scholarly journals Characterising the Coffee-Banana Agroforestry Systems: an Entry Point for Promoting Coffee and Banana Growing in mid-Northern Uganda

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-121
Author(s):  
Godfrey H. Kagezi ◽  
P. Kucel ◽  
J. Kobusinge ◽  
L. L. Nakibuule ◽  
F. Akwatulira ◽  
...  

This study was conducted in the mid-Northern Ugandan districts of Nwoya, Gulu, Lira, Apach and Oyam to characterise the coffee-banana agroforestry systems. Thirty fields with coffee-banana agroforestry systems were selected and the level of field and crop management determined. Additionally, five coffee and banana plants were randomly selected and assessed for pests and diseases. All fields had Robusta coffee type whereas cooking bananas were the dominant clone (45%). Field management was limited. More than 80% of the fields had no bands, trenches or cover-crops. Most of the fields were lowly weeded (46.7%) and mulched (60%). Intercropping was low with 20% having maize or cassava. Similarly, most fields were lowly inter-planted with trees (40%) with only 28 tree/shrub species and dominated by fruit trees; namely oranges (70%), mangoes (63.3%) and pawpaw (56.7%) of the total number of tree species observed in the systems. Generally, 40% of coffee fields had not been de-suckered, pruned or changed cycle. However, at least 35% of the coffee fields were highly pruned and their cycle changed. For bananas, more than 70% of the fields were not de-suckered, propped or their corms removed, but 63% of them had been de-leafed and de-budded at a low to moderate level. Leaf skeletonisers and coffee leaf rust were the most observed pest (77.3%) and disease (15.3%) respectively. Pest damage was limited in bananas, though black Sigatoka was the commonest disease observed (56%). It is concluded that the region has embraced the systems but there is need for farmers to be provided with the right species of coffee, banana and trees.Keywords: Agroforestry-systems, cooking-bananas, Robusta-coffee.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 88
Author(s):  
P. A. S. Gonçalves

The objective of this study is to evaluate the importance of plant diversity in insect management in agroecosystems.The conventional management of agroecosystems is based on monoculture, with exploitation of plant genotypes susceptible to pests and diseases, with intense use of agrochemicals and soil mechanization. The impact on agroecosystem biodiversity by intensifying agronomic practices results in losses of important ecological functions: decomposition, nutrient cycling, predation and parasitism. The potential of plant diversity in the sustainability of agroecosystems is recommended through practices such as intercropping, agroforestry systems, management of cover crops, spontaneous herbs and the use of plants attractive to natural enemies and as pest traps. Farm planning should take into account some level of plant diversification to avoid pest insect outbreaks. Thus, it will be possible to reduce pesticides in conventional system, and reduce the number of interventions with alternative substances in farm in agroecological systems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (Special) ◽  
pp. 143-155
Author(s):  
SD Mohapatra ◽  
R Tripathi ◽  
Anjani Kumar ◽  
Suchismita Kar ◽  
Minati Mohapatra ◽  
...  

The insect problem is accentuated in intensive rice cropping where the insects occur throughout the year in overlapping generations. Over 800 insect species damaging rice in one way or another, although the majority of them do very little damage. In India, about a dozen of insect species are of major importance but the economic damage caused by these species varies greatly from field to field and from year to year. Insect pests cause about 10-15 per cent yield losses. Farmers lose an estimated average of 37% of their rice crop to insect pests and diseases every year. This review focuses on precision farming tools being used in rice pest and diseases management viz., forecasting model for real-time pest-advisory services, hyper-spectral remote sensing in pest damage assessment, computer-based decision support system, disruptive technologies (mobile apps).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Chavez ◽  
Jordon Wade ◽  
Elizabeth A. Miernicki ◽  
Malena Torres ◽  
Erik C. Stanek ◽  
...  

Conservation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-35
Author(s):  
Kazi Kamrul Islam ◽  
Mohammad Saifullah ◽  
Kimihiko Hyakumura

In the tropics, products and services provided by the traditional agroforestry systems (TAS) support the basic needs and promote the livelihood of millions of rural people. However, the outcomes and mitigation of TAS, in particular, the social and environmental issues are not systematically addressed. Thus, the objective of the study was to assess the economic, social and environmental outcomes of two important TAS in Bangladesh. This study reports results on prospective analyses using the Date palm and Jackfruit-based TAS practiced in the Jashore and Mymensingh districts of Bangladesh. The results revealed that the TAS enhanced farm productivity and the benefit–cost ratio of both systems were much higher than the general agricultural practices in Bangladesh. The TAS also improved resilience of rural farmers through more efficient water utilization, enhancing soil fertility, improving microclimate, controlling pests and diseases, and diversifying products. At the same time, the farmers’ problems were neglected due to the absence of farmers’ platforms, and also tradeoffs may arise; thus, the social aspects of the TAS farmers had not developed equally. Therefore, the study would recommend minimizing the tradeoffs through enhancing the conservation strategies at farmers’ levels to make the TAS more viable and sustainable land-use practices.


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 451
Author(s):  
Van Hung Do ◽  
Nguyen La ◽  
Rachmat Mulia ◽  
Göran Bergkvist ◽  
A. Sigrun Dahlin ◽  
...  

Rapid expansion of unsustainable farming practices in upland areas of Southeast Asia threatens food security and the environment. This study assessed alternative agroforestry systems for sustainable land management and livelihood improvement in northwest Vietnam. The performance of fruit tree-based agroforestry was compared with that of sole cropping, and farmers’ perspectives on agroforestry were documented. After seven years, longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.)-maize-forage grass and son tra (Docynia indica (Wall.) Decne)-forage grass systems had generated 2.4- and 3.5-fold higher average annual income than sole maize and sole son tra, respectively. Sole longan gave no net profit, due to high investment costs. After some years, competition developed between the crop, grass, and tree components, e.g., for nitrogen, and the farmers interviewed reported a need to adapt management practices to optimise spacing and pruning. They also reported that agroforestry enhanced ecosystem services by controlling surface runoff and erosion, increasing soil fertility and improving resilience to extreme weather. Thus, agroforestry practices with fruit trees can be more profitable than sole-crop cultivation within a few years. Integration of seasonal and fast-growing perennial plants (e.g., grass) is essential to ensure quick returns. Wider adoption needs initial incentives or loans, knowledge exchange, and market links.


1994 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Knight ◽  
John D. Mumford

All farmers and growers have at some time faced the decision of whether to control a pest in their crop. In order to make the correct decision the farmer needs access to, and an understanding of, sufficient information relevant to such pest problems. Decision support systems are able to help farmers make these difficult decisions by providing information in an easily understandable and quickly accessed form. The increasing use of computers by farmers for record-keeping and business management is putting the hardware necessary for the implementation of these systems onto more and more farms. The scarcity of expert advice, increasingly complex decisions and reduced economic margins all increase the importance of making the right pest management decision at the right time. It is against this background that decision support systems have an important role to play in the fight against losses caused by pests and diseases.


Perspektif ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 135 ◽  
Author(s):  
HANDI SUPRIADI ◽  
DIBYO PRANOWO

<div><p>ABSTRAK</p><p>Keterbatasan lahan pertanian mendorong masyarakat/ petani membuka lahan baru di kawasan hutan, dengan cara menebang dan membongkar tanaman hutan serta membakar sisa-sisa tanaman dan semak belukar, akibatnya lahan menjadi kritis. Salah satu upaya untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut adalah melalui penerapan sistem agroforestri berbasis kopi. Agroforestri berbasis kopi yang sudah dikembangkan petani berperan dalam : (1) Konservasi lahan, air dan keanekaragaman hayati, (2) Penambahan unsur hara lahan, (3) Pengendalian iklim mikro, (4) Penambahan cadangan karbon (5) Menekan serangan hama dan penyakit dan (6) Peningkatan pendapatan petani. Agroforestri berbasis kopi telah dipraktekkan oleh petani pada berbagai wilayah di Indonesia, diantaranya di Lampung Barat (pola hutan kemasyarakatan dan hutan desa), Jawa Barat dan Jawa Tengah (pola pengelolaan hutan bersama masyarakat). Tantangan/masalah yang dijumpai pada agroforestri berbasis kopi diantaranya (1) Tingkat pengetahun petani tentang budidaya agroforestri berbasis kopi yang masih rendah, (2) Terbatasnya modal usaha dan (3) Ketidakpastian status lahan usaha. Upaya untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut dapat dilalukan melalui pelatihan dan pendampingan teknologi budidaya, bantuan modal usaha dan kepastian hukum status lahan. Pengembangan agroforesti berbasis kopi diarahkan pada dikawasan hutan milik Perum Perhutani, hutan kemasyarakan (HKm) dan hutan desa (HD) yang luasnya masing-masing 2.250.172; 2.500.000 dan 500.000 ha. Makalah ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi peran agroforestri berbasis kopi terhadap lingkungan, dan ekonomi petani serta prospek pengembangannya di Indonesia.<br />Kata kunci: Tanaman kopi, agroforestri, tanaman penaung, lingkungan, pendapatan, pengembangan<br /><br />ABSTRACT<br />Prospects of Agroforestry Development Based on Coffee in Indonesia</p><p>Limitations of agricultural land to encourage people/ farmers open up new land in forest areas, by felling tree forests and forcing open plants and burning the remains of plants and shrubs as a result of land being serious critical. One effort to over come the problem is through the implementation of a coffee-based agroforestry systems. Role-based on agroforestry coffee farmers that have been developed, by farmers involve on (1) Conserve land, water and biodiversity, (2) Add of nutrients lands, (3) Control of microclimate, (4) Add of carbon stocks (5) Suppress pests and diseases, and (6) Enhancement to the income of farmers. Coffee-based agroforestry has been practiced by farmers in various regions in Indonesia, including in West Lampung (patterns of community forestry and forest villages), West Java and Central Java (forest management with communities). Challenge/problems encountered in the coffee-based agroforestry include (1) The level of knowledge of farmers on the cultivation of coffee-based agroforestry still low, (2) Lack of venture capital and (3) The uncertainty of the status of business land. Efforts to overcome these problems can through training and mentoring cultivation technology, venture capital assistance and legal certainty of land status. Development direction of coffee-based agroforestry can be done conduct of region-owned Perum Perhutani, community forestry (CF) and village forest (VF) which covers each 2.250.172; 2.500.000 and 500.000 ha. This paper aims to identify the role of coffee-based agroforestry on the environment, and the economy of farmers and development prospect in Indonesia.<br />Keywords: Coffee sp., agroforestry, shade plants, environment, income, development</p></div>


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-117
Author(s):  
Kripa Adhikari ◽  
Sudip Bhandari ◽  
Dikshya Niraula ◽  
Jiban Shrestha

Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) is a member of Meliaceae family, a fast-growing tropical evergreen plant whose products were found effective against economically important insect pests and diseases. All parts of this plant particularly leaf, bark, and root extracts have the biopesticidal activities. Azadirachtin, a biopesticide obtained from neem extract, can be used for con-trolling various insect pests in agriculture. It acts on insects by repelling them, by inhibiting feeding, and by disrupting their growth, and reproduction. Neem-based formulations do not usually kill insects directly, but they can alter their behavior in significant ways to reduce pest damage to crops and reduce their reproductive potential. The neem is considered as an eas-ily accessible, eco-friendly, biodegradable, cheap, and non-toxic biopesticide which control the target pests. Thus, this re-view highlighted the extract, byproducts and roles of neem that can be used as potential biopesticide in agriculture.


2021 ◽  
pp. 86-115
Author(s):  
Lynn E. Long ◽  
Gregory A. Lang ◽  
Clive Kaiser

Abstract Growing fruit trees is a long term financial commitment and establishing an orchard is an expensive enterprise. Selecting the right orchard site is arguably the most important decision that a sweet cherry grower will make and it will affect all other managerial decisions related to the orchard. Choosing the wrong site can affect both fruit yield and quality, and ultimately the financial viability of the operation. On the other hand, choosing a good site will reduce expenses and increase profits. Properly evaluating a prospective orchard location, determining available resources and establishing the orchard takes careful planning. This chapter focuses on important factors in planning a new cherry orchard, including economics and site evaluation (climatic conditions, topography, soil characteristics, soil analysis, water availability and quality, access to key auxilliary facilities, and environmental impact).


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