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Characterisation and production of kitchen gardens and their contribution to food security and livelihoods in Karamoja, northeastern Uganda
Get PDFThe food systems are under great pressure to produce enough food to feed the growing population and lower environmental impacts on the already fragile ecosystems, and yet food insecurity remains one of the major global challenges. Food systems are one of the leading contributors in the transgression of the planetary boundaries causing adverse effects that threaten life in all forms. However, incorporating sustainable food system practices and approaches like kitchen garden farming, which are adaptable to adverse conditions and utilise little available resources with minimal or no external support, provides opportunities for enhancing food security and livelihoods in even fragile ecosystems like the drylands.
Drylands cover 44% of Uganda’s land surface, supporting food production and livelihood for both the rural and urban populations. The Karamoja region, where this study was conducted, is a dryland area characterised by, hot temperatures, sporadic rains, land degradation, poverty, and 45% of the population being malnourished, has left the area vulnerable to food insecurity and always in need of humanitarian aid. In addition to biodiversity conservation, improved livelihoods, and land restoration, kitchen garden farming presents a beacon of hope.
This thesis aimed to characterise and assess the production of kitchen gardens and their contribution to food security and livelihoods in the Karamoja region, focusing on Moroto district in northeastern Uganda. On that effect, quantitative data was obtained from household surveys while qualitative data was obtained from focus group discussions, and key informant interviews which covered six sub counties and fourteen villages. The quantitative data was organised using KoboToolbox software and analysed using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
The findings of the study suggest that there is diversity in kitchen garden practise in Moroto district based on the eight characterisation parameters used in this study: location, species diversity, harvest frequency, source of planting materials, landownership, production objective, motivation to start kitchen garden farming, and labour source. Based on the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, 70% of the respondents were food secure and 30% were mildly food insecure, which can be attributed to a number of factors like good harvest and food availability in 2024 in Moroto district. Kitchen gardens are a source of food and income for households and, to a small extent, influence household food choices. The price for fresh leafy vegetables per square meter is less than one USD, and its yield per square meter is almost 2kg. Kitchen gardens also contribute to community cohesion, peace, youth engagement and status uplifting for households and communities engaged in kitchen garden farming. Kitchen garden farming is affected by; knowledge and skills for kitchen garden farming, access to agricultural inputs, access to water, kitchen garden farming approaches used, species of vegetables and crops grown, pests and diseases, thieves, and attitude and mindset of the communities, among others.
Kitchen garden farming has the potential to enhance food security and livelihoods in Moroto district if the factors affecting kitchen garden farming are addressed in combination with more research, use of a holistic approach that caters for knowledge and skills transfer and utilisation and designing context-specific interventions that suit the people of Moroto
Chilenska träd i Malmös framtida klimat
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Klimatet förändras i snabb takt, vilket gör det nödvändigt att vidta åtgärder för att skapa hållbara och välmående urbana trädlandskap. Den ökande urbaniseringen leder till tätare städer med fler hårdgjorda ytor, samtidigt som högre medeltemperaturer och långa perioder av låg nederbörd utsätter stadsträden för allt fler stressfaktorer. Detta påverkar i synnerhet de inhemska och traditionellt använda trädarterna.
Klimatförändringarna kräver ett skifte mot användning av arter som är bättre anpassade för att hantera framtidens utmanande urbana förhållanden. Chile, med sin långsträckta geografi från norr till söder, har ett mycket varierat klimat som omfattar arida, semiarida och fuktiga regioner. Framför allt har medelhavsklimatet i de centrala delarna av landet tvingat växtarter att utveckla anpassningar för att klara långa perioder av torka.
Syftet med denna studie är att fördjupa förståelsen av hur klimatförändringarna påverkar Malmös trädbestånd. Studien kommer att undersöka vilka chilenska trädarter som kan vara lämpliga för de torra ståndorter som förväntas i Malmös framtida klimat år 2100.Abstract
The climate is changing rapidly, and action is required to create thriving and sustainable urban tree landscapes. Increased urbanization, resulting in denser cities with more paved surfaces, combined with rising mean temperatures and periods of low precipitation, introduces additional stress factors for urban trees, especially for the nordic native and traditionally used tree species.
Climate change necessitates a shift toward species better equipped to withstand the challenging conditions of future urban environments. Chile, with its extensive geography stretching from north to south, features a highly diverse climate that includes arid, semi-arid, and humid regions. Notably, the Mediterranean climate in the country's central parts has forced plant species to develop adaptations to endure prolonged drought periods.
The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of how climate change affects Malmö's tree population. The study will explore which Chilean tree species might be suitable for the dry sites expected in Malmö's future climate by the year 2100
How Do We Measure Participation?
Get PDFUrban forestry is important for environmental and social reasons. Urban forestry helps reconnect humans with nature and public participation can assist in this. However, methods to evaluate the effectiveness of these participation processes are sparse. Therefore, this thesis set out to enhance the impact of public participation by examining how such processes can be evaluated in the context of urban forestry.
To guide the study, the following research question (RQ) has been formulated: What study designs, frameworks or indicators can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of public participation processes in urban forestry governance? This RQ is answered through 3 sub questions, regarding study designs, indicators and frameworks used to evaluate public participation. A literature review was conducted and the results are presented in flowcharts and common indicators of effective public participation processes. Key findings include that: there was no clear distinction between study designs in what was studied, no frameworks were consistently used. Six indicators of effective public participation processes and how to evaluate these are presented. These can be used in future research to apply in actual participation processes worldwide
SkogLA
Get PDFI och med ökad kunskap om att skogen kan stötta psykiskt och fysiskt välmående, samtidigt som alltfler arter och naturtyper blir hotade, ökar kraven på att skogar ska vara multifunktionella, för människor, arter och produktion. Trots att skogsvårdslagens portalparagraf § 1 ställer krav på att dessa värden ska likställas, saknas kunskap om hur skogen ska förvaltas för människan. Landskapsarkitekter specialiserar sig på att förvalta landskap med människan i fokus och har potential att tillföra ett spatialt, arkitektoniskt och upplevelsemässigt perspektiv på skogsförvaltning på landskapsnivå.
Dock finns det en kunskapslucka hos landskapsarkitekter att förstå Sveriges till ytan största landskap – skogen. Trots att landskapsarkitekters kunskap efterfrågas inom det tätortsnära skogsbruket finns det en avsaknad av terminologi, definitioner och beskrivningar av skog för landskapsarkitekturen att omsätta sin kompetens om människans upplevelse till skog. Detta arbete ämnar syntetisera begrepp och arbetssätt från skogsbruk, naturvård och landskapsarkitektur till ett verktyg som bistår landskapsarkitekter i att analysera, förvalta och kommunicera skog för upplevesvärden på landskapsnivå. Grundläggande skogsbruks- och naturvårdslitteratur, preferensstudier, forskning inom landskapsarkitektur och miljöpsykologi kompletterades med semi-strukturerande intervjuer av forskare och yrkesverksamma inom skog, naturvård och landskapsarkitektur. Underlaget användes för att skapa ett verktyg för hur landskapsarkitekter kan förvalta skog för människors upplevelsevärden. Verktyget testades i fält iterativt samt på landskapsarkitektstudenter för att förstå och lyfta fram specifika skogsvariabler som påverkar upplevelsevärden.
Resultatet är verktyget SkogLA (Skog + LandskapsArkitektur), utvecklat för landskapsarkitekter. Med integrerad teori från skogsbruket och naturvården kan verktyget användas för att identifiera skogens beståndsdelar (variabler) och hur dessa på olika sätt kan påverka upplevelsevärden. Samtidigt är det en skogsparlör med sammanställda begrepp från skogsbruket och naturvården som underlättar kommunikationen med andra professioner. Både på bestånds- och landskapsnivå ges förslag på förvaltningsstrategier för upplevelsevärden. SkogLA är också till för att kunna identifiera rumsliga relationer mellan bestånd och kan fungera som underlag till skogsvårdsplaner för upplevelsevärden.
SkogLA sammanställer många olika modeller som tidigare aldrig använts i skog och sätter dem inom en ram av etablerade skogliga begrepp för produktionen och naturvården, något vi tror är unikt för detta arbete. Vidare forskning har potential att utveckla SkogLA till ett digitalt kartverktyg i GIS med standardsymboler som ges ut med tillsammans med traktdirektivet.With increasing knowledge of the mental and physical health benefits of forests, along with an increasing amount of species and habitats becoming threatened, there is a growing demand for forests to be multifunctional: for people, species and production. Although section § 1 of the Swedish Forestry Act requires these values to be considered equal, there is a lack of knowledge about how the forest can be managed for people. Landscape architects specialize in managing landscapes with human experience first and have the potential to bring a spatial, architectural and experiential perspective to forest management at landscape level.
However, there is a knowledge gap among landscape architects to understand Sweden's largest areal landscape - the forest. Even though landscape architects' knowledge is in demand in peri-urban forestry, there is an absence of terminology, definitions and descriptions of forest for landscape architecture to translate their expertise on human experience to forest. This work aims to synthesize concepts and approaches from forestry, nature conservation and landscape architecture into a tool that assists landscape architects to analyze, manage and communicate forests for experiential values at landscape level. Essential literature from forestry and nature conservation was combined with semi-structured interviews with researchers and professionals in forestry, nature conservation and landscape architecture. The data was used to create a tool for how landscape architects can manage forests for human experiential values. The tool was tested iteratively and literature on recreational values was studied to understand and highlight which forest variables affect experience values.
The result is the tool SkogLA (Skog (= Forest) + Landscape Architecture), developed for landscape architects. With integrated theory from forestry and nature conservation, the tool can be used to identify the forest's components (variables) and how these can affect experiential values in different ways. Furthermore, it is a forestry guide with compiled concepts from forestry and nature conservation that facilitates communication with other professions. Management strategies for experiential values are given at forest stand level and landscape level. SkogLA is also used to identify spatial relationships between stands and can support the development of forest management plans for experiential values.
SkogLA compiles many different models previously not applied in forests and puts them within a framework of established concepts for forestry and nature conservation, which we believe to be unique with this thesis. Further research has the potential to develop SkogLA into a digital GIS mapping tool with standardized symbols for experience values and delivered as work orders to forestry contractors
The new school garden - a place for curiosity, exploration and discovery : design proposal for the Uppsala Waldorf School's school garden
Get PDFBefolkningsmängden i Sverige ökar samtidigt som barnens friyta minskar. Därför finns ett växande behov av välfungerande och grönskande utemiljöer för barn. För många barn är skolgården den enda utemiljön de vistas i regelbundet, vilket ställer krav på att den är ändamålsenlig och välfungerande ur ett pedagogiskt-, socialt- och förvaltningsperspektiv. Grönskande och mångfunktionella skolgårdar ses idag som hållbara lösningar för att bemöta dessa behov, men samspelet mellan pedagogik, sociala kvalitéer och förvaltning är komplext och det finns vissa utmaningar för att resultatet ska bli välfungerande och hållbart. Det finns pedagoger som tar initiativ till att starta upp och förvalta en skolträdgård, vilket innebär att de får axla ett ansvar som de inte är utbildade att hantera. Det finns ett behov av fler goda exempel på skolträdgårdar, som inspiration för pedagoger, för landskapsarkitekter och beslutsfattare.
Det här arbetet är ett förslag på en omgestaltning av Uppsala Waldorfskolas befintliga skolträdgård, en fristående grundskola för årskurs F-9. Skolans målsättning är att skolträdgården ska utgöra ett nav för all utomhuspedagogik och samtidigt fylla ett rekreationellt syfte för skolans mellan- och högstadieelever som får vistas där under raster. Syftet med arbetet är således att ta fram ett gestaltningsförslag för Uppsala Waldorfskolas skolträdgård som uppfyller deras nuvarande behov och som kan utvecklas för att uppfylla framtida behov. Ur ett bredare perspektiv syftar gestaltningen till att exemplifiera hur en skolträdgård kan utformas med utrymme för både rekreativa och pedagogiska funktioner med ett fokus på funktionell förvaltning.
Arbetet bygger på skrivbordsstudier, platsbesök, dialoger med intressenter, studiebesök på en aktiv skolträdgård samt samtal med yrkesverksamma inom förvaltningssektorn. Detta arbete har tillsammans med ett aktivt pendlande mellan skiss- och analysarbete resulterat i ett gestaltningsförslag som presenteras på fyra planscher (format A1) samt denna reflekterande kappa. Konceptet för gestaltningen har varit “Kurragömma” som hämtats ur waldorfpedagogiken, där nyfikenhet, utforskande och upptäckt står i centrum. Utifrån konceptet valdes sedan de gestaltningsprinciper ut som varit vägledande i gestaltningsprocessen.
Ambitionen är att detta arbete kan få beslutsfattare, på kommunala såväl som fristående skolor att se fördelarna med och vilja satsa på skolträdgårdar och inkludera dessa tidigt i planeringsprocessen av skolgårdar. Ett aktivt och levande samspel mellan planerare, skolverksamheter och förvaltare kan vara en bra framgångsfaktor.Sweden's population is growing, while children's access to outdoor space is decreasing. As a result, there is an increasing need for well-functioning and green outdoor environments for children. For many children, the schoolyard is the only outdoor environment they regularly use. This places demands on the schoolyard to be purposeful and functional from educational, social, and maintenance perspectives. Today, green and multifunctional schoolyards are viewed as sustainable solutions to meet these needs. However, the interaction between pedagogy, social qualities, and management is complex, and there are certain challenges in achieving an outcome that is both functional and sustainable. There are educators who take the initiative to establish and manage a school garden, which means they have to shoulder a responsibility that they are not trained to handle. There is a need for more good examples of school gardens, as inspiration for educators, for landscape architects and decision-makers.
This work is a proposal for a redesign of the Uppsala Waldorf School's existing school garden, an independent school for grades F–9. Their aim is for the garden to become a central hub for all outdoor education, while also serving a recreational function for the school’s middle and upper school students during breaks. The purpose of our work has therefore been to develop a design proposal for Uppsala Waldorf School's garden that meets their current needs and has the potential to adapt to future demands. In a broader sense, the aim is to exemplify how a school garden can be designed to accommodate both recreational and educational purposes, with a strong focus on functional maintenance.
The work is based on desk studies, site analysis, dialogues with stakeholders, a study visit to an active school garden, and conversations with professionals in the field of landscape maintenance. This process, combined with an iterative approach alternating between sketching and analysis, resulted in a design proposal that is presented on four posters (format A1) and this reflective report. The concept guiding the design is “Hide and Seek,” inspired by Waldorf pedagogy, where curiosity, exploration, and discovery are central. From this concept, we derived the design principles that have steered the process.
The ambition is that this work can get decision-makers, both in public and independent schools, to see the benefits of and invest in school gardens, and how to ensure they are included early in the planning stages of schoolyards. An active and lively interaction between planners, school operations and administrators can be a good success factor
Evaluation of a light trap for the monitoring of coastal mysids in complex habitats
No full textMysids (Opossum shrimp) play an important role in shaping aquatic food webs by competing for food resources with fish while at the same time acting as prey for fish. Despite their important role, they remain neglected in broader ecological assessments because the standard monitoring methods fail to capture mysids on a quantitative level. A sampling method that has shown promise in capturing mysids are light traps, a passive tool that captures phototactic species using an artificial light source. The light traps are considered a suitable method for sampling in fragile ecosystems and areas with complex structure, as a light trap causes minimal damage to the environment. This thesis aims to describe and evaluate the usefulness of light traps for the monitoring of littoral mysids (Neomysis integer and Praunus flexuosus) in a complex coastal environment and to investigate what potential biotic and abiotic factors might affect the catch of mysids. The results showed that quatrefoil light traps modified with a net to keep large predators away captured more mysids than unmodified traps. The presence of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) was associated with lower catches of mysids, and night duration seems to be an important abiotic driver leading to higher catches during longer nights. The effect of night duration also affected catches of sticklebacks in a similar manner. In contrast, catches of sticklebacks increased over the sampling period, rising temperatures and declining night duration in benthic trap nets (without artificial lights). The positive effect of temperature on stickleback catches is expected as the catchability of fish normally increases in traps and gillnets due to increased activity levels. The light traps captured all sizes of mysids, from juveniles to adults, which is relevant for monitoring. In conclusion, light traps modified to keep predators away may be a promising monitoring method for littoral mysid species in shallow and structured environments that prevent standard methods from being used. Further statistical analyses are, however, needed in order to account for the herein identified sources of variability and to establish a standardized catch-per-unit index for broader application
Insekter i Ugandas skogsjordbruk: en bedömning av insektsdiversitet och artrikedom på kaffegårdar
Get PDFCoffee production is a crucial source of income for small-scale farmers in Uganda, and given the significance of primary production, it is important for the country overall. It is the country’s second largest source of income, with strong potential for further growth and development. The coffee is cultivated in agroforestry systems, also called coffee gardens, with various shade trees and crops between coffee trees. Some of these crops and trees are dependent on or benefit from insect pollination, predation, nutrient cycling, ecosystem resilience and other insect-related services. Uganda is a country with a rapidly growing population and land use is becoming increasingly intensified as the population and economy grows. More and more farmers are also using pesticides when they have the financial ability to do so, in efforts to increase crop yield and quality. Not much research has been carried out and very little is known about the insect populations in Uganda, and how they interact with agriculture. Understanding these interactions and agroecosystems may be important for further increase of yields, the growth of the country and protection of nature, as well as to prevent risks associated with fragile ecosystems.
This thesis project aimed to create a baseline assessment for insect species diversity in Ugandan coffee agroforestry systems. Maize farms were also assessed to create a comparison between intensified monoculture maize fields and diverse coffee agroforestry. This baseline may be utilized by farmers or researchers in future projects as benchmark to measure spatial or temporal changes in diversity. An additional purpose of the project was to interview farmers to gather management information, ask about their views on insects and gain an overall understanding of what Ugandan coffee agroforestry looks like. This was done using semi-structured interviews as a tool.
The species diversity baseline was established as averages across farms, and management strategies were compared to diversity scores using correlation tests. Results showed that reported use of pesticide use on the farms did not seem to impact species diversity or richness significantly. Further, crop diversity seemed to have a slightly weaker correlation than anticipated. On the other hand, higher tree richness was closely correlated to both higher insect diversity and richness. Also, a somewhat anticipated but important conclusion was that the coffee agroforestry systems had a significantly higher insect diversity and richness than the maize fields in the study. A total of 4596 insects (including a few arachnids) were collected across 12 coffee farms and 4 maize fields. 323 distinct species were collected and documented.
In conclusion, biodiversity in agroforestry production systems is variable, but much larger than within monocrop systems. The importance of this biodiversity on ecosystem services and resilience, however, requires further study
CBAM at the Border: A climate tool or a trade barrier? : the effects of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on a manufacturing company’s supply chain
Get PDFThis thesis seeks to investigate the potential effect the regulation of CBAM has on a manufacturing companies supply chain within the industry of construction equipment. Further, the aim is to explore whether the environmental regulation of CBAM hinders or drive competitiveness. A case study is conducted at Volvo Construction Equipment through several semi-structured interviews to better understand the effects the regulation has on a company’s strategic and operational activities throughout the supply chain. In addition, the research offers a case example of a component used at the manufacturing site, to explore the financial and environmental effects of the regulation. The study takes a qualitative and grounded theory approach to better understand the ongoing behaviours and patterns connected to environmental regulations. The findings are analysed through the lens of sustainable supply chain management theory as well as transaction cost theory. The analysis shows that CBAM can to some extent hinder competitiveness among companies operating in the EU compared to global competitors. However, the effects of the regulation on a firm’s competitiveness and innovation will mostly depend on the company’s approach, whether it is proactive or reactive. With a proactive approach to the regulation of CBAM and integration of it in a decision-making tool for sourcing decisions, the legislation, together with internal pressures, can trigger innovation
Sustainability Work – a Game in the Hands of Societal Structures? : a case study on how social structures influence forest companies´ sustainability work.
Get PDFMånga är överens om att skogen har en viktig roll i klimat- och hållbarhets utvecklingen. Det råder dock stor oenighet kring vad som utgör ett hållbart skogsbruk, och hur skogen och dess resurser ska hanteras på bästa sätt för att uppnå detta. Skogen förväntas leverera allt från nya förnybara produkter, ökad kolinlagring från atmosfären, bevarande av biologisk mångfald och rekreationsvärden – vilket ofta medför målkonflikter mellan olika intressenter. Eftersom Sverige är ett land med mycket skog, utgör skogen en viktig del för såväl den svenska ekonomin som för Sveriges miljöomställning. Skogsföretag bestående av både privatägda företag och kooperativ utgör en stor del i detta eftersom de ofta äger stora skogsmarker och inte endast har en del i skogsbruket, utan även till hela skogs¬industrin. Utöver de varierande uppfattningarna om vad som är hållbart, måste skogsföretag förhålla sig till både EU-lagstiftning, nationella regler, intressenters krav och kunskap, samt andra samhällsstrukturer påverkar deras verksamhet. Denna uppsats ämnar därmed att bidra till att skapa en fördjupad förståelse för vilka samhällsstrukturer som påverkar stora svenska skogsföretag hållbarhetsarbete, samt hur de påverkas av dem.
För att uppfylla studiens syfte har det empiriska materialet samlats in genom intervjuer med representanter från Södra Skogsägarna och Skogsstyrelsen, samt en innehållsanalys av Stora Ensos årsredovisning för 2024. Den insamlade empirin har analyserats i relation till studiens teoretiska ramverk, som utgörs av teorier och koncept kopplade samhällsstrukturer, vilka är corporate gover¬nance, intressenter, sustainable forest management och cirkulär ekonomi. Genom analysen av den insamlade empirin utifrån det teoretiska ramverket kunde fyra centrala teman identifieras: Organisation och beslut, intressenter, ansvar och lagar, samt handling och omställning.
Studiens resultat presenterar en kartläggning av de samhällsstrukturer som påverkar skogsföretags hållbarhetsarbete, samt hur dessa strukturer interagerar med varandra och påverkar skogsföretags hand¬lingar. I resultatet framgår det att politiska beslut ofta tenderar att vara kortsiktiga, samtidigt som skogsbruket och dess hållbarhetsutmaningar kräver ett långsiktigt angreppssätt. Denna disk-re¬pans skapar ett glapp som försvårar skogsföretagens förutsättningar att agera långsiktigt och håll¬bart. Resultatet visar även på hur samverkan – både inom och mellan företag samt andra intres¬senter, tillsammans med innovation och kunskap, utgör viktiga faktorer för att möjliggöra en fortsatt hållbar omställning inom branschen. Studien tydliggör därmed hur skogsföretag verkar i ett komplext landskap av interna och externa samhällsstrukturer, vilka är mer eller mindre påverkbara. Trots utmaningarna bedöms framtiden för den svenska skogsindustrin som ljus, med stora möj¬ligheter för utveckling mot en mer hållbar verksamhet, där långsiktighet utgör en nyckelfaktor för framgång.There is broad consensus that forests play a crucial role in climate and sustainability development. However, there is significant disagreement about what constitutes sustainable forestry and how forest resources should best be managed to achieve this. Forests are expected to provide everything from new renewable products and increased carbon sequestration from the atmosphere to the preservation of biodiversity and recreational values—expectations that do not always align. Since Sweden is a country rich in forests, forestry represents an important component both for the Swedish economy and the country’s environmental transition. Forest companies, comprising both privately owned firms and cooperatives, play a major role in this context, as they often own large forest areas and are involved not only in forest management, but also across the entire forest industry. Besides diverse views on sustainability, forest companies must navigate EU and national legislation, stakeholders’ demands, knowledge, and other societal structures surrounding these businesses. This thesis therefore aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how societal structures influence large Swedish forest companies in their sustainability efforts by investigating which societal structures affect their work.
To fulfill the study’s purpose, empirical data were collected through interviews with representatives from Södra Skogsägarna and the Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen), as well as a content analysis of Stora Enso’s 2024 annual report. The empirical material was analyzed alongside the theoretical framework, which consists of concepts and theories related to societal structures, corporate governance, stakeholders, sustainable forest management, and circular economy. Through this combined analysis, four main themes were identified: organization and decision-making, stakeholders, responsibility and legislation, and action and transition.
The study’s results present a mapping of the societal structures that influence forestry companies’ sustainability work, as well as how these structures interact and impact company actions. It emerges from the analysis that political decisions tend to be short-term, while forestry and its sustainability challenges require a long-term approach. This discrepancy creates a gap that complicates the companies’ ability to act in a strategic and sustainable manner. The findings also highlight that collaboration – both within and between companies and with other actors, along with innovation and knowledge, are vital components enabling a sustainable transition in the industry. The study thereby illustrates how forestry companies operate within a complex landscape of internal and external societal structures, which are not always easy to influence. Despite these challenges, the future of the Swedish forestry industry is viewed as promising, with significant opportunities for development toward a more sustainable operation where long-term perspectives are a key factor
Bekämpning av mjöldagg via bakterier som biokontrollmedel – En litteraturstudie på gurka (Cucumis sativus) och jordgubbar (Fragaria x ananassa)
Get PDFDisease management with biocontrol agents (BCAs) is gaining more attention in recent times as pathogens evolve resistances to chemical treatments. For both cucumber and strawberry productions the fungal disease powdery mildew (PM) is a threat where resistances to several fungicides have been reported. Further PM is more severe in greenhouse environments, which are becoming increasingly common in berry productions. In order to examine the current state of bacterial BCAs on the market, as well as promising bacteria for future PM disease management in cucumber and strawberry, this literature review was conducted. Databases were utilized in order to understand which commercial bacterial BCAs are available and being investigated for their suppression as well as their mode of action against PM.
The results found that bacterial BCAs can act antifungal against PM through several mechanisms, including the production of antifungal compounds, iturin, fengycin, surfactin and prumycin; through secretion of enzymes; inducing the plants; promoting plant growth and through competition with the fungus for nutrients and space. Bacteria from the genera: Bacillus, Pseudomonas Streptomyces and Enterobacter show great potential as BCAs as they exhibit such traits.
The commercial products currently on the market have been shown to suppress PM. Among these Bacillus subtilis strain QST 713 (in commercial products Rhapsody and Serenade) gave varying results on PM inhibition, ranging from sufficient to no significant effect. Actinovate (Streptomyces lydicus) showed success in PM suppression on cucumber, whilst Bacillus subtilis var. amyloliquefaciens FZB24 (in products such as Taegro) gave poor results against PM on strawberries. Although some of the bacterial BCAs exhibit good suppression it is currently not viable as a sole treatment for PM in larger scale productions. The reason being that they require more frequent applications and do not provide enough effects against PM. Currently the bacterial BCAs can only give sufficient disease control when used in combination with conventional fungicides, reducing the overall chemical usage. However, in order to replace fungicides completely, more research must be conducted focusing on finding improved bacterial strains for better survivability on the phyllosphere environment as well as increased antagonistic interactions with PM