Compared with a few years ago, the cost of concentrates has increased substantially and because of that an increased proportion of pasture is of interest. Pasture is cheap and the farmer does not have to harvest when the cows do it themselves by grazing. This saves both money and time. According to research milk yield decrease with an increasing proportion of pasture in the diet. This is because cows on pasture will have lower dry matter intake than cows with supplements.

Träd har alltid använts inom jordbruket och de senaste åren har de spelat en viktig roll i miljö- och klimatforskningen. Att integrera träd i jordbruket kan ha en mängd fördelar, såsom förbättrad jordstruktur och ökad avkastning. Östafrika är en av regionerna där man använder och forskar inom agroforestry. Delar av regionen har problem med svår torka, varför vattentillgången är en begränsande faktor inom jordbruket. Risken finns att trädens konkurrens med grödorna inte väger upp de fördelar som ett agroforestrysystem kan medföra.

Freshwater ecosystems have long been neglected as an important part of the global carbon cycle. However, research shows that most of the world?s lakes are net-heterotrophic and consequently emitters of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. In many boreal and north-temperate lakes, most of the yearly emissions usually occur in spring, shortly after ice-thaw. The aim of this study was to quantify the flux of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) in three boreal lakes, during this annual event.

År 2002 började det anläggas en skogsträdgård i Alnarps Rehabiliteringsträdgård. Idén och kunskapen kom från England varifrån också begreppet kommer. Just att den började anläggas när den gjorde, gör den lite extra intressant eftersom det kan betyda att den är en av Sveriges första skogsträdgårdar om inte den första. Idag har skogsträdgården på Alnarp stagnerat i utvecklingen. För att kunna återföra trädgårdsdelen mot en utveckling som motsvarar den för ursprungstanken, har bakgrunden till skogsträdgårdssystemet undersökts i detta arbete.Examensarbetet omfattar en litteraturstudie på böcker och tidningsartiklar inriktade på skogsträdgårdar i tempererat klimat.

A new project has developed at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp during the spring of 2006. The garden design students has, during the course Interior Garden Design designed and built an construction with a new range of plants for Swedish conservatories. The plants are mainly from the cool temperate areas, instead of the tropical which often are the most common in public spaces. This means, among other things, that the cost for warming is very low. The working process and the construction carried on as workshops in the conservatory at Trädgårdslaboratoriet in Alnarp. During a few weeks the hole construction is completed.

This paper aims to, through a literature review, examine how to best design and adapt calf huts to meet the calf's physiological requirements and reduce the infection pressure for enteric and respiratory diseases. It illuminates how the calf relates to different temperatures and climate, which temperature control mechanisms it uses and its ability to perform these regulations, as well as providing a summary of the past decades´ research on the calf huts housing system. These two theory chapters, along with a concluding discussion, provide a better understanding of how to, especially in temperate climates, design the most suitable calf hut, which cater to the calf's both thermal comfort and physical health. The literature suggests that the calf's own temperature control works well to counteract the temperature outside the desired range, and that one of the most important factors rather is ventilation of a calf hut, which reduces moisture and pathogens. The conclusion of this paper is mainly that there is not an obvious way to place and construct a calf hutch and that most design principles contribute to both positive and negative effects simultaneously.

The main part of the goats in the world is located in developing countries, whereas active breeding programs are mainly restricted to Northern America and Europe. Goat milk can be processed to several products and goat cheese is the main product. An organized breeding program is carried out in France and Norway but is not present in Sweden. Important selection traits for milk producing goats include milk, protein and fat yield along with protein and fat content. Functional traits have been more important the past years and they have large economic importance for the farmers.

Inside the south Swedish national park Dalby Söderskog, wild boars (Sus scrofa L.) have been visiting since 2010. The presence of wild boars has earlier been proven to impact both soil and vegetation characteristics, both positively and negatively. Still, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the rooting effect on the vegetation in deciduous forest within the native range. In this study, I have compared the field vegetation collected before and after the invasion of wild boars in 74 permanent experimental plots. More specifically, the study aimed to qualify the effect of wild boar rooting on cover ratio, species richness and species composition in a temperate deciduous forest.

Allanblackia is a tree genus native to humid forests in West, Central and East Africa. Its fruits contain large seeds from which edible high-quality fat can be extracted. In order to create a sustainable supply chain of Allanblackia seeds, a domestication program has been initiated with the purpose to enable smallholder farmers to grow the tree as an agroforestry component and cash crop. More knowledge is required to understand the tree?s biology and possible symbioses involving soil microorganisms with plant growth enhancing poten-tial.

Människans näringar och kulturer har orsakat landskapsförändringar som på många håll i världen lett till flera ekologiska konsekvenser som erosion liksom övergödning av vattendrag och hav. Skogsbruk såväl som jordbruk har därutöver resulterat i stora utarmningar av den biologiska mångfalden på jorden. Sedan en tid har jordbrukets negativa konsekvenser fått alltmer uppmärksamhet inom bland annat politik, forskning och näringsliv, varav somliga människor aktivt försökt stoppa det negativa händelseförloppet som manifesterat många av världens odlingslandskap. Diskussioner som innefattar ekosystemet och dess så kallade tjänster för människans såväl som andra organismers överlevnad och välbefinnande erhåller därutöver mer och mer fokus i strävan mot miljövänligare alternativ för storskalig odling. I sökandet efter mer ekologiskt sunda odlingssystem har intresset igen väckts för agroforestrysystem, som kombinerar vedartade växter med vanligt förekommande grödor. Etableringen av lähäckar på respektive intill odlingarealer i Skåne kan bidra med flertalet ekosysystemtjänster vilka bevisats stoppa ex.

Heat stress negatively influences the performance of dairy cattle such as lactation and reproduction. Heat stress can cause production losses as well as welfare problems. Years of research have shown that heat stress is a huge problem for dairy cattle in both the tropics and temperate zones but no such research have so far been done in northern European countries. It seems like shade is an important tool when improving pasture conditions and therefore deserves more attention. The aim with this study was to investigate whether there is a need of providing shade for grazing dairy cows during the summer in Sweden. Two groups of lactating Swedish Red dairy cows (n=15 per group) were kept on pasture.

Businesses role in society is changing. Corporations are expected to take responsibility, not only for their traditional business conduct, but also for social and political issues. A rise in globalization and international trade has led to an increased interest in the concept of CSR. Accordingly, stakeholders are expecting multinational companies to be accountable for existing issues in developing countries. New business models are needed to meet increased expectations of responsibility and shared value creation. Based on an understanding of the need for new business models a multinational corporation is studied in a local context, where a radically new way of doing business is developed.

Carbon sequestration through restoration of degraded pastoral soils is an advocated way of mitigating global warming, and simultaneously alleviating poverty. An often proposed rehabilitation strategy is fencing of pastures, a method that was introduced to the farmers of Chepareria by the Vi-Agroforestry organization in 1987. The landscape of Chepareria changed from eroded, over-grazed grasslands, to a mixture of open-grazed commons, pastoral enclosures and cultivations. The aim of this study was to investigate (1) if the soil organic carbon (SOC) is higher inside the enclosures than on the open-grazed commons, (2) if SOC is affected by duration of fencing and (3) what effect cultivation of pastures has on the SOC. Estimations of vegetation cover and deep profile (100cm) soil sampling was performed on six clusters containing; (1) open-grazing (OG) (2) 1-5 years of fencing (FENCED(1)), (3) 7-10 years of fencing (FENCED(2)), (4) 15-23 years of fencing (FENCED(3)), (5) maize from OG (A(OG)), (6) maize from fenced pasture (A(FENCED)).

This report is focused on marketing opportunities for small-scale mango farmers in the Nyanza Province in Kenya. Kenya is a large horticultural producer in the world. Horticulture is an important income for a large share of the rural population in Kenya but profitability is low due to inefficiencies in marketing systems and poor infrastructure. The conditions for growing mango in the Nyanza Province are very beneficial and there are two harvesting seasons. Mango offers good income opportunities for small-scale farmers in the Nyanza Province.The aim of this study is to identify marketing conditions that will enable prospering business for small-scale mango farmers in the Nyanza Province, Kenya.

År 2007 stod klimatförändringar och miljöproblem i fokus i media. Forskare från skilda ämnesområden gick ut med budskapet att vi måste se över våra vanor och konsumtionsmönster. Enligt konsumentverket står produktion och transport av mat för nästan en tredjedel av våra klimatpåverkande utsläpp och en stor del därutav utgörs av våra hemtransporter av maten. För att konsumenter ska kunna välja livsmedel medvetna om hur livsmedlet påverkar klimatet har klimatmärkning börjat utvecklas. Flera länder, t.ex.