Agricultural productivity levels depend on the adoption of (improved) agricultural technologies, among other aspects. However, the use of improved technologies in Mozambique is still very limited. Data from the National Agricultural Survey of 2012, known as Inquérito Agrícola Integrado, show that less than 3% of smallholder farmers used inorganic fertilizers, 6% used pesticides, 9% used improve...

BACKGROUND Residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications has been used as a surrogate for exposure in epidemiologic studies, although little is known about the relationship with levels of pesticides in homes. OBJECTIVE We identified determinants of concentrations of agricultural pesticides in dust. METHODS We collected samples of carpet dust and mapped crops within 1,250 m of...

The study investigated the levels of awareness and use of agricultural insurance scheme in Kogi State of Nigeria. A total of 240 respondents from eight communities were selected through a multistage random sampling technique. Data collected through structured questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistic, percentages and sigma scoring model. The results revealed that farmers in the St...

abstract in this study the effects of land use changes from pasturelands to croplands on soil microbiological and biochemical properties were studied in kangaver, dehno and soltanye regions. composite soil samples from 0-20 and 20-40 cm depths of pasture and cultivated lands were taken from kangaver, dehno and soltanye regions, and soil microbial respiration, microbial biomass c and n, and urea...

The relation between human population growth and land use change is much debated. Here we present a case study from Papua New Guinea where the population has increased from 2.3 million in 1975 to 5.2 million in 2000. Since 85% of the population relies on subsistence agriculture, population growth affects agricultural land use. We assessed land use change in the Morobe province (33,933 km2) usin...

In Eastern Spain, almond trees have been cultivated in terraced orchards for centuries, forming an integral part of the Mediterranean forest scene. In the last decades, orchards have been abandoned due to changes in society. This study investigates effects of changes in land use from forest to agricultural land and the posterior land abandonment on soil microbial community, and the influence of...

Agricultural census data and fieldwork observations are used to analyze changes in land cover/use intensity across Rondônia and Mato Grosso states along the agricultural frontier in the Brazilian Amazon. Results show that the development of land use is strongly related to land distribution structure. While large farms have increased their share of annual and perennial crops, small and medium si...

The authors examined the relation between 45 common agricultural pesticides and prostate cancer incidence in a prospective cohort study of 55,332 male pesticide applicators from Iowa and North Carolina with no prior history of prostate cancer. Data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires completed at enrollment (1993-1997). Cancer incidence was determined through population-...