Testing an Extended Reasoned Action Framework to Predict Intention to Purchase Fruits With Novel Shapes

This study explored the influence of consumers' attitudes, subjective norms, and novelty-seeking on their intention to purchase fruits of unconventional or novel shapes. Based on the results of an online survey of consumers from around the world, and guided by an extended version of the theory of reasoned action, the findings showed that consumers' intention to purchase buddha- and baby-shaped pears was determined largely by the attitudes they hold about fruits with uncharacteristic shapes, but not by subjective norms. Novelty-seeking was strongly correlated with purchase intention. Young consumers with lower incomes were more likely to buy the non-conventional-shaped products than older consumers with higher incomes.     

Factors Influencing U.S. Consumers' Preference for Positively Versus Negatively Framed GM Food Symbols

This study explores the factors that may have a bearing on consumers' preference for positively and negatively framed symbols on food products containing genetically modified ingredients. An online survey tested the influence of three categories of variables—individual cognitive-psychological attributes, media and information-related variables, and demographic characteristics—on consumers' preference for symbols that have been framed in a positive or negative way. The findings indicated that consumers' preference for positively framed symbols was determined by their objective knowledge of genetic modification, education, and income, while preference for negatively framed symbols was influenced by objective knowledge and exposure to food labels.     

特色农产品销售评价大数据的弱监督分析方法

针对特色农产品评价大数据多维度分析中,可信标签不足以及挖掘消费者各维度真实情感语义困难等问题。该研究提出了一种基于弱监督训练的深度学习方法。首先,通过主题模型分析大规模评论,提取产品评价主题和关键词。然后,结合句法依存和情感词典为评论生成不同维度的伪标签。最后,构建多标签多分类深度网络,在伪标签上进行弱监督学习。结果表明,该方法在红心柚评论数据集上取得89.2%的准确率和80.3%的F1值,比随机森林算法提升了7.1个百分点的准确率和11.5个百分点的F1值。相比Transformer模型,准确率提高5.6个百分点,F1值提高2个百分点,参数量减少了92%。该方法能从海量评论中高效提取产品评价维度和消费者关注点,为完善农产品质量和销售服务提供数据支持。     

Improving Genetic Engineering Secondary Education Through a Classroom-Ready Online Resource

Genetic engineering has long been used in food production in the United States. However, consumers' science literacy in genetic engineering is poor. Teacher knowledge, time, and resources are lacking in science curriculums on genetic engineering. Through interviews conducted with six high school agriculture teachers we show how a new online resource, The Journey of a Gene, addresses these barriers to help improve their knowledge and increase time spent on genetic engineering. The positive outcomes support funding for genetic engineering education. Education is key to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions and societal decisions about advancing genetic engineering research.     

第三方稻米溯源平台设计与实现

中国现有农产品质量安全溯源平台大多以生产企业(基地)为主体自行设计和实施,造成溯源平台与生产企业同属一个利益团体,溯源结果难以得到消费者认同。为解决这一问题,该文分析现有农产品溯源机制及实现方式,以稻米为例提出一种第三方溯源平台的设计模式。第三方溯源平台在政府监管下,通过独立权威检测机构对稻米生产相关数据进行检测,并把溯源数据安全可靠地提供给消费者。该溯源平台系统采用B/S架构,数据库采用My SQL,采用J2EE(Java 2Platform Enterprise Edition)等技术手段,通过与微信公众号连接,向消费者提供二维码溯源服务,针对溯源平台中二维码防伪关键技术问题进行深入研究,并实现试运行。该系统为2家企业的稻米高端农产品实现全程溯源。试运行结果表明,由第三方溯源模式带来的成本提升,在售价提升20%后,得到了消费者认可,且销量提高了20%,达到了企业的效益增长。证明本文设计的第三方溯源平台较好解决了消费者对溯源结果的认同问题,为优质农产品安全溯源提供了一种有效手段。     

秦巴山区农户茶叶种植废弃物亲环境处理行为研究

茶叶是"绿水青山"的内生性产业,如何处理茶叶种植所产生的废弃物是保护秦巴山区"绿水青山"需解决的重要问题之一。基于意识-情景-行为模型,运用层次回归和分组回归分析了环境意识、情境因素对茶农废弃物亲环境处理行为的影响机理,研究发现:第一,环境态度、情感与责任对包装物回收影响显著,环境态度与情感存在交互效应。第二,环境态度、情感、责任与知识对修剪枝叶还田影响显著,环境责任与知识存在交互效应。第三,实施成本对环境情感-包装物回收、环境知识-修剪枝叶还田有调节效应,社会规范对环境态度、责任-包装物回收有调节效应,描述性社会规范对环境情感-修剪枝叶还田有调节效应。为此,应通过"情理合一"、政府倡导并建立回收点推动农户包装物回收行为,通过强化环境责任、增加环境知识、营造氛围促使农户实施修剪枝叶还田,以推进秦巴山区茶叶种植废弃物处理的绿色转型     

Review of The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm

Collaborative ventures between industry and professional association represent a strategy to maximize resources for a mutual goal. As a cooperative venture, The American Dietetic Association co-sponsored with Kraft General Foods, Inc. and The Good Housekeeping Institute a survey on American's diet and nutrition habits. The survey findings focused on consumer's behaviors, attitudes, knowledge and obstacles toward diet and nutrition. The results from the survey are being used to create and expand nutrition education campaings to the public.     

Relationship between Phosphorus in Organic Growing Media and Its Uptake by Ryegrass

The supply of nutrients to plants from organic growing media depends on mineralization as the addition of inorganic nutrients is forbidden in certified organic systems. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between total phosphorus (P), extractable (Olsen's) P, organic P, and biomass P in growing media and uptake of P by ryegrass. Three proprietary products were used alone and combined in 1:2 and 2:1 proportions to give nine growing media. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. cv. ‘Choice’) was irrigated with a modified Hoagland's solution minus P, and the shoots were harvested after 28, 56, and 84 days. There was no significant correlation between the amounts of the different forms of P in the growing media and ryegrass dry weight or P concentration in harvested grass. However, total ryegrass P uptake was significantly positively correlated with initial total P and organic P in the growing media.     

Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption: success of the Western Australian Go for 2&5 campaign

OBJECTIVE: The Western Australian Health Department's Go for 2&5 campaign aimed to increase adults' awareness of the need to eat more fruit and vegetables and encourage increased consumption of one serving over five years. DESIGN: The multi-strategy fruit and vegetable social marketing campaign, conducted from 2002 to 2005, included mass media advertising (television, radio, press and point-of-sale), public relations events, publications, a website (www.gofor2and5.com), and school and community activities. Campaign development and the evaluation framework were designed using health promotion theory, and assessed values, beliefs, knowledge and behaviour. Two independent telephone surveys evaluated the campaign: the Campaign Tracking Survey interviewed 5032 adults monitoring fruit and vegetable attitudes, beliefs and consumption prior to, during and 12 months after the campaign; and the Health & Wellbeing Surveillance System surveyed 17,993 adults between 2001 and 2006, continuously monitoring consumption. SETTING: Population public health intervention-social marketing campaign in Western Australia, population of 2,010,113 in 2005. SUBJECTS: Adults in the Perth metropolitan area. RESULTS: The campaign reached the target audience, increasing awareness of the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables. There was a population net increase of 0.8 in the mean number of servings of fruit and vegetables per day over three years (0.2 for fruit (1.6 in 2002 to 1.8 in 2005) and 0.6 for vegetables (2.6 in 2002 to 3.2 in 2005), significant at P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Sustained, well-executed social marketing is effective in improving nutrition knowledge, attitudes and consumption behaviour. The Go for 2&5 campaign provides guidance to future nutrition promotion through social marketing.     

Marketing Locally Produced Organic Foods in Three Metropolitan Arkansas Farmers’ Markets: Consumer Opinions and Food Safety Concerns

Consumers embrace local food systems as an alternative to the global corporate model, and nearly 75% of consumers in the United States purchase organic foods occasionally. To assess consumers’ knowledge of locally grown organic foods, surveys were administered at three metropolitan farmers’ markets in Little Rock, Hot Springs, and Texarkana, Arkansas. Consumers with Bachelor's, Associate's, or technical degrees accounted for almost half of the people surveyed. Seventy-one percent believed organic foods were safer than conventional foods. Three times as many consumers were concerned about harmful bacteria in conventional foods than in organic. The number one reason for purchasing was to support local farmers.     

Investigation of the production of lipophilic volatile organohalogens during the laboratory chlorination of nonpolluted surface water samples in Yugoslavia

Water chlorination leads to the generation of various halogenated products of natural and waste water organic matter. In natural surface water humic matter usually constitues the greatest part of the total organic matter. However, in the river water polluted with various organic wastes, other organic matter is also present in significant concentrations. The investigation of the relationship between the concentration of organic matter in the samples of relatively nonpolluted lake and river waters in Yugoslavia on one side, and the production of the lipophilic volatile organohalogen materials during the process of their chlorination on the other side is described. The production of the halomethanes and other ECD response materials during the chlorination of water samples in laboratory conditions is compared with the concentrations of organic materials in water samples. From the obtained linear correlation coefficients, possibilities of predicting amounts of organohalides during the chlorination process by using several very simple methods for the organic materials estimation in the investigated water samples are discussed and compared.     

Use of Food Label Information by Trinidad Consumers and Implications for National Health

Nutritional information on food labels helps consumers make informed decisions about what they chose to consume. This study, conducted among 320 consumers in Trinidad, West Indies, examined consumers' use of various informational components of the label and the influence of health-related factors on use of such information. The study found that, although there was a fairly high reading of food label information, fats and sodium information were not given the required attention. Six variables—(a) diabetes; (b) allergies; (c) gender; (d) level of schooling; (e) fast food consumption; and (f) fiber consumption—significantly impacted the use of food label information.     

农业文化遗产中传统知识的概念与保护——以普洱古茶园与茶文化系统为例

传统知识不仅是地方社区内居民与自然环境长期适应中所积累的经验智慧,也是农业文化遗产的结构性存在,对遗产系统具有支持作用。因此,传统知识的传承保护是农业文化遗产保护工作的重要内容。本文通过归纳分析当前相关国际公约及研究中对于传统知识的定义及内涵,结合农业文化遗产特征将农业文化遗产中的传统知识定义为"农业文化遗产内,居民在长期生产生活过程中,围绕农业所积累的与生计维持、资源管理、生物多样性保护、精神信仰维持等多个方面密切相关的知识、创新及实践",可分为生计维持类传统知识、生物多样性保护类传统知识、传统技艺类传统知识、文化类传统知识及自然资源管理类传统知识5类。文章通过梳理农业文化遗产与传统知识的相关关系,以普洱古茶园与茶文化系统为例,结合遗产地实地情况,针对当前传统知识保护中所存在的实物载体遭到破坏、传承存在危机、受到旅游业冲击及保护措施相对低效等问题,提出加强保护意识、将传统知识保护纳入遗产系统保护规划、开展传统知识的调查编目、加强传承记录工作及充分利用现有制度对传统知识进行保护等措施,以期为农业文化遗产中传统知识的保护提供建议参考。     

Can You Ensure that ICT for Development Apps Are Downloaded and Used? A Case Study of the Plantwise Data Collection App for Plant Health in Kenya

This study used a field experiment and the means-end chain approach to examine the effect of providing information on the biofortification process on consumers' acceptance of orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). Negative, positive, and neutral information about the biofortification were verbally provided. Images were used to reinforce the verbal information. Meaning representation (mental models) of various constructs relating to OFSP was assessed. We found that the structure of mental constructs differed depending on the type of information provided and concluded that the type of information consumers receive about the biofortification process affects OFSP acceptance. Implications of the findings for policy and development practice are discussed.     

Does science replace traditions? Correlates between traditional Tibetan culture and local bird diversity in Southwest China

A positive relationship between traditional cultures and biodiversity exists worldwide, but when traditional and formal conservation institutions coexist, how they interact and affect biodiversity remains poorly studied. From 2005 to 2007, we studied the relationship between Tibetan traditional practices and biodiversity. Specifically, how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) affect local biodiversity by affecting people’s attitudes and behaviors towards conservation. We interviewed 331 villagers in nine Tibetan villages in Sichuan Province, China. We used proxy questions to measure the traditional practices, TEK, SEK, conservation attitudes and behaviors of village residents. Meanwhile, we assessed the bird diversity around the villages by stratified sampling and point counts. The results indicate traditional practices exhibited a strong positive correlation with TEK, but a negative correlation with formal education and SEK. The villagers with high traditional practices had more positive attitudes towards conservation and more actively participated in conservation than villagers with low traditional practices, and villagers with medium traditional practices were the least concerned about, or participated in, conservation activities. Bird species richness, abundance, and the Shannon–Wiener diversity index were positively correlated with the traditional practice index of each village. The results of a negative binomial regression showed the traditional practice index was a positive correlative factor of bird species richness, while formal education was not a significant variable, after controlling for other potential sampling and environment factors. Government-sponsored conservation education was somewhat successful in raising people’s environmental awareness, but these efforts have yet to correlate with enhanced biodiversity measures.     

The effects of organic inputs over time on soil aggregate stability - A literature analysis

Since the beginning of the last century, many studies have reported evidence describing the effects of organic inputs on soil aggregate stability. In 1965, Monnier proposed a conceptual model that considers different patterns of temporal effects on aggregate stability depending on the nature of the organic inputs: easily decomposable products have an intense and transient effect on aggregate stability while more recalcitrant products have a lower but longer term effect. We confronted this conceptual model with a literature review of experimental data from laboratory and field experiments. This literature analysis validated the conceptual model proposed by Monnier and pointed out gaps in our current knowledge concerning the relationships between aggregate stability and organic inputs. Noticeably, the experimental dataset confirmed the biological and temporal effects of organic inputs on aggregate stability as proposed in the model. Monnier's model also related the evolution of aggregate stability to different microbial decomposing agents, but this relationship was not made clear in this literature analysis. No direct or universal relationship was found between the aggregative factors induced by organic input decomposition (binding molecules or decomposers of biomass) and temporal aggregate stability dynamics. This suggests the existence of even more complex relationships. The model can be improved by considering (i) the direct abiotic effect of some organic products immediately after the inputs, (ii) the initial biochemical characteristics of the organic products and (iii) the effects of organic products on the various mechanisms of aggregate breakdown. For now, no trend is evident in the effect of the rate of organic inputs or the effect of the soil characteristics (essentially carbon and clay contents) on aggregate stability.     

REVIEW: An Overview on Fusarium Mycotoxins in the Durum Wheat Pasta Production Chain

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the major diseases of wheat (both common and durum wheat) caused by various fungi including Microdochium nivale and different Fusarium species. Most of the Fusarium species associated with FHB (mainly F. graminearum, F. culmorum and F. sporotrichioides), under favourable environmental conditions, can produce various toxic secondary metabolites (mycotoxins) that can contaminate grains. The major Fusarium mycotoxins that can occur in wheat and derived products are deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, T‐2 and HT‐2 toxins, and zearalenone. Processing has generally significant effects on the levels of mycotoxins in the final products. Deoxynivalenol is typically concentrated in the bran coat which is removed in the production of semolina; consequently, a consistent reduction of deoxynivalenol levels has been observed during each of the processing steps, from raw durum wheat to pasta production. To allow monitoring programs and protect consumers' health, several analytical methods have been developed for Fusarium mycotoxins, based on chromatographic or immunometric techniques. The European Union has established maximum permitted levels for some Fusarium mycotoxins in cereals and cereal‐based products (including unprocessed durum wheat, bran, wheat flour, and pasta). Recommendations for the prevention and reduction of Fusarium mycotoxins contamination in cereals based on identification of critical risk factors and crop management strategies have been published by the Codex Alimentarius and the European Commission.     

技术感知、环境认知与农业清洁生产技术采纳意愿

农业清洁生产技术的推广与采纳对于我国农业可持续发展意义重大,为考察技术感知与环境认知对农户农业清洁生产技术采纳意愿的影响,以中国11省的836份微观农户调查数据为基础,通过应用二元Logistic回归模型,探讨技术感知因素与环境认知因素对农户农业清洁生产技术采纳意愿的影响及其在不同农户群体间的差异性。研究结果表明:1)农户对农业清洁生产技术的感知易用性每降低1个层次,其采纳农业清洁生产技术的概率就会降低5.93%;农户对环境变化的感知程度每提升1个层次,其采纳意愿会提高12.57%。2)"技术感知易用型"农户的采纳意愿主要受到环境变化感知的影响,而"技术感知难用型"农户采纳意愿则主要受到环境变化感知和感知有用性的影响。3)影响"环境变化敏感型"农户采纳意愿的关键因素是感知易用性,而"环境变化滞后型"农户则主要受到年龄、受教育程度、家庭劳动力数量、家庭经营耕地面积的影响。基于上述研究结果,本文认为应对不同类型农户开展有针对性的宣传、教育工作,以提高农户的技术了解程度和环境认知水平,从而推动农业清洁生产技术的推广应用。     

National Soil Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture (ENASAS): A new systemic approach in Mexico

The National Soil Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture (ENASAS) arises in response to the increasing need to organize, coordinate and strengthen the implementation of actions oriented to the sustainable management of Mexico's agricultural soils. The measures recommended in this paper allow the conservation and maintenance of soils' essential functions for agriculture, food security and population well-being. The health and quality of agricultural soils are under constant pressure from several factors, mainly anthropogenic. One of ENASAS's objectives is to identify and stop the causes involved in land degradation processes using a systemic approach. From this perspective, the participation of various actors in sustainable soil management allows the integration of different systems, practices, techniques and knowledge that promotes awareness among the entire population about the importance of soil resources. On the other hand, given current limitations on the availability of information necessary to support decision-making and evaluate the result of the actions implemented, ENASAS promotes the generation of tools that provide reliable and updated data regarding Mexico's agricultural soils. In the same sense, this strategy encourages the development of scientific and technological research and the transfer of knowledge that meets the needs of farmers, particularly those who carry out their activities on a smaller scale. This perspective describes ENASAS as a multi-institutional initiative that will support sustainable soil management practices across the country's agricultural systems of Mexico and contribute to the adaptation and mitigation of global environmental change.     

Degradation and abandonment of mechanized rain‐fed agricultural land in the Southern Gadarif region,Sudan: the local farmers' perception

In the Gadarif Region of Sudan, destruction of the natural vegetation for agricultural expansion is one of the major causes of the degradation of renewable resources and the environment. This study identifies and analyses the farmers' attitudes and perceptions towards agricultural land degradation and abandonment. The cross‐sectional data collected from ten key informants and 41 large‐scale farmers focussed on the degradation and abandonment of mechanized agricultural land. The results of the study show that the respondents are well aware that soil degradation is in various forms are taking place on their cultivated agricultural land. This is based on their perception and interpretation of indicators such as weed infestation, poor soil fertility and soil compaction. Continuous cropping, mono‐cropping, rainfall shortage and the use of inferior seeds are the main reasons of land degradation as indicated by farmers. The main measures acknowledged to maintain and improve land productivity are repeated soil ploughing, abandonment/fallow periods and crop rotation. The study adduces evidence of widespread land degradation. The mitigation measures followed by the farmers may though not be sufficient to restore the soil fertility. The application of appropriate chemical fertilizers, sound crop rotation and long fallow periods can be recommended. Any management and research intervention regarding the problem of land degradation should; however, be concerted with the farmers' knowledge. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.