Management of organic matter in the tropics: translating theory into practice

2001 ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl A. Palm ◽  
Ken E. Giller ◽  
Paramu L. Mafongoya ◽  
M. J. Swift
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
The Tropics

Organic Matter Knowledge and Management in Soils of the Tropics Related to Ecosystem Services

2010 ◽  
pp. 241-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Feller ◽  
E. Blanchart ◽  
M. Bernoux ◽  
R. Lal ◽  
R. Manlay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
The Tropics

scholarly journals Potential relevance of Mortierella alpina as a source of ice nucleating particles in soil

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franz Conen ◽  
Mikhail V. Yakutin
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Fungus ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Mortierella Alpina ◽  
Soil Particles ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. Soil organic matter carries ice nucleating particles (INP) of which the origin is hard to define and that are active at slight supercooling. The discovery and characterisation of INP produced by the widespread soil fungus Mortierella alpina permits a more targeted investigation of the likely origin of INP in soils. We searched for INP with characteristics similar to those reported for M. alpina (INPM-like) in 20 soil samples from four areas in the northern midlatitudes and one area in the tropics. In the 15 samples where we could detect INPM-like, they constituted between 1 and 94 % (median 11 %) of all INP active at −10 °C or warmer associated with soil particles

Soil organic matter and the indigenous nitrogen supply of intensive irrigated rice systems in the tropics

1996 ◽  
Vol 182 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. Cassman ◽  
A. Dobermann ◽  
P. C. Sta Cruz ◽  
G. C. Gines ◽  
M. I. Samson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Nitrogen Supply ◽  
Irrigated Rice ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Indigenous Nitrogen Supply

Partnership with Malawian Farmers to Develop Organic Matter Technologies

1998 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Kanyama-Phiri ◽  
S. Snapp ◽  
S. Minae
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Biological Evaluation ◽  
Grain Legume ◽  
Nutrient Budgets ◽  
Community Based ◽  
System Productivity ◽  
Tephrosia Vogelii ◽  
Food Insecure Households ◽  
The Tropics

One of the biggest challenges in the tropics is to develop organic matter technologies (OMT) which increase production, reduce risk and are taken up by farmers. An interdisciplinary team of researchers, extension staff and farmers addressed this challenge in southern Malawi. Two watersheds were identified as the primary unit of research, extension and development to test OMTs. This landscape-based approach provided the platform for interdisciplinary research and farmer-participatory, community based assessment of OMTs. The on-going process involves testing a menu of farmers' OMT recommendations and closely linked process research conducted in the field. The OMT with promise in the maize-dominated cropping system of the watersheds was relay intercropping of agroforestry species ( Sesbania sesban and Tephrosia vogelii). Evaluation of OMT performance involved farmer assessment and biological evaluation. Farmer participatory methods included village group and individual semi-structured questionnaires, linear transect walks, and farmer-managed, researcher-designed trials. Biology included monitoring cropping system production, linked with soil nitrogen dynamics and watershed nutrient budgets to assess sustainability of OMTs. Nutrient budgets indicated that system productivity can be enhanced almost two-fold by addition of 30 N kg/ha N as an organic or inorganic source, and nutrient losses will be lowest with a combined OMT plus inorganic fertilizer technology. The poorest farmers with access to small, infertile fields tended to have sandy soils with low nitrate levels and limited growth of Sesbania. This reduced the benefit from relay OMT systems. These farmers may be candidates for more intensive use of grain legume intercrops and rotations, as benefits from the grain are needed by these food-insecure households, and will complement soil fertility amelioration.

scholarly journals Nutrient resources for crop production in the tropics

1997 ◽  
Vol 352 (1356) ◽  
pp. 975-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul L. G. Vlek ◽  
Ronald F. Kühne ◽  
Manfred Denich
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Developing World ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Nutrient Cycle ◽  
World Population ◽  
Nutrient Inputs ◽  
The Tropics

For the foreseeable future a majority of the population, and almost all the mal– and under–nourished, will continue to be found in the tropics and subtropics. Food security in these parts of the world will have to be met largely from local resources. The productivity of the land is to a large extent determined by the fertlity of the soil, which in turn is mostly determined by its organic matter content and stored nutrients. Soil organic matter is readily lost when organic matter inputs are reduced upon cultivation and more so upon intensification. The concomitant loss of topsoil and possible exposure of subsoil acidity may cause further soil degradation. Plant nutrients to replenish what is yearly taken from the soil to meet the demands for food and fibre amount to 230 million tonnes (Mt). Current fertilizer consumption stands at about 130 Mt of N, P 2 O 5 ,and K 2 O, supplemented by an estimated 90 Mt of N from biological nitrogen fixation worldwide. Although 80 per cent of the population lives in the developing world, only half the world's fertilizer is consumed there. Yet, as much as 50% of the increase in agricultural productivity in the developing world is due to the adoption of fertilizers. World population growth will cause a doubling in these nutrients requirements for the developing world by 2020, which, in the likely case of inadequate production, will need to be met from soil reserves. Because expansion of the cultivable land area is reaching its limits, the reliance on nutrient inputs and their efficient use is bound to grow. With current urban expansion, nutrients in harvested products are increasingly lost from the rural environment as a whole. Estimates of soil nutrient depletion rates for sub–Saharan Africa (SSA) are alarmingly high. The situation may be more favourable in Latin America and Asia where fertilizer inputs are tenfold those of SSA. Closing the nutrient cycle at a community level in rural areas may be tedious; on an inter–regional level it is associated with considerable costs of collection, detoxification and transportation to the farms. Yet, at the rate at which some of the non–renewable resources such as phosphorus and potassium are being exploited, recycling of these nutrients will soon be required.

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, SOIL LITTER AND LITTER FALL IN THE TROPICS

2015 ◽  
pp. 85-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Janssens ◽  
J. Pohlan ◽  
V. Mulindabigwa ◽  
D. Sonwa ◽  
Z. Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Litter Fall ◽  
The Tropics

The nature and management of the poorer tropical latosols

1979 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Young
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Shifting Cultivation ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Population Densities ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Tropics

The latosols, or ‘red and yellow’ soils of the tropics, encompass a wide range of properties and fertility. The poorer types occupy large areas both in the rain forest and in savanna climatic zones. The various systems of shifting cultivation traditionally practised are now inadequate with regard to increasing population densities, and management should be based on fertilizer application at moderate levels together with methods of maintaining organic matter and hence soil structure.

scholarly journals The use of Sodium Hypobromite for the Oxidation of Organic Matter in the Mechanical Analysis of Soils

1931 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 476-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Troell
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Manganese Dioxide ◽  
Mechanical Analysis ◽  
The Tropics

1. The use of freshly prepared solutions of sodium hypobromite instead of boiling hydrogen peroxide solutions in the pretreatment of soils for mechanical analysis by the pipette method has the following advantages:(a) Soils containing manganese dioxide or large amounts of organic matter may be oxidised rapidly without heat, whereas oxidation of such soils by hydrogen peroxide is a tedious operation requiring large amounts of reagent.(b) Possible changes in the clay through heating and the dissolution of considerable amounts of sesquioxides are avoided.(c) The reagents are cheaper and more stable, especially in the tropics.(d) It makes possible further simplification in the technique of mechanical analysis.

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