Many farmers in the developing world have limited access to agricultural technologies and markets. Mobile phone-enabled services that offer price information and market linkages could contribute towards bridging this gap by reducing uncertainty about expected profits, information asymmetries and market inefficiencies. This article uses the example of the price information and marketing service ...

This paper presents a scalable digital learning system that can store and provide Web access to digital contents from voluntaries, teachers, and institutions that lack resources or expertise to offer classes over the Internet. We use the server-cluster architecture as a way to create scalable and highly available solutions. However, hosting a variety of contents from different owners on such a ...

OBJECTIVE We estimated 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) exposure and systemic dose in farm family members following an application of 2,4-D on their farm. METHODS Farm families were recruited from licensed applicators in Minnesota and South Carolina. Eligible family members collected all urine during five 24-hr intervals, 1 day before through 3 days after an application of 2,4-D. Exposu...

the objective was to quantify and compare cow cervical morphology on oestrus vs. non-oestrus daysusing a new farm technology. the cervical tissues were videotaped using a cervixscope involving newcamera equipment in four holstein cows on multiple oestrus and non-oestrus days to score tissue morphology as altered by oestrus. the non-oestrous days were in diestrus phases. the videotaped records w...

This paper presents a synthesis of the main theoretical and empirical contributions that analyse production choices of farm households living and operating in developing countries. The review is particularly concerned with recent micro-economic contributions that highlight the trade-off farm households typically face, between full-income risk and expected return, while making production decisio...

Background: Energy input in agriculture has increased tremendously and accounts for about 17% of total energy consumed in the USA. Precision agriculture involves knowledge-based technical management systems to optimize application of fertilizer, chemicals, seeds, and irrigation resources to reduce input costs and to enhance crop yield while simultaneously reducing harmful environmental impacts ...

There is growing evidence that low-cost open-source 3-D printers can reduce costs by enabling distributed manufacturing of substitutes for both specialty equipment and conventional mass-manufactured products. The rate of 3-D printable designs under open licenses is growing exponentially and there are already hundreds of designs applicable to small-scale organic farming. It has also been hypothe...