Enhancing the attractiveness of european study programmes in biosystems engineering - the Netherlands

Wageningen University and all study programmes are very internationally oriented. First, most of the master programmes have a mandatory internship of 24 credits and the students are stimulated to go abroad. Second, the new structure of the programmes by September 2010 make it for especially the bachelor students more easy to go a certain period abroad to follow courses at an other university. Third, all master programmes are fully taught in the English language, making it possible for foreign students to come to Wageningen University for a master programme. Much effort is put in promoting Wageningen University. The websites play a very important role in informing prospective students on the possibilities offered by Wageningen University. In addition there are paper brochures available with information on all master programmes. Wageningen University is also present on several educational fairs to promote the study programmes

Challenging the claims on the potential of biochar to mitigate climate change.

Thesis (PhD) - Wageningen University, Wageningen. Promotors: T. W. Kuyper, E. Hoffland, B. J. M. Arts, Wageningen University. Co-promotor: Etelvino Henrique Novotny, CNPS

Future harvest : the fine line between myopia and utopia

Inaugural lecture upon taking up the post fo Personal Professor of Plant Production Systems at Wageningen University on 12 May 2011

Wind erosion processes and related glyphosate transport in the loess pampean region of Córdoba province, Argentina

The results of this experiment will provide: Insight on glyphosate and AMPA concentrations in wind-eroded sediment; Valuable information on the losses of glyphosate and AMPA to off-site environments due to wind erosion; A strong contribution to the Argentinean decision makers, stakeholders and the international community in the knowledge of glyphosate/AMPA transport by wind erosion, and its potential impact to the environment and human health.Fil: Bento, Célia P. M. Wageningen University. Soil Physics and Land Management; Países Bajos.Fil: Geissen, Violette. Wageningen University. Soil Physics and Land Management; Países Bajos.Fil: Riksen, Michel. Wageningen University. Soil Physics and Land Management; Países Bajos.Fil: Mol, Hans. Wageningen University. Research Centre. RIKILT Institute of Food Safety; Países Bajos.Fil: Murialdo, Raquel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil: Ritsema, Coen. Wageningen University. Soil Physics and Land Management; Países Bajos.Fil: Reyna, Santiago. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales; Argentina.Otras Ingeniería del Medio Ambient

Application of user statistics and additional data for collection management of Wageningen UR digital library

Good collection management is necessary to guarantee the quality, quantity and costs of the online journal collection of Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR) Digital Library. Via quantitative research on both subscription prices and usage statistics (i.e. download data from vendors of online journals and clickthrough data statistics from the library’s SFX link resolver) the library obtains data that are helpful to decision making regarding cost-effectiveness of online journals. By calculation of the price per article download for each online journal and holding this against the costs of document delivery from outside the library, a selection of online journals with a low cost-effectiveness is possible. These online journals can further be examined for cancellation. Via optimization to cost-effective online journals only, Wageningen UR Library strives to give access to scientific literature that is important (‘need to have’) to the users and researchers of Wageningen UR while keeping the costs of the subscriptions into the financial budget

Reduced efficacy of fluazinam against Phytophthora infestans in the Netherlands

Phytophthora infestans is the causal organism of potato late blight, the most important disease in potato, the second most important arable crop in Europe. The P. infestans population in Europe is well known for its sudden changes in composition. Currently it is composed of a wide variety of genotypes, some of which are dominant clonal lines while others are rare or even unique to a year or location. Fungicides play a crucial role in the integrated control of late blight. Since its introduction in the Netherlands in 1992, fluazinam has been used in late blight control strategies in ware and starch potatoes. It has a broad spectrum of activity and is effective against a range of diseases including potato late blight. Fluazinam interrupts the pathogen cell’s energy production process by an uncoupling effect on oxidative phosphorylation. It is considered to have a low resistance risk. Until recently, reduced efficacy against fluazinam was not detected in P. infestans surveys in Europe. In this paper we present the finding of a new clonal lineage (EU_33_A2) of P. infestans in the Netherlands and the reduced efficacy of fluazinam to control one of the EU_33_A2 isolates in field experiments carried out in 2011 and 2015 under high disease pressure. The potential effects of this finding on practical late blight control strategies are discussed.EEA BalcarceFil: Schepers, Huub T. Wageningen University & Research, Lelystadthe; HolandaFil: Kessel, Geert Jan T. Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen; HolandaFil: Lucca, Ana Maria Florencia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Förch, M.G. Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen; HolandaFil: van den Bosch, G. B. M. Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen; HolandaFil: Topper, Corina. G. Wageningen University & Research, Lelystadthe; HolandaFil: Evenhuis, A. Wageningen University & Research, Lelystadthe; Holand

Bibliometric analyses on repository contents as a library service for the evaluation of research

Since the last two decennia, the library of Wageningen University and Research (or Wageningen UR) has been involved in several bibliometric analyses for the evaluation of scientific output of staff, chair groups, research institutes and graduate schools. In these bibliometric analyses several indicator scores, such as the number of publications, number of citations and citation impacts, are calculated. However, since publication and citation habits differ considerably per scientific discipline, indicator scores need to be standardized in order to make comparison of scientific outputs from staff, chair groups, research institutes or graduate schools, that belong to different scientific disciplines, possible. It is for this reason that Wageningen UR Library bases its bibliometric analyses on indicator scores that are standardized against average trend (or baseline) scores per research field. For the collection of scientific output that is subjected to bibliometric analyses the repository Wageningen Yield (WaY) is used. This repository contains metadata and links to scientific output of the staff, research groups, chair groups and institutes of Wageningen UR and is developed and managed by Wageningen UR Library. By the application of a link between the metadata of publications in WaY and citation scores in Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science, custom-made analyses can be performed efficiently. Usings the repository WaY as a source for Wageningen UR’s scientific output enables optimal use of meta data (e.g. affiliations of authors), improvement of completeness and data quality as well as awareness of library services. Moreover, the bibliometric analyses give insights in steps that can be taken to improve publication strategies for Wageningen UR staff, chair groups, research institutes and graduate schools

Course report: Climate change adaptation in agriculture and natural resource management - Integrating climate change in policy making and programming for sustainable development

At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) in the Netherlands, Wageningen UR1 has initiated a support programme for climate change adaptation in Eastern Africa in 2008. In partnership with ASARECA2, IUCN – EARO3 and RUFORUM4 a scoping workshop and follow-up were organised. The focus was on capacities needed to better integrated climate change adaptation responses into agricultural, rural development and natural resources policy processes. The initiative led, among others, to the development of a new training course in 2009, implemented by the partnership, in collaboration with HoA-REC5 at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. The regional training on Climate Change Adaptation in agriculture and NRM took place from 15 to 26 June 2009 in Addis Ababa. It was attended by 26 participants from Ethiopia (20), Uganda (3), Kenya (2) and Tanzania (1). Participants were drawn from universities, agricultural research institutes, non-governmental organisations and government departments. The course was coordinated and facilitated by a team from HoA-REC and Wageningen UR, complemented by presenters and lecturers from various universities and institutes, such as Prof. Richard Odingo (University of Nairobi), Dr. Jan Verhagen (Wageningen UR), Dr. Gebru Jember (National Meteorological Agency, Ethiopia), and Dr. Lulseged Tamene (Addis Ababa University)

Strengthening Managing for Impact in Eastern and Southern Africa : Grant Completion Report

The Strengthening Managing for Impact Programme (SMIP) was a pilot initiative established to test the extent to which the use of the Managing for Impact (M4I) approach could enhance the impact of pro-poor interventions for greater development effectiveness. This programme was implemented in the Eastern and Southern Africa region (including French speaking countries) from 2006 till the end of 2009 and was largely funded by IFAD. A partnership was developed between Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation (formerly part of Wageningen International), Khanya6aicdd, IFPRI6IKCD (formerly IFPRI/ISNAR) and Haramaya University (in a joint partnership ‘Carmpolea’); and the Impact Alliance

WISARD - Decentralized Information Management in a Shared Environment

Paper on the objectives, functions, and content of the Web-based Information System on Agricultural Research and Rural Development (WISARD) at the International Agriculture Centre at Wageningen University and Research (UR) Centre. Presented at the stakeholders' meeting of the 2001 CGIAR Annual General Meeting by F. Neuman of Wageningen UR