1,720,985 research outputs found
Mapping irrigated areas in the dry zone of Myanmar by differentiating evapotranspiration from irrigated and rain-fed areas [Abstract only]
No full textIn the Dry Zone of Myanmar, variability in water resources and insufficient capacity to manage that variability is one of the main causes of food insecurity. Seasonal water scarcity is widely acknowledged to be a key constraint to livelihoods and peoples’ wellbeing. This paper describes analyses conducted as a contribution to a detailed water resource assessment of the Dry Zone of Myanmar, which sought to provide information on current water availability and its use in agriculture. A key unknown is the area of dry season irrigation. The paper describes an attempt to estimate the actual area irrigated during the dry seasons (2011-2012) and to determine effective irrigation volumes by differentiating actual evapotranspiration (ET) in irrigated and rain-fed areas. The results indicate that 256,578 ha were irrigated. This contrasts with the total irrigable area of 344,257 ha as stated by the Irrigation Department (ID), the JICA estimate of 382,110 ha, and the FAO estimate of total irrigated area of 685,246 ha. ET in rain-fed and irrigated areas in conjunction with potential evapotranspiration (PET) were compared between three different areas located in the north, the center and the south of the Dry Zone. Actual water volume utilized by crops is much smaller than the volume of water diverted for irrigation, suggesting significant scope for improving irrigation efficiency
Synthesis report 2024 on co-designing agroecology innovations for Lao PDR
Full text linkThe agroecology living landscape (ALL) in Attapeu province, Lao PDR, represents a significant initiative aimed at promoting agroecological transitions through innovative water management, crop diversification, and community-driven practices. Situated in the southern part of Laos, Attapeu is characterised by a diverse landscape, whose population is primarily engaged in subsistence farming. This report explores the implementation of key agroecological practices within two primary sites in the province: Ban Inthee and Nong Lom. In 2023, six key initiatives were identified that could support both environmental and socioeconomic sustainability in the region: i) solar powered groundwater pumping; ii) rice- fish systems; iii) organic red-rice cultivation, iv) wetlands management; v) soil improvement, and vi) gender action learning. This report details the methods used to implement these initiatives, highlighting the importance of participatory approaches and collaboration with local communities. The report then evaluates the results of these initiatives, and their contribution to key agroecological principles including diversity, efficiency, resilience, and cultural relevance. The outcomes demonstrated positive environmental impacts, including improved soil health, enhanced biodiversity, and more efficient use of water resources. Socially, the initiatives empowered women and fostered inclusive decision-making, while economically, they contributed to food security and diverse livelihoods. The report concludes with recommendations for scaling up these practices, emphasising the need for infrastructure investment, capacity building, and long-term monitoring to ensure sustainability
Agri-commerce and agroecological baseline data compilation and review
Full text linkThe document provides a summary review of selected policies and policy perspectives in Laos that guide agriculture development in the country. The review looks into selected priority areas that are relevant to agro-commerce and agroecology
Synthesis report 2024 on co-designing agroecology innovations for Lao PDR
No full textThe agroecology living landscape (ALL) in Attapeu province, Lao PDR, represents a significant initiative aimed at promoting agroecological transitions through innovative water management, crop diversification, and community-driven practices. Situated in the southern part of Laos, Attapeu is characterised by a diverse landscape, whose population is primarily engaged in subsistence farming. This report explores the implementation of key agroecological practices within two primary sites in the province: Ban Inthee and Nong Lom. In 2023, six key initiatives were identified that could support both environmental and socioeconomic sustainability in the region: i) solar powered groundwater pumping; ii) ricefish systems; iii) organic red-rice cultivation, iv) wetlands management; v) soil improvement, and vi) gender action learning. This report details the methods used to implement these initiatives, highlighting the importance of participatory approaches and collaboration with local communities. The report then evaluates the results of these initiatives, and their contribution to key agroecological principles including diversity, efficiency, resilience, and cultural relevance. The outcomes demonstrated positive environmental impacts, including improved soil health, enhanced biodiversity, and more efficient use of water resources. Socially, the initiatives empowered women and fostered inclusive decision-making, while economically, they contributed to food security and diverse livelihoods. The report concludes with recommendations for scaling up these practices, emphasising the need for infrastructure investment, capacity building, and long-term monitoring to ensure sustainability
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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