Microbiological hazards pose a disproportionate threat to human health in all countries, particularly in developing countries due to under-resourced food control systems. In Eswatini, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is responsible for food control supported by other departments. The outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa in 2017 highlighted the need for effective food control systems. Eswatini depends on South Africa for its substantial food requirements, including the RTE meat products which were implicated in the listeriosis outbreak. As part of the mitigating strategy, Eswatini’s MoH embarked on consumer awareness and recalled the affected products. It was apparent the country was ill-prepared to test the products which highlighted the need to strengthen the food control systems.

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The fruit load of sweet pepper (Capsicum annum L.) is high, and if a sufficient amount of photosynthesis cannot be produced, abscission occurs. When considering photosynthesis, it is important to balance the strength of energy sources and sinks. In this study, the amount of light was increased using irradiation by LED. We also investigated whether the source strength could be properly evaluated, based on the prediction of the number of fruits. As result, the yield and the number of fruits in sweet pepper were strongly influenced by source strength. By investigating several parameters related to source and sink strength, it was possible to predict the number of fruit set and the fruit load.

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Because pig farms are labor intensive, computer vision-based pig weight estimation system that involve robust maintenance-free parts have been developed; with this system, information on the shape of the pig is used to estimate the pig’s weight. While 2D shape information can be useful, 3D information is preferable to ensure more accurate weight estimates. The approach described here uses multiple lines structured light laser projection to extract such 3D shape information. This method allows for the extraction of a clear pig image regardless of the environment and offers more accurate pig weight estimates. This paper introduces the robust image processing system and describes its effectiveness for practical use on pig farms.

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This research examines the impact of mechanization development on women and hired labor utilization of small-scale rice farming operations in Kampar Region. Surveys were conducted in Kuok and Bangkinang districts of the region during July–August 2018. Sixty women farmers were purposively selected for samples and interviewed personally to collect primary data. Data were analyzed using descriptive–quantitative and simple regression techniques. The mechanization development in small-scale rice farming gradually reduced women and hired labor utilization. The time requirement for performing rice farming operations was relatively high to account for 602.56 h ha^-1. Most of the hours were required for manual operations, primarily weeding, transplanting and harvesting. Whilst, the working hours with mechanized operations reduced significantly, including ploughing, harvesting, threshing, and milling.

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