This study describes the concept of a management information system (MIS) developed for the Center for International Forestry Research. A definition of MIS and the institutional background are given, followed by a description of the organisational structure, definition of MIS requirements and the procedures and results of an information requirements survey. The core of the study is the design of the MIS which focuses on outputs, inputs, processing, storage and personnel as key elements of the system. Issues related to implementation and maintenance of the proposed system are discussed and key databases described. Emphasis is given to personnel, soft- and hardware requirements, system architecture, training and procedural aspects. The study concludes with a discussion of project management requirements, critical success factors, monitoring and evaluation procedures, and the potential generalisation of the concept.
Tag: management
Preface to workshop management of carbon in tropical soils under global change, science, practice and policy
It was first decided to organize a workshop on ‘Modelling of Soil Dynamic Practices’ in 1990 at the XIV International Soil Science Society (ISSS) Congress in Kyoto after the Committee on International Programs ~ (CIP) of ISSS-sponsored Symposium ‘V 8–Global Soil Changes and their Dynamics in a Changing environment’. This topic seemed redundant when we learned that our Canadian colleagues intended to focuson similar matters during their ‘Leth- bridge Symposium’ planned for 1992 (Wood and Dumanski, 1994). By letter exchange and intense discussion with those CIP members meeting in conjunction with the symposium on soil resilience and sustainable landuse September 1992 in Budapest, we opted for a meeting on carbon in tropical soils. We thought that a focus on the African savanna might be even more urgently required than emphasis on rice soils and wetlands, with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) there a potential host, and where high caliber expertise was available. Thus, we accepted Dr. Pedro Sanchez’s invitation to have our workshop at the International Center of Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya. Meanwhile the financial problem was settled by a donor group of German GTZ, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), United States Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA), and the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). As the then chairman of the Standing Committee CIP of ISSS I should thank, besides the donors, in particular Dr. Pedro Sanchez, the Director General of ICRAF, our host and Dr. Mike Swift, Director of the Nairobi-based Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Program (TSBF), who accepted the strenuous task of being the workshop conveners. Hereby I tacitly include their able cooperators. Our scientific co-sponsors, in addition to ISSS, ICRAF and the UNEP were TSBF and the International Geosphere Biosphere Program-Global Change in Terrestrial Ecosystems (IGBP-GCTE) through liaison of Mike Swift and Bernard Tinker.
Effects of social economy and policies on production management systems: a case study of China’s bamboo industries
Over recent years, since reform and liberalisation, there has been rapid development of the bamboo industry in China that has brought about a series of economic policies and regulations favourable to economic development. Between 1981 and 1993, the area covered by bamboo forests expanded at a rate higher than the growth rate in forest-covered areas of the country. By 1996, the annual production value of primary products from bamboo resources reached 0.9 billion USD. The export value of manufactured bamboo products was US$ 35 million in 1995. Because 93% of bamboo forests in rural areas is collectively-owned and directly managed by farmers, the increase in yields and profits from bamboo forest products significantly improves incomes and living standards of rural people. Thus the bamboo industry has become an important means to reduce poverty among the rural population. The purpose of this study is to promote sustainable development of the bamboo sector by reviewing the development of bamboo industries in Anji County, Zhejian Province. The review analyses industry fundamentals, approaches and potential weaknesses and explores the direction and methods for its further development.
Cultivating (in) Tropical Forests? The evolution and sustainability of systems of management between extractivism and plantations
The idea of a organizing a symposium on “Intermediate systems” arose from two distinct but inter-related research projects: • FORRESASIA – “Alternative strategies for forest resource development: extractivism, agroforestry or plantations” – a project funded by the INCO programme of the IV th framework programme of the European Union (IC18- CT96-0077 – DG 12 MUYS). The main focus of this project was to compare the benefits, constraints and evolutionary trajectories of existing models of forest resource management, namely extraction of plant products from the wild, production in various forms of agroforest ry systems, and intensive production in specialized systems. The research was c onducted in Indonesia and the Philippines between January 1997 and December 2000. It involved eight research institutions and NGOs in these two countries, in addition to France, Norway and Spain. • An international comparative analysis of cases of NTFP commercialization, led by CIFOR. This project investigated the characteristics of products and their production, processing and trade to understand the role of NTFP commercialization in achieving conservation and livelihoods improvement. It included a total of 61 cases from 27 countr ies in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Linking C&I to a code of practice for industrial tropical tree plantations
Over the last ten years there has been an increasing emphasis on development of plantation estates for both wood fiber and agricultural crops such as oil palm. The principles for sustainable development and establishment of industrial plantations also account for the social, environmental and biodiversity aspects.This document showed the first attempt of CIFOR to develop a process designed to link the development of criteria and indicators (C&I) more closely with practical and sustainable plantation development principles and practices, the latter expressed through a Code of Practice. To ensure that the two systems are mutually compatible they have been developed simultaneously. The process aims to ensure that the satndards for practical development of industrial plantations reflect, properly and appropriately, the needs and concerns expressed in the criteria and indicators for sustainable management and development of planted forests. This is intended to both increase the relevance and hence perhaps the adoption of C&I, such as those developed by CIFOR. Criteria and indicators can provide the benchmark for a plantation owner to assess progress towards sustainable forest management within their forest estate.It can be used as a means of assesing compliance with suitable set of benchmarks such as contained within a Code of Practice for industrial tree plantation development in the tropics (Code). (YS)
What Works in Rural Advisory Services? Global Good Practice Notes
Audited Financial Statements 2015
Report on the financial statementsWe have audited the accompanying financial statements of the World Agroforestry Centre(ICRAF/ the “Centre”) set out on pages 35 to 63. These financial statements comprisethe statement of financial position at 31 December 2015 and the statements of activities,changes in net assets and cash flows for the year then ended, and a summary of significantaccounting policies and other explanatory information.Management’s responsibility for the financial statementsManagement is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financialstatements in accordance with the Consultative Group on International AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR) Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual – Financial Guidelines SeriesNo. 2 (Revised February 2006 and supplemented by the 2015 Advisory Note) and for suchinternal control, as management determine necessary to enable the preparation of financialstatements that are free from material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error.Auditor’s responsibilityOur responsibility is to express an independent opinion on the financial statements basedon our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards onAuditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan andperform our audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free frommaterial misstatement.
On-farm yield gains with stress-tolerant maize in eastern and Southern Africa
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important staple food in eastern and southern Africa (ESA) with human maize consumption averaging 91 kg capita–1 yr–1. Current maize yield averages 1.2 t ha–1 and is barely sufficient for the region’s requirements due to drought and low N stresses. The objective of this study was to compare new drought tolerant (DT) maize hybrids and open pollinated varieties (OPVs) against the best commercial varieties in ESA under farmer management conditions and to validate on-station results. Maize varieties were simultaneously selected on-station in four types of environments across 44 locations in ESA during the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons. During the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 seasons, 20 promising DT maize hybrids and OPVs were selected from the on-station based on their mean grain yield and stability. These selected varieties were compared with the best commercial check varieties on-farm across 80 locations in ESA in a randomized complete block design for two seasons. The genotype + genotype × environment comparison biplot showed variety CZH0616 together with other new DT hybrids to be stable and high yielding across 44 locations on-station in the ESA region compared to the commonly grown checks such as SC513. The new DT hybrids showed a yield advantage over the commercial check varieties both in the early and medium-late maturing categories by 4 to 19%, and the gains were bigger under stress conditions. Under farmers’ fields CZH0616, CZH0837, CZH0935, and CZH0928 were high yielding and stable across locations. © 2017 American Society of Agronomy 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711 USA
Weed suppression in legumes for stress management
Worldwide, weeds constitute a major constraint to the production of food legumes. Weeds can reduce crop yields more than 50% through competition for moisture, and this can be aggravated under the anticipated climate change scenarios. In the future, the spread of invasive alien species of weeds and herbicide resistance, which are partly aggravated by increased global trade and climate change, are likely to pose challenges to weed management and water conservation. In this chapter we will synthesize the state-of-art knowledge on weed management in legume production systems with a major emphasis on anticipated impacts of climate change and alien invasive species on weed management and water conservation. We provide a brief review of the types of weeds and weed effects followed by review of recent developments in the management of weeds in legume cropping systems. We also assess the strength and limitations of each practice and suggest the need for emphasis on the integration of different environmentally friendly control measures that are economically feasible to smallholder farmer
PCR Based Detection Of Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium Anisopliae In Host Organisms
PCR based detection and identification of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae was conducted with specific primers F3 (5’-GGGTATATGAGAGGGAGGGC-3’) and B3 (5’- GGTTCCTGGTCGGGACTT-3’) which amplify a fragment of gene in the IGS (Intergenic spacer) region of rRNA (Ribosomal RNA) of M. anisopliae. The PCR amplification of IGS sequences yielded a unique fragment of 226-bp for all the four strains of M. anisopliae (M4, M16, M34 and M43). The results proved that the primers F3 and B3 were highly specific for M. anisopliae. PCR based detection M. anisopliae within host insects as Mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor) in the laboratory and cockchafer (Melolontha spp) in the field by using specific primers was applied. The PCR method could be a simple, rapid method to detect M. anisopliae within host insects just 8 days after infection. This study also showed that M. anisopliae exists in the soils in Felsrs-Köveskútpuszta region in Hungary. In fact, the results proved that DNA extracted from infected insects in laboratory and field could be used to identify the presence of the entomopathogen fungus M. anisopliae by using specific primers. Our study demonstrates an alternative approach for typing M. anisopliae strains within infected insects and reduces the need for time-consuming morphological and physiological tests.