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Agricultural Products (agricultural + products)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	28%
Humanities and Social Sciences	24%
Chemistry	20%
Life Sciences	8%
4 Other Domains	20%

Distribution within Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting

Agricultural Economics & Resource Management	71%
General & Introductory Economics	28%

Selected Abstracts

Acute columnaris infection in channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque): efficacy of practical treatments for warmwater aquaculture ponds

JOURNAL OF FISH DISEASES, Issue 1 2004
S Thomas-Jinu
Abstract Columnaris disease was induced in channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), by bath exposure to four highly virulent isolates of Flavobacterium columnare. In untreated controls, mortality began 20 h after exposure and reached 100% by 48 h. Mortality in channel catfish given antibiotic treatments with oxytetracycline or a combination of sulphadimethoxine and ormetoprim in feed prior to bacterial challenge was zero with all four strains of F. columnare. Diquat® (Zeneca Agricultural Products, Wilmington, DE, USA) was the most effective bath treatment; mortality with all four strains was zero. With potassium permanganate, chloramine-T, hydrogen peroxide and copper sulphate, bath treatment efficacy varied significantly among strains (P = 0.0346) and among treatments (P = 0.0033). Bath treatments with chloramine-T and potassium permanganate significantly reduced (P < 0.05) mortality from 100 to 75 and 69%, respectively, but copper sulphate and hydrogen peroxide treatments were not effective. Based on our results, oral antibiotics prevented columnaris disease but, of the bath treatments, only Diquat® produced a dramatic reduction in the mortality of acutely infected fish. Diquat® is labelled for aquatic use as an herbicide in the USA but in large ponds it is prohibitively expensive. [source]

The Protection of Origins for Agricultural Products and Foods in Europe: Status Quo, Problems and Policy Recommendations for the Green Book

THE JOURNAL OF WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Issue 6 2009
Adriano Profeta
The protection of geographical indications for agricultural products and foodstuffs is one of the major pillars of the Common European Agricultural Policy and has become an important part of the transition from supporting commodity markets to enabling producers to market goods which satisfy consumer tastes. According to estimates, a total annual sales volume of approximately ,14 bn is generated with protected geographical indications (PGI) and protected designations of origin (PDO). Nevertheless, the increase in utilization of the protection systems made obvious a number of problems in the practical application of the law. The Commission recognized these criticisms and announced a discussion on the regulation that was to commence officially in the autumn of 2008 with a Green Book about the PDO/PGI protection regime. In this context, the most recent problems are discussed and proposals are made that should be taken into account in order to accomplish the main goals of the regulation. Therefore this article is addressed to agricultural policy makers, consumer associations, as well as food producers and producer associations in Europe in order to provide a starting point for the Green Book debate. [source]

Impact of the Rapid Rise of Supermarkets on Dairy Products Systems in Argentina

DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 4 2002
Graciela E. Gutman
The reconfiguration and consolidation of food retailing in Argentina during the 1990s profoundly changed the marketing system for food and agricultural products. The new commercial requirements and ,rules of the game' imposed by supermarkets on their suppliers have caused a substantial restructuring of supply chains , a process in which some suppliers fail. This article describes the changes in the past decade in the Argentine retail sector, and then focuses on the effects of those changes (and related changes in processing) on milk products supply chains. Its conclusions focus on the challenges specific to small farms and firms in the face of this transformation. [source]

Coping Strategies Developed as a Result of Social Structure and Conflict: Kosovo in the 1990s

DISASTERS, Issue 2 2000
Kate Ogden
The end of 1989 brought with it political and economic decisions which resulted in Kosovo being stripped of its autonomy and the Albanian population being expelled from their jobs. These facts combined with ethnic tensions created a decade of conflict and oppression affecting hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Thousands of Kosovars moved overseas to seek work to support families at home, altering the way of life of the population of Kosovo irredeemably. The loss of income had serious repercussions on food security throughout the 1990s; possibilities of purchasing food were diminished, control on goods in 1998 reduced availability of foodstuffs, conflict affected accessibility to markets and shops and consequently food intake and nutritional status was compromised. The most vulnerable were those who had no family members overseas. Mass displacement of population due to ethnic cleansing during the war of spring 1999, further jeopardised food security status. Destruction at this time rendered large parts of Kosovo useless and resulted in a shift in the determinant of vulnerability in the post-war period: destruction of houses, land, livestock and agricultural products as well as loss of family members, became a far more pertinent indicator of food insecurity. The strong and clear links between conflict, socio-economic issues and food security are highlighted and discussed in this paper. [source]

Multiple pathways for invasion of anurans on a Pacific island

DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, Issue 5 2007
Michelle T. Christy
ABSTRACT Since 1937, thirteen species of non-indigenous anurans have made their way to Guam. Of these, at least six have established breeding populations. Various pathways led to the introduction of these species to the island. The only anuran intentionally introduced was Chaunus marinus (formerly Bufo marinus), which was brought to Guam as a biocontrol agent. Kaloula picta, K. pulchra, Polypedates leucomystax, and probably Litoria fallax arrived as stowaways via maritime or air-transport vessels. Eleutherodactylus coqui and Euhyas (formerly Eleutherodactylus) planirostris appear to have entered Guam through the horticultural trade. Specimens of Pseudacris regilla were found among agricultural products and Christmas trees. Five species have been transported to Guam via the aquacultural trade. The importation of tilapia, milkfish, and white shrimp from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines was associated with the introduction to Guam of Fejervarya cancrivora, F. limnocharis sensu lato, Microhyla pulchra, Polypedates megacephalus, and Sylvirana guentheri (formerly Rana guentheri). Presently, no quarantine or containment guidelines have been established for Guam's aquacultural industry. [source]

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE AND AUSTRALIA-CHINA BILATERAL TRADE

ECONOMIC PAPERS: A JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND POLICY, Issue 1 2008
YU SHENG
Bilateral trade between Australia and China has expanded in recent years. This paper examines the determinants of bilateral trade at the two-digit commodity level using a modified gravity model with explicitly specified revealed comparative advantage incorporated. This methodology allows us to explore how the relative comparative advantage of Australia and China to the world, mirroring their individual pattern of factor endowments, affects the pattern of trade between the two countries and to identify whether there exists a kind of complimentarity international specialisation between the two countries against the backdrop of each country's booming trade with the rest of the world. Key commodities such as agricultural products, iron ore, petroleum, textiles and clothing, and machinery goods are considered to estimate net welfare in terms of added value deriving from bilateral trade. The findings have policy implications for forging future trade and economic cooperation between Australia and China. [source]

Organic carbon biostimulates rapid rhizodegradation of perchlorate

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2008
Dawit D. Yifru
Abstract Previous hydroponics and field studies identified phytodegradation and rhizodegradation as the two main mechanisms by which plants metabolize perchlorate. Plant uptake and phytodegradation of perchlorate is a slower and undesired process that poses ecological risks resulting from phytoaccumulation of some fraction of the perchlorate. Meanwhile, rhizodegradation is a more rapid and favored process involving perchlorate-degrading bacteria utilizing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) as a carbon and energy (electron) source to rapidly degrade perchlorate to innocuous chloride. In the present study, rhizodegradation of perchlorate by willow trees (Salix nigra) was biostimulated using electron sources obtained from natural and artificial carbon sources. In bioreactors provided with carbon sources as 500 mg/L DOC, 25 to 40 mg/L of initial perchlorate concentrations were removed to below the ion chromatography method detection limit of 2 ,g/L in approximately 9 d. For planted controls provided with no electron donors, the time required for the complete removal of the same doses of perchlorate was up to 70 d. Enhancement of rhizodegradation by organic carbon reduced the phytoaccumulated fraction of perchlorate by an order of magnitude from approximately 430 to 20 mg/ kg. The implication of the present study is that the high fraction uptake and phytoaccumulation of perchlorate in agricultural products and the recycling of perchlorate into the ecosystem can be significantly curtailed by supplying electron donors derived from organic carbon sources to the root zone of plants. [source]

After Cancún: what next for agricultural subsidies?

EUROCHOICES, Issue 3 2003
Tim Josling
Summary After Cancún: what next for agriculturalsubsidies? The collapse of the Ministerial in Cancún highlighted the enhanced role of the developing countries in the WTO and the reduced ability of the US and the EU to manage the trade system. One aspect of these changes has been that developing countries have taken much more interest in the level of domestic support in developed countries. Developed countries believe that the shift of support from production-linked to decoupled instruments has had a positive impact on trade. Developing countries maintain that this reform has not helped them, and has perpetuated inequities in the trade system. Research suggests that the output effect of decoupled support is limited, if not negligible. Such decoupling may be necessary to reform domestic polices. Additionally, domestic policies are being challenged by developing countries using the trade litigation of the WTO. But such challenges risk undermining support for the WTO. Until agreement is reached on these issues there will be little progress in further agricultural trade reform. A political solution must be found that continues the slow process of improvement of domestic farm policies and at the same time offers hope to developing countries that they will benefit from the improvement in the trade conditions for agricultural products. Après Cancún:quel avenir pour les subventions? L'échec de la conférence ministérielle de Cancun met en évidence !e rôle accru des pays en voie de développement à l'OMC, ainsi que la faible aptitude des Etats-Unis et de l'Europe à gérer le système des échanges internationaux. Ces changements impliquent que les pays en voie de développement s'intéressent de plus en plus aux niveaux de protection internes des pays développés. Les pays développés croient que le glissement des aides vers plus de découplage aura eu un effet positif sur les échanges. Mais les pays en voie de développement continuent à penser que ces réformes ne les ont pas aidés, et qu'elles ont perpétué les inégalités du commerce mondial. Le travail présenté ici semble montrer que l'effet du découplage sur l'offre est très faible, voire nul. Peut-être le decouplage est-il utile pour la réforme des politiques internes. Mais, au delà, ces politiques internes sont mises en cause par les pays en voie de développement, qui utilisent à leur encontre les ressources de procédure mises à leur disposition par l'OMC. De telles mises en cause sont de nature à détruire le soutien de l'opinion à l'OMC. II ne faut pas s'attendre à beaucoup de progrès dans les réformes du commerce international agricole tant qu'on n'aura pas trouve un accord sur ces questions. II est done necessaire d'élaborer des solutions qui confortent le lent progrès des politiques internes des pays developpes, tout en offrant aux pays en voie de développement 1, espoir de bénéficier de l'amélioration des conditions des échanges agricoles. Nach Cancún: Was geschieht als nächstes mitAgrarsubventionen? Das Scheitern des Ministerialtreffensin Cancún hob die verbesserte Position der Entwicklungsländer in der WTO und die verminderte Fähigkeit der USA und der EU hervor, das Handelssystem zu lenken. Finer der Aspekte dieser Veränderungen bestand darin, dass die Entwicklungsländer ein sehr viel größeres Interesse am Ausmaß der Inlandsstützung in Industrieländern gezeigt haben. Die Industrieländer glauben, dass sich der Schritt von einer produktionsgebundenen Inlandsstützung hin zu einer entkoppelten Inlandsstützung positiv auf den Handel ausgewirkt hat. Die Entwicklungsländer behaupten jedoch, dass ihnen diese Reform nicht geholfen habe und dass so Ungerechtigkeiten im Handelssystem aufrecht erhalten würden. Forschungsergebnisse legen es nahe, dass sich die entkoppelte Inlandsstützung sehr begrenzt, möglicherweise nur geringfügig, auf die Produktion auswirkt. Eine solche Entkopplung ist möglicherweise notwendig, urn inländische Politikmaßnahmen zu reformieren. Zusátzlich werden die inländischen Politikmaßnahmen von den Entwicklungsländern zur Zeit im Rahmen der WTO-Verfahren zur Beilegung von Handelsstreitigkeiten angefochten. Solche Anfechtungen bergen jedoch immer das Risiko einer abgeschwächten Unterstützung für die WTO. Bis in diesen Punkten Einigkeit herrscht, wird es nur geringe Fortschritte für die Agrarhandelsreformen geben. Es muss eine politische Lösung gefunden werden, welche den langsamen Verbesserungsprozess bei den inländischen Agrarpolitikmaßnahmen voran treibt und welche die Entwicklungsländer zugleich hoffen lässt, von der Verbesserung der Handelsbedingungen für landwirtschaftliche Erzeugnisse profitieren zu können. [source]

The possible role of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the aetiology of cryptorchidism and hypospadias: a population-based case,control study in rural Sicily

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANDROLOGY, Issue 1 2007
P. Carbone
Abstract This was an open case,control study of the possible association between parental occupational and domestic exposures to potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) assessed by questionnaire and cryptorchidism and hypospadias in their offspring in the agricultural area of Ragusa. Cases of infants born between 1998 and 2002 with either of these two malformations (n = 90), and controls (n = 203), were recruited through the paediatric services (for cases) and a random sample of healthy infants attending the same services born in the same period of time (for controls). Data on occupational and environmental exposures of parents prior to and during the index case (or control), were collected through interviews with both parents. Concerning occupational exposures, we did not find a statistically significant increase in risk among parents directly involved in agricultural work. We did find a non-statistically significant increase in risk for cryptorchidism in mothers employed in agriculture [adjusted odds ratios (OR) 2.97; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.77,11.47] and with probable exposure to pesticides (adjusted OR 2.74; 95% CI 0.72,10.42). Fathers who had indirect contact with agricultural products (transport and retail) had an increased risk (not statistically significant) for cryptorchidism (adjusted OR 2.45; 95% CI 0.63,9.59) and hypospadias and cryptorchidism combined (adjusted OR 2.24; 95% CI 0.67,7.48). Increases in risk of the two malformations pooled were also observed in relation to the mother's age below 25 (adjusted OR 1.99; 95% CI 0.97,4.09), to the presence of genital disease of the father (adjusted OR 2.41; 95%C I0.94,6.17), and the mother (adjusted OR 3.47;95% CI1.34,8.99), to low birth weight of the infant (adjusted OR 4.49; 95% CI 1.23,16.31). Increased risk was also observed for mothers consuming alcohol during pregnancy (adjusted OR 3.09; 95% CI 0.98,9.66), and for couples who conceived while using condoms (adjusted OR 2.12; 95% CI 1.02,4.41). The study therefore provides only limited support to the hypothesis of a possible association between the risk of cryptorchidism and hypospadias and the occupational exposure to EDC and agricultural work. [source]

Economic Liberalization and Smallholder Productivity in Tanzania.

JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 3 2005
From Promised Success to Real Failure
In the mid-1980s, Tanzania adopted a programme for economic liberalization of the entire economy, including agriculture. After pressure from the IMF and the World Bank in particular, but also from most of the bilateral donors, agricultural producer and input prices were decontrolled, panterritorial prices were abolished, subsidies were removed and trade in agricultural products and inputs was to a large extent taken over by private traders. The international donor community promised that economic liberalization would provide a strong stimulus to Tanzanian agriculture, resulting in increasing yields, increased labour productivity, rising agricultural production and higher incomes. However, available data show that, as far as food crop production is concerned, this promise has not been fulfilled. Even compared to the ,crisis years' 1979,1984, labour productivity, yields and production per capita of food grains stagnated or declined up to the end of the 1990s. Some causes of this failure are discussed. [source]

Trade Creation and Diversion Effects of Preferential Trade Associations on Agricultural and Food Trade

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2009
David Lambert
Q17; Q18; F13 Abstract Agricultural market distortions remain a major focus of contention in world trade negotiations. Estimates of the effects of liberalising current agricultural trade restrictions indicate an approximately $385 billion increase in global welfare, with the disproportionate share of the benefit being enjoyed by developing countries. In response to difficulties in adopting agricultural trade reforms, individual groups of countries have formed multiple bilateral and regional preferential trade agreements (PTA) to enhance trade among members. Few sectoral analyses exist of the effects on agricultural and food product trade of PTAs. This research uses a gravity model to isolate the effects of various PTAs on both intra- and extra-bloc agricultural and food product trade for three time periods: 1995, 2000 and 2004. Findings strongly support PTA benefits in terms of increased intra-bloc trade in both sectors. The findings also generally support trade creation in agricultural products. PTA membership was also associated with food trade creation in most cases, although diversion was observed for several associations composed primarily of developing countries. [source]

CONCENTRATION BOUNDARY CONDITIONS IN THE THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF CONVECTIVE DRYING PROCESS

JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2007
AHMET KAYA
ABSTRACT In the theoretical analysis of convective drying process, two boundary conditions are common for concentration: constant concentration and convection. In this study, these two boundary conditions were comparatively examined by comparing theoretical results obtained with regard to experimental ones. Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) was considered as the product to be dried while air was the drying medium. The drying characteristics of pumpkin were determined for various values of drying air parameters, including temperature, velocity and relative humidity. Sorption isotherms of the dried pumpkin were also determined for different temperatures and water activities. The values of the effective moisture diffusivity, Deff, and the convective mass transfer coefficient, hm, were predicted, and these values were found to agree fairly well with those available in the existing literature. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Convective drying as well as other drying techniques are used in order to preserve and store agricultural products for longer periods by removing some of their moisture content. Drying is a complicated process involving simultaneous heat and mass transfer under transient conditions. Understanding the heat and mass transfer in the product will help to improve drying process parameters and hence the quality. [source]

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF THIN-LAYER DRYING OF KIWIFRUIT SLICES

JOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESSING AND PRESERVATION, Issue 2009
M DOYMAZ
ABSTRACT The effect of temperature on the drying kinetics of kiwifruit was investigated. The drying process was carried out at temperatures of 50, 55 and 60C, air velocity of 2.4 m/s and relative humidity between 10,25%. Drying time decreased considerably with increased air temperature. Drying process took place in the falling rate period. Twelve mathematical models available in the literature were fitted to the experimental data. The models were compared by four statistical parameters; i.e., determination of coefficient, mean relative percent error, reduced chi-square and root mean square error, and the best-fit model was selected. The modified Henderson and Pabis and Verma et al. models were given the best results in describing thin-layer drying of kiwifruits. The effective diffusivity of water during air-drying varied from 1.743 to 2.241 × 10,10 m2/s over the temperature range investigated, with activation energy equal to 22.48 kJ/mol. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Drying can be described as an industrial preservation method in which water content and activity of agricultural products are decreased by heated air to minimize biochemical, chemical and microbiological deterioration. Kiwifruit has a very short life because of softening and vitamin loss during cold storage. The use of drying prolongs the shelf-life of the kiwifruit, as the water content reduction slows down deterioration reactions. In this study, drying characteristics of kiwifruits were studied in a convectional hot-air dryer. The objectives of the present study were to determine experimentally the thin-layer drying characteristics and rehydration capacity of samples, and to fit the experimental data to 12 mathematical models available from the literature. [source]

Promoting the Development of Value-added Specialty Foods through University-based Food Venture Centers

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 3 2004
OLGA I. PADILLA-ZAKOURArticle first published online: 31 MAY 200
ABSTRACT: Food entrepreneurship is a vital part of the food industry that focuses on creating specialty foods from agricultural products. Many entrepreneurial businesses are farm-based to complement the fresh market with longer shelf-life value-added processed foods that utilize products not suited for the fresh market, and excess production that commonly ends up as farm waste/losses. In some cases, the agricultural production is solely dedicated to fulfill the specialty niche market targeted by the small processor. Food entrepreneurs need comprehensive assistance to become successful processors and marketers. As start-up ventures, their knowledge and economic resources are limited. Support from university-based food venture centers must include training, counseling, technical services, regulatory compliance assistance, technology transfer, and specialized referrals. The Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship, a joint effort of Cornell Univ. and the Univ. of Vermont, is a successful model that benefits from key partnerships to promote food ventures in rural and urban communities. For the last 3 years the center has provided assistance and training to more than 3500 individuals interested in food entrepreneurship, and assisted the development and marketing of over 1000 specialty products. Three examples of farm-based value-added enterprises are presented to highlight the center's accomplishments and economic impact. [source]

Assessing the distortionary impact of state trading in China

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3-4 2010
Steve McCorriston
Trade policy; State trading enterprises; China Abstract State trading is a common feature in the management of imports and exports of agricultural products and it has been a long-standing feature of China's agricultural trade regime. While the use of state trading was modified by China's accession to the WTO, it remains a dominant feature for some commodities, even though there have been recent attempts to diminish its importance. In this article, we review the role that the state trading enterprise (STE), China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Company (COFCO), continues to play in the importing and exporting of some agricultural commodities. We then review the economic theory that has been developed to measure the tariff equivalent of importing STEs. Finally, we apply that theory through a calibration exercise to measure the tariff equivalent of COFCO in China's import market for wheat. The distortionary impact of COFCO depends on the bias in government policy toward agriculture, the competitiveness of the domestic procurement market, and also the number of firms that are allocated licenses to import alongside COFCO. [source]

Assessing protectionism and subsidies in agriculture,A gravity approach

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2008
Claudio Paiva
Abstract This paper provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of agricultural trade using a gravity model. The data set covers bilateral trade in agricultural goods for 152 countries over the periods 1990,1993 and 1999,2002. The estimations support claims that protectionism and distortive subsidies to agriculture remain widespread among industrialised nations, which are shown to import fewer and export more agricultural products than expected given other economic, political and geographic determinants of trade. However, some developing regions which are often thought to be the main victims of industrial-country protectionism are also found to be relatively closed to agricultural trade. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Economic transition and the decline of agricultural production in Estonia

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2005
Shujie Yao
Agricultural production in Estonia has declined rapidly under economic transition since 1992, causing a number of undesirable social and economic problems. Rural unemployment has increased, so has the incidence of poverty. The country has changed from being a net exporter to a net importer of many major agricultural products over a short period of time. To understand the causes of agricultural decline, this paper uses a policy analysis matrix (PAM) to study the competitiveness and profitability of various agricultural, fishery and forest products for the period 1994,95. The results suggest that much of the loss of production may have been explained by economic reforms that were intended to eradicate market distortions created by the former Soviet system, but government's ,non-interventionist' policy and the rigidity of foreign exchange rate may have aggravated the situation. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Physiological, hormonal and molecular mechanisms regulating chilling injury in horticultural species.

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 4 2009
Postharvest technologies applied to reduce its impact
Abstract The storage of fruits and vegetables at low temperature near the freezing point is the foremost technology applied to retard postharvest ripening and to extend the shelf-life period of agricultural products. However, most tropical and subtropical produce is sensitive to chilling injury, which constitutes a set of physiological alterations caused by exposure to low temperatures for variable time periods, to the detriment of quality. This article is a thorough review of the physiological, hormonal and molecular mechanisms involved in the induction and development of this physiopathy. Also, the different postharvest technologies of a chemical, physical or biotechnological nature assayed in research or applied in the agro-food industry with the aim of inhibiting or delaying the emergence of chilling injury in sensitive plant produce of agricultural interest are reviewed. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Biodegradable Polylactide and Its Nanocomposites: Opening a New Dimension for Plastics and Composites

MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS, Issue 14 2003
Suprakas Sinha Ray
Abstract The academic and industrial aspects of the preparation, characterization, mechanical and materials properties, crystallization behavior, melt rheology, and foam processing of pure polylactide (PLA) and PLA/layered silicate nanocomposites are described in this feature article. Recently, these materials have attracted considerable interest in polymer science research. PLA is linear aliphatic thermoplastic polyester and is made from agricultural products. Hectorite and montmorillonite are among the most commonly used smectite-type layered silicates for the preparation of nanocomposites. Smectites are a valuable mineral class for industrial applications because of their high cation exchange capacities, surface area, surface reactivity, adsorptive properties, and, in the case of hectorite, high viscosity, and transparency in solution. In their pristine form, they are hydrophilic in nature, and this property makes them very difficult to disperse into a polymer matrix. The most common way to overcome this difficulty is to replace interlayer cations with quaternized ammonium or phosphonium cations, preferably with long alkyl chains. In general, polymer/layered silicate nanocomposites are of three different types: (1) intercalated nanocomposites, in which insertion of polymer chains into the layered silicate structure occurs in a crystallographically regular fashion, regardless of polymer to layered silicate ratio, with a repeat distance of few nanometer; (2) flocculated nanocomposites, in which intercalated and stacked silicate layers are sometimes flocculated due to the hydroxylated edge,edge interactions between the silicate layers; (3) exfoliated nanocomposites, in which individual silicate layers are uniformly distributed in the polymer matrix by average distances that totally depend on the layered silicate loading. This new family of composite materials frequently exhibits remarkable improvements in its material properties when compared with those of virgin PLA. Improved properties can include a high storage modulus both in the solid and melt states, increased flexural properties, a decrease in gas permeability, increased heat distortion temperature, an increase in the rate of biodegradability of pure PLA, and so forth. Illustration of the biodegradability of PLA and various nanocomposites. [source]

The Protection of Origins for Agricultural Products and Foods in Europe: Status Quo, Problems and Policy Recommendations for the Green Book

Simulation of drying process of corn kernels during microwave and convective treatment

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2007
Gábor Bihercz
Abstract Drying is a necessary technology and a very energy-demanding process in the area of meat and vegetable processing; it is a tool for finishing semiprocessed or processed goods. Taking the given conditions into consideration, development of technology is necessary, which serves several aims that are often in disagreement with each other (in terms of improvement of availability value, avoidance of artificial additives, energy optimization, reduction of other cost factors, etc.). Until now, several scientific works have been published serving solutions for one specific problem of practice. The main idiosyncrasy of these works is the difference between their methods and availability; hence these are unsuitable to give a uniform model for products with different physical-biological properties: because, it goes without saying, circumstances of their birth as well as their aims differ so much. Computer support nowadays allows us to build a uniform model based on previous research and auxiliary measurement results, which can simulate the drying process of some of the most important agricultural products. Copyright © 2007 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

At-home meat consumption in China: an empirical study,

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2009
Hongbo Liu
The remarkable economic changes occurring within China since 1978 have resulted in a striking alteration in food consumption patterns, and one marked change is the increasing consumption of meat. Given China's large population, a small percentage change in per capita meat consumption could lead to a dramatic impact on the production and trade of agricultural products. Such changes have major implications for policy makers and food marketers. This paper concentrates on meat consumption patterns in the home in China. A censored linear approximate almost ideal demand system model was employed in the study, and major economic parameters were estimated for different meat items. Data used in this study were collected from two separate consumer surveys , one urban and one rural in 2005. [source]

Agricultural trade in North America: Trade creation, regionalism and regionalisation

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2003
Dragan Miljkovic
Trade creation in agricultural products is defined as a statistically significant positive break in the trend function of the growth in exports and imports between member countries. The present study attempts to determine the time of any break in the trend of real exports and imports between the Canada,USA Free Trade Agreement (CUSTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) member countries for the years 1980:I through 1999:II, and document the scale of the phenomenon. The present study finds trade creation only occurs in USA agricultural exports to Canada because of CUSTA. The results confirm the theory that the regionalism of NAFTA did not lead to regionalisation or an increasing share of intraregional international trade. [source]

Assessing the Exchange Rate Sensitivity of U.S. Bilateral Agricultural Trade

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2009
Jungho Baek
This paper uses an autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration to examine the short- and long-run effects of exchange rate changes on bilateral trade of agricultural products between the United States and its 10 major trading partners. Results show that, in the long run, while U.S. agricultural exports are highly sensitive to bilateral exchange rates and foreign income, U.S. agricultural imports are mostly responsive to the U.S. domestic income. In the short run, on the other hand, both the bilateral exchange rates and income in the United States and its trading partners are found to have significant impacts on U.S. agricultural exports and imports. Dans le présent article, nous avons utilisé un modèle autorégressif à retards échelonnés (autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration) pour examiner les effets à court et à long terme des variations de taux de change sur le commerce bilatéral des produits agricoles entre les États-Unis et ses dix principaux partenaires commerciaux. Les résultats ont montré que, à long terme, bien que les exportations agricoles des États-Unis soient très sensibles aux taux de change bilatéraux et au revenu étranger, les importations agricoles des États-Unis sont principalement sensibles au revenu intérieur des États-Unis. À court terme, par contre, les taux de change bilatéraux et le revenu des États-Unis et de ses partenaires commerciaux ont des répercussions considérables sur les exportations et les importations agricoles des États-Unis. [source]

The Chinese Enigma: Impacts of WTO Accession Upon Canadian and U.S. Exports and Imports

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2000
Xiao-Yuan Dong
China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is an important milestone in the integration of this nation into the world economy. Substantial reduction in trade barriers by China, one of the world's largest and most rapidly growing economies, is expected to have a significant impact, both on China itself and on the global economy. In assessing likely impacts on trade between China and North America of China joining the WTO, a priori one might expect new opportunities for China in labor intensive activities/products, while for the United States and for Canada one might expect added export market opportunities, as China grows, in activities/products that require land, resources and capital. However, the extent to which China and its trading partners will benefit from China's increasing integration into the global economy will largely depend on the internal changes in policy and infrastructure that may be adopted by China. China has embarked on a process of economic reform, but the speed and extent to which this continues to be pursued will affect this nation's ability to capitalize on its comparative advantages and to meet new challenges that are associated with the opportunities of access to a larger market. The difficulty of forecasting such internal changes means that China continues to be a major source of uncertainty in projecting world markets and trade flows. This uncertainty is particularly evident for trade in agricultural products [source]