BACKGROUND Pesticide consumption is increasing in Bolivia as well as pest resistance, pesticide poisonings and pollution of the environment. This survey evaluates the training of small holder farmers on pesticide handling and ecological alternatives to reduce the negative pesticide effects. METHOD A baseline survey was performed in 2002 and follow-up surveys in 2004 and 2009. Farmers were sel...

— This paper links changing global coffee markets to opportunities and vulnerabilities for sustaining small-scale farmer livelihoods in northern Nicaragua. Changing governance structures, corporate concentration, oversupply, interchangeable commodity grade beans, and low farm gate prices characterize the crisis in conventional coffee markets. In contrast, certified Fair Trade and organic are tw...

Nutrient enrichment of water resources has degraded coastal waters throughout the world, including in the United States (e.g., Chesapeake Bay, Gulf of Mexico, and Neuse Estuary). Agricultural nonpoint sources have significant impacts on water resources. As a result, nutrient management planning is the primary tool recommended to reduce nutrient losses from agricultural fields. Its effectiveness...

Our research goal was to assess exposure to currently used pesticides among small-scale male farmers residing in two topographically different areas in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Farmers (N=136) were recruited from Pong Yaeng subdistrict (N=67) and Inthakhin subdistrict (N=69). Each farmer provided a morning urine void for the analysis of 30 urinary metabolites of insecticides, herbicides, ...

The factors influencing marketing of goats at different age and weight by different categories of farmers were investigated. The data were collected from village market (Hat) in selected places of Sirajgonj, Rajshahi, Kushtia, Mymensingh and Tangail districts. Goat owners belonged to one of the 4 categories of farmers at the Hat were interviewed through pre-tested questionnaire and the weight, ...

Small farmers' perceptions of coffee Coffea arabica L. herbivores and their natural enemies, how those perceptions relate to field infestation levels, and pest management practices being implemented by members from two organic and nonorganic coffee grower organizations in the Soconusco region, southeastern Mexico, were analyzed through an interview survey, diagnostic workshops, and field sampli...

Studies on personal dust and endotoxin concentrations among animal farmers have been either small or limited to a few sectors in their investigations. The present study aimed to provide comparable information on the levels and variability of exposure to personal dust and endotoxin in different types of animal farmers. 507 personal inhalable dust samples were collected from 327 farmers employed ...

Farmers' objectives and the factors a€ecting them were studied in 91 dairy farms in Costa Rica. Objective's hierarchies were studied using Rokeach's technique with a mixture of personal, economic and familiar goals. A canonical correlation analysis was performed to ®nd out simple and canonical correlations between farmers'/farms' characteristics and objective priorities. Factor analysis combine...

This paper explores the role of differing contractual relationships between sugarcane farmers and sugar factories in India resulting from differing ownership structures. In Maharashtra most sugar factories are cooperatively owned by cane farmers, while in Uttar Pradesh most factories are privately owned and purchase cane from independent peasant farmers. The key incentive problem is that residu...

Primary data were generated from field surveys conducted with the aid of questionnaires, personal interviews, field measurements and conversation between May and August, 2005 on the feeding management practices of 90 smaller holder turkey farmers in Imo State. All of the farmers fed their turkeys with commercial chicken feeds. Fifty (50.00%) of the farmers used chicken layer rations for their b...