Search Results (64)

Coastal regions of Ecuador, particularly Esmeraldas and Manabí, face significant challenges related to energy access, waste management, and sustainable agricultural development. This study evaluates the renewable energy potential of cocoa waste biomass generated by smallholder farms in these provinces. A total of 20 cocoa farms, either certified or in the process of certification under the Rainforest Alliance standard, were surveyed to quantify the volume of agricultural and agro-industrial residues. Residual biomass generation ranged from 50 to 6500 tons per year, depending on farm size, planting density, and management practices. Spatial analysis revealed that Esmeraldas holds the highest concentration of cocoa waste biomass, with some farms reaching a gross energy potential of up to 89.07 TJ/year. Using thermochemical conversion scenarios, effective energy potential was estimated, and 75% of the farms exceeded the viability threshold of 100 MWh/year. The results confirm the feasibility of cocoa biomass as a renewable energy source, mainly when managed collectively at the community level. Incorporating this waste into decentralized energy systems supports circular economy models, enhances energy self-sufficiency, and aligns with sustainable supply chain goals promoted by certification schemes. This study contributes to national efforts in energy diversification and provides a replicable model for integrating renewable energy into rural agricultural systems. Full article

An adequate food supply is a core issue for sustainable development worldwide. Amid greater instability in the food supply triggered by more armed conflicts, trade disputes, and climate change, a decline in grain cultivation area still plagues many regions. China, a major food producer globally, is a case in point. The truth is that at the moment, the formulation and implementation of policies as well as academic discussions regarding this issue are predominantly based on the sown area of grains, overlooking the fundamental role co-played by population, yield efficiency, and sown area in determining food supply. Furthermore, the commonly used indicator, the non-grain cultivation rate, fails to directly reflect the impact of the phenomenon on the grain supply. To address these gaps, this study introduces trend-change detection and factor-contribution analysis, uses long-term grain sown area data to identify regions with significant grain retreat, and quantifies the relative influence of population shifts, crop yield improvements, and sown area changes on food supply. Key findings include the following: China’s total grain production maintained steady growth from 2003 to 2023, far exceeding conventional food security thresholds. Temporary reductions in grain sown area (2015–2019, 2021–2022) were offset by rising yields, with no substantial decline in supply. Twelve provinces/municipalities, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Hainan, exhibited substantial declines in grain plantation. However, Sichuan and Shaanxi achieved counter-trend growth in food supply, while Ningxia and Guizhou experienced frequent fluctuations. The sown area was not always the dominant factor in per capita grain availability. Yield increases neutralized cropland reduction in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Guizhou, and Ningxia, whereas population inflows outweighed the sown area effect in the other eight provinces. The study concludes that China’s grain cropland reduction has not yet posed a threat to national food security. That said, the spatial concentration of these affected regions and their ongoing output reductions may raise domestic grain redistribution costs and intensify inter-regional conflicts over cropland protection. Meanwhile, population influx plays a similarly important role to that of grain plantation decline in the grain supply. Considering that, we believe that more moderate measures should be adopted to address the shrinkage of grain planting areas, with pre-set food self-sufficiency standards. These measures include, but are not limited to, improving productivity and adopting integrated farming. Methodologically, this work lowers distortions from normal annual cropland fluctuations, enabling more precise identification of non-grain production zones. By quantifying the separate impacts of population, crop yield, and sown area changes, it supplements existing observations on grain cropland decline and provides better targeted suggestions on policy formulation and coordination. Full article

The reduction of harmful emissions is shaping trends across many industries, including architecture and building. With rising ecological awareness and the threat of climate change, architects, construction engineers, and developers are focusing on innovative solutions to minimize the construction sector’s environmental impact. This paper presents a technical and management approach system using renewable energy sources, based on an existing single-family house with known energy consumption. The aim is to achieve energy independence by relying solely on on-site electricity generation and storage, while remaining connected to water and sewage infrastructure. Utilizing renewable energy sources enhances self-sufficiency and investment profitability. The study evaluates the house’s energy consumption to optimally select electricity supply solutions, including a small wind farm and photovoltaic installation integrated with appropriate electricity storage. This is crucial due to the air heat pump used for heating and domestic hot water, which requires electricity. An hourly simulation of the system’s operation over a year verified the adequacy of the selected devices. Additionally, two different locations were analyzed to assess how varying climate and wind conditions influence the design and performance of off-grid energy systems. The analysis showed that solar and wind systems can meet annual energy demand, but limited storage capacity prevents full autonomy. Replacing the heat pump with a biomass boiler reduces electricity use by about 25% and battery needs by 40%, though seasonal energy surpluses remain a challenge. This concept aligns with the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Full article

Agriculture accounts for a significant economic share in less-developed countries, especially Kosovo, where there is a lignite-dominated energy supply. Lignite’s partial replacement with locally produced renewable energy sources could play an essential role in reducing farmers’ costs and preparing the country for EU accession. Using a sample of 120 farmers, the Best–Worst Scaling (BWS) technique was used to assess farmers’ preferences for renewable energy applications and to measure the importance of seven key characteristics associated with the willingness to become energy self-sufficient. The results show a significant preference for “lower energy costs” and “environmental friendliness”. Using cluster analysis, it is shown in a statistically reliable way that while the decisions of smaller farms are influenced by economic factors and the role of energy self-sufficiency is negligible, a non-negligible share of larger farms already have already adopted self-sufficiency in energy production (solar panels, byproducts) and also consider the environment and convenience aspects necessary in their decisions. Farmers play an important role in local economic development. Therefore, regulatory schemes with differentiation by farm size may play an important role in promoting local energy management in Kosovo and similar less developed countries. Full article

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the on-farm solar photovoltaic (PV) generation to offset grid electricity consumption on a commercial poultry farm in the US. Hourly electricity production by PV systems was estimated using the System Advisor Model (SAM) of the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and compared with the estimated electric load demand of a broiler house. We analyzed the economic benefits of installing solar systems of three capacities under net energy metering and net energy billing pricing scenarios. Results suggested that a smaller PV installation of 35 kW_p, while substantially short of meeting energy needs, resulted in an 85% self-consumption ratio, whereas the larger 70 kW_p and 105 kW_p PV systems, led to 59% and 42% self-consumption ratios, respectively. This is important when analyzing pricing schemes as lesser amounts of PV energy created are sold to the grid with the smallest system, and, thereby, the least pricing effects on profitability occur across pricing scenarios. Although all scenarios lead to positive net present values (NPVs), under either type of the pricing scenarios, farm business owners realize more favorable energy sales with NEM, which would spur PV system adoption. Results of this study thus provide information to both poultry farmers, considering the size of system installations and policy makers interested in affordably increasing renewable energy supplies and/or rural development. Full article

The surging global population and urbanization trends present new challenges to food production systems and energy, especially in resource-limited urban environments. Vertical farming on façades (VFOF) is an innovative strategy to address this challenge by growing crops on building skins, efficiently using urban space, increasing food self-sufficiency, and reducing the environmental impact of carbon emissions. This article is a comprehensive review of VFOF and closely related topics based on 166 journal articles. It covers the latest research advances in design, technology, social impact, and environmental benefits. In addition to enhancing the autonomy of urban food supply and improving residents’ quality of life, VFOF also has the potential to optimize the thermal performance of buildings and promote energy conservation by having some of the qualities of vertical greening systems (VGS). The planting system design and technical support factors for different façade locations are explained in detail. The symbiotic relationship between VFOF and architecture is examined to enhance sustainability. The popularity of VFOF is increasing in terms of social acceptance, and the government, together with the private sector and communities, play a vital role in promoting its development. In addition, this review also collates the cases of VFOF implementation in recent years. Research shows that the implementation of VFOF has many advantages, especially when considering future urban challenges under climate change scenarios and the need to provide solutions to achieve carbon neutral buildings and cities. Still, high initial investment, operating costs, technical complexity, security issue, policy and regulatory constraints, and public acceptance are all challenges to overcome. Further research should be carried out in the above fields. Full article

In agricultural production, the nitrogen content of sugarcane is assessed with precision and the economy, which is crucial for balancing fertilizer application, reducing resource waste, and minimizing environmental pollution. As an important economic crop, the productivity of sugarcane is significantly influenced by various environmental factors, especially nitrogen supply. Traditional methods based on manually extracted image features are not only costly but are also limited in accuracy and generalization ability. To address these issues, a novel regression prediction model for estimating the nitrogen content of sugarcane, named SC-ResNeXt (Enhanced with Self-Attention, Spatial Attention, and Channel Attention for ResNeXt), has been proposed in this study. The Self-Attention (SA) mechanism and Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) have been incorporated into the ResNeXt101 model to enhance the model’s focus on key image features and its information extraction capability. It was demonstrated that the SC-ResNeXt model achieved a test R² value of 93.49% in predicting the nitrogen content of sugarcane leaves. After introducing the SA and CBAM attention mechanisms, the prediction accuracy of the model improved by 4.02%. Compared with four classical deep learning algorithms, SC-ResNeXt exhibited superior regression prediction performance. This study utilized images captured by smartphones combined with automatic feature extraction and deep learning technologies, achieving precise and economical predictions of the nitrogen content in sugarcane compared to traditional laboratory chemical analysis methods. This approach offers an affordable technical solution for small farmers to optimize nitrogen management for sugarcane plants, potentially leading to yield improvements. Additionally, it supports the development of more intelligent farming practices by providing precise nitrogen content predictions. Full article

Hemoparasitic diseases represent a significant problem with a considerable impact on tropical and subtropical areas of the world. These conditions cause economic losses associated with multi-organic failure and even the death of animals. In these areas, the hemoparasites are transmitted in an enzootic cycle when infectious cattle, such as persistently infected animals, including cows, contribute to the success of transmission. However, the factors associated with transmission have always been considered environmental issues, disregarding herd management and practices. In this sense, we conducted a cross-sectional study sampling 360 female cattle older than one year to identify infectious cattle using the PCR technique. We employed a dichotomic questionnaire for association analyses in 150 herds of the southern Andean region of Colombia. Overall prevalence with infectious cattle was 52.5% for Babesia spp., Anaplasma spp., and Trypanosoma spp., and the significant risk factors (p < 0.05) included geographic area, animal weight, purchase of cattle for fattening, disinfection of clothing after contact with neighboring animals, self-medication, separation of animals in pens, supply of mineralized salt, presence of livestock from other owners on the farm, prevention of joint trauma, documented milking routine, and sending blood samples for analysis. These practices permitted the maintenance of persistently infected animals and their movement to shed the agents to other animals in the presence of vectors. This suggests the importance of implementing comprehensive control and training measures to reduce the infectious cattle and, therefore, the profitability of dual-purpose livestock farms in the Andean region of southwestern Colombia. Full article

Insufficient access to high-quality feed in sufficient amounts is hindering the sustainable growth of the Indian cattle sector. The feed supply is negatively impacted by increased cropping intensity, limited grazing land, and the effects of climate change. Therefore, developing cost-effective methods to improve feed availability year-round is crucial. Improved planted forages, such as Napier grass, are recommended to address feed shortages in semi-arid agroecological regions in India. The study, using the PSM approach, investigates the socioeconomic factors that impact Napier adoption, its influence on enhanced milk output, time saved in livestock farming, farmers’ well-being, and livestock health. This study employed a multistage sampling method to choose 309 participants for the questionnaire survey. Our analysis shows that Napier adoption resulted in a 24.6% rise in daily milk output/cow and a 61.2% overall improvement in total milk production/year/cow when compared with baseline data. Napier’s adoption decreased livestock farming times by 30 min/cow. Additionally, women’s involvement in livestock farming improved with Napier farming, and farmers who have switched to Napier have seen a remarkable increase in their net income, with a monthly boost of Rs. 2044–2555 per cow. Additionally, daily milk consumption has also skyrocketed, with a remarkable enhancement of 143–153 mL per person daily. Our study highlights that the farmer’s age, education level, livestock unit, and land holding play a crucial role. Additionally, the availability of extension services and farmer group participation can further impact the adoption process. Furthermore, our study explores how these factors shape the decision-making process and drive the successful integration of Napier grass into farming practices. However, considering the spatial limitations and reliance on self-reported data in this study, we suggest future research examining the long-term effects of Napier grass adoption on climate-smart agricultural practices, soil moisture, and socioeconomic benefits, involving field experiments, modeling, and farmer participation. Full article

With the aim to characterise the situation of the subsector, 25 poultry farms of the endangered native Utrerana chicken egg-laying-oriented breed (Gallus gallus Linnaeus, 1758) were surveyed in Andalusia (southern Spain) from 2021 to 2023 to investigate the structure of the farms, number of birds, health status, feeding management, and marketing of their products. It was found that the pace of foundation of Utrerana chicken farms accelerated from 2009, and most of the farms were concentrated in the province of Seville. Only 40% of the farms were legally registered. This breed is raised on small farms mainly dedicated to self-supply and raising birds for conformation and their aesthetic values, with limited marketing of eggs and meat, with facilities consisting often of one poultry house and one outdoor enclosure, and with a low number of laying hens per farm (53.5 on average). Current productivity is low, with an average of 139 eggs per hen per year, but hens have a long reproductive lifespan, averaging 4 years. The Partridge variety of the breed was the most common, followed by the Black-barred and Black varieties, while the White variety was very scarce, with only 31 specimens in total. Two-thirds of the farmers also raised other breeds of chickens, in addition to the Utrerana. The management and production system was free-range or backyard, with a certain proximity to the requirements of European Union-certified organic production with regard to stocking densities and generally with a good sanitary status, respect for welfare, and implementation of biosecurity measures on the farms. The feeding of the chickens was based on grazing in outdoor enclosures and on the provision of grains and compound feed, with 40.0% of farmers using commercial compound feed and half preparing feed themselves. Two-thirds of the farmers were affiliated with the National Association of Utrerana Chicken Breeders (“Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Gallinas Utreranas”, ANCGU, in Spanish); almost half of them took part with their birds in fairs and conformation shows, such as the Utrerana Chicken Fair held in Utrera (province of Seville) and more than a quarter of them have sold live birds of the breed at these fairs. The farmers carry out few promotional and advertising activities for their farms and products, predominantly by using social networks, and the market area reached is mainly local. In conclusion, this research has shown that the current alternative production system for Utrerana chicken is similar to that of the hens that originated the breed and consists of a few amateur farms, with a small number of birds, distributed mainly throughout the Andalusian countryside. It has been highlighted that there is a need for the livestock authorities to implement programmes for supporting farmers and promoting the breeding of this endangered avian breed, native to the Spanish zoogenetic heritage. Full article

The objective of a strawberry nursery is to produce numerous runners and improve the quality of the runner plants, ensuring their uniformity and health. About 80% of the strawberry nurseries in Wanju-gun, Republic of Korea, are cultivated by the growers themselves, which results in variations in the cultivation techniques. Different methods are employed to reduce the nitrogen levels to promote floral bud initiation in the later nursery stage, and these methods vary between farms. This study was conducted on the ‘Sulhyang’ cultivar (Fragaria × ananassa Dutch. cv. Sulhyang) to measure the nutrient content in runner plants obtained from eight growers using various cultivation methods, supply EC levels, nutrient solution termination times, etc., and to correlate the nutrient levels with floral bud initiation during the nursery period. Four investigations were conducted at 15-day intervals from Julian day 214 (2 August) to Julian day 259 (16 September) in 2022, focusing on nutrient management during the nursery period, runner plant growth, petiole nitrate nitrogen content (NO₃-N), and soluble solid content (SSC). The NO₃-N content decreased, and the SSC/NO₃-N ratio increased near the transplanting period, as assessed using a rapid inorganic nutrient diagnostic device. The proportion of runner plants that had advanced to stage 3 or above in floral bud initiation was investigated using a stereomicroscope. As a result, differences in the percentage of floral bud initiation were confirmed based on the varying nutrient management among the farms. In this study, on Julian day 243 (31 August 2022), there was a strong negative correlation (r = −0.86, r² = 0.73) between the NO₃-N content in the runner plants and the percentage of floral bud initiation. These results emphasize the importance of nutrient management during the nursery period, especially for strawberry self-propagating growers, and demonstrate a strong correlation between nutrient content and floral bud initiation in strawberries. Full article

Improving productivity in industrial farming is crucial for precision agriculture, particularly in the broiler breeding sector, where swift identification of dead broilers is vital for preventing disease outbreaks and minimizing financial losses. Traditionally, the detection process relies on manual identification by farmers, which is both labor-intensive and inefficient. Recent advances in computer vision and deep learning have resulted in promising automatic dead broiler detection systems. In this study, we present an automatic detection and segmentation system for dead broilers that uses transformer-based dual-stream networks. The proposed dual-stream method comprises two streams that reflect the segmentation and detection networks. In our approach, the detection network supplies location-based features of dead broilers to the segmentation network, aiding in the prevention of live broiler mis-segmentation. This integration allows for more accurate identification and segmentation of dead broilers within the farm environment. Additionally, we utilized the self-attention mechanism of the transformer to uncover high-level relationships among the features, thereby enhancing the overall accuracy and robustness. Experiments indicated that the proposed approach achieved an average IoU of 88% on the test set, indicating its strong detection capabilities and precise segmentation of dead broilers. Full article

This study investigated the perception of drought by cocoa farmers and explored the effectiveness of adaptive strategies (ASs) used in smallholding farms in the transboundary region between Ghana and Togo. Drought significantly threatens cocoa production in this region, affecting farmers’ livelihoods and cocoa supply chains. This study used a multistage sampling approach, which involved surveys with questionnaires administered to 330 cocoa farmers throughout the study area, along with on-site observations. Statistical analysis included binary logistic and Poisson regression models to explore the relationship between farmer socioeconomic characteristics and adaptation practices. The findings revealed that cocoa farmers in the region have a nuanced understanding of drought, attributed to changing climatic patterns and unsustainable land management practices such as deforestation. To mitigate its impacts, farmers employ a variety of ASs, including investment in farm management, soil management, and intercropping with crop diversification. Furthermore, socioeconomic factors, including age, formal education, household size, land tenure right, adaptation cost assessment, and an underestimation of self-efficacy, were shown to affect the choice in the AS. Among the ASs adopted, only farm management practices (weeding, pruning, fertilizer application, etc.) significantly improved the cocoa yield. This study contributes to understanding drought as a critical issue for cocoa farmers and the adaptation practices used by smallholder cocoa farmers. Given that among the strategies adopted, only farm management practices, also known as good agricultural practices (GAPs), significantly improves yield, this study recommends well-designed and innovative packages of sustainable farm management based on farm and owner characteristics. These include irrigation schemes, timely soil fertilizer monitoring and supply, and the provision of drought-resistant varieties along with technical itineraries. Additional interventions require drought emergency responses, with other factors such as education and financial support mechanisms expected to improve farmers’ timely decision-making to adapt and improve cocoa production resilience to drought episodes in international transboundary regions with complex governance structures. Full article

This research examines how sheep farmers and industry actors in the United Kingdom (UK) understand and conceptualize what animal welfare scientists term ‘positive animal welfare’. It explores their awareness of the concept, and how they interpret it using a qualitative approach. Participants were recruited using a snowballing, purposive sample approach, resulting in 25 sheep farmers and 11 industry actors (veterinarians, farming organizations, advisors, and supply chain) being interviewed. To collect data, a combined approach involving semi-structured interviews and a facilitated workshop were used between April 2021 and March 2022. Data were then thematically analyzed using a hybrid of inductive and deductive coding process. The findings suggested that the perceptions of farmers and industry actors in the study regarding positive welfare differ from contemporary academic discourses. Overall, around 7 of the farmers equated positive welfare with “positive stockmanship”, while six of them expressed “good animal welfare” definitions associated with the Five Freedoms. In contrast, most industry actors (6) expressed interpretations associated with high welfare standards (going above minimum recommended practices) and positive mental experiences (3). Emerging discourses revealed the link between self-identity, social identity and what positive welfare is, the importance of knowledge exchange, and the need for practical indicators through language rephrasing. There is a clear need to enhance and improve knowledge dissemination strategies, particularly in the UK, where much research is being conducted on positive animal welfare. Full article

The pandemic crisis has created significant challenges for small farms, leading to increased energy costs, higher prices for feed and nutrients, unreliable supplies of chemical fertilizers, and disruptions in product sales markets. These factors have collectively compromised the operational viability and economic sustainability of small-scale agricultural enterprises. To address these challenges, this paper explores the concept of a self-sufficient farming system, focusing on locally producing most of the resources needed to sustain operations and reduce dependence on external sources. A self-sufficient integrated pisciculture farming system is proposed and evaluated, promoting an autonomous circular model that prioritizes environmental sustainability. This system incorporates the integration of local livestock into fish diets, production of renewable energy sources, and efficient water and sludge management to reduce reliance on external resources. The detailed methodology used to evaluate sustainability indicators objectively demonstrates that the proposed system can be self-sustainable and autonomous; however, it requires considerable initial investments that can be recovered within at least six years. Optimizing the energy management plan can reduce daily power consumption by up to 25%. However, local conditions may challenge the efficiency of photovoltaic–hybrid energy production, requiring slight oversizing of the system. The research indicated that rearing carp with cereal-based feed mixtures produces growth results comparable to those achieved with commercially purchased feed. The indicators of resource efficiency, reliability, flexibility, productivity, environmental impact, and social impact were met as expected. The weakest indicator was the technology’s potential for scalability, due to its strong dependence on various regional factors. Full article