NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Integrated impact assessment of climate and socio-economic change on dairy farms in a watershed in the Netherlands
This study uses a bio-economic farm model to assess impacts of climate and socio-economic change on dairy farms in a sandy area in the Netherlands. Farm data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network provided information on the current production levels and available farm resources. First, the farm plans of individual farms were optimized in the current situation to benchmark farms and assess the current scope for improvement. Secondly, simulations for two scenarios were included: a Global Economy with 2°C global temperature rise (GE/W+) and a Regional Community with 1°C global temperature rise (RC/G). The impacts of climat...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - January 12, 2016 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activity of Traditional Medicinal Plants from the Balkan Peninsula
Publication date: Available online 7 January 2016 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): Nemanja Stanković, Tatjana Mihajilov-Krstev, Bojan Zlatković, Vesna Stankov-Jovanović, Violeta Mitić, Jovana Jović, Ljiljana Čomić, Branislava Kocić, Nirit Bernstein Negative effects of available antibiotics and the constant development of bacterial resistance motivate a search for new antimicrobial agents. Aromatics plants have traditionally been used as antibacterial agents and are well accepted today as a source of antioxidants. The present study evaluated the antibacterial activit...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - January 12, 2016 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Wild harvest: distribution and diversity of wild food plants in rice ecosystems of Northeast Thailand
This study highlights that the development of more productive lowland rice systems may jeopardize the diversity of wild food plant species in the rice landscape, which is important for the food security of the rural poor. (Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences)
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - January 12, 2016 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Explaining production expansion decisions of Dutch dairy farmers
The objective of this study is to analyse which factors determine milk production expansion by Dutch dairy farmers. A conceptual model is developed that shows how policies, market conditions, and farmers’ values and goals affect their expansion decisions. This conceptual model shows that not only economic, but also social and environmental variables are important factors in expansion decisions of Dutch dairy farmers. Zooming in on the dynamic decision making process itself, we combine three investment theories to explain investment decisions. This framework is the basis for a dynamic random effects probit model that is u...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - December 25, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Energy inputs and greenhouse gas emissions associated with small-scale farmer sugarcane cropping systems and subsequent bioethanol production in Japan
Publication date: Available online 21 December 2015 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): Takahiro Nakashima, Shoko Ishikawa Fossil fuel energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions were estimated in cropping systems of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) and the subsequent production of ethanol in order to evaluate the feasibility of bioethanol production by small-scale farmers in the Tanegashima Island, one of the major areas of sugarcane production in Japan. The current cropping system and an alternative system were compared using Life Cycle Assessment and the results are discussed in ...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - December 23, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Evaluation of producing and marketing entire male pigs
In conclusion, boar tainted meat was rated as less pleasant by consumers compared to meat of gilts and non-tainted boar meat, indicating the need of detection as a safety net at the slaughter line. Breeding was an effective preventive measure to reduce boar taint. Farms with appropriate management, feeding and housing conditions have reduced levels of mounting and aggressive behaviour. Human nose scores were a better predictor of the rank order of consumer perception, compared to skatole levels and to androstenone levels. (Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences)
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - December 23, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Adapting spring wheat breeding to the needs of the organic sector
Publication date: Available online 21 December 2015 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): A.M. Osman, C.J.M. Almekinders, P.C. Struik, E.T. Lammerts van Bueren Organic farmers and food processors need plant varieties that are adapted to their crop husbandry and processing practices. Such varieties are scarce as the mainstream breeding sector focuses on developing varieties for the conventional product chain that has different goals and practices. In this paper we study the case of the Dutch bread production chain to assess options that might enhance the availability of varieties suitable ...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - December 23, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Private Environmental Governance in the Ethiopian Pesticide Supply Chain: Importation, Distribution and Use
Publication date: Available online 18 December 2015 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): Belay T. Mengistie, Arthur P.J. Mol, Peter Oosterveer Agricultural pesticides are important chemicals that are used to mitigate crop damage or loss and improve productivity. However, pesticides may cause negative environmental and human health effects depending on their specific distribution and use. Securing environmental safety and sustainability of pesticide distribution and use is widely seen as an important challenge for pesticide governance. This paper analyses how, why and under what circumstanc...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - December 20, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Understanding perceptions of potato seed quality among small-scale farmers in Peruvian highlands
Publication date: Available online 19 December 2015 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): C. Urrea-Hernandez, C.J.M. Almekinders, Y.K. van Dam The increased opportunities of smallholder farmers for commercial production of native potato varieties have resulted in an interest to support production and use of quality seed tubers of these varieties by the formal sector. In this context, a study was carried out to explore farmer perception of seed quality and the differences with formal expert perceptions of seed quality. It introduces Means-End-Chains methodology as a novel approach in studyin...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - December 20, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Systemic problems affecting co-innovation in the New Zealand Agricultural Innovation System: Identification of blocking mechanisms and underlying institutional logics
This study identifies systemic problems in the New Zealand Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) in relation to the AIS capacity to enact a co-innovation approach, in which all relevant actors in the agricultural sector contribute to combined technological, social and institutional change. Systemic problems are factors that negatively influence the direction and speed of co-innovation and impede the development and functioning of innovation systems. The contribution in the paper is twofold. Firstly, it combines both innovation system functions and systemic problems in an integrated analysis to asses an AIS at a country leve...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - December 20, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Assessing the diversity of smallholder rice farms production strategies in Sierra Leone
Publication date: Available online 12 November 2015 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): R. Chenoune, H. Belhouchette, S. Gomez y Paloma, A. Capillon In Sierra Leone, several international organizations are trying to help the government improve the productivity of its rice farms, which currently have the lowest rice yields in West Africa. However, the various programmes attempting to increase rice production, and consequently rice self-sufficient food production, are handicapped by an absence of thorough studies explaining the way rice farmers take the available socio-economic, technical...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - November 21, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Smallholder goat production and marketing: a gendered baseline study from Inhassoro District Mozambique
The objective of this article is therefore to investigate gender roles and processes of smallholder goat production and marketing in Inhassoro District, Mozambique, by analysing sex-disaggregated baseline data for women in male-headed households (W-MHH), men in male-headed households (M-MHH) and women in female-headed households (FHH). The paper draws on baseline data from the imGoats project, which aimed to diversify smallholder goat producers’ livelihood options by supporting the commercialization of goat production. Building on the sustainable livelihoods framework, adapted for gender and assets, this paper demonstrat...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - October 11, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Cocoa production in West Africa, a review and analysis of recent developments
Publication date: Available online 26 September 2015 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): Marius Wessel, P.M. Foluke Quist-Wessel This paper reviews the present condition of cocoa growing in West Africa where some six million ha are planted with cocoa which provide about 70 percent of the total world production. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are the largest producers, followed by Nigeria and Cameroon. In the beginning of the 21st century the cocoa production increased from about 2,000,000 tons to about 3,000,000 tons in 2010 and subsequent years. While in this period expansion of the cocoa area...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - September 27, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Exploring the roles of women in the development of multifunctional entrepreneurship on family farms: an entrepreneurial learning approach
Publication date: Available online 30 July 2015 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): Pieter Seuneke, Bettina B. Bock This paper analyses women's roles in the learning process that accompanies the switch towards multifunctionality and multifunctional entrepreneurship: the process by which farmers gain the necessary knowledge and skills ‘to do multifunctionality’, develop and adapt their identity as ‘multifunctional entrepreneurs’, and re-establish the identity of the farm as a multifunctional one. Detailed inspection of men's and women's positions and functions in the learning process...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - July 31, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research

The Sectoral Innovation System of the Dutch Vegetable Breeding Industry
Publication date: Available online 23 July 2015 Source:NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Author(s): Zhen Liu, Maarten A. Jongsma, Caicheng Huang, J.J.M. (Hans) Dons, S.W.F (Onno) Omta In a number of studies, the Dutch vegetable breeding industry has been described as a highly innovative sector, but the root causes for its innovativeness have not yet been analysed systematically. In order to understand the factors that affect innovation and business performance, the Sectoral Innovation System (SIS) framework was used to analyse the linkages and interactions among the different actors in the Dutch vege...
Source: NJAS Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences - July 23, 2015 Category: Biology Source Type: research