In Ethiopia, pesticides are widely used in vegetable production. However, if used incorrectly they may harm consumers of vegetables contaminated with pesticide residues, as well as producers handling the pesticides and lead to ecological damage. We performed a cross-sectional survey to assess pesticide residues level in vegetables produced in central and eastern Ethiopia. A total of 232 vegetable samples (91 tomatoes, 106 cabbages and 35 Swiss chard) were collected from fields and retail markets, and were screened for 35 pesticides (20 organophosphate, 14 organochlorine and a synergist, piperonyl butoxide) using GC-MS analysis. Pesticides residues were detected in 60% of Swiss chard, 47% of cabbage and 45% of tomato samples. Two or more pesticides were detected in 20% of cabbages, 13% of tomatoes and over half of Swiss chard samples. Bendiocarb, diazinon, endrin, piperonyl butoxide, profenofos and propargite were detected, but only diazinon, propargite and profenofos had residual value
The activity of marine microorganisms depends on community composition, yet, in some oceans, little is known about the environmental and ecological processes that structure their distribution. The objective of this study was to test the effect of geographic distance and environmental parameters on prokaryotic community structure in the Southern Ocean (SO). We described the total (16S rRNA gene) and the active fraction (16S rRNA-based) of surface microbial communities over a ~6.500 km longitudinal transect in the SO. We found that the community composition of the total fraction was different from the active fraction across the zones investigated. In addition, higher α-diversity and stronger species turnover were displayed in the active community compared to the total community. Oceanospirillales, Alteromonadales, Rhodobacterales and Flavobacteriales dominated the composition of the bacterioplankton communities, however, there were marked differences at the order level. Temperature, sal
Food security and livelihoods among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are often constrained by limited farm resource endowment. It can be difficult to improve resource endowment given barriers such as low land availability and the unaffordability of agricultural inputs, so here we ask whether farmers can gain a better return on their resources through optimising their farm strategy in terms of the composition and/or diversity of crop and livestock species raised. Our survey of 1133 smallholder farmers in western Kenya and northern Nigeria, using a modified version of RHoMIS, suggested that choice of farm strategy can have a substantial positive impact on food security and farm incomes. In particular, we found that it was possible for farms with a high species richness but low resource endowment to achieve similar or better food security and income outcomes than farms with low species richness and high resource endowment. This indicates strong potential for diversification to im
In this article, statistician Bruno Wiesend reports on a scientific controversy about a study on the "Influence of intelligence and practice on the development of skills". The author considers the results of the study to be wrong due to methodological errors. | Photo: Pixabay
Grapes and vines of the Phoenicians: Morphometric analyses of pips from modern varieties and Iron Age archaeological sites in the Western Mediterranean – Science & Wine ciencia-e-vinho.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ciencia-e-vinho.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.