The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of occupational asthma and sensitization to workplace allergens in greenhouse flower and/or ornamental plant growers. A random sample of 40 growers who cultivated such crops and had participated in the European Farmers' Study was selected for a cross-sectional study that included (1) greenhouse characteristics and air contaminants (dus...

In apple (Malus×domestica Borkh), as in many fruiting crops, fruit maintenance vs abscission is a major criteria for production profitability. Growers routinely make use of chemical thinning agents to control total fruit load. However, serious threats for the environment lead to the demand for new apple cultivars with self-thinning properties. In this project, we studied the genetic determinism...

On-farm demonstration trials have been used for many years to introduce new techniques and management practices to farmers. With new precision agriculture technology, it is now possible to work more effectively using whole fields instead of small test plots. Sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L.) growers in the Drayton, ND, and St. Thomas, ND, sugarbeet cooperative districts have delivered sugarbeet hist...

Basically all organisms can be classified as determinate growers if their growth stops or almost stops at maturation, or indeterminate growers if growth is still intense after maturation. Adult size for determinate growers is relatively well defined, whereas in indeterminate growers usually two measures are used: size at maturation and asymptotic size. The latter term is in fact not a direct me...

Apple orchard management practices may affect development and phenology of arthropod pests, such as the codling moth (CM), Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), which is a serious internal fruit-feeding pest of apples worldwide. Estimating population dynamics and accurately predicting the timing of CM development and phenology events (for instance, adult flight, and egg-hatch) allows...

We analyze the contract settlement data of a poultry company who contracts the production of broiler chickens with a group of independent growers. The company originally used rank-order (ordinal) tournaments to compensate their contract growers and later switched to cardinal tournaments. Based on the observed payment mechanism we construct an empirical model of a rank-order tournament game and ...

The study of poverty and income in equality are the most important subjects of social/ economic research in agriculture sector. The present study focuses on poverty and income inequality among pistachio growers in Kerman province. Absolute poverty line, relative poverty line, poverty gap and intensity were calculated. Also income distribution was investigated using Ginny coefficient, Lorenz cur...

Research Brief #15 4) This research found that growers were relatively mixed in their evaluations of the necessity of fumigants to the viability of their operations and to the viability of the strawberry industry as a whole. Some growers said that they would be unable to stay in business if fumigants were phased out, while others were nonplussed by the prospect of an eventual phase-out, arguing...

The International Tobacco Growers’ Association is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation founded in 1984 by tobacco growers’ organisations from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Malawi, the U.S.A. and Zimbabwe. The ITGA was created with the objective of providing a collective voice for growers from all over the world. In 1999 the ITGA’s head-office moved to Castelo Branco, Portugal, where the ...