Can public GAP standards reduce agricultural pesticide use? The case of fruit and vegetable farming in northern Thailand

In response to the chronic overuse and misuse of pesticides in agriculture, governments in Southeast Asia have sought to improve food safety by introducing public standards of good agricultural practices (GAP). Using quantitative farm-level data from an intensive horticultural production system in northern Thailand, we test if fruit and vegetable producers who follow the public GAP standard use fewer and less hazardous pesticides than producers who do not adhere to the standard. The results show that this is not the case. By drawing on qualitative data from expert interviews and an action research project with local litchi (“lychee”) producers we explain the underlying reasons for the absence of significant differences. The qualitative evidence points at poor implementation of farm auditing related to a program expansion that was too rapid, at a lack of understanding among farmers about the logic of the control points in the standard, and at a lack of alternatives given to farmers to manage their pest problems. We argue that by focusing on the testing of farm produce for pesticide residues, the public GAP program is paying too much attention to the consequences rather than the root cause of the pesticide problem; it needs to balance this by making a greater effort to change on-farm practices.     

Sustainable palm oil as a public responsibility? On the governance capacity of Indonesian Standard for Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO)

This paper is motivated by the observation that Southern governments start to take responsibility for a more sustainable production of agricultural commodities as a response to earlier private initiatives by businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Indonesia is one of the leading countries in this respect, with new public sustainability regulations on coffee, cocoa and palm oil. Based on the concept of governance capacity, the paper develops an evaluation tool to answer the question whether the new public regulation on sustainable palm oil (ISPO) may become a viable alternative to private regulation. ISPO embraces a tremendous governance challenge as thousands of companies and millions of smallholder farmers are expected to participate. It is concluded that, although ISPO has initiated a process of change, it has not yet developed its full potential. The main reason regards ISPO’s rather loose problem definition, weak authority of the implementing organization, and the fact that the reliability of ISPO is still too low to convince (parts) of the global market. ISPO may therefore face difficulties in meeting its own targets and solving palm-oil related problems, such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and social conflicts between big plantations and local communities. The main governance challenge regards combining a more authoritative implementation mechanism with a convincing balance between sustainability objectives and economic interests of the sector.     

Influence of Partial Drying on Oil Uptake ＆ Quality Attributes of French Fries

Today＇s customers are looking for non-fat or low-fat containing products. One of the methods to reduce oil absorption in fried products is partial drying before frying. In this study, influence of partial drying （10 min, 20 min, 30 min） on oil absorption and quality attributes of three potato cultivars （Agria, Satina, kenebek） was evaluated. Our results reveled that in Agria, partial drying leads to an increase in oil absorption compared with non-dried sample （p〈0.05）. In kenebek, partial drying reduced the oil absorption and improved the texture and color of the produced French fries （p〈0.05）. Similar results were observed with Satina as with kenebek. In all three varieties, partial drying increased the dry matter, color quality and required cutting force of the French fries （p〈0.05）.     

无情?有情?

正~~     

天使?魔鬼?

正打开手机视频,千里之遥也会近在咫尺;打开手机网页,世界名著、名剧、名曲应有尽有;出门在外,无论你是买买买,还是乘车游玩,一个手机就可以应对自如,再也不用担心携大量的现金怕被盗怕丢了;拿起手机,你就是现场第一位记者……手机的出现,不仅带给我们空前的便利,满足我们无限的需求,还带来种种的烦恼和恶果手机让沉迷游戏变成随时随地,手机让人面对面的交流越来越少,手机也让不良信息与诱惑无处不在手机,你到底是天使还是魔鬼?对于那些对手机没有清醒的认识和意志力的人来说,手机就是魔鬼,他     

酷刑?美味?

近年来,动物保护组织强烈呼吁善待动物,许多发达国家都制定了保护动物的相应法令法规。据调查,截止到目前,包括一些非洲国家在内的世界上一百多个国家都出台了反虐待动物法案。比如法餐传统高档美食鹅肥肝质地细嫩,口感鲜美浓腴,香味独特,被欧美消费者视为世界三大美味之首,而今,美国和欧盟一些国家正一个接一个的把鹅肥肝划入“黑名单”,禁止本国农户强迫喂食动物,生产鹅肥肝。就连一向以质量上乘著称的鹅肥肝第三大生产国以色列也制定法律,要求本国农户“以较温和的方式取代灌喂”。对于解决温饱问题不久的我国人民来说,眼下关注更多的是…     

高学历? 保姆?

女研究生立志当高级保姆2004年2月8日,在成都市安位家政金牛基地的"川籍等级家政服务员开学典礼"现场,来自西南财经大学,正在读MBA的27岁山东女子丁南坦言,立     

耞?耟?

<正>价的研究。在研究对象方面,班茂盛等从土地效益、土地利用效率和创新功能方面构建土地绩效评价模型,对北京高新技术产业区进行土地利用绩效评价。鲁春阳等从土地利用投入水平、土地利用程度、土地利用效益和土地利用可持续性四个方面对重庆市土地利用绩效进行评价,表明重庆市土地利用绩效1997-2007年间由低级向良好转变。桑翠翠等以陕南地区为研究区,在计算土地利用绩效基础上,利用障碍度诊断模型,对影响陕南县域土地利用绩效的因子进行了分析。王莹等通过构建结构、经济、公平和环境绩效的四维评价指标体系,对西安市建设用地绩效进行评价,发现“十二五”期间建设用地绩效水平呈波动式上升。在研究方法上,主要包括指标权重确定     

创业:加盟? 单干? 合伙?

案例一:张某打工多年,积累了一些资金,想自己创业,开一家干洗店。如今加盟创业可以说演绎得如火如荼,他想通过加盟来开店,但他又感觉到干洗加盟在我国还存在很多问题和不足,加盟欺骗也经常出现,所以有些担心,不知道是选择加盟创业,还是选择单干?