Royal Agricultural University Repository
Not a member yet
647 research outputs found
Sort by
The effect of bi-cropping wheat (Triticum aestivum) and beans (Vicia faba) on forage yield and weed competition
Get PDFField experiments were conducted from April 2015 to September 2016 at the Royal Agricultural University, UK to explore the impact of drilling pattern and species mixtures on weed growth and forage yield. The bi-crops of spring field bean (Vicia faba) cv. Maris Bead and Fuego with spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) cv. Paragon were evaluated at four drilling patterns in a randomized complete block design with four replicates and compared against their respective sole crops. Weed DM was 59% higher in sole cropping systems than bi-cropping systems. Sole cropping systems outperformed bi-cropping systems for wheat (in 2016 only) and bean forage DM yield. However bi-cropping systems produced higher total forage DM yield than sole cropping systems. Weed DM was higher in broadcast than alternate rows. Bean forage DM was higher in alternate rows than broadcast by 74%. Wheat forage DM was not affected by the drilling patterns. Maris Bead had higher forage DM than Fuego (in 2016 only). In conclusion, bi-cropping can increase land productivity per unit area over sole cropping whilst improving forage DM yield and providing low cost integrated weed management. Alternate row drilling can improve bi-cropping productivity over broadcast practice
Food defence: Refining the taxonomy of food defence threats
Get PDFBackground
Awareness of the need to address food defence is gaining pace in the food industry. Indeed implementing an effective food defence strategy is a key pre-requisite to comply with third party certification standards. There is however a knowledge gap with regard to the types of threat that fall within the scope of a food defence strategy and also how these issues can then be mitigated and where possible eliminated.
Scope and Approach
This research seeks to position food defence as a supply chain risk mitigation strategy and use case studies of real-world issues to frame the taxonomy of food defence threats.
Key findings
In order to differentiate food defence threats (food attack) from wider food crime, the research postulates that food defence strategies needs to address intentional adulteration to gain personal attention, to gain financial reward through extortion or to gain attention for a particular cause or ideology i.e. food terrorism. More covert threats include sabotage, espionage, intellectual property theft, and cybercrime, including hacktivism. These threats can cause actual harm to individuals, members of certain populations and communities or to organisations. This can lead to large scale, economic, political or social unrest and disruption of the supply chain and thus fit within the scope of food defence activities. To inform food defence risk assessment and management processes, this taxonomy needs to be developed and accepted across the food industry so that threats can be consistently and effectively addressed and as a result consumers, industry partners, shareholders and also the organisation itself can be protected
Food supplements’ non-conformity in Europe – Poland: a case study
Get PDFBackground: Mislabelling and substitution of ingredients in food supplements is a growing concern for regulators, businesses and consumers. Whilst there is a body of literature that has considered food and drink substitution and mislabelling, there is limited published research on the compliance of food supplements with regulatory requirements.
Scope and Approach: Using secondary data, the aim of this research was to identify the main factors influencing food supplements non-compliance in the European Union (EU) but with specific emphasis on Poland. The sources of data in this review were: (1) the register of pro-health foods maintained by the Chief Sanitary Inspector (GIS) in Poland; (2) unpublished data from the European Commission DG Health and Food Safety (EC DG SANTE); (3) the EU Food Fraud Network and the Administrative Assistance and Cooperation System (EU FFN & AAC) Reports; (4) the Polish Trade Inspection (IH) Report; and (5) the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Portal.
Key findings and conclusions: The level of food supplements non-compliance with stated legal requirements especially mislabelling is identified in this research. Policy needs to be strengthened both at the EU level, where overarching regulatory governance can be introduced, and also in individual member states, such as Poland, where situational socio-economic factors such as health-care provision, the associated absorptive capacity of the food supplements’ market and the level of ability of national institutions to institute effective regulatory and market governance influence the incidence of food supplements
Typology of Grain Storage Structures in Rural Communities in Kogi State – Nigeria: Economic Implications on the Rural Farmers
Get PDFThis study examined the economic impact of grain storage structures and storage duration on the income of rural farmers in Kogi State, north-central, Nigeria. The study utilised the questionnaire method, supported by on-site observation and interactions with key players along the grain supply chain. Multistage sampling was used to select three hundred (300) rice and maize farmers spread across fifty (50) communities in the State that participated in the research. The results show that the storage systems and length of storage of the farm produce (maize and rice) has a significant impact on the annual income of the farmers, and only 1 per cent of the grain farmers’ population earned above the 2017 world’s poverty benchmark. We found out that access to technology for agricultural purposes was zero. The major challenges reported by the farmers are; poor processing/storage facilities (43.4 %), poor sales after harvest (30.3 %) and lack of agricultural credits (23.3 %). The existing storage structures encourages post-harvest waste and losses, affecting the quality of stored grains and invariably its market value and farmers’ income; the grain market is erratic with middlemen dictating the price of grains. None of the farmers surveyed had accessed agricultural credit at any time. The study recommends shared or communal storage centres for each of the communities, where farmers can either have their grains sold at Guaranteed Minimum Price or with an option to store the grains in anticipation of better prices in the future. Bank Accounts would be opened for the farmers, and a Grain Card would be issued to help keep and build the farmers’ “Activity Ratings” for economic purpose like credit assessment to determine eligibility for agricultural credit. Private firms should manage the shared or communal centre in each community in a public-private partnership with the government, but the farmers should be shareholders by default. The shared or communal centres should also be a reliable intermediary between the farmers and other key stakeholders, strengthening the rural economic institution, and serving as a training centre for the rural farmers. A theoretical shared or communal storage model was designed
Governance, Gender and the Appropriation of Natural Resources: A Case Study of ‘Left-Behind’ Women’s Collective Action in China
Get PDFChina’s rapid urbanization has created large scale of population migration, resulting in many villages being dominated by “left-behind” women, and weak governance of those collectively owned resources. The situation has required these women to take up the functions of decision-making and governance as a remedial mechanism as well as a new path. Based on a case study in a typical hollowing-out village in central China, this paper explores an example of left-behind women’s collective action to prevent the over-exploitation of community and resources. It finds out that although traditionally excluded from public activities and marginalized, the “left-behind” women were able to mobilize and enhance collective action. When empowered, they are growing fast with endurance and courage, and as capable as anyone of defending the common-pool resources. It suggests that the left-behind women offer a new governance option for those population hollowing out rural areas
A new normative economics for the formation of shared social values
Get PDFThere is mounting evidence that a new set of principles is required to form and express, rather than capture, social values for sustainability. This is because many policy questions are sufficiently complex that individual people do not—possible cannot—hold fully pre-formed values with respect to them. Thus, when people are faced with such issues, a process is required to enable them collectively to form and express a bespoke set of values that are shared. This process of shared social value formation can be understood as normative, to the extent that those involved participate in a process of ascribing values to others. This invites us to reconsider the role of normative economics, because it implies that both procedural and distributive justice is unlikely to be achieved through conventional economic logic and processes. The paper argues that the theoretical traditions that have juxtaposed positive and normative economics have been lost, such that rational choice has been progressively limited to the maximisation of economic surplus. This may be acceptable for some policy areas where the state and the individual dominate. However, the formation of social values for sustainability demands a composite approach that enables individuals to work together to form values with respect to issues about which they may have little immediate reference. The paper identifies five principles for establishing normative shared social values, relating to social units of analysis, procedural and distributive justice, dialectical decision-making and the development of social value transfer as a means of relating the shared social values formed and expressed in one context with those appropriate for a related context. The paper concludes with an agenda for research that can test, develop and refine the five principles for normative deliberated social values for sustainability
“Would it sell more pork?” Pig farmers’ perceptions of Real Welfare, the welfare outcome component of their farm assurance scheme
Get PDFIn the UK, the pig industry is leading the way in the adoption of welfare outcome measures as part of their farm assurance scheme. The welfare outcome assessment (WOA), known as Real Welfare, is conducted by the farmers’ own veterinary surgeon. For the first time this has allowed the pig industry to evaluate welfare by directly assessing the animal itself, and to document the welfare of the UK pig industry as a whole. Farmer perspectives of the addition of a welfare outcome assessment to their farm assurance scheme have yet to be explored. Here we investigate how the introduction of the Real Welfare protocol has been perceived by the farmers involved, what value it has (if any), whether any practical changes on farm have been a direct consequence of Real Welfare, and ultimately whether they consider that the welfare of their pigs has been improved by the introduction of the Real Welfare protocol. Semi-structured interviews with 15 English pig farmers were conducted to explore their perceptions and experiences of the Real Welfare process. Our findings fall into three key areas: the lived experience of Real Welfare, on farm changes resulting from Real Welfare and suggested improvements to the Real Welfare process as it currently stands. In all three areas, the value farmers placed on the addition of WOA appeared to reflect their veterinary surgeon’s attitude towards the Real Welfare protocol. If the vet was engaged in the process and actively included the farmer, e.g. through discussion of their findings, the farmers interviewed had a greater appreciation of the benefits of Real Welfare themselves. It is recommended that future similar schemes should work with veterinary surgeons to ensure their understanding and engagement with the process, as well as identifying and promoting how the scheme will practically benefit individual farmers rather than assuming that they will be motivated to engage for the good of the industry alone. Retailers should be encouraged to use Real Welfare as a marketing tool for pig products to enhance the perceived commercial value of this protocol to farmers
Sustainability cues on packaging: the influence of recognition on purchasing behavior
Get PDFThe aim of this research was to examine United Kingdom (UK) consumers’ recognition levels, insinuated purchasing intention (IPI) and insinuated purchasing behavior (IPB) associated with sustainability cues on packaging. Empirical research was conducted using an online questionnaire (n=254) to determine the level of recognition and reported influence of 13 different sustainability cues. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 24. The conversion of sustainability cue recognition (24% to 97% of respondents depending on the cue) to actual IPB was shown in this study to be cue specific and low at 10% or less except the Fairtrade logo at 22%. Statistically significant differences within the sample population were observed for recognition by age, income and education and for IPB by income and education (p < 0.05) but again this was cue specific. Four distinct consumer clusters were identified with income being a differentiating factor for the cluster with high awareness and high IPI. The research contributes to a wider understanding of the use of sustainability cues the level of consumer recognition and the level of influence on purchasing behavior. The research demonstrates the weak translation of recognition of sustainability cues through to intended sustainable purchasing behavior
The Evolution and Cultural Framing of Food Safety Management Systems – Where from and Where next?
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is to review the development of food safety management systems (FSMS) from their origins in the 1950s to the present. The food safety challenges in modern food supply systems are explored and it is argued that there is the need for a more holistic thinking approach to food safety management. The narrative review highlights that whilst the transactional elements of how FSMS are developed, validated, implemented, monitored and verified remains largely unchanged, how organizational culture frames the operation and efficacy of FSMS is becoming more important. The evolution of a wider academic and industry understanding of both the influence of food safety culture (FS-culture) and also how such culture frames and enables, or conversely restricts the efficacy of the FSMS is crucial for consumer wellbeing. Potential research gaps worthy of further study are identified as well as recommendations given for the application of the research findings within the food industry
To change or not to change? Veterinarian and farmer perceptions of factors influencing the enactment of veterinary advice on UK dairy farms
Get PDFAchieving herd health and welfare improvement increasingly relies on cattle veterinarians to train and advise farmers, placing veterinary interactions at the heart of knowledge exchange. Cattle veterinarians recognise their influence and the need to be proactive advisors but struggle with acting upon this awareness in daily practice, reporting a need to enhance their advisory approach to inspire farmer behaviour change. Understanding how veterinarian-farmer interactions positively or negatively influence the enactment of change on farm is therefore essential to support to the cattle veterinary profession. This paper adopts a qualitative approach to conceptualise how - and under what circumstances - veterinary advice has the potential to support and inspire farmer engagement with behaviour change on the UK dairy farm.
Fourteen UK dairy farms were recruited to take part in a qualitative study involving research observation of a ‘typical’ advisory consultation between veterinarian and farmer (n=14) followed by separate, in-depth interviews with the farmer(s) and their respective veterinarian. Interview data were organised using a template coding method and analysed thematically. Whilst accuracy of veterinary advisory content was valued, it was a relational context of trust, shared veterinarian-farmer understanding and meaningful interpretation of advice at a local (farmer) level that was most likely to enact change. Critically, these relational factors were reported to work together synergistically; a trusting relationship was an essential – but not necessarily sufficient – component to create a culture of change. Findings suggest that cattle veterinarians may benefit from tailoring advisory services to the farmers’ specific world view, facilitated by a shared understanding of the farmers’ immediate and long-term motivational drivers. In consequence, cattle veterinarians seeking to positively engage farmers in advisory interactions could consider a focus on farmer priorities, motivations and goals as paramount to frame and inform advisory messages. This explicit collaborative communication encourages the selection of appropriate and timely veterinary expertise, leading to better integration and adoption of advice on farm given enhanced advisory relevance for farmers’ unique circumstances. This farmer-centered approach, involving active co-creation of plans between individuals, is critical for engagement and commitment in the tackling of complex problems