Laura Puhl

Background : The integrated assessment of social and agronomic dimensions in mountain production systems remains limited. This gap is evident in understanding the interaction between advanced technologies and rural farming economies. In this context, this study presents an application of the FAO’s SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems) sustainability framework to an emerging mountain agriculture production system, focusing on the case study of traditional and aeroponic strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) systems in the Andean region of Imbabura, Ecuador, with two main objectives: (i) to characterize agronomic attributes in the mountain region; and (ii) to quantify social sustainability. Methods : SAFA defines values between 0 and 1 as unacceptable and values between 4.1 and 5 as optimal. An equal number of semi-structured interviews were conducted in each production system, and the data were analyzed with a Principal Component Analysis (PCA, Infostat v2.0). Results : The aeroponic system doubled seedling density, reaching 59,553 plants/ha compared with 29,934 plants/ha in the traditional systems. Regarding social sustainability, aeroponics achieved an optimal value of 4.46, with 100% of indicators rated as optimal. In contrast, the traditional system obtained 2.64, with 16.7% of the indicators optimal, especially with deficiencies in human health and safety. The PCA confirmed significant differences with 50% of the variance explained by the first principal component, associating the aeroponic system with all dimensions of social performance. Conclusions : The results demonstrate the usefulness of the SAFA framework for assessing social sustainability in mountain farming systems and show its applicability to productive innovations such as aeroponics in the Andes. However, the adoption and scalability of such technologies may depend on socio-economic conditions and institutional support in smallholder farming systems.

Climate change mainly affects the production and consumption systems associated with food, livelihoods, production (e.g., reduced milk production), water, and land use. The role of local knowledge is recognized as important for decision-making under changing circumstances. This study was conducted in the northern part of the Ecuadorian Andes using a sample of 170 dairy-cattle-farming households. The objectives were to: (i) characterize the rural livelihoods of dairy cattle farmers; (ii) evaluate access to climate information and perceptions of climate change; and (iii) determine the relationship between livelihoods and perceptions of climate change. Significant differences were identified between the groups evaluated in relation to the dairy farmers’ livelihoods. In addition, 85.29% of the respondents indicated that climate information is important, but 67.83% did not trust the sources of information. It was found that there is a significant relationship between the level of education and age with the variables of climate change perceptions. This combined knowledge will allow people to promote agri-environmental and educational policies to achieve climate literacy at a rural level.

Interesting botanical and ecological studies used the multivariate approach to describe underlying patterns in large data sets and to answer questions about the structure of the studied systems at various scales. This work aims to encourage the correct use of the multivariate approach and offers guidelines for the appropriate choice of the analysis techniques according to the objectives of the study and the characteristics of the data. Some appropriate applications of principal components, multidimensional scaling, correspondence analysis, discriminant, and cluster analysis in articles published in scientific journals of these disciplines are showed. We used reduced versions of the data matrices from some of these papers to present the methods of analysis in a simple way. The focus is placed on the correct interpretation of the results and the biological questions that can be answered through multivariate analysis.

Climate change mainly affects production and consumption systems, such as: food, livelihoods, production (e.g., reduced milk production), water, and land use. The role of local knowledge has been recognized as important for decision-making under changing circumstances. This study was conducted in the northern part of the Ecuadorian Andes using a sample of 170 dairy-cattle-producing households. The objectives were: i) to characterize the rural livelihoods of dairy cattle farmers, ii) to evaluate access to climate information and perceptions of climate change, and iii) to determine the relationship between livelihoods and perceptions of climate change. Significant differences were identified between the groups evaluated in relation to the dairy farmers’ livelihoods. In addition, 85.29% of the respondents mentioned that climate information is important, but 67.83% do not trust the sources of information. It was found that there is a significant relationship between the level of education and age with the variables of climate change perceptions. This combined knowledge allows people to promote agri-environmental and educational policies to achieve climate literacy at a rural level.

Una gran variedad de artrópodos plaga causan, a nivel mundial, perjuicios en cultivos hortícolas. Myzus persicae (Sulzer), Aphis gossypii (Glover) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) son las principales plagas de artrópodos que afectan a cultivos de pimiento bajo cubierta. El propósito de este estudio fue determinar la efectividad de cuatro productos botánicos diferentes como una alternativa ecológica para el control de pulgones en cultivo protegido de pimiento en Concordia, Argentina. Se probaron formulaciones de extractos/aceites vegetales a base de: aceite esencial de canela Cinnamomun verum (J. Presl.) [AE canela]; aceite esencial de cuasia Quassia amara (L.) [AE cuasia], aceite de neem Azadarichta indica (A. Juss.) [M neem] y extracto de ajo Allium sativum (L.) [M ajo]. Cabe aclarar que éstos dos últimos contienen a su vez otros extractos/aceites esenciales que fueron comparados con un testigo absoluto (agua). Se realizó una distribución de acuerdo con un diseño totalmente aleatorio con tres repeticiones. Los tratamientos se aplicaron directamente sobre el follaje con mochila manual iniciándose 1 semana después del trasplante y luego, semanalmente, hasta finalizar el ensayo. Posteriormente, se evaluó el número promedio total de pulgones por hoja. Estos resultados mostraron que el tratamiento con aceite de neem (en mezcla M neem) registró un número de pulgones menor comparado con el resto de los tratamientos y testigo absoluto. Sin embargo, el mayor número de pulgones parasitados (momias) fue observado en las hojas tratadas con el aceite esencial de cuasia (AE cuasia).