Category Archives: oa.agriculture

Food Modelling Journal: New open-access venue provides a platform for food scientists | EurekAlert! Science News

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“The open-access Food Modelling Journal (FMJ) was launched by the AGINFRA+ community and Pensoft with the aim to encourage food science specialists, agronomists and computer scientists to come together and work on assuring and improving food supply, quality and safety in our globalised and rapidly changing world….

FSK-ML is an open information exchange format that is based on harmonised terms, metadata and controlled vocabulary to harmonise annotations of risk assessment models and that was significantly improved and extended during the AGINFRA+ project.”

Open Data and Open Access – CGIAR

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“CGIAR is committed to the widespread dissemination of the results of its research and activities. CGIAR has made a strong commitment to open access and open data (OA-OD), and all Centers have signed CGIAR’s 2013 Open Access and Data Management Policy. The rationale behind OA-OD is to achieve the maximum impact to advantage the poor, especially smallholder farmers in developing countries….”

View of Agricultural Researchers’ Attitudes Toward Open Access and Sharing | Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship

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Abstract:  This study involved a thorough examination of attitudes and opinions of agricultural researchers toward open access publishing and data sharing. Utilizing the results of the Ithaka S+R Agriculture Research Support Services project, we reanalyzed our institutional interview transcripts and synthesized information from the project’s publicly available reports. For comparison, we also searched and coded scientific and library literature. Our findings reveal common attitudes related to open access publishing and data sharing and point to potential roles for libraries to help address common impediments, such as lack of trust, time, and money. Overall, this study provides disciplinary context that can inform how librarians approach agricultural researchers about open access publishing and data sharing.

James Hutton Institute: Sites’ potential ‘enormous’ | Press and Journal

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“JHI chief executive Professor Colin Campbell told a meeting of the Scottish Society for Crop Research (SSCR) a spin-out business has already been established to handle innovation developed at the institute and its commercial subsidiary, James Hutton Limited.

Prof Campbell said he had a long shopping list for the new funding, which he said could have a transformative impact on agriculture, and outlined the “enormous” potential of the open science campuses planned for Invergowrie and Aberdeen.

He said: “We have had a fantastic experience collaborating with Intelligent Growth Solutions in the development of disruptive technologies for the future of vertical farming.

“Hutton will be an even more open science institute, facilitated by new investment on our sites and embracing many collaborators, stakeholders and the public.” …”

James Hutton Institute: Sites’ potential ‘enormous’ | Press and Journal

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“JHI chief executive Professor Colin Campbell told a meeting of the Scottish Society for Crop Research (SSCR) a spin-out business has already been established to handle innovation developed at the institute and its commercial subsidiary, James Hutton Limited.

Prof Campbell said he had a long shopping list for the new funding, which he said could have a transformative impact on agriculture, and outlined the “enormous” potential of the open science campuses planned for Invergowrie and Aberdeen.

He said: “We have had a fantastic experience collaborating with Intelligent Growth Solutions in the development of disruptive technologies for the future of vertical farming.

“Hutton will be an even more open science institute, facilitated by new investment on our sites and embracing many collaborators, stakeholders and the public.” …”

Rice Galaxy: an open resource for plant science | GigaScience | Oxford Academic

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Abstract

Background

Rice molecular genetics, breeding, genetic diversity, and allied research (such as rice-pathogen interaction) have adopted sequencing technologies and high-density genotyping platforms for genome variation analysis and gene discovery. Germplasm collections representing rice diversity, improved varieties, and elite breeding materials are accessible through rice gene banks for use in research and breeding, with many having genome sequences and high-density genotype data available. Combining phenotypic and genotypic information on these accessions enables genome-wide association analysis, which is driving quantitative trait loci discovery and molecular marker development. Comparative sequence analyses across quantitative trait loci regions facilitate the discovery of novel alleles. Analyses involving DNA sequences and large genotyping matrices for thousands of samples, however, pose a challenge to non?computer savvy rice researchers.

Findings

The Rice Galaxy resource has shared datasets that include high-density genotypes from the 3,000 Rice Genomes project and sequences with corresponding annotations from 9 published rice genomes. The Rice Galaxy web server and deployment installer includes tools for designing single-nucleotide polymorphism assays, analyzing genome-wide association studies, population diversity, rice?bacterial pathogen diagnostics, and a suite of published genomic prediction methods. A prototype Rice Galaxy compliant to Open Access, Open Data, and Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reproducible principles is also presented.

Conclusions

Rice Galaxy is a freely available resource that empowers the plant research community to perform state-of-the-art analyses and utilize publicly available big datasets for both fundamental and applied science.

André Laperrière: Executive Director at Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition – Geographical

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“GODAN is a knowledge broker, facilitating the flow of data knowledge in relation to anything that has to do with agriculture on a worldwide basis. We focus on parts of the world that have the greatest potential for agriculture, bearing in the mind the 2050 horizon where in light of climate change and demographics there’s likely to be a global nutrition challenge. So our mission is to address that. We believe that knowledge, open-source data and innovation is the way to work on these challenges….”

 

USDA orders scientists to say published research is ‘preliminary’ – The Washington Post

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“Researchers at the Agriculture Department laughed in disbelief last summer when they received a memo about a new requirement: Their finalized, peer-reviewed scientific publications must be labeled “preliminary.”

The July 2018 memo from Chavonda Jacobs-Young, the acting USDA chief scientist, told researchers their reports published in scientific journals must include a statement that reads: “The findings and conclusions in this preliminary publication have not been formally disseminated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.” A copy of the memo was obtained by The Washington Post and the USDA confirmed its authenticity.

The disclaimer appears to conflict with the integrity policy that governs research at the USDA, said Susan Offutt, who was the administrator of the Economic Research Service, a USDA statistical agency, under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The claim that reports are not “formally disseminated” runs counter to the USDA policy that “permits and, indeed, encourages researchers to publish in scientific journals,” Offutt said….

William Trenkle, the USDA departmental scientific integrity officer…said in [a public] statement that the department plans to update the disclaimer’s phrasing “in the near future.” …

A successful review and publication is “the end product to your research,” said Gregorich, a scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (the Canadian counterpart to USDA). “It is now finalized. There’s nothing preliminary about it.” …

Before releasing scientific publications, USDA science agencies send them through the department’s Office of Communications. Although the communications office is not supposed to influence a paper’s conclusions, tensions may arise between scientific results and an administration’s agenda, Offutt said….”

 

Kenya seeks to set up open data in agriculture, nutrition – Xinhua | English.news.cn

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“Kenyan researchers have formed a team to spearhead establishment of open data to generate information and services for smallholder farmers in agriculture and nutrition.

“Open data will provide advice and warning to farmers to enable them take precautions and avoid making unnecessary losses,” said Joseph Mureithi, deputy director general in charge of livestock at Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), during the launch of the team in Nairobi on Wednesday.

Mureithi noted that making data more open, easily available and accessible accelerates innovation and generates economic and social benefits….”

“Ag-Gag” Laws: Evolution, Resurgence, and Public Health Implications

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Abstract:  The term “ag-gag” refers to state laws that intentionally limit public access to information about agricultural production practices, particularly livestock production. Originally created in the 1990s, these laws have recently experienced a resurgence in state legislatures. We discuss the recent history of ag-gag laws in the United States and question whether such ag-gag laws create a “chilling effect” on reporting and investigation of occupational health, community health, and food safety concerns related to industrial food animal production. We conclude with a discussion of the role of environmental and occupational health professionals to encourage critical evaluation of how ag-gag laws might influence the health, safety, and interests of day-to-day agricultural laborers and the public living proximal to industrial food animal production.