convergence in some weak limit theorems for geometric random sums are estimated

Greenhouse gas emissions from piggery and biogas digesters in the Red River Delta of Vietnam

High demand for pork consumption in Vietnam has led to a shift of pig production systems from smallholder to industrial-scale farms, particularly in the Red River Delta. This production intensification also produces massive manure and urine quantities, leading to water, air, and soil pollution. The use of biogas plants has been seen as efficient to achieve in the same time a decrease in pollution, and a provision of biogas resources and bio-organic fertilizers. However, increasing pig head density has been causing great pressure on biogas digesters, as their size is not big enough for treatments anymore. Inappropriate utilization and management of biogas digesters can not only cause losses from pig wastes, but also contributes to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). This case study aims to identify the role and contributions of biogas digesters to better manage the sources of GHG emissions from pig wastes for different types of pig farms. Four provinces of the Red River Delta were selected to test the pig waste management efficiency of biogas digesters and measure GHG emissions from these systems. The findings show that CO2, CH4 and N2O emission rates from pig manure are at least twice as much what is allowed under the Vietnam national technical regulation on ambient air quality. However, the GHGs emission rate does not significantly differ between smallholder and industrial-scale farms in the four surveyed provinces. Sampling position (between inside piggeries and outside the outlet of biogas digesters) did not affect significantly GHG emissions rate. These results confirm that the pig waste management of biogas digesters for both smallholder and industrial-scale pig farms is not efficient and that efforts need to be invested to mitigate GHG emissions in pig production. Reducing pig density per piggery is highly recommended. The modification of biogas digester structure to separate solid pig manure and urine should also be considered. Otherwise, the application of other alternative aerobic or anaerobic digestion technologies should also be encouraged and promoted. Biogas digesters in pig production have a significant role to play in Vietnam government’s mitigation strategies, as well as from the perspective of biosafety and animal husbandry policies

Sensitivity and specificity of serum cystatin C and creatinine in detecting early stages of chronic kidney disease in Vietnamese patients with hypertension

Background: Hypertension is one of the most common diseases worldwide, especially in Viet Nam. Screening for early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with hypertension remains controversial. We aimed to analyze the sensitivity and specificity of serum cystatin C and serum creatinine in detecting early-stage kidney function loss as a complication in hypertensive patients. Material and methods: From January 2013 to October 2018, 304 patients first-time diagnosed with primary hypertension at University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City participated in this cross-sectional study. Collected data includes anthropometric indicators, measured glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by plasma 99mTc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic clearance, serum cystatin C (ScysC), and serum creatinine (Scr). Results: ScysC level was significantly reciprocal correlation between renal radiography (r = 0.781, p < 0.001). The cutoff value for the identification of GFR < 80 mL/min/1.73 m2 was ScysC > 1.06 mg/L with a sensitivity of 90.8% and specificity of 90.6%, AUC was 0.90. The sensitivity and specificity of ScysC for the identification of GFR < 70 mL/min/1.73 m2 and GFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 was 96.6%, 100% and 98.8%, 99.3%, respectively. Among 14 estimated glomerular filtration formulas used in this study, eGFR-cysC-Filler-Lepage had the highest sensitivity and specificity for identifying GFR < 80 mL/min/1.73 m2 (79.8% and 100%, respectively). eGFR-cysC-LeBrion had the highest sensitivity and specificity for the identification of GFR < 70 mL/min/1.73 m2 and GFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (97.6%, 96.9% and 100%, 97%; respectively). Conclusion: The sensitivity and specificity of ScysC were significantly higher than Scr. The eGFR-cysC-Filler-Lepage formula had the highest sensitivity and specificity in detecting the early stages of CKD

Potential of Biochar Production from Agriculture Residues at Household Scale: A Case Study in Go Cong Tay District, Tien Giang Province, Vietnam

This study was conducted in Go Cong Tay district (Tien Giang province, Vietnam) to estimate the potential of using residue from rice production, particularly, rice straw, to produce biochar at household scale. The annual rice yield of Go Cong Tay district is 185,072 tons/year. It creates about 233,190 tons of rice straw per year. Currently, most of these residues are open burned by the farmers. This study examined the experimental biochar production in different modes of combustion (6 h, 10 h and 15 h). The results show that 6 h of combustion is the best condition due to high yield of biochar, less ash and low amounts of incompleted biochar. With 100 kg of rice straw sticks, 48.25 ± 2.25 kg of biochar was produced. The amount of ash and incompleted biochar was low, 0.75 ± 0.13 kg and 3.95 ± 1.33 kg, respectively. The thermal energy of biochar from rice straw is about 4,030 kcal/kg, which is higher than other similar materials such as chaff, sawdust, etc. The suggested model of biochar production is compatible with household scale due to the short time of combustion, high productivity and the method is easy to perform. This practice reduces agricultural waste, protects soil and creates useful thermal energy for household activities (e.g., cooking). The ash created from biochar production can be used for fertilizing

The foundations of big data sharing: A CGIAR international research organization perspective

The potential of big data capabilities to transform and understand global agricultural and biological systems often relies on data from different sources that must be considered together or aggregated to provide insights. The value of data is however not only in its collection and storage, but largely in its re-use. Big data storage repositories are not enough when we consider a world brimming with escalating volumes of data, here we need to consider innovative systems and tools which address data harmonization and standardization and importantly, ones that can bridge the gap between science and end users. In this paper, we will demonstrate how CGIAR (including the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) develops a culture of co-operation and collaboration among custodians of agrobiodiversity data, as well as new directions for big data. CGIAR first launched the Platform for Big Data in Agriculture to enhance the development and maintenance of its data. This helped establish workflows of cross-platform synthesis, annotate and apply the lessons learnt. The Platform then built GARDIAN (Global Agricultural Research Data Innovation and Acceleration Network)—a digital tool that harvests from ∼40 separate open data and publication repositories that 15 CGIAR centres have used for data synthesis. While there have been significant advances in big data management and storage, we also identify the gaps to improve use, and the re-use of data in order to reveal its added value in decision making

Child stunting is associated with child, maternal, and environmental factors in Vietnam

Child stunting in Vietnam has reduced substantially since the turn of the century but has remained relatively high for several years. We analysed data on children 6–59 months (n = 85,932) from the Vietnam Nutritional Surveillance System, a nationally representative cross‐sectional survey. Multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate relative risk (RR) of stunting, stratified by child age and ecological region. Covariates at the child, maternal, household, and environmental levels were included based on available data and the World Health Organization conceptual framework on child stunting. Among children 6–23 months, the strongest associations with child stunting were child age in years (RR: 2.49; 95% CI [2.26, 2.73]), maternal height < 145 cm compared with ≥150 cm (RR: 2.04; 95% CI [1.85, 2.26]), living in the Northeast compared with the Southeast (RR: 2.01; 95% CI [1.69, 2.39]), no maternal education compared with a graduate education (RR: 1.77; 95% CI, [1.44, 2.16]), and birthweight < 2,500 g (RR: 1.75; 95% CI [1.55, 1.98]). For children 24–59 months, the strongest associations with child stunting were no maternal education compared with a graduate education (RR: 2.07; 95% CI [1.79, 2.40]), living in the Northeast compared with the Southeast (RR: 1.94; 95% CI [1.74, 2.16]), and maternal height < 145 cm compared with ≥150 cm (RR: 1.81; 95% CI [1.69, 1.94]). Targeted approaches that address the strongest stunting determinants among vulnerable populations are needed and discussed. Multifaceted approaches outside the health sector are also needed to reduce inequalities in socioeconomic status.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151838/1/mcn12826.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151838/2/mcn12826_am.pd

Greenhouse gas emissions from piggery and biogas digesters in the north of Vietnam

Increases in pig farm densities have caused great pressures on waste management systems and produce massive manure and urine quantities in Vietnam. This study aimed to identify the role and contributions of biogas digesters to better manage the sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from pig wastes for different types of pig farms in the north of Vietnam. Four provinces, namely Thanh Hoa, Phu Tho, Thai Binh, Vinh Phuc, were identified. A total of 24 farms were purposively selected including 16 small-size farms and 8 larger-size farms. The findings showed that GHG emissions from small-size farms (154.8 t CO2-eq.yr-1) did not significantly differ from the amounts measured in larger-size farms (139.1 t CO2-eq.yr-1) in the four surveyed provinces. The sampling position did not significantly affect the GHG emission rates, with 173.9 t CO2-eq.yr-1 inside piggeries and 120.8 t CO2-eq.yr-1 outside the outlet of the biogas digesters (p-value=0.09). N2O emissions require further measurements at different farm sizes and sites. These results confirmed that the pig waste management of biogas digesters for both small-size and larger-size pig farms is not completely efficient and that efforts need to be invested in to mitigate GHG emissions in pig production. Reducing pig density per piggery is highly recommended. The application of other alternative aerobic or anaerobic digestion technologies like vermicompost, effective microorganisms, and composting should also be encouraged and promoted

ThIRST: Targeted IRrigation Support Tool for sustainable coffee production

The Central Highlands of Vietnam is an important Robusta coffee growing region. However, the region is facing climate change impacts from rising temperatures and irregular rainfall, while Vietnamese coffee farmers predominantly rely on irrigation from heavily depleted aquifers. To continue productive and sustainable growth, this system requires an innovative approach to meet this hydrological challenge. Here we propose a user-friendly tool, which aims to support coffee farmers’ irrigation decisions, through the Targeted Irrigation Support Tool or ThIRST. ThIRST combines seasonal forecasts, on-farm metrics, and farmer’s expertise. The research comprises baseline ( n = 400) and endline ( n = 237) surveys of coffee farmers in Đắk Lắk and Lâm Đồng Provinces. Through the surveys, farmers’ irrigation needs and the applicability of the tool are evaluated. Despite low smartphone usage for farming advisory, the results show the tool allows coffee farmers to continually achieve water-use efficiency and adapt to climate variability. Involving farmers in the design, production and evaluation of climate services can improve the trust and uptake of agro-advisories and the way this information is communicated