1 page., September-November issue via online., Report on a drone service, WeFly Agri, "to help farm and plantation owners regain control of their land."
20 pages, via online journal, Purpose: This paper examines the factors affecting farmers’ participation in extension programs and adoption of improved seed varieties in the hills of rural Nepal.
Methodology/approach: Cross-sectional farm-level data were collected during July and August 2014. A sample of 198 farm households was selected for interviewing by using a multistage, random sampling technique. We employed a logistic regression model, frequency counts, and percentages to analyze the data.
Findings: Adoption decisions were mainly affected by extension-related variables – training, membership in a farmers’ group, and off-farm employment. Extension participation was found to be influenced by socioeconomic variables – age, education, household size, and distance to the extension office. Our findings reveal that distance to the extension office and off-farm employment limited participation in extension activities and adoption, respectively, and education, household size, and group membership stimulated participation in extension programs.
Practical implications: Recognition of the determinants of farmers’ participation in extension services and innovation adoption ensures that targeted extension approaches are used to address these factors in various stages of planning, delivering, and evaluating extension programs.
Theoretical implications: Innovation adoption follows a systematic decision-making process. Although personal characteristics are important, widespread use of new technology requires a conducive social and institutional context. Because contexts vary by country or region, extension services providers should create institutions favorable for innovation adoption within a social system.
Originality/value: This research is original and highly valuable to identify the factors associated with extension participation and innovation adoption in the rural hilly region of Nepal. This also provides a new direction to operationalize farmer-oriented policies of agricultural extension and so can be helpful for agricultural policy-makers in devising programs of extension services.
Online via publisher website., This paper proposes a food safety traceability system based on the blockchain and the EPC Information Services and develops a prototype system.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: C06992
Notes:
AGRICOLA IND 90047157; Paper presented at the 1988 Winter Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, December 13-16, 1988, Chicago, IL., St. Joseph, MI: American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 1988. 36 p. (Microfiche Collection fiche no. 88-1606), A key to the adoption of spatially variable or site specific farming methods will be the ability to examine and analyze information. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are computerized systems designed to manage mapped data. A survey of microcomputer based GIS was performed. Nineteen GIS systems were summarized. (original)
9 pages., Via online journal., Food labels legislated by the U.S. government have been designed to provide information to consumers. It has been asserted that the simple disclosures “produced using genetic engineering” on newly legislated U.S. food labels will send a signal that influences individual preferences rather than providing information. Vermont is the only US state to have experienced mandatory labeling of foods produced using genetic engineering (GE) via simple disclosures. Using a representative sample of adults who experienced Vermont’s mandatory GE labeling policy, we examined whether GE labels were seen by consumers and whether the labels provided information or influenced preferences. Nearly one-third of respondents reported seeing a label. Higher income, younger consumers who search for information about GE were more likely to report seeing a label. We also estimated whether labels served as information cues that helped reveal consumer preferences through purchases, or whether labels served as a signal that influenced preferences and purchases. For 50.5% of consumers who saw a label, the label served as an information cue that revealed their preferences. For 13% of those who saw the label, the label influenced preferences and behavior. Overall, for 4% of the total sample, simple GE disclosures influenced preferences. For a slight majority of consumers who used a GE label, simple disclosures were an information signal and not a preference signal. Searching for GE information, classifying as female, older age and opposing GE in food production significantly increased the probability that GE labels served as an information source. Providing such disclosures to consumers may be the least complex and most transparent option for mandatory GE labeling.
Dobson, A.D.M. (author), Milner-Gulland, E.J. (author), Aebischer, Nicholas J. (author), Beale, Colin M. (author), Brozovic, Robert (author), Coals, Peter (author), Critchlow, Rob (author), Dancer, Anthony (author), Grove, Michelle (author), Hinsley, Amy (author), Ibbett, Harriet (author), Johnston, Alison (author), Kuiper, Timothy (author), Le Comber, Steven (author), Mahood, Simon P. (author), Moore, Jennifer F. (author), Nilsen, Erlend B. (author), Pocock, Michael J.O. (author), Quinn, Anthony (author), Travers, Henry (author), Wilfred, Paulo (author), Wright, Joss (author), and Keane, Aidan (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2020
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 167; Folder: 201 Document Number: D11695
11 pages., Authors present an overview of the opportunities and limitations associated with messy data which conservationists increasingly use (e.g., citizen science records, ranger patrol observations). They also explain how the preferences, skills, and incentives of data collectors affect the quality of the information these data contain and the investment required to unlock their potential.
Steele, Sara M. (author / Program Evaluation Specialist, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Wisconsin, Madison) and Program Evaluation Specialist, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1979
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 45 Document Number: B05487
18 pages., via online journal, As food products marketed as “gluten-free” become increasingly popular, many consumers start to exclude sources of gluten (e.g., wheat, barley, and rye) from their diets for both medical and non-medical purposes. The grain industry is facing a growing challenge to (re)boost consumers’ confidence in the healthiness and safety of its commodities. Using 561 participants recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk workers’ panel, this study implemented a 2 (pretzels vs. potato chips) * 2 (positive- vs. negative- frame) * 2 (wheat image vs. no wheat image) experiment to examine the effects of gluten-free labels on consumers’ perceived healthiness and safety of wheat, perceived benefits of labeled products, and their evaluation of the shown labels. Results showed that consumers evaluate the gluten-free labels most positively when they appear on products that could have contained gluten. For products that are naturally gluten-free, adding a gluten-free label only decreased consumers’ confidence in such labels. The presence of gluten-free labels increased consumers’ perceived benefits of the labeled products when they do not contain any misleading information (e.g., image of a wheat head). However, some gluten-free labels could have negative impacts on consumers’ perceptions of the healthiness and safety of wheat. Overall, food producers and marketers might have undervalued consumers’ literacy and overestimated their susceptibility to marketing strategies. We discussed the implications for food marketers, regulators, and communicators.
8 pages, via online journal, Rose (Rosa ×hybrida) breeders historically have bred plants based on what they personally have deemed attractive and traits required by growers to produce the crop successfully. End-user preferences were not formally considered in breeding decisions. The purpose of this study was to investigate growers’ and consumers’ opinions of roses available on the market and preferences for future roses coming into the market. A web-based survey tool was developed to measure the attributes consumers were considering in purchasing and growing rose plants, their knowledge of diseases and pests, and their hopes for new plants coming to market. A link was sent to horticultural group mailing lists as well as distributed through personal e-mail lists, Facebook, and a news release from Texas A&M University. The survey was posted for 4 months. It included ≈66 questions and took 30 minutes or more to complete. More than 2000 responses were received from rose growers and nursery consumers worldwide. The respondents preferred roses that were disease resistant, with fragrant, abundant, red, and everblooming flowers. The ideal height of the preferred rose shrubs was waist to shoulder-height. Differences were found in preferences between experienced rose growers and those who were not affiliated with rose associations on variables such as the need to use chemicals to manage diseases, the importance of foliage glossiness and large vs. small blooms, the value of roses in the garden setting, the level of difficulty roses pose in growing situations, and the willingness to pay more for a rose shrub in comparison with other garden plants. Differences also were found among age groups and preferences for flower color, fragrance, foliage color, and foliage glossiness. This information could be helpful in targeting marketing of roses.
28pgs, Technological advancement is seen as one way of sustainably intensifying agriculture. Scholars argue that innovation needs to be responsible, but it is difficult to anticipate the consequences of the ‘fourth agricultural revolution’ without a clear sense of which technologies are included and excluded. The major aims of this article were to investigate which technologies are being associated with the fourth agricultural revolution, as well as to understand how this revolution is being perceived, whether positive or negative consequences are given equal attention, and what type of impacts are anticipated. To this end, we undertook a content analysis of UK media and policy documents alongside interviews of farmers and advisers. We found that the fourth agricultural revolution is associated with emergent, game-changing technologies, at least in media and policy documents. In these sources, the benefits to productivity and the environment were prioritised with less attention to social consequences, but impacts were overwhelmingly presented positively. Farmers and advisers experienced many benefits of technologies and some predicted higher-tech futures. It was clear, however, that technologies create a number of negative consequences. We reflect on these findings and provide advice to policy-makers about how to interrogate the benefits, opportunities, and risks afforded by agricultural technologies.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 102 Document Number: D10893
Notes:
Online from "Rural Blog" of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, University of Kentucky, Lexington.3 pages., Features a reporter's use of computer-assisted reporting skills to examine deaths of unbuckled drivers in Virginia, especially those in rural areas. Findings emphasize unbuckled drivers of pickup trucks.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 151 Document Number: D10052
Notes:
3 pages., Correspondence via email., Recommends that agricultural communications students take course work to learn how to do statistical tests and interpret the results of others' research.
Bonnen, James T. (author / Michigan State University)
Format:
Conference paper
Publication Date:
1989
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 91 Document Number: C06626
Notes:
Bonnen; Paper presented to the Conference on Rural Data Needs : the Role of Public Universities; 1989 March 29-31; Lexington, KY, East Lansing, MI : Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University, 1989. 23 p. (Staff paper no. 89-62)
Buse, Rueben C. (author), Driscoll, James L., eds. (author), and Buse: Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI; Driscoll: Research and Development, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, USDA, Kansas City, MO
Format:
Book
Publication Date:
1992
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 90 Document Number: C06498
Notes:
Contains Table of Contents only; See C06499-C06505 for individual chapters; James F. Evans Collection, Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press. 1992. 458 p.
Ferguson, Bruce G. (author), Morales, Helda (author), Chung, Kimberly (author), Nigh, Ron (author), and El Colegio de la Frontera Sur
Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social
Michigan State University
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-03-26
Published:
Mexico: Taylor & Francis
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 109 Document Number: D10984
21 pages, 21 pages, We explore potential and limitations for agroecological scaling through formal education, using the LabVida school gardens program in Chiapas, Mexico as a case study. Through LabVida training, educators gained an appreciation of agroecology and learned to apply agroecological practices, although their understanding of agroecological principles and scientific process remained limited. The greatest program impact was on educators’ eating habits, and their perception of the value of local knowledge and its relevance to school work. The case study demonstrates the potential of garden and food-system work to leverage institutional resources in ways that can improve educational outcomes, including agroecological literacy. Increased awareness of agroecology and the value of local knowledge may intersect with other drivers of scaling, including markets, organizational fabric, and policy.
Breakwell, Glynis M. (author) and Barnett, Julie (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2003
Published:
UK
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D07369
Notes:
Pages 80-101 in Nick Pidgeon, Roger E. Kasperson and Paul Slovic (eds.), The social amplification of risk. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. 448 pages.
11 pages., Via online journal article, OBJECTIVES: To examine the impact of social media influencer marketing of foods (healthy and unhealthy) on children’s food intake.
METHODS: In a between-subjects design, 176 children (9–11 years, mean 10.5 ± 0.7 years) were randomly assigned to view mock Instagram profiles of 2 popular YouTube video bloggers (influencers). Profiles featured images of the influencers with unhealthy snacks (participants: n = 58), healthy snacks (n = 59), or nonfood products (n = 59). Subsequently, participants’ ad libitum intake of unhealthy snacks, healthy snacks, and overall intake (combined intake of healthy and unhealthy snacks) were measured.
RESULTS: Children who viewed influencers with unhealthy snacks had significantly increased overall intake (448.3 kilocalories [kcals]; P = .001), and significantly increased intake of unhealthy snacks specifically (388.8 kcals; P = .001), compared with children who viewed influencers with nonfood products (357.1 and 292.2 kcals, respectively). Viewing influencers with healthy snacks did not significantly affect intake.
CONCLUSIONS: Popular social media influencer promotion of food affects children’s food intake. Influencer marketing of unhealthy foods increased children’s immediate food intake, whereas the equivalent marketing of healthy foods had no effect. Increasing the promotion of healthy foods on social media may not be an effective strategy to encourage healthy dietary behaviors in children. More research is needed to understand the impact of digital food marketing and inform appropriate policy action.
