The paper shows the impact of despatialization on processes of territorial development. The essence of despatialization is the decreasing importance of the spatial factor in the information society, as a result of the use of information and computer technologies, and in particular – the Internet. It creates new challenges for spatial management. Real contact between people and organizations is often replaced with links and information flows, the quality of which is growing and which in many cases eliminate the resistance that spatial distance makes. The multiple effects of this phenomenon modify social relations, at the same time being challenges, but also opportunities to create new tools for managing development policy.
In order to assess the economic benefits of reduced fungicide application for the control of paprika diseases under dryland conditions, on-farm experiments were conducted in the Chinyika Resettlement Area in the Eastern province of Zimbabwe in the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 seasons. The six fungicide application regimes that were assessed include: weekly interval sprays; Sulphur at 2 weeks after transplanting (WAT) and copper oxychloride-Mancozeb mixture at 6 WAT; spraying after scouting; alternating Sulphur and copper oxychloride- Mancozeb every two weeks; Acibenzolar-s-methyl and unsprayed check. Parameters recorded were disease severity and yield; after harvest an economic analysis was performed. The highest added profit of Z$ 75 930/ha was recorded in the weekly sprayed plots which was not statistically different (p > 0.05) from Z$ 59 410/ha achieved by alternating copper oxychloride and Mancozeb fortnightly at Dengedza site in 2000/2001 season. There were no statistical differences (p > 0.05) between spraying after scouting and Acibenzolar-s-methyl application treatments as they added the least profits of Z$ 990/ha and Z$ 17 250/ha respectively at the same site in the same season. These have serious implications for smallholder farmers in terms of cost savings. Neither were there differences (p > 0.05) in added profits from different spraying regimes at Dengedza site in the 2001/2002 rainy season.
The pressure on the use of water and climate change has caused a decreased availability of water resources in semi-arid areas in the last decades. The Setif Province is one of the semi-arid zones of Algeria as it receives an average less than 400 mm∙year–1. The question of the evolution of demographic pressures and their impacts on water resources arise. By applying WEAP software (water evaluation and planning), the aim is to develop a model of water resources management and its uti-lization, assess the proportion of the resource-needs balance and analyse the future situation of water according to different scenarios. This approach allows to identify the most vulnerable sites to climatic and anthropogenic pressures. The estima-tion of the needs for drinking water and wastewater in the Setif Province has shown that these needs increase over time and happening when the offer is not able to cover the demand in a suitable way. It is acknowledged that there is a poor exploita-tion of water resources including underground resources, which translates into unmet demand in all sites of demand.