SPFC: a tool to improve water management and hay production in the Crau region

Correspondance: [email protected] ; UMR SYSTEM équipe CONSYSTThis article deals with the development and application of SPFC, a model used to improve water and grassland production (HC) in this region of France. This model is composed of two sub-models: an irrigation model and a crop model. As the fields are border irrigated, these two sub-models are coupled. The crop model simulates dry matter, Leaf Area Index (LAI) and soil water reserve (SWR) variations. LAI and SWR are both used for border model updating: SWR for the deficit of saturation required by the infiltration equation and LAI for the roughness coefficient n. After calibration and validation, SPFC is then used to identify realistic management strategies for the irrigation and production system at the plot level. By scheduling irrigation when SWR is 50% depleted, would result in a low Dry Matter DM production loss (around 10%), reduced labour (8 irrigation events instead of 11) and in significant water saving compared with farmers' practices, on the basis of an average climatic scenario. Furthermore, this improvement of irrigation efficiency is not incompatible with groundwater recharge used for the potable water supply of the region

Educational risk factors for psychological truancy in Lesotho: a qualitative exploration

A qualitative case study design was used to explore educational risk factors that may contribute to psychological truancy in a Lesotho secondary school. Purposively sampled teachers (n = 4, females = 50%) and pupils (n = 4, females = 75%), who have experience of psychological truancy, took part in a focus group and individual interviews. Inductive content analysis was used to analyse data emanating from the interviews. The findings indicate that pupil–teacher relationships, the use of English as medium of instruction and a lack of resources may be educational risk factors contributing to psychological truancy. Positive pupil–teacher relationships and active classroom engagement are prerequisites for successful and active learning

Gender Gaps in Education

This chapter reviews the growing body of research in economics which concentrates on the education gender gap and its evolution, over time and across countries. The survey first focuses on gender differentials in the historical period that roughly goes from 1850 to the 1940s and documents the deep determinants of the early phase of female education expansion, including preindustrial conditions, religion, and family and kinship patterns. Next, the survey describes the stylized facts of contemporaneous gender gaps in education, from the 1950s to the present day, accounting for several alternative measures of attainment and achievement and for geographic and temporal differentiations. The determinants of the gaps are then summarized, while keeping a strong emphasis on an historical perspective and disentangling factors related to the labor market, family formation, psychological elements, and societal cultural norms. A discussion follows of the implications of the education gender gap for multiple realms, from economic growth to family life, taking into account the potential for reverse causation. Special attention is devoted to the persistency of gender gaps in the STEM and economics fields

Gender gaps in education

This chapter reviews the growing body of research in economics which concentrates on the education gender gap and its evolution, over time and across countries. The survey first focuses on gender differentials in the historical period that roughly goes from 1850 to the 1940s and documents the deep determinants of the early phase of female education expansion, including preindustrial conditions, religion, and family and kinship patterns. Next, the survey describes the stylized facts of contemporaneous gender gaps in education, from the 1950s to the present day, accounting for several alternative measures of attainment and achievement and for geographic and temporal differentiations. The determinants of the gaps are then summarized, while keeping a strong emphasis on an historical perspective and disentangling factors related to the labor market, family formation, psychological elements, and societal cultural norms. A discussion follows of the implications of the education gender gap for multiple realms, from economic growth to family life, taking into account the potential for reverse causation. Special attention is devoted to the persistency of gender gaps in the STEM and economics fields