scholarly journals CONSERVATION AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES: DETERMINANTS AND EFFECTS ON SOIL HEALTH FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION IN NORTHERN GHANA

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Gilbert DAGUNGA
Keyword(s):  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Sustainable Production ◽  
Northern Ghana

scholarly journals Application of Nematode Community Analyses-Based Models towards Identifying Sustainable Soil Health Management Outcomes: A Review of the Concepts

Soil Systems ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Haddish Melakeberhan ◽  
Gregory Bonito ◽  
Alexandra N. Kravchenko
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Nematode Community ◽  
Parasitic Nematodes ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Water Holding

Soil health connotes the balance of biological, physicochemical, nutritional, structural, and water-holding components necessary to sustain plant productivity. Despite a substantial knowledge base, achieving sustainable soil health remains a goal because it is difficult to simultaneously: (i) improve soil structure, physicochemistry, water-holding capacity, and nutrient cycling; (ii) suppress pests and diseases while increasing beneficial organisms; and (iii) improve biological functioning leading to improved biomass/crop yield. The objectives of this review are (a) to identify agricultural practices (APs) driving soil health degradations and barriers to developing sustainable soil health, and (b) to describe how the nematode community analyses-based soil food web (SFW) and fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) data visualization models can be used towards developing sustainable soil health. The SFW model considers changes in beneficial nematode population dynamics relative to food and reproduction (enrichment index, EI; y-axis) and resistance to disturbance (structure index, SI; x-axis) in order to identify best-to-worst case scenarios for nutrient cycling and agroecosystem suitability of AP-driven outcomes. The FUE model visualizes associations between beneficial and plant-parasitic nematodes (x-axis) and ecosystem services (e.g., yield or nutrients, y-axis). The x-y relationship identifies best-to-worst case scenarios of the outcomes for sustainability. Both models can serve as platforms towards developing integrated and sustainable soil health management strategies on a location-specific or a one-size-fits-all basis. Future improvements for increased implementation of these models are discussed.

Impact of Agricultural Practices on Soil Health

2020 ◽  
pp. 89-98
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Temitope Alori ◽  
Aruna Olasekan Adekiya ◽  
Kehinde Abodunde Adegbite
Keyword(s):  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices

scholarly journals Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture for Restoring the Soil Health and Increasing Rice Productivity as Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 748 (1) ◽  
pp. 012039
Author(s):  
Tualar Simarmata ◽  
M Khais Proyoga ◽  
Diyan Herdiyantoro ◽  
Mieke R Setiawati ◽  
Kustiwa Adinata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Water Efficiency ◽  
Rice Productivity ◽  
Rice Intensification ◽  
Significant Yield

Abstract Climate change (CC) is real and threatens the livelihood of most smallholder farmers who reside along the coastal area. The CC causes the rise of temperature (0.2-0.3°C/decade) and sea level (SRL = 5 mm/year), drought and floods to occur more frequently, the change of rainfall intensity and pattern and shifting of planting season and leads to the decreasing of crop yield or yield loss. Most of the paddy soil has been exhausted and degraded. About 50% of the rice field along the coastline is effected by high salinity and causes significant yield losses. The research was aimed to summarize the results of the system of organic based aerobic rice intensification (known as IPATBO) and of two climate filed school (CFS) in Cinganjeng and Rawapu that situated along the coastline of Pangandaran and Cilacap. Both IPATBO and CFS have adopted the strategy of climate-resilient sustainable agriculture (CRSA) for restoring the soil health and increasing rice productivity, and as well as to empower the farmer community. The implementation of IPATBO (2010-2020) in the different areas has increased the soil health, fertilizers, and water efficiency (reduce inorganic by 25-50%, and water by 30-40%) and increased rice productivity by at least 25-50%. Both CFS in Ciganjeng and Rawaapu were able to improve soil fertility, increase rice productivity, and farmer capacity. This result concludes the agro-ecological based CRSA and CFS can be adopted for the increasing the resilient of agricultural practices and farmers in adapting to climate change

scholarly journals Homogenization of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities by Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Cultivated under Different Conservation Agricultural Practices in the Eastern Himalayas

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diptaraj Chaudhari ◽  
Krishnappa Rangappa ◽  
Anup Das ◽  
Jayanta Layek ◽  
Savita Basavaraju ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Amplicon Sequencing ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Residue Management ◽  
Bulk Soil ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
North East

AbstractConservation agriculture offers a suitable system to harmonize agriculture with the environment, especially in fragile ecosystems of North-East India. Soil microbes play pivotal roles in ecosystem functioning and act as indispensable indicators of overall fitness of crop plant and soil health. Here we demonstrated that altercations in residue management and tillage practices lead to the development of differential bacterial communities forcing the pea plants to recruit special groups of bacteria leading to highly homogenous rhizosphere communities. Pea rhizosphere and bulk soil samples were collected, and bacterial community structure was estimated by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and predictive functional analysis was performed using Tax4Fun. The effect on pea plants was evident in the bacterial communities as the overall diversity of rhizosphere samples was significantly higher to that of bulk soil samples. Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Planomicrobium, Enterobacter, Arthrobacter, Nitrobacter, Geobacter, and Sphingomonas were noticed as the most abundant genera in the rhizosphere and bulk soil samples. The abundance of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria altered significantly in the rhizosphere and bulk samples, which was further validated by qPCR. Selection of specific taxa by pea plant was indicated by the higher values of mean proportion of Rhizobium, Pseudomonas, Pantoea, Nitrobacter, Enterobacter and Sphingomonas in rhizosphere samples, and Massilia, Paenibacillus and Planomicrobium in bulk soil samples. Tillage and residue management treatments did not significantly alter the bacterial diversity, while their influence was observed on the abundance of few genera. Recorded results revealed that pea plant selects specific taxa into its rhizosphere plausibly to meet its requirements for nutrient uptake and stress amelioration under the different tillage and residue management practices.

scholarly journals Importance of Soil Health and It’s Estimation by Remote Sensing and GIS

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (VII) ◽  
pp. 1262-1266
Author(s):  
Ashish Kumar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Renewable Resources ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Remote Sensing And Gis ◽  
Soil Functions ◽  
Waste Land ◽  
Sentinel 2

The soil quality is defined as the measurements of an essential organic and moving composition. To conserve the environment boundary with human health as well as to maintain the soils productivity are the main objective. In order to understand, it is important to differentiate between the soil heath and soil quality. The soil functions are generally related to soil quality however the living and organic stocks are of a non renewable resources, reutilizing the nutrients is presented by the soil health. Among this the Soil Organic Carbon is most important factor. In the soil SOC plays an important role in the productivity of the soil. In this research we conducted a study on the District of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh by using Remote Sensing. A Sentinel-2 data has used for the analysis of Land Use and Land Cover purposes. The result concluded the highest and minimum measurement of SOC in Agricultural and waste land respectively. The main objective of this research, to describe the quality and characteristic of the soil and consider the reasons by which the soil quality get disturb, to discover the agricultural practices which directly affects the soil quality.

scholarly journals Voisin Rational Grazing as a Sustainable Alternative for Livestock Production

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3494
Author(s):  
Luiz C. Pinheiro Machado Filho ◽  
Hizumi L. S. Seó ◽  
Ruan R. Daros ◽  
Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo ◽  
Adenor V. Wendling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Social Constraints ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Wide Range

Current livestock practices do not meet current real-world social and environmental requirements, pushing farmers away from rural areas and only sustaining high productivity through the overuse of fossil fuels, causing numerous environmental side effects. In this narrative review, we explore how the Voisin Rational Grazing (VRG) system responds to this problem. VRG is an agroecological system based on four principles that maximise pasture growth and ruminant intake, while, at the same time, maintaining system sustainability. It applies a wide range of regenerative agricultural practices, such as the use of multispecies swards combined with agroforestry. Planning allows grazing to take place when pastures reach their optimal resting period, thus promoting vigorous pasture regrowth. Moreover, paddocks are designed in a way that allow animals to have free access to water and shade, improving overall animal welfare. In combination, these practices result in increased soil C uptake and soil health, boost water retention, and protect water quality. VRG may be used to provide ecosystem services that mitigate some of the current global challenges and create opportunities for farmers to apply greener practices and become more resilient. It can be said that VRG practitioners are part of the initiatives that are rethinking modern livestock agriculture. Its main challenges, however, arise from social constraints. More specifically, local incentives and initiatives that encourage farmers to take an interest in the ecological processes involved in livestock farming are still lacking. Little research has been conducted to validate the empirical evidence of VRG benefits on animal performance or to overcome VRG limitations.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Agricultural Practices to Increase Yield and Financial Return and Minimize Aflatoxin Contamination in Peanut in Northern Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-162
Author(s):  
M. Abudulai ◽  
G. Mahama ◽  
I. Dzomeku ◽  
A. Seidu ◽  
I. Sugri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Spot ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Aflatoxin Contamination ◽  
Fertility Treatment ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Financial Returns ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Aflatoxin Concentration

ABSTRACT Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) yield and financial returns are often low for smallholder farmers in Ghana. Additionally, aflatoxin concentration in foods derived from peanut can be high enough to adversely affect human health. Eight experiments were conducted in 2016 and 2017 in northern Ghana to compare yield, financial returns, pest reaction, and aflatoxin contamination at harvest with traditional farmer versus improved practices. Relative to the farmer practice, the improved practice consisted of weeding one extra time, applying local potassium-based soaps to suppress arthropods and pathogens, and application of either homogenized oyster shells or a commercial blend of fertilizer containing calcium. Each of these field treatments were followed by either drying peanut on the soil surface and storing in traditional poly bags or drying peanut on tarps and storing in hermetically-sealed bags for 4 months. Peanut yield and financial returns were significantly greater when a commercial blend of fertilizer or oyster shells were applied compared to the farmer practice of not applying any fertilizer. Yield and financial returns were greater when a commercial fertilizer blend was applied compared with oyster shells. Severity of early leaf spot [caused by Passalora arachidicola (Hori) U. Braun] and late leaf spot [caused by Nothopassalora personata (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) U. Braun, C. Nakash., Videira & Crous], scarring and penetration of pods by arthropods, and the number of arthropods at harvest were higher for the farmer practice than for either fertility treatment; no difference was noted when comparing across fertility treatments. Less aflatoxin was observed for both improved practices in the field compared with the farmer practice. Drying peanut on tarps resulted in less aflatoxin compared to drying peanut on the ground regardless of treatments in the field. Aflatoxin concentration after storage was similar when comparing post-harvest treatments of drying on soil surface and storing in poly bags vs. drying on tarps and storing in hermetically-sealed bags. These results demonstrate that substantial financial gain can be realized when management in the field is increased compared with the traditional farmer practice. While aflatoxin concentrations differed between the farmer practice and the improved practices at harvest and after drying, these differences did not translate into differences after storage.

scholarly journals Managing Plant Microbiomes for Sustainable Biofuel Production

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Kateryna Zhalnina ◽  
Christine Hawkes ◽  
Ashley Shade ◽  
Mary K. Firestone ◽  
Jennifer Pett-Ridge
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Biofuel Production ◽  
Bioenergy Crops ◽  
Bioenergy Crop ◽  
Ecosystem Impacts

The development of environmentally sustainable, economical, and reliable sources of energy is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. Large-scale cultivation of cellulosic feedstock crops (henceforth, bioenergy crops) is considered one of the most promising renewable sources for liquid transportation fuels. However, the mandate to develop a viable cellulosic bioenergy industry is accompanied by an equally urgent mandate to deliver not only cheap reliable biomass but also ecosystem benefits, including efficient use of water, nitrogen, and phosphorous; restored soil health; and net negative carbon emissions. Thus, sustainable bioenergy crop production may involve new agricultural practices or feedstocks and should be reliable, cost effective, and minimal input, without displacing crops currently grown for food production on fertile land. In this editorial perspective for the Phytobiomes Journal Focus Issue on Phytobiomes of Bioenergy Crops and Agroecosystems, we consider the microbiomes associated with bioenergy crops, the effects beneficial microbes have on their hosts, and potential ecosystem impacts of these interactions. We also address outstanding questions, major advances, and emerging biotechnological strategies to design and manipulate bioenergy crop microbiomes. This approach could simultaneously increase crop yields and provide important ecosystem services for a sustainable energy future.

scholarly journals Influence of Pyrolyzed Grape-Seeds/Sewage Sludge Blends on the Availability of P, Fe, Cu, As and Cd to Maize

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Aceña-Heras ◽  
Jeff Novak ◽  
María Luz Cayuela ◽  
Jesus M. Peñalosa ◽  
Eduardo Moreno-Jiménez
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Ammonium Bicarbonate ◽  
Additional Treatment ◽  
Grape Seeds ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Greenhouse Study ◽  
Nutrients Uptake ◽  
Agronomic Potential

Current intensive agricultural practices, although highly successful in terms of production, have been found to be environmentally unsustainable. One of the crucial approaches to increase agricultural sustainability is the recycling of organic wastes, since these materials often contain many beneficial nutrients for soil and agriculture. Recently, pyrolytic conversion of biodegradable waste into charred material has gained global attention as an amendment to recycle nutrients while improving soil health. Increasing interest in the beneficial applications of pyrolyzed biomass has expanded multidisciplinary areas for science and engineering. The fertilizers used in this study were prepared by pyrolyzing mixtures of two abundant residues in Mediterranean areas: grape seeds and sewage sludge, in different proportions (100% GS, 75% GS-25% SS, 50% GS-50% SS, 25% GS-75% SS, 100% SS). In addition, fresh sludge was mixed with pyrolyzed grape seeds and included as an additional treatment. In this study, the positives and negatives of the application of biochars on agronomic potential and environmental risk have been addressed, taking into account P, Zn, Cu, Fe, As and Cd. In order to choose the best mixture, it is necessary to find a compromise between maximizing the beneficial elements that are translocated to the plant crop, as well as reducing the elements that are leached. Results of a 6-week greenhouse study indicated that the unpyrolyzed sludge mixture contained the largest amount of available nutrients Fe, Cu and P. In agreement, this treatment mixed with a Chromic Luvisol soil (40 ton/ha) increased the uptake of these elements in corn (Zea mays L.—LG ambitious). The yield also increased by 60% in this treatment. However, this mixture also contained more contaminants (As, Cd) which were extracted with Ammonium Bicarbonate-DTPA. According to our results, the treatments where grape seeds and sewage sludge were mixed at 50% and then pyrolyzed exhibited the optimal compromise between efficiency (nutrients uptake) and tolerable levels of potentially toxic elements in leachates.

scholarly journals Competency of Rhizobial Inoculation in Sustainable Agricultural Production and Biocontrol of Plant Diseases

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erana Kebede
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Systemic Resistance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Rhizobial Inoculation ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Rhizobial Inoculants

The rate of growth of the global population poses a risk to food security, demanding an increase in food production. Much of the world's cultivable soils also do not have ideal farming conditions such as soil health and fertility problem and increased pest attacks, which are challenges of food production. In this perspective, there is a need to increase agricultural production using a more economically and environmentally sustainable approach. As practices of agricultural production and improvement, rhizobial inoculants represent a practically effective, ecologically safe, and economically alternative means of realizing maximum agricultural production. This review addressed how rhizobial inoculation advances agricultural production through improving plant growth, nutrient availability and uptake, and yields by enhancing bio-fixation of atmospheric nitrogen and solubilization of soil nutrients. Besides, rhizobial inoculants offer biocontrol of plant diseases by providing resistance against disease-causing pathogens or suppression of diseases. Mechanisms involved in biocontrol of plant diseases include competition for infection sites and nutrients, activation of induced systemic resistance, and production of substances such as growth hormones, antibiotics, enzymes, siderophores, hydrogen cyanide, and exo-polysaccharides. Consequently, this approach is promising as sustainable agricultural practices have yet to supplement or replace chemical fertilizers, serving as a basis for future research on sustainable agricultural production. Despite the multifunctional benefits of rhizobial inoculation, there is a variation in the implementation of this practice by farmers. Therefore, researchers should work on eradicating farmers' constraints in using rhizobia, and future studies should be concentrated toward the methods of improving inoculant quality and promotion of the technology.

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