Agronomic regeneration of soil fertility in tropical Asian smallholder uplands for sustainable food production

2006 ◽  
Vol 144 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. J. M. DE COSTA ◽  
U. R. SANGAKKARA
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Productivity Loss ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Marginal Lands ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Tropical Asia ◽  
Lower Productivity ◽  
The Many

Smallholder cropping systems are a vital component in the agricultural sectors of tropical Asia, especially in the developing nations. These systems are important for producing food and providing a livelihood to a major proportion of the populations of Asia. While the rice systems, usually cultivated under puddled conditions are considered stable, the upland or highland units, which provide a range of food, fibre and feed commodities, are generally situated on marginal lands. Low soil fertility, erosion, sub-optimal crop management and subsistence farming conditions characterize these units. Hence, these units require improved but low cost strategies to reverse the trend of lower productivity, loss of sustainability and most importantly, the loss of livelihood for the farming populations. Among the many strategies available, the regeneration of soil fertility through agronomic measures would be a useful and easily adoptable method of enhancing productivity of tropical Asian upland smallholding farming units. The methods available include the revival of age-old traditions such as adding organic matter directly to soils, green manuring and mimicking forest ecosystems through agroforestry. Agronomic measures using plants to enrich the soil and regenerate its supporting capacity are presented in the present paper. Relevant examples are cited to highlight the potential of these methods for regenerating productivity of the upland smallholder farming units and more importantly the agro-based livelihood of a large majority of the populations of tropical Asia.

scholarly journals Can we have an Organised Sustainable Agriculture System that can Ensure Food Security in Over Populated India? - An Overview

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Basic Aspect ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Food Grain ◽  
Chemical Pesticides

Agriculture practices vary from place to place. Even concepts and methodologies need to be changed, taking in to consideration a region`s ecosystem peculiarities and socio-economic aspects. From time to time decisions are taken by the concerned focusing on the problem on hand, ignoring or not worrying about repercussions of any decisions taken to overcome the problem on hand. At a later stage when setbacks of significant nature crop up critics pounce on the decisions taken earlier, forgetting decisions and execution mechanisms do change with time and our focus should be to take steps that can improve the situation, instead of wasting our energies in finding reasons for spilled milk. Green Revolution was hailed in India for bailing us out of a tricky situation in 1960s and 1970s.In the process the introduction of chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides led to deterioration of soil fertility and overall environmental degradation. While there is a definite necessity to improve our soil fertility and proper usage of depleted water resources, it is essential to take up any steps that can help India as a single entity and not a disjointed forty and odd independent segments. Stringent measures are needed to ensure proper Food Grain production and distribution, eliminating various bottlenecks. This aspect is detailed explicitly in the present article. Food Security, in its real sense, can be achieved only when affordable nutritious food is available to one and all. If mal nutrition continues to exist India cannot achieve sustainable Food Security. India needs to address this basic aspect in a focused way. At the same time it has to be vigilant in meeting World Trade Organisation (WTO) requisites to overcome unpleasant criticism by WTO fellow members. A detailed overview of this aspect along with steps needed to overcome bottle necks using viable area specific low cost technology is covered in this article.

scholarly journals Restoring Soil Fertility on Degraded Lands to Meet Food, Fuel, and Climate Security Needs via Perennialization

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Mosier ◽  
S. Carolina Córdova ◽  
G. Philip Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Nutrient Recycling ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Degraded Lands ◽  
Marginal Lands ◽  
Zero Hunger ◽  
Cellulosic Bioenergy

A continuously growing pressure to increase food, fiber, and fuel production to meet worldwide demand and achieve zero hunger has put severe pressure on soil resources. Abandoned, degraded, and marginal lands with significant agricultural constraints—many still used for agricultural production—result from inappropriately intensive management, insufficient attention to soil conservation, and climate change. Continued use for agricultural production will often require ever more external inputs such as fertilizers and herbicides, further exacerbating soil degradation and impeding nutrient recycling and retention. Growing evidence suggests that degraded lands have a large potential for restoration, perhaps most effectively via perennial cropping systems that can simultaneously provide additional ecosystem services. Here we synthesize the advantages of and potentials for using perennial vegetation to restore soil fertility on degraded croplands, by summarizing the principal mechanisms underpinning soil carbon stabilization and nitrogen and phosphorus availability and retention. We illustrate restoration potentials with example systems that deliver climate mitigation (cellulosic bioenergy), animal production (intensive rotational grazing), and biodiversity conservation (natural ecological succession). Perennialization has substantial promise for restoring fertility to degraded croplands, helping to meet future food security needs.

scholarly journals PARE0006 WORK PRODUCTIVITY LOSS IN PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY ARTHRITIS

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1289.2-1289
Author(s):  
T. Pilgaard ◽  
B. A. Esbensen ◽  
S. E. Stallknecht
Keyword(s):  
Inflammatory Arthritis ◽  
Productivity Loss ◽  
Work Productivity ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Lower Productivity ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
Hours Of Work

Background:Limited data exist of work productivity loss in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Psoreatic Arthritis (PsA) and Spondyloarthritis (axSpA).Objectives:The objective of this research was to assess productivity loss and absenteeism in patients with RA, PsA and axSpA.Methods:The study was designed as a cross-sectional study aimed to collect patient-reported outcomes from patients with RA, PsA and axSpA in Denmark via a nurse administered questionnaires and patient journals. Patients ≥18 years with RA, PsA or axSpA were consecutively recruited for the study over a 6-month period via routine visits to outpatient rheumatology clinics. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SAS.Results:Of 488 respondents, 62% were women and mean age was 53.5 years (RA:57.4; PsA:52.6; axSpA:43.6). Average time since diagnosis was 11-15 years, however, for PsA and axSpA most patients answered 6-10 and 0-5 years, respectively. 280 (57%) answered that they had a job and completed the WPAI questionnaire (RA: 149 (51%); PsA: 48 (56%); axSpA: 83 (75%)). Average work hours was 31.9 in the last week (RA:31.2; PsA:33; axSpA:32.4). Average missed work hours were 4.3 in the last 7 days ((RA:4.0; PsA:4.2; axSpA:4.8), of which 32% was missed due to their inflammatory arthritis (RA:30%; PsA:38%; axSpA:32%). Mean absenteeism was highest for patients with PsA (mean=6.8; SD=17.7) followed by patients with axSpA (mean=5.4; SD=15.1) and with RA (mean=3.4; SD=12.2). Mean productivity loss was 20.5 (SD=23.8) for patients with RA, 27.6 (SD=25.8) for PsA and 26.3 (SD=25.8) for axSpAConclusion:We found that patients with PsA or axSpA miss more hours of work compared with patients with RA and when they are at work they have a higher absenteeism/lower productivity. This even though that both the group of patients with PsA and the axSpA were younger and had lived less time with their diagnosed disease compared with the group with RA.Disclosure of Interests:Trine Pilgaard Shareholder of: Pfizer, Employee of: Pfizer, Bente Appel Esbensen: None declared, Sandra Elkjær Stallknecht Consultant of: Pfizer

scholarly journals Highly Compact Through-Wire Microstrip to Empty Substrate Integrated Coaxial Line Transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6885
Author(s):  
Marcos D. Fernandez ◽  
José A. Ballesteros ◽  
Angel Belenguer
Keyword(s):  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Coaxial Line ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Central Layer ◽  
Printed Circuit ◽  
Integrated Technology ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
The Many ◽  
High Degree

Empty substrate integrated coaxial line (ESICL) technology preserves the many advantages of the substrate integrated technology waveguides, such as low cost, low profile, or integration in a printed circuit board (PCB); in addition, ESICL is non-dispersive and has low radiation. To date, only two transitions have been proposed in the literature that connect the ESICL to classical planar lines such as grounded coplanar and microstrip. In both transitions, the feeding planar lines and the ESICL are built in the same substrate layer and they are based on transformed structures in the planar line, which must be in the central layer of the ESICL. These transitions also combine a lot of metallized and non-metallized parts, which increases the complexity of the manufacturing process. In this work, a new through-wire microstrip-to-ESICL transition is proposed. The feeding lines and the ESICL are implemented in different layers, so that the height of the ESICL can be independently chosen. In addition, it is a highly compact transition that does not require a transformer and can be freely rotated in its plane. This simplicity provides a high degree of versatility in the design phase, where there are only four variables that control the performance of the transition.

Managing soil fertility to adapt to rainfall variability in smallholder cropping systems in Zimbabwe

2013 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 211-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Rurinda ◽  
P. Mapfumo ◽  
M.T. van Wijk ◽  
F. Mtambanengwe ◽  
M.C. Rufino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Rainfall Variability

scholarly journals Identification of Economically Viable Cropping Systems for Vertisols of Northern Telangana Zone

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-106
Author(s):  
Firdoz Shahana ◽  
M. Goverdhan ◽  
S. Sridevi ◽  
B. Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Bt Cotton ◽  
Black Gram ◽  
Net Returns ◽  
Lower Productivity ◽  
Randomized Block Design

A field experiment was conducted during 2016-17 at AICRP on Integrated Farming Systems, Regional Sugarcane and Rice Research Station, Rudrur to diversify existing rice-rice cropping system with less water requiring crops under irrigated dry conditions for vertisols of Northern Telangana Zone. The experiment was laid out with twelve cropping systems as treatments in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The twelve combinations of cropping systems tested during kharif and rabi seasons were rice – rice (check), maize + soybean (2:4) – tomato, maize + soybean (2:4) - rice, maize - sunflower + chickpea (2:4), maize - chickpea, Bt cotton + soybean (1:2) on broadbed – sesame + groundnut (2:4), Bt cotton - sesame + blackgram (2:4), soybean – wheat, soybean – sunflower + chickpea (2:4), turmeric – sesame, turmeric + soybean (1:2) on flat bed – bajra and turmeric + soybean (1:2) on broadbed – sesame + blackgram (2:4). On system basis, significantly higher productivity in terms of rice equivalent yield (REY) of 23830 kg ha-1 was recorded with turmeric+soybean (1:2) BBF– sesame+blackgram (2:4) turmeric – sesame cropping sequence. However it was on par with turmeric – sesame and turmeric + soybean (1:2) on flat bed – bajra crop sequence with productivity of 23332 kg ha-1 and 21389 kg ha-1 respectively. Lower productivity was recorded with rice-rice cropping system (10725 kg ha-1). Significantly higher system net returns were recorded with Bt. cotton – sesame + black gram (2:4) on BBF (Rs222838 ha-1) closely followed by Bt Cotton + Soybean (1:2) (BBF) - Sesamum + Groundnut (2:4) (Rs221160 ha-1) and Maize+soybean (2:4)–tomato (Rs212909 ha-1). Lower system net returns were recorded in conventional rice-rice system (Rs88179 ha-1). Bt. cotton – sesame + black gram (2:4) and Bt Cotton + Soybean (1:2) (BBF)- Sesamum + Groundnut ((2:4) and Maize+soybean (2:4)–tomato were economically superior with REE of 152.71%, 150.81% and 141.45%. Rice- Rice cropping adopted by majority of farmers is less productive and economically inferior indicating wider scope of diversifying existing rice- rice cropping system with high productive, economically viable cropping systems in vertisols of Northern Telangana Zone.

scholarly journals Uses of different techniques for the production of sustainable soil and food

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahrish Khan ◽  
Abdul Waris
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effect ◽  
Disease Management ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Soil Condition ◽  
Plant Disease Management

Due to increase in the population which is estimated that the human papulation will increased 9.7 billion in 2050. There is also increase the demands of the food productions. That’s why there is need to solve the problems regarding to the production of the food. Major problem of the food production is the shortage of the land due to the low and bad soil structure and quality of the soil. Soil erosion is one of the main issue which is caused  due to the used of different chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers which are mainly used for the  plant growth and protection but they are the main reasons of the production of the pollution in the soil. There is need of the different new technology for the improvement of the soil structure, quality, its fertility and decontamination of pollution from the soil which are eco-friendly to the environment and have no adverse effect. In this study the role of the different techniques in which genetic engineering, Nano technologies, soil and crop management strategies, integrated pest control management strategies, sustainable remediation techniques, microbial management strategies and the different management stairgates. All these techniques aim to the production of the plants and microbes which are effective against plant disease management. The aim of the use nano agrochemicals and nano sensors for sensing environmental and pathogen conditions against disease management. The aim of the paper to provide the production of the disease resistance plant and the provide balanced nutrients supplements to the soil for the improvement of the soil condition and its fertility. These techniques have economic importance due to the use of the nano agrochemicals which are low cost and have effective and reduce the use of the chemicals substances which have negative effect on the  soil fertility.. There are sustainable remediations techniques also discussed which are used for the decontamination of the soil pollution. In this study the main focus on the improve and increase soil fertility which enhance the growth of the plants as well the production of the crop production. The production of the stress and degradation resistance microbes which is important factor for the protection of the soil from degradation or contamination. All the techniques which are used in this paper have no adverse effect they are helpful in the tolerance of the stress conditions.

Future plant solutions by interfering RNA and key messages for communication and dissemination.

2021 ◽  
pp. 167-173
Author(s):  
Hilde-Gunn Opsahl-Sorteberg
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Many ◽  
Interfering Rna

Abstract Communication is an increasing prerequisite to justify academic existence and value, and for project funding of all kinds to show relevance and value, including the future of European networks like COST Actions. Academia is slowly adapting to this expectation and learning the profession of communication. Language and vocabulary are key issues in communication, and particularly to reach the many important non-scientific audiences. Therefore, this chapter starts with a description of some new plant breeding technologies relevant for communicating, in general terms, the science behind plant improvement. This is followed by selected examples of the application of these techniques to improve current and future crop varieties. Finally, key messages gathered from the European iPLANTA project for policy makers, non-specialists and specially interested citizens are communicated. This is to show a wider audience how RNAi can contribute to sustainable food solutions and food security with minimal environmental impacts.

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