Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L., Elagnaceae) is a native multi-purpose medicinal shrub or tree of Asian regions and an integral component of high altitude terraced agroforestry systems of Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan. The strong increase in deforestation, urbanisation, and the loss of ethnically-based medication practices in local communities are gradually leading to depletion of its stands and knowledge of its use. In view of these circumstances, this study was undertaken to characterise Russian olive ...

Agricultural diversity can strengthen resilience of livelihood of farmers to climate change and market uncertainties while, potentially at the same time, o ering better dietary and nutritional prospects for households. Adoption of agricultural diversity in Malawi is low. Policy-makers, researchers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and extension staff need to understand dynamics of adoption of agricultural diversity in order to develop appropriate policies and interventions to promote agricultural diversification. ...

This study examines the impact of the non-farm sector on farm value-added and production efficiency in the Vietnamese agricultural sector by using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2012. Production function and stochastic frontier production analysis is used to determine the impact, and the instrumental variables method is applied to address endogeneity. We find that the Vietnamese non-farm sector has a positive effect on both farm value-added and efficiency. This result indicates that income ...

Seed quality plays an important role in the establishment of healthy crop stands. The aim of this study was to identify the mycoflora associated with maize grain collected over two growing seasons, one experiencing severe drought, from small-holder farms across KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Eastern Cape (EC), two important provinces with maize producing small-holder farmers in South Africa. Asymptomatic maize ears were collected at harvest during two maize growing seasons from farms located in Hlanganani (KZN), ...

The current cross-sectional study aimed at characterising the productivity and diseases affecting dairy goats kept by smallholder farmers in three sub-counties in Thika Region, Kenya. Standard questionnaires were administered to 240 farmers through face-to-face interviews and the outputs were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The farmers mainly kept crosses of Toggenburg (45.9 %), Kenyan Alpine (29.5 %) and Saanen (17.4 %) dairy goats. The average dairy goat flock size was 4.5 (range 1–23) and ...

The baobab tree is an underutilised indigenous fruit tree in sub-Saharan Africa which, at the same time is vulnerable to overexploitation in areas close to centres of demand, as currently baobab use is limited to wild, baobab trees. Baobab seedlings are known to form root tubers, but little is known about their growth characteristics and its yield potential. This study aims to investigate the root tuber and leaf development of baobab seedlings grown from seeds of five provenances, sown at three different planting ...

In order to determine the exploitation of grazing areas in the outskirts of Ouagadougou by cattle herds, the grazing behaviour of cows was monitored in five villages in these during three distinct seasons, namely wet, cool dry and hot dry season. A vegetation study including a census of the woody and herbaceous stratum of grazing areas allowed for an assessment of the pasture biomass availability during the wet season. Results of the monitoring of cattle herds showed that the land type grazed by cattle in the outskirts ...

Women lag in the adoption of agricultural innovations compared to men, mainly due to gender inequalities in access to complementary inputs, capital, and knowledge/information. The Infection-and-Treatment-Method (ITM) is considered a safe and effective method of controlling East Coast fever. However, since its commercialisation in Kenya differences in demand for this vaccine among smallholder men and women dairy cattle keepers have not been assessed. Using a sample of 448 respondents, we used an Average-Treatment-Effect ...

The combination of "ancestral knowledge" and modern agricultural techniques are increasingly used by Andes farmers, demonstrating its great importance as an ideal alternative to achieve international standards of productivity and sustainability. Pasture management has demonstrated its relevance in terms of milk volume and quality in farms located in the Ecuadorian highlands, showing a wide range of types of forage resource use, in its constant search for better animal yields from the occupancy rate. However, while ...

Beekeeping can provide important sources of cash income for farmers in developing countries where land is unconducive to crop and livestock production systems. In many low-income countries however, attrition among beekeeping adopters remains a chronic problem, colony losses are high, support for and coordination of the sector is low, and practices, production and income from beekeeping is often inefficient. This study investigated the key drivers and practices influencing incomes from beekeeping, honey production and ...