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PubMedDate not supplied

TurfPQ, a pesticide runoff model for turf.

Environmental assessments of golf courses and other turf systems must often rely on mathematical modeling. However, in the case of pesticide runoff, successful modeling applications are rare. Available models were developed for agricultural applications and have seen very limited testing for turf. TurfPQ is a pesticide runoff model developed exclusively for turf. The model is based on a curve number calculation for runoff volume and linear partitioning of pesticide into adsorbed and dissolved components during a precipitation or irrigation event. Calibration is optional, so the model can be applied, using default parameter values, to situations where runoff and chemical loss data are unavailable. TurfPQ was tested with default parameter values for 52 pesticide runoff events involving six pesticides measured in plot studies in four states. The model typically produced conservative overpredictions of pesticide runoff, particularly with strongly adsorbed pesticides. Mean predicted pesticide runoff was 2.9% [corrected] of application, compared with an observed mean of 2.1%. TurfPQ captured the dynamics of the pesticide runoff events well with R2 = 0.65 [corrected]. Sensitivity analyses indicated that prediction errors could be reduced by better estimates of adsorption parameters and runoff curve numbers. However, even with default parameters, TurfPQ predictions are at least as accurate as those produced by more complex models.

Adsorption↗
PubMed1978

Nutrition, development, and foreign aid: a case study of U.S.-directed health care in Colombian plantation zone.

Based on a case study of some aspects of Rockefeller and USAID intervention in the Cauca Valley, Colombia, this article is aimed at drawing attention to the political characteristics and inadequacies of U.S.-sponsored health care planning and research in the Third World, particularly as regards nutrition in rural regions of intensive economic development. By contrasting an historical analysis of the politicoeconomic development of agriculture and nutrition in the southern Cauca Valley with the assumptions guiding U.S. intervention in the health field there, a more complete picture of the causes of malnutrition is obtained, among which should be counted the intervention of the U.S. itself. Inter alia, other approaches to the malnutrition problem are suggested.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2005

Biotechnology, biofortification, and global health.

Deficiencies of micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin A afflict over three billion people (more than 50% of the world's population), most of them women, infants, and children in resource-poor families in the developing world. This global crisis in nutritional health is the result of dysfunctional food systems that do not consistently supply enough of these essential nutrients to meet the nutritional requirements of high-risk groups. Deficiencies of micronutrients result in increased morbidity and mortality rates, lost worker productivity, stagnated national development, permanent impairment of cognitive development in infants and children, and large economic costs and suffering to those societies affected. Because agricultural systems are the primary source of all micronutrients for all people, changes in agricultural policies and systems must be made that will ensure consistent and adequate supplies of all essential nutrients to all people. Additionally, the nutrition and health sectors must turn to agricultural interventions as a primary tool in their efforts to eliminate malnutrition from the world if they want to ensure sustainability. Biotechnological advances show great promise for improving the output of bioavailable micronutrients from agricultural systems that feed the poor. This paper reviews some of these opportunities and discusses the questions and concerns that should be raised when these technologies are used to improve the micronutrient status of vast numbers of people who are dependent on staple food crops for their sustenance. Further, important issues surrounding micronutrient bioavailability and plant food factors that affect it are discussed.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1976

Animal, vegetable or cerebral: brains in agricultural production.

Recent developments in brain research seem to have passed unnoticed in veterinary and agricultural circles. Yet they have transformed views on the subject and, Dr Cross argues, made study of the brain mandatory for future advance in animal health and production.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2006

Altered breast development in young girls from an agricultural environment.

In several human populations, the age at which female breast development begins is reported to have declined over the last five decades. Much debate has occurred over whether this reported decline has actually occurred and what factors contribute to it. However, geographical patterns reflecting earlier developmental onset in some human populations suggest environmental factors influence this phenomenon. These factors include interactions between genetic makeup, nutrition, and possible cumulative exposure to estrogens, both endogenous as well as environmental beginning during in utero development. We examined the onset of breast development in a group of peripubertal girls from the Yaqui Valley of Sonora, Mexico. We observed that girls from valley towns, areas using modern agricultural practices, exhibited larger breast fields than those of girls living in the foothills who exhibited similar stature [e.g., weight, height, body mass index (BMI)], and genetic background. Further, girls from valley towns displayed a poorly defined relationship between breast size and mammary gland development, whereas girls from the Yaqui foothills, where traditional ranching occurs, show a robust positive relationship between breast size and mammary size. The differences noted were obtained by a medically based exam involving morphometric analysis and palpation of tissues, in contrast to visual staging alone. In fact, use of the Tanner scale, involving visual staging of breast development for puberty, detected no differences between the study populations. Mammary tissue, determined by palpation, was absent in 18.5% of the girls living in agricultural areas, although palpable breast adipose tissue was present. No relationship was seen between mammary diameter and weight or BMI in either population. These data suggest that future in-depth studies examining mammary tissue growth and fat deposition in breast tissue are required if we are to understand environmental influences on these phenomena.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2006

On evolution and perspectives of bio-watersaving.

As shortage in water resources is a fact, bio-watersaving becomes one hot topic at present. The concept of bio-watersaving has been developed from agronomic watersaving to physiological watersaving then to gene watersaving. The definition of bio-watersaving is yielding more agricultural productions under the same water condition by exploiting the physiological and genetic potential of organisms themselves. There are two aspects in bio-watersaving: one is managing crop system and watersaving irrigation according to the drought characteristics and physiological water need of plants; the second is breeding new varieties with good drought resistance and high water use efficiency (WUE) and high yield and good quality traits, through exploiting new drought resistance genes and high WUE genes with the aid of biotechnology. Gene watersaving is the base for physiological watersaving, so gene watersaving has the biggest potential to be exploited in future, and will play an important role in high use efficiency of water and soil resources, and agricultural sustainable development in China and the globe.

Adaptation, Biological↗
PubMed1997

[Treatment of sludge from purification stations with the purpose of ameliorating soils intended for agriculture: parasitic contamination and model development with a view to managing the sanitation risk].

Helminth eggs (Ascaris, Taenia...) present in urban sludge constitute a sanitary risk when used for the enrichment of agricultural soil. These eggs are very resistant in the environment and their survival could reach 6 months to one year in soils. To control the risks for the public health, we have to determine parameters leading to the eggs destruction in soils. Then the aim of the work is to study several conditions (humidity, temperature, texture,...) that could influence the survival of intestinal nematode eggs in various types of soil. Survival experiments were carried out in clayey soil, silty-loam soil and sandy soils with humidity levels corresponding to: field capacities, wilting point and variation between this 2 limit point (storage temperatures 4 degrees C, 19 degrees C and 30 degrees C). The result of this study has shown that the temperature conditioned for a great part the survival of the eggs in all types of soils with survival times superior at two year with a temperature of 4 degrees C. Between survivals at 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C, no difference has been observed. The humidity is the second parameter that condition the egg survival with a good viability preservation at the wilting point. This study also shows better survival in the conditions of deep soil with the protection of the egg from drying. With these data and with the simulation of continental temperate conditions, a contamination rate of 0.35% could be found on the surface soil after one year and a more important rate in the deep soil with 10.6%. The last step is the validation of this model and calculated values seem to be a good evaluation of the results found on fields. All these data must be take into account for the establishment of the regulation about the urban sludge reused for agricultural purpose.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1976

The problem of medical officer recruitment in agricultural industry.

All developing countries have difficulty in persuading doctors to opt for service in rural areas. This problem is shared by the agricultural industries. Two factors play a major role in this: isolation and the lack of a career structure. Isolation is an unavoidable accompaniment to rural practice. It can be considered as isolation from amenities, social isolation and professional isolation. The doctor in the rural area is often deprived of all urban amenities e.g. suitable shopping facilities, entertainment, cultural amenities and suitable leisure pursuits. Most of all, perhaps, he has major difficulties in educating his children. The maintenance of friendships and family connections is made difficult. There is a lack of suitable social intercourse for himself and his wife, a lack which very often leads to his wife's unhappiness and his own resignation. Professional isolation is serious and reflects adversely after a time on his professional ability. It may be that he only sees a colleague at long intervals and there is no stimulus towards keeping up to date professionally, and no opportunity to talk out professional and ethical problems. In many agricultural industries there is no career structure and therefore no scope for the good, ambitious doctor. This is particularly true of small, single-ownership plantations. It is clear that there is nothing to attract a good doctor to a place where he may remain at the same status for the rest of his professional career. It is suggested that only by the creation of a service structure within agricultural industries, which will create opportunities and within which means can be found to alleviate the effects of isolation, can a solution be found to the recruitment problem.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2003

Health impact assessment of agriculture and food policies: lessons learnt from the Republic of Slovenia.

The most important public health priority in agricultural policy-making is currently food safety, despite the relatively higher importance of food security, nutrition, and other agricultural-related health issues in terms of global burden of disease. There is limited experience worldwide of using health impact assessment (HIA) during the development of agriculture and food policies, which perhaps reflects the complex nature of this policy sector. This paper presents methods of HIA used in the Republic of Slovenia, which is conducting a HIA of proposed agricultural and food policies due to its accession to the European Union. It is the first time that any government has attempted to assess the health effects of agricultural policy at a national level. The HIA has basically followed a six-stage process: policy analysis; rapid appraisal workshops with stakeholders from a range of backgrounds; review of research evidence relevant to the agricultural policy; analysis of Slovenian data for key health-related indicators; a report on the findings to a key cross-government group; and evaluation. The experience in Slovenia shows that the HIA process has been a useful mechanism for raising broader public health issues on the agricultural policy agenda, and it has already had positive results for policy formation. HIA is one useful approach to more integrated policy-making across sectors, but clearly it is not the only mechanism to achieve this. A comparison of the approach used in Slovenia with HIA methods in other countries and policy contexts shows that there are still many limitations with HIA application at a government level. Lessons can be learnt from these case studies for future development and application of HIA that is more relevant to policy-makers, and assists them in making more healthy policy choices.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2003

Loss of plant species richness and habitat connectivity in grasslands associated with agricultural change in Finland.

The drastic loss of seminatural grasslands and the decrease in species diversity in Europe during the 20th century are closely linked to social-economic factors. Development in agricultural production drives land-use changes, and thus controls the capacity of landscapes to maintain biodiversity. In this study, we link agricultural production changes to landscape fragmentation and species diversity. Our results show that the termination of grazing on seminatural grassland caused significant changes in landscape structure and a decline in the number of vascular plant species. The decline of grazed grasslands has been driven mainly by farm-level economic efficiency and profitability interests, which have been connected with agricultural policy measures. Since 1995, when Finland joined the European Union, the area of grazed patches in our study area has again increased as a result of a support scheme for the management of seminatural grasslands.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1983

Health problems of agricultural workers in Malaysia.

The present paper reviews the health problems of rural agricultural workers in Malaysia. As is common with most developing countries, the agricultural sector forms the pillar of the national economy in Malaysia, the major products being rubber, palm oil, rice and timber. Most of the agricultural workers, who form the largest occupational group in the country, live in the rural areas under poor socioeconomic and environmental conditions. Their general health problems include large families, substandard housing, overcrowding, lack of piped water supply and sanitary excreta disposal, malnutrition and prevalent diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and parasitic infections. The specific occupational health problems include infectious diseases, agricultural accidents, pesticide poisonings, physical hazards, keratitis nummularis and snake-bites. The organization of agricultural health services in developing countries is also discussed.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMed2006

Economic impact of transgenic crops in developing countries.

Transgenic crops are being adopted rapidly at the global level, but only a few developing countries are growing them in significant quantities. Why are these crops so successful in some countries but not in others? Farm level profitability ultimately determines whether farmers adopt and retain a new technology, but this depends on much more than technical performance. Recent economic studies in developing countries find positive, but highly variable, economic returns to adopting transgenic crops. These studies confirm that institutional factors such as national agricultural research capacity, environmental and food safety regulations, intellectual property rights and agricultural input markets matter at least as much as the technology itself in determining the level and distribution of economic benefits.

Crops, Agricultural↗