This paper will answer the question raised by the ongoing debate on the conditions of Alternative Agro-Food Networks (AAFN) strengthened in the specific context of different European countries. Modern, sustainable local food systems are built on the basis of social networks which linked different actors into a coherent, horizontal web. Producers, processors and consumers are bonded by a common...

Agronomic N-use efficiency is the basis for economic and environmental efficiency, and an effective agro-ecosystem management practice, improving nutrient use efficiency, is a crucial challenge for a more sustainable production of horticultural, industrial and cereal crops. However, discrepancy between theory and practice still exists, coming from large gaps in knowledge on net-N immobilization...

Fuzzy Modeling is an effective approach for System Identification. In its turn, Data Driven Fuzzy Modeling (DDFM) extracts these models from a set of input-output observations about the system. One way to carry out a DDFM process is by means of a combination of techniques, each one solving one of the DDFM phases. In this paper, we apply hybridizations of clustering algorithms and neural network...

AIM This study was carried out to assess the presence of anti-bluetongue (BT) antibodies in sheep, goat and cattle of different agro-climatic zones of Jharkhand. MATERIALS AND METHODS Serum samples were collected from apparently healthy as well as suspected sheep, goat and cattle from different districts of Jharkhand covering different agro-climatic zones. Serum samples were screened by indir...

Cultivation of Coffea arabica is highly sensitive to and has been shown to be negatively impacted by progressive climatic changes. Previous research contributed little to support forward-looking adaptation. Agro-ecological zoning is a common tool to identify homologous environments and prioritize research. We demonstrate here a pragmatic approach to describe spatial changes in agro-climatic zon...

Two significant G-quadruplex aptamers named AGRO100 and T30695 are identified as multifunctional aptamers that can bind the protein ligands nucleolin or HIV-1 integrase and hemin. Besides their strong binding to target proteins, both AGRO100 and T30695 exhibit high hemin-binding affinities comparable to that of the known aptamer (termed PS2M) selected by the in vitro evolution process. Most imp...

background and objective: in the present study, bacillus polymyxa ncim no. 2539 was selected to utilize agro-industrial byproduct (orange peel) for amylase production under submerged fermentation conditions. material and methods: different agro-industrial byproducts like cane molasses, wheat bran, rice bran and orange peel were screened for maximum amylase production. amylase activitiy of bacil...

ICT has potential to make significant inroads in a traditional agrarian economy like India. Indian agro-sector has been exploiting the benefits to ICT. Innovative ICT application platforms are being created by private sector players in conjunction with local farmers. One such private initiative has been by ITC Ltd in the state of Madhya Pradesh. It has helped the farmers in many ways, such as d...

The final features of natural fiber composites (NFCs) depend on the integrated characteristics of their constituents. In the industry today, natural agro waste fibers are evaluated using a limited number of criteria. In this work, a combined multi-criteria evaluation stage technique (CMCEST) is introduced as a simple efficient systematic indicator to enhance evaluation of the available natural ...

There is a blossoming of voluntary certification initiatives for sustainable agro-food products and production processes. With these certification initiatives come traceability in supply chains, to guarantee the sustainability of the products consumed. No systematic analysis exists of traceability systems for sustainability in agro-food supply chains. Hence, the purpose of this article is to an...