Economic Sustainability of Organic Aloe Vera Farming in Greece under Risk and Uncertainty

Unravelling the Role of Gender in Fisheries’ Socio-Economic Performance: The Case of Greek Small-Scale Fisheries

Small-scale fisheries account for 94% of the Greek fishing fleet. The sector consists mainly of family-owned vessels and highly depends on family labor. While the role of women as crew members is of particular interest, there is little evidence of their actual employment status, labor situation, and contribution in the fishing activity. This paper focuses on women in small-scale fisheries in order to investigate their role in the sector and reveal their contribution to fishing enterprises. In addition, it implements a comparative analysis to investigate the differences in various socio-economic indicators in small-scale vessels with and without female crew members. The results indicate that the presence of women has a positive outcome on several social and economic indicators that reflect the wealth of both fishing households and employees. In terms of employment, several differences in the structural characteristics appeared regarding the onshore employment, the share of unpaid labor, and the total hours worked. The majority of female crew members can be characterized as “fisherwomen,” since fishing is their main occupation. Further in-depth research to investigate the family relations among crew members and how they affect the fishing enterprise can supplement the existing research.

Agricultural Entrepreneurship in the European Union: Contributions for a Sustainable Development

Entrepreneurship is sometimes seen as a glimmer of hope which may bring about some contribution towards improving economic dynamics and performance, specifically in the creation of employment by young people, in general, with further educational training, greater flexibility and who are better prepared for working with new technologies. However, entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector is, in certain circumstances, viewed as being something incompatible or, at least, difficult to implement. More scientific studies in these fields could provide interesting contributions on the road to highlighting new ideas inside the farming sector. In this framework, the objective of this study is to explore the entrepreneurship dimensions within the European Union agriculture towards a more sustainable sector. In fact, without an economic dimension in farm management, its sustainability in the medium and long run may be compromised, increasing the abandonment of farming, namely in more disadvantaged regions. For this, the literature which is available on the platform Web of Science relating to the following three topics was initially analysed: entrepreneurship, agriculture, and the European Union. This literature was clustered through the VOSviewer software, an interesting tool for performing bibliometric analysis. Secondly, statistical information related to European Union agricultural entrepreneurship considering empirical approaches was also explored. The analysis carried out shows that the realities across European Union countries are, in fact, different, where the instruments from the common agricultural policies, for example, may play a crucial role in promoting more farming entrepreneurship in a more sustainable way.

Assessment of Factors Constraining Organic Farming Expansion in Lis Valley, Portugal

Organic farming can play an important role in rural development and food production, by reinforcing the trend toward sustainable agriculture and its purpose of ecosystem conservation. The agribusiness of organic farming is particularly relevant in family farming, given the labor availability and the short marketing circuits. The innovative techniques of organic farming, namely with soil fertility, weed and pest control, opens a wide range of possibilities in its development and extension. The expectation of organic farming profitability in small-scale family farming, supported by known successful examples, were the theme of a field study on Lis Valley Irrigation District to assess the constraints to its expansion in order to outline the procedures for the acquisition of technical knowledge, the adaptation of technologies, the support for the conversion of production models, and the specialized training of farmers for action. Results revealed that the: (i) farmer’s land structure, (ii) their mature age, (iii) low education level, and (iv) markets, are the main constrains for organic farming development. Furthermore, other uncertainties were identified, namely: (i) the certification process, (ii) the knowledge of new technologies, especially of crop protection, and (iii) the marketing problems to guaranteeing profitability. This study concludes that organic farming has significant potential for development in the Lis Valley and that the efforts and resources of the various stakeholders, namely the state, need to be harmonized to deliver effective support to farmers to promote organic farming that prioritizes: (i) rural development policies, (ii) supporting land restructuring, (iii) modernization of irrigation, (iv) stimulation of young farmers, (v) conversion and implementation of innovative technologies, (vi) the organization of farmers for better productive efficiency, and (vii) to facilitate market access.

Undervalued potential of crassulacean acid metabolism for current and future agricultural production

The potential for crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) to support resilient crops that meet demands for food, fiber, fuel, and pharmaceutical products far exceeds current production levels. This review provides background on five families of plants that express CAM, including examples of many species within these families that have potential agricultural uses. We summarize traditional uses, current developments, management practices, environmental tolerance ranges, and economic values of CAM species with potential commercial applications. The primary benefit of CAM in agriculture is high water use efficiency that allows for reliable crop yields even in drought conditions. Agave species, for example, grow in arid conditions and have been exploited for agricultural products in North and South America for centuries. Yet, there has been very little investment in agricultural improvement for most useful Agave varieties. Other CAM species that are already traded globally include Ananas comosus (pineapple), Aloe spp., Vanilla spp., and Opuntia spp., but there are far more with agronomic uses that are less well known and not yet developed commercially. Recent advances in technology and genomic resources provide tools to understand and realize the tremendous potential for using CAM crops to produce climate-resilient agricultural commodities in the future.

Propagation Techniques and Agronomic Requirements for the Cultivation of Barbados Aloe (Aloe vera (L.) Burm. F.)-A Review

Barbados aloe (Aloe vera (L.) Burm. F.) has traditionally been used for healing in natural medicine. However, aloe is now attracting great interest in the global market due to its bioactive chemicals which are extracted from the leaves and used in industrial preparations for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food products. Aloe originated from tropical and sub-tropical Africa, but it is also now cultivated in warm climatic areas of Asia, Europe, and America. In this review, the most important factors affecting aloe production are described. We focus on propagation techniques, sustainable agronomic practices and efficient post harvesting and processing systems.