The countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia urgently need to accelerate the integration of environmental concerns into their agricultural and forestry sectors. Policies and laws promoting ...integration have undoubtedly improved, but implementation is lagging, particularly in the east and in agriculture. Integrating Environment into Agriculture and Forestry raises awareness of the pressing need to step up progress on implementation. Failure to integrate environment into agriculture and forestry will have major economic and human health implications, eg. soil salinity in Uzbekistan is estimated to cost 1 billion per year, while soil erosion is estimated to cost Moldova at least 40 million per year. Agriculture and forestry are also highly sensitive to climate change and it is critical for the countries in the sub-region to build awareness and the capacity to proactively integrate climate change adaptation into agriculture and forestry sector policies, programs and investments. These sectors contribute about 15 percent of GDP and support the 35% of the population who live in rural areas of the sub-region. Report recommendations include: the imperative of using economic cost-benefit analysis as a base for decision making, scaling up of successful pilot projects, and development and implementation of climate change risk management adaptation plans.The report includes a companion CD-ROM which contains 21 in-depth reviews of Eastern European and Central Asian countries.
In this study we pursued a diagnostic target in Aspergillus fumigatus (AF) by using qualitative Realtime PCR combined with proprietary DNA primers and a hydrolysis probe specific for this fungal ...target. Qualitative Realtime PCR is a diagnostic tool that utilizes Realtime PCR technology and detects the presence or absence target specific DNA within a predetermined detection range. Respiratory tissue and fluids from experimentally infected guinea pigs were tested by extracting DNA from the samples which were amplified and detected using AF specific DNA primers and probe. This study included qualitative evaluations of all specimens for the presence of the DNA of AF. The findings in the tissues after AF infection were compared to the numbers of spores in aerosolized samples used to inoculate the animals. Results demonstrated that the specific probe and primer set could detect the presence or absence of AF DNA in the sample. The qualitative detection limit of the assay ranged from 6 × 10(4) copies to 6 copies. Since blood cultures are rarely positive for Aspergillosis, our data indicate that qualitative Realtime PCR, in combination with the appropriate DNA primers and probe can serve as an effective diagnostic tool in the early detection of fungal infections.
Transition to market-oriented agriculture has been characterized in all the CIS countries by a massive shift from large-scale "agricultural enterprises" to small family farms. The comparative ...efficiency of these two categories of farms is thus a topical issue for agriculture in transition counties. This article uses national agricultural statistics for Moldova for 1990-2006 and cross-section data from three farm surveys conducted in 2000-2003 to analyze the productivi29ty of small individual farms and large corporate farms in Moldova. Partial land and labor productivity, total factor productivity, and technical efficiency scores are calculated for farms of different organizational forms. This evidence has a direct bearing on the issue of comparative performance of large and small farms.
Agricultural production is inextricably tied to climate, making agriculture one of the most climate-sensitive of all economic sectors. In countries such as the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of ...Macedonia, the risks of climate change for the agricultural sector are a particularly immediate and important problem because the majority of the rural population depends either directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. Climate impacts can therefore undermine progress that has been made in poverty reduction and adversely impact food security and economic growth in vulnerable rural areas. In order to be effective, a plan for adapting the sector to climate change must strengthen both human capital and physical capital in their capacity. The need to adapt to climate change in all sectors is now on the agenda of national governments and development partners. As a result, development partners will continue to have an important role in enhancing the adaptive capacity of the Macedonian agricultural sector. Another key factor for FYR Macedonia's development of an adaptation plan for agriculture is furthering FYR Macedonia's work toward European Union (EU) accession, for which FYR Macedonia has been a candidate since 2005. The Macedonian government has already begun to focus on required EU reforms, including work on the agriculture strengthening and accession project with the World Bank. Along with these needed reforms, the EU encourages action toward climate change preparedness and adaptation. This report provides a menu of climate change adaptation options for the agriculture and water resources sectors, along with specific recommendations for adaptation actions that are tailored to distinct agro-ecological zones (AEZs) within FYR Macedonia. This report is structured as follows: chapter one gives current conditions for Macedonian agriculture and climate; chapter two presents design and methodology; chapter three deals with impacts of climate change on agriculture in FYR Macedonia; chapter four deals with identification of adaptation options for managing risk to FYR Macedonia's agricultural systems; chapter five presents cost-benefit analysis; and chapter six gives options to improve climate resilience of FYR Macedonia's agricultural sector.
In this paper, we present three ultra wide bandwidth low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) using dual-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMT devices. The single-stage, resistive feedback amplifiers target two different frequency ...bands: two LNAs operate in 0.3-4 GHz and one LNA is in 1.2-18 GHz. All three LNAs are capable of better than 13:1 bandwidth. The first low frequency amplifier uses a microstrip design and achieves 17.7 dB flat gain between 300 MHz-3 GHz, and 1.2 dB minimum noise figure around 1.3 GHz. The second 0.3-4 GHz LNA uses coplanar waveguide transmission lines and demonstrates 18 dB flat gain and 1.5 dB noise figure between 2 and 5 GHz. The high frequency microstrip-type LNA shows an average of 13 dB gain and between 2-3 dB noise figure across the band. The robust LNAs can be operated under various bias voltages while similar gain and noise figure performance are maintained.
The costs of living with wildlife are assessed using Namibian subsistence farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for deterrents to attacks on crops and livestock. A utility-theoretic approach jointly ...estimates household WTP for deterrent programs in two ‘currencies’: maize and cash. This has a double payoff. Use of a non-cash staple increases respondent comprehension and provides more information about preferences, improving the accuracy of results. The household shadow value of maize is also identified. Significant costs from living with elephants and other types of wildlife are demonstrated. Compensation for farmers may be warranted on equity and efficiency grounds. Uncontrolled domestic cattle generate even higher costs to farmers than wildlife, highlighting the need to clarify property rights among these farmers.
Ten thousand years ago our 5 million hunter-gatherer ancestors used, over the period of a year, about 200 species of local food items. Now, the nearly 6 billion global population gets 70 percent of ...its food from nine species of plants, one species of bird, and two species of mammals. This is despite global access to about 50,000 edible plants, as well as large numbers of bird and other animal species. We have concentrated our agricultural efforts on those species which are the most desirable, the most convenient, the most productive, and the most easily stored. Of equal importance, the species must be responsive to both genetic improvement and to management manipulation (i.e., domestication). Globally, very little of our food, except fish, now comes from wild sources. Although we use at least as much wood as we do food, wood supply (which still comes mostly from natural forests) is only now becoming limiting. There are no energy-efficient or environmentally acceptable substitutes for wood. The most likely means we have of satisfying the increasing global demand for wood is to obtain more of our wood from deliberately planted forests. Management of planted forests will increasingly parallel intensive agriculture. One consequence is that, of the 1,000 tree species we now use globally, we may eventually get most of our wood from four or five species. One of these tree species will be radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don). Radiata grows fast on a wide range of sites, has desirable wood properties, and responds well to both genetic improvement and stand management. The planted forest technology for radiata pine is probably the most advanced of any potential tree species. The evolution and success of radiata pine in New Zealand has major implications and lessons for the rest of the world.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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