Aspects of indigenous knowledge and protection in small-scale farming systems: A challenge for advancement

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
MD Magoro ◽  
M Masoga
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Small Scale

ASSESSMENT OF NITROGEN FIXATION POTENTIAL IN AHIPA (Pachyrhizus ahipa) AND ITS EFFECT ON ROOT AND SEED YIELD

2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. N. RODRÍGUEZ-NAVARRO ◽  
M. CAMACHO ◽  
F. TEMPRANO ◽  
C. SANTAMARÍA ◽  
E. O. LEIDI
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
South American ◽  
Field Inoculation ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Yield Increase ◽  
Alternative Crop ◽  
Attractive Option

SUMMARYAhipa is a legume of great interest for the production of raw materials (starch, sugar, oil and proteins) for industrial use. Its yield potential and ability to fix atmospheric N2 in association with rhizobia makes it an attractive option for low input agriculture systems. At present, it is cultivated on a very small scale as a food crop in a few South American countries. Little information is available on symbiotic N2 fixation in ahipa and no work has been performed on strain selection for inoculant production. Soils in southwest Europe are devoid of specific rhizobia able to nodulate on ahipa. Selecting rhizobia for symbiotic effectiveness from a collection led to the isolation of strains which provided greater shoot growth and N content under controlled conditions. In the field, inoculation at sowing with the selected strains increased significantly seed and tuberous root yield and seed protein content. The amount of N2 fixed, estimated by 15N natural abundance, reached 160–260 kg N ha−1. In previous work, ahipa appeared to be a promising alternative crop for the production of industrial raw materials. The results of the present study showed a yield increase in tuberous roots and seeds when applying effective rhizobia inoculants. Furthermore, a positive soil N balance was left after its cultivation making ahipa even more interesting for sustainable farming systems.

scholarly journals A Remote Sensing-Based Approach to Management Zone Delineation in Small Scale Farming Systems

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1767
Author(s):  
Davide Cammarano ◽  
Hainie Zha ◽  
Lucy Wilson ◽  
Yue Li ◽  
William D. Batchelor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Management Zone ◽  
The North ◽  
Landsat Satellite ◽  
The Village

Small-scale farms represent about 80% of the farming area of China, in a context where they need to produce economic and environmentally sustainable food. The objective of this work was to define management zone (MZs) for a village by comparing the use of crop yield proxies derived from historical satellite images with soil information derived from remote sensing, and the integration of these two data sources. The village chosen for the study was Wangzhuang village in Quzhou County in the North China Plain (NCP) (30°51′55″ N; 115°02′06″ E). The village was comprised of 540 fields covering approximately 177 ha. The subdivision of the village into three or four zones was considered to be the most practical for the NCP villages because it is easier to manage many fields within a few zones rather than individually in situations where low mechanization is the norm. Management zones defined using Landsat satellite data for estimation of the Green Normalized Vegetation Index (GNDVI) was a reasonable predictor (up to 45%) of measured variation in soil nitrogen (N) and organic carbon (OC). The approach used in this study works reasonably well with minimum data but, in order to improve crop management (e.g., sowing dates, fertilization), a simple decision support system (DSS) should be developed in order to integrate MZs and agronomic prescriptions.

Precision Farming at the Nexus of Agricultural Production and the Environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 313-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Finger ◽  
Scott M. Swinton ◽  
Nadja El Benni ◽  
Achim Walter
Keyword(s):  
Farming Systems ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Precision Farming ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Public And Private Sector ◽  
Large Farms

Precision farming enables agricultural management decisions to be tailored spatially and temporally. Site-specific sensing, sampling, and managing allow farmers to treat a field as a heterogeneous entity. Through targeted use of inputs, precision farming reduces waste, thereby cutting both private variable costs and the environmental costs such as those of agrichemical residuals. At present, large farms in developed countries are the main adopters of precision farming. But its potential environmental benefits can justify greater public and private sector incentives to encourage adoption, including in small-scale farming systems in developing countries. Technological developments and big data advances continue to make precision farming tools more connected, accurate, efficient, and widely applicable. Improvements in the technical infrastructure and the legal framework can expand access to precision farming and thereby its overall societal benefits.

Biophysical interactions at the root–soil interface: a review

1998 ◽  
Vol 130 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. YOUNG
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yields ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Root Surface ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Water Dynamics ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Soil Matrix ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Soil Interface

Soil close to roots generally has chemical, physical and biological properties which are significantly different from those of soil located some distance away (Jenny & Grossenbacher 1963; Hawes & Pueppke 1986; Young 1995). The root–soil interface is defined as soil near to or adhered to the root surface to some small distance into the soil matrix. This distance may vary between <1 mm and c. 10 mm. Working definitions include rhizosphere, where ‘zones of influence’ are inferred, and rhizosheath, when soil adhered to the root is discussed. Most work carried out at the root–soil interface has concentrated on biological or chemical processes, due both to the fact that the relevant techniques required to examine these processes have been more advanced than the physical techniques, and also because the farmer is generally offered either biological or chemical solutions to his everyday problems, as these are readily accessible, easy to use and cheap. The main manipulation of soil physical conditions occurs during cultivations, and the addition or removal of water from the soil profile. Intensive cultivations are a regular occurrence in many farming systems, despite the potential drawbacks: damage of the soil structure, leading to reduced crop yields and an increased risk of erosion.The main aim of this review is not to cover all the complex issues related to the root–soil interface. Instead, it concentrates on the biophysical processes which, compared with conventional plant physiological and soil microbiological research, have attracted relatively limited attention (e.g. see Waisel et al. 1996). The review examines small-scale (μm-mm) interactions and, where possible, links their impact to the larger scale. Three interacting areas are investigated: the physical structure of the soil and root growth, water dynamics and microbial dynamics.

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