Soil erosion is one of the unresolved problems of rural agriculture. This study investigates the impact of soil erosion on the agricultural potential and performance of Sheshegu community farmers in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Structured interview scheduled was used to collect data from 50 respondents using simple random sampling. Findings revealed that most (62%) respondents are male, who are above 46 years old (68%). Most of whom (72%) had education above grade 7. Further, the majority of them (50.8%) depend on social grants as sources of income. Most respondents confirmed that erosion occurred naturally through heavy rainfall and persistent drought while human causes that facilitated erosion include farming activities, deforestation and indiscriminate bush burning that expose soil to impact of rain drop. Respondents affirmed that erosion contributed to poor health of livestocks due to lack of pasture grass to feed on, loss of grazing land and poor bush regrowth. It is recommended that awareness on the negative effect of human causes of erosion should be created while simple technologies on soil erosion control should be pushed to the farmers. Finally, edict on bush burning should be enforced to check indiscriminate bush burning.

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The prevalence of inequalities in the general health position of communities can be assessed by using selected determinants. The aims of this article are three-fold: (1) to apply a comprehensive approach to the assessment of inequalities in the general health position of communities, (2) to determine the spatial differentiation of determinants, and (3) to present selected assessment methods and their impact on the results. To present a quantitative assessment of these inequalities in health status in communities, a composite indicator (Health Index) was developed. This Health Index is composed of 8 areas of evaluation and 60 indicators which include, amongst others, determinants of health status and healthcare at district level (LAU 1) in the Czech Republic. The data are evaluated using multicriteria decision-making methods (the WSA and TOPSIS methods). Findings suggest that, when all eight domains are assigned the same weight of one, the spatial differentiation among the districts is similar when using both methods. If different weightings are assigned to the districts, changes occur in both the index values and the rankings of the analyzed districts. For example, the allocation of weightings in both methods results in a rearrangement of the ranking of districts for which the Health Index is around the average.

This paper uses ‘products mapping’ tool based on the trade balance index (TBI) and Lafay index to investigate trade performance and competitiveness in food items between South Africa (SA) and the EU28 and Africa. The data for this analysis is obtained from the UNCTAD database. SA’s agri-food trade balance climbed from $1.5 billion in 2005 to $3.1 billion in 2017. The results support the conclusion that in bilateral trade, certain products have comparative advantages in relation to African markets despite comparative disadvantages in relation to the EU28 market. Also, there is no or decreasing diversification towards more and new leading products despite the increased intra-regional openness. Leading products (especially fruit and nuts) are the dominant export generating segments in the product’s structure of SA’s agri-food trade. Also, leading products mostly contribute to the positive balance of SA’s agri-food trade. The findings of this study may contribute to business strategies, trade policies, and regional and inter-regional integration.

<p>This study evaluates soil erosion/attrition as a major food security and rural livelihoods risk in South Africa, with the Upper and Lower Areas of Didimana, Eastern Cape Province, as a case study. The survey research method was adopted for the study. Farmers and extension officers’ behaviours relating to soil erosion control was negative even though the impact of erosion in the area was high. Approximately 75% of farmers indicated that they lose more than 21% of their crops yearly due to erosion and 55% said their crops and livestock, as well as their household feeding, suffer due to the problem. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis indicate that farm yield and farmers’ access to market are positively related to farmers’ adoption tendencies regarding erosion control, implying that farmers are more willing to adopt recommendations if their yields and access to market can increase. Similarly, age of farmers is positively related with erosion impact, indicating that older people have a higher tendency to cause erosion in the study area. This is true, as the area consists more of older people, who are generally known to resist change, thus low in adoption. Therefore, it is perceived that if farmers manage soil erosion appropriately, they will achieve higher yields. More so, pull factors like improved rural infrastructures and adequate agricultural incentives for youths are suggested to lure more youth in taking into farming in the study area.</p>

The study was carried out to determine the adoption rate of watermelon as an alternative crop to the melon the farmers in Moro Local Government Area, Kwara State Nigeria are used to grow traditionally. Unfortunately, melon had remained a poor marketing commodity over a long period of time due to price fluctuation. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and gross margin. The results indicate that the majority (80.87%; n = 93) trained in year 2007 are still active in watermelon cultivation. The adoption of watermelon technologies was influenced by extension packaging styles, compatibility with known methods of melon cultivation, relative advantages, good market price and ready market. Budgetary analysis revealed a profitability of watermelon with gross margin of ₦253,850.00 per hectare. The benefit/cost ratio (BCR) was 3:1. The study identified poor extension visit to the farmers after the training. It therefore recommended that the local government should acquire more tractors for hiring to the farmers while subsidy is required in other to reduce the cost of land clearing. Finally, government should as a matter of urgency repair, grade and open up more road network that will facilitating easy transportation of farm produce and reduce cost of transportation.

a group of 98 czech fleckvieh cows (one section) was observed over the period of one year with the aim to determine the variation in their milk performance and behaviour at different cowshed temperatures. behaviour and milk yield were recorded once a week (on the same day) at 10:00. periods of 8 weeks with the highest temperature (hot period -h) and of 8 weeks with the lowest temperature (cold period -l) were then compared. The cows were housed in one section (1/4 of the total capacity) of the free-stall cubicle shed and where the cubicles were distributed into three rows. row a (32 cubicles) was close to the feeding plateau, row b (33 cubicles) was in the centre and row c (38 cubicles) was peripheral, close to the side wall. The cowshed temperature was monitored on a daily basis and the mean temperature was 23.2°c in the hot period and -1.7°c in the cold period, relative humidity 60.2% (h) and 74.6% (l), and Thi 69.4 (h) and 33.4 (l). The behaviour of the cows was recorded 1568 times, showing them mostly lying down (1037) or standing (531). The cows tended to prefer lying down on their left sides (594 observations) as opposed to their right sides (443). row a was favoured by the cows (418) and row b was the least popular (377). The cows produced significantly more milk in H period than in L period (0.3 kg per day). The cows lying down were older (3.18 lactations) than the standing cows (2.99 lactations) and they tended to produce more milk per day (by 0.6 kg) but the difference was found to be insignificant. The cows lying resting on their left side produced more milk per day (0.9 kg) and were older (0.02 lactations). The cows in row c were the youngest (2.94 lactations) and the cows in row b were in the last days in milk (144.1 days). key words: czech fleckvieh, temperature, behaviour, cowsAlthough the process of domestication brought about a number of important, even essential, changes in farm animal performance, the environmental requirements Unauthenticated Download Date | 5/11/18 10:04 PM