Owners' Knowledge and Approaches to Colic in Working Equids in Honduras

In Honduras, many families are reliant on working equids in their daily life. The aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge about, and approaches to colic used by owners of working equids in Choluteca, Honduras using a phenomenological approach. Semi-structured, verbal questionnaires were conducted with ninety-three owners from eleven different communities in the Choluteca region on equid horse owners' knowledge of colic and treatments. Additional context was gained through observations and verbal questionnaires with three veterinary practitioners and eight agricultural pharmacy (agrovet) store owners. Working equids were commonly used for firewood collection 31% (40/126), transportation 24% (30/126), and carrying crops 13% (17/126). Thirty-eight percent of owners (35/92) said they did not know what colic was, 27% (24/89) could not name any clinical signs, and 46% (42/92) could not name any causes. Most owners with previous experience of colic had treated it themselves 79% (53/67), typically using herbal remedies. Colic was a major concern for owners of working equids who had prior experience or knowledge of the condition. Knowledge and understanding of colic varied, and access to evidence-based treatments was very limited. The findings will be used to inform the development of educational resources on colic in working equids.

Pesticide assessment of the banana sector in an Ecuadorian watershed

A survey was conducted in several Ecuadorian banana plantations to determine the actual pesticide management and their environmental impacts. It was detected that glyphosate, propiconazole, imazalil, tridemorph and imazalil are the pesticides most used in the Ecuadorian banana sector. As a first step, two screening models (EQC and EXAMS) were used to determine the overall distribution of these pesticides in a unitary environment. Whereas EQC evaluates soil, water, sediment and air compartments, EXAMS only takes into account water and sediment compartments. Although both models show different results due to their different approaches, a comparison can still be done considering only the aquatic portion of the unitary environment. For the case study presented here, all 5 pesticides tend to affect more the soil and water compartment.

Design and implementation of a measuring campaign to model pesticide impacts in an Ecuadorian watershed

The first important issue in pesticide assessment for a watershed is the availability of soil and water quality information in the form of charts, maps or records. However, developing countries generally do not have enough historical data. Thus, sampling programs are crucial for the success of the evaluation, although in developing countries they always represent a controversial task between limited available budget and a precise assessment. This paper shows the steps taken to generate soil and water data to be used in a pesticide assessment project for a 34,000 ha watershed in Ecuador, South America. Sampling campaigns are still being run, so the methodology and the first results are shown here.