Livestock integration in conservation agriculture.

Grazing livestock have been presented as an unsurmountable obstacle for Conservation Agriculture (CA) in Africa, because they consume organic cover. But grazing livestock can also make positive contributions to CA, while, if properly managed, sufficient organic cover can be left for soil erosion control and soil health improvement. Urine and manure improve soil fertility and soil health, and increase the agronomic efficiency of fertilizer nutrients. Grazing livestock increase options for crop diversity, such as crop rotations with perennial forages, increased use of cover crops and tree-crop associations. Further, as crop yields improve through application of sustainable intensification methods, greater amounts of above-ground residue become available for livestock nutrition, while greater quantities of below- and above-ground plant residues can be left to improve soil health than are currently returned to the soil. At the same time, in areas where extensive systems are still common, greater amounts of crop residue can be left for soil function because alternative feed sources are available. More research and education on proper integration of livestock in CA in the African context, and successful models of pastoralist-crop farmer collaboration are needed, so both livestock and soil needs can be met.

Sero-prevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies and associated risk factors in rural Rwanda: A cross-sectional study

Background Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease transmitted through the urine of wild and domestic animals, and is responsible for over 50,000 deaths each year. In East Africa, prevalence varies greatly, from as low as 7% in Kenya to 37% in Somalia. Transmission epidemiology also varies around the world, with research in Nicaragua showing that rodents are the most clinically important, while studies in Egypt and Chile suggest that dogs may play a more important role. There are no published studies of leptospirosis in Rwanda. Methods & findings We performed a cross-sectional survey of asymptomatic adults recruited from five occupational categories. Serum samples were tested using ELISA and Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). We found that 40.1% (151/377) of asymptomatic adults had been exposed to Leptospira spp. Almost 36.3% of positive subjects reported contact with rats (137/377) which represent 90.7% among positive leptospira serology compared with 48.2% of negative subjects (182/377) which represent 80.5% among negative leptospira serology (OR 2.37, CI 1.25–4.49) and 1.7 fold on prevalence ratio and 2.37 of odd ratio. Furthermore, being a crop farmer was significantly associated with leptospirosis (OR 2.06, CI 1.29–3.28). We identified 6 asymptomatic subjects (1.6%) who met criteria for acute infection. Conclusions This study demonstrates a high prevalence of leptospiral antibodies infection among asymptomatic adults in rural Rwanda, particularly relative to neighboring countries. Although positive subjects were more likely to report rat contact, we found no independent association between rats and leptospirosis infection. Nonetheless, exposure was high among crop farmers, which is supportive of the hypothesis that rats together with domestic livestock might contribute to the transmission. Further studies are needed to understand infecting Leptospira servers and elucidate the transmission epidemiology in Rwanda and identify means of host transmitters.

Mobile-Based Application for Agricultural Crops of Silang, Cavite

Farmers’ awareness on fast-moving developments in technologies affects the agriculture operations. Smartphones have been useful in agriculture for their mobility and accessibility. The mobile-based application for agricultural crops of Silang was designed to provide information about crops. Information includes health benefits of the fruits, uses of the crops, and how its different parts can be develop to another product. The application is the first step towards understanding the benefits of the by-products of the crop in interactive way. The software development was anchored on agile model. The performance of the application was evaluated by 40 persons composed of subject matter experts including crops farmers and agriculturist, IT experts and potential users. The developed application was rated using Core App Quality Standard utilizing the criteria of Visual Design and User Interaction, Functionality, Compatibility, Performance and Stability, and Security. The app’s performance was adherent to the standard as verified by the app’s overall rating of excellent. The application will be able to help the crop farmer to get information in utilizing wastes into by-products, hence would be an opportunity to augment their income. It is recommended that the application may be added with crops available from other regions and consider a dynamic and cross-platform version of the app to maximize potential users.

Effective biotechnologies for revolutionalizing the livestock industry in Nigeria after COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe health and hunger challenges both in developed and developing economies of the world thereby posing a serious threat to the economies and food security issues particularly of vulnerable regions of the world. Currently in Nigeria, there is a great increase in the market prices of crops and livestock products occasioned by the prevailing clashes between crop farmer and livestock herders. There is thus a huge gap in the demand and supply of available essential agricultural products leading to the high inflation rate being witnessed in the country today. With the current population of over 200 million which is expected to double by 2050, the task of feeding these Nigerians is daunting and very challenging. To overcome these challenges, the livestock industry in Nigeria needs to be transformed accordingly. FAO report of 2019 had advised African livestock producers to work to expand the scope of their operations and to invest in productivity-enhancing technologies in order to meet the growing demands for livestock products. The adoption of biotechnological innovations already available in animal reproduction, nutrition, health and genetics, is a clear pathway to enhance livestock production in Nigeria. The Nigerian Government is expected to play a leading role by providing enabling environment that will make for easy and seamless adoption of these technologies. Nigerian livestock farmers on their part should be ready and willing to embrace these technologies to enhance the productive capacity of their stock as well as improving their own welfare and economic wellbeing. Key words: COVID-19 pandemic, biotechnology, livestock industry, development, Nigeria

Factors Influencing Arable Crop Farmers’ Willingness to Adopt Bio-Organic Technology in Ondo State, Nigeria

The study analysed factors influencing arable crop farmers’ willingness to adopt bio-organic technology in Ondo State. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 180 respondents for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data which were analysed with percentages, 4-point likert-type scale and logit regression model. The findings revealed that the females (67.0%) dominated arable crop farming, the mean age was 41 years and 55.6% had formal education. All the respondents are aware of mixed cropping and croprotation and less than 50% were aware of alley cropping (43.2) and biological pest control (26.6). The majority (67.6%) of the arable crop farmers had unfavourable perception of bio-organic technology. The study showed that increase in extension visit, membership of farmers’ group, access to information and education positively increase the likelihood of farmers to adopt bio-organic technology. Enhanced extension services that would adequately support farmer and extended education programs geared towards broadening farmers’ knowledge on bio-organic technology should be promoted. Keywords: willingness, adoption, bio-organic technology, arable crop farmer

Adoption of Water-Conserving Irrigation Practices among Row-Crop Growers in Mississippi, USA

This article identifies irrigated row-crop farmer factors associated with the adoption of water-conserving practices. The analysis is performed on data from a survey of irrigators in Mississippi. Regression results show that the amount of irrigated area, years of education, perception of a groundwater problem, and participation in conservation programs are positively associated with practice adoption; while number of years farming, growing rice, and pumping cost are negatively associated with adoption. However, not all factors are statistically significant for all practices. Survey results indicate that only a third of growers are aware of groundwater problems at the farm or state level; and this lack of awareness is related to whether farmers noticed a change in the depth to water distance in their irrigation wells. This evidence is consistent with a report to Congress from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that recommends policies promoting the use of: (1) more efficient irrigation technology and practices and (2) precision agriculture technologies, such as soil moisture sensors and irrigation automation.

Adoption of Water-Conserving Irrigation Practices among Row-crop Growers in Mississippi, USA

This article identifies irrigated row-crop farmer factors associated with the adoption of water conserving practices. The analysis is performed on data from a survey of irrigators in Mississippi. Regression results show that the number of irrigated acres, years of education, perception of a groundwater problem, and participation in conservation programs are positively associated with practice adoption; while number of years farming, growing rice, and pumping cost are negatively associated with adoption. However, not all factors are statistically significant for all practices. Survey results indicate that only a third of growers are aware of groundwater problems at the farm or state level; and this lack of awareness is related to whether farmers noticed a change in the depth-to-water distance in their irrigation wells. This evidence is consistent with a report to Congress from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that recommends policies promoting the use of: (1) more efficient irrigation technology and practices and (2) precision agriculture technologies, such as soil moisture sensors and irrigation automation.

Household Welfare Implications of Better Fertilizer Access and Lower Use Inefficiency: Long-Term Scenarios for Ethiopia

High population growth in Ethiopia is aggravating farmland scarcity, as the agrarian share of the population stays persistently high, and also creates increasing demand for food and non-food biomass. Based on this fact, this study investigates welfare implications of intensification measures like interventions that improve access and use efficiency to modern farming inputs. Using a dynamic meso-economic modeling framework for Ethiopia, ex-ante scenarios that simulate a) decreased costs of fertilizer use and b) elevated efficiency of fertilizer application for all crops are run for a period of 20 years. Fertilizer-yield response functions are estimated (based on results from an agronomic crop model and actual survey data) and embedded into the economic model in order to get realistic marginal returns to fertilizer application. This is our novel methodological contribution in which we introduce how to calculate input use inefficiency based on attainable yield levels from agronomic crop model and actual yield levels. Simultaneous implementation of these interventions lead to annual yield increases of 8.7 percent for an average crop farmer compared to the current level. Increased fertilizer application is also found to be profitable for an average farmer despite price reduction for crops following increased market supply. As a result of price and income effects of the interventions, all household types exhibit welfare gain. Non-farming households, being net consumers, enjoy lower costs of living. Rural farming households enjoy even higher welfare gain than non-farming households because they consume a higher share from crop commodities that become cheaper, and because their farming profits increase.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND PATTERN OF AGROCHEMICALS USE AMONG SMALLHOLDER CROP FARMERS IN EDU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE

This study addresses the economic analysis and pattern of agrochemicals use among smallholder crop farmers in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select 144 small-scale crop farmers interviewed for the study. Descriptive statistics and farm budgeting techniques were used for data analysis. The result shows that a typical small-scale crop farmer in the study area is, on average, a 31-year-oldmale with 11 to 20 years of farming experience. These groups of farmers also cultivate 0.78 hectares and have a household size of 8. Herbicides are the predominant agrochemical used during the survey; it was mostly applied both before and after crop emergence. Usually, pesticides were applied without following safety instructions. Users of agrochemicals obtained a total gross margin of USD 1,469.95 per hectare with a profitability ratio of 1.22 which indicates that farming is a profitable business in the study area. The study recommends to increase awareness on farmer safety measures when handlingagrochemicals; and to establish educational programs that will educate farmers on how to safely use agrochemicals.