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Dissertation
Combining crop growth models with the Precision Agriculture concept of yield gap analysis to evaluate yield limiting and reducing factors
(2022)
The agricultural sector is considered as one of the main elements of a “functional” society and its welfare for providing means to fulfil the most basic human need for food. In the past, an improved overall welfare of developed countries was directly related to early investment in conventional farming machinery parallel to the industrial development. With the expected future population increase and climate change, farm yield gaps are expected to increase and become more volatile. The awareness of negative externalities ...
Dissertation
Designing Breeding Programs For Improving Milk Yield Performance Of Indigenous Genous Dairy Cattle In Sudan
(2022)
The overall aim of the present study was to design appropriate breeding programs for the sustainable improvement of Butana cattle in Sudan. Four studies were conducted, beginning with a comprehensive review of literature on indigenous dairy cattle breeding strategies in sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on the factors that contribute to their success or failure. It showed that crossbreeding of indigenous breeds with exotic breeds has been widely used for genetic improvement, but it largely failed under low-input ...
Dissertation
Geospatial crop yield modeling for climate change risk transfer, impact assessment, and adaptation strategies
(2023)
Changing climate and weather patterns increase the pressure on food production systems worldwide, significantly impacting livelihoods and economies at various scales. Understanding and adapting/mitigating climate change are essential to cope with the adverse effects of climate change. Biophysical crop modeling offers a unique way to assess the pros and cons of different adaptation strategies because they integrate physical and biological principles to simulate the use and allocation of captured resources mechanistically. ...
Dissertation
Sustainability of traditional cocoa agroforests in Ghana
(2022)
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is an important agricultural commodity that is important to the economies of many countries in the world. Due to cocoa’s dependence on fertile forests soils, its production is a major cause of deforestation and soil degradation in producing countries. When grown in agroforestry systems it can conserve biodiversity, sequester carbon (C), and maintain soil fertility. There are many cocoa agroforests which are managed without synthetic agrochemicals. Because organic cocoa certification is now ...
Dissertation
Nutrition transition in Kyrgyzstan: Understanding the triple burden of malnutrition and the importance of dietary quality
(2023)
Nutrition transition, including changes in lifestyle and diet, has been taking place globally. Malnutrition is a serious public health issue responsible for the considerable portion of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Currently, little knowledge about nutrition transition and its relation to malnutrition exists in low and middle-income countries. Kyrgyzstan undergoes a nutrition transition with health and diet implications, especially to women. Kyrgyzstan is believed to be at the end of the ‘receding famine’ stage ...
Dissertation
Der Einfluss von Befahrung alter Rückegassen mit einem schweren Rückezug auf mechanische, strukturelle und funktionelle Eigenschaften eines mit Fichten bestockten Lössbodens in Abhängigkeit von der Fahrwerkkonfiguration
(2023)
Bei der maschinellen Holzernte mit schweren Holzerntefahrzeugen wird der befahrene Waldboden deformiert und damit potenziell in seiner forstwirtschaftlichen Produktivität eingeschränkt. Mögliche Lösungsansätze für diese unerwünschte Nebenwirkung des Technikeinsatzes sind die Beschränkung der Befahrung des Waldbodens auf permanenten Rückegassen und die Verwendung tragender Bogiebänder. Es besteht jedoch eine Forschungslücke zur Veränderung der physikalischen Eigenschaften von vorverdichtetem Boden bestehender Rückegassen ...
Dissertation
Solar energy integration in agro-processing in the tropics: a case study of large and small-scale cassava processing
(2023)
Agro-processing is key to reducing post-harvest losses. Agro-processing is defined as a set of techno-economic activities applied to all the products originating from the agricultural farm, livestock, aqua cultural sources, and forests for their conservation, handling, and value-addi-tion to make them usable as food, feed, fibre, fuel, or industrial raw materials [12]. Processing can be sophisticated (relying on industrial plants and machinery) or simple (depending on the sun or indigenous small-scale processes). The ...
Dissertation
Market-driven harvesting of non-timber forest products and the governance of communal forests in the south-east lowveld of Zimbabwe.
(2023-07)
Despite forests providing a wide range of important products and services for much of Zimbabwe’s population, natural forests are threatened by deforestation. The highest rates of deforestation occur in communal forests. Communal forest resources in Zimbabwe show evidence of increased degradation and signs of a breakdown of local institutions for resources management. These signs of a breakdown of local institutions are coupled with evidence of a lack of any emerging alternative institutions for conservation of forest ...
Dissertation
Diffusion of Material Flow Cost Accounting and its Contribution to Sustainable Development
(2022)
This thesis aims to analyze how further take-up of Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) in practice can be encouraged to support sustainable development. To achieve the aim of the thesis, three studies on MFCA are conducted at multiple levels. The first study provides a better understanding of MFCA application at the corporate level in developing countries, which are characterized by rapid structure transformation leading to serious environmental problems. The second study considers the contextual and transformational ...
Dissertation
Assessment of the variation of marbling and intramuscular fat content of beef, and validation of possible factors to increase sensory beef quality
(2021-11)
This thesis focuses on the intramuscular fat content (IMF) or the marbling of beef as main parameters of sensory beef quality. The aim is to identify the high variability of these traits and to verify possible influences such as genetics, age, gender and feeding strategies to increase marbling.
The first part of this research focuses on the variation of quality traits within a genetically homogeneous line of an endangered German beef cattle breed “Rotes Höhenvieh” (RHV). The intramuscular fat content of beef samples ...