This article explores the economic conditions for the viability of organic farming in a context of imperfect competition. While most research dealing with this issue has adopted an empirical approach, we propose a theoretical foundation. Farmers have a choice between two technologies, the conventional one using two complementary inputs, chemicals and seeds, and the organic one only requiring or...

The goal of this investigation was to establish an initial correlation between farming activities and malaria and to define risk factors and prevalence of the latter through an analysis of the integration of farm production strategies by members of an indigenous peasant community in the Chiapas mountains in Mexico. Information was obtained on places of work, land use, coffee, corn, and bean far...

Ever increasing attention is being paid to the environmental impact of intensive agricultural practices, and in this context organic farming is gaining recognition as a relatively friendly production system. In general, the risk of harmful environmental effects is lower with organic than with conventional farming methods, though not necessarily so. This review examines organic farming in the li...

Precision Dairy Farming is the use of technologies to measure physiological, behavioral, and production indicators on individual animals to improve management strategies and farm performance. Many Precision Dairy Farming technologies, including daily milk yield recording, milk component monitoring, pedometers, automatic temperature recording devices, milk conductivity indicators, automatic estr...

BACKGROUND Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) causes chronic, wasting, and progressive enteritis in cattle, bringing significant economic losses in livestock industries. MAP has spread worldwide mainly due to movement of animals. The objective of this study was to determine the MAP seroprevalence in cattle in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Northwest China, and evaluate...

Data from a survey of County Agricultural Extension Agents and the Census of Agriculture were use to develop logit regression models to estimate the probabilities of farmers adopting four precision farming technologies in Tennessee counties. County characteristics associated with adoption were owned versus rented land, land in large farms relative to total land in farms, the value of crop sales...

Mixed farming systems involving varying degrees of crop–livestock integration are found in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Increasing population combined with climatic, economic, social, and institutional changes are transforming systems for producing crops and livestock—from systems based on extensive, shifting cultivation and grazing to ones that are more intensively managed and are based o...

The conventional 'Neolithic package' comprised animals and plants originally domesticated in the Near East. As farming spread on a generally northwest trajectory across Europe, early pastoralists would have been faced with the challenge of making farming viable in regions in which the organisms were poorly adapted to providing optimal yields or even surviving. Hence, it has long been debated wh...

the present study was conducted to investigate qualitative and quantitative aspects of irrigated wheat production in three major farming systems i.e. peasant, commercial and cooperative systems in kordestan province. accordingly, seven basic hypotheses were tested. the data were drawn from individual interviews with 360 farmers who planted wheat in 2004-2005. the sample was selected using multi...

Johne’s disease (JD) is a chronic, production-limiting disease of ruminants. Control programs aiming to minimize the effects of the disease on the dairy industry have been launched in many countries, including Canada. Those programs commonly focus on strict hygiene and management improvement, often combined with various testing methods. Concurrently, organic dairy farming has been increasing in...