DOCSLIB.ORG

Spatial Pattern Recognition for Crop-Livestock Systems Using

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Spatial Pattern Recognition for Crop-Livestock Systems Using The University of Edinburgh School of GeoSciences Spatial Pattern Recognition for Crop-Livestock Systems using Multispectral Data by Adri´an Gonz´alez Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2008 Contents Contents ........................................ i List of Figures ..................................... v List of Tables ...................................... viii Chapter 1. General Introduction ........................... 12 1.1 Objectives................................. 15 1.2 Studyarea................................. 16 1.3 Learning from instances in agriculture . 28 1.3.1 Generalproblem ......................... 28 1.3.2 Particular cases . 30 1.4 Thesisoutline............................... 32 Chapter 2. Spatial Geovisualisation and Unsupervised Classification ....... 33 2.1 Abstract.................................. 33 2.2 Introduction................................ 34 2.3 Visualization of indicators in crop-livestock systems .......... 36 2.3.1 Representation of spatial pattern . 37 2.3.2 Spatial point pattern interpolation . 42 2.4 Featureexraction ............................. 45 2.5 Datapreprocessingandmethods . 47 i 2.5.1 Censusdata............................ 47 2.5.2 Samplesizeandsampling . 47 2.5.3 Spatial activity density estimation . 50 2.5.4 Statistical analysis . 51 2.6 Resultsanddiscussion .......................... 52 2.6.1 Aragua-Guarico set . 53 2.6.1.1 Multivariate density visualisation . 53 2.6.1.2 Exploratory cluster analysis . 59 2.6.1.3 Summary of farm’s classes . 65 2.6.2 Guaricoset ............................ 70 2.6.2.1 Multivariate density visualisation . 70 2.6.2.2 Exploratory cluster analysis . 75 2.6.2.3 Summary of farms’ classes . 80 2.6.3 Discriminant analysis . 86 2.7 Conclusion................................. 88 Chapter 3. Kernel Based Unsupervised Classification ............... 90 3.1 Abstract.................................. 90 3.2 Introduction................................ 91 3.3 Principalcomponentsanalysis. 92 3.3.1 Kernel principal components analysis . 97 3.4 Datapreprocessingandmethods . 102 3.5 Resultsanddiscussion . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 104 ii 3.5.1 Aragua-Guarico set . 104 3.5.1.1 Feature extraction . 104 3.5.1.2 Clustering performance . 105 3.5.1.3 Summary of farm’s classes . 109 3.5.2 Guaricoset ............................ 110 3.5.2.1 Feature extraction . 110 3.5.2.2 Clustering performance . 112 3.5.2.3 Summary of farm classes . 116 3.6 Conclusion................................. 122 Chapter 4. Kernel Based Supervised Classification ................. 123 4.1 Abstract.................................. 123 4.2 Introduction................................ 124 4.3 Thekernel-adatronmethod . 125 4.4 TheLandsatdata............................. 127 4.5 Datapreprocessingandmethods . 129 4.5.1 Informationalclasses . 129 4.5.2 Datapreprocessing . 131 4.5.3 Dataanalysis ........................... 131 4.5.4 Coping with nonlinearities . 135 4.5.5 Experiments............................ 136 4.6 Resultanddiscussion........................... 137 4.6.1 Dimensionality reduction . 137 iii 4.6.1.1 Aragua-Guarico set . 137 4.6.1.2 Guaricoset ....................... 138 4.6.2 Trainingsetimpact. 143 4.6.2.1 Aragua-Guarico set . 144 4.6.2.2 Guaricoset ....................... 145 4.6.3 Classification ........................... 148 4.6.3.1 Aragua-Guarico set . 149 4.6.3.2 Guaricoset ....................... 152 4.7 Unsupervised classification of forest cover . 157 4.8 Conclusion................................. 164 Chapter 5. General Discussion ............................ 165 Chapter 6. General Conclusion ............................ 169 References ........................................ 172 iv List of Figures 1.1 Studyarealocation.............................. 17 1.2 Vegetationcover ............................... 18 1.3 Study area land cover classification . 19 1.4 Demography variation of livestock . 20 1.5 Variation map of meat production in Venezuela . ..... 21 1.6 Variation map of milk production in Venezuela . ..... 22 1.7 Most used cattle breeds within the study area . ..... 25 2.1 Spatial analysis classification scheme . ...... 43 2.2 Experimentalgroupslocation . 50 2.3 Kernel density estimates of intensity for productive attributes . 54 2.4 Kernel density estimates of intensity for land cover attributes . 56 2.5 Lengthofgrowingperiod .......................... 58 2.6 PCA loadings for productive and land cover attributes data set. 62 2.7 Scatterplot of variables loadings Aragua-Guarico group.......... 63 2.8 PCA scores plot of farm’s classes for Aragua-Guarico group....... 64 2.9 Boxplots of productive and land cover attributes variations. ....... 67 2.10 Kernel density estimates of productive attributes for Guarico group . 71 2.11 Kernel density estimates of land cover attributes for Guarico group . 73 2.12 Loadings plot of productive and land cover attributes for Guarico group 78 v 2.13 Scatterplot of variables loadings for Guarico group . .......... 79 2.14 PCA scores plot of farms’ classes for Guarico group . ........ 80 2.15 Boxplots of productive and land cover attributes variations. 83 3.1 Methodologyscheme.............................. 102 3.2 Mahalanobis distance by feature extraction method (Aragua-Guarico) . 106 3.3 Projection onto PCs by feature extration method (Aragua-Guarico) . 109 3.4 Mahalanobis distance by feature extraction method (Guarico) . 113 3.5 Projection onto PCs by feature extraction method (Guarico) . 116 3.6 Boxplots of productive and land cover attributes (Guarico) . 120 4.1 Toy example of decision boundaries between classes . ........ 126 4.2 Landsat image segmentation procedure . 132 4.3 Nonlinearmapping.............................. 136 4.4 Histograms of farm’s class relative frequency (Aragua-Guarico) . 139 4.5 Impact of feature extraction method on class separation ......... 140 4.6 Histograms of farm’s class relative frequency (Guarico).......... 141 4.7 Scatterplot of first three PCs by feature extraction method ....... 142 4.8 Impact of training set size (Aragua-Guarico) . 144 4.9 Impact of training set size (Guarico) . 147 4.10 Separating hyperplanes for Aragua-Guarico group . ........ 150 4.11 Separating hyperplanes for Guarico group . 153 4.12 Original images used for unsupervised classification . ........... 158 4.13 Classification map of land cover data . 159 vi 4.14 Vegetationmap................................ 160 4.15 Classification plot for observed group and predicted probabilities . 162 4.16 Prediction surface for different farm typologies . ......... 163 vii List of Tables 1.1 Cattle population and grassland areas . 23 1.2 Performance parameters of crop-livestock systems . ......... 26 2.1 List of variables examined in this research . ...... 48 2.2 Correlation matrix for Aragua-Guarico dataset . ....... 60 2.3 Histogram of components eigenvalues. 61 2.4 Summary statistics by farm’s class for Aragua-Guarico group ...... 69 2.5 Correlation matrix for Guarico dataset . ..... 76 2.6 Histogram of components eigenvalues. 77 2.7 Summary statistics by farm class for Guarico group . ....... 85 2.8 Discriminant analysis summary statistics by experimental group. 86 3.1 Impact of selected features on clustering performance (Aragua-Guarico) 104 3.2 Impact of kernel function on clustering performance (Aragua-Guarico) . 105 3.3 Aragua-Guarico paired samples statistics. ....... 107 3.4 Aragua-Guarico paired sample test . 108 3.5 Impact of selected features on clustering performance (Guarico) . 111 3.6 Impact of kernel function on clustering performance (Guarico) . 112 3.7 Guarico paired samples statistics. 114 3.8 Guaricopairedsampletest . 115 3.9 Summary statistics of attributes by farm’s class (Guarico) . 121 viii 4.1 Informational classes descrition . 130 4.2 Confusion matrix for the accuracy on segmentation (Aragua-Guarico) . 149 4.3 LDA Confusion matrix for the accuracy on the segmentation (Aragua- Guarico).................................... 151 4.4 Confusion matrix for the segmentation (Guarico) . ....... 154 4.5 LDA Confusion matrix for the segmentation (Guarico) . ....... 155 4.6 Coefficients of the variables in the equation . 161 ix Acknowledgements First and foremost, I am greatly indebted to the Venezuelan Government, specially to the Ministry of Science and Technology, where Marta Rodr´ıguez (FONACIT) and Nuris Orihuela (Venezuelan Spatial Centre) rescued this study from its very early stages, and granted me economical means to complete this research. On the data side, I wish to thank The Venezuelan Geographical Institute (IGVSB), and The National Land Institute (INTI) which gave me much-needed satelite images and farms attributive information respectively. Such support have given me not only a indispensable material assistance to complete the job, but also the opportunities to be open to a completely new application within the agricultural field, to work on a project I am interested in, and to prepare myself to research in a very exiting field of study. There are three people whom I would like to acknowledge individually. First, I am deeply grateful to Dr. Graham Russell, for his encouragement and careful guidance of my project. Secondly, I owe a great deal to Dr. Jos´eAli Moreno (Universidad Central de Venezuela), my second supervisor, whose supervision and advise have contributed substantially to my study. Thirdly, I am enormously grateful to Dr. James Wright for his faith in me and his ability to provide the right support at difficult times. Finally, I would like to thank my friends
Load more

Recommended publications
  • FLOODS Appeal No
    11 February2000 VENEZUELA: FLOODS appeal no. 35/99 situation report no. 8 period covered: 18 January - 7 February 2000 The Federation, the Venezuelan Red Cross and Participating National Societies are increasing the scope of emergency relief assistance to flood victims. It includes food, clean water, health care and psychological support. The bad weather is continuing in some areas, causing further damage and adding to logistical difficulties. The disaster Weeks of torrential rains in Venezuela at the end of 1999 caused massive landslides and severe flooding in seven northern states. The official death toll is 30,000 but other sources put the figure as high as 50,000. Over 600,000 persons are estimated to have been directly affected and according to the Venezuelan Civil Defence’s initial damage assessments at least 64,700 houses have been damaged and over 23,200 destroyed. Update A state of alert is still in effect in the State of Vargas as rains continue in the mountains. Eight districts are still only accessible by air. The cave-in of one lane of the highway to El Junquito has cut off seven towns. The collapse of the highway between Morón and Coro has isolated the state of Falcón. Twenty four new landslides and floods were recorded during the past week. A growing lagoon has built up above Caracas because of debris blocking the rivers. The authorities have started to demolish condemned homes and shanty houses built in dangerous areas such as ravines and canyons because warmer weather is producing cracks in the mud banks and badly damaged homes are collapsing under their own weight.
    [Show full text]
  • The State of Venezuela's Forests
    ArtePortada 25/06/2002 09:20 pm Page 1 GLOBAL FOREST WATCH (GFW) WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE (WRI) The State of Venezuela’s Forests ACOANA UNEG A Case Study of the Guayana Region PROVITA FUDENA FUNDACIÓN POLAR GLOBAL FOREST WATCH GLOBAL FOREST WATCH • A Case Study of the Guayana Region The State of Venezuela’s Forests. Forests. The State of Venezuela’s Págs i-xvi 25/06/2002 02:09 pm Page i The State of Venezuela’s Forests A Case Study of the Guayana Region A Global Forest Watch Report prepared by: Mariapía Bevilacqua, Lya Cárdenas, Ana Liz Flores, Lionel Hernández, Erick Lares B., Alexander Mansutti R., Marta Miranda, José Ochoa G., Militza Rodríguez, and Elizabeth Selig Págs i-xvi 25/06/2002 02:09 pm Page ii AUTHORS: Presentation Forest Cover and Protected Areas: Each World Resources Institute Mariapía Bevilacqua (ACOANA) report represents a timely, scholarly and Marta Miranda (WRI) treatment of a subject of public con- Wildlife: cern. WRI takes responsibility for José Ochoa G. (ACOANA/WCS) choosing the study topics and guar- anteeing its authors and researchers Man has become increasingly aware of the absolute need to preserve nature, and to respect biodiver- Non-Timber Forest Products: freedom of inquiry. It also solicits Lya Cárdenas and responds to the guidance of sity as the only way to assure permanence of life on Earth. Thus, it is urgent not only to study animal Logging: advisory panels and expert review- and plant species, and ecosystems, but also the inner harmony by which they are linked. Lionel Hernández (UNEG) ers.
    [Show full text]
  • Molecular and Epidemiologic Characterization of the Diphtheria Outbreak in Venezuela Ricardo A
    www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Molecular and epidemiologic characterization of the diphtheria outbreak in Venezuela Ricardo A. Strauss1*, Laura Herrera‑Leon2, Ana C. Guillén4, Julio S. Castro3, Eva Lorenz1, Ana Carvajal5, Elizabeth Hernandez5, Trina Navas11, Silvana Vielma8, Neiris Lopez12, Maria G. Lopez10, Lisbeth Aurenty10, Valeria Navas9, Maria A. Rosas6, Tatiana Drummond5, José G. Martínez5, Erick Hernández8, Francis Bertuglia7, Omaira Andrade7, Jaime Torres3, Jürgen May1, Silvia Herrera‑Leon2 & Daniel Eibach1 In 2016, Venezuela faced a large diphtheria outbreak that extended until 2019. Nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal samples were prospectively collected from 51 suspected cases and retrospective data from 348 clinical records was retrieved from 14 hospitals between November 2017 and November 2018. Confrmed pathogenic Corynebactrium isolates were biotyped. Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) was performed followed by next‑generation‑based core genome‑MLST and minimum spanning trees were generated. Subjects between 10 and 19 years of age were mostly afected (n = 95; 27.3%). Case fatality rates (CFR) were higher in males (19.4%), as compared to females (15.8%). The highest CFR (31.1%) was observed among those under 5, followed by the 40 to 49 age‑group (25.0%). Nine samples corresponded to C. diphtheriae and 1 to C. ulcerans. Two Sequencing Types (ST), ST174 and ST697 (the latter not previously described) were identifed among the eight C. diphtheriae isolates from Carabobo state. Cg‑MLST revealed only one cluster also from Carabobo. The Whole Genome Sequencing analysis revealed that the outbreak seemed to be caused by diferent strains with C. diphtheriae and C. ulcerans coexisting. The reemergence and length of this outbreak suggest vaccination coverage problems and an inadequate control strategy.
    [Show full text]
  • Proceedings of the United States National Museum
    PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM Vol. 87 Washington : 1939 No, 3073 OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIRDS OF NORTPIERN VENEZUELA By Alexander Wetmore An extended journey in the southern republics of South America several years ago aroused a wish to know something in life of the birds of the northern section of that great continent, a desire that was finally gratified in the latter part of 1937 when arrangement was made for field work in Venezuela. In brief, in this second journey work began at the seacoast 50 miles west of La Guaira, was extended inland to the higher levels of the CordiUera de la Costa at Rancho Grande, and, with brief observations at Maracay in the valley of Aragua, was concluded with a stay at El Sombrero in the northern Orinoco Valley 80 miles due south of the capital city of Caracas. The studies thus included a transit through the arid tropical zone of the north coast, the subtropical rain forests of the coast range, the open valley of Aragua, and the northern section of the llanos down to that point where the blanket of thorny scrub that extends south- ward from the hills on the northern boundary of that great level plain begins to open out in the vast savannas that reach toward the Rio Orinoco. The collections from the region included in the Parque Naciondl serve as a link to join work done by earlier investigators in the region of the Cumbre de Valencia and Puerto Cabello in Estado Carabobo, and in the vicinity of Caracas.
    [Show full text]
  • Geomorphic Effects of Large Debris Flows and Flash Floods, Northern Venezuela, 1999
    Z. Geomorph. N.F. Suppl.-Vol. 145 147-175 Berlin Stuttgart October 2006 Geomorphic effects of large debris flows and flash floods, northern Venezuela, 1999 MATTHEW C. LARSEN and GERALD F. WIECZOREK with 10 figures and 2 tables Summary. A rare, high-magnitude storm in northern Venezuela in December 1999 triggered debris flows and flash floods, and caused one of the worst natural disasters in the recorded history of the Americas. Some 15,000 people were killed. The debris flows and floods inundated coastal communities on alluvial fans at the mouths of a coastal mountain drainage network and destroyed property estimated at more than $2 billion. Landslides were abundant and widespread on steep slopes within areas underlain by schist and gneiss from near the coast to slightly over the crest of the mountain range. Some hillsides were entirely denuded by single or coalescing failures, which formed massive debris flows in river channels flowing out onto densely populated alluvial fans at the coast. The massive amount of sediment derived from 24 watersheds along 50 km of the coast during the storm and deposited on alluvial fans and beaches has been estimated at 15 to 20 million m3. Sediment yield for the 1999 storm from the approximately 200 km2 drainage area of watersheds upstream of the alluvial fans was as much as 100,000 m3/km2. Rapid economic development in this dynamic geomorphic environment close to the capital city of Caracas, in combination with a severe rain storm, resulted in the death of approximately 5% of the population (300,000 total prior to the storm) in the northern Venezuelan state of Vargas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Genus Guzmania (Bromeliaceae) in Venezuela
    The genus Guzmania (Bromeliaceae) in Venezuela Compiled by Yuribia Vivas Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela Bruce Holst & Harry Luther Marie Selby Botanical Gardens The genus Guzmania was described by Hipólito Ruiz and José Pavón in 1802 in the "Flora Peruviana et Chilensis." The type species is Guzmania tricolor Ruiz & Pav. The name honors Spanish naturalist Anastasio Guzmán, a student of South American plants and animals (Grant & Zijlstra 1998). Species of Guzmania are distributed from the southern USA (Florida) and Mexico to Brazil and Peru, including the Most species of Guzmania are found in cloud forests at middle elevations. Antilles; they are largely absent from lowland Amazonia. Photograph by Yuribia Vivas. Figure modified from Smith & Downs, Flora Neotropica. Guzmania is placed in the subfamily Tillandsioideae, and is distinguished from other members of the subfamily (Vriesea,Tillandsia, Catopsis, Racinaea, Alcantarea, Mezobromelia, and Werauhia) by having polystichously arranged flowers (that is, arranged in many planes on the inflorescence axis), white, whitish, yellow, or greenish petals that lack nectar scales, and having generally reddish brown-colored seeds. In general aspect, Guzmania is difficult to distinguish from Mezobromelia since both are polystichously flowered and may have similar color schemes, but the presence of nectar scales in Mezobromelia and absence inGuzmania separates them. Approximately 200 species and 17 varieties of Guzmania are known, making it the third largest genus in the subfamily, after Tillandsia and Vriesea. The table below is a listing of Guzmania in Venezuela, with synonymy, types, phenology, and distribution. Column two contains photographs of live plants and the third column, type specimens. Click on the photos for enlarged images.
    [Show full text]
  • Country Strategy Paper: Venezuela
    COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 9(1(=8(/$ &RXQWU\6WUDWHJ\3DSHU &28175<675$7(*<3$3(5±9(1(=8(/$ 7$%/(2)&217(176 SUMMARY……………………………………………………………………………………1 1. EU CO-OPERATION OBJECTIVES.............................................................................. 2 1.1 EU Development Policy Objectives……………………………………………. 2 1.2 The Rio Summit and EC Regional Objectives………………………………… 2 2. THE POLICY AGENDA OF THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT.......................... 4 3. ANALYSIS OF THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SITUATION ........... 6 3.1. Political situation.................................................................................................... 6 3.2. Economic and social situation................................................................................ 9 3.2.1. Economic situation, structure and performance ...................................... 9 3.2.2. Social developments .............................................................................. 11 3.2.3. Consequences of the 1999 floods and land slides……………………..12 3.2.4. Assessment of the reform process ................................................ 13 3.2.5. Structure of the public sector finances................................................... 13 3.2.6. External environment, including regional co-operation agreements ............................................................................................. 14 3.3. Sustainability of current policies.......................................................................... 14 3.4. Medium-term challenges.....................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • VENEZUELA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Venezuela Is a Multiparty Constitutional Republic. in 2006 Voters Reelected President Hugo Chavez F
    VENEZUELA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Venezuela is a multiparty constitutional republic. In 2006 voters reelected President Hugo Chavez Frias of the Fifth Republic Movement party. International observer missions deemed the elections generally free and fair but noted some irregularities. In September 2010 voters elected 165 deputies to the National Assembly. Voting on election day was generally free and fair with scattered reports of irregularities. However, domestic election observers and opposition political parties criticized both the electoral law, claiming it violated the constitutional principle of proportionality, and the government’s partisan use of state-owned media. There were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian control. Concentration of power in the executive branch continued to increase significantly. An Enabling Law enacted by the outgoing National Assembly in December 2010 (less than three weeks before newly elected members took office) gave the president broad authority to decree laws for a period of 18 months without consultation or approval by the elected National Assembly. The law responded to the president’s request for authorities necessary to deal with the emergency created by floods in late 2010. Using this authority President Chavez decreed 26 laws, including a number of provisions restricting fundamental economic and property rights. The principal human rights abuses reported during the year included government actions to impede freedom of expression and criminalize dissent. The government harassed and intimidated privately owned television stations, other media outlets, and journalists throughout the year, using threats, fines, property seizures, targeted regulations, and criminal investigations and prosecutions. The government did not respect judicial independence or permit judges to act according to the law without fear of retaliation.
    [Show full text]
  • ORIGIN and DEVELOPMENT of WHALEWATCHING in the STATE of ARAGUA, VENEZUELA: LAYING the GROUNDWORK for SUSTAINABILITY (Working Paper)
    ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF WHALEWATCHING IN THE STATE OF ARAGUA, VENEZUELA: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR SUSTAINABILITY (Working paper) Jaime Bolaños-Jiménez 1 Auristela Villarroel-Marin 1 , 2 E.C.M. Parsons 3 Naomi A. Rose 4 1 Sociedad Ecológica Venezolana Vida Marina (Sea Vida), A.P. 162, Cagua, Estado Aragua, Venezuela 2122. e-mail: [email protected] 2 Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (UPEL), Instituto Universitario Rafael Alberto Escobar Lara, Av. Las Delicias, Departamento de Biología, Maracay, Estado Aragua, Venezuela. 3 Department of Environmental Science & Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA. e-mail: [email protected] 4 Humane Society International, 700 Professional Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20879, USA. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Whalewatching potential in Venezuelan waters is considered to be “moderate to considerable” by experts. Since 2001, the local non-governmental organization (NGO) Sociedad Ecológica Venezolana Vida Marina (Sea Vida) has been promoting responsible whalewatching in the “Municipio Ocumare de la Costa de Oro”, State of Aragua. Here, we review the origin and development of whalewatching in Ocumare de la Costa de Oro, as detailed below. 1) Scientific research. Research effort dates back to 1996-1998, when researchers of the Ministry of Environment evaluated the status of cetacean populations in this area. Since 2000-2001, research efforts have been accomplished by Sea Vida’s teams and independent researchers. Target species include Atlantic spotted (Stenella frontalis) and bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) dolphins and Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni). The encounter rate with cetaceans is approximately 70%. 2) Regulatory framework. No specific regulations exist in Venezuela for whalewatching. Currently, a proposal presented by Sea Vida for the enactment of regulations at the national level is being reviewed by the MINAMB.
    [Show full text]
  • “Political Persecution in Venezuela”
    Report to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations on the occasion of the 4th Periodic Review Report of the Venezuelan State in the 114th session of June 2015, on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “POLITICAL PERSECUTION IN VENEZUELA” Systematization of patterns of persecution to Venezuelan political dissidents Geneva, june 2015 0 Presentation This report was prepared by the organization CEPAZ Justice and Peace Center, for the Human Rights Committee on the occasion of examination performed in Venezuela Fourth Report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This report is focused on patterns of persecution of individuals and groups for political reasons, corresponding to Articles 2, 9, 14, 19 and 25 of the Covenant. Center for Justice and Peace, CEPAZ: organization that since its creation, promotes citizen activism for human rights and has made systematic monitoring, analysis, reporting, dissemination and training on the situation of human rights in Venezuela, with the permanent references to the covenants and conventions that make up the International Human Rights System. www.cepaz.org.ve [email protected] 1 INDEX ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................... 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... 6 POLITICAL PERSECUTION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS ..............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Promoting Vetiver Grass Technology in Venezuela
    Vetiver and the Environment The Second International Conference on Vetiver. Phetchaburi, Thailand, 18-22 January 2000 Promoting Vetiver Grass Technology in Venezuela Oscar S. Rodríguez P. Conservación de Suelos y Agua. Instituto de Agronomía. Universidad Central de Venezuela. Apdo. 4579 Maracay, Estado Aragua, Venezuela. FAX: 58-43-453242 E-Mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT A two year project (1997 - 1999), was conducted by the SOCIEDAD CONSERVACIONISTA ARAGUA (SCA) with the financial and technical support of THE VETIVER NETWORK (TVN), and sponsored by other local institutions like the Aragua’s State Secretary of The Environment and the Central University of Venezuela. Twelve workshops were organized and more than three hundred participants received training on Vetiver Grass Technology, VGT. Extension workers, technicians, university students, farmers and representatives of Non Governmental Organization (NGO). A good geographical distribution of project activities was achieved as is shown in a map developed by the project. High priority was given to the production of written material, including a technical bulletin, newspaper and journal articles, and a series of brochures to support the project activities. Other priority was the participation in different meetings where specialized and general public become aware of vetiver applications for erosion control and environmental protection. Field demonstration plots were developed in three locations with different agroecological and farming conditions. VGT performance was proved to have a high potential for adoption among farmers for soil conservation, and for enhancing development of sustainable land use systems. INTRODUCTION Soil erosion induced by water on sloping areas is of major concern in Venezuela due to its negative impacts on land productivity, ecosystem balance and infrastructure stability and performance.
    [Show full text]
  • That the Capacity of a Plant Species to Adjust Itself, Due to a Change N Environmental Temperature, Is Genetically Controlled
    122 that the capacity of a plant species to adjust itself, due to a change n environmental temperature, is genetically controlled. The différences in physiological adjustments among genotypes are P^i'"^'^;^^',^" ,^^^^,f,\P^^'^ of heat acclimation (heat adaptability) rather than ^", \^^\ \"^^^r^^^^^ ^^^î tolerance. This adaptive character, which protects plants against heat stress, works only if the heat adaptability can occur rapidly (J), so that the damage would not occur, which in turn results in better crop performance. References 1. Kigel, J. and M. Ofir. 1981. The morphogenetic processes that determine yield in french bean. Reports to A.R.O., Ministry of Agri., Israel. 2. Chen,\^ii\.M, ii.ii.,H.H., Z.Y.A.. I. oiiciiShen aiiuand r.M.P.H. ui.Li. 1982.• ^^i-» ,^—~^~~Adaptability ___X.__ of crop plants to high temperature stress. Crop Sei., 22:719-725. 3. Shen, Z.Y. and P.H. Li. 1982. Heat adaptability of the tomato. HortSci. 17:924-925. ««»«« INTERNAL CONTAMINATION OF BLACK BEAN SEED LOTS WITH XANTHOMONAS BLIGHT BACTERIA FROM DIFFERENT STATES OF VENEZUELA Nancy Contreras de Velasquez and Gustavo Trujillo Escuela de Postgrado, Facultad de Agronomía Universidad Central de Venezuela, Maracay Venezuela To evaluate the internal bacterial contamination in black bean seed lots, a survey was conducted with 176 samples from different classes of seed' such as: genetic, foundation, registered, certified, and harvested from growers and experiments. The survey came from different States of the Country Anzoategui, Apure, Aragua, Carabobo, Guarico, Lara, Monagas, Portuguesa, Sucre, Trujillo and Yaracuy. The samples of 80 g from each lot were weigthed, the surface was sterilized during 2 minutes with 2,6% NaOCl, rinsing twice in sterile wa ter and incubated in a shaker for 48 hr in the following enrichment medium (SEM): 1,0 g yeast extract, 25 mg cycloheximide, 2 mg nitrofurantoin, 1 mg nalidixic acid in 1000 ml 0,01 phosphate buffer pH 7.2.
    [Show full text]