Search results for "Intensive farming"
showing 10 items of 21 documents
Sustainability evaluation of Sicily's lemon and orange production: An energy, economic and environmental analysis
2013
The island of Sicily has a long standing tradition in citrus growing. We evaluated the sustainability of orange and lemon orchards, under organic and conventional farming, using an energy, environmental and economic analysis of the whole production cycle by using a life cycle assessment approach. These orchard systems differ only in terms of a few of the inputs used and the duration of the various agricultural operations. The quantity of energy consumption in the production cycle was calculated by multiplying the quantity of inputs used by the energy conversion factors drawn from the literature. The production costs were calculated considering all internal costs, including equipment, materi…
Geological development of a gypsum lake formed at the beginning of the 20th century in central Sicily, Italy: Integration of historical data with mod…
2006
A limnological investigation was carried out on the small, endorheic lake, called Lake Sfondato, located in central Sicily (Italy). All the aquatic environments in the central part of the island are rich in salt, with conductivity values above 5 mS cm−1, and are characterized by high alkalinity values and hard waters. In addition, due to intensive agriculture, many of these ecosystems have experienced a strong anthropogenic eutrophication over the last decades. In order to better understand the functioning of these peculiar environments, the morphology, hydrology, and geochemistry, as well as several selected physical and biological characteristics of Lake Sfondato, were studied in the year…
Economical Issues Regarding the Implementation and Functioning of the Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species
2013
Abstract Economical constraints regarding the full implementation and functioning of the common catalogue on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGEFA) are discussed in this paper based on the assessment of the current European Union regulatory framework. Based on this article's results new financial mechanisms should be developed at the national level for further responding to the European requirements including measures regarding the conservation varieties. This assessment is further supporting the need for developing and implementing new financial mechanisms in the support of the poor rural populations as well as for small farmers in harmony with commercial agriculture.
Groundwater nitrate risk assessment using intrinsic vulnerability methods: A comparative study of environmental impact by intensive farming in the Me…
2015
Abstract Groundwater contamination by nitrate and other nutrients is a major problem throughout the world, often occurring as the result of anthropogenic activities, lack of management, and over-exploitation of groundwater resources. In the last few decades in the majority of the Italian regions, the nitrate concentrations in groundwater have dramatically increased, mainly as a consequence of the large-scale agricultural application of manure and fertilizers. This excessive use of chemicals and fertilizers increases the risk of surface and groundwater pollution from diffuse sources, which have an important impact on human health and the environment. Sicily is located in the central Mediterr…
Economic and Financial Comparison between Organic and Conventional Farming in Sicilian Lemon Orchards
2015
Sicily has a long tradition in citrus fruit cultivations that with vineyard and olive tree represent the main Mediterranean tree crops. In this paper we have evaluated the economic and financial sustainability of lemon production, both in organic farming and in conventional farming
Spatially variable rate herbicide application on durum wheat in Sicily
2004
Using the conventional farming system, durum wheat requires high rates of herbicide spraying. Herbicide residues can cause pollution of soil and ground water and, therefore, of the entire environment. In order to minimise the environmental impact of herbicides, a home made system for spatially variable rate crop input application was designed, developed and set up by the Department of Engineering and Technologies in Agriculture and Forestry (I.T.A.F.). This system consists of a DGPS, a portable computer, a specifically developed software and a device for applying rates proportionally related to the machine forward speed (DPA). Tests of spatially variable rate herbicide application were carr…
Empowered by stigma? Pioneer organic farmers' stigma management strategies
2019
Abstract Pioneers of organic farming often faced social challenges as their innovative ideas on agriculture not only encountered opposition in the conventional farming community, but led to stigmatization of organic farmers as social deviants. In this study, we examine what kind of stigma management strategies pioneer organic farmers engage with in order to cultivate an alternative positive image of themselves. Our research is based on the interviews with 14 pioneer organic farmers. Based on a qualitative analysis of the interviews, we provide a model of those strategies that the creation from a stigmatized to valued identity requires. Our study increases the understanding of the institutio…
Sustainable vineyard floor management: An equilibrium between water consumption and soil conservation
2018
Abstract Sustainable vineyards soil management can help to mitigate the negative effect of intensive agriculture on soil ecosystem for the achievement of the sustainable development goals. Cover crops use as cover management in vineyard could be considered as nature based solution for soil restoration and proper water management. Cover crops (CC) provide many ecosystem services through carbon sequestration and climate change regulation, water purification and soil protection. However, a holistic approach is needed to understand the maximum potential ecosystem service that can be provided in different soil and climatic condition also considering vineyard needs. The current knowledge of CC ma…
Indicators of agricultural intensity and intensification: a review of the literature
2015
Since the 1960s, research has dealt with agricultural intensification (AI) as a solution to ensure global food security. Recently, sustainable intensification (SI) has increasingly been used to describe those agricultural and farming systems that ensure adequate ecosystem service provision. Studies differ in terms of the application scales and methodologies, thus we aim to summarize the main findings from the literature on how AI and SI are assessed, from the farm to global levels. Our literature review is based on 7865 papers selected from the Web of Science database and analysed using CorText software. A further selection of 105 relevant papers was used for an in-depth full-text analysis …
Reversing agriculture from intensive to sustainable improves soil quality in a semiarid South Italian soil
2010
Intensive agriculture (IA) is widespread in South Italy, although it requires frequent tillage, large amounts of fertilizers and irrigation water. We have assessed the efficacy of reversing IA to sustainable agriculture (SA) in recovering quality of a typical South Italy soil (Lithic Haploxeralf). This reversion, lasting from 2000 to 2007, replaced 75% of nutrients formerly supplied inorganically by farmyard manuring and reduced the tillage frequency. Several chemical and biochemical properties, functionally related to C and N mineralisation–immobilisation processes and to P and S nutrient cycles, were monitored annually from 2005 to 2007 in the spring. Reversing IA to SA decreased soil bul…