Alley Farming as a Potential Agricultural Production System for the Humid and sub-Humid Tropics

2015 ◽  
pp. 67-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Atta-Krah ◽  
B. T. Kang
Keyword(s):  
Production System ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Humid Tropics ◽  
Alley Farming ◽  
Agricultural Production System

scholarly journals Modeling Adaptation Strategies against Climate Change Impacts in Integrated Rice-Wheat Agricultural Production System of Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Khalid Anser ◽  
Tayyaba Hina ◽  
Shahzad Hameed ◽  
Muhammad Hamid Nasir ◽  
Ishfaq Ahmad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Production System ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Crop Modeling ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Global Circulation Models ◽  
Agricultural Production System

There are numerous anticipated effects of climate change (CC) on agriculture in the developing and the developed world. Pakistan is among the top ten most prone nations to CC in the world. The objective of this analysis was to quantify the economic impacts of CC on the agricultural production system and to quantify the impacts of suggested adaptation strategies at the farm level. The study was conducted in the Punjab province’s rice-wheat cropping system. For this purpose, climate modeling was carried out by using two representative concentration pathways (RCPs), i.e., RCPs 4.5 and 8.5, and five global circulation models (GCMs). The crop modeling was carried out by using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) and the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) crop simulation models (CSMs), which were tested on the cross-sectional data of 217 farm households collected from the seven strata in the study area. The socio-economic impacts were calculated using the Multidimensional Impact Assessment Tradeoff Analysis Model (TOA-MD). The results revealed that CC’s net economic impact using both RCPs and CSMs was negative. In both CSMs, the poverty status was higher in RCP 8.5 than in RCP 4.5. The adaptation package showed positive results in poverty reduction and improvement in the livelihood conditions of the agricultural households. The adoption rate for DSSAT was about 78%, and for APSIM, it was about 68%. The adaptation benefits observed in DSSAT were higher than in APSIM. The results showed that the suggested adaptations could have a significant impact on the resilience of the atmospheric changes. Therefore, without these adaptation measures, i.e., increase in sowing density, improved cultivars, increase in nitrogen use, and fertigation, there would be negative impacts of CC that would capitalize on livelihood and food security in the study area.

scholarly journals Multiple-perspective Reorganisation of the Dairy sector: Mathematical Programming Approach

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-48
Author(s):  
Tina Kocjančič ◽  
Jaka Žgajnar ◽  
Luka Juvančič
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Programming ◽  
Production System ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Programming Approach ◽  
Agricultural Production System ◽  
Optimisation Model ◽  
Environmental Focus

Abstract Background: Agriculture is a production system in which the economic principles of organisation act in mutual dependence with its ecological boundaries. Objectives: Building on this premise, the paper evaluates performance of a chosen agricultural production system (dairy production in Slovenia) from two complementary perspectives, the socio-economic and the biophysical. Methods/Approach: The latter is presented by means of emergy analysis, which is a system-based approach that measures the aggregate work of biosphere needed for the provision of goods or services in the units of solar energy joules. The novelty aspect of this paper is the introduction of emergy indicators into the standard socioeconomic optimisation model of the chosen agricultural production system. The optimisation model based on linear mathematical programming is designed to empirically investigate different alternatives to the sector’s reorganisation. Results: The results of the optimisation models suggest considerable restructuring of the sector and, consequently, large discrepancies in the sector’s performance. Conclusions: The results suggest that further expansion of organic production systems as a result of a stronger environmental focus in farm management would improve the sector from both, the socio-economic and the emergy perspective. Moreover, even pursuing certain socio-economic targets may improve the sector’s biophysical performance and lower pressure on the local environment.

APSIM: an agricultural production system simulation model for operational research

1995 ◽  
Vol 39 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 225-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.L. McCown ◽  
G.L. Hammer ◽  
J.N.G. Hargreaves ◽  
D. Holzworth ◽  
N.I. Huth
Keyword(s):  
Simulation Model ◽  
Production System ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Operational Research ◽  
System Simulation ◽  
Agricultural Production System

scholarly journals Socio-Ecological Niche and Factors Affecting Agroforestry Practice Adoption in Different Agroecologies of Southern Tigray, Ethiopia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belay Manjur Gebru ◽  
Sonam Wangyel Wang ◽  
Sea Jin Kim ◽  
Woo-Kyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Production System ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Fruit Tree ◽  
Persea Americana ◽  
Balanites Aegyptiaca ◽  
Acacia Species ◽  
Agricultural Production System ◽  
Cordia Africana ◽  
Agroforestry Practices

This study was carried out in the southern zone of Tigray to identify and characterize traditional common agroforestry practices and understand the existing knowledge of farm households on the management of trees under different agroforestry in different agroecologies. We conducted reconnaissance and diagnostic surveys by systematically and randomly selecting 147 farming households in the three agroecologies of the study area. A logit regression model was employed to determine how these factors influence farmers’ adoption decision. The findings indicate that a majority of the households (46.3%) were engaged in homestead agroforestry practices (AFP), followed by live fence (25.9%) and farmland or parkland (15%) agroforestry practices. The study identified Carica papaya, Malus domestic, Persea americana, Mangifera indica, Ziziphus spina-christi, and Balanites aegyptiaca as the most dominant fruit tree species found in the home garden agroforestry. In total, 68% of the households had some of these fruit trees around their home gardens. We also established the three most dominant agricultural production systems as: i) Agricultural production system, composed of fruit tree + cereal crops + Ziziphus spina-christi + Balanites aegyptiaca and/or acacia species; ii) agricultural production system, consisting of cash crops, like Coffee arabica and Catha edulies + fruit trees + Cordia africana + Balanites aegyptiaca and/or acacia species; and iii) agricultural production, composed of fruit trees + vegetables within a boundary of Sesbania sesban and other acacia species in the modern irrigated land. Furthermore, 90.16% of the households in the highlands reported a shortage of farmland for planting trees as the main constraint. About 34.44% farmers reported using leaves of Cordia africana, Balanites aegyptiaca, pods of acacia species, and crop residue as the main source of animal fodder. In total, 86.4% of the households also recognized the importance of multipurpose trees for soil fertility enhancement, control of runoff, microclimate amelioration, environmental protection, and dry season animal fodder. According to the logit model analysis, sex, family size, educational level, and landholding significantly (p < 0.05) influence the household’s role in the adoption of agroforestry practices. Based on these findings, farmers used different adaptation strategies, such as planting of multi-purpose trees (34.7%), conservation tillage to minimize both erosion and runoff potentials as soil conservation strategies (27.2%), varying planting dates, use of drought tolerant crop varieties (16.3%), and others based on farmers’ indigenous knowledge passed down from generation to generation. We conclude that agroforestry practices are important components of farming systems in Tigray, resulting in diversified products and ecological benefits that improve socio-ecological resilience. Therefore, we recommend that agroforestry practices are mainstreamed into development plans, especially in agriculture.

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