Psychosocial factors and safety behaviour as predictors of accidental work injuries in farming

Abstract

Farming is one of the most hazardous occupations in terms of the incidence and seriousness of accidental injuries. Research with other occupational groups has drawn attention to the role of psychosocial factors and stress. Such research needs to be extended to agriculture. Since stress may be a problem faced by farmers, there is a particular need to investigate the associations between farm accidents and work stressors and stress reactions. Using multivariate logistic regression analyses, this study aimed to uncover the best psychosocial predictors of injury, while controlling for exposure-related confounders. From a randomly selected sample of 794 farms, 10% of all farms in Ringkoebing County, Denmark, 393 farmers completed completed weekly accident registration over 12 months. The study sample consisted of 310 farmers who also completed questionnaires on psychosocial factors. Results indicated that farm stressors (including perceived economic problems), stress symptoms, and safety behaviour were predictors of occupational farm accidents. Higher levels of stressors and stress symptoms and poor safety behaviour were all associated with an elevated risk of injury. In the case of stress symptoms, the relation with accidents occurred via an interaction with safety behaviour. The combination of high levels of stress symptoms and poor safety behaviour was associated with a particularly high accident risk.     

Optimal Crop Choice,Irrigation Allocation,and the Impact of Contract Farming

The changing climate and concerns over food security are prompting a new look at the supply chain reliability of products derived from agriculture, and the potential role of contract farming as a mechanism to address climate and price risk while contributing toward crop diversification and water use efficiency is also emerging. In this study, the decision problem of a farmer associated with allocating his land among different crops with varying water requirements is considered, given that a subset of the crops may be associated with a forward contract that is being offered by a buyer. The problem includes a decision to acquire a certain amount of irrigation water capacity prior to the season and to allocate this capacity as irrigation water to be applied during the season to each of the crops selected. Rainfall in the growing season and the market price of each crop at the end of the season are considered to be random variables. Two stochastic programming models are developed to consider facets of this problem and to understand how contracts that reduce market price uncertainty from the problem may change the farmer's decision. The structural properties of these models are discussed, and selected implications are illustrated through an application to data from the Ganganagar district in Rajasthan, India.     

关于农耕文化资源与非物质文化遗产

中国是一个传统的农业大国,在漫长的历史发展过程中,积淀了丰富的民族活态文化资源。在全球经济一体化的今天,大力发掘这些资源,研究并建立农业文化产业体系,具有深远意义,关系着农业现代化和经济社会的可持续发展。     

Inference of a hidden spatial tessellation from multivariate data: application to the delineation of homogeneous regions in an agricultural field

Summary.  In a precision farming context, differentiated management decisions regarding fertilization, application of lime and other cultivation activities may require the subdivision of the field into homogeneous regions with respect to the soil variables of main agronomic significance. The paper develops an approach that is aimed at delineating homogeneous regions on the basis of measurements of a categorical and quantitative nature, namely soil type and resistivity measurements at different soil layers. We propose a Bayesian multivariate spatial model and embed it in a Markov chain Monte Carlo inference scheme. Implementation is discussed using real data from a 15-ha field. Although applied to soil data, this model could be relevant in areas of spatial modelling as diverse as epidemiology, ecology or meteorology.     

Ethnicity,nationalism and race relations: The chinese treatment of the solon tribes in Heilongjiang frontier society, 1900 – 1931

The Solon tribes, including the Oroqen, the Ewenk and the Daur, have lived in Heilongjiang (North Manchuria) for millennia. For centuries, the Solon led a hunting life in the mountains and along the rivers. Their constant migration earned them a reputation as nomads. Russian penetration into the region in the late nineteenth century Russified many of the Solon, which alarmed the Chinese government into action. The Chinese persistently embraced every opportunity to win them over. The principal policy adopted by both the Qing dynasty and the Chinese Republic was to turn Solon nomads into sedentary farmers. The government erected villages for the Solon, helped them to adapt to new life, and educated them to be Chinese citizens. These paternalistic yet preferential measures, however, rapidly Sinicized the Solon in just three decades.     

农林业自然力经济学原理研究

农林业是自然再生产和经济再生产相互交织的过程 ,其经济本质是自然力经济学原理 :P=f (N ,E)、P=2 N+3、P=KEa Nb、I=E/ N。它是现代农林业经济学的理论基础     

种植业区域分工的经济增长效应分析——以陕西省、甘肃省为例

以陕西和甘肃两省为例 ,对种植业区域分工的农业经济增长效应进行了实证分析。结果表明 ,两省种植业区域分工均与本省的农业经济增长呈较为显著的正相关。因此 ,农业结构的战略性调整 ,必须以农业区域分工和专业化布局为核心 ,通过区域比较优势的发挥和专业化生产水平的提高 ,逐步提高各省农产品的市场竞争力     

汉族风俗特点论——汉族风俗研究之二

风俗往往是一个民族的标志.汉民族的风俗特点是农本、儒化、兼容和神秘.     

西平亭考辨

西平亭是西宁历史上最早的军事建置,是屯田系统的基层组织。西平亭是农亭,不属于郡、县行政建制。本文依据历史文献、地形地貌及亲见亲闻,对西平亭的位置、规模等作了详细的讨论。     

甘肃省河西内陆河流域农灌水权制度创新

二十世纪后期,甘肃省河西内陆河灌区随着经济社会的发展,用水量大幅增加,水资源短缺的矛盾越来越突出,已成为河西地区生态、经济、社会发展中木桶效应的最“短板”,建立能够节约用水的农灌水权制度已迫在眉睫。文章通过总结河西内陆河流域水资源现状和现行水权制度存在的缺陷,借鉴河西内陆河流域张掖试点的经验,运用新制度经济学的观点,把水权制度的一般理论运用到河西内陆河灌区农业灌溉的实践当中,构建了河西内陆河灌区可交易的农灌水权制度,形成通过市场配置农灌水资源的节水农业运行机制和组织形式。