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Happy Easter from Juniper Publishers!!!

Wishing you a joyful Easter Holiday….. May on this auspicious day your life is blessed with new beginnings and happiness that infuse you with new energy and new hope….. Warm wishes to you on this auspicious occasion…

[juniperpublishers-agriculture]

Analysis of Agricultural Investment Efficiency Based on the Ultra-Efficient Dea Method- Juniper Publishers

To cope with the impact of the financial crisis on China's economy, China has implemented a "four trillion" investment policy to enable China to smoothly weather the financial crisis. However, the growth of investment has led to a decline in investment efficiency. Based on the research sample of 23 provinces from 2008 to 2017, this paper studies the efficiency of Agricultural Investment in China and puts forward some suggestions.

Keywords: Ultra-efficient DEA; Agriculture; Investment Erficiency

Literature review

At present, multi-factor model is the mainstream method to analyze the comprehensive efficiency of investment efficiency. The earliest appearance of this method is traced back to Jefferson (1990) [1], who used the packet model (DEA) to analyze the technical efficiency of China's steel industry, the results show that China's steel industry technology efficiency is low, and some improvement methods are proposed. In the process of rapid development of this method, the whole factor productivity (TFP) method began to emerge, the specific research method is divided into two categories, one kind of scholars use Cobb-Douglas production function, CES production function, etc. to calculate the total factor productivity changes by using the potential output method, by estimating the forward production function, and then calculating the distance between the actual input-output combination and the cutting-edge function. Later, Malmquist S proposed the concept of Malmquist index, but the method was widely used after the DEA method became popular. When the research on investment efficiency of the overall economy matures gradually, many scholars in China have started to combine the current situation of our country and carry out the research on investment efficiency for different sub-industries [2], analyzed the investment efficiency of cultural industry in Hubei Province and concluded that the investment efficiency of cultural industry in this region is in a state of fluctuation and higher than the average of other provinces, but still not effective in DEA, studies the investment efficiency of cultural industry in Shandong Province and concludes by DEA method that the overall investment efficiency of cultural industry in Shandong Province is high, but there are fluctuations in scale efficiency in different years [2]. Puts the perspective on the investment efficiency of hydropower industry and thinks that the investment efficiency and electricity efficiency of hydropower industry in China are low, and the potential for improvement is huge.

Efficiency calculation of agricultural investment

Model selection

The DEA model: At present, the academic method of measuring efficiency is divided into the following two categories, one is the parameter method, mainly includes the amendment of the least square, the cutting-edge production function method and so on, the other is the non-argument method, and the packet analysis method (DEA) is the representative of it. Packet analysis (DEA) is a nonparametric method to measure the relative efficiency value of a decision unit (DMU) in the case of multiple inputs and multiple outputs. For other parameter methods, the DEA model has its unique advantages: 1, the method does not need to set a specific function form, which avoids the error caused by artificially setting the efficiency function equation; The deA model uses input and output data to build an efficiency frontier with all decision units (DMUs) by mathematical planning, and the closer the DMU is to this frontier, the more efficient the DMU efficiency value is 1. Assuming the existence of N decision units (DMU), I input indicators, and J output indicators, the specific form of the DEA model is shown in equations 1-1.

It can be found that the traditional DEA model may have multiple efficiency units equal to 1, at this time cannot distinguish between good and bad in all valid units, so this paper chooses the super-efficiency DEA model for efficiency analysis.

Ultra-efficient DEA model: In view of the disadvantages of the traditional DEA model, Banker e al (1988) puts forward the super-efficient DEA model, the principle is to exclude the DMU to be evaluated from the reference set, so that the effective decision-making unit reorders the advantages and disadvantages. The model is specific to see 1-2. In (1-2), The indicator means the same as the normal DEA model. At this point, the calculated efficiency value of the can be greater than 1, in this paper, the use of DEA solver Pro5.0 software for efficiency analysis.

The efficiency calculation of agricultural input and output

Input and output indicator selection: The data are from the China Statistical Yearbook, the China Financial Statistics Yearbook, the statistical yearbook of the provinces, as well as the wind database, CSMAR database. Agricultural investment efficiency reference [4] selected agricultural fixed asset investment, the end of the year commonly used arable land area, rural working population, rural electricity consumption as input indicators detailed indicator information see Table 1.

The results of the calculation: [4], the method of super-efficiency DEA model is not radially improved, so this paper contains the following assumptions: 1, scale compensation variable, because it is difficult to achieve efficiency under fixed-scale compensation due to legal system, market competition and other reasons; The results are shown in (Tables 2,3) (1) On the whole, the overall investment efficiency of China's agriculture is not high, even in the highest eastern region, the efficiency value is still less than 0.9. In terms of agricultural investment efficiency, the eastern region is much higher than the central region and the western region, and the investment efficiency of the central region and the western region industry is not very different. (2) In terms of comprehensive investment efficiency ranking, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian ranked first in the agricultural investment efficiency ranking, while Henan and Shandong, the traditional agricultural provinces, ranked lower, indicating that some areas of agriculture are larger, but the investment efficiency is not high the agricultural investment efficiency is high in inner Mongolia [5-7].

Conclusion

Based on the macro data of 23 provinces in China from 2008 to 2017, this paper calculates the efficiency of agricultural investment in China and finds that the overall investment efficiency of agriculture in China is not high, and there are obvious regional differences, and there is still a lot of room for improvement in the level of agricultural modernization and large-scale construction. As a basic industry, the state should give more policy support to improve china's agricultural modernization and large-scale construction level. Microcosmicly, to improve the efficiency of agricultural investment needs to give enterprises more freedom, improve the agricultural economic subject "small, scattered, chaotic" status quo, improve the construction of agricultural industry system, promote industrial integration and development, and thus improve the efficiency of agricultural investment.

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Mediterranean Diet and Food Technology: Sustainable Strategies for A Globalized World- Juniper publishers

Mediterranean Diet has been widely studied and its nutritional, healthy, and sustainable benefits have been recognized. However, in the last decades, globalization has brought about major changes in the developed world and a progressive deviation from the main Mediterranean patterns. Fresh food and traditional recipes continue to be valued and their beneficial effects on health are scientifically proven. Despite this, they have been largely replaced by fast and less nutritious food is it possible to perform alternatives and procedures that help us to mitigate some deviations from the Mediterranean Diet, contributing to a more right, sustainable, and nutritious food system in a globalized world? This communication reinforces the idea that food technology and scientific advances must be properly applied to meet the challenges faced by Mediterranean countries.

Keywords: Mediterranean Diet; Food functionality; Sustainability; Consumption patterns; Food technology

Introduction

Mediterranean Diet implies not only the intake of certain foods but also a lifestyle with consumption patterns and relationship with the environment, that has been transmitted from generation to generation. It has been widely studied and its nutritional, healthy, and sustainable benefits have been proven. Its recognized global value meant the recognition of the Mediterranean Diet as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee in 2009 [1]. Moreover, it was recognized in 2019 as a possibly universal model of healthy diet from the EAT-Lancet Commission [2]. Regarding the food diversity, its processing and culinary procedures, the main nutritional, and sustainability advantages mainly derive from:

a. The use of crops and varieties adapted to local conditions. The growth of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, cereals, and legumes prevails, and a wide heritage of ancient varieties have been preserved.

b. Fruits and vegetables are harvested at the optimum maturity, taking advantage of the maximum nutrient content. This fact is linked to a lifestyle in which social values and the care for the land and the environment predominates.

c. Fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, meat, and fish are integrated and combined in traditional recipes that complement nutrients and are cooked using simple techniques such as simmering, baking, dehydration, and fermentation. Mediterranean culinary system is part of the Mediterranean lifestyle and consumption patterns.

However, in the last decades there have been worldwide important changes that have brought with them a progressive deviation from the main Mediterranean patterns. The high population density in the cities and the depopulation of rural areas have reduced the availability of plant-food and increased the consumption of animal protein above the amounts needed for a proper nutrition. International companies have emerged increasing food availability around the developed world and the globalization of markets has occurred. The economic interests of large companies prevail over the reduced familiar economy. Consequently, it is no longer harvested at the optimum maturity since the food needs to withstand transport and distribution and reach the consumer in good condition. A huge number of residues are generated. Families no longer have time to cook traditional dishes while companies have technology to produce tasty dishes. Nevertheless, traditional recipes continue to be valued and their beneficial effects on health are recognized more and more. Sustainability and functionality of food are sacrificed and climate change and non-communicable diseases (obesity, diabetes, hypertension…) are exacerbated. An environmental, social, and nutritional alarm is created while the technological revolution reaches its highest levels. In this context, governments implement actions to prevent disasters without harming the patterns of economic development achieved by rich countries. It is promoted the consumption of vegetable proteins to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases; the consumption of foods with bioactive components with a health benefit; the reduction and valorization of waste and circular economy; the use of green and alternative technologies energy efficient, without effluents or chemicals. In addition, strict food regulations are established ensuring the highest levels of quality and safety ever achieved, but marked by abuses committed in the past, consumers increasingly distrust the food industry. Governments supported by scientific and technological development must find solutions to current challenges in a globalized world in which the recovery of social values and the integration with the natural environment requires combining Mediterranean values with economic development. Local agriculture and biodiversity must be promoted, and the social and cultural aspects must be respected. But is it possible to perform alternatives and procedures that help us to mitigate some deviations from the Mediterranean Diet, contributing to a more right, sustainable, and nutritious food system in a globalized world? This communication reinforces the idea that food technology and scientific advances must be properly applied to meet the challenges faced by Mediterranean countries.

Technology and Food Functionality

The technological and scientific revolution of last decades has not only provided safer foods with higher quality, but it has also allowed us to learn much more about the relationship among structural, compositional, and physicochemical characteristics of foods, the effect that processes have on them and their physiological use by the human organism [3]. This technological revolution is being properly used by many companies, which are very conscious of social and environmental problems. For example, certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. This is a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good. Nutritional and healthy effect of food is determined by its content in macro and micronutrients, their release at the target site in the adequate form and its suitable assimilation. These three aspects considered together define the functionality of a food and are reflected separately in digestibility, bio accesibility and bioavailability concepts. Nutrient bio accesibility is defined as the amount of the nutrient that is released from the food matrix and become available for absorption in the systematic circulation through the gut wall. Nutrient bioavailability considers the total amount of the nutrient that is released and absorbed to reach the bloodstream where it is delivered to the different body tissues. Besides them, digestibility applies specifically to the fraction of food components that is transformed into potentially accessible matter through all physical and chemical processes that take place in the lumen. Moreover, recently, the influence of nutrients in biochemical pathways through secondary metabolites produced by gut microbiota seems to be decisive in their healthy effect [4]. It is clear that fresh foods at optimum maturity have the highest content of nutrients and bioactive components but processing, especially heat treatments, decrease their content. However, in many fresh foods there are antinutrients or combinations of components that significantly decrease its nutritional value or may even make its intake unsafe. For example, phytic acid, lectins, phenolic compounds (tannins), saponins and enzyme (amylase and protease) inhibitors have been shown to reduce the availability of nutrients and cause growth inhibition, while phytoestrogens and lignans have been linked with infertility problems. Poor nutritive value of the food legumes is due to the presence of tannins that inhibit the digestibility of protein and phytic acid reducing the bioavailability of some essential minerals [5]. The case of iron is one of the most studied; bioavailability of iron is not only a question of its content, but also whether it is plant or animal derived and whether other biochemical factors are present within the food matrix [6]. In recent years, numerous studies have shown that the functionality of a food can be maintained and even increased with the application of simple technologies such as drying or fermentation. In most of legumes, soft heat treatments can improve the digestibility of proteins and carbohydrates. In the case of probiotics, Betoret et al. [7] have shown that when bacterial cells included in an apple matrix have been subjected to a controlled stress as a soft air drying at 50ºC, they better withstand storage at room temperature and the in vitro digestion process. In a similar way, Bass-Bellver et al. [8] obtained powdered food ingredients by freeze-drying or hot air-drying blueberry bagasse. Results showed that blueberry bagasse powders dried by hot air released more anthocyanins to the liquid phase after the gastrointestinal digestion in vitro, therefore, being more bioaccessible. In addition, alternative and also called green technologies have emerged. These are technologies such as ohmic heating, mild electric treatment or pressure treatments not generating effluents and energy efficient. These technologies make possible to reduce thermal treatments and even increase the functionality of some bioactive components or the digestibility of proteins. Many studies have been carried out to demonstrate that the application of HPH to liquid foods can modify the bio accessibility or bioavailability of its bioactive compounds. Treatment with HPH in mandarin juices increased the bio accessibility of total carotenoids by five times, although in the case of flavonoids, no such drastic changes were observed. Therefore, HPH treatment was recommended to produce tangerine juices that promote health, mainly through the improvement of the bio accessibility of the carotenoids contained therein [9]. Also, in legumes or cereals, the application of conventional processing techniques (e.g., cooking, autoclaving, germination, extrusion, and fermentation) to reduce or eliminate antinutritional compounds is well established. Nonetheless, such techniques, mainly those applying aggressive heat treatments, are often detrimental to other food constituents, so alternative green technologies that are applied under mild conditions are preferable.

Conclusion

The traditional Mediterranean Diet has a strong cultural and gastronomic background that facilitates its use as a tool for healthy food choices. The right foods are incorporated to tasty recipes that are eaten in a relaxed atmosphere of social relationship. People not only choose meals for their benefits on nutrition and health but also for their taste, palatability and social sense. Food technology and scientific advances show us how the low processing of some fruits, vegetables or legumes, the adequate treatment of wastes and bioproducts or the application of alternative technologies to typically Mediterranean foods allow a better exploitation and, in many cases, increase food functionality contributing to a more sustainable food system. Processed foods can combine the need for convenience, long shelf life and palatability required by consumers with the raw materials and nutritional principles typical of Mediterranean Diet. Furthermore, ingredients from by-products with a Mediterranean food design could be used to improve the adherence to Mediterranean Diet.

Moreover, these foods must be combined with the promotion of cultural and social values that are reflected in a lifestyle in agreement with the environment. Thus, foods produced with low processing taking advantage of the scientific advances and with a convenient (ready to eat) design, must be integrated into traditional Mediterranean recipes that allow: To balance nutrients, to keep on Mediterranean consumption patterns and to promote local varieties and cultural heritage.

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[juniperpublishers-agriculture]

Use of GPS tracking collars on Sarda cattle in a Silvopastoral System- Juniper Publishers

Free-roaming Sarda cows grazing a Mediterranean silvopastoral area were fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking collars to estimate daily distance travelled (DT), daily (DW) and maximum distance (DWM) to water, and proportion of time (PT) the cows were near the water source, in different seasons and physiological status (dry and lactating). From a herd of 12 cows grazing 54-ha pasture, characterised by deciduous oak wood and glades, three cows (N=3) were fitted with Knight GPS collar during four sampling periods (one per season, from 26/02/19 to 16/10/2019). Collars recorded longitude, latitude, date, time, elevation at 3-minute intervals. DW and PT were calculated utilizing QGIS® (v. 3.16.3 “Hannover”). To compare DT, DW and DWM of dry and lactating cows across different seasons, the Aligned Rank Transform (ART) procedure was used, being the data were not normally distributed. The season affected (P<0.001) DT: the highest value was in Summer (7829±1305 m/day, median ± interquartile range), the lowest in Spring (4295±1617 m/day) and in Winter (4416±2487 m/day). Even DW and DWM were affected by the season: in Spring DW was 801±373 m, not different from the Autumn and Summer (709±126 m and 713±845 m, respectively), whereas cows stayed closer to water in Winter (570±135 m). Higher DWM was in Autumn and Summer (1328±130 m and 1310±98, respectively). Overall, the dry cows travelled more than lactating ones (7284±795 m/day and 4347±1845 m/day, respectively, P<0.001) moving further away from the water (DWM 1320±111 m and 1230±269 m, dry and suckling cows respectively) whereas DW was similar (710±122 m and 618±329 m, dry and lactating cows, respectively, P = 0.19). PT varied from 0.75% in Spring to 12.74% in Summer. These results represent the first findings concerning the Sarda cow grazing in silvopastoral areas.

Keywords: Low-cost GPS collar; Cows; distance travelled; Distance from water; Preference index.

Introduction

Livestock management on rangelands, with animals grazing extensive pastures, presents different challenges and an increased demand of labour than intensive livestock systems [1]. Understanding how cattle graze, how far they travel, and where they select to graze or rest can help the grazing management on rangelands since only an understanding of current grazing behavior can allow to manipulate the distribution patterns of animals. Moreover, the behavior in grazing livestock has an essential role in rangeland ecology. The distance pastured animals walk depends on many factors as size of the grazing area, the grass availability, the proximity of drinking water and management strategies [2]. Most of the problems associated with grazing animals in extensive rangeland pastures are related to their uneven patterns of landscape use. Cattle select locations on rangelands based on abiotic (e.g., topography) and biotic (e.g., forage quality) factors. Some of the most important factors that influence cattle grazing locations are distance to water, ease of travel, and amount of preferred forages. Farmers can improve distribution and grazing locations to more efficiently and uniformly utilize their forage resources by e.g., increasing water developments [3]. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology provides researchers with a tool to track cattle locations grazing distribution and activity. Advances in GPS technology create a consistent and accurate data source for individual animal locations over extended periods of a grazing season. Actually, livestock movement patterns can be monitored on a 24-h basis with GPS collars, with large amounts of animal location data over short sampling intervals and large spatial scales [4]. GPS tracking data can be to quantify the distance animals travel each day and to help estimate energy expenditure [3,5]. Indeed, foraging activity increases energy requirements of grazing animals and the estimates of this increase may range from minor to 50% [6]. The primary limitation to this technology was the cost of commercial GPS collars (from $1,500 to $2,000 per collar, 7) [8], developed a GPS collar that was less expensive (less than $1,000 USD) than commercial collars and, recently, low-cost GPS data loggers have been used to build unexpensive tracking collars ($150 to $300, 9) [9], removed excess weight from the device and added a larger capacity battery. It is important to note that these inexpensive GPS units do not have extra sensors built in, such as accelerometers, thermometers, or radio telemetry antennae used to locate the devices. This work is part of a long-term research project (iGRAL - Innovative beef cattle Grazing systems for the Restoration of Abandoned Lands in the Alpine and Mediterranean mountains) which aims at finding solutions to dramatic agropastoral abandonment of Italian mountains. Within this framework, free-roaming Sarda cows grazing a Mediterranean silvopastoral area were fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking collars to estimate the daily distance travelled (DT), the daily distance to water (DW), the maximum distance to water (DWM) and the proportion of time (PT) the cows were near the water point, expressed through a preference index (PI), in different seasons and physiological status of cows (dry and lactating).

Materials and Methods

Measurements and samplings

This study was conducted in an experimental farm of the Agricultural Research Agency of Sardinia (AGRIS Sardegna) located in Macomer (40°14’10’’N, 8°42’31’’E.) at 690 m a.s.l. It was conducted in compliance with the principles and specific guidelines on animal care and welfare as required by Italian law (Gazzetta Ufficiale, DL no. 116, January 27, 1992). The study area (ca 54 hectares) is characterised by deciduous oak wood, dominated by Downy Oak (Quercus pubescens Willd.), and glades with predominance of Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn. The remaining patches are composed by rock and herbaceous cover. The study pasture consisted of quite gentle terrain with an average elevation of 695 m (range 730 - 660 m) and average slope of 10.7% (range 0.5% - 36.3%). No extreme temperature or precipitation events occurred during the duration of this trial. The climate is Mediterranean with hot, dry, sunny summers and mild and rainy winters with some days of snow (average maximum temperature Tmax = 29.6; average minimum temperature Tmin = 1.9; total annual rainfall = 688 mm, https://it.climate-data.org/europa/italia/sardegna/macomer-14513/). Within the study area there is only one water point, located in the southern part of the study area. During the experimental period (from January to October 2019) the area was grazed by a cattle herd (N=12, 430±62 kg average live weight±s.d.), paired with their calves from calving period (October-November) to weaning (June-July). The cows belonged to Sarda breed, a small-to-medium-sized local breed, which is widespread throughout Sardinia and well adapted to the harsh environment of its hilly and mountainous areas. The beef livestock system in Sardinia is based on a suckler-cow system and calf production: the cows, mostly belonging to local breeds as Sarda cattle, crossed with specialized beef breeds (Charolais and Limousine), graze all year around in the mountain and hilly areas of Sardinia. The calves, weaned at about 6-7 months old, are sold mostly to the fattening centres of Po valley (Pianura Padana, in the North of Italy) for intensive fattening and commercialization [10]. Three cows (N=3) were randomly selected from the herd and fitted with modified igotU GT-600® GPS collars (Knight GPS collar, 9) during four sampling periods (one per season): from 26/02/19 to 03/03/2019 (winter), from 06/04/19 to 18/04/2019 (spring), from 16/07/19 to 24/07/2019 (summer) and from 26/09/2019 to 16/10/2019 (autumn). The cows from 26/02/19 to 18/04/2019 suckled their calves and from 16/07/19 to 16/10/2019 were dry. The Knight GPS collar uses the igotU GT-600® GFS unit and a recharge battery. Details are provided in [9]. The Knight GPS collars were placed on the neck of each of the tracked cows and were scheduled to record positions every 3 min. The fix rate was calculated for each collar, by dividing the number positions recorded by the scheduled number of fixes desired (480 positions every 24 h). Latitude and longitude coordinates were converted to the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system using a spreadsheet provided by the University of Wisconsin (http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/usefuldata/howuseexcel.htm) to facilitate calculation of distance travelled. Distance between two sequential positions was calculated using the Pythagorean theorem and then summed for 24-h periods to estimate distance travelled per day (DT). Average (DW) and maximum (DWM) daily distance from water and the estimate of the proportion of time the tracked cows were near the watering point were calculated using spatial analyst tools in the mapping program QGIS (v. 3.10.14 “A Coruña”).

Statistical analysis

To compare DT, DW, and DWM of dry and lactating cows and across different seasons, the Aligned Rank Transform (ART) procedure was used, being the data were not normally distributed. The ARTool procedure of R software version 3.3.2 (The R Development Core Team, 2016) was exploited to develop the model; the main fixed effects of physiological status of cows and season on daily Distance Travelled (DT), on average (DW) and maximum daily Distance from Water (DWM) were examined [11] and post hoc pairwise comparisons were conducted [12]. Animal was considered as random factor. Differences between treatments were determined by F tests. Tukey’s multiple comparison test was applied as appropriate to evaluate pairwise comparisons between treatment group means. Treatment differences with a P-value less than or equal to 0.05 were considered as significantly different, unless indicated otherwise. Preference Indices for water (PI) [13,14] were calculated for each season and physiological state of cows (dry and suckling). Preference indices were calculated as the proportion of GPS records in a buffer area of 20m. radius surrounding the water point divided by the proportional area of that buffer (ratio between buffer area and total experimental area). A 95% confidence interval with a Bonferroni adjustment [15] was calculated for each preference index to determine if buffer area was avoided, used indifferently, or preferred by cows. Values >1 for the lower confidence limit indicated preferential selection for a particular ecological group, while values <1 for the upper confidence limit indicated that cows used that buffer area proportionally less than its availability would suggest. If the value of 1 was within the confidence interval, it implied that cows were indifferent and used the buffer area in proportion to its presence.

Results

A total of 103199 valid animal positions were recorded during the deployment period. Average (± standard deviation) GPS fix rate was 94±2%. The average daily Distance Travelled (DT), the average (DW) and maximum daily distance (DWM) from water of cows in different seasons and in different physiological status (dry and suckling) are shown in (Table 1,2). The Proportion of Time the tracked cows were near the water point (PT) and the PI for water in different season and physiological status of cows are shown in (Table 3,4).

Discussion

The proportion of individuals fitted with GPS over the whole herd in this work was 25%. According to [16] behavioral assessment of few individuals, into of a group, may estimate the behavior of entire group. As a GPS fix was collected in 94% of attempts and standard deviation (7.2s) of the fixes was low, each point was accepted as representing equal time portions [17]. According to [18], in extensive system, each day grazing animals must decide where to graze, ruminate, rest, and drink. Large herbivore activity and use patterns in different areas are based on the kind of resources found there. Both abiotic (slope, distance to water, weather.) and biotic factors (forage quality, forage quantity, secondary compounds.) influence the way livestock use rangelands. Cattle and other large herbivores are central-place foragers with the central place or home place centered on water. Water is, therefore, the primary focal point around which the daily feeding and resting activities are arranged [18]. Distance to water have a strong effect on livestock distribution. As horizontal distance to water increase, utilization of an area usually decreases resulting in overuse near stock water and underuse at distances from stock water. [19] found that cattle preferred areas within 185 m of water and avoided areas greater than 600 m from water in mountainous terrain and, in general, preferentially use feeding sites nearest the stock water source. Using GPS technology, Ganskopp [20] documented the change in grazing patterns when the location of stock water was changed. This is because sufficient water must be available to animals in a specific area, given the current and expected climatic conditions. The DT values detected under our conditions (Table 1,2) are in line with the findings of Walker and Heitschmidt [21], which reported 5.8, 6.5 and 8.2 km/day with cows grazing 248-ha continuous pasture, 27-ha and 10-ha rotation pastures, respectively. Even [22] (heifers travelling 5.5 km/day in 4-ha rotation pastures and 6.1 km/day in a 20-ha continuous pasture) and [23] (Lidia cattle breed travelling from 2.2 and 4.3 km/day) reported similar values. However, [24] suggest that “an optimized rotational grazing system should be designed so that cattle do not have to travel more than 800 feet (ca 245 m) for water” but, they add “the guidelines for providing water extend beyond distance, however.” Distance to water appears to be the major factor controlling distance travelled, more than pasture size or grazing system [25,26] estimated that steers travelled 2.7 km/day in pastures where maximum distance to water was 640 m vs. 1.9 km/day where distance was 240m. [27] stated that 90% of grazing occurred within 3 km of well-watered paddocks. The authors claimed the correctness of calculating carrying capacity within a 3 km grazing radius in well-watered paddocks. Over this distance, very high utilization and poor land condition closer to water may result. The maximum distance to water values recorded in our work (Table 1, 2) seem to confirm the estimates of [26], taking into account the larger maximum distance to water detected in our conditions. Moreover, our DWM values have always been below the threshold value (3km) indicated by [27], suggesting our experimental area as well-watered. On the other hands, should be taken into account that accessibility of pasture, and hence its grazing capacity, progressively decreases as distance from water increase. This is because forage utilization has been found to decrease consistently as distance from water increase, leading to a graduated more than a uniform utilization of the vegetation [28]. The most important consequence of graduated utilization of vegetation is the fact that the amount of vegetation alone does not express a true grazing capacity value for a pasture. Size, shape of pastures and location of watering places are of utmost importance. Pastures could be well watered, have the same size and shape and contain the same kind and amount of vegetation and still could have different grazing capacities if water locations are considerably different. Water points centrally located in the pasture increase the grazing capacity of pasture [28]. In our experimental area, the longest DWM detected was 1328 m, hence, in line with [28] degree of grazing use would be below the 40%. This element is to be taken into account in the determination of a proper stocking rate. Ambient temperature, activity, and lactation status can all affect water requirements of beef cattle. Dry cows require 20 to 60 l of water per day whereas lactating cows require 38 to 80 l per day [29]. The greater water requirement of lactating cows and the behavioral requirements of caring for a calf can limit use of pasture [30,31] found that cows without calves graze further from riparian areas than cows that are nursing calves.

In the light of these general considerations, the longer distances travelled by the cows in summer and autumn (Table 1) and by nonlactating cows (Table 2) found in this work seem to have been due to three factors, mutually interacting:

a) In Sardinian beef livestock system, the calves are suckled by their mothers mainly until June. In the summer and autumn, therefore, the cows are nonlactating. The nonlactating cows are less hindered in their movement and use extensive pastures more evenly than cow-calf pairs, as also shown in the Tab. 2, where the longest distances covered by dry cows are highlighted.

b) In the summer the animals need to go to the water point more often. Moreover, during the experimental year, there were no rainfall events at the end of summer. The cows were therefore forced to increase the water point visits in autumn as well. In other seasons, animals can obtain water from other sources: the presence of snow during the winter may reduce the amount of water that livestock must drink. Water content of forages may be high enough in early spring so that cattle make minor use of stock water sources.

c) the longer distances covered in summer and autumn could also be linked to the forage quantity and quality at these times. When forage is abundant and of high quality, the time livestock spend grazing is reduced. As forage quality decreases, intake rates decline and grazing time increases, together with the distance travelled [32]. As expected, as the season progressed, the quality of the herbage deteriorates, according to a typical pattern of Mediterranean pastures [33]. Unfortunately, in a Mediterranean area such as Sardinia the herbage availability is abundant only for a few months in spring [34,35]. The longer distance travelled by cows in Summer and Autumn could be also due to the presence in the pasture, in these seasons, of flies (e.g. Hypoderma bovis). When face flies are a problem, cattle tend to select upland or open areas with more wind for resting. The animals are very bothered by these insects and tend to run away to try to shake them off, thus covering greater distances. The Preference index (PI), for the area of 20 m radius, surrounding the water point showed a selection of this area in all the seasons and by both lactating and non-lactating cows (Table 3,4). A marked seasonally variation in the selection was detected, with a stronger preference of cows for water point in Summer (Table. 3), confirming the findings discussed above. As expected, suckling cows showed a greater PI (Table 4), confirming their greater requirements for water [29]. These results show how the PI is to be considered an excellent synthesis tool for evaluating the grazing behavior of cows, allowing to detect preferred areas by grazing animals [36].

Conclusions

This work represents a first attempt to fill the lack of knowledge on behavior of Sarda cows grazing in silvopastoral area. Livestock’s environmental impact is frequently determined by livestock distribution; its knowledge can be an effective tool for reducing adverse impacts from livestock. An awareness of livestock needs and management is crucial for livestock producers, land managers, environmental interest groups, and policy makers. Distance travelled, distance from water and proportion of time the cows were near to water are crucial elements for a first understanding of the behavior of grazing cows. The advent GPS tracking has greatly enhanced the possibility of assessing these aspects and improve distribution and uniformity of grazing by livestock. The results of this work can allow:

i. A first estimate of energy expenditure for walking of Sarda cows in Mediterranean silvopastoral areas

ii. To evaluate the efficiency of water point distribution in the paddock and to point out the preference of cows for the water in different seasons and physiological state

The latter is the basis for hypothesizing the arrangement of portable stock tanks in grazed area or closing access to specific watering points in order to alter the distribution patterns of beef cattle on extensive pasture. This management practice may be used to 1) ensure more uniform use of forages across large pastures over time, 2) attract cattle to areas not habitually used, 3) temporarily lure cattle away from overgrazed areas, without the expense of fencing. Preliminary results are promising, but more research is needed to provide a real-time monitoring and management system (precision livestock management), able to improve livestock productivity and welfare.

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Trends on New Cooperage Toasting/Charring Technology TCT. Radio Frequency Volumetric Heating and Infrared Surface Toasting Principles and Application: Influence on the Heartwood Composition and Quality- Juniper Publishers

In the cooperage field, heating treatment represents one of the key step of casks production. First, heating is necessary to permit the binding of the staves and promote the general shape of the casks. In addition, it ensures the degradation of some polymers, such as polysaccharides and lignins, leading to the formation of various aroma compounds which directly contribute to the quality of the final product [1]. Consequently, the wood heating treatment directly impacts the diversity of composition and quality of both spirits and wines aged in these casks. In traditional systems used in barrel making process, heat energy is transferred from a wood fire (heat source) to the product (wood). In this case, it is necessary to heat materials for much longer times to ensure the interior of products be heated to an appropriate temperature, which in turn may bring about overheating on the surface of products. Indeed, conventional heating methods relies mainly on two heat transfer mechanisms, convection at the surface and conduction within the wood, which alternately have dominated effects at different stages during heating process. At the beginning of 1990 decade, some other systems appeared with gas heat or with electric heat system as a bread toaster. In the same time, several modern techniques were also developed using radio frequency probe for broad applications. In this context, two devices presented a high interest in cooperage: the Radio Frequency (RF) heating and InfraRed (IR) surface toasting. This system presented the main advantage to control with high fine tunings the toasting intensity, with maximum of consistency in the heat application to the wood. Thanks to a drastic decrease of the heat variability, a better homogeneity in the cask product was possible, leading to a reproducible cask’s composition, and thus a better control of the influence of wood on wine and spirit aging.

Brief of new Cooperage Toasting/Charring Technologies

Radio frequency heating

In contrast to conventional methods, RF heating, also known as high frequency dielectric heating, is a volumetric heating technique where electromagnetic waves (10 to 300 MHz) directly couple with the product, involving a direct transfer of electromagnetic energy. Thus, RF heating is different, since it heats at molecular level. RF treatment involves heating with electromagnetic waves. The heated product forms a “dielectric” between two metal capacitor plates, which are alternatively charged positively and negatively by a high frequency alternating electric field. three in other words, when the dielectric material (such as wood) with polarized molecules and charged ions is subjected to an alternating electrical field, one phenomenon that occurs is that positive ions within the material move towards negative regions of the electromagnetic field and inversely for negative ions, which is often referred to as “ionic migration.” In addition to the migration of charged ions, polar molecules, such as water, are forced to constantly align themselves appropriately with the electric field which is known as “dipole rotation” [2,3]. These phenomena lead to frictional interactions between molecules, resulting in heat generation. The interaction between wood and RF energy is also governed by the relative complex wood permittivity (i.e the ability of wood to store energy) and can affected by various factors, such as the frequency used, the wood density and moisture content [4].

Infrared (IR) Radiation Heating

IR radiation is based on the transfer of energy by radiation between the emitting source, made up of electric heating elements, and the heated product which absorbs all or part of this energy. IR radiation falls between the region of visible light and microwaves of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is propagated as a wave and gets converted into heat when interrupted by the food surface. According to wavelength, it can be distributed into three regions: near-IR (0.78–1.4 mm), mid-IR (1.4–3.0 mm) and far-IR (3.0– 1000 mm). Practically, products absorb IR energy most efficiently by changing the molecular vibrational state resulting in radiative heating. The exposure of IR radiation to the surface material results in its penetration into product, the radiation was transformed into thermal energy and the product is then heated intensely [5]. It was reported that IR heating results in high rate of heat transfer compared to conventional heating, and the product is more uniformly heated, resulting in better quality characteristics [6]. The macromolecular composition and structure of the product as well as the wavelength of IR radiation determines the depth of penetration IR radiation into the product. Although appealing because it is fast and produces heating inside the material, total energy absorption in IR heating is limited due to the inability of IR radiation to penetrate deeper inside the product [7]. Optimum use of energy through synergic effect may be obtained by combining IR heating with other forms of energy such as microwave or radio frequency modes of heating. Generally, solid materials absorb infrared radiation in a thin surface layer, but it was important to note that moist porous materials are penetrated by radiation to some depth, and their transmissivity depends on the moisture content [8].

Materials and methods

Generals

For this specific study, some experiments were performed in laboratories with small apparatus permitted the heat treatment of oak heartwood pieces. The 2x5 cm French oak pieces (Q. petraea from center of France or Tronçais forest) obtained from Demptos cooperage were used. Different Radio Frequency or Infrared programs (time, targeted temperature, or wavelength) were applied. The control sample corresponded to barrel toasted with traditional method by a wood fire. Two pieces of stave (2x5 cm) were chosen in the middle of the barrel after light, medium or heavy toast. The same procedure was carried out by infrared toasted of a 2x5 cm oak piece from the same wood pool used for the barrel production. Experiments were performed in triplicate. The TCT treatment was decomposed in two parts: first, the wood sample was heated until 130°C or 140°C by radio frequency in order to obtain the same effect as pre-heating before binding. Then and before temperature decrease, the second step of the real toasting by infrared radiation was applied. Infrared with short or medium wavelengths required 1 or 2 minutes to obtain light, medium, or heavy toasting, depending on the energy intensity. Radio frequency system reached the target temperature (130°C) in only few seconds. The toasting started when the temperature was maintained during few minutes. For the charring process, wood samples were toasted until the formation of a complete black layer with dense white smoke was observed, but before burning for laboratory security reasons. Liquid extraction was then performed after a 24-h period necessary to rebalance the temperature and humidity of wood sample. Each sample was extracted by 250 mL of acetone/water mixture (7/3, v/v) during 2 weeks in dark, at room temperature and under nitrogen atmosphere to prevent oxidation. Due to the large polarity of the solvent mixture used, a broad range of compounds were extracted. Solutions were then filtered, and acetone was removed by evaporation under vacuum at 35°C. Furanic, phenolic aldehydes derivatives and ellagic acid were then analyzed by liquid chromatography. For better clarity and concision of the data interpretation, only the main by-products issued from the thermolysis of the oak heartwood polymers were studied: hydroxyl-methyl-furfural from cellulose; furfural from hemicellulose; vanillin and syringaldehyde from lignins; and ellagic acid from C-glucosidic-ellagitannins. Only hydroxyl-methyl-furfural and vanillin were selected for global comparison (Figures 1-5).

Radio Frequency and infrared radiation heating systems

Experimental equipement, adaptated for laboratories investigation on small peace of oak, are provided by E.A Technology Ltd. (Capenhurst, Chester, CH1 6ES, GB).

LC-ES/MS analysis of wood aldehydes, furanics and pyranics compounds

HPLC/UV-Visible analyses were performed with a Waters separation module system, a Waters UV-Visible detector, and Millenium32 chromatography manager software. UV-visible spectra were recorded at 280 nm and 320 nm (for specific detection of phenolic aldehydes). The column was a reverse-phase Interchim C18 (10 m packing, 250 x 4.7 mm i.d.) protected with a guard column of the same material; solvent A, water/formic acid (98:2, v/v); solvent B, acetonitrile/water/formic acid (80:18:2, v/v). The column was placed at ambient temperature. The elution program was performed at a constant flow of 1 ml/min, passing from 5 to 30% of B in 40 min., and then rising to 40% of B in 10 min., and finally to 100% of B in 5 min., followed by washing and re-equilibrating the column during 15 min. The injection volume was 20l. MS measurements were performed on a LCQ ThermoTM instrument with an electrospray ionization source, in negative-ion mode with a spray voltage of 4.5 KV, capillary temperature: 275°C.

Pyrolysis-GC-MS experiment

A “PYROJECTOR SGE II” was used as pyrolyzer, in conjunction with a Varian 3400 CX model gas chromatography apparatus equipped with a Varian Saturn 4D ion trap detector. Samples (approximately 0.1-0.2 mg) were placed in the pyrolyzer and triplicate pyrolysis experiments were carried out at different temperatures: 300°C, 400°C, 450°C, 500°C, 600°C. General profiles for pyrolyzates were obtained using EI-MS. Separation of the pyrolysis products was achieved using a fused-silica capillary column: RTX-20 WCOT(30 m x 0.25 mm i.d x 1m phase thickness, 80% dimethyl and 20% diphenylpolysiloxane). Helium was used as the carrier gas at a nominal flowrate of 1 ml/min. The inlet mode was spitless. The gas chromatography oven was operated using the following programme: isothermal for 10 min at 50 °C, then raised from 50 °C to 280°C at 6°C/min. The mass spectrometer was set at 70 eV. Spectra were produced using a ChemStation software package. Identification was achieved by mass fragmentometry, by comparison of their mass spectra and relative retention times with those of compounds reported in the literature and the National Institute of Standards library (NIST). When possible, the identifications were accomplished by comparison with authentic standards. Quantification was based on peak areas (total integral of identified compounds equals 100). The syringyl/guaiacyl ratios (S/G) were calculated by dividing the sum of the peak areas of syringyl units by the sum of the peak areas of guaiacyl units.

Result

Preliminary results on radio frequency and infrared heated treatment of oak wood, comparison with traditional casks fire binding/toasting process. Preliminary results are presented on and. The effect of RF/IR heat treatment on wood pieces and the practical effect of traditional binding/toasting in cooperage were investigated. Only French oak was analyzed in this study and further research are required on different oak origins, especially on American oak. illustrates the impact of the various heating procedures on the content of HMF and vanillin, chosen as indicators of heat treatment. Regarding the untoasted oak (control sample), heat treatment promoted the formation of HMF and vanillin at different levels but always higher than in control. Interestingly, a global evolution of theirs contents according to the toasting intensity (light, medium, heavy toast) was emerged. Using either traditional binding/toasting in cooperage or with RF/IR heat treatment, same evolution trend was observed. For the first stage, both methods were similar, and combining RF and IR heat treatments well-reproduced the main impact of a traditional binding/toasting. More precisely, RF/IR heat treatment promoted a higher concentration of HMF and vanillin for each toasting level (LT, MT, HT), since the reaction was more intense than in the traditional binding/toasting procedure. The differences observed were significant and represented up to 25 to 50% higher concentration of the two assayed compounds for RF/IR heat treatment. Concerning the charring trial, visual aspect of the wood surface was very close to traditional charring with gas fire and corresponded to what expected for this kind of treatment. These results were in accordance with examination made by J.S Swan on this experimental sample (IR charring versus oven charring) and other samples issued from a real charring treatment in a Scotland cooperage. Consequently, a typical charring was also possible using RF/IR heat treatment. In our study context, charring promoted the degradation of the majority of the wood polymers such as polysaccharides and lignins, leading to higher concentrations in HMF and vanillin than heavy toasting. Surprising different results were obtained with an oven charring or gas charring. Indeed, the content of aroma compounds in these two last procedures was lower, especially for compounds issued from polysaccharides. RF/IR heat treatment allowed to reach, in the same time, the standard level of a visual charring, with conservation of a large amount of aroma compounds. In a second series of experiment, the specific effect of a pre-heated operation by RF system before the post-toasted treatment by IR was investigated. Interestingly, since the pre-heated treatment by RF was usually necessary for binding the stave, this operation also improved the aromatic compounds produced during the second heated treatment by IR. presents the effect of (i) RF treatment at 130°C (just before binding) following by the IR toasting, and (ii) RF pre-heating at 140°C, maintained at this temperature for 3 min and followed by the normal process of IR post-heating to obtain low, high, and medium toasting levels respectively.

This highlighted that the 3-min delay at 140°C significantly improved the thermolysis reaction with an increase of HMF and vanillin content in the treated oak samples. For low, medium, and high toasting’s, the variation of the concentration was impacted by a factor 2 and similarly concerned polysaccharides pyrolysis (HMF) and lignins pyrolysis (vanillin) products. It is reasonable to imagine similar observations about the melanoïdins formation and their main pyrolysis products, like maltol or cycloten (not confirmed in this work by specific experiments). After targeting an optimisation of pre-heated treatment by RF system, the IR heating treatment was then improved. A regular RF pre-heated (to reach 130°C) and a series of toasting with medium or short wavelength for 1 or 2 min were thus compared. Data revealed that (i) the exposition time to IR for 1 or 2 min increased the concentration of HMF and vanillin in oak samples and (ii) medium wavelength promoted all the pyrolysis reactions, with higher concentration of aroma products at the end of the heat treatment application. Higher content in HMF and vanillin was obtained for the procedure with medium wavelength during 2 min. An IR heating with medium wavelength option for 1 min represented thus a good compromise between time of treatment and balance of aroma compounds.

Finally, the reproducibility of the heating system was studied by comparing traditional fire binding/toasting and RF/IR methods. For both medium and heavy toastings, RF binding and IR toasting gave the best consistency in the production of HMF and vanillin (i.e lower variability in the content of these two compounds), suggesting best robustness of the RF/IR method than traditional one.

A first approach of the specificity of pyrolysis chemistry reaction for RF/IR heat treatment

An overview of pyrolysis reaction. According to the polymer composition of oak wood, various molecules formed by pyrolysis derived from polysaccharides, or carbohydrates and lignins. During pyrolysis, polysaccharides produced different furanic and pyranic compounds, such as 2-, 3- and 2,5-furfuraldehyde, 4-hydroxy-5,6-dihydro-(2H)-pyrane-2-one, 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfuraldehyde (also called HMF, using as a key compound in our investigation) or hydroxymethyl-pyranone. The 2-, 3-, and 2,5-furfuraldehydes came from pyrolysis of the pentose units of hemicellulose, whereas the 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfuraldehyde from the glucose units of cellulose. The ratio between the heights of m/z 96 (in pyrolysis/MS analysis) and 126 peaks was, on average, 1.9 ± 0.2 [9]. Although cellulose is more abundant in wood, hemicellulose is more easily thermally degraded. The main products originating from pyrolysis of lignins are classified as guaiacyl “G“units (monomethoxylated) and syringyl “S“ units (dimethoxylated). Among the G units, 2-methoxyphenol and 4-formyl-2-methoxyphenol (also called vanillin, using as a key compound in our investigation) were identified. Similarly, 4-vinyl-2,6-dimethoxyphenol and 4-formyl-2,6-dimethoxyphenol (syringaldehyde) were identified within the S-units. The S/G ration varied during the course of pyrolysis: 1.25 at around 150°C, 18 at 195°C, 2.2 at 220°C and 0.77 at around 250°C [9]. This result suggested that, for temperature below 220°C, pyrolysis degrades the S units of the lignins selectively whereas, at higher temperatures, the phenomenon is reversed and lignins, in G units, were more affected.

Cellulose, although much more abundant in oak than hemicellulose, is degraded less, whatever the temperature level. The crystalline structure of a part of the cellulose explains its resistance [10]. Using CPMAS 13C NMR, the proportion of crystalline cellulose in Q. robur and Q. petraea was present at 45% [11]. During pyrolysis, the furanic derivatives released by thermal degradation of arabinose and xylose were predominant. Depolymerization of lignins was high at temperature of around 150°C. Beyond this temperature, a sharp decrease was observed in the thermo-degradation products. In accordance with [12], the increase in temperature led to depolymerization at first, followed by cross-linkage of the lignin at higher temperature. The new polymers produced have higher molecular masses and fusion points. Careful examination of S/G ratio showed that the different kinds of lignins were transformed during pyrolysis. From 150°C to 220°C, the S/G ratio is greater than 1 and above 250°C, it becomes less than 1. During the first phase of thermolysis, the lignins located in the secondary walls, rich in S units, were degraded. At higher temperature, thermal degradation concerned more particularly the primary walls containing lignins rich in G units [13]. Some specificity of the RF/IR treatment in comparison with traditional fire toasting. Based on specific experiment, the practical aspects of pyrolysis chemistry for FR/IR heat treatment were studied in comparison with traditional fire binding/toasting. The heat treatment on main oak heartwood polymers, as well as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignins and ellagitannin composition, was evaluated. In both experiments and for all targeted compounds, RF/IR heat treatment gave more thermal degradation by-products: HMF, furfuraldehyde for polysaccharides; vanillin, syringaldehyde for lignins; and ellagic acid for ellagitannins. Concerning polysaccharides, effects were discriminated according to the nature of polymers. For cellulose, the more resistant form of polysaccharides to pyrolysis because partially crystallized, RF/IR promotes a large increase in the content of HMF (+72, +74%) the main key aroma compound derived from this polymer. In contrast, and although the quantity of specific by-products were higher by RF/IR treatment, hemicellulose (easily pyrolysis polysaccharide) presented a less answer to RF/IR treatment. Indeed, a limited increase (+11, +20%) of the furfuraldehyde concentration (key compound of hemicellulose) was noted comparing to traditional fire binding/toasting. This difference was clearly highlighted by the ratio HMF/furfuraldehyde comparison: 0.04-0.02 for traditional fire toasting and 0.11-0.06 for RF/IR treatment. Concerning lignins, the chemistry pyrolysis was not affected by the heating system, since a more or less similar ratio S/G was found using either traditional fire binding/toasting and FR/IR treatment: 2.8-3.0 for the first experiment and 2.2 for the second. However, and similarly to polysaccharides, the final concentration of by-products enlarged in a significant proportion (+61% to +71%). Finally, interesting findings were obtained for ellagitannins. In comparison to traditional fire binding/toasting, RF/IR treatment degraded a larger amount of ellagitannins, observable by the increase of ellagic acid (+65% to +77%), the mains stable by-product of C-glucosidic ellagitannins thermal degradation.

Discussion and conclusions

The aim of this study was to investigate a new generation of cooperage heat treatment by electric devices in order to substitute the traditional fire system. This study was conducted mainly to push-on the rate of casks binding and toasting in the industrial process. Radio frequency and infrared system appeared as a great compromise between the faster capacity to operate and their ability of mimic the global chemical process occurred during the traditional fire method. However, some differences were also observed, in favor to the RF/IR equipment. However, before anything else, several potential difficulties due to fast heating procedure needed to be clarified: The binding can promote the stave breakage, since we don’t take enough time to reach in the same time the plasticity of the wood (by temperature application), the repartition of the tension (surface tension of the lignins and the mains polymers) and the plasticity capacity homogenization on the whole volume of the staves material. To solve this specific problem, it was probably highly recommended to increase the duration of binding, from few seconds to a minimum of 20 seconds. Pre-moisturizing casks may help to reach this point. Another issue was the constant temperature repartition within the wood. Theatrically, in the FR and IR systems, the temperature was constant in every part of the wood in accordance with our program selection. However, wood structure, especially wood porosity, was not uniform and led to some change in the physical properties of the stave. Thus, this phenomenon has to be taken into account when a program of toasting was designed. This issue may also be an advantage when the variety of the toasting profiles was considered, that sometimes represented a part of the complexity of casks and the ageing quality. Concerning the specific point of toasting and aroma production, the RF/IR method clearly initiated a higher production of aroma compounds, even coming from some particular pyrolytic resistant polymers like cellulose. Better degradation of ellagitannins was also observed, resulting in a final low polyphenol impact of the cask and an improve of mouthfeel properties of aged wines and spirits. In comparison with traditional fire toasting method, the consistency and the reproducibility of the toasting, underlining by a lower variability in the content of HMF and vanilla, was also obtained using RF/IR treatment. Indeed, application of a specific program of treatment, such as pre-heating for few minutes (2-3 min) by radiofrequency at 140°C-150°C, enhanced the aroma compounds production. This was particularly useful to increase aroma potential of wood casks, preserve energy by a faster IR toasting or retreat old casks (5- 10- fill casks). This also facilitated the production of a minimum of aromatic compounds coming from pyrolysis of the residual polymers which were still active in aroma production. Overall, the RF/IR combination system as a binding/toasting system presents a high interest in the barrel-making process, due to the fastness of the cooperage facility, as well as the final product quality. Considering our first investigations, the application of this technique for industrial casks production was thus highly recommended.

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Irrigation System Distribution Uniformity Evaluations in the Pajaro Valley, California- Juniper publishers

The Resource Conservation District (RCD) of Santa Cruz County and the UC Cooperative Extension of Monterey County performed 25 distribution uniformity (DU) evaluations in the Pajaro Valley between September 2015 and July 2017 following a method developed by Dr. Mike Cahn from the UC Cooperative Extension of Monterey County. The evaluations were performed in collaboration with interested growers and resulted in reports with recommendations to improve the performance of the irrigation system. An estimate of the potential savings, in terms of water and costs, were also included in each evaluation. Funding for the project came from PVWMA and from DWR.

Distribution uniformity is a measure of how evenly water is delivered to the crop and is an indicator of the efficiency of the irrigation system. Less water needs to be applied for a system with a high DU to meet the crop demand than a system with low DU. By improving DU of the irrigation system water conservation can be achieved at the same time avoiding over‐irrigation, runoff and water logging.

Each evaluation consisted of pressure measurements taken at various points across the irrigation system, to evaluate the performance of the pumping station equipment, main and submain lines, valves and pressure regulators. In drip systems lead hose connecting the submain to the drip tape laterals and the drip tape performance were also evaluated. Catch-can experiments were performed in all evaluations, placing cups or bottles under the emitters in drip systems and setting a grid of buckets under sprinkler systems. Other indicators of the irrigation system performance and management were recorded, such as runoff and ponding produced by the irrigation, leaks, row orientation, system flushing, emitter plugging, nozzle wear etc.

The evaluated irrigation systems included drip tape, drip hose, pressure compensating emitters, micro‐ sprinklers and overhead sprinklers irrigating various crops such as strawberry, vegetables, ornamentals, caneberries, apple and wine grapes (Table 1). On each ranch, only a fraction of the total ranch area was evaluated, usually one or two irrigation blocks. The evaluated irrigation blocks ranged in side from 0.6 acres to 5.7 acres and totaled 82 acres. Ranches ranged in size from 3 to 100 acres and the area of all ranches combined was 700 acres.

Table 2 shows the recommendations resulting from the evaluations and the frequency of the recommendation. The most common recommendation was to install pressure checkpoint (Schrader valves) and to provide the irrigator with a handheld pressure gauge to check water pressure when operating the system. The second most common recommendation was to install pressure regulators to balance pressure between different blocks; this recommendation was very common in ranches with sloped fields. Plugged emitters were the third most common cause of poor DU, particularly in ranches where liquid organic fertilizer was injected in the system. Recommended practices to avoid plugging were: flushing tapes and manifolds after each fertigation and stopping the fertilizer injection at least 30 to 45 minutes before the end of the irrigation set to allow the fertilizer to be completely flushed from the drip lines. Fixing leaks and installing larger diameter oval hoses were the next most common recommendation for drip systems. In some ranches, pressure regulators were present, but the irrigator was not trained on how to adjust them or did not have a pressure gauge to measure the pressure. Thus, adjusting pressure regulators was also a common recommendation. Other recommendations included increasing the irrigated area instead of closing a valve to reduce pressure in the irrigation system, changing row orientation to lessen the slope of the rows, and improving maintenance of the filters.

When grouped by irrigation method, drip tape showed the highest average DU (83%) followed by drip hose with pressure compensating emitters (81%), sprinklers (76%) and the lowest was drip tape in organic production (75.5%) (Figure 1). However, the differences in DU were not statistically significant (P‐value 0.34, Table 3). In one case pressure compensating systems did not yield a better DU than traditional driptape, since the system was run at a pressure below the pressure‐compensating range of the emitters. Drip tape in organic ranches yielded poorer results than in conventional production, due to emitter plugging resulting from injecting organic liquid fertilizer, and because organic ranches are often located on marginal sloping land where differences in elevation affect the DU.

Table 4 summarizes the potential savings estimated for each ranch based on the measured DU, the target DU considered achievable for the ranch conditions, and the estimated average seasonal evapotranspiration of the crop. Potential savings in terms of volumes of water in Acre‐feet (Ac‐ft)/season were calculated for each ranch assuming that the grower would implement recommendations across their whole ranch, improving the DU from the observed to the target value. Monetary savings were also calculated based on PVWMA augmentation fees and average pumping costs. In some cases, the potential cash savings exceed the costs of the equipment needed to improve the DU, which would also result in indirect revenue for the farming operation due to less nitrogen leaching, increased yields, and regulatory relief. However, the total estimated potential savings for all farms evaluated was 149 Ac‐ft per season, which is a relatively modest savings, compared to PVWMA’s basin‐wide conservation target of 5000 Ac‐ft by 2035.

In some systems evaluated, the measured application rate deviated substantially from the design application rate (Table 5), with the measured application rate ranging from 63% higher, to 32% lower than the designed application rate. This deviation was observed regardless of the measured DU and was common even in fields with very high distribution uniformity. This occurred usually because the operating pressure was higher or lower than recommended by the drip tape manufacturer. Knowledge of the actual application rate is crucial to correctly schedule irrigation events. For example the first ranch in Table 5, although presenting a DU of 96%, would be under‐irrigating by 15%, whereas the third ranch, with a DU of 91% would be underirrigating by 19%. These results suggest that even very efficient system can be hindered by improper management.

A negative correlation was found between the slope of the ranch and the DU measured for drip systems and a positive correlation for sprinkler systems (Figure 2). The linear regressions were not statistically significant when the data was grouped by method (Drip and Sprinkler in Table 5), due to the significant scatter in DU for ranches without significant slope. When only drip system at ranches with appreciable slope (higher than 1.5%) was considered, the linear regression was significant (Table 6 & Figure 3). This correlation appears to be caused by the high variability of pressure caused by differences in elevation and highlights the importance of pressure regulators and adequate row orientation on sloped fields.

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Browntop Millet- A Review- Juniper Publishers

Browntop millet (Brachiaria ramosa (L.) Stapf; Panicum ramosum L.) is an introduced annual grass that originated in South-East Asia. It is grown in Africa, Arabia, China and Australia [1]. It was introduced to the United States from India in 1915 [2]. In the US, it is mainly grown in the South-East for hay, pasture and game bird feed. The browntop millet, called korale in Kannada, is specially grown in rainfed tracts of Tumakuru, Chitradurga and Chikkaballapura districts of Karnataka state. The crop is popular in this region in terms of cultivation and consumption. This millet seed is grown in a variety of soils and climates. Like other millets, it is a hardy crop and well suited for dry land.

Description

Browntop millet is an annual warm-season species that grows 1 to 3 ft tall. The smooth stems have pubescent nodes and may stand erect or ascend from a decumbent base. The leaves are 2.2 to 18cm long and 6-18mm wide; both surfaces are smooth. The inflorescence is indeterminate, open, spreading with simple axis and stalked flowers. It has 3-15 inflorescences and white flowers. Seeds are ellipsoid and tan in colour; they mature in approximately 60 days [3].

Uses

Forage/grain: Compared to other warm season forage grasses, browntop millet is relatively low yielding. Its strength is that it is a rapidly maturing grass, often used as a catch crop, cover crop or nurse crop [4]. Browntop millet can accumulate toxic/lethal levels of nitrate and should not be fed to livestock if the plant has been stressed by droughty or cold conditions. There is evidence of the cultivation of browntop millet as a subsistence crop in Neolithic India and it continues to be used as a grain and forage crop in India today [5]. Grains from taller nonshattering varieties are used as a boiled whole grain, porridge or unleavened bread [6].

a. Cover crop: Browntop millet is used to suppress root- knot nematode populations in tomato and pepper crops in the South-East [7]. It is grown as a fast-growing catch crop between commodity crops and is not known to be allelopathic.

b. Critical area planting: Browntop millet is used as a fast growing cover for erosion control. It is used as a nurse crop in the South-East until a perennial grass cover is established. It also has the ability to accumulate significant amounts of lead and zinc in shoot and root tissues making it an important plant for remediation of contaminated soils [8].

c. Wild life: Browntop millet produces large quantities of seeds. These millet seeds are used in food plots for game birds that are highly attracted to the nutritious seed. Browntop millet is one of the few types of millet that can be planted and flooded for ducks or planted in dry areas for deer, quail, dove, turkey and other wild life.

Cultivation

Planting time: Browntop millet can be planted from mid- April until mid August in most locations, though later plantings will result in lower yields.

Seed rate and planting: The seed rate for browntop millet will depend upon both the target species (birds & wild life) and the seedling method. Birds food plots are generally seeded at the rate of approximately 4-5kg per acre when planted in rows and 11-12kg per acre when broadcast. Seed should be covered to a depth of half inches in a firm seed bed [9]. Browntop millet can be used in combination with a variety of agricultural crops or other species planted for wild life. The species commonly planted intercropping with browntop are sunflowers, corn, sorghum, soybean, and peas. This method is ideally suited to larger fields, in which the millet is planted in alternating strips with other crops.

In Karnataka state, farmers popularly/locally called browntop millet as branched or chaduru korale and Round panicle/Dundu korale. Normally branched one has low pests and diseases, where as round panicle browntop millet give higher yields. They use the traditional drillers for sowing the seeds one inch below the top soil. This method is recommended for a better yield. Five kg seeds are required per acre. Seeds get germinate by the fifth day of sowing. Farmers get seven to eight quintal grains per acre and four tractor loads of good quality fodder. They consume grains by making roti or as rice. The crop matures within 60-70 days. The shelf life of seed is about five to six years, while the shelf life of browntop rice is only about 25 to 30 days [10].

Fertilizer

Fertilization with phosphorous and nitrogen can help increase forage productivity; rate of application should be determined by the results of soil tests and /or country recommendations.

Weed management: To control weeds, it is best to plant in a well-tillaged field, weed-free bed with narrow row spacing. Chemical weed control options are limited. It does not regrow well after cutting, so it is a one-cut crop.

Seed processing: The cultivation of browntop is simple but processing is difficult due to the hard outer cover of the seed. As a result, farmers get only 40-50kg of rice from one quintal of browntop/korale seeds. Earlier grinding stones were used to separate the grain from the seed. Today, grinding stones have almost disappeared and korale seeds are processed in the flour mills that process finger millet [10]. The size of korale rice is also very small and separation of stones is difficult. Hence, processing has become a bottleneck for farmers, and efforts are on to design improved processing machines.

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Agritourism Education and Research in Nepal- Juniper Publishers

Agritourism is a very new concept in the Nepalese context, despite long history of agriculture and tourism sectors in the country. In fact, agriculture remains the main source of livelihood and food security for more than 65% populations for many generations, whereas tourism became an important sector since in 1950s after the increased flow of international tourists to explore the cultures, picturesque of Himalayan landscapes. In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa conquered the Mt. Everest for the first time and Nepal became a popular destination for the international tourists [1,2]. There are many potentialities and popular forms of tourism industries in Nepal. However, there is no specific data on the history of agritourism development in Nepal. but, agriculture always remain an important sector in the tourism industry providing quality, healthy, organic and nutritious food for the tourists.

Agritourism is also known as agricultural tourism, agrotourism, agri-ecotourism, farm tourism, farm-based tourism, vacation farms, farm stays. Kokko [3] has identified numerous distinguished prospects and potentials of agritourism industry. For instance, the tea states in eastern Nepal have been famous for domestic and international tourists for recreational and beautiful landscapes. Furthermore, it is also popular for agricultural diversity in addition to tea states such as Aalu (potato), Alaichi (cardamom), Aduwa (ginger), Akabare khursani (red round big chilly), Olan (milk and milk product), and Amliso (broom) (Dangol, n.d.). Lack [4] emphasized on a successful diversification strategy by augmenting the farm business with tourism activities that is appropriate in Nepalese economy by using diversified resources, landscapes, biodiversity, cultural heritages, and unique traditions [5,6]. However, the scenario has been changing over the years since the agricultural labor forces, especially youth, are distracted from this sector which is an issue not only in Nepal, but also in many other developing and even developed countries. But, it is still continuing to be the backbone of nation's economy as it contributes nearly 47% to the Total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country in 1991 World Bank [7], which reduced to 36% in 2011 [8].

Additionally, tourism has contributed the significant roles in overall development of the nation and also to uplift the living standards of the people [9,10]. Many researchers emphasized on the importance of increasing the length of tourists' stay Gautam & Adhikari [10] and tourism in Nepal is also exploring new forms of tourism activities to lengthen the stay of tourists. In this context, agritourism can be new possibility in agriculture sector that motivates and encourages farming communities and also youths to raise the crops in an ecofriendly manner and diversity their economies by utilizing their traditional knowledge, conserving biodiversity and maintaining a rural and agricultural way of life [3].

This paper reviews and analyzes the published and unpublished literature on rural tourism and agritourism in Nepal and abroad. Number of publications relating to tourism, in general, was found, but very few publications related to agritourism in particular. The roles and contributions of Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) in promotion and development of agritourism is significant at the institutional level. Likewise, the roles of Prof. Dharma Raj Dangol are remarkable in development of the course on agritourism, networking with the related institutions and publications relating to agritourism. Prof. Dangol has published more than a dozen of journal articles, popular articles particularly focusing on agritourism in Nepal. After enrollment of agritourism course in the 1AAS, the students and faculties published the popular and journal articles on agritourism in different magazines, periodicals, and journals both in Nepali and English languages. However, there is still limited research work specific to agritourism in Nepal. Those publications were reviewed and analyzed for this paper

Major Findings

Agritourism education

Number of universities and tourism institutions are present in Nepal in recent years, but still wider gap and lack of coordination between these institutions to promote and enhance tourism and agritourism in particular. Tourism education and research is not developed to the level of tourism sector in Nepal (Asian Tour, n.d.). The knowledge and information on agritourism is still scanted particularly in demand side as most of agritourism studies are predominantly focus on characteristics of supply side even at the international level [11]. In Nepalese context, there are very limited information in both demand and supply sides. Very few private and public institutions have specific course on tourism and agriculture in Nepal. Prior to the course in 1AAS under department of environmental science as a part of Masters in Conservation Ecology, there was almost null on agritourism course. Afterwards, students and faculties started research and publications on related issues despite the multiple issues and challenges. 1t was challenging to systematically run the course, since there are limited agritourism experts, researches and related publications.

Some tourism related organizations such as Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP), Nepal Academy of Tourism & Hotel Management (NATHAM), Namsaling Community Development Center (NCDC), Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (L1B1RD) have positively collaborated and contributed in the promotion and development of agritourism by providing platforms in teaching-learning process. The educational approaches and methods applied for the course were practical by involving different experts in the sector, tourism related institutions for enhanced knowledge and understanding. Furthermore, the course was taught using the advanced technologies and audiovisual medias, real experiences in the fields. In addition, students and faculties received opportunities to experience the homestay at the community-based tourism sites. In that relation, both faculties and students received the advanced knowledge and skills on tourism and rural tourism in general and agritourism in particular. For effective promotion of agritourism and development of human resources, the formal and informal educational needs to incorporate it in their courses including conservation of traditional agricultural practices and land races [12,13]. The agritourism education is generally combined with entertainment mainly in agricultural tours, cooking and baking contest, concerts and musical events, cultural and heritage tours, visit to agricultural or ethnic museums, farm demonstrations, seasonal festivals, domestic and exotic animals [14]. Some of these events were also organized as part of agritourism education in 1AAS.

Since, the course was introduced for the first time in the history of IAAS and also in the country, it is really difficult to find the experts in this particular field. At the same time, there weren't any specific agritourism packages or promotional activities prior to the introduction of the course in the IAAS. However, it is always interconnected with other forms of tourism such as ecotourism, rural or village tourism, trekking and adventurous tourism. Therefore, coordination between other forms of tourism and tourism related organizations and tourism experts are required for long-term agritourism plan Dangol [15] B.S. ). Furthermore, the policy on tourism 2052 B. S. also emphasized on linkages of tourism sector to the agriculture and cottage industries with indigenous knowledge for the overall development of the nation [16].

Agritourism research and publications

There were very little publications on agritourism prior to 1990; however, it became one of the interesting topics after 1991 that resulted two journals - Journal of Sustainable Tourism and Tourism Recreation Research, entirely dedicated to rural development and agritourism, but still very few academic articles had been published [4]. In Nepalese context, after the enrollment of the agritourism course, the students have developed and submitted research proposals and term papers, mainly based on review of the available literatures and researches particularly on agritourism, ecotourism and in the tourism sector, as part of the agritourism education. At the beginning of the course, it was indeed challenging to find the research papers and literatures on agricultural based tourism in Nepalese context, simply because there was very limited research work done in this field. In the new area of research, there are many challenges and opportunities at the same time; likewise, the challenges in the field of agritourism can be turn into opportunities. Intense and dedicated research and analysis is needed in agritourism research work. In initial stage, it requires targeted researches on agritourism and also in combination with other forms of tourism as well [16].

Later on, both students and faculties started to carry out researches (both field based and desk) on the topic and published in magazines, periodicals and journals that have enriched the literature. However, as compared other fields, there are still very limited research and publications on agritourism, though there are some research and publication focused on ecotourism and rural tourism. Additionally, some tourism related organizations and institutions also started to promote and integrate agritourism packages and products in their regular programmes. For instance, Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) started to promote agritourism as an important component of the tourism in alleviating poverty in rural areas of Nepal. Furthermore, the TRPAP also provided small grant for students to carry out research on agritourism and ecotourism in 2005 as part of their thesis. Additionally, travel agencies in Pokhara have regularly started to celebrate 'Rice plantation day (RopaiJatra)'. The related articles were also published in Nepal Travelers and Nepal Travel and Tourism Reporter (NTTR).

Likewise, other tourism related organizations and institutions have commenced research and promotional activities. As a result, many different forms of agritourism packages/attractions were introduced such as Ropai Jatra (Rice Plantation day/Festival), Bullock Races, by many organizations including Nepal Tourism Board and many travel agencies in Pokhara and other parts of the country. In fact, Nepal is only the country that celebrates national rice plantation day after UN declaration in 2004 as the international year for rice plantation [17]. Today, Ropai Jatra is being celebrated on 29 June every year in the various parts of Nepal including ploughing, singing folk songs, planting rice competitions and some other entertaining games.

Theses on agritourism

As part of the fulfillment of the course in the postgraduate, the students enrolled in Department of Environment Science had to submit thesis by carrying out research and analysis of the findings to the committee in the institute composes of Dean, Dean of examination including advisory members and defend their theses. Out of 14 students enrolled in the department of environmental science, 6 students conducted researches on agri-tourism and ecotourism for their theses since 2005. Out of which, 4 theses were directly focused on agritourism. 3 of these theses were concentrated in Chitwan district, and one conducted in Kirtipur, Kathmandu district, simply because it's easy to collect data in Chitwan since 1AAS was located in the district. In that sense, only two districts out of 75 districts in Nepal are covered for the agritourism research, though there are lots of possibilities and prospects of agritourism industry as a new product throughout the country, but still needs to generate awareness among farmers and tourism entrepreneurs and develop required infrastructures [15,18]. There are many possibilities of promoting agritourism in different parts of the country such as Tea states in Eastern parts of Nepal, Buckwheat, mushroom and apple farming in high hills of Nepal, and rice farming in the Southern part of Nepal. The one village one product (OVOP) programme in Nepal also highly focused on promotion of agricultural products. The programme has identified 8 potential agricultural products such as Junar (sweet orange), Rainbow Trout, Bel (stone apple), Lapsi (hug plum), Cymbidium Orchids, Agritourism, coffee and Lokta (daphne papyracea) in 11 districts [19], which shows the potentials and prospects of agritourism throughout the country, but need to carry out studies on the prospects of agritourism, since limited research has been carried out in agritourism aspects in Nepal [12,13].

Promotion and development of Agritourism in Nepal

One of the objectives of tourism vision 2020 of Nepal has prioritized the new investment in creating new tourism facilities, products and services (Bhandari, n.d., PowerPoint Presentation, MoTCA [1]. That’s the reason, it has given emphasis on promoting new tourism products, extend tourism activities in remote and rural areas of the country and development of human resources through public and private educational institutes [1]. Agritourism can be one of the new tourism facilities, products and services if it can be packaged strategically [2,12,13]. Agritourism has become the main attraction and interest of the entrepreneurs and policy makers in recent decades. The changing scenario of tourism industry encouraged the agritourism at national and international level, thus expanding rapidly [20].

The periodic plan of the country has always prioritized agriculture and tourism sectors. Both of these important sectors in Nepalese context can be combined to develop new tourism product in Nepal. In fact, agriculture is always an important component of the tourism. In order to serve quality food and drinks for the tourism, it needs to be ensured good and healthy agricultural production in the country. Furthermore, the agriculture practices, way of plantation, harvesting, fishing, drying crops, aquaculture, animal farming, hunting among other can be packaged for agritourism products in the country. Currently, many of agriculture exhibitions at district and national level have been attracting large mass of domestic and international tourists, which shows huge potentials of agritourism industry in Nepal.

The tourism policy 1995 has specifically focused on the establishment of linkages between tourism and agro-based cottage industries and emphasis should be given to develop these related sectors simultaneously. It has further encouraged in local investments in service oriented, travel and trekking agency business to promote and transfer skills and technology [21]. In that connection, agritourism can be the perfect product to link the tourism and agro-based cottage industries including the local investment in the tourism sector. In fact, the community-based tourism with homestay programme is one of the new tourism programme in Nepal, which is the sustainable in the sense, it has created positive impacts on rural village development, rural women development, local economy, environment and entire community [22]. Within the community-based tourism, agriculture sector and commodities play an important role for its success, though in the past agritourism was not developed as separate tourism product in Nepalese context. However, it is now being developed as distinct tourism package in the country There are many good examples of agriculture-based tourism or agritourism in the country. We can start the agritourism with Bisket Jatra in Bhaktapur, which is one of the famous festival in the Kathmandu valley, where large number of tourists (both domestic and international) visit every year. Similarly, there are agricultural offices, horticultural farms, nursery farms, fishing farms in different parts of the country. In fact, the Nuwakot is well known for Rainbow trout fish, Ilam is famous for tea states, Recently, RopaiJatra is gaining popularity over the years. Many government and non-government organizations are now celebrating national rice plantation day (Ropai Jatra) annually, where large number of tourists are getting involved [23-26].

Conclusion

Agritourism has been rapidly expanding at the international level and to some extent in Nepal as well. However, agritourism research and education hasn't rapidly expanding in the same rate. The initiative of Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (1AAS) to develop and promote the new courses including agritourism in master's and Ph. D. degree is much appreciated and acknowledge based on the changing contexts. These courses are studied by number of students who have been engaged at different national and international levels after completion of the courses. Students learned many innovative and life skills under these new courses such as writing proposals to seek fund support for research, writing and publishing articles, participating different seminars, training and workshops, networking with different organizations and so on. 1n addition, it's also new for the faculties, since they are also not trained to these new courses, however many faculties struggled hard to regularly update on the courses and provide up-to-date information and recent knowledge to the students.

The course on agritourism was also linked with many organizations such as NTB, NATHM and TRPAP etc. basically to provide the overall scenario of tourism industry in Nepal. However, it was very hard to get the concrete cases of agritourism in Nepalese context. It is directly or indirectly linked to other forms of tourism such as rural/village tourism, ethnic or cultural tourism, sport tourism, adventure tourism etc. after all food comes from agriculture sector for all forms of tourism. Since the nation is searching for new tourism packages and destination, agritourism can be stand-alone tourism package for the tourism industry in Nepal which will definitely extend the length of international tourists' stay and diversity new taste for the domestic tourism in Nepal.

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