Gender discrimination and its impact on income,productivity, and technical efficiency: evidence from Benin

This paper examines the occurrence and impact of gender discrimination in access to production resources on the income, productivity, and technical efficiency of farmers. Through an empirical investigation of farmers from Koussin-Lélé, a semi-collective irrigated rice scheme in central Benin, we find that female rice farmers are particularly discriminated against with regard to scheme membership and access to land and equipment, resulting in significant negative impacts on their productivity and income. Although women have lower productivity, they are as technically efficient as men. The findings suggest that there is considerable scope for improving the productivity of women through increasing their access to production resources.     

Construction of a plant expression vector of chalcone synthase gene of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ginkgo biloba</Emphasis> L. and its genetic transformation into tobacco

The chalcone synthase gene (chs) from Ginkgo biloba L. was cloned by PCR procedure. For constructing a plant expression vector of Gbchs, the gene was digested with XbaI and BamHI and inserted into the pBI121 vector. Gbchs was transferred into tobacco mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404. PCR and Southern blot were performed, and the results showed that chs had been transformed into the genomic DNA of tobacco. The total flavones in the transformed tobacco leaves was extracted by the methanol extraction method and tested by UV spectrophotometry. The results showed that, compared to the control tobacco, the content in the transgenic tobaccos, n = 6, was generally higher, and the difference reached a significant level (P < 0.05) and highly significant level (P < 0.01), except one sample. Moreover, the highest sample was nearly 7.7 times greater than that of the controls. All these results show that utilizing genetic manipulations to improve plants in order to regulate flavone content by gene engineering may be an effective and hopeful method.     

Building the local food movement in Chiapas,Mexico: rationales,benefits, and limitations

Alternative food networks (AFNs) have become a common response to the socio-ecological injustices generated by the industrialized food system. Using a political ecology framework, this paper evaluates the emergence of an AFN in Chiapas, Mexico. While the Mexican context presents a particular set of challenges, the case study also reveals the strength the alternative food movement derives from a diverse network of actors committed to building a “community economy” that reasserts the multifunctional values of organic agriculture and local commodity chains. Nonetheless, just as the AFN functions as an important livelihood strategy for otherwise disenfranchised producers it simultaneously encounters similar limitations as those observed in other market-driven approaches to sustainable food governance.     

Investor ownership or social investment? Changing farmland ownership in Saskatchewan,Canada

There is growing recognition that land grabbing is a global phenomenon. In Canada, investors are particularly interested in Saskatchewan farmland, the province where 40 % of country’s agricultural land is situated. This article examines how the changing political, economic, and legal context under neoliberalism has shaped patterns of farmland ownership in Saskatchewan, between 2002 and 2014. Our research indicates that over this time, the amount of farmland owned by investors increased 16-fold. Also, the concentration of farmland ownership is on the rise, with the share of farmland owned by the largest four private owners increasing six-fold. Our methodology addresses some of the criticisms raised in the land grabbing literature. By using land titles data, we identified farmland investors and determined very precisely their landholdings thus allowing us to provide a fine-grained analysis of the actual patterns of farmland ownership. Although the article analyzes changes to farmland ownership in a specific historical, cultural and legislative context, it serves as the basis for a broader discussion of the values and priorities that land ownership policies reflect. Namely, we contrast an ‘open for business’ approach that prioritizes financial investment to one based on a land sovereignty approach that prioritizes social investment. The latter has greater potential if the aim is ecological sustainability and food sovereignty.     

Socio-economic and environmental changes related to maize richness in Mexico’s central highlands

The occurrence of genetic erosion in local maize varieties in Mexico is intensely debated. Recent publications from Mexico show contradicting results about the loss of local varieties. Genetic erosion is a complex process, and well-documented examples of actual genetic erosion are not common in the literature. We worked in a region in which adoption of improved varieties was negligible, but other factors affecting maize agriculture were at play. The objectives of the study were to describe changes in maize diversity in the last 10 years and to associate them with socio-economic and environmental changes in a region in Mexico’s Central Highlands. We used richness and abundance of local varieties and diversity indices of races as indicators of maize diversity changes over time. We analyzed statistics and based on interviews we evaluated maize diversity changes between 2005 and 2015. We interviewed 113 farmers on two occasions with intervals from 5 to 10 years. According to climate statistics, rain has declined and temperature has increased. We also found a decrease in the lake level during the past 35 years. The total population in the region has doubled since the 1960s. The indigenous population has not changed significantly. Number of people working in agriculture has decreased since the 1960s. Rain fed agriculture decreased 8.1 % from 1990 to 2007. In four villages studied, farmed land area had decreased between 1995 and 2015. This reduction varies between 22 and 39 % depending on the village. Maize planted area decreased from 9675 to 8115 ha from 2003 to 2014. In the same period, avocado plantations grew from 34 to 786 ha. In despite of these changes, we did not find significant changes in average landraces per farmer (2.13 ± 0.28 in 2015) nor per village (4.15 ± 1.26 in 2015). Significant changes in maize races were not found either (1.91 ± 0.26 per farmer, 2.85 ± 0.86 per village in 2015). These results show that maize landrace diversity in the region is resilient but dynamic.     

Circadian integration of metabolism and energetics

Circadian clocks align behavioral and biochemical processes with the day/night cycle. Nearly all vertebrate cells possess self-sustained clocks that couple endogenous rhythms with changes in cellular environment. Genetic disruption of clock genes in mice perturbs metabolic functions of specific tissues at distinct phases of the sleep/wake cycle. Circadian desynchrony, a characteristic of shift work and sleep disruption in humans, also leads to metabolic pathologies. Here, we review advances in understanding the interrelationship among circadian disruption, sleep deprivation, obesity, and diabetes and implications for rational therapeutics for these conditions.     

Attitudes of different stakeholders toward pig husbandry: a study to determine conflicting and matching attitudes toward animals,humans and the environment

The pig sector is struggling with negative attitudes of citizens. This may be the result of conflicting attitudes toward pig husbandry between citizens and other stakeholders. To obtain knowledge about these attitudes, the objectives of this study were (1) to determine and compare attitudes of various stakeholders toward animals, humans and the environment in the context of pig husbandry and (2) to determine and compare the acceptability of publically discussed issues related to pig husbandry of various stakeholders. A questionnaire was distributed to citizens, conventional pig farmers, organic pig farmers, pig husbandry advisors and pig veterinarians. Respondents could indicate their attitude toward aspects related to animals, humans and the environment in the context of pig husbandry and they could indicate their opinion about the acceptability of issues of pig husbandry, e.g. piglet mortality and inside pig housing. Based on measured attitudes and the acceptability of issues, the studied stakeholders could be divided into three distinctive groups. The group of citizens and organic pig farmers showed negative attitudes toward all aspects of pig husbandry, the group of conventional pig farmers and pig husbandry advisors only showed negative attitudes toward aspects related to economics and the group of pig veterinarians showed negative attitudes to specific aspects of pig husbandry. This indicates that stakeholders have different interests and different perspectives with regard to pig husbandry. The pig sector should learn to understand citizens’ perspectives and take these into account in their line of work, the implementation of animal welfare measures and in their communication.     

The state and consumer confidence in eco-labeling: organic labeling in Denmark,Sweden, The United Kingdom and The United States

Trustworthy eco-labels provide consumers with valuable information on environmentally friendly products and thus promote green consumerism. But what makes an eco-label trustworthy and what can government do to increase consumer confidence? The scant existing literature indicates that low governmental involvement increases confidence. This suggests that government should just provide the basic legal framework for eco-labeling and leave the rest to non-governmental organizations. However, the empirical underpinning of this conclusion is insufficient. This paper analyses consumer confidence in different organic food labeling regimes with varying degrees of governmental involvement. Using unique and detailed survey data from the US, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden, the analysis shows that confidence is highest in countries with substantial state involvement. This suggests that governments can increase green consumerism through active and substantial involvement in eco-labeling.     

Paraticulate metals in waters of a typical irrigation river: The River Sakuragawa,Japan

The particulate metallic elements in waters of a water system of the River Sakuragawa and Lake Kasumigaura were measured by the multielement analyses using particle-induced X-ray emission. The heavy metal particulates for environmental standards were less than 0.0001 ppm for Cd, 0.00037 ppm for Cr, and 0.00078 ppm both for Hg and Pb in the river waters. The predominant metal particles in the waters were Fe, Mn, and Zn.