Sustainability indicators in Agriculture: A Review and Bibliometric analysis using Scopus database.

Indicators are being used in many agricultural sustainability assessment methods, but disputes about a common indicator for the definition of sustainability have resulted in so many various indicators and methods of measurement. The objective of this review is to provide a bibliometric analysis of sustainability pillars and indicators that has been widely applied. In addition, this paper evaluates the impact of pillars and indicators on scientific research through the analysis of their citation and trend. Using Scopus database, a total of 30 articles have been selected. The search revealed more than 500 indicators, and the top 3 indicators of each pillar which were considered in 7 articles or more are (soil erosion, crop diversity and pesticides) for environmental pillar, (education and training) for social pillar are and (Profitability, productivity and farm income) for economic pillar. Results showed that the environmental pillar is the most tackled in terms of the number of articles (n=22) and the most cited with a mean citation of about 60. The pesticide is the oldest indicator in terms of its average year of publication in 2011, the most cited indicator of more than 250 in 2005 and has the highest mean citation of about 42. The least cited indicators are farm income and training with less than 10 mean citation. Nowadays, the economic pillar is considered one of the most discussed and widely implemented with a total of 7 published articles in 2020.

Beekeeping promotes the traditional home-garden conservation in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, agrobiodiversity is managed through indigenous knowledge of rural communities, where the selection of plant species varies depending on the sociocultural practices and local economic needs. Traditional beekeeping has been practiced by millions of households in rural Ethiopia over a long historical period. However, the contribution of beekeeping in maintaining agrobiodiversity has not been systematically assessed in the country. This study was conducted in Central and Western Ethiopia to assess and compare traditional conservation practices, as well as the diversity and abundance of vegetation found within home-garden maintained by beekeepers and non-beekeepers. The results of the study showed that beekeepers raditionally retain more remnants of trees and shrubs in their home-garden to favor sustainable beekeeping, compared to non-beekeepers who instead are more likely to expand crop production. The mean number of floral species in beekeeper and non-beekeeper home-gardens was 22.8 ±3.2 and 14.2 ± 2.1, respectively. The higher species richness of bee visited plants in beekeepers’ home-gardens may be associated with traditional ecological knowledge accumulated by beekeepers over the years to maximize harvests of bee products. We therefore recommend the integration of ekeeping to other conservation interventions, such as community forestry, watersheds and protected areas as sustainable conservation practices. We suggest that necessary financial, technological, and extensional support should be enhanced to align improved v to any conservation efforts.

Impact of MAPs on improving the socio-economic situation of rural families in Kosovo

he medicinal and aromatic plants sector is considered a very important sector for the economy of Kosovo since it can provide employment, income, and export growth. Based on this, we assess the impact of the subsidy schemes from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Development (MAFRD) using a propensity score matching improving the farmers' gross income. The main purpose of the study was to assess whether subsidy schemes have an impact on the farmer's gross income by using a propensity score matching model to match beneficiaries to non-beneficiaries. Results showed that beneficiaries of subsidy schemes make 3,682.09 Euros more per year than non-beneficiaries (95% confidence interval 2,349.9 Euros to 5,012.90 Euros). Using logistic regression, we found that subsidy schemes, market prices, and reductions of unfair competition are the three most important factors affecting farmers' decisions to collect and cultivate MAPs.

Effect of domestic greywater reuse for irrigation on soil physical and chemical characteristics and tomatoes growth.

This study aimed at determining the effect of laundry greywater on the growth of tomatoes and physical and chemical properties of a sandy loam Perrox in the Eastern province of Rwanda, Kayonza district, Mwiri sector. The experimental design consisted of plots planted with tomatoes (Lepersicon Esculantum) in a randomized complete block design with three replications and four treatments. Treatment 1: Tomatoes irrigated with pure greywater; Treatment 2: Tomatoes irrigated with a mixture of tap water and greywater at 1:1 ratio; Treatment 3: Alternation of greywater and tap water in a consecutive manner; and Treatment 4: only tap water serving as a control. Results showed that the following soil chemical parameters were significantly increased with greywater application: pH, EC, Av P, Na and SAR. Conversely, soil concentration in Mg and Ca significantly decreased with increase in greywater application. With the exception of soil bulk density, other measured physical properties such as soil hydraulic conductivity, aggregate stability and porosity were significantly reduced with greywater application. The highest values for soil hydraulic conductivity, aggregate stability and porosity were found for soil irrigated with tap water which ranged between 1.01 to 2.1 times higher than that of greywater, mixed or alternated with tap water. The alternate application of greywater and tap water did not affect significantly the stem height and weight of tomatoes. We concluded that the absence of positive growth effect of application of greywater was due to low concentration in essential plant nutrients in greywater, and induced adverse effects on soil chemical, physical, and biological properties. However, alternate application of the greywater and tap water preserved approximately the same soil physico-chemical characteristics as with application of tap water. Thus, among the irrigation treatments involving greywater, the latter should be considered as the most environmentally friendly. We propose combination of greywater with various forms of composts as the one of the most promising investigations on the reuse of greywater in irrigation.