Information and communication technologies for agricultural development in Latin America: trends, barriers and policies

Includes bibliography

An assessment of fiscal and regulatory barriers to deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in Guyana

Includes bibliography.

An assessment of fiscal and regulatory barriers to deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in Belize

Belize is currently faced with several critical challenges associated with the production, distribution and use of energy. Despite an abundance of renewable energy resources, the country remains disproportionately dependent on imported fossil fuels, which exposes it to volatile and rising oil prices, limits economic development, and retards its ability to make the investments that are necessary for adapting to climate change, which pose a particularly acute threat to the small island states and low-lying coastal nations of the Caribbean. This transition from energy consumption and supply patterns that are based on imported fossil fuels and electricity towards a more sustainable energy economy that is based on environmentally benign, indigenous renewable energy technologies and more efficient use of energy requires concerted action as the country is already challenged by limited fiscal space which reduces its ability to provide some fiscal incentives, which have been proven to be effective tools for the promotion of sustainable energy markets in a number of countries. This report identifies the fiscal and regulatory barriers to implementation of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies in Belize. Data and information were derived from stakeholder consultations conducted within the country. The major result of the assessment is that the transition of policies and plans into tangible action needs to be increased. In this regard, it is necessary to articulate sub-policies of the National Energy Policy to amend the Public Utilities Commission Act, to develop a grid interconnection policy, to establish minimum energy performance standards for buildings and equipment and to develop a public procurement policy. Finally, decisions on renewable energy and energy efficiency-related incentives from the Government formally requires decision-makers to solve what may be extremely complex optimization problems in order to obtain the lowest-cost provision of energy services to society, thereby weighing the cost of revenue losses with the benefits of fuel and infrastructure expansion savings. The establishment of a management system that is efficient, flexible, and transparent, which will facilitate the implementation of the strategic objectives and outputs in the time available, with the financial resources allocated is recommended. Support is required for additional institutional and capacity strengthening.

Agricultural transformation and Gender considerations in Caribbean Economics

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the gender and social disparities existing in the agricultural and rural sector in Caribbean economies. In this context, agricultural transformation as occasioned by the dismantling of preferential trading arrangements is analysed to identify the most relevant gender discriminatory measures in the current agricultural development policy and programmes. The analysis seeks to provide the basis for enhancing understanding among policy makers, planners and rural development practitioners of the gender and social dimension involved in the formulation of agricultural policy and more specifically in relation to the new policy and institutional arrangements for agriculture in the region. The paper also provides insights regarding what changes should take place to create an enabling environment for more gender-based approaches to policy-making and strategic planning in agricultural development and trade in the Caribbean. The methodology centred on the review of secondary sources that provide references on the new challenges, opportunities and constraints faced by the agricultural sector, in particular small farmers, in the context of globalization and agriculture transformation. Much of the literature for this assignment was obtained from FAO Headquarters in Rome and the FAO Subregional Office in Barbados, as well as the OECS Secretariat in St. Lucia. In the process of the review exercise, due consideration was given to changes in agricultural production patterns, resources allocation and rural livelihoods. Efforts to examine the most relevant policy measures and mechanisms in-place in support to agricultural development in the region were constrained, in the main, by the absence of gender disaggregated data. Documentation as regards the situation of women and men in relation to agricultural labour, rural income and food security situation in regions were limited. The use of the internet served to bridge the communication gap between countries and institutions. The preliminary draft of the paper was presented and discussed at the FAO/ECLAC/UNIFEM regional workshop on mainstreaming gender analysis in agriculture and trade policies, for Caribbean countries, in November 2003. The second draft of the paper was informed by comments from the workshop and additional information acquired through field visits to Barbados, St. Kitts and St. Vincent in March 2004. The three day visits to each of these three countries entailed a review/appreciation of the resource, constraints and institutional capacities for gender mainstreaming within the agricultural sector at the national level. This included visits to some of the major agricultural projects and interviews with farmers (where feasible) in respect of their perspective of the current situation of the agricultural sector and the viability of their farm enterprises. As well, meetings were held with relevant/available officials within the respective ministries of agriculture to discern the gender consideration as regards agricultural policy and planning at the country level. The internet was invaluable to the task of sourcing supplementary information to satisfy the aim of the paper; in respect of the identification of concrete policy measures and actions to formulate and develop more gender/social-responsive agricultural development policies. The final revision, though thwart with resource and communication constraints, was ultimately completed in compliance with the structure and approach proposed in the terms of references for this FAO/ECLAC assignment.

Uso múltiplo dos recursos naturais da várzea por camponeses no Baixo Amazonas

A estratégia do uso múltiplo dos recursos naturais da várzea no Baixo Amazonas tem sofrido constante ameaça principalmente nos últimos 70 anos, devido a pressões resultantes das mudanças no mercado regional, como os cultivos comerciais, da intensificação da pesca comercial e da expansão da criação extensiva de gado e búfalo. Frente a esta problemática, a tese objetivou analisar as respostas de adaptação dos camponeses ao ambiente de várzea de acordo ao acesso ao fator de produção terra, às influências do ambiente e da paisagem, e a sua inserção ao mercado, na várzea do Baixo Amazonas, Santarém, no período de 1941 a 2002. Conhecer as respostas de adaptação das comunidades camponesas nos momentos de tensão é de extrema importância para o ecossistema da várzea, detectar alterações na estratégia do uso múltiplo dos recursos naturais. Os dados foram coletados em duas comunidades camponesas na várzea pertencentes a sub-região do Urucurituba, mesoregião do Baixo Amazonas, microregião de Santarém na região oeste do estado do Pará. As comunidades de Piracãoera de Cima e Piracãoera de Baixo foram selecionadas por possuirem uma alta restinga; estarem relativamente próximas ao centro urbano de Santarém, e produzirem culturas anuais em sistema intensivo, evidenciado em pesquisa anterior. Foram constituídos dois grupos de famílias camponesas de acordo com o acesso a terra, as Não- Arrendatárias e os Arrendatárias. A amostra composta de 57 famílias, correspondeu a 36% do total da população das duas comunidades. De acordo com este processo, a amostra foi constituída por 31 famílias Não-Arrendatários, e 26 Arrendatárias. Para aprofundar a análise procedeu-se a estratificar das famílias por sistemas de produção. Foram denominados sistemas de produção A, B e C, as quais apresentavam as seguintes características: O Sistema de Produção A prioriza a criação animal, médios e grandes animais, dentre o uso múltiplo dos recursos; o Sistema de Produção B: prioriza a agricultura, dentre o uso múltiplo. Neste sistema considera as famílias que criam, ou não, o gado bovino, e o Sistema de Produção C que prioriza a pesca, e a agricultura em menor proporção.Embasado no método participativo, as entrevistas as famílias foram realizadas com o auxílio de um questionário previamente estruturado e testado pelo IPAM/Santarém, com adaptações propostas por Costa (1995) para reconstituir historicamente a agricultura, a pesca, a criação de grandes animais, e o pomar caseiro. Após analisar as informações obtidas procedeu-se a Análise da Intensificação Agrícola, da eficiência Agrícola e a da eficiência dos sistemas de produção A, B e C nos dois grupos de camponeses concluímos que: A restrição ao fator de produção terra não condicionou a que os camponeses usassem mais intensivamente a terra. As famílias que arrendam terra não possuem sistemas agrícolas mais intensivos. A intensificação agrícola não influenciou negativamente na produtividade agrícola ao longo do tempo, não influenciou na eficiência dos sistemas de produção, nem tão pouco no uso múltiplo dos recursos. A intensificação da agricultura não influenciou o uso múltiplo dos recursos, porém, houve um redirecionamento da força de trabalho, entre a pesca e agricultura, principais atividades produtivas, para manter a unidade produtiva em funcionamento. Uma atividade libera mão-de-obra como uma forma de investimento a outra atividade. Os recursos financeiros obtidos na pesca ajudam na aquisição dos elementos de capital necessários para a atividade agrícola, e a adquirir os produtos industrializados no mercado para a família. Por outro lado, a renda proveniente da agricultura financia a pesca no verão e no inverno com a aquisição de gelo, alimentos para as viagens na pesca. Até iniciar a produção agrícola, a pesca mantém a família com a aquisição de produtos para serem consumidos, e a adquirir os elementos de capital. Em síntese, concluímos que os campesinos da várzea do Baixo Amazonas seguem a lógica do lucro, ao mesmo tempo se resguardando de fracassos por meio do uso múltiplo dos recursos através da diversificação de atividades e produtos.

O dimensionamento das trajetórias tecnológicas de base agrária na região Tocantina e suas implicações para o desenvolvimento local

O Padrão usual do Desenvolvimento capitalista rural na Amazônia está fundamentado no paradigma agropecuário e em trajetórias tecnologias patronais que, ancoradas numa institucionalidade tradicional, reverte a seu favor os benefícios das políticas públicas para o setor rural expresso no volume de crédito acessado por esses agentes. Paralelamente ao padrão usual, verifica-se a existência das estruturas camponesas com racionalidade oposta à patronal e trajetória tecnológica distinta, participa com representatividade do valor da produção rural, empregando maior volume de mão-de-obra e utilização mais eficiente dos recursos a seu dispor. As trajetórias tecnológicas camponesas, respaldadas pelo paradigma agroflorestal, representam na Região Tocantina uma alternativa ao desenvolvimento sustentável para a região e dessa maneira, objeto e desafio na formulação de políticas públicas para o setor rural. Assim, o desenvolvimento com equidade social, equilíbrio ecológico e eficiência econômica na Região Tocantina, passaria necessariamente pelo incentivo aos procedimentos tecnológicos das trajetórias camponesas e por mudanças na base institucional que legitima o atual modelo.

Ação mitigadora de faixa de contenção em lavouras de algodão sobre a contaminação de recursos hídricos superficiais por resíduos de pesticidas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Energetic efficiency of an agricultural tractor in function of tire inflation pressure

The tire inflation pressure, among other factors, determines the efficiency in which a tractor can exert traction. It was studied the effect of using two tire inflation pressures, 110.4 kPa in the front and rear wheels, 124.2 kPa in the front wheel and 138 kPa in the rear wheels, the energetic efficiency of an agricultural tractor of 147 kW of engine power, in the displacement speed of 6.0 km.h-1, on track with firm surface, with the tractor engine speed of 2000 rpm. For each condition of the tire pressure, the tested tractor was subjected to constant forces in the drawbar of 45 kN and 50 kN, covering 30 meters. It was used a randomized complete block with a 2x2 factorial arrangement (tire pressure and drawbar power) with four replications, totaling 16 experimental units. Data were subjected to analysis of variance, using the Tukey test at 5% probability for comparison averages. The lowest hourly and specific fuel consumption, the lowest slippage of the wheelsets and the highest efficiency in the drawbar was obtained with the tire inflation pressure of 110.4 kPa in the front and rear tires of the tractor, highlighting that lower pressures improve energetic and operational performance of the tractor.

Education for Energy Efficiency through an Educational Game

This paper presents an assessment of an educational game for teaching the efficient use of electricity. Developed with Adobe Flash (R), it is a virtual board game where participants choose a car that starts the path and reaches the same final goal, going through a number of track steps defined in terms of a dice that each player rolls in turn. The car moves if the participant is able to correctly answer a question that is randomly generated by the software. The objective of the game is to answer questions related to energy efficiency promoting a healthy and attractive learning process for participants on concepts related to energy efficiency such as: the rational use of energy, the basic concepts of forms of energy generation, among others. The main objective of this paper is to assess the impact of the application of this virtual game in the teaching and learning process of high school students. Therefore, the game was applied in the discipline of physics in a class of junior high public school in the state of Sao Paulo. Initially, the class that had 43 students was divided into 10 groups of 4 students, and 1 group of 3 students. Each student group competed with one another. The idea was that each of them should indicate a student who was the representative of this group until only 4 group leaders were selected for the finals. At this stage, each student could interact with a group of up to ten students that acted as advisers. The adopted assessment process is based on the model proposed by Savi [7]. Then, at the end of the game, the students answered a prepared questionnaire based on the model proposed by Savi. According to Savi, although there are significant studies that show the importance of educational games for the process of cognitive development and learning concepts of students, there are few papers that present forms of assessing the potential of these resources. Thus, the assessment criteria proposed by Savi are based on the model of training evaluation by Kirkpatrick [3], taken as a reference to measure the efficiency of processes of continuing education courses for professionals. The authors assert that the metric of the evaluation proposed to assess the game is based on the first level of the model proposed by Kirkpatrick.

Influence of Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on the Use of the Most Abundant and Attractive Floral Resources in a Plant Community

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Efficiency and soil contamination during underground application of insecticides: control of leaf-cutting ants with thermal foggers

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Geoestatística multivariada na delimitação de zonas de manejo na cultura de cana-de-açúcar

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise energética da aplicação de torta de filtro na substituição parcial da adubação inorgânica sintética da cana-de-açúcar

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA