CAPES; CNPq; PAE / Acompanhar o avanço tecnológico através da disseminação de informações é uma alternativa para amenizar os obstáculos do mercado relacionados ao acelerado crescimento tecnológico. O levantamento de informações de cunho tecnológico pode ocorrer por intermédio da vigilância tecnológica, que consiste em uma ferramenta de gerenciamento de informações. Visto a importância da agropecuária para o Brasil e o elevado número de pesquisas voltadas a este setor, este trabalho tem por objetivo viabilizar um processo de vigilância tecnológica para organizações de pesquisas agropecuárias. Para alcançar este objetivo analisou-se sistematicamente a literatura disponível em base de dados para a construção de referencial teórico para embasar as demais fases do estudo, que compreenderam a identificação das práticas de gestão de informações tecnológicas em eventos agropecuários, por parte dos centros de pesquisas agropecuárias e a análise das fontes de informação das organizações de pesquisas agropecuárias disponíveis na web, que visem à difusão da informação e transferência de tecnologia entre essas organizações de pesquisas agropecuárias e os produtores rurais. Verificou-se que é preciso aprimorar a gestão das informações tecnológicas produzidas pelos eventos estudados, a fim de que se possa gerar conhecimento para o público não participante do evento, assim como aprimorar as técnicas de gerenciamento de informações tecnológicas utilizadas pelas organizações de pesquisa em questão, visto que os usuários encontram dificuldades de acesso à informação e em alguns casos até mesmo a inexistência delas. Com o estudo de uma sequência de passos para o desenvolvimento da vigilância tecnológica, apresentados pela literatura e adaptado para o cenário estudado, foi possível constatar que é viável o desenvolvimento de processo de vigilância aplicado às organizações de pesquisas agropecuárias, que possibilitará a obtenção de informações para aplicar novas tecnologias, criar novos produtos e avaliar possíveis impactos de um evento ou mudança no ambiente, reduzindo riscos para os usuários das informações difundidas e garantindo a sobrevivência da agricultura e do agronegócio. Essas informações podem ainda servir de apoio à inovação, visto que na agricultura é necessário identificar fontes de inovação para o setor, tendo como base as trajetórias tecnológicas, que envolvem a geração de conhecimentos que se inicia com resultados da vigilância tecnológica. / Accompany technological advancement through the dissemination of information is an alternative to lessen the obstacles related to the rapid technological growth market. The survey information technological nature can occur through technological surveillance which consists of a tool for managing information. Seen the importance of agriculture for Brazil, and the many research efforts for this sector, this paper aims at facilitating a process of technological surveillance of agricultural research organizations. To achieve this goal we analyzed systematically the available the literature database for the construction of a theoretical framework that served as the basis the other phases of the study, which comprised the identification of management practices on agricultural information technology events, by the centers agricultural research, and analysis of information sources of agricultural research organizations available on the web, aimed at disseminating information and technology transfer between these rural agricultural research organizations and producers. It was found that it is necessary improve the management of technological information produced by the studied events, so that it cannot generate knowledge for the public participant of the event, as well as improve the technical management of technological information used by research organizations concerned since users find it difficult to access information and in some cases even lack of them. With the study of a sequence of steps for the development of technological surveillance, presented in the literature and adapted to the scenario studied, it was found that it is feasible to develop a monitoring process that applied to agricultural research organizations, which enable obtaining information to apply new technologies, create new products and to assess the possible impacts of an event or change in the environment, reducing risks to users of the information disseminated and ensuring the survival of agriculture and agribusiness. These informations can also serve to support innovation, since agriculture is necessary to identify the sources of innovation for the sector, based on the technological trajectories, involving the generation of knowledge that begins with the results of technological surveillance.

CAPES; CNPq; PAE / Acompanhar o avanço tecnológico através da disseminação de informações é uma alternativa para amenizar os obstáculos do mercado relacionados ao acelerado crescimento tecnológico. O levantamento de informações de cunho tecnológico pode ocorrer por intermédio da vigilância tecnológica, que consiste em uma ferramenta de gerenciamento de informações. Visto a importância da agropecuária para o Brasil e o elevado número de pesquisas voltadas a este setor, este trabalho tem por objetivo viabilizar um processo de vigilância tecnológica para organizações de pesquisas agropecuárias. Para alcançar este objetivo analisou-se sistematicamente a literatura disponível em base de dados para a construção de referencial teórico para embasar as demais fases do estudo, que compreenderam a identificação das práticas de gestão de informações tecnológicas em eventos agropecuários, por parte dos centros de pesquisas agropecuárias e a análise das fontes de informação das organizações de pesquisas agropecuárias disponíveis na web, que visem à difusão da informação e transferência de tecnologia entre essas organizações de pesquisas agropecuárias e os produtores rurais. Verificou-se que é preciso aprimorar a gestão das informações tecnológicas produzidas pelos eventos estudados, a fim de que se possa gerar conhecimento para o público não participante do evento, assim como aprimorar as técnicas de gerenciamento de informações tecnológicas utilizadas pelas organizações de pesquisa em questão, visto que os usuários encontram dificuldades de acesso à informação e em alguns casos até mesmo a inexistência delas. Com o estudo de uma sequência de passos para o desenvolvimento da vigilância tecnológica, apresentados pela literatura e adaptado para o cenário estudado, foi possível constatar que é viável o desenvolvimento de processo de vigilância aplicado às organizações de pesquisas agropecuárias, que possibilitará a obtenção de informações para aplicar novas tecnologias, criar novos produtos e avaliar possíveis impactos de um evento ou mudança no ambiente, reduzindo riscos para os usuários das informações difundidas e garantindo a sobrevivência da agricultura e do agronegócio. Essas informações podem ainda servir de apoio à inovação, visto que na agricultura é necessário identificar fontes de inovação para o setor, tendo como base as trajetórias tecnológicas, que envolvem a geração de conhecimentos que se inicia com resultados da vigilância tecnológica. / Accompany technological advancement through the dissemination of information is an alternative to lessen the obstacles related to the rapid technological growth market. The survey information technological nature can occur through technological surveillance which consists of a tool for managing information. Seen the importance of agriculture for Brazil, and the many research efforts for this sector, this paper aims at facilitating a process of technological surveillance of agricultural research organizations. To achieve this goal we analyzed systematically the available the literature database for the construction of a theoretical framework that served as the basis the other phases of the study, which comprised the identification of management practices on agricultural information technology events, by the centers agricultural research, and analysis of information sources of agricultural research organizations available on the web, aimed at disseminating information and technology transfer between these rural agricultural research organizations and producers. It was found that it is necessary improve the management of technological information produced by the studied events, so that it cannot generate knowledge for the public participant of the event, as well as improve the technical management of technological information used by research organizations concerned since users find it difficult to access information and in some cases even lack of them. With the study of a sequence of steps for the development of technological surveillance, presented in the literature and adapted to the scenario studied, it was found that it is feasible to develop a monitoring process that applied to agricultural research organizations, which enable obtaining information to apply new technologies, create new products and to assess the possible impacts of an event or change in the environment, reducing risks to users of the information disseminated and ensuring the survival of agriculture and agribusiness. These informations can also serve to support innovation, since agriculture is necessary to identify the sources of innovation for the sector, based on the technological trajectories, involving the generation of knowledge that begins with the results of technological surveillance.

The goal of the research paper was to understand the complex relationship between the issue of sustainability and maize farmers’ decision-making processes. The aim is to shed light on the realities experienced by maize farmers in terms of how sustainability impacts on the decisions they make and how the decisions they make impact on sustainability. The importance of the research lies in the current state of affairs in the world in terms of the current economic recession, overpopulation, dire poverty and hunger, and the poor state of the environment. If humankind is to continue its existence on Earth in a happy, healthy world, something is going to have to give. In order for this to happen, people need to start grappling with the concept of sustainability. Focusing on sustainability as a whole is likely to end in despair. However, breaking the problem down into its component pieces will allow people to influence the particular sector in which they operate. It is therefore imperative for research into sustainability to be undertaken in all sectors of society and the economy. Agriculture presents an excellent research area due to its intrinsic link with the environment, society and the economy. Agriculture and its wellbeing is inextricably tied to environmental health. Healthy plants and animals will not grow in unhealthy conditions. Society is to a large degree dependent on agriculture for food, agriculture therefore has a significant impact on social order and function. Agriculture is one of the primary contributors to GDP, particularly in poor and developing nations. As a result, agriculture has an important role to play in ensuring economic sustainability. In order to engage with sustainability from an agricultural perspective it was decided to engage on the farmer-level. Gaining an understanding of their reality in terms of what motivates their decisions is key to understanding the relationship between agriculture and sustainability. Three maize farmers in Mpumalanga, South Africa, were interviewed with the aim of collecting qualitative data and then analysing the data using thematic analysis. The methodology employed enabled the researcher to uncover patterns in the data that constituted themes across the interviews. The following themes emerged: Theme 1: Economic factors are the primary decision driver. This is primarily due to the extent of the financial risk experienced by farmers as a result of market risk, production risk, finance risk, and rising input costs. This results in economic considerations superseding environmental or social concerns in farmers’ decisions. This has a negative impact on the overall sustainability of the farming operation. Theme 2: There has been a decrease in the number of family-run farms. This is attributable to a number of factors including economic failure, fear of loss of land due to land-reform policies, as well as crime. Family-run farms tend to have a greater focus on sustainability due to the vested interest in the next generation taking over the farm. The corporate farming operations that are taking over the farms tend to be more focussed on short-term gains in order to satisfy shareholders. Theme 3: Mechanisation is preferable to manual labour. There has been an alarming decrease in the number of labourers employed on farms. Farmers say this is due to two factors. Firstly, machines are more efficient than labour. Secondly, restrictive labour laws have made famers less keen to employ people. The net effect of these two factors is that unemployment is rising. This has negative consequences for society, the economy, and the environment. Theme 4: Farmers believe they do very little environmental damage. This results in decisions being made that do not consider environmental wellbeing other than soil health. This is because farmers see healthy soil as an integral input that optimises economic performance. Farmers tend to prioritise economic factors in their decisions more than environmental or social factors. This results in an unsustainable perspective. The only ways in which this is likely to change is if the financial risk associated with agriculture is decreased, or if farmers are given financial incentive to change their ways. In order to deal with this issue it is necessary for further research to be conducted. Research needs to be conducted to confirm the results of this study. It is important to know whether the results pertain only to maize farmers in Mpumalanga or whether most farmers in South Africa, and indeed the world, face similar problems. Research should also be conducted to propose policies or procedures to reduce financial risk in agriculture. Research should focus on reducing market risk and reducing input costs, possibly via subsidisation.

Chilean governments have simultaneously used a combination of price policies and expenditures on agricultural research in their efforts to enhance the performance of the agricultural sector. These two policy instruments, under changing political environments, have had important distributional implications for agricultural producers and consumers. Neglecting the interactions between these instruments may have distorted the measurement of research benefits. This dissertation examines the implications of agricultural price policies on the funding of public agricultural research. A political-economy framework allows for the interactions between producers and consumers/taxpayers in affecting policy formation. The welfare effects on each interest group are identified. Agricultural price policies and research expenditures on beef, wheat, milk, apples, and grapes are considered within a simultaneous system of supply, demand, price and research policy equations. Economic and political considerations determine the choice between direct price policies and public research expenditures. Results conform to theoretical expectations that the level and distribution of public research investments are affected by agricultural price policies. The implications derived from these results are that policies can be made more effective if decision-makers consider the complementarity or substitutability of these policy instruments. Agricultural production was influenced by direct price policies and by domestic agricultural research and foreign technology transfers. Publicly-sponsored agricultural research in Chile has had positive economic returns. The benefits to research, however, would have been larger if distorting price policies had not been present. / Ph. D.

The evaluation of public investments in agricultural research has been a topic of special interest to research administrators and others concerned with productivity in agriculture. Tighter research budgets and diminished purchasing power due to inflation have increased concern about research budget allocations. Earlier research evaluation studies have indicated high rates of return to overall agricultural investments. This study is concerned with the evaluation of research investments made at an individual agricultural commodity level. The primary objectives of this study are: (a) to estimate the marginal product and internal rates of return to research investments in corn, wheat, soybeans, and sorghum. (b) to estimate separately the internal rate of return to extension investments in these commodities. (c) to estimate the effect of spillovers from research investments in these commodities by other outside states. (d) to estimate the impact of these research and extension investments in grain commodities for individual geographical production regions in the U.S. The theoretical framework of a supply response model with inclusion of a variable to account for aggregate risk by producers was developed as the basis for analyzing research and extension investments in corn, wheat, soybeans, and sorghum. Individual commodity models focusing on the relationship of yield per acre to output prices, land quality differences, weather, aggregate risk, and investments in research and extension were specified. Data were collected for these variables for a cross-section of the major producing states of each commodity for the 1973-1979 crop years. The Park's model, a generalized least squares procedure which includes adjustments for first-order autocorrelation within each state and cross-sectional correlation among states, was used to estimate coefficients of individual commodity models. Empirical results for the individual commodity models indicate that the prices of output and a substitute commodity, weather, land quality differences, aggregate risk, in-state and outside research investments, and extension investments were significant variables explaining yield per acre of corn, wheat, soybeans, and sorghum. The estimated internal rates of return on research investments indicate very favorable rates of return to both in-state and outside investments in agricultural research. The returns to in-state research investments ranged from 81 percent for wheat to 177 for corn and the returns to outside research investments ranged from 21 percent for wheat to 133 percent for sorghum. The rates of return to outside research expenditures indicate that the benefits of research investments are not confined solely to the state making the investment. The significance of these spillovers suggest that the contribution of federal funds to state research programs is appropriate as a means of compensating states for the externalities. The contributions of extension investment to productivity increases of these grain commodities were estimated separately from the contributions of investments in agricultural research. Based on assumptions of 8 and 12 year "inverted V" distributions of benefits from increased yield per acre, the estimated IRORs for extension investments ranged from 42 percent for sorghum to 96 percent for corn. The estimated IRORs for research and extension investments in the various U.S. production regions were comparable to the rates estimated for the U.S. in total. While the IROR to research investments were higher than for extension investments, these rates are highly sensitive to assumptions made concerning the length and structure of the lag between expenditures and impacts. The measure of benefits based solely on yield increases also may not be appropriate for all types of research and extension expenditures. Aggregate risk based on past variations in prices has a significant impact on corn and wheat yields. The significant negative coefficients imply risk-averse behavior by corn and wheat producers in the aggregate. Increases in price variability have a depressing effect on yield. The models developed in this study enable price elasticities for grain yields to be estimated. Elasticities estimated at mean levels, using expected nominal prices, ranged from .06 for sorghum to .30 for corn. These elasticities indicate total supply response is 6 to 30 percent greater than estimates based solely on acreage response. / Ph. D.

Master of Science

No description available.

The thesis focuses on the survey of consumer perception of organic food and their brands. The work characterizes ecological agriculture, organic food and the process of their control and labeling. The aim is to find out what consumer behavior is with regard to age and gender. Another important output of this work is to find out whether consumers find organic food better than conventional food and whether consumers perceive organic food when they buy. The subject of the thesis is research and data were obtained by questionnaire survey.

Agriculture is a potentially important activity to address poverty, hunger and unemployment in rural communal areas. To cater for the needs of the many small-scale farmers in KwaZuluNatal, the Farming Systems Research Section (FSRS) was mandated in the mid-1990s to conduct on-farm, client-orientated research in rural communal areas. The identification of the Obonjaneni community as target area by the Extension staff was based on the fact that agriculture was in a poor state and that very few agricultural activities were taking place in Obonjaneni. Members of the community endorsed this by describing agriculture as "dead and not sick" when the FSRS arrived in the community during late 1997. Secondary information gleaned from the Bioresource Programme indicated that there was considerable potential for improved crop and vegetable production in Obonjaneni. Livestock in the community was destructive and prevented crop production activities in the communal cropping fields. A diagnostic study took place during March 1998, when 17 people engaged in agriculture were individually interviewed at their homesteads. Of the 17 respondents interviewed, 10 (59%) were involved with both crops and livestock, six (35%) planted crops only and one (6%) had only livestock. Most of the agricultural products were retained to satisfy household food requirements, with a very small proportion of products (29% of respondents indicated a once-off income through selling of potatoes, maize or livestock) being marketed in the community. The diagnostic survey, and further discussions with members of the community, revealed that agriculture was in a poor state, in terms, for example, of productivity, community interest in agriculture and livestock control. The two main issues which had a negative impact on the agricultural activities in Obonjaneni were identified as stray animals and a lack of agricultural expertise. Indications were that no-one in the community was permanently involved in agriculture and no-one seemed to rely on agriculture as a source of income. Obonjaneni is, however, an area with high agricultural potential and reports were that, in the past, the community was actively involved in agriculture. At the time of the interviews, no activity was taking place in the 40 ha of communal cropping fields, which had been unplanted for five to seven years at the time of the interviews, due largely to the major problem of stray animals. Maize was the main crop produced in Obonjaneni in areas around the homesteads, with 16 (94%) of the respondents interviewed planting it. People interviewed harvested between 100 kg and 1000 kg of shelled maize, while the yield averaged VI approximately 300 kg per household. The maize yields obtained from the small areas at the homesteads in general did not meet the requirements of households. People in the community did not use lime when growing crops and vegetables. Soil analyses indicated that soil fertility, and particularly the high soil acidity levels, were negatively affecting the production of crops and vegetables. Another important finding was that all the people interviewed spent money on some fertilizer, but 94% of the farmers interviewed had never had their soils tested. The community garden was in a poor state, with low vegetable yields and despondent garden members. Poverty, the agricultural constraints identified and the low agricultural production justified the focus of an on-farm research and technology dissemination programme. The objective of the intervention was to revive agriculture in Obonjaneni. The constraints were used as the basis for planning the research programme. The on-farm trials confirmed that the Obonjaneni area has considerable agricultural potential. It was found to be extremely difficult to initiate a livestock programme to address the constraints. The main reason for this was the absence of an organised community livestock association in Obonjaneni to provide support and to guide a research programme. The main technology dissemination events were (i) activities such as planting, management (e.g. weeding and pest and disease control) and harvesting of trials (ii) farmers' field days and (iii) feedback meetings on trial results. The farmers ' field days drew participation from across all sectors of the community, including community leaders, participating and nonparticipating farmers (including some farmers from neighbouring communities) and pupils, who had agriculture as a subject, from the local secondary school. An important input was obtained from members of the community's Amazizi Maize Association, who shared their knowledge and experiences at the farmers ' field days and at meetings. Feedback from farmers and the questions asked by them were encouraging and showed that some farmers were benefiting from the on-farm trials. A very strong indicator of the growing interest in agriculture between 1997 and 2002, when a comprehensive impact evaluation study was conducted as part of the study, was the increase in the number of fields being cultivated and planted in the communal cropping area. In 1997 not one field was planted; during the cropping season of 1998/1999 eight fields were planted with maize, 16 fields during 200112002 and 44 fields in January 2003 (41 fields with maize vu and 3 with potatoes). Records kept by two farmers showed net profits during the 200112002 season ofR3 572 and R2 443 from the maize they produced. During the impact evaluation study conducted in September and October 2002, individual interviews were held and 113 questionnaires were completed from a selected sample of 223 out of a possible 937 homesteads in Obonjaneni. Women in 68% of these households were found to be responsible for agricultural activities. The feedback from 65% of the respondents was that the state of agriculture in Obonjaneni has improved at the time of the interviews, compared to the situation prior to the on-farm research and technology dissemination programme, when the people had described agriculture as "dead and not sick". The improved production of crops contributed largely to the view that agriculture in Obonjaneni had improved. Bearing in mind the poor state of agriculture, and the total absence of any cropping activity in the communal fields when the FSRS arrived in Obonjaneni. Five years later approximately 90% of the respondents in October 2002 were of the view that agriculture had a good and bright future for agriculture in the community. An important aspect was that approximately 23% of the respondents had the vision of being upgraded from "a small- to a large-scale farmer" category. The on-farm research and technology dissemination programme conducted in Obonjaneni between 1998 and 2002 contributed to the revival of agriculture and benefited people in terms of improved crops and vegetable production, especially in the communal cropping fields and community garden. It was responsible for some employment opportunities (e.g. weeding and harvesting of maize) and for the production of produce to sell and buy in their own community. The intervention of the FSRS engendered new enthusiasm for agricultural production in the Obonjaneni community and contributed to the appreciation by farmers of the enormous potential that agriculture holds for food security and the upliftment of people living in the community. This thesis includes chapters dealing with target area selection, secondary information, diagnostic studies, on-farm research and technology dissemination, the selection of a sample and the results of an impact evaluation study. The many lessons learned during this intervention are translated into recommendations for use in future initiatives of a similar kind. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The objective of this study was to determine the current status of e-agriculture research in the South African context. A systematic literature review was used to gather and analyse data in alignment with the objective of the study. The researcher used keywords and combined search keywords on web search engines and digital databases to obtain pertinent research papers. The scope of the study was limited to the period 2000-2016. The books, theses, conference papers and journal articles identified as pertinent to conduct the study, amounted to 114 in number. The analysis of the study described the focus of research papers, research methods, research approaches, theoretical lenses, units of analysis and observation, levels of analysis, historical development, and major concepts and disciplines used by authors in their studies. The study also sought to discover the year of publication and assessment of searchability of the papers. The results indicate that 13 papers (11.4%) were published in the first five years (2000- 2004) and 51 papers (44.7%) in the last five years (2012-2016) of the delimited period for the study. The results of the study further indicate that the application of geographic information systems (GISs) towards improving agriculture was the most prominent eagriculture research area in South Africa (27 papers, 23.6%), followed by the use of satellite enhancing agriculture (26 papers, 22.8%). E-government direct services, mobile in agriculture, and agricultural information systems were the least prominent e-agriculture research areas in South Africa with a contribution of two papers (1.8%) each. The results of this study show that information mapping was the most used research method by researchers in their studies (57 papers, 50%), followed by the case study method with 31 papers (27.1%). The results further denote that the least used research method was industry reports with no mention of it in any of the pertinent papers, followed by grounded theory with two papers (1.7%). Interpretivism was the most used research approach by researchers (six papers, 5.2%) during the period 2000-2016. The findings of this study clearly show that researchers still need to address certain issues or problems regarding e-agriculture in South Africa in order to improve the agricultural sector. The contribution of the study is to understand the importance of enhancing research capability and socio-economic transformation of farmworkers and farmers through enhanced communication of agriculture research knowledge in the area of agricultural informatics. A foundation for further studies was created for continuous e-agriculture research in South Africa.