Sustaining tree crop production under intensive land use: an investigation into soil quality differentiation under varying cropping patterns in western Nigeria

Land-use change has been shown to affect soil quality and may lead to soil degradation. The effects of land-use change from natural forest to tea farming on soil properties and quality were studied within Guilan Province of northern Iran. Thirty-six soil samples (0–30 cm) were randomly collected from six sites with three replications at each site. The soil quality of forest and tea farms was determined using the cumulative rating (CR) index and the Cornell Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) scoring function. Effects of land-use change on soil quality or health were significant (P < 0.01) using both methods. Both methods for all regions (forest and tea fields) showed that forest land-use was more sustainable based on lower CR (lower limitation to crop production) and higher CASH scores (higher soil productivity and quality) than tea farm soils. Both methods were also negatively correlated with each other. Despite pH being a limiting factor for soil quality, it was not influenced by land-use change in most locations because the studied soils were acidic. However, organic carbon was the most important soil quality indicator, which was significantly correlated with soil physical, chemical and biological (respiration rate) properties. Therefore, land-use management practices that are continuously cultivated should include increases in organic carbon.

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Sustainable Soil Loss Management in Tropical Uplands: Impact on Maize-Chili Cropping Systems

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116477 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6477

Author(s):

Khalid Hussain ◽

Ayesha Ilyas ◽

Irshad Bibi ◽

Thomas Hilger

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Loss ◽

Crop Production ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Bare Soil ◽

Economic Returns ◽

Minimum Tillage ◽

Sustainable Crop Production ◽

Net Returns ◽

Intensive Land Use

Intensive land use with inappropriate land management is directly degrading South Asian uplands. A field trial was carried out on the uplands of Western Thailand with a 25% slope to examine the effect of land use management on soil loss for sustainable crop production during two consecutive years (2010–2011). Various cropping systems with soil conservation practices were compared to maize sole cropping (MSC). Results revealed that soil loss was at a minimum in the intercropping system of maize-chili-hedgerows with minimum tillage and fertilization that was 50% to 61% and 60% to 81% less than MSC and the bare soil plot during both years, respectively. Yield advantage was at its maximum, as indicated by the highest land equivalent ratios of 1.28 and 1.21 during 2010 and 2011, respectively, in maize-chili-hedgerows-intercropping with minimum tillage and fertilization. The highest economic returns (5925 and 1058 euros ha−1 during 2010 and 2011, respectively) were also obtained from maize-chili-hedgerows-intercropping with minimum tillage and fertilization. Chili fresh fruit yield was maximum in the chili alone plot during both years due to the greater area under cultivation compared with intercropping. Maize-chili-hedgerows with minimum tillage and fertilization reduced soil loss and increased land productivity and net returns, indicating its promising features for sustainable crop production on uplands.

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The main directions of scientific support for the implementation of the system of organic farming in Ukraine

Interdepartmental thematic scientific collection "Agriculture" ◽

10.31073/zem.90.22-24 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (90) ◽

pp. 22-24

Author(s):

V.F. Kaminskyi ◽

S.G. Korsun

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Organic Farming ◽

Crop Production ◽

Land Ownership ◽

Scientific Support ◽

Speed Up ◽

Organic Crop Production ◽

Advanced Production ◽

And Training ◽

Organizational Issue

The aim of this work was to study the basic directions of scientific support introduction of organic farming in Ukraine. The study used methods of comparison, synthesis, analysis, induction and deduction. The article indicated on the main areas that need special attention from researchers and suggests one possible mechanism to remove the remaining obstacles to organizational issue introduction of scientific developments in the production of organic and training areas. This can speed up the creation of new and manage existing land ownership and land use organic farming with the introduction of advanced production technology of organic crop production.

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Pesticide Contamination of Groundwater in Virginia: BMP Impact Assessment

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1993.0440 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 28 (3-5) ◽

pp. 379-387 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

S. Mostaghimi ◽

P. W. McClellan ◽

R. A. Cooke

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Land Use ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Water Samples ◽

Management Practices ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Pesticide Contamination ◽

Cropping Patterns ◽

Creek Watershed ◽

Surface And Groundwater

The Nomini Creek Watershed/Water Quality monitoring project was initiated in 1985, as part of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement of 1983, to quantify the impacts of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on improving water quality. The watershed monitoring system was designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the quality of surface and groundwater as influenced by changes in land use, agronomic, and cultural practices in the watershed over the duration of the project. The primary chemical characteristics monitored include both soluble and sediment-bound nutrients and pesticides in surface and groundwater. Water samples from 8 monitoring wells located in agricultural areas in the watershed were analyzed for 22 pesticides. A total of 20 pesticides have been detected in water samples collected. Atrazine is the most frequently detected pesticide. Detected concentrations of atrazine ranged from 0.03 - 25.56 ppb and occurred in about 26 percent of the samples. Other pesticides were detected at frequencies ranging from 1.6 to 14.2 percent of all samples collected and concentrations between 0.01 and 41.89 ppb. The observed concentrations and spatial distributions of pesticide contamination of groundwater are compared to land use and cropping patterns. Results indicate that BMPs are quite effective in reducing pesticide concentrations in groundwater.

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Deferring Crisis

10.1093/oso/9780190865177.003.0002 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Erin Stewart Mauldin

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Shifting Cultivation ◽

Crop Production ◽

Animal Husbandry ◽

Antebellum South ◽

Westward Expansion ◽

The Cost ◽

Land Use Practices ◽

Ecological Regime

This chapter explores the ecological regime of slavery and the land-use practices employed by farmers across the antebellum South. Despite the diverse ecologies and crop regimes of the region, most southern farmers employed a set of extensive agricultural techniques that kept the cost of farming down and helped circumvent natural limits on crop production and stock-raising. The use of shifting cultivation, free-range animal husbandry, and slaves to perform erosion control masked the environmental impacts of farmers’ actions, at least temporarily. Debates over westward expansion during the sectional crisis of the 1850s were not just about the extension of slavery, they also reflected practical concerns regarding access to new lands and fresh soil. Both were necessary for the continued profitability of farming in the South.

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Assessment of Seasonal Variability in Soil Nutrients and Its Impact on Soil Quality under Different Land Use Systems of Lower Shiwalik Foothills of Himalaya, India

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031398 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1398

Author(s):

Tavjot Kaur ◽

Simerpreet Kaur Sehgal ◽

Satnam Singh ◽

Sandeep Sharma ◽

Salwinder Singh Dhaliwal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Surface Soil ◽

Sandy Loam ◽

Monsoon Season ◽

Soil Layer ◽

Seasonal Effects ◽

Land Use Systems ◽

Post Monsoon ◽

Significant Difference

The present study was conducted to investigate the seasonal effects of five land use systems (LUSs), i.e., wheat–rice (Triticum aestivum—Oryza sativa) system, sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), orange (Citrus sinensis) orchard, safeda (Eucalyptus globules) forest, and grassland, on soil quality and nutrient status in the lower Satluj basin of the Shiwalik foothills Himalaya, India. Samples were analyzed for assessment of physico-chemical properties at four soil depths, viz., 0–15, 15–30, 30–45, and 45–60 cm. A total of 120 soil samples were collected in both the seasons. Soil texture was found to be sandy loam and slightly alkaline in nature. The relative trend of soil organic carbon (SOC), macro- and micro-nutrient content for the five LUSs was forest > orchard > grassland > wheat–rice > sugarcane, in the pre- and post-monsoon seasons. SOC was highly correlated with macronutrients and micronutrients, whereas SOC was negatively correlated with soil pH (r = −0.818). The surface soil layer (0–15 cm) had a significantly higher content of SOC, and macro- and micro-nutrients compared to the sub-surface soil layers, due to the presence of more organic content in the soil surface layer. Tukey’s multiple comparison test was applied to assess significant difference (p < 0.05) among the five LUSs at four soil depths in both the seasons. Principle component analysis (PCA) identified that SOC and electrical conductivity (EC) were the most contributing soil indicators among the different land use systems, and that the post-monsoon season had better soil quality compared to the pre-monsoon season. These indicators helped in the assessment of soil health and fertility, and to monitor degraded agroecosystems for future soil conservation.

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Environmental damage study based on intensive land use activities in Widoro Sub-watershed of Patuk, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science ◽

10.1088/1755-1315/724/1/012024 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 724 (1) ◽

pp. 012024

Author(s):

T D Anggalini ◽

D G Hashifah ◽

A T Sulistiyani ◽

W I Satria ◽

T Gunawan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Environmental Damage ◽

Intensive Land Use ◽

Damage Study

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A Comparison of Approaches to Regional Land-Use Capability Analysis for Agricultural Land-Planning

Land ◽

10.3390/land10050458 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 458

Author(s):

Tara A. Ippolito ◽

Jeffrey E. Herrick ◽

Ekwe L. Dossa ◽

Maman Garba ◽

Mamadou Ouattara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Crop Production ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Arable Land ◽

Agricultural Activity ◽

Field Samples ◽

Agricultural Potential ◽

Fertility Data ◽

Using Data

Smallholder agriculture is a major source of income and food for developing nations. With more frequent drought and increasing scarcity of arable land, more accurate land-use planning tools are needed to allocate land resources to support regional agricultural activity. To address this need, we created Land Capability Classification (LCC) system maps using data from two digital soil maps, which were compared with measurements from 1305 field sites in the Dosso region of Niger. Based on these, we developed 250 m gridded maps of LCC values across the region. Across the region, land is severely limited for agricultural use because of low available water-holding capacity (AWC) that limits dry season agricultural potential, especially without irrigation, and requires more frequent irrigation where supplemental water is available. If the AWC limitation is removed in the LCC algorithm (i.e., simulating the use of sufficient irrigation or a much higher and more evenly distributed rainfall), the dominant limitations become less severe and more spatially varied. Finally, we used additional soil fertility data from the field samples to illustrate the value of collecting contemporary data for dynamic soil properties that are critical for crop production, including soil organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen.

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Effects of Land-Use Change on Soil Functionality and Biodiversity: Toward Sustainable Planning of New Vineyards

Land ◽

10.3390/land10040358 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 358

Author(s):

Elena Gagnarli ◽

Giuseppe Valboa ◽

Nadia Vignozzi ◽

Donatella Goggioli ◽

Silvia Guidi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Soil Biodiversity ◽

Soil Microarthropods ◽

Quick Recovery ◽

Sustainable Planning ◽

Soil Functionality ◽

One Year ◽

Soil Microarthropod

Sustainable agriculture largely depends on soil biodiversity and requires efficient methods to assess the effectiveness of agronomic planning. Knowledge of the landscape and relative pedosite is enriched by data on the soil microarthropod community, which represent useful bio-indicators for early soil-quality detection in land-use change (LUC). In the hilly Maremma region of Grosseto, Italy, two areas, a >10ys meadow converted into a vineyard and an old biodynamic vineyard (no-LUC), were selected for evaluating the LUC effect. For maintaining soil vitality and ecosystem services by meadow, the vineyard was planted and cultivated using criteria of the patented “Corino method”. The aim was to evaluate the LUC impact, within one year, by assessing parameters characterizing soil properties and soil microarthropod communities after the vineyard was planted. The adopted preservative method in the new vineyards did not show a detrimental impact on the biodiversity of soil microarthropods, and in particular, additional mulching contributed to a quick recovery from soil stress due to working the plantation. In the short term, the adopted agricultural context confirmed that the targeted objectives preserved the soil quality and functionality.

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Participatory soil quality assessment: The case of smallholder farmers in Ethiopian highlands

Soil Research ◽

10.1071/sr04021 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 42 (7) ◽

pp. 793 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Teklu Erkossa ◽

Karl Stahr ◽

Thomas Gaiser

Keyword(s):

Quality Assessment ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Crop Production ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Soil Management ◽

Triticum Aestivum L ◽

Soil Functions ◽

Yield Data ◽

Management Interventions ◽

Soil Quality Assessment

The study was conducted at Caffee Doonsa (08°88′N, 39°08′E; 2400 m asl), a small watershed in the central highlands of Ethiopia, in order to identify farmers’ goals of soil management and the indicators they use in selecting soils for a certain function, and to categorise the soils in different quality groups with respect to the major functions. Thirty-six male farmers of different age and wealth groups participated in a Participatory Rural Appraisal technique. They listed and prioritised 12 soil functions in the area and itemised the soil quality indicators (characteristics). Based on the indicators, the soils in the watershed were classified into 3 soil quality (SQ) groups (Abolse, Kooticha, and Carii). The SQ groups have been evaluated and ranked for the major soil functions. For crop production, Abolse was graded best, followed by Kooticha and Carii, respectively. The grain and straw yield data of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) taken from the SQ groups confirmed the farmers claim, in that Abolse gave the highest grain yield (4573 kg/ha), followed by 4411 and 3657 kg/ha for Kooticha and Carii, respectively. Local insights should be included in systematic soil quality assessment, and in planning and implementation of various soil management interventions.

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