What is AGRIS?
AGRIS (International System for Agricultural Science and Technology) is a global public database providing access to bibliographic information on agricultural science and technology. The database is maintained by CIARD, and its content is provided by participating institutions from all around the globe that form the network of AGRIS centers (find out more here). One of the main objectives of AGRIS is to improve the access and exchange of information serving the information-related needs of developed and developing countries on a partnership basis.
AGRIS contains over 8 million bibliographic references on agricultural research and technology & links to related data resources on the Web, like DBPedia, World Bank, Nature, FAO Fisheries and FAO Country profiles.
More specifically
AGRIS is at the same time:
A collaborative network of more than 150 institutions from 65 countries, maintained by FAO of the UN, promoting free access to agricultural information.
A multilingual bibliographic database for agricultural science, fuelled by the AGRIS network, containing records largely enhanced with AGROVOC, FAO’s multilingual thesaurus covering all areas of interest to FAO, including food, nutrition, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, environment etc.
A mash-up Web application that links the AGRIS knowledge to related Web resources using the Linked Open Data methodology to provide as much information as possible about a topic within the agricultural domain.
Opening up & enriching information on agricultural research
AGRIS’ mission is to improve the accessibility of agricultural information available on the Web by:
- Maintaining and enhancing AGRIS, a bibliographic repository for repositories related to agricultural research.
- Promoting the exchange of common standards and methodologies for bibliographic information.
- Enriching the AGRIS knowledge by linking it to other relevant resources on the Web.
AGRIS is also part of the CIARD initiative, in which CGIAR, GFAR and FAO collaborate in order to create a community for efficient knowledge sharing in agricultural research and development.
AGRIS covers the wide range of subjects related to agriculture, including forestry, animal husbandry, aquatic sciences and fisheries, human nutrition, and extension. Its content includes unique grey literature such as unpublished scientific and technical reports, theses, conference papers, government publications, and more. A growing number (around 20%) of bibliographical records have a corresponding full text document on the Web which can easily be retrieved by Google.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 8461 - 8465 of 9579causes and spatial pattern of land degradation risk in southern Mauritania using multitemporal AVHRR-NDVI imagery and field data
Multitemporal 1 km NOAA/AVHRR Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) maximum composite imagery was utilized in combination with rainfall, soil types, and field survey data on dominant rural activities to assess the risk of land degradation in southern Mauritania. Mauritania is one of eight continental West African Sahel countries that stretch from Chad to the northwestern Atlantic coast, and from the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert to the northern limit of the Sudanian climatic zone.
IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND POTENTIAL OF THE CONVERSION TO ORGANIC FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA
The world-wide trend of a growing organic sector is also detectable in South Africa. From 2000 to 2002 the number of farmers who had converted to organic farming in South Africa increased sixfold, and although organic farming still accounts only for a minute percentage of the total number agricultural producers, the increasing importance of this sector is apparent. Based on survey results, information was gathered about organic farmers in South Africa concerning socio-demographic aspects, farming operations, motivations and problems of the conversion process.
Potentials and constraints of the farmer-to-farmer programme for environmental protection in Nicaragua
The natural environment in Nicaragua has been damaged by rural development policies geared for the export of cash crops, by uneven land distribution and the near absence of concerns about the environmental effects of the prevailing model of development. The demands made by market forces for the export of primary materials have been reasons for land degradation in the big farms, and the need to survive a poverty stricken existence has forced the peasantry to damage the marginal and fragile land they worked.
Rangeland development of the Mu Us Sandy Land in semiarid China: an analysis using Landsat and NOAA remote sensing data
Degradation of the dry semiarid ecosystems in the Mu Us Sandy Land of north central China was explored using high-resolution satellite images from 1978, 1987 and 1996. This study monitored both changes in grassland biomass production and reclamation activities to detect the nature and scale of land degradation since major economic reforms were introduced in 1978. The position of the high-resolution images within the vegetation cycles was inspected from National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) NDVI images at 10-day repetition and seasonal precipitation patterns.
DO AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION PROGRAMS AND PREFERENTIAL PROPERTY TAX PROGRAMS AFFECT FARMLAND CONVERSION?
This paper examines the impact of having a preservation program on the rate of farmland loss for a 50 year period (1949-1997) in six Mid-Atlantic States: Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Because farmland loss is affected by changing agricultural profitability, demand for land for non-agricultural purposes, and farmers' alternative employment opportunities, we include variables to control for these factors as well.