This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

Žemės ūkis yra ir visada buvo esminė ekonomikos dalis. Taip yra visose šalyse visame pasaulyje. Daug kas siekia būti savarankiški, bet tai pavyksta ne visais atvejais. Lietuva yra šalis, apdovanota derlingomis žemėmis, be to, mes gyvename toje pasaulio dalyje, kur klimatas vis dar yra palankus žemės ūkiui. Ūkininkavimo metodai ir maisto produktų gamyba smarkiai keitėsi laikui bėgant. Susirūpinimas aplinkos apsauga ir svarstymai dėl gyvulių gerovės Lietuvoje plinta kaip ir visoje Europoje. Ekologinis ūkininkavimas - tai tausojančiosios ūkininkavimo sistemos dalis ir gyvybinga alternatyva tradiciniam ūkininkavimui. Ekologinis ūkininkavimas skiriasi nuo įprasto, nes atsisakoma sintetinių pesticidų, herbicidų, cheminių trąšų, augimą skatinančių hormonų ar manipuliavimo genais. Ekologiniai ūkiai naudoja įvairią techniką, padedančią palaikyti ekosistemas ir sumažinti taršą. Laikantis būtinų produkcijos kokybės standartų, gaunamas mažesnis pirminės produkcijos kiekis, palyginti su tradiciniu ūkininkavimu, tad išauga ekologiškos produkcijos gamybos kaštai. Augalinės produkcijos ekologiniame ūkyje pagrindas - dirvožemio struktūros ir derlingumo gerinimas. Ekologiniu būdu gali būti auginami ne tik grūdai, vaisiai bei daržovės, kopiamas medus. Galvijai ir paukščiai ekologiškai auginami, laikantis gyvulių gerovės standartų bei šeriant juos natūraliais produktais. / Agriculture is and has always been an essential part of the economy. This is all the countries around the world. Many who seek to be independent, but this is not successful in all cases. Lithuania is the country awarded the fertile earth, in addition, we live in that part of the world where the climate is still favorable for agriculture. Farming methods and food production has changed over time. Concerns about environmental protection and animal welfare considerations for the spread of Lithuania and throughout Europe. Ecological farming is a part of sparing farming system and viable alternative for traditional farming. Ecological farming differs from the traditional one because this farming refuses synthetic pesticides, herbicides, chemical manure, hormones that stimulate growing or manipulate genes. Ecological farms use various techniques that help to maintain ecosystems and reduce pollution. Bearing all these necessary standards of production quality there is received smaller amount of original production in comparison with traditional farming. It causes bigger expenses of ecological production. The basis of vegetative production in the ecological farming is development of soil structure and fertility. Not only grain, fruits, vegetables and honey are received in the ecological way. Cattle and birds are grown ecologically, bearing standards of welfare of livestock, feeding them in natural products.

The Canadian supply managed dairy sector is likely to face more competitive pressure from challenges through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the changing global trade environment. Therefore, it is highly prudent for Canadian dairy producers to focus their concern on their level of competitiveness and how to improve it. This study investigated the competitiveness of Ontario dairy sector based on a sample of farm level data with a Box-Cox transformed econometric cost model. The data were gathered by the Ontario Dairy Farm Accounting Project, for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007. The impacts of output, yield per cow and several farm-specific characteristics on the average cost of milk production were examined. Results support the presence of significant size economies and yield economies within Ontario milk production. Minimum costs were achieved for farms with approximately 125 cows. The results also indicated that some farm-specific characteristics, breed and region, also had significant impacts on the cost of Ontario milk production. However, it appears that Ontario farms may find it difficult to survive if they are forced to face international competition. Even at their minimum, average costs were above an indicator international dairy price.

The conception of environmental quality is common used in our society. Ecological farming is one of the most quality orientated agricultural system. The experiment was conducted in the Kazliskiai ecological farm of Lithuanian University of Agriculture. There were different kind of investigation determined earlier on the farm, but there were no investigation made on the influence of weedy trench to winter-wheat field. The aim of this work is to determine how weedy trench influences segetic flora and its botanical structure in winter- wheat agrophytocenozis. The tasks, which help to gain the aim: 1. To analyze how the amount of weeds change receding from weedy trench; 2. To analyze how the botanical structure of weeds change receding from weedy trench; 3. To evaluate interrelationship between amount of weeds and their botanical structure due to weedy trench. The object of the research work – the winter-wheat field segetic flora of Kazliskiai ecological farm. The following methods were used in this work: • The analysis of scientific literature; • The calculation of segetic flora amount and its botanical structure in workspaces; • The statistical analysis using EXCEL, DISPERS programs. The results of this work show: The weedy trench has a positive influence on the amount of segetic flora. It is 2-4 times bigger nearby weedy trench than in the middle of the field. The botanical structure changes only in autumn but not numerously.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canadian males, and is the third most common cause of cancer related deaths with decreasing mortality in men. Previous studies have suggested that an increased risk of prostate cancer among men may be associated with rural environment. The etiology of prostate cancer is not precisely known among men in rural Saskatchewan. We investigated the prevalence of prostate cancer and the putative relationship between rural exposures (occupational i.e. farming and environmental), personal smoking history, family history of cancer and prostate cancer. A baseline mail out survey was conducted in 2010-2011 of 11,982 households located in four geographic regions (South West, South East, North West, and North East) of Saskatchewan, Canada. Completed questionnaires were obtained from 4,624 households (8,261 individuals). The questionnaires collected information on individual (demographic factors, exposure to pesticides including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides) and contextual (household characteristics such as income, smoking) determinants from a rural population. In total 2,938 males (114 prostate cancer cases) were included for this analysis who were older than 45 years. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between independent variables and prostate cancer. Among prostate cancer cases, 46% of men lived on farms of rural Saskatchewan. The age standardized prevalence of prostate cancer was 3.32% (3.81% (n=52) and 2.95% (n=61) among farm and non-farm resident men). Farming job and farming duration did not have a statistically significant association with prostate cancer. A trend was observed for men who had work place exposure to insecticides and fungicides collectively and radiation to have an increased risk in comparison to men without these exposures. Personal smoking history, history of smoking pack years and family history of cancer modified the relationship between residence and prostate cancer. Age of an individual (≥ 65 years) was the strongest and most consistent risk factor of prostate cancer. Other factors such as marital status, household income adequacy, history of cardiovascular disease may also be associated with prostate cancer. The results may help research professionals by directing the focus of their research towards rural population examining prostate cancer.

Increase in profits corresponding to a one unit increase in Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) for 3 production traits and for 21 type traits were estimated from 31,123 merged "Official" first lactation records, type records and Estimated Breeding Value (EBVs) records of Canadian Holstein cows using multivariate REML and a mixed model accounting for herd and year of calving effects. The same regression model was used to estimate the same profit increases corresponding to a one unit change in EBVs from 336 merged "Non-Official" first lactation records, type records and EBV records of Canadian Holstein Cows to investigate whether purebred breeders are selecting their animals according to type and production performances while commercial producers are selecting animals that maximize their milk profits. Finally, the usefulness of DHAS cow records for increasing milk profits was investigated by comparing the average profit level of cows with "Official" milk records and their time of registration under the DHAS scheme. / Size had the largest negative impact on profits, with estimates ranging from $-$41.70 $ pm$ 6.60 to $-$26.62 $ pm$ 5.91. Chest width and fore attachment had the largest positive impact on profits, with estimates ranging from 4.30 $ pm$ 5.94 to 16.82 $ pm$ 6.00 and from 4.71 $ pm$ 3.52 to 14.57 $ pm$ 3.97 respectively. Grade cows were found to have on average lower EBVs for most type and production traits than purebred cows. However, grade and purebred cows generated similar milk profits. Finally, the efficiency of using information provided by DHAS to increase profits did not increase with the number of years of participation with DHAS.

The following research developed an approach and methodology to simultaneously gather and integrate social and natural science farm system data of developing countries into one data base. The overall approach was based on Weber's theory of abstraction, which requires the identification of the broadest number of variables as possible. The first step to understanding the farm system was to overview a number of the key variables which represented a number of key farm components; the second step was to juxtapose and blend together the various forms of data in linear forms against a test variable of Striga infestation levels; the third step was to evaluate if the amount of knowledge gained in predicting Striga infestation levels was statistically significant by cross correlating soil nutrient levels, crop management approaches, farmers' perceptions of Striga infestation and spatial distances; the fourth step was to use parametric and non-parameterc analytical tools in conjunction with data compression to locate the best combination of parameters to better manage Striga. The final part of the process was to identify and integrate the crop, field and social data into a profile of farmer's who have the highest and lowest likelihood of being infested by Striga by using a soil nutrient concentration baseline as the indicator. The results were that natural and social science data could be successfully combined, integrated and have statistically significant cross correlations. These correlations indicate that specific spatial parameters combined with specific soil components, farmer's management and crop placement could be used as predictors of Striga infestation levels. As well the farmers' perception could be validated using natural science data.

The goal of irrigation is to supply sufficient water for crop growth to all areas within a field. Therefore, the uniformity of application of irrigation water is of great importance. The objectives of this study were to quantify the performance of irrigation systems under field conditions using standard evaluation techniques and to investigate the use of spatial statistics to characterise the spatial variability of application. The main objective was to develop techniques to estimate gross irrigation water requirement that incorporates the uniformity of application. Different practitioners have given different definitions to the criteria used to evaluate the performance of an irrigation system. A literature review was conducted to determine the current definitions used and the factors that affect these performance criteria. The theory and application of spatial statistics was investigated in order to charaterise spatial distribution of irrigation water. The spatial distribution of irrigation water under centre pivots was determined using field measurements. A number of centre pivot, sprinkler, floppy, drip and micro-irrigation systems were evaluated using standard techniques. The results from the evaluation of spatial data show that this approach is useful to determine a map of the distribution of applied irrigation water. Due to the smoothing characteristic of the spatial statistical method employed, the maps have a uniformity that is greater than in reality. The results from the standard evaluation techniques show that quick and representative results for the performance of an irrigation system can be obtained. The distribution uniformity has an affect on the efficiency of a system and should therefore be included in the calculation of the gross irrigation water requirement. The methods for these calculations are discussed. Further research needs to be conducted to determine actual distribution uniformities and application efficiencies for irrigation systems under various field conditions. This will provide useful standards to include in the calculation of gross irrigation water requirements. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Printed information access, preferences and use by small-scale farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, who are experimenting with or converting to organic farming, were investigated to establish the need for information on organic production, certification, and marketing. Forty-six resource-poor farmers from four groups at Umbumbulu, Tugela Ferry, KwaMashu and Muden participated in semi-structured group interviews. Guiding questions, information tabulation, ranking and sorting, and voting were used to gather data. Five printed agricultural information materials were evaluated. The findings indicated that the participants trusted and relied on intermediaries for access to innovative, research-based information, and preferred interpersonal communication over other information channels. Printed materials were valued for their permanence, while participants preferred materials in isiZulu as 75% of participants were able to read and write isiZulu or were able to ask family members to read materials in isiZulu. At least one functionally literate farmer was a member of each of the participating farmer groups. Appropriate printed information on organic production, certification and marketing had not reached the participants. Characteristics of printed information materials preferred by participating farmers included: large typeface, photographs, drawings, step-by-step instructions, stories about people and events, context-specific content, the use of plain language in English or preferably isiZulu. / Thesis (M.Agric.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

In 1997, Governor Paul Patton of Kentucky asked the state Cabinet of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection to develop administrative regulations for industrial hog farms in the state. The regulatory process has been contentious. From 1997 through 1998, the Cabinet held five public hearings to elicit comments on the proposed regulations. This study is designed to answer two questions. First, how, within parameters of participation established by the Kentucky Cabinet of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, have participants in the debate deployed notions of risk to privilege certain gendered and sexualized farming identities, farming practices, and notions of rurality? Second, how will the spatial arrangements proposed by participants alter social relationships? A theoretical framework that draws from Foucaults work on governmentality and power/knowledge, feminist theories and Latours actor network theory was developed for this analysis which combines discourse analysis with participant observation. The study examines texts produced by the Cabinet and three groups: the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Community Farm Alliance. Texts include transcripts of hearing comments, published histories, newspapers and web sites produced by three studied, law suits related to the debate, and newspaper coverage of the debate. Participant observation was conducted at public hearings and meetings of the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Community Farm Alliance. Results from this project suggest that gender and sexualization play very important roles in establishing hierarchies between organized groups and government agencies. Results also indicate that the constructions of farmers, farming and rurality produced by hierarchical relationships are largely dependent on distinct spatial arrangements which have very real effects on human-human, human-environment and human-animal relationships.