Global environmental impacts of agricultural expansion: The need for sustainable and efficient practices

The recent intensification of agriculture, and the prospects of future intensification, will have major detrimental impacts on the nonagricultural terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the world. The doubling of agricultural food production during the past 35 years was associated with a 6.87-fold increase in nitrogen fertilization, a 3.48-fold increase in phosphorus fertilization, a 1.68-fold increase in the amount of irrigated cropland, and a 1.1-fold increase in land in cultivation. Based on a simple linear extension of past trends, the anticipated next doubling of global food production would be associated with approximately 3-fold increases in nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization rates, a doubling of the irrigated land area, and an 18% increase in cropland. These projected changes would have dramatic impacts on the diversity, composition, and functioning of the remaining natural ecosystems of the world, and on their ability to provide society with a variety of essential ecosystem services. The largest impacts would be on freshwater and marine ecosystems, which would be greatly eutrophied by high rates of nitrogen and phosphorus release from agricultural fields. Aquatic nutrient eutrophication can lead to loss of biodiversity, outbreaks of nuisance species, shifts in the structure of food chains, and impairment of fisheries. Because of aerial redistribution of various forms of nitrogen, agricultural intensification also would eutrophy many natural terrestrial ecosystems and contribute to atmospheric accumulation of greenhouse gases. These detrimental environmental impacts of agriculture can be minimized only if there is much more efficient use and recycling of nitrogen and phosphorus in agroecosystems.

Fiberglass layup and sprayup : good practices for employees.

Mode of access: Internet.

A general charter for trade associations. Correspondence between the attorney general and the secretary of commerce. Permissible activities of trade associations. Text of Supreme court decision condemning certain practices. Text of act legalizing agricultural cooperative marketing associations, together with a treatise on the application of these pronouncements.

Mode of access: Internet.

Good practices guide for bicycle safety education.

"HSA-4/30-02 (5M)QE"--P. [2] of cover.

Spray painting : good practices for employees : your health and safety are in your hands.

Mode of access: Internet.

Cyclopedia of American agriculture : a popular survey of agricultural conditions, practices and ideals in the United States and Canada /

Includes indexes.

Natal, Cape of Good Hope. A grazing, agricultural, and cotton growing country. Comprising descriptions of this well-endowed colony, from the year 1575 to the present time,

Mode of access: Internet.

Conservation practices : signs of good hunting and fishing.

Mode of access: Internet.

The Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope

Superseded by South Africa. Dept. of Agriculture. the Agricultural Journal of the Union of South Africa After 1910

The Agricultural journal of the Cape of Good Hope.

Mode of access: Internet.

Farming under constrained budgets: Practices of agricultural credit users in central Lombok, Indonesia

There has been a long dependency on credit by Indonesian farmers as a result of the lack of capital to apply proper farming practices. This paper describes the farming activities applied by agricultural credit users in Central Lombok, Indonesia. A survey was conducted during July 2001- March 2002 of 65 farmers making use of government or private credit in three villages within the Regency. Data from the farmers were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Survey results indicated that on average, farmers had some 20 years experience of farming, were aged 40 years, but lacked of formal education. Their main asset was cropping land with average landholding of 0.69 ha. As a consequence of their capital constraints, farmers were commonly making use of credit to finance their farming activities, including both production of rice as the main crop and secondary crops. Farmers generally applied less than recommended amount of inputs in their farming practices, since the amount of credit they obtained was limited. As a result, their farms become less productive and their repayment capability of loans diminished. Of 65 farmers interviewed, 54 could earn extra income by engaging in a variety of non-farm activities, which contributed on average some 36% to family incomes of over Rp 5 million (A$ 1 thousand). The average credit repayment rate made by agricultural producers was 60%. The repayment made did not always reflect farm production capacity, being sometimes supported by other borrowings. The greater role of credit is not in increasing agricultural production or improving farmers’ income, but in helping them to sustain farm production and their living. Farmers need a bigger amount of credit to make an impact on their livelihood. This should be accompanied by extension services for farmers to enable better use of credit and to change their attitude towards it. As well, farmers require to be equipped with technical and market skills to run a business. Interdisciplinarity, holistic analysis, and an expansion of traditional ‘agricultural’ interests to embrace the span of interests included in rural livelihood, are each critical features of revision of the existing system.

Promoting Decent Work in Global Supply Chains in Latin America and the Caribbean: Key Issues, Good Practices, Lessons Learned and Policy Insights

The report is based on a desk-based review, drawing upon existing studies of global supply chains (GSCs) to examine their impacts and implications for the development of domestic firms, their contribution to productive transformation and structural change and their impacts on the quantity and quality of jobs in the LAC region. It situates the expansion of GSCs in the region within an analytical framework that recognizes both the economic and social upgrading dimensions and the impacts on firms and workers. Special attention is given to the mechanisms for governing the terms and conditions of engagement between firms and between firms and workers in GSCs, with the aim of identifying ways to jointly pursue the goals of raising competitiveness and of promoting productive employment and decent work.

Good practices in the Enred@te Pilot Project: a digital social network for older adults and Spanish Red Cross volunteers

The Enred@te initiative, created by Red Cross, the Vodafone Foundation and the TECSOS Foundation, emerged as an evolution of a previous project that developed and piloted a video-communication solution with older adults, using a system installed in their own televisions. Following the success of this first initiative, it was decided to advance toward a more flexible, robust, easy-to-use and high-quality solution, producing a social network accessible through tablets. Older adults can use the network to video-communicate with other older adults and stay informed on various topics of interest. Additionally, a new innovation incorporates the participation of virtual volunteers, a part of the network that promotes its use in an inclusive and participative manner. This solution was also piloted in 2014 with positive results and work to turn it into a service that can reach older adults through the Red Cross is currently on-going.