Search Results (2,322)

There is growing concern that antimicrobial use (AMU) in livestock may contribute to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans and lead to the consumption of animal-derived foods contaminated with antimicrobial residues. As stakeholders in the livestock industry, farmers must participate in the joint effort to reduce AMU. This cross-sectional study, based on a survey questionnaire, was conducted to evaluate the biosafety measures implemented on small ruminant farms and to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of small ruminant farmers regarding AMU, AMR and residues. The mean biosafety score obtained was 8.4 points on a 0–17 scale. Some biosafety measures appeared difficult to implement, namely vehicle disinfection, requiring visitors to change clothing and footwear at the farm entrance, cleaning and disinfecting farm facilities, using high-pressure washing equipment, and requiring employees to change clothing and footwear upon entering the farm. Although farmers self-reported moderate levels of knowledge (4.9 points on a 0–7 scale) and positive attitudes (5.8 points on a 0–7 scale), significant gaps in knowledge about antibiotics and antimicrobial stewardship persisted. Practices received lower scores (4.7 on a 0–7 scale), especially regarding medication recording, leftover antibiotic management, and waste disposal. Cluster analysis identified distinct farmer profiles with different patterns of knowledge and practices. These findings underscore the importance of considering farmer heterogeneity when designing interventions aimed at improving AMU. Full article

Improving cultivated land use efficiency is widely regarded as a core issue in ensuring national food security. As one of the key policy instruments supporting agricultural development, agricultural subsidies are considered to play an important role in promoting cultivated land use efficiency. Using micro-survey data from 449 farm households in a typical black soil region of Heilongjiang Province, this study employs the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) model, the fractional logit model, and the mediation effect model to explore the potential impact of agricultural subsidies on black soil cultivated land use efficiency, as well as the potential mediating pathway at farm scale. The results suggest the following conclusions: (1) Different types of agricultural subsidies appear to have heterogeneous effects on black soil cultivated land use efficiency. Specifically, producer subsidies and total agricultural subsidies appear to exhibit nonlinear relationships with black soil cultivated land use efficiency; however, within the sample range, the overall effects tend to be negative, whereas cultivated land fertility protection subsidies are also associated with lower black soil cultivated land use efficiency. (2) Farm scale appears to serve as a potential mediating pathway linking producer subsidies and total agricultural subsidies to cultivated land use efficiency. (3) Under different conditions of land fragmentation and farm scale, the mediating pathway at farm scale appears to vary. A mediating pathway is observed among highly fragmented landholdings and small-scale farmers, whereas it is not evident among low fragmentation landholdings and large-scale farmers. Based on these findings, this study suggests that the study area may consider optimizing the structure of agricultural subsidies to promote moderate-scale farming and to improve the coordination mechanism between agricultural technical training and regulatory supervision in order to enhance black soil cultivated land use efficiency. Full article

Bovine milk is a primary dietary source of nutrients and bioactive compounds. However, its safety is increasingly under threat due to contamination from mining and intensive agriculture. In the Peruvian Andes, where small-scale dairy farming coexists with historical environmental liabilities, identifying the transfer of metals into the food chain is essential for public health. This study quantifies the concentrations of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in raw milk from small-scale producers in rural districts in the province of Huancayo. Non-carcinogenic risks for populations aged 2–85 years were assessed under three consumption scenarios. Forty-five samples were analyzed using microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry (MP-AES). The mean concentrations of Pb and Cd were 11.30 ± 18.94 µg/kg and 7.85 ± 18.11 µg/kg, respectively, which are below the maximum permissible limits (MPL). However, spatial analysis identified critical hotspots near smelters, where Pb levels reached 103 µg/kg, which is a significant exceedance of the MPL of 20 µg/kg. Toxicological modelling showed that the Hazard Index (HI) remained below the unity threshold (HI < 1) for all scenarios, ruling out immediate systemic risks. Nevertheless, the highest HI (0.78) was observed in two-year-old children in the high-consumption scenario, highlighting a localized neurodevelopmental concern. These findings emphasize the importance of georeferenced environmental monitoring and differentiated public health policies to mitigate the chronic low-level exposure to metals in vulnerable, high-altitude populations. Full article

Conservation agriculture (CA) is widely promoted as a climate-smart approach to improve productivity and resilience, especially among small-scale farmers who face socioeconomic and climate-related risks that threaten their livelihoods. However, evidence linking CA adoption to household food-security outcomes in South Africa remains limited. This study examines patterns and determinants of CA adoption and assesses its implications for household food security among small-scale farmers in three municipalities of Mpumalanga Province. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 391 farmers selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Kruskal–Wallis tests, and binary logistic regression. Results show that CA adoption was widespread but largely partial, with most farmers adopting one or two principles rather than the full CA package. Access to CA-related resources and information, household size, livelihood strategy, farm income, and farm size significantly influenced adoption. Higher adoption intensity was consistently associated with improved food-security outcomes, including increased production, lower food-insecurity severity, greater crop diversification, higher likelihood of year-round production, and increased market participation. The study concludes that conservation agriculture can contribute positively to multiple dimensions of household food security when adopted as an integrated system, but partial adoption yields limited benefits. Targeted extension support, improved access to resources, and context-specific interventions are required to enhance sustained and holistic CA adoption among small-scale farmers. Full article

Rapid urbanization has aggravated challenges in sustaining the peri-urban rice farming sector. Challenges arising from rapid urbanization threaten rice farmers in peri-urban areas because of increasing economic and land pressures. This has caused significant marginalization among rice farmers. In Indonesia, despite contributing 13.28% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, the agricultural sector is dominated by marginal farmers who struggle with poverty and lack land ownership. This study aims to identify different pathways for the marginalization of rice farmers by integrating spatiotemporal land use and land cover (LULC) change analysis, landscape fragmentation metrics, and systems thinking (ST) through causal loop diagrams (CLDs). Furthermore, an attempt to reconceptualize the term marginal rice farmers is made by considering the total number of cultivated rice fields and broader factors that contribute to the feedback loop of marginalization. This study shows that rice farmer marginalization in peri-urban areas is caused by small land size or poverty, and the interactions between ecosystem service degradation, productivity decline, economic pressure, and land conversion differ across landscape configurations. Moreover, this study enhances the understanding of peri-urban agricultural transformation and provides landscape-sensitive policy insights to support inclusive and resilient agricultural systems by reconceptualizing the marginalization of rice farmers as a dynamic socio-spatial process. Full article

This review provides insights on livestock farming in the Mediterranean regions, highlighting strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Biodiversity conservation and production of high-value, certified products are the main strengths of Mediterranean livestock systems. On the contrary, depopulation, low productivity and poor infrastructure and dependence on public subsides represent the main weaknesses of these systems. Climate change, market volatility and competition with intensive animal rearing systems are threats for Mediterranean livestock farming. A significant opportunity for Mediterranean livestock farming is represented by the presence of drought-tolerant native breeds and ecosystem services that contribute both to agricultural productivity and to ecosystem resilience and socio-cultural activities. Strategies that can promote local animal production in the Mediterranean region are provided with a focus on the Gentile di Puglia breed. Full article

Morocco is a leading African nation in renewable energy, with growing interest in expanding offshore wind energy. As offshore wind projects have gained momentum worldwide, public acceptance, particularly regarding their environmental and visual impacts, has become a critical consideration. This exploratory study examines the social acceptance of offshore wind farms (OWFs) in Morocco by integrating social acceptance analysis with a visual impact assessment based on three-dimensional (3D) image modeling in an emerging offshore wind context. Social perceptions were first assessed through a small-scale survey, with findings interpreted descriptively and considered alongside results from a public perception survey conducted in Japan, which served as a contextual reference. A hypothetical offshore wind installation along the Moroccan coast was then simulated, followed by a small-scale exploratory perception survey to examine initial reactions to different visual configurations. Given the limited sample size, the findings are indicative rather than generalizable. Nevertheless, they provide preliminary insights into the prominent role of environmental considerations, particularly ecological protection and visual integration, in shaping attitudes toward OWFs. This study highlights the relevance of careful site selection, transparent communication, and early stakeholder engagement as context-sensitive considerations for offshore wind development in Morocco. Full article

As China advances high-quality agricultural development, promoting green production among farmers has become an important policy priority. Using survey data from 1787 rice farmers in seven major rice-producing provinces in southern China, this study examines whether enterprise-led contract farming can promote farmers’ green production behavior. Green production behavior is measured by a composite index based on six practices, including green control technology, soil testing and formulated fertilization, organic fertilizer substitution, water-saving irrigation, agricultural film recycling, and straw return. Empirical analysis results show that enterprise-led contract farming can significantly promote farmers’ green production behavior. Further analysis suggests that food safety certification, planting technology training, and lower perceived price volatility are important pathways through which contract farming is linked to green production practices. The promoting effect is weaker among older farmers, stronger for farmers cultivating land with medium soil fertility, and more pronounced among small-scale rice farmers. These findings highlight the role of enterprise-led contract farming in promoting farmers’ green production and offer policy implications for encouraging wider participation in green production practices. Full article

Raw milk dairy products, an integral part of Italian food heritage, are the primary products of small-scale farms in mountain regions where pasture is seasonal. While raw milk dairy products offer potential health benefits, their physicochemical properties make them susceptible to foodborne pathogens. Long-term surveillance of these products is essential to safeguard consumer health. Here, we present a fourteen-year microbiological surveillance of raw milk dairy products and intermediate matrices from northeastern Italy’s alpine areas, analyzing coagulase-positive Staphylococci (CPS), β-glucuronidase-positive Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). The most frequently detected pathogens were CPS and β-glucuronidase-positive E. coli, with up to 19.6% and 51.7% of samples exceeding regulatory limits, respectively. Butter, curd, and fresh cream were the most contaminated matrices. Detection rates of staphylococcal enterotoxins, L. monocytogenes, and STEC aligned with European detection averages (6.7%, 2.6%, and 2.1%, respectively). These findings underscore the necessity of Good Hygiene and Management Practices, together with regular microbiological monitoring to mitigate contamination risks, supporting the safety and quality of traditional raw milk dairy products in alpine regions. Full article

Poultry litter represents a promising feedstock for biogas production through anaerobic digestion (AD), offering potential benefits for both on-farm energy supply and organic waste management. This opportunity is particularly relevant in resource-constrained countries, where limited access to reliable energy and inadequate waste management remain critical challenges. This study investigates the integration of poultry litter-based biogas production into a decentralized energy system supplying a poultry farm and a nearby household in Yaoundé, Cameroon. A techno-economic optimization framework based on mixed-integer linear programming is used to determine the cost-optimal configuration of the energy system. The results show that anaerobic digesters are only selected when constraints on poultry litter disposal are introduced. Total annual system costs increase from approximately 2680 EUR·y⁻¹ in the unconstrained scenario to 3720 EUR·y⁻¹ when up to 50% of the poultry litter is valorized locally through AD. Increasing biogas production primarily substitutes liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used for heating and progressively reduces electricity purchases from the grid. Overall, the analysis indicates that anaerobic digestion is currently not economically competitive when evaluated solely on energy supply benefits, mainly due to the high capital cost of digesters. However, when waste management objectives or external investment support are considered, poultry litter-based biogas systems can contribute to integrated energy–waste management strategies and support circular resource use in small-scale agricultural systems. Full article

Monosex culture has been shown to enhance farming productivity in several decapod crustaceans, and it has also been suggested that this approach holds high potential for the sustainable aquaculture of the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis. Pronounced sexual dimorphism in E. sinensis facilitates the implementation of a monosex culture. This study aimed to compare the growth, gonadal development, culture performance, and economic outcomes of two monosex culture modes, i.e., an all-female culture and an all-male culture, as well as a mixed-sex culture (males: females = 1:1) during an 8-month growth period in earthen ponds. The results showed that: (1) Throughout the grow-out period, the average body weight in both monosex culture treatments was consistently higher than in the mixed-sex treatment, with a significantly greater body weight in the all-female and all-male treatments than that of males and females in the mixed-sex treatment being detected during mid-June and October, respectively (p < 0.05). (2) The percentages of both sexes that had finished puberty molting were mostly similar between the monosex and mixed-sex treatments between July 20th to October 10th, although the all-female treatment had a significantly lower puberty molting percentage than the mixed-sex treatment on August 10th (p < 0.05). Gonadosomatic index (GSI) values were similar between the monosex and mixed-sex treatments for both males and females (p > 0.05). (3) At harvest period, the final body weight in the all-male treatment was significantly higher than that of the mixed-sex treatment (p < 0.05). In contrast, the all-female treatment exhibited a significantly higher survival rate and a lower limb injury rate compared with the mixed-sex treatment (p < 0.05). As a result, the yield of the all-male and all-female treatments exceeded that of the males and females in the mixed-sex treatment by 24% and 13%, respectively. Additionally, the mixed-sex treatment also had a significantly higher feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05). Finally, the monosex treatments had a higher proportion of large crabs (males ≥ 200 g, females ≥ 175 g) and a lower proportion of small crabs (males ≤ 150 g, females ≤ 100 g) compared to the mixed-sex treatment. (4) In terms of economic benefits, net profit and return on investment (ROI) were highest under the all-female treatment, while the mixed-sex treatment recorded the lowest total return, net profit, and ROI (p < 0.05). In conclusion, an all-female culture is recommended for the grow-out culture period of E. sinensis, as it led to a higher survival rate, produced larger-sized crabs and generated greater overall economic benefit. Full article

Image-based AI offers a low-cost alternative to traditional turbidity sensors in farm ponds, yet the prevailing shift toward Vision Transformers (ViTs) critically overlooks two field realities: the chronic scarcity of annotated data (Small Data) and the strict computational limits of edge hardware. This study presents a frugal computer vision framework that challenges the need for complex architectures in environmental screening. By systematically benchmarking six deep learning models across a calibrated high-turbidity dataset (200–800 NTU, 700 images) under standardized capture conditions, we demonstrate that traditional Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) possess a crucial inductive bias for this task. Specifically, ResNet-50 significantly outperformed modern ViTs in both accuracy (96.3% vs. 80.0%) and data efficiency, effectively capturing spatial scattering patterns without the massive data requirements that hindered transformer convergence. Deployed on a resource-constrained Raspberry Pi 4, the CNN-based system achieved an inference latency of 46 ms, demonstrated in an initial hardware-in-the-loop field proof-of-concept (82.4% agreement under baseline, calm-weather conditions, $n=17$). This edge-native approach not only provides actionable spatial turbidity maps to guide on-farm filtration and livestock management decisions but also establishes a critical architectural baseline: under controlled capture protocols, mature CNNs consistently outperform ViTs, establishing them as the optimal architecture for frugal, small-data agricultural Internet of Things (IoT) deployments. Full article

Alpacas have become increasingly popular as farm and companion animals in many countries and were introduced in Hungary approximately 15 years ago. However, reliable data on their population size and management practices have remained limited. Therefore, this study aimed to provide the first nationwide overview of alpaca keeping in Hungary. An anonymous Google Forms-based questionnaire comprising 55 questions was used to collect data on farm characteristics, herd size, husbandry practices, and animal health management. A total of 53 valid responses were analyzed. The results indicated that approximately 260 alpacas are currently kept in Hungary, with most herds being small and typically consisting of 1–5 animals. Most owners planned to expand their herds, primarily through domestic breeding or purchases; however, only a minority considered alpaca keeping economically profitable. Responses related to quarantine, veterinary access, and disease management suggested limited knowledge of biosecurity and animal health. While most owners reported high levels of trust in veterinarians, many had difficulty accessing specialists with expertise in alpacas. In conclusion, alpaca keeping in Hungary is a growing but still small-scale sector. Improving owner education and strengthening professional support may enhance animal welfare and reduce health risks, thereby supporting the One Health approach. Full article

Despite being a biodiversity hotspot, the Republic of Seychelles faces a critical challenge with an estimated 90% of its food imported. This dependency exposes the country to global supply disruptions and climate-related risks, while pressure on protected ecosystems continues to rise. In response, the Erasmus+ Capacity Building Higher Education GreenTraINT project (Green Training INTernational Program for agriculture, livestock farming, and conservation), co-funded by the European Union (2024–2026), aims to strengthen local expertise in sustainable agriculture, livestock farming, and biodiversity conservation. Through a transnational partnership involving European and Seychellois universities and institutions, GreenTraINT is co-designing innovative higher education modules tailored to the island’s priorities in agriculture, livestock, and biodiversity conservation. This paper focuses on a detailed needs analysis conducted in early 2025 across a diverse group of 84 stakeholders, including students, educators, NGOs, and professionals. The findings reveal a strong demand for applied training in sustainable food systems and biodiversity conservation, blended teaching methods, and programs that bridge theory with hands-on skills. Inspired by other Erasmus+ projects such as NETCHEM and SPARKLE, GreenTraINT adopts a multi-stakeholder, needs-driven approach that aligns international academic expertise with local development goals. As a key milestone, a Summer School in 2026 will pilot the newly developed modules. In the long term, GreenTraINT seeks to leave a lasting legacy by integrating its curriculum into national education pathways, thereby contributing to food security and environmental resilience. With less than four years remaining to achieve the 2030 Agenda targets, the project positions higher education reform as a strategic accelerator for SDG implementation in small island developing states (SIDS). By linking curriculum innovation to measurable sustainability priorities, GreenTraINT helps narrow the SDG implementation gap in vulnerable island contexts. The project offers a model for international collaboration in higher education for sustainability in SIDS. Full article

The dominant agri-food system’s well-documented failures—biodiversity loss, deepening rural inequalities, and the erosion of small-scale farming livelihoods—have elevated SSE initiatives and social innovation in the agri-food sector and bioeconomy from a niche policy concern to a structural priority. This paper examines how SSE arrangements drive meaningful transformation in agri-food chains while advancing sustainable development at local and regional scales. Through a narrative review of interdisciplinary peer-reviewed literature and key institutional sources, the paper synthesizes evidence that SSE initiatives generate transformation through three interconnected mechanisms: (a) the reconfiguration of governance structures; (b) the deepening of producer–consumer relationships through spatial proximity and relational transparency; and (c) the more equitable redistribution of value across agri-food territories. These findings suggest that place-based SSE models occupy a central—rather than peripheral—role in sustainability transitions and local development. The paper presents a structured analytical framework linking SSE practices to agri-food chain transformation and develops nine concrete policy implications for scaling and sustaining SSE innovations through coordinated collaboration among public, private, and social economy stakeholders. The findings contribute to a sharper understanding of the conditions under which SSE-driven models can foster sustainable, socially inclusive, and community-oriented agri-food systems and of why the solidarity dimension, rather than organisational form alone, is the decisive criterion for identifying genuinely transformative initiatives. Full article