scholarly journals First Adaptation of Quinoa in the Bhutanese Mountain Agriculture Systems

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tirtha Bdr Katwal ◽  
Didier Bazile

AbstractBhutan represents typical mountain agriculture farming systems with unique challenges. The topography, agriculture production systems and environmental constraints are typical of small-scale agricultural subsistence systems related to family farming in the Himalayan Mountains with very low level of mechanization, numerous abiotic stresses influenced by climate and other socio-economic constraints. Quinoa was first introduced in 2015 through FAO’s support to Bhutan as a new crop with the objectives to adapt this versatile crop to the local mountain agriculture conditions as a climate resilient crop for diversifying the farmer’s traditional potato, maize, and based cropping systems, and to enhance the food and nutritional security of the Bhutanese people.Ten quinoa varieties were evaluated at two different sites representing contrasted mountain agro-ecologies in Bhutan and were tested during the two agricultural campaigns 2016 and 2017. Yusipang (2600 m asl) represents the cool temperate agroecological zone, and Lingmethang (640 m asl) the dry subtropical agroecological zone.The sowing time differed depending on the growing season and elevation of the sites. Results indicate that quinoa can be successfully grown in Bhutan for the two different agro-ecological zones. The grain yields varied from 0.61 to 2.68 t ha−1in the high altitude areas where quinoa was seeded in spring and harvested in autumn season. The grain yield in the lower elevation ranged from 1.59 to 2.98 t ha−1where the crop was sown in autumn and harvested in winter season. Depending on genotypes’ characteristics, agro-ecology and elevation of the sites and variety; crop maturity significantly varied from 92 to 197 days with all genotypes maturing much earlier in the lower elevations where mean minimum and maximum temperatures during the growing season were higher. Quinoa is rapidly promoted across different agro-ecological contexts in the country as a new climate resilient and nutrient dense pseudo cereal to diversify the traditional existing cropping system with some necessary adjustments in sowing time, suitable varieties and crop management practices. To fast track the rapid promotion of this new crop, four varieties have also been released in 2018. In just over three years, the cultivation of quinoa as a new cereal has been demonstrated and partially adapted to the maize-potato traditional cropping systems under the Himalayan mountain agriculture environment. Quinoa is also being adapted to the rice based cropping system and rapidly promoted as an alternative food security crop in the current 12thFive Year national development plan of Bhutan.


1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (3-5) ◽  
pp. 691-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Craig ◽  
R. R. Weil

In December, 1987, the states in the Chesapeake Bay region, along with the federal government, signed an agreement which called for a 40% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to the Bay by the year 2000. To accomplish this goal, major reductions in nutrient loadings associated with agricultural management practices were deemed necessary. The objective of this study was to determine if reducing fertilizer inputs to the NT system would result in a reduction in nitrogen contamination of groundwater. In this study, groundwater, soil, and percolate samples were collected from two cropping systems. The first system was a conventional no-till (NT) grain production system with a two-year rotation of corn/winter wheat/double crop soybean. The second system, denoted low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA), produced the same crops using a winter legume and relay-cropped soybeans into standing wheat to reduce nitrogen and herbicide inputs. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in groundwater were significantly lower under the LISA system. Over 80% of the NT groundwater samples had NO3-N concentrations greater than 10 mgl-1, compared to only 4% for the LISA cropping system. Significantly lower soil mineral N to a depth of 180 cm was also observed. The NT soil had nearly twice as much mineral N present in the 90-180 cm portion than the LISA cropping system.



Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 377
Author(s):  
Yuko Yamane ◽  
Kasumi Ito

In agricultural science, the establishment of a given cropping system in mountainous areas is often understood from the relationship between differences of altitude-specific, agroecological conditions and crop cultivation characteristics. However, social factors can also play a role. We aimed to clarify how the cropping system is maintained through examining sociocultural factors, specifically land tenure and marriage systems, in an agricultural community in rural mountainous Africa. Several surveys based on participatory observation accompanied by home stays were conducted to determine people who participated in cropping systems and to understand which social system maintained the cropping system. We found that around 70% of target households in Kiboguwa village cultivated three staple crops (maize, cassava and rice) using the same cropping system and almost no farmers outside the village used the village’s sloped fields, meaning that the villagers maintained the cropping system. Households acquired nearby sloped fields by various means such as inheriting land through maternal lineage of household heads or wives. We observed virilocal and uxorilocal residence at similar degrees—and if either the husband or wife was from outside the village, that household would also have fields outside the village. However, nearly 80% of marriages were intravillage and villagers predominantly used fields located within the village limits regardless of the residence type, which helped maintain the cropping system.



Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Costanza Ceccanti ◽  
Marco Landi ◽  
Daniele Antichi ◽  
Lucia Guidi ◽  
Luigi Manfrini ◽  
...  

The sustainability of current farming systems has been questioned in the last decades, especially in terms of the environmental impact and mitigation of global warming. Also, the organic sector, which is supposed to impact less on the environment than other more intensive systems, is looking for innovative solutions to improve its environmental sustainability. Promisingly, the integration of organic management practices with conservation agriculture techniques may help to increase environmental sustainability of food production. However, little is known about the possible impact of conservation agriculture on the content of bioactive compounds in cash crops. For this reason, a two-year rotation experiment used 7 cash crops (4 leafy vegetables and 3 fruit crops) to compare integrated (INT), organic farming (ORG), and organic no-tillage (ORG+) systems to evaluate the possible influence of cropping systems on the nutritional/nutraceutical values of the obtained fruits and leafy vegetables. The results pointed out specific responses based on the species as well as the year of cultivation. However, cultivation with the ORG+ cropping system resulted in effective obtainment of fruits and vegetables with higher levels of bioactive compounds in several cases (11 out 16 observations). The ORG+ cropping system results are particularly promising for leafy vegetable cultivation, especially when ORG+ is carried out on a multi-year basis. Aware that the obtained data should be consolidated with longer-term experiments, we conclude that this dataset may represent a good starting point to support conservation agriculture systems as a possible sustainable strategy to obtain products with higher levels of bioactive compounds.



Soil Research ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Bell ◽  
P. W. Moody ◽  
S. A. Yo ◽  
R. D. Connolly

Chemical and physical degradation of Red Ferrosols in eastern Australia is a major issue necessitating the development of more sustainable cropping systems. This paper derives critical concentrations of the active (permanganate-oxidisable) fraction of soil organic matter (C1) which maximise soil water recharge and minimise the likelihood of surface runoff in these soils. Ferrosol soils were collected from commercial properties in both north and south Queensland, while additional data were made available from a similar collection of Tasmanian Ferrosols. Sites represented a range of management histories, from grazed and ungrazed grass pastures to continuously cropped soil under various tillage systems. The concentration of both total carbon (C) and C1 varied among regions and farming systems. C1 was the primary factor controlling aggregate breakdown, measured by the percentage of aggregates <0·125 mm (P125) in the surface crust after simulated rainfall. The rates of change in P125 per unit change in C1 were not significantly different (P < 0·05) for soils from the different localities. However, soils from the coastal Burnett (south-east Queensland) always produced lower P125 (i.e. less aggregate breakdown) than did soils from the inland Burnett and north Queensland locations given the same concentration of C1. This difference was not associated with a particular land use. The ‘critical’ concentrations of C1 for each region were taken as the C1 concentrations that would allow an infiltration rate greater than or equal to the intensity of a 1 in 1 or 1 in 10 year frequency rainfall event of 30 min duration. This analysis also provided an indication of the risk associated with the concentrations of C1 currently characterising each farming system in each rainfall environment. None of the conventionally tilled Queensland Ferrosols contained sufficient C1 to cope with rainfall events expected to occur with a 1 in 10 frequency, while in many situations the C1 concentration was sufficiently low that runoff events would be expected on an annual basis. Our data suggest that management practices designed both to maximise C inputs and to maintain a high proportion of active C should be seen as essential steps towards developing a more sustainable cropping system.



Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
Koushik Brahmachari ◽  
Sukamal Sarkar ◽  
Donald S. Gaydon ◽  
Manoj Kumar Nanda ◽  
Argha Ghosh ◽  
...  

The costal saline zone of West Bengal in India is the home for millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Due to gradual increase in salt accumulation on soils of the costal saline zone of West Bengal in India from winter to summer days, cultivation of the second crop in winter season becomes possible in a limited area. To address this issue, field experiment was conducted both in rainy and winter seasons of 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 in this zone to study the feasibility of incorporating different winter pulses (lentil and grass pea) in the rice based cropping system. The experiment was conducted in strip plot design having two factors namely, Factor I: Six dates of sowing of rice at an interval of one week (2nd week of June to 3rd week of July) and Factor II: Two land situations (Medium-upland and Medium-lowland). Date of sowing significantly influenced dry matter and macro-nutrients (NPK) partitioning in rice. Irrespective of land situation, crop sown on 1st and 2nd dates recorded significantly higher grain yield and macro-nutrient uptake by rice. Date of sowing of rice and land situation also significantly influenced the seed and stover yield of different pulse crops. Pulse crops sown on 1st and 2nd dates recorded significantly higher seed yield in coastal saline ecology of West Bengal, India.



2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 210 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Quddus ◽  
M. J. Abedin Mian ◽  
H. M. Naser ◽  
M. A. Hossain ◽  
S. Sultana

The experiment was conducted to measure crop yields, nutrient concentration, nutrient uptake and balance by using different nutrient management practices for mustard-mungbean-T. aman rice cropping system in calcareous soil of Madaripur, Bangladesh. Different nutrient management practices were absolute nutrient control (T1); farmer’s practice (T2); AEZ based nutrient application (T3) and soil test based nutrient application (T4). The practices were compared in a randomized completely block design with three replications over two consecutive years. The average yield through application of soil test based nutrient (T4) was showed effective to get highest yields of mustard (1530 kg ha-1), mungbean (1632 kg ha-1) and T. aman rice (4729 kg ha-1). The same practices (T4) exhibited the greatest nutrients uptake by the test crops. The apparent balance of N and K was negative; however it was less negative and less deficiency detect in T4 treatment. Positive balance of P observed in all practices except in T1. There was a positive S balance (7.60 kg ha-1) in T4 but negative in T1, T2 and T3. Zinc balance was found positive in T3 and T4 and negative in T1 and T2. Boron balance in the system was neutral or slightly positive in T1 and negative in T2 but positive in T3 and T4. Organic matter, N, P, S, Zn and B status in soil was improved by T4 treatment. The results suggested that the soil test based nutrient application is viable and sustainable for mustard-mungbean-T. aman rice cropping system in calcareous soils of Bangladesh.



2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 1053-1061
Author(s):  
M. Kumar ◽  
◽  
S. Mitra ◽  
A. Bera ◽  
M.R. Naik ◽  
...  

Aim: Assessment of energy input output relationship, greenhouse gases emission and carbon footprint of diversified jute-rice cropping systems under different nutrients and crop residue management practices. Methodology: The inventory was prepared for all inputs required for crop cultivation and outputs of crops in cropping systems. These inputs and outputs were converted into energy by multiplying with energy equivalent coefficient and CO2 emission coefficient following standard procedure. Results: Jute-rice-baby corn cropping system recorded significantly higher net energy (324 GJ ha-1) and energy use efficiency (8.02). Among different nutrient and crop management (NCRM) practices, significantly higher energy output (336.9 GJ ha-1) and net energy (291.4 GJ ha-1) recorded 100% NPK with crop residue. The highest carbon footprint recorded with rice-rice (0.44 kg COe kg-1 economic yield) and the lowestwith jute-rice-pea (0.29 kg COe kg-1 economic yield) cropping system. Among different NCRM practices, higher carbon footprint was (0.38 kg COe kg-1 economic yield) recorded with 100% NPK with crop residue. Interpretation: The energy efficient and low input required cropping systems which include legume crops like garden pea and mungbean should be considered for cultivation for diversifying the existing rice-rice cropping system in Eastern India.



Author(s):  
B. Chakrabarti ◽  
S.K. Bandyopadhyay ◽  
D. Pratap ◽  
H. Pathak ◽  
R. Mittal ◽  
...  

Soil organic carbon is strongly affected by agricultural management practices. Cropping systems can influence the amount of carbon present in soil. Increase in SOC can be related with the choice of crops present in the cropping sequence as well as on the management practices followed. The present study was undertaken to quantify the changes in soil carbon stock under different cropping systems. Two major cropping systems i.e. pearlmillet-wheat and pearlmillet-mustard were selected in Mewat, Haryana while soybean-wheat cropping systems was identified in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. Results showed that SOC of surface soil layer decreased from 0.42% to 0.39% in pearlmillet-mustard cropping system during the study period. But in soybean-wheat cropping system it increased from 1.14% to 1.24%. Legume based cropping system showed enhancement of surface soil carbon.



Agronomy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 192 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Cox ◽  
John Hanchar ◽  
Jerome Cherney

Crop producers transitioning to an organic cropping system must grow crops organically without price premiums for 36 months before certification. We evaluated red clover-maize, maize-soybean, and soybean-wheat/red clover rotations in organic and conventional cropping systems with recommended and high inputs in New York, USA to identify the best rotation and management practices during the transition. Organic compared with conventional maize with recommended inputs in the maize-soybean rotation (entry crop) averaged 32% lower yields, $878/ha higher production costs, and $1096/ha lower partial returns. Organic maize compared with conventional maize with recommended inputs in the red clover-maize rotation (second transition crop) had similar yields, production costs, and partial returns. Organic compared with conventional soybean with recommended inputs in soybean-wheat/red clover or maize-soybean rotations had similar yields, production costs, and partial returns. Organic compared with conventional wheat with recommended inputs in the soybean-wheat/clover rotation had similar yields, $416/ha higher production costs, and $491/ha lower partial returns. The organic compared with the conventional soybean-wheat/red clover rotation had the least negative impact on partial returns during the transition. Nevertheless, all organic rotations had similar partial returns ($434 to $495/ha) so transitioning immediately, regardless of entry crop, may be most prudent. High input management did not improve organic crop yields during the transition.



2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Morais Amorim ◽  
Thieres George Freire da Silva ◽  
Poliana de Caldas Pereira ◽  
Luciana Sandra Bastos de Souza ◽  
Rosandro Boligon Minuzzi

ABSTRACT Management practices can affect the phenology and, consequently, the harvest time and crop production level of forage cactus. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of irrigation depths and cropping systems on the phenophases and cutting time of the forage cactus Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw. The experimental design was a randomized block with split plots and four replications. Irrigation depths based on reference evapotranspiration (8.75 %, 17.5 %, 26.25 % and 35 % ETo) and a control (0 % ETo) made up the plots, while cropping systems (exclusive cropping, exclusive cropping on mulch and forage cactus-sorghum intercropping) were distributed in the subplots. Cladode emission morphogenesis was used to define the phenological phases, while the extrapolation of the monthly dry matter accumulation rate was applied to obtain the cutting time. The use of irrigation depths significantly increased the phenophase II (higher emission of second-order daughter cladodes), decreasing the phenophase III, associated with third-order daughter cladodes. The phenophase III was lower in the exclusive cropping on mulch and forage cactus-sorghum intercropping systems, when compared to the exclusive cropping system. The ideal cutting time for irrigated forage cactus is 19 months, regardless of the cropping system. The exclusive cropping on mulch and forage cactus-sorghum intercropping systems significantly increased the monthly forage dry matter accumulation rate, with an earlier cutting time for the forage cactus-sorghum intercropping system (17 months).



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