Das Projekt "E 4.1: Quality and food safety issues in markets for high-value products in Thailand and Vietnam" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Agrar- und Sozialökonomie in den Tropen und Subtropen durchgeführt. The production and marketing of high-value agricultural commodities - such as fruits, vegetables, and livestock products - has been an important source of cash income for small-scale farmers in the northern mountainous regions of Thailand and Vietnam. However, against the background of recent free trade agreements and market liberalization, there is increasing national and international competition, partly leading to significant price decreases. Given structural disadvantages of farmers in northern Thailand and Vietnam, it will be very difficult for them to achieve and maintain a competitive position in markets for undifferentiated high-value products. Therefore, product differentiation - in terms of health attributes (e.g., low-pesticide residues, free from diseases and pathogens), taste (e.g., indigenous livestock breeds), time (e.g., off-season production), or processing characteristics (e.g., packaging, drying, canning) - could be a promising alternative. Quality and safety attributes play an increasing role in domestic and international food trade. The additional value generated could lead to sustainable income growth in the small farm sector, but this potential will only materialize when appropriate institutional mechanisms help reduce transaction costs and allow a fair distribution of benefits. This subproject seeks to analyze how the production and marketing of high-value agricultural products with quality and safety attributes can contribute to pro-poor development in northern Thailand and Vietnam. Quality and safety attributes can only generate value when they directly respond to consumer demand. Furthermore, since they are often credence attributes, the product identity has to be preserved from farm to fork. Therefore, the analysis will cover the whole supply chain, from agricultural production to final household consumption. Interview-based surveys of farmers, intermediate agents, and consumers will be carried out in Thailand, and to a limited extent also in Vietnam. The data will be analyzed econometrically with regard to the structure of high-value markets, trends and their determinants, and efficiency and equity implications of different institutional arrangements (e.g., contract agriculture, supermarket procurement). Since in northern Vietnam, the marketing of high-value products is a relatively recent activity, markets for more traditional crops will be analyzed as well, to better understand the linkages between different cash-earning activities in the semi-subsistent farm households. Apart from their direct policy relevance, the results will contribute to the broader research direction of the economics of high-value agricultural markets in developing countries. Moreover, they will generate useful information for other subprojects of the Uplands Program.
Das Projekt "Impacts of Solar Home System Usage in Rural Burkina Faso" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung e.V. RWI, Kompetenzbereich Umwelt und Ressourcen durchgeführt. In remote areas with low electrification rates, Solar Home Systems (SHS) can be seen as a promising alternative to the investment-intensive extension of the electricity grid. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides funding to a project in Burkina Faso that offers SHS to rural households using a market-based approach. The SHS that are distributed can provide electric lighting and - depending on the chosen capacity of the system - allow for the usage of small electric appliances up to colored television. As part of the series of impact evaluations of development activities supported by the Netherlands on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, RWI and ISS assess the socio-economic impact of the usage of SHS such as improved living conditions, time savings, increased security, better health conditions, and educational attainment trough extended study hours. The idea is to conduct a difference-in-difference approach based on household surveys before and after the intervention, in combination with propensity score matching (PSM) to better match control and treatment households on pre-program characteristics (e.g. education, socio-economic status, income, asset-ownership, characteristics of the villages they live in). Following the roll-out plan of Yeelen Ba's activities, a baseline survey was conducted in November 2010 based on a random sample of villages that are in the program's catchment area. In total, 1,200 households in 40 villages (30 households per village) were interviewed. A particular focus was on the use of appliances and energy expenditures, as well as convenience and comfort aspects before and after the SHS was installed. For the difference-in-difference approach the sample will be divided into a treatment group consisting of households who will have obtained an SHS in the meantime and a control group consisting of untreated households. The follow-up survey will be conducted two years after the baseline survey in November 2012. All households will be revisited and differences in the changes in the outcome variables between the treatment group and the control group will be assessed, providing insights about how ownership of an SHS changes the socio-economic living conditions of the households.
Das Projekt "C-STAR: Coastal Sediment Transport Assessment Using SAR Imagery" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hamburg, Zentrum für Meeres- und Klimaforschung, Institut für Meereskunde (IfM) durchgeführt. C-STAR was a joint European project, carried out by ten partner institutions in the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, and Germany; financially supported by the Commission of the European Community as a part of the Marine Science and Technology (MAST) program under contract no. MAS3-CT95-0035.. C-STAR was devoted to an improved theoretical understanding of the radar imaging of underwater bottom topography in tidal waters and to an investigation of the potential of inverse models which retrieve topographic maps from radar images, for morphological research and monitoring applications. C-STAR included a major field experiment off the Dutch coast, which was carried out in April, 1996. The activities of the Satellite Oceanography group of the University of Hamburg within C-STAR focused on the improvement of theoretical models for the hydrodynamic wave-current interaction and for the radar backscattering at the sea surface, which appears to be described relatively well by the existing composite surface model.
Das Projekt "46th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology, Dresden, 13.09. - 16.09.2009" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Universitätsklinikum Halle (Saale), Institut für Umwelttoxikologie durchgeführt. It is our great pleasure to invite you to our Scientific Workshop on Safety Assessment and Regulation of Nanomaterials to be held at the International Conference Centre Dresden, Germany. Nanotechnology is a powerful tool to optimize technical processes or to generate new materials with exciting functionalities. High expectations are connected to products of nanotechnology with regard to energy efficiency, new materials, electronics, solutions to decrease energy needs for information technologies or data storage. Following introduction of nanomaterials in new technologies, regulators, developers and the producers are confronted with a growing list of questions addressing the safety of nanomaterials for consumers and environment. The participants are invited to give their input into the discussion on the long term safe use of nanoproducts with regard to work place, human health and environment. The complexity of the ongoing risk discussion is a challenge to demonstrate the ability of toxicological work in academia, industry and regulation. It is also a big chance to bring our expertise into society on our common way to find the right balance between chances of new technologies and level of acceptance of remaining risks. The scientific program will be a variety of opportunities to share knowledge lecture sessions and a poster session. Perspective of Regulation and Ethical demands, Products of Nanotechnology in use and under development, Exposure and uptake, Possible health hazards, New Functionalities of nanomaterials, Information Requirements for Safety Assessment of Nanomaterials, Nanomaterials in the Environment, Wrapping up Plenum or Working group.
Das Projekt "Sub project: Origin of KTB fluids and impact of pressure variations on the fluid chemistry during a long-term pumping test at KTB-VB" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung - Institut AWI - Forschungsstelle Potsdam durchgeführt.
Das Projekt "Trees outside forest: Assessment" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Göttingen, Burckhardt-Institut, Abteilung Waldinventur und Fernerkundung durchgeführt. Tree resources outside the forest (TOF) serve a number of ecological and socio-economic functions, similar in principle, but different in extent to the functions of forest. This resource is not yet fully recognized in natural resources assessments, particularly on a regional level. Many people in particular in the Tropics depend directly on this resource. For TOF sustainability, politics and management options must be developed and implemented. It means that good information about the assessment of this resource must be available. In this project, options of TOF assessment and mapping on a regional basis will be developed based in the results of earlier studies of the TROF project (EU- INCO DC Program. Contract No ERBIC18 CT98 0323) and others research projects experiences in Latin America. Objectives: To develop an approach to the TOF assessment and mapping on a regional basis.
Das Projekt "Sub project: 231Pa/230Th profiles from highly accumulating Atlantic sediment cores - a proxy for deep water circulation over the past 30,000 years" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Heidelberg, Institut für Umweltphysik durchgeführt. In the Atlantic Ocean sedimentary 231Pa/230Th below the production ratio of 0.093 are believed to mirror the advective export of 231Pa to the Southern Ocean due to the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). Times of shifted 231Pa/230Th related with prominent events of cooling and warming support the conclusion that variations in the MOC may incite climate changes. However, the impact of boundary scavenging on the 231Pa/230Th in the glacial Atlantic is a great matter of discussion.The goal of this project is to better understand the behaviour of 231Pa/230Th in Holocene and Glacial sediments both, in the open Ocean and in the upwelling areas in the East Atlantic. The ability to quantify possible boundary scavenging effects will substantially improve our understanding and the interpretation of sedimentary 231Pa/230Th-records as a proxy for the strength of MOC. To approach this goal sedimentary 231Pa/230Th profiles from two high-productivity cores off the coast of Namibia and one off West-Africa are compared with those from the North-, West-, and South- Atlantic Ocean. For the first time 231Pa/230Th from high productivity sediment cores from the African margin at adequate accuracy are being measured by AMS and ICP-MS. The analysis is focused on the last 30 kyr. The high accumulation rates of the selected sediment cores allow a very good time resolution. Therefore, it will be possible to examine the response of the sedimentary 231Pa/230Th to several short-term climate events (e.g. Heinrich Events).
Das Projekt "Sub project: Recontructing East Asian monsoon climate history between 12.5 and 7 Ma: Linkages to tectonic events, cryosphere evolution and orbital forcing" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Arbeitsgruppe Marine Mikropaläontologie durchgeführt. The Middle to Late Miocene climate transition towards modern boundary conditions is stillpoorly resolved, mainly due to the scarcity of continuous, well-dated climate archives. Wepropose to reconstruct East Asian climate variability and investigate monsoonal evolution inresponse to tectonic events, cryosphere evolution and orbital forcing over the Mioceneinterval 12.5 -7 Ma. Our primary targets are: 1) to develop a high-resolution, orbitally-tunedchronology in South China Sea ODP Site 1146, where an expanded, continuous carbonaterichsedimentary succession was recovered and 2) to provide a synthesis of climate andocean chemistry proxies (principally benthic and planktic delta 18O, delta 13C supplemented by Mg/Ca,carbonate dissolution indices and faunal census counts) that will focus on the temporalevolution of surface and bottom water masses. We will target phases of major climaticchange such as the Late Miocene ice growth events (Mi5-Mi7 of Miller et al., 1991) and theinferred change in monsoon intensity at ca. 8 Ma associated with Himalayan uplift. This workwill supply an essential chronological framework for the South China Sea, and provide ahigh-resolution multiproxy investigation of East Asian climate and monsoon variability.
Das Projekt "Barley dwarfs acting big in agronomy. Identification of genes and characterization of proteins involved in dwarfism, lodging resistance and crop yield" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft durchgeführt. Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is an important cereal grain which serves as major animal fodder crop as well as basis for malt beverages or staple food. Currently barley is ranked fourth in terms of quantity of cereal crops produced worldwide. In times of a constantly growing world population in conjunction with an unforeseeable climate change and groundwater depletion, the accumulation of knowledge concerning cereal growth and rate of yield gain is important. The Nordic Genetic Resource Center holds a major collection of barley mutants produced by irradiation or chemical treatment. One phenotypic group of barley varieties are dwarf mutants (erectoides, brachytic, semidwarf, uzu). They are characterized by a compact spike and high rate of yield while the straw is short and stiff, enhancing the lodging resistance of the plant. Obviously they are of applied interest, but they are also of scientific interest as virtually nothing is known about the genes behind the development of plant dwarfism. The aim of this project is to identify and isolate the genes carrying the mutations by using state of the art techniques for gene cloning at the Carlsberg Laboratory. The identified genes will be connected with the mutant phenotype to reveal the gene function in general. One or two genes will be overexpressed and the resulting recombinant proteins will be biochemically and structurally characterized. The insights how the mutation effects the protein will display the protein function in particular. Identified genes and their mutant alleles will be tested in the barley breeding program of the Carlsberg brewery.
Das Projekt "SP 2.2 QTL analysis and optimization of breeding schemes for improved nitrogen-use efficiency of maize and wheat for sustainable cropping systems in the North China Plain" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Pflanzenzüchtung, Saatgutforschung und Populationsgenetik (350), Fachgebiet Angewandte Genetik und Pflanzenzüchtung (350a) durchgeführt. In China, agriculture needs to be intensified by increasing the productivity per unit land. However, the possibility to improve yield by further increasing the amounts of input is very limited due to already very high input amounts of fertilizers and irrigation water in the present cropping system. Hence, the development and characterization of improved varieties, especially with regard to traits of utmost importance for sustainable resource use, such as nitrogen- (NUE) and water-use efficiency (WUE), is crucial for a sustainable agriculture in the North China Plain. The decision about the requirement of one common or two separate breeding programs for developing varieties adapted to low and high N fertilization strongly depends on an appropriate estimation of the correlation between yield at different fertilization levels. Therefore, maize and wheat varieties are evaluated in multiple locations in the North China Plain. Adopting novel breeding approaches based on doubled haploids (DH) can speed up the process of developing new varieties substantially and rapidly provides suitable cultivars for new cropping systems. Therefore, optimum breeding strategies for maize breeding are modeled and simulated to optimize alternative breeding schemes with respect to the optimum allocation of test resources using different optimization criteria. Modeling of production systems and material flows is a powerful tool to increase sustainable resource use by identifying cropping systems, which combine reduced inputs with high yields. However, an appropriate model requires knowledge about the genetics of crop growth and yield and its interaction with environmental factors. Therefore, maize and wheat populations developed by the Chinese partners in the first project phase are phenotyped in multi-location field trials and genotyped with molecular markers to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) for NUE.
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