The role of traditional farming practices in ecosystem conservation: The case of transhumance and vultures

2009 ◽  
Vol 142 (8) ◽  
pp. 1844-1853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro P. Olea ◽  
Patricia Mateo-Tomás
Keyword(s):  
Farming Practices ◽  
Traditional Farming ◽  
Ecosystem Conservation

Eating Insects: A Christian Ethic of Farmed Insect Life

2021 ◽  
pp. 095394682110450
Author(s):  
Jack Slater
Keyword(s):  
Food Ethics ◽  
Food Provisioning ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Traditional Farming ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Animal Agriculture ◽  
Christian Ethic ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Food Ethic

Proponents of entomophagy have argued that the farming of insects offers many advantages when contrasted with more traditional farming practices. This article explores the place of insect farming within a wider Christian food ethic and argues that insect farming has much to recommend it. However, through exploring the role of animal agriculture within the ideological structures of anthropocentrism, a more ambiguous picture of the ethics of insect farming emerges. This belies a simple endorsement or denunciation of insect farming as an ethical alternative to the farming of larger animals. Moreover, the example of insect farming reveals that Christian food ethics needs to radically reimagine the entire food provisioning system if it is to inculcate substantive change in human relationships with nonhuman animals.

Cultivating Empire

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Kosiba
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Traditional Farming ◽  
Sustainable Practices ◽  
Inca Empire

The Inca Empire extended across myriad Andean environments where indigenous peoples had previously developed diverse, locally sustainable practices of agricultural intensification and land modification. Inca expansion disrupted these indigenous landscapes by introducing new laborers, tribute obligations, and land divisions. Many Inca agricultural facilities, such as state farms and estates, were primarily designed to satisfy the demands of the imperial nobility and military, and introduced social contradictions between state officials and commoners that reshaped Andean landscapes. Some subject populations withstood or even resisted Inca domination by continuing traditional farming practices despite the development and implementation of state agrarian infrastructure.

The Potential for Sustainable Organic Farming in Nagaland: A Case Study

2022 ◽  
pp. 101852912110652
Author(s):  
Devpriya Sarkar
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
The State ◽  
Cattle Dung ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Eastern State ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Traditional Mode

In 2015, Sikkim, a North-Eastern state of India, achieved the state of being fully organic. Later, states like Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Goa and Kerala have declared their intentions to be fully organic. In Nagaland, more than 47% of the population is engaged in agriculture and entirely dependent on the traditional mode of farming and has used organic manure like cattle dung, dried leaves-litter and crop residues for enhancing the capacity of soil from time immemorial. Also, studies have shown that the state of Nagaland has negligible use of inorganic supplements in their fields. Thus, Nagaland has a high potential to be converted into an organic state without making any significant shifts in their existing farming practices. Shifting cultivation, locally known as Jhum-kheti, is one of the oldest forms of the agricultural process in practice in Nagaland. However, some studies regard Jhum cultivation as harmful to the environment, but there is a scope to reinvent this farming method and move towards a more sustainable form of agriculture there. This study explores the relation between traditional farming and organic farming and the benefits of state-induced organic farming methods and their effects on the farmers of Nagaland. A survey was carried out in the Mokokchung district of Nagaland to understand the role of farmers in attaining sustainability.

scholarly journals Who Remains When Professional Farmers Give up? Some Insights on Hobby Farming in an Olive Groves-Oriented Terraced Mediterranean Area

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Sabine Gennai-Schott ◽  
Tiziana Sabbatini ◽  
Davide Rizzo ◽  
Elisa Marraccini
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Step Method ◽  
Olive Groves ◽  
First Time

Many land use systems in Mediterranean sloping areas risk abandonment because of nonprofitability, while their hydro-geological stability depends on an appropriate management. However, who are the land managers? What are their practices? Our research on the traditional olive groves of the Monte Pisano (Tuscany, Italy) reveals for the first time the quantitatively important role of hobby farmers as land managers in the area. We used a three-step-method: first, a database was constructed using several data sources to identify and map the population of olive growers; then, 35 semi-structured interviews were conducted, and finally, the data were analyzed to highlight the contribution of olive growers to the land management, along with their motivations and constraints. Our results found that hobby farmers constitute about 90% of all land managers in the study area and manage more than half of the agricultural land. They are a very uneven group, and there are no clear categories detectable by analyzing sociodemographic factors, practices and farm characteristics. They are the “same but different”, not following any market rules, as they are not profit-oriented. Their farming practices are quite homogeneous and mainly in-line with professional farming practices of that area, oriented versus a minimum input management.

scholarly journals Is multifunctionality the future of mountain pastoralism? Lessons from the management of semi-natural grasslands in the Pyrenees

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. e0307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feliu López-i-Gelats ◽  
Marta G. Rivera-Ferre ◽  
Cristina Madruga-Andreu ◽  
Jordi Bartolomé-Filella
Keyword(s):  
Rural Economy ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Natural Grasslands ◽  
Pastoral Households ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Farm Tourism ◽  
Developmental Scheme

Land abandonment is pervasive in mountainous Europe. In the present situation of price-cost squeeze on pastoral households and general shift in the role of farming, the development of farming abandonment risk regions is generally associated with adoption of new multifunctional rural development strategies, such as farm tourism, which in the end entail less time being devoted to farming practices. We explored the effects of such developmental scheme on the preservation of semi-natural grasslands, in particular, and on the sustainability of mountain pastoralism, in general. While the effects on the preservation of semi-natural grasslands of full abandonment have been extensively explored, this is not the case of partial abandonment. Results showed that the adoption of simplified and low-cost management regimes, associated with partial abandonment and the increased adoption of part-time farming, immerses semi-natural grasslands in processes of secondary succession that undermine both their conservation and pastoral functions. This points the need for caution when endorsing multifunctional developmental schemes in farming abandonment risk regions, particularly when those imply less labor being devoted to pastoral practices. In conclusion, we stress that in farming abandonment risk regions it is possible to guarantee both viable pastoralism and diversified rural economy. However, it is necessary to implement developmental strategies that are centered on stimulating synergies between pastoralism and other economic activities, rather than promoting activities that depend on additional farmers’ polyvalence.

scholarly journals Cultivating a Dialogue: Rewilding, Heritage Landscapes, and Belonging

The Trumpeter ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz Tokarski ◽  
Andrea R. Gammon
Keyword(s):  
Farming Practices ◽  
Traditional Farming ◽  
Peaceful Resolution ◽  
Policy Solutions

Rewilding in Europe currently presents a threat to long established forms of agriculture like upland sheep farming. Some rewilders, recognizing the heritage value of these farming practices, have proposed policy solutions to satisfy both the needs of farmers and the plans of rewilders. Such approaches, though striving for peaceful resolution of landscape conflicts, nevertheless overlook one crucial possibility: that both farmers and rewilders have something to learn from each other. By exploring philosophical ideas on dialogue, we propose that by engaging in real dialogue with traditional farming practices, conservation approaches like rewilding can learn a lot about some of the most fundamental concerns motivating conservation. This however demands laying oneself open to possible criticism and being open to the possibility of transformation.

scholarly journals Role of Major Weather Parameters in the Production of Black Pepper in Kerala

2021 ◽  
pp. 259-267
Author(s):  
Nayana S. Nair ◽  
M. Thilagavathi ◽  
M. Prahadeeswaran ◽  
M. R. Duraisamy
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Black Pepper ◽  
Total Production ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Unit Increase ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Weather Parameters

Aim: The present study intends to analyse the influence of weather parameters on the production of black pepper in six major pepper producing districts of Kerala, the Indian state which contributes a considerable share to national spice exports. Methodology: This research is based on secondary data which is limited to six major black pepper producing districts of Kerala which were chosen based on their contribution to total production of the state 2020. More than 50% of the production was from Idukki district followed by Wayanad (8%), and around 3 to 3.5% from Kannur, Kasargod, Kottayam and Kollam districts respectively. Annual precipitation, Relative humidity, Maximum and Minimum temperatures were the parameters taken into consideration along with production data of over 15 years (2005-2019) which was then subjected to regression analysis using panel data. Results: According to the results, significant reduction in production by 2.52% and 1.88% was recorded for unit increase maximum (P= 0.047) and minimum temperature (P=0.03) respectively. Likewise, unit rise in relative humidity and rainfall was responsible for decrease In production by 1.1%, and 0.07% respectively though they were reported to be insignificant. Conclusion: From the present study, it could be concluded that maximum and minimum temperatures were found to be significant in affecting the production of black pepper. However the negative regression coefficients obtained for other factors like rainfall and relative humidity implied its negative effect on production. In order to combat these variations, there is therefore, the need to create awareness to farmers in India on the need to adopt best farming practices in order to improve yield of this important crop.

scholarly journals Role of Big Data in Agriculture

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 3811-3821
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Big Data Analytics ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Pertinent Data ◽  
Smart Farming ◽  
Modern Technologies

Big Data analytics in the agricultural sector has huge potential to cater to requirements of food production. This review highlights the role of Big Data in pertinent data acquisition from factors affecting the agriculture such as weather, soil, diseases, remote sensing and the prospects of agricultural data analysis towards smart farming. Incorporating modern technologies in farming practices continuously monitor the environment, thus producing large quantity of data. Hence there arises the need for advanced practical and systematic strategies to correlate the different factors driving the agriculture to derive valuable information out of it. Big Data can be a promising aspect for the future of food production and sustainability of agriculture. Leveraging big data in the agricultural sector can provide insights in farming practices, helps in making real-time decisions and motivates in incorporating new methods of farming operations. The main objective of this paper is to provide insights into different factors that contribute to making timely recommendations to farmers with regard to smart agricultural techniques.

scholarly journals Influence of Farming Practices on the Chemical Properties of Soil in Small Scale Tea Farms in Kirinyaga and Tharaka-Nithi Counties of Kenya

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
I. H. Mogeni ◽  
W. M. Muiru ◽  
J. W. Kimenju
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Rapid Removal ◽  
Tea Production ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Production Areas ◽  
Properties Of Soil

Soil chemical properties are important for growth of plants as they determine the nutrient availability for their uptake. Farming practices are treatments applied to farms in efforts to maximize crop productivity. Experiments were set up in Kangaita, Kirinyaga County, and Weru, Tharaka-Nithi County using randomized complete bock design to establish the influence of farming practices on the chemical properties of soil in tea production areas. This was aimed at understanding the role of the farming practices on the availability of soil nutrients and their effect on tea productivity. Each study site was divided into three zones depending on elevation and three farming practices identified within each zone namely neglected farms, manure applied farms and chemical fertilizer (NPK) applied farm. Soil samples were collected randomly from farms in each zone and analyzed for chemical properties. Soil acidity increased from neglected farms through manure applied farms to NPK fertilizer applied (standard) farms. The soils had generally low levels of K, Mg and Zn due to rapid removal through harvesting of the young shoots and leaves. Manure application is recommended as it is less degrading to the soils.

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