Proposal of a Nomenclature for Hydrogeological Instability Risks and Case Studies of Conservative Soil Tillage for Environmental Protection

In order to implement environmental protection, within the Soil Cadastre, previously proposed as a multipurpose inventory that aims to promote sustainable soil uses, the hydrogeological instability caused by human activities is the focus of this work. These activities can be aimed at sustainable agricultural soil use or the building of roads to allow the access to the fields. The soil’s hydrogeological instability causes the unsustainable use and management of a cadastral parcel. Therefore, the aim of this work is to propose a nomenclature for hydrogeological instability risks, as well as the best practices of conservative soil tillage in case studies, in order to reduce environmental impact. According to the proposed Soil Cadastre, the missing environmental sustainability of a parcel and the reason for this must be communicated to the field owner or manager. In a hilly area of inland Western Sicily, four main risk types of hydrogeological instability were identified: hydrogeological instability (caused only by natural factors); hydraulic-pedological farming instability (crop not suitable for the field for missing or insufficient soil drainage and landslides); hydraulic-infrastructural instability (built up infrastructures unsuitable for the site); hydraulic-infrastructural-pedological-management instability (field improvements changing the downflow line and crop operations not suitable for the soil and climate parameters). The farm owner or manager must be informed about the risk type affecting their fields in order to perform the best practices (i.e., conservative soil tillage), for implementing or restoring a sustainable soil use or management in each cadastral parcel.

Multi-criteria decision making for determining landfill location in Malaka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia

The absence of a landfill has increased the illegal waste disposal sites in Malaka Regency, which was established between 2013 and 2021. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze suitable and available land for the development of a landfill. The methodology used consisted of 2 analysis steps, namely land suitability and land availability. Land suitability was analyzed using a multi-criteria decision-making method, which included the slope, stone type/geology, lithology, soil type, soil texture, soil depth, soil drainage, distance from settlements, and water sources. The criteria were then weighted using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and geographic information system for overlaying. Furthermore, the results of the land suitability analysis were used to determine its availability with the aid of spatial and regional planning (RTRW), land use, and forest area maps. The results showed that the highly suitable (S1) and available terrain for the landfill in Malaka Regency covered an area of 203.37 ha or 1.73% of the regency. Also, the analysis results indicated that there was still adequate land available for the landfill.

Optimization of Land Use Based on Land Suitability Class for the Development of Red Chillies in Jember Regency

Chilli (Capsicum annum L.) is a horticulture comodities that high demand because it has a high economic value. The demand of Chilli increase every year as the population grows and the industry grows which requires Chilli as raw materials. The productivity of red chili in Jember Regency is also low, which is only 87.68 quintals hectare-1. Fluctuations in red chili production that occurred in the Jember area were caused by several things including an unsupportive environment such as declining soil fertility, high pest attacks, and excessive use of pesticides. Therefore there is a need for agricultural development in order to be able to meet food needs and increase export opportunities to neighboring countries. The parameters observed in this study were secondary data from the soil unit map. The secondary data referred to are soil drainage, soil depth in cm, slope related to erosion, altitude, standing water, soil cation exchange capacity, and soil pH. The improvement efforts made to improve the land suitability class is by setting the spacing, giving organic matter, agricultural lime, P fertilization, cutting and filling the land with a mound terrace system or bench terrace to reduce soil erosion.

Root deformation affects mineral nutrition but not leaf gas exchange and growth of Genipa americana seedlings during the recovery phase after soil flooding

Root deformation (RD) caused by errors in the pricking out process are irreversible and very difficult to detect in container-grown seedlings at the time of planting in the field. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of RD on leaf gas exchange, growth, biomass allocation and mineral nutrition of G. americana seedlings during the recovery phase after soil flooding. Four-months-old seedlings, with and without RD, were flooded for 42 days and their recovery was evaluated 28 days after soil drainage. There were no significant interactions between RD and soil flooding for all leaf gas exchange, growth and mineral nutrition after soil drainage, with the exception of leaf P concentrations. In plants with no RD, the P concentration in leaves of non-flooded plants was significantly higher than that of plants with RD. Soil flooding and RD did not influence leaf or root N concentrations or whole-plant N content. RD increased the K concentration in the roots, but not in the leaves. Changes in the nutrient concentrations in leaves and roots indicate that RD may affect physiological performance of seedlings after planting in the field.

Drainage Conditions Influence Corn-Nitrogen Management in the US Upper Midwest

Soil drainage is not considered in the N fertilizer guidelines for corn (Zea mays L.) in the US Midwest. This study investigated the influence of soil drainage on corn grain yield, N requirement, and residual soil N, and evaluated the utility of in-season soil N measurements to guide N application. This 6-year study in Minnesota, US on a corn–soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) rotation had drained and undrained conditions and six at planting (PL) (0–225 in 45 kg N ha−1 increments) and four split (SP) N fertilizer rates (at planting/V6-V8—45/45, 45/90, 45/135, 45/179 kg N ha−1). The drained compared to undrained soil produced 8% more grain yield (12.8 vs. 11.9 Mg ha−1), 12% more N uptake (169 vs. 151 kg N ha−1), 16% lower optimal N rate (ONR) (160 vs. 193 kg N ha−1), 3.1% greater grain yield at ONR (13.5 vs. 13.1 Mg ha−1), and similar in season and residual soil N. Compared to SP, PL lowered ONR (151 vs. 168 kg N ha−1) in drained soils, and the opposite occurred for undrained soils (206 vs. 189 kg N ha−1). These results substantiate the agronomic benefits of artificial drainage and the need to incorporate drainage conditions into N management guidelines.

Biochar Capacity to Mitigate Acidity and Adsorb Metals—Laboratory Tests for Acid Sulfate Soil Drainage Water

A 96-h laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the potential of biochar as a water protection tool for acid sulfate soil runoff. Acid sulfate soils pose a risk to water bodies due to acid, metal-rich runoff, especially in drained peatland forests. New water protection methods, such as adsorption with biochar, are needed. We investigated the capability of spruce and birch biochar to adsorb metals and reduce acidity in the water. Water from an acid sulfate site was stirred with biochar, biochar with lime, and biochar with ash. We determined water Al, S, Fe, Cu, Co, Cd, Ni, and Zn concentrations periodically, as well as pH and total organic carbon at the beginning and the end of the experiment. The studied substances are considered the most abundant and environmentally harmful elements in the acid sulfate soils in Finland. Biochar surface characteristics were analyzed with FTIR spectroscopy. Concentration changes were used to parametrize adsorption kinetics models. Biochar adsorbed metals and increased pH, but lime and ash additives did not always improve the adsorption. Spruce biochar and ash addition had generally higher adsorption than birch biochar and lime addition. The adsorption was dominated by Al and Fe at lower pH, while increasing pH improved the adsorption of Cd and Zn. The results show that biochar can increase the water pH, as well as adsorb Al, Fe, Co, Cd, Ni, and Zn. Further work could include an actual-scale biochar reactor in a laboratory and field conditions.

Alleviating peatland fire risk using water management trinity and community involvement

Conventionally, agriculture in peatland requires soil drainage to enable the crops to grow. This often results in being over-drained and makes it vulnerable to fires. The risk can be contained by applying water management trinity (WMT), which creates canals for water regulation and reservoirs instead of drainage. This study aimed to examine, elaborate, and validate the WMT effect and community involvement in minimizing fire risk in peatland. We collected water table depth every two weeks from 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2020 in a coconut plantation under WMT and employed Focus Groups Discussions (FGD) in five villages in Pulau Burung District, Indragiri Hilir Regency, Riau. The result showed that the existence of WMT for more than three decades has successfully maintained water table depth between 30 and 70 cm that is influenced by seasons. The fire occurrence based on the FGD interview has been validated with hotspot data from NASA’s FIRMS. This research also employed SWOT analysis to examine the local fire mitigation strategy. The progress in lowering fire incidents and risk should be intervened with finding long-term solutions to increase farmers’ capability on sustainable agriculture. Our finding reveals that the main strength in lowering fire risk is people’s awareness in every village on the negative impact of land burning, along with the existence of WMT.

Evaluation of land suitability for Oilseeds crops (Sesame and Groundnut) using GIS and Multi-criteria evaluation: A case study of Diga District, East Wollega Zone, Western Ethiopia

Sesame and groundnut crops are the major oilseeds crops produced for exports and local consumptions in the Ethiopia. This study attempted to evaluate land suitability for oilseeds crops using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-criteria evaluation (MCE), in the case of Diga district, East Wollega zone, Western Ethiopia. By integrating GIS and MCE techniques land suitability maps for sesame and groundnut were produced. Climate data (Temperature and rainfall), topography data (Slope), soil data (Soil texture, soil depth and soil drainage), infrastructure data (Road and market) were used in this study. The result of the study revealed that, about 252.1ha (0.4%) and 113.1ha (0.2%) were highly suitable for sesame and groundnut crops, respectively. Our results show that most parts of the study area were moderately suitable for sesame and groundnut production. Specially, the central and western parts of the study area are highly suitable and moderately suitable for sesame production. Findings of this study can support the farming communities and decision makers through providing highly productive areas for sesame and groundnut production.

Waterlogging In Cotton: Stress, Consequences, Adaptability, Mechanisms and Measures for Mitigation of Yield Losses

From many years, global cotton production suffers from waterlogging stress. Climatic variation and heavy rainfall conditions with poor internal soil drainage mechanism limits the growth and development of cotton crop due to waterlogging. It reduced the soil oxygen which causes the severe yield losses and sometimes even failure of a crop. Indeterminate growth habit of cotton plant makes it able to adapt this stress by activation of the escape, self compensation and quiescence mechanism. The reduction of biomass, development of adventitious roots and accelerated growth mechanism, all are associated with adaption and tolerance mechanisms. Waterlogging significantly affect the cellulose and sucrose content of fiber in cotton. Sodic soils also exacerbate the waterlogging stress because these soils already suffer by aeration stress. Different growth stages are effect differently but flowering and boll setting stage is more sensitive to waterlogging conditions.