Economic Potential of Using High Tunnel Hoop Houses to Produce Fruits and Vegetables

Abstract Hoop house plasticulture has been promoted as a production technology that allows fruit and vegetable crops to be grown in the cool season months in early spring and late fall. At this time little information regarding the economics of hoop house plasticulture is available. Two fruit and vegetable production systems were developed for growing conditions in south-central Oklahoma. The first system has a spinach crop followed by field tomato, and the second system has annually produced strawberry followed by yellow and zucchini squash. Crop production data were collected in a three-year randomized and replicated experiment. The objectives were (1) to determine the expected cost of production for each crop and systems, (2) to determine the breakeven price for each crop in each system, and (3) to determine how robust breakeven prices are to a number of yield, expense and marketing scenarios. The expected total cost of production were $1,968 and$1,652 per house for spinach and tomato crops, respectively, and $2,749,$359 and $353 per house for yellow and zucchini squash crops, respectively. Breakeven prices for spinach and tomato were$3.32 and $0.83 per pound, respectively, and$6.16, $0.92, and$1.40 per pound for strawberry and yellow and zucchini squash, respectively. Breakeven prices for spinach and strawberry crops were most sensitive to assumptions about quantity of marketable yield sold and/or quantity of yield consumed by grower household.breakeven prices, economics, fruits and vegetables, hoop houses, plasticulture, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Production Economics,

Economic Feasibility of Small Scale Vegetable Production and Retailing in Rural Communities

Economic information about the feasibility of producing and retailing vegetables in rural communities is limited. The objectives were to determine actual net return from producing and retailing a mix of produce in a rural community, and to determine if consumers were willing to pay differentiated prices for the locally-grown vegetables.Crop Production/Industries,

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Adding 6 months of androgen deprivation therapy to postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of short-course versus no androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised controlled trial

Background Previous evidence indicates that adjuvant, short-course androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) improves metastasis-free survival when given with primary radiotherapy for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the value of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy is unclear. Methods RADICALS-HD was an international randomised controlled trial to test the efficacy of ADT used in combination with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to radiotherapy alone (no ADT) or radiotherapy with 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT), using monthly subcutaneous gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue injections, daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as distant metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. Standard survival analysis methods were used, accounting for randomisation stratification factors. The trial had 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 80% to 86% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·67). Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00541047. Findings Between Nov 22, 2007, and June 29, 2015, 1480 patients (median age 66 years [IQR 61–69]) were randomly assigned to receive no ADT (n=737) or short-course ADT (n=743) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 121 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 9·0 years (IQR 7·1–10·1), metastasis-free survival events were reported for 268 participants (142 in the no ADT group and 126 in the short-course ADT group; HR 0·886 [95% CI 0·688–1·140], p=0·35). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 79·2% (95% CI 75·4–82·5) in the no ADT group and 80·4% (76·6–83·6) in the short-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 121 (17%) of 737 participants in the no ADT group and 100 (14%) of 743 in the short-course ADT group (p=0·15), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Metastatic disease is uncommon following postoperative bed radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy. Adding 6 months of ADT to this radiotherapy did not improve metastasis-free survival compared with no ADT. These findings do not support the use of short-course ADT with postoperative radiotherapy in this patient population

Duration of androgen deprivation therapy with postoperative radiotherapy for prostate cancer: a comparison of long-course versus short-course androgen deprivation therapy in the RADICALS-HD randomised trial

Background Previous evidence supports androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with primary radiotherapy as initial treatment for intermediate-risk and high-risk localised prostate cancer. However, the use and optimal duration of ADT with postoperative radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy remains uncertain. Methods RADICALS-HD was a randomised controlled trial of ADT duration within the RADICALS protocol. Here, we report on the comparison of short-course versus long-course ADT. Key eligibility criteria were indication for radiotherapy after previous radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer, prostate-specific antigen less than 5 ng/mL, absence of metastatic disease, and written consent. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to add 6 months of ADT (short-course ADT) or 24 months of ADT (long-course ADT) to radiotherapy, using subcutaneous gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogue (monthly in the short-course ADT group and 3-monthly in the long-course ADT group), daily oral bicalutamide monotherapy 150 mg, or monthly subcutaneous degarelix. Randomisation was done centrally through minimisation with a random element, stratified by Gleason score, positive margins, radiotherapy timing, planned radiotherapy schedule, and planned type of ADT, in a computerised system. The allocated treatment was not masked. The primary outcome measure was metastasis-free survival, defined as metastasis arising from prostate cancer or death from any cause. The comparison had more than 80% power with two-sided α of 5% to detect an absolute increase in 10-year metastasis-free survival from 75% to 81% (hazard ratio [HR] 0·72). Standard time-to-event analyses were used. Analyses followed intention-to-treat principle. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN40814031, and ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT00541047 . Findings Between Jan 30, 2008, and July 7, 2015, 1523 patients (median age 65 years, IQR 60–69) were randomly assigned to receive short-course ADT (n=761) or long-course ADT (n=762) in addition to postoperative radiotherapy at 138 centres in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the UK. With a median follow-up of 8·9 years (7·0–10·0), 313 metastasis-free survival events were reported overall (174 in the short-course ADT group and 139 in the long-course ADT group; HR 0·773 [95% CI 0·612–0·975]; p=0·029). 10-year metastasis-free survival was 71·9% (95% CI 67·6–75·7) in the short-course ADT group and 78·1% (74·2–81·5) in the long-course ADT group. Toxicity of grade 3 or higher was reported for 105 (14%) of 753 participants in the short-course ADT group and 142 (19%) of 757 participants in the long-course ADT group (p=0·025), with no treatment-related deaths. Interpretation Compared with adding 6 months of ADT, adding 24 months of ADT improved metastasis-free survival in people receiving postoperative radiotherapy. For individuals who can accept the additional duration of adverse effects, long-course ADT should be offered with postoperative radiotherapy. Funding Cancer Research UK, UK Research and Innovation (formerly Medical Research Council), and Canadian Cancer Society

Economic Potential of Using High Tunnel Hoop Houses to Produce Fruits and Vegetables

Abstract Hoop house plasticulture has been promoted as a production technology that allows fruit and vegetable crops to be grown in the cool season months in early spring and late fall. At this time little information regarding the economics of hoop house plasticulture is available. Two fruit and vegetable production systems were developed for growing conditions in south-central Oklahoma. The first system has a spinach crop followed by field tomato, and the second system has annually produced strawberry followed by yellow and zucchini squash. Crop production data were collected in a three-year randomized and replicated experiment. The objectives were (1) to determine the expected cost of production for each crop and systems, (2) to determine the breakeven price for each crop in each system, and (3) to determine how robust breakeven prices are to a number of yield, expense and marketing scenarios. The expected total cost of production were $1,968 and$1,652 per house for spinach and tomato crops, respectively, and $2,749,$359 and $353 per house for yellow and zucchini squash crops, respectively. Breakeven prices for spinach and tomato were$3.32 and $0.83 per pound, respectively, and$6.16, $0.92, and$1.40 per pound for strawberry and yellow and zucchini squash, respectively. Breakeven prices for spinach and strawberry crops were most sensitive to assumptions about quantity of marketable yield sold and/or quantity of yield consumed by grower household

Economic Feasibility of Small Scale Vegetable Production and Retailing in Rural Communities

Economic information about the feasibility of producing and retailing vegetables in rural communities is limited. The objectives were to determine actual net return from producing and retailing a mix of produce in a rural community, and to determine if consumers were willing to pay differentiated prices for the locally-grown vegetables

Economic Challenges of Small-Scale Vegetable Production and Retailing in Rural Communities: An Example from Rural Oklahoma

Information regarding the economic potential of producing and retailing vegetables in rural communities is limited. This study determined the actual net return from producing and on-site retailing a mix of produce in a rural Oklahoma community and determined if consumers in the region were willing to pay differentiated prices for the locally grown vegetables. Although the project did not generate a profit, a wealth of insightful information was gained. Results show that a substantial number of consumers were willing to pay premiums for certain types of produce; however, there were not enough such consumers to overcome the production and harvesting expenses