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Proliferating pest problems, sharply rising pest control costs, increasing environmental pollution, rising rates of injury and death due to pesticide poisoning, and burgeoning pesticide‐related legal entanglements leave little doubt in the minds of most citizens that a crisis in chemical pest control exists. The underlying cause of today's pesticide dilemma lies in the lack of ecological consideration given the synthesis, experimental development, registration and utilisation of newly developed synthetic pesticides. The production of synthetic organic pesticides increased from an estimated 464,000 pounds in 1951 to approximately 1.4 billion pounds in 1980. Increases in production were followed by the recognition that such increased use of synthetic chemicals would be accompanied by extensive human and environmental impact. With the rapid increase in the use of pesticides, there has been a corresponding increase in public attention and public concern about this impact on human health.

From the perspective of any nation, rural areas generally present a comparable set of problems, such as a lack of proper healthcare, education, living conditions, wages and market opportunities. Some nations have created and developed the concept of smart villages during the previous few decades, which effectively addresses these issues. The landscape of traditional agriculture has been radically altered by digital agriculture, which has also had a positive economic impact on farmers and those who live in rural regions by ensuring an increase in agricultural production. We explored current issues in rural areas, and the consequences of smart village applications, and then illustrate our concept of smart village from recent examples of how emerging digital agriculture trends contribute to improving agricultural production in this chapter.

Explains ways to mitigate the effects of various species of pests in dwellings, dealing with three distinct groups ‐ insects, rodents and birds. There are now many other species, apart from fleas, lice and bedbugs, which have evolved to capitalize on the more recent environmental modifications which man has undertaken. Looks at several objections, apart from the aesthetic, to the presence of pests in dwellings including significant risks to health, deterioration of the structure itself and economic loss. Examines potential pest problems which may arise in new designs/construction and suggest possible solutions.

Based on the survey data of 650 kiwi growers from Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces, this paper used multiple endogenous transformation regression models to explore the effect of the joint adoption of green production technology on farmer’s welfare. The purpose of the study is to analyze the influence of green production technology on the yield, household income and socioeconomic characteristics of Kiwi fruit growers.

In the context of the study, multiple endogenous transformation model (MESR) are adopted, but self-actualization tactics were adopted to deal with the instrumental variables. The empirical data has been collected via a combined hierarchical sampling and random sampling, whereas a well-structured Likert scale questionnaire was adopted as well. The empirical data has been processed with the help of STATA 15.1 version.

The study found a positive impact of adopting green production technology. Moreover, the joint adoption of green production technology by kiwi growers has significantly increased the yield, economic values of Kiwi and household income of kiwi farmers. The households with higher asset value, better land quality, weaker credit constraints, more technical training and stronger government promotion and support from local governments are the most likely to adopt pest control technology and soil management technology jointly.

The prime innovation of the paper is to measure the impact of technology combination adoption on farmer’s welfare is evaluated, rather than the impact of single sub technology on farmer’s’ welfare.

The analyses of trends in prosecutions under the Food and Drugs Act, 1955 and the various regulations, which we have prepared every two years or so, covering a three‐month period, have been so much appreciated by readers, both in the administration and the industry itself, that we have prepared a more extended survey, covering the whole of 1966. The survey, as before, takes the form of a month‐by‐month analysis of reports of legal proceedings received by us from all parts of the country, and as formerly records the prosecutions under similar groupings; cases under Section 2, subdivided into those relating to compositional offences, the presence of foreign bodies and those relating to mouldy food: false description cases under Section 6 of the Merchandise Marks Acts; Section 8, the unfit food provision, also subdivided with special categories for foreign bodies and mouldy food; Section 32, milk cases; cases under the Food Hygiene Regulations, 1960, with smoking offences separated; the Milk and Dairies Regulations, consisting almost entirely of prosecutions under Reg. 27, Meat Regulations, Preservative Regulations, Colouring Matter in Food Regulations, etc.

Rice agroecosystems must grow sustainably to meet the increasing demand for food. A fish-rice co-culture was introduced to conserve rice agroecosystems in farming communities. This study aims to assess the technical, socio-economic and environmental outcomes as the pillars of sustainability.

This study employs a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach to assess a sustainable intensification programme's impact on sustainability. Data were collected using group discussions and self-assessment surveys. The study sites cover East Java and West Java provinces.

This study found that rice-fish co-culture improved the sustainability of the farming system. Farmers applied pest and disease management and partially substituted inorganic fertilisers with organic ones. The outcomes were apparent in the diversity of harvested products. Economically, the rice yield increased, the production costs decreased and the resultant increased income. Environmentally, the fish-rice co-culture was sound because of ecological inputs. The population of natural enemies of pests increased. Socially, fish-rice co-culture was acceptable to the community since there was no conflict with the local governments, local norms and religions and the existing farming practices of other crops.

This study was based on five groups as case studies, such that the result might not represent the general condition.

The study's methodology was supported by valid economic theories and data directly gathered from farmers.

Nowadays, the global agricultural system is highly dependent on the widespread use of synthetic pesticides to control diseases, weeds and insects. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is deployed as a major part of integrated pest management in a precision agriculture system for accurately and cost-effectively distributing pesticides to resist crop diseases and insect pests.

With multimodal sensor fusion applying adaptive cubature Kalman filter, the position and velocity are enhanced for the correction and accuracy. A dynamic movement primitive is combined with the Gaussian mixture model to obtain numerous trajectories through the teaching of a demonstration. Further, to enhance the trajectory tracking accuracy under an uncertain environment of the spraying, a novel model reference adaptive sliding mode control approach is proposed for motion control.

Experimental studies have been carried out to test the ability of the proposed interface for the pesticides in the crop fields. The effectiveness of the proposed interface has been demonstrated by the experimental results.

To solve the path planning problem of a complex unstructured environment, a human-robot skills transfer interface is introduced for the UAV that is instructed to follow a trajectory demonstrated by a human teacher.

A research and development project disseminated ecological technologies to approximately 3,250 vegetable farmers through farmer field schools (FFS) in four districts of Bali and East Java provinces of Indonesia. This article aims to assess the economic sustainability of vegetable production after FFS participation.

A survey randomly sampled 500 farmers, comprised of FFS participants (50%) and non-FFS participants (50%). Based on 1,000 farm operations, this analysis employed input-saving technology as the fundamental model examined using the double-difference method. Simultaneous reduction of agrochemicals and improvement of productivity represent indicators of economic sustainability.

Results indicate that pesticide use decreased without jeopardising farm productivity; moreover, vegetable production increased. These findings indicate that the ecological technologies transferred through FFS significantly improved economic sustainability performance.

This study purposively selected farmers who grew tomato and chilli. Thus, the outcomes are not generalisable to other crops.

FFS continues to be an effective method for transferring agricultural technologies to farmer communities. Policymakers are recommended to use FFS for disseminating beneficial and sustainable technologies to broader agricultural communities.

The adoption of ecological technologies provides positive economic and ecological milieus.

This study employs a double-differences approach to verify input-saving technological progress. Therefore, the performance of economic sustainability attributable to the project intervention is theoretically justified.

The purpose of this paper is to show how a major public benefit entity in New Zealand uses formal accountability mechanisms and informal reporting to justify its existence. The paper is premised on the view that the accountability relationship for public benefit entities is broader and more complex than the traditional shareholder‐manager relationship in the private sector.

This longitudinal single case study of the Department of Conservation (DOC) spans the period from its establishment in 1987 to June 2006. It involves the detailed examination of the narrative disclosures contained in the annual reports, including the Statement of Service Performance, over the period of the study. A number of controversial items that appeared in the printed media between 1 April 1987 and 30 June 2006 were traced through the annual reports to establish whether DOC used impression management techniques in its annual reports to gain, maintain and repair its organisational legitimacy.

The analysis found that the annual report of a public benefit entity could play an important legitimising role. Using legitimacy theory, it is argued that assertive and defensive impression management techniques were used by DOC to gain, maintain and repair its organisational legitimacy in the light of extensive negative media publicity.

This is one of the first studies to examine the relationship between narrative disclosures in annual reports and legitimacy in the public sector. The paper provides a valuable contribution to researchers and practitioners as it extends the understanding of how public benefit entities can make use of the narrative portions of the annual report when pursuing organisational legitimacy.