Survey of Agricultural Practices and Alternatives to Pesticide Use to Conserve Water Resources in the Mojanda Watershed, Ecuador

Agriculture in the Mojanda Watershed is facing rainfall reductions caused by climate change. Reductions of water availability in the Watershed are also due to constant extension of the agricultural activities into the páramo ecosystem above 3000m a.s.l., with this ecosystem having immanently important functions in the local water balance. The application of pesticides threatens the quality of water and with less precipitation contaminations will further concentrate in the outflow. To analyze problems associated with agricultural practices in the area a questionnaire about agricultural practices (28) was conducted and fields (20) were surveyed for pests and diseases with a focus on potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), tree tomatoes (Solanum betaceum Cav.) and peas (Pisum sativum L.). Potatoes were infected to a low degree with Phytophthora infestans and according to the farmers the Andean potato weevil (Premnotrypes spec.) caused biggest losses. To combat the weevil the soils are disinfected with toxic Carbofuran (WHO Class 1B). Tree tomatoes showed symptoms of various fungal diseases. Most important was Fusarium solani causing the branches to rot and Anthracnosis (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) causing the fruits to rot. Fungicide applications were correspondingly high. Peas were only minorly affected by Ascochyta blight (Mycosphaerella pinodes) and a root rot. Overall 19 active ingredients were applied of which fungicide Mancozeb (WHO class table 5) and insecticide Carbofuran (WHO Class 1B) were applied the most. Approved IPM methods are advised to reduce pesticide use. For tree tomatoes regular cutting of branches infected with F. solani and regular collection and disposal of infected fruits with Anthracnosis are advised. For potatoes plastic barriers around the fields prevent the Andean potato weevil from laying eggs thus reducing infestation with the larvae in the tubers. Local bioinsecticide “Biol” seems effective and without harm to the environment, although not used by many farmers. Organic fertilization promises to restore decreasing soil fertility, water holding capacity and reduce erosion. The here presented alternatives and strategies to reduce pesticide use pose an opportunity to preserve the water resources of the region.

Indigenous Knowledge (IK) of Water Resources Management in West Sumatra, Indonesia

This study was aim to describe the indigenous knowledge of farmers at Nagari Padang laweh Malalo (NPLM) and their adaptability to climate change. Not only the water scarcity is feared, but climate change is also affecting their food security. Local food security can be achieved if biodiversity in their surrounding area is suitable to the local needs. The study was conducted by using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) such as observation and discussion. The combination of in depth interview, life history, semi structure questionnaire, pictures, mapping and expert interviews was implemented. Data was analyzed by using MAXQDA 10 and F4 audio analysis software. The result shows awareness of the people and scarcity of water conditions has allowed the people of NPLM to face this challenge with wisdom. Aia adat (water resources controlled and regulate by custom) is one of their strategies to distribute the water. The general rule is that irrigation will flow from 6 pm – 6 am regularly to all farm land under supervision of kapalo banda. When rains occur, water resources can be used during the day without special supervision. They were used traditional knowledge to manage water resources for their land and daily usage. This study may be helpful for researcher and other farmers in different region to learn encounter water scarcity.

Drinking water issues in Rural India: Need for stakeholders’ participation in Water resources management

Water is the very essential livelihood for mankind. The United Nations suggest that each person needs 20-50 litres of water a day to ensure basic needs of drinking, cooking and cleaning. It was also endorsed by the Indian National Water Policy 2002, with the provision that adequate safe drinking water facilities should be provided to the entire population both in urban and in rural areas. About 1.42 million rural habitations in India are affected by chemical contamination. The provision of clean drinking water has been given priority in the Constitution of India, in Article 47 conferring the duty of providing clean drinking water and improving public health standards to the State. Excessive dependence of ground water results in depletion of ground water, water contamination and water borne diseases. Thus, access to safe and reliable water supply is one of the serious concerns in rural water supply programme. Though government takes certain serious steps in addressing the drinking water issues in rural areas, still there is a huge gap between demand and supply. The Draft National Water Policy 2012 also states that Water quality and quantity are interlinked and need to be managed in an integrated manner and with Stakeholder participation. Water Resources Management aims at optimizing the available natural water flows, including surface water and groundwater, to satisfy competing needs. The World Bank also emphasizes on managing water resources, strengthening institutions, identifying and implementing measures of improving water governance and increasing the efficiency of water use. Therefore stakeholders’ participation is viewed important in managing water resources at different levels and range. This paper attempts to reflect up on portray the drinking water issues in rural India, and highlights the significance of Integrated Water Resource Management as the significant part of Millennium Development Goals, and Stakeholders’ participation in water resources management.

Multi-Robot Task Allocation for Inspection Problems with Cooperative Tasks Using Hybrid Genetic Algorithms

In dieser Dissertation werden Methoden zur optimalen Aufgabenverteilung in Multirobotersystemen (engl. Multi-Robot Task Allocation – MRTA) zur Inspektion von Industrieanlagen untersucht. MRTA umfasst die Verteilung und Ablaufplanung von Aufgaben für eine Gruppe von Robotern unter Berücksichtigung von operativen Randbedingungen mit dem Ziel, die Gesamteinsatzkosten zu minimieren. Dank zunehmendem technischen Fortschritt und sinkenden Technologiekosten ist das Interesse an mobilen Robotern für den Industrieeinsatz in den letzten Jahren stark gestiegen. Viele Arbeiten konzentrieren sich auf Probleme der Mobilität wie Selbstlokalisierung und Kartierung, aber nur wenige Arbeiten untersuchen die optimale Aufgabenverteilung. Da sich mit einer guten Aufgabenverteilung eine effizientere Planung erreichen lässt (z. B. niedrigere Kosten, kürzere Ausführungszeit), ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit die Entwicklung von Lösungsmethoden für das aus Inspektionsaufgaben mit Einzel- und Zweiroboteraufgaben folgende Such-/Optimierungsproblem. Ein neuartiger hybrider Genetischer Algorithmus wird vorgestellt, der einen teilbevölkerungbasierten Genetischen Algorithmus zur globalen Optimierung mit lokalen Suchheuristiken kombiniert. Zur Beschleunigung dieses Algorithmus werden auf die fittesten Individuen einer Generation lokale Suchoperatoren angewendet. Der vorgestellte Algorithmus verteilt die Aufgaben nicht nur einfach und legt den Ablauf fest, sondern er bildet auch temporäre Roboterverbünde für Zweiroboteraufgaben, wodurch räumliche und zeitliche Randbedingungen entstehen. Vier alternative Kodierungsstrategien werden für den vorgestellten Algorithmus entworfen: Teilaufgabenbasierte Kodierung: Hierdurch werden alle möglichen Lösungen abgedeckt, allerdings ist der Suchraum sehr groß. Aufgabenbasierte Kodierung: Zwei Möglichkeiten zur Zuweisung von Zweiroboteraufgaben wurden implementiert, um die Effizienz des Algorithmus zu steigern. Gruppierungsbasierte Kodierung: Zeitliche Randbedingungen zur Gruppierung von Aufgaben werden vorgestellt, um gute Lösungen innerhalb einer kleinen Anzahl von Generationen zu erhalten. Zwei Umsetzungsvarianten werden vorgestellt. Dekompositionsbasierte Kodierung: Drei geometrische Zerlegungen wurden entworfen, die Informationen über die räumliche Anordnung ausnutzen, um Probleme zu lösen, die Inspektionsgebiete mit rechteckigen Geometrien aufweisen. In Simulationsstudien wird die Leistungsfähigkeit der verschiedenen hybriden Genetischen Algorithmen untersucht. Dazu wurde die Inspektion von Tanklagern einer Erdölraffinerie mit einer Gruppe homogener Inspektionsroboter als Anwendungsfall gewählt. Die Simulationen zeigen, dass Kodierungsstrategien, die auf der geometrischen Zerlegung basieren, bei einer kleinen Anzahl an Generationen eine bessere Lösung finden können als die anderen untersuchten Strategien. Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit Einzel- und Zweiroboteraufgaben, die entweder von einem einzelnen mobilen Roboter erledigt werden können oder die Zusammenarbeit von zwei Robotern erfordern. Eine Erweiterung des entwickelten Algorithmus zur Behandlung von Aufgaben, die mehr als zwei Roboter erfordern, ist möglich, würde aber die Komplexität der Optimierungsaufgabe deutlich vergrößern.

The prediction of seasonal and inter-annual climate variations and their impacts on the water resources in the eastern seaboard of Thailand

The research of this thesis dissertation covers developments and applications of short-and long-term climate predictions. The short-term prediction emphasizes monthly and seasonal climate, i.e. forecasting from up to the next month over a season to up to a year or so. The long-term predictions pertain to the analysis of inter-annual- and decadal climate variations over the whole 21st century. These two climate prediction methods are validated and applied in the study area, namely, Khlong Yai (KY) water basin located in the eastern seaboard of Thailand which is a major industrial zone of the country and which has been suffering from severe drought and water shortage in recent years. Since water resources are essential for the further industrial development in this region, a thorough analysis of the potential climate change with its subsequent impact on the water supply in the area is at the heart of this thesis research. The short-term forecast of the next-season climate, such as temperatures and rainfall, offers a potential general guideline for water management and reservoir operation. To that avail, statistical models based on autoregressive techniques, i.e., AR-, ARIMA- and ARIMAex-, which includes additional external regressors, and multiple linear regression- (MLR) models, are developed and applied in the study region. Teleconnections between ocean states and the local climate are investigated and used as extra external predictors in the ARIMAex- and the MLR-model and shown to enhance the accuracy of the short-term predictions significantly. However, as the ocean state – local climate teleconnective relationships provide only a one- to four-month ahead lead time, the ocean state indices can support only a one-season-ahead forecast. Hence, GCM- climate predictors are also suggested as an additional predictor-set for a more reliable and somewhat longer short-term forecast. For the preparation of “pre-warning” information for up-coming possible future climate change with potential adverse hydrological impacts in the study region, the long-term climate prediction methodology is applied. The latter is based on the downscaling of climate predictions from several single- and multi-domain GCMs, using the two well-known downscaling methods SDSM and LARS-WG and a newly developed MLR-downscaling technique that allows the incorporation of a multitude of monthly or daily climate predictors from one- or several (multi-domain) parent GCMs. The numerous downscaling experiments indicate that the MLR- method is more accurate than SDSM and LARS-WG in predicting the recent past 20th-century (1971-2000) long-term monthly climate in the region. The MLR-model is, consequently, then employed to downscale 21st-century GCM- climate predictions under SRES-scenarios A1B, A2 and B1. However, since the hydrological watershed model requires daily-scale climate input data, a new stochastic daily climate generator is developed to rescale monthly observed or predicted climate series to daily series, while adhering to the statistical and geospatial distributional attributes of observed (past) daily climate series in the calibration phase. Employing this daily climate generator, 30 realizations of future daily climate series from downscaled monthly GCM-climate predictor sets are produced and used as input in the SWAT- distributed watershed model, to simulate future streamflow and other hydrological water budget components in the study region in a multi-realization manner. In addition to a general examination of the future changes of the hydrological regime in the KY-basin, potential future changes of the water budgets of three main reservoirs in the basin are analysed, as these are a major source of water supply in the study region. The results of the long-term 21st-century downscaled climate predictions provide evidence that, compared with the past 20th-reference period, the future climate in the study area will be more extreme, particularly, for SRES A1B. Thus, the temperatures will be higher and exhibit larger fluctuations. Although the future intensity of the rainfall is nearly constant, its spatial distribution across the region is partially changing. There is further evidence that the sequential rainfall occurrence will be decreased, so that short periods of high intensities will be followed by longer dry spells. This change in the sequential rainfall pattern will also lead to seasonal reductions of the streamflow and seasonal changes (decreases) of the water storage in the reservoirs. In any case, these predicted future climate changes with their hydrological impacts should encourage water planner and policy makers to develop adaptation strategies to properly handle the future water supply in this area, following the guidelines suggested in this study.

Dairy farms typology and management of animal genetic resources in the peri-urban zone of Bamako (Mali)

Facing growth in demand, dairy production in peri-urban areas of developing countries is changing rapidly. To characterise this development around Bamako (Mali), this study establishes a typology of dairy production systems with a special focus on animal genetic resources. The survey included 52 dairy cattle farms from six peri-urban sites. It was conducted in 2011 through two visits, in the dry and harvest seasons. The median cattle number per farm was 17 (range 5-118) and 42% of farmers owned cropland (8.3 +/- 7.3 ha, minimum 1 ha, maximum 25 ha). Feeding strategy was a crucial variable in farm characterisation, accounting for about 85% of total expenses. The use of artificial insemination and a regular veterinary follow-up were other important parameters. According to breeders’ answers, thirty genetic profiles were identified, from local purebreds to different levels of crossbreds. Purebred animals raised were Fulani Zebu (45.8%), Maure Zebu (9.2%), Holstein (3.0%), Azawak Zebu (1.3%), Mere Zebu (0.5%) and Kuri taurine (0.1%). Holstein crossbred represented 30.5% of the total number of animals (19.0% Fulani-Holstein, 11.2% Maure-Holstein and 0.3% Kuri-Holstein). Montbéliarde, Normande and Limousin crossbreds were also found (6.6%, 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively). A multivariate analysis helped disaggregate the diversity of management practices. The high diversity of situations shows the need for consideration of typological characteristics for an appropriate intervention. Although strongly anchored on local breeds, the peri-urban dairy systems included a diversity of exotic cattle, showing an uncoordinated quest of breeders for innovation. Without a public intervention, this dynamic will result in an irremediable erosion of indigenous animal genetic resources.

Evaluation of major feed resources in crop-livestock mixed farming systems, southern Ethiopia: Indigenous knowledge versus laboratory analysis results

Evaluation of major feed resources was conducted in four crop-livestock mixed farming systems of central southern Ethiopia, with 90 farmers, selected using multi-stage purposive and random sampling methods. Discussions were held with focused groups and key informants for vernacular name identification of feed, followed by feed sampling to analyse chemical composition (CP, ADF and NDF), in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), and correlate with indigenous technical knowledge (ITK). Native pastures, crop residues (CR) and multi-purpose trees (MPT) are the major feed resources, demonstrated great variations in seasonality, chemical composition and IVDMD. The average CP, NDF and IVDMD values for grasses were 83.8 (ranged: 62.9–190), 619 (ranged: 357–877) and 572 (ranged: 317–743) g kg^(−1) DM, respectively. Likewise, the average CP, NDF and IVDMD for CR were 58 (ranged: 20–90), 760 (ranged: 340–931) and 461 (ranged: 285–637)g kg^(−1) DM, respectively. Generally, the MPT and non-conventional feeds (NCF, Ensete ventricosum and Ipomoea batatas) possessed higher CP (ranged: 155–164 g kg^(−1) DM) and IVDMD values (611–657 g kg^(−1) DM) while lower NDF (331–387 g kg^(−1) DM) and ADF (321–344 g kg^(−1) DM) values. The MPT and NCF were ranked as the best nutritious feeds by ITK while crop residues were the least. This study indicates that there are remarkable variations within and among forage resources in terms of chemical composition. There were also complementarities between ITK and feed laboratory results, and thus the ITK need to be taken into consideration in evaluation of local feed resources.

Reconfigurable Architectures for General-Purpose Computing

General-purpose computing devices allow us to (1) customize computation after fabrication and (2) conserve area by reusing expensive active circuitry for different functions in time. We define RP-space, a restricted domain of the general-purpose architectural space focussed on reconfigurable computing architectures. Two dominant features differentiate reconfigurable from special-purpose architectures and account for most of the area overhead associated with RP devices: (1) instructions which tell the device how to behave, and (2) flexible interconnect which supports task dependent dataflow between operations. We can characterize RP-space by the allocation and structure of these resources and compare the efficiencies of architectural points across broad application characteristics. Conventional FPGAs fall at one extreme end of this space and their efficiency ranges over two orders of magnitude across the space of application characteristics. Understanding RP-space and its consequences allows us to pick the best architecture for a task and to search for more robust design points in the space. Our DPGA, a fine- grained computing device which adds small, on-chip instruction memories to FPGAs is one such design point. For typical logic applications and finite- state machines, a DPGA can implement tasks in one-third the area of a traditional FPGA. TSFPGA, a variant of the DPGA which focuses on heavily time-switched interconnect, achieves circuit densities close to the DPGA, while reducing typical physical mapping times from hours to seconds. Rigid, fabrication-time organization of instruction resources significantly narrows the range of efficiency for conventional architectures. To avoid this performance brittleness, we developed MATRIX, the first architecture to defer the binding of instruction resources until run-time, allowing the application to organize resources according to its needs. Our focus MATRIX design point is based on an array of 8-bit ALU and register-file building blocks interconnected via a byte-wide network. With today's silicon, a single chip MATRIX array can deliver over 10 Gop/s (8-bit ops). On sample image processing tasks, we show that MATRIX yields 10-20x the computational density of conventional processors. Understanding the cost structure of RP-space helps us identify these intermediate architectural points and may provide useful insight more broadly in guiding our continual search for robust and efficient general-purpose computing structures.

Inside the competences evaluation, the stress tolerance of students. An empirical study based on conservation of resources theory

Competence development is considered a preventive strategy of burnout. At an organizational context some competences could be linked as precursors or consequences. In self-assessment of competence development, students perceive stress tolerance as a priority competence to ameliorate. Moreover employers and recruitment consultants agree that this is a new authentic challenge for organizations. The main reasons of this result are debated, this study should consider the importance of competence development from a holistic point of view. In addition it considers the exploration of the relationship between stress tolerance and competence development, according to Conservation Resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll 1988, 1989, 1998, 2004) where the resource loss is considered the principal component in the stress process

Teams make it work : How team work engagement mediates between social resources and performance in teams

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Job demands, job resources and individual innovation at work : Going beyond Karasek's model?

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Extension of the Job Demands-Resources model in the prediction of burnout and engagement among teachers over time. 'Una ampliaci??n del modelo de demandas-recursos laborales en la predicci??n del burnout y del engagement en profesores'

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Resource dimensioning aspect of heterogeneous traffic with different service requirements: Integration versus segregation

In this paper, we consider the ATM networks in which the virtual path concept is implemented. The question of how to multiplex two or more diverse traffic classes while providing different quality of service requirements is a very complicated open problem. Two distinct options are available: integration and segregation. In an integration approach all the traffic from different connections are multiplexed onto one VP. This implies that the most restrictive QOS requirements must be applied to all services. Therefore, link utilization will be decreased because unnecessarily stringent QOS is provided to all connections. With the segregation approach the problem can be much simplified if different types of traffic are separated by assigning a VP with dedicated resources (buffers and links). Therefore, resources may not be efficiently utilized because no sharing of bandwidth can take place across the VP. The probability that the bandwidth required by the accepted connections exceeds the capacity of the link is evaluated with the probability of congestion (PC). Since the PC can be expressed as the CLP, we shall simply carry out bandwidth allocation using the PC. We first focus on the influence of some parameters (CLP, bit rate and burstiness) on the capacity required by a VP supporting a single traffic class using the new convolution approach. Numerical results are presented both to compare the required capacity and to observe which conditions under each approach are preferred

Bandwidth allocation based on real time calculations using the convolution approach

This paper focuses on one of the methods for bandwidth allocation in an ATM network: the convolution approach. The convolution approach permits an accurate study of the system load in statistical terms by accumulated calculations, since probabilistic results of the bandwidth allocation can be obtained. Nevertheless, the convolution approach has a high cost in terms of calculation and storage requirements. This aspect makes real-time calculations difficult, so many authors do not consider this approach. With the aim of reducing the cost we propose to use the multinomial distribution function: the enhanced convolution approach (ECA). This permits direct computation of the associated probabilities of the instantaneous bandwidth requirements and makes a simple deconvolution process possible. The ECA is used in connection acceptance control, and some results are presented

How spatial attention and attentional resources influence the processing of emotional visual scenes

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