Search results for "Agroforestry"
showing 10 items of 275 documents
Soil and irrigation sustainability practices
2013
Soil Quality as Affected by Intensive Versus Conservative Agricultural Managements
2017
Soils, the earth’s skin, are at the intersection of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The persistence of life on our planet depends on the maintenance of soils as they constitute the biological engines of earth. Human population has increased exponentially in recent decades, along with the demand for food, materials, and energy, which have caused a shift from low-yield and subsistence agriculture to a more productive, high-cost, and intensive agriculture. However, soils are very fragile ecosystems and require centuries for their development, thus within the human timescale they are not renewable resources. Modern and intensive agriculture implies serious concern about…
Impact of Innovative Agricultural Practices of Carbon Sequestration on Soil Microbial Community.
2011
This chapter deals with the impact on soil microbiology of innovative management techniques for enhancing carbon sequestration. With in the MESCOSAGR project, the effect of different field treatments was investigated at three experimental sites differing in pedo-climatic characteristics. Several microbiological parameters were evaluated to describe the composition of soil microbial communities involved in the carbon cycle, as well as to assess microbial biomass and activity. Results indicated that both compost and catalyst amendments to field soils under maize or wheat affected microbial dynamics and activities, though with out being harmful to microbial communities.
Potential effects of transgenic cotton on soil ecosystem processes in Vietnam.
2008
Pomological and quality traits of mulberry (Morus spp.) germplasm from Gorno Badakhshan in the Western Pamir
2017
The local fruit biodiversity can represent a good opportunity to maintain the agriculture and to develop economies in "marginal" territory such as those in the mountain rural areas. The genetic diversity of the Morus spp. is little known in the Western Pamir mountains, so that the objective of the present study was to improve the knowledge of the polymorphism of the species in the different poorly explored Tajik valleys by investigating the main quantitative and qualitative traits. Materials and methods - Six selected sites of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) region were investigated through field measurement on morphological traits of mulberry trees (both from wild and cultiva…
The Preservation of Sicilian Forests with Poorly Mechanized Logging Processes
1997
Abstract In the province of Agrigento (Sicily), owing to lack of funds, machinery and permanently employed workers, it is necessary to forecast costs and time required for thinning out about 1500 ha of artificial forest using only chain saws and temporarily employed manpower. This study was made to find out how costs and labour productivity vary with tree species, age, size, forest density, land orography and ground uneveness, in order to decide in which areas the change from artificial to natural forest, by gradually thinning out the non-autochthonous trees, could be done at the least cost. Logging processes have been monitored at nine different test sites of about 1 ha each. The results s…
The Tropical Forest Ecosystem: Reviewing the Effects of Deforestation on Climate and Environment
1991
The rapid decline of tropical rain forests in the 1980s, particularly caused by man-made forest clearance for farmland and timber exploitation, is accompanied by adverse climatic and environmental effects. In particular, rainfall and temperature conditions are adversely changed, with lower rainfall and high-er temperatures. Through deforestation, the atmospheric emissions of CO2 are increased and thus the global greenhouse effect is being strengthened. Tropical deforestation also increases soil erosion, depending upon the type of ecosystem. It also can be seen that floods more often occur in cases of deforestation. An international “action programme” for the protection and preservation of t…
Soil erosion assessment and control in Northeast Wollega, Ethiopia
2018
Soil erosion is the main driver of land degradation in Ethiopia, and in the whole region of East Africa. This study was conducted at the Northeast Wollega in West Ethiopia to estimate the soil losses by means of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The purpose of this paper is to identify erosion spot areas and target locations for appropriate development of soil and water conservation measures. Fieldwork and household survey were conducted to identify major determinants of soil erosion control. Six principal factors were used to calculate soil loss per year, such as rainfallerosivity, soil erodiblity, slope length, slope steepness, crop management and erosion-control practices…
Mulching practices for reducing soil water erosion: A review
2016
Abstract Among the soil conservation practices that are used, mulching has been successfully applied to reduce soil and water losses in different contexts, such as agricultural lands, fire-affected areas, rangelands and anthropic sites. In these contexts, soil erosion by water is a serious problem, especially in semi-arid and semi-humid areas of the world. Although the beneficial effects of mulching are known, further research is needed to quantify them, especially in areas where soil erosion by water represents a severe threat. In the literature, there are still some uncertainties about how to maximize the effectiveness of mulching to reduce the soil and water loss rates. Given the serious…
The impact of the cultivation practices on arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis mechanism in a walnut tree - corn agroforestry system
2021
The English walnut (Juglans regia L.) is the main species cultivated for the production of edible nuts. Owing to a sparse canopy and a deep rooting system, walnut is an ideal species for alley cropping, an agroforestry practice able to enhance productivity through interplant facilitative mechanisms. Walnut agroforestry requires the large scale production of seedling rootstocks selected to provide the best anchorage, vigour, and tolerance of pathogens. Due to the heterozygosity of walnut, the characteristics of agronomical interest of the chosen cultivar are not inherited via seed propagation. In vitro plant tissue culture thus plays a key role in mass propagation of high-quality walnut root…