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The study reported on in this paper investigated smallholder farmers’ access to extension services. The study sought to distinguish the varying degrees of access to services of smallholder farmers engaged in different production systems, that is, home gardening, field cropping, and livestock production. The study was conducted in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, specifically in two communities, namely Ngcabasa and Phathikhala villages. Research activities included a survey of 100 farmers as well as focus group discussions. Employing logistic regression analysis, the study aimed to understand what influences whether or not a smallholder farmer accesses extension. The study also used various types of comparative statistics (T-test) to assess the implications of access to extension support, for instance for production and farm income. The main findings of the study were that 68% of the farming households interviewed in Ngcabasa and 71% of those in Phathikhala had access to extension services. Farmers who had access to extension had more farm income in both enterprises compared to those who had no access to extension services. From the regression analysis, farmers who were more likely to receive extension support appeared to be those who were older, those with less education, and those farming with livestock.

This paper reviews the shifting fate of legumes in UK agriculture. Legumes were once a common part of crop rotations, providing food and feed, while enhancing soil fertility and enabling pest control. During the 20th century, UK arable management became predicated on minimally diverse crop rotations, dependent on artificial fertilisers and pesticides. Legumes were locked out of food and farming. Existing research has identified the drivers of this lock-in. Whilst this intensive model increased crop yields, there are growing concerns around its greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on soil health and biodiversity. In response, there is a resurgence of interest in legumes as a solution to these problems, as part of a wider shift towards agroecological management. This analysis draws on interviews with different actors in the UK agricultural sector to present a Multi-Level Perspective analysis of the drivers and characteristics of this transition - what we term agroecological break-out. It describes how macro-level economic changes (a growing market for plant-based proteins) and political transitions (a focus on public goods subsidisation) are combining with shifting agricultural attitudes (such as concerns around soil health, and the prioritisation of multi-annual profitability over annual yields) to increase the attractiveness of crop diversification and legume cropping. These changes open space for micro-level innovations by private, public, and civil society actors to disrupt the meso-level status quo of minimally diverse crop rotations. The conclusion maps the different forms and trajectories of this break-out and reflects on their implications for the future of food and farming in the UK.

Image cropping aims to improve the composition as well as aesthetic quality of an image by removing extraneous content from it. Most of the existing image cropping databases provide only one or several human-annotated bounding boxes as the groundtruths, which can hardly reflect the non-uniqueness and flexibility of image cropping in practice. The employed evaluation metrics such as intersection-over-union cannot reliably reflect the real performance of a cropping model, either. This work revisits the problem of image cropping, and presents a grid anchor based formulation by considering the special properties and requirements (e.g., local redundancy, content preservation, aspect ratio) of image cropping. Our formulation reduces the searching space of candidate crops from millions to no more than ninety. Consequently, a grid anchor based cropping benchmark is constructed, where all crops of each image are annotated and more reliable evaluation metrics are defined. To meet the practical demands of robust performance and high efficiency, we also design an effective and lightweight cropping model. By simultaneously considering the region of interest and region of discard, and leveraging multi-scale information, our model can robustly output visually pleasing crops for images of different scenes. With less than 2.5M parameters, our model runs at a speed of 200 FPS on one single GTX 1080Ti GPU and 12 FPS on one i7-6800K CPU. The code is available at: \url{https://github.com/HuiZeng/Grid-Anchor-based-Image-Cropping-Pytorch}., Extension of a CVPR 2019 paper. Dataset and PyTorch Code are released. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1904.04441

Precision Agriculture, as the future of farming technology, addresses challenges faced by farmers by data-mining of information collected through IoT-enabled crop monitoring infrastructures. The identification of Crop disease is one of the widely studied challenges. Crop diseases cannot be accurately predicted by merely analyzing individual disease causes. This proposal presents a Fuzzy logic-based pest prediction mechanism assisting in beforehand preparedness for potential pest prevention. The experiments are performed for pests in rice and millet crops. The Data-mining over samples collected in a cropping cycle revealed the plausible correlation between temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall with pest breeding. The data collected through IoT monitoring infrastructure is analyzed for the ambient breeding condition of the pest. These conditions are then employed to design the knowledge base of the fuzzy system. More specifically, the linguistic variables of the fuzzy membership function are optimized using a genetic algorithm for close prediction of pest breeding in given environmental conditions. The proposal verified that the weather factors have a strong impact on the occurrence of pests and diseases, and the fuzzy logic-based pest predication through IoT application development services will help farmers to take precautionary measures beforehand.

Pedestrian detection has emerged as a fundamental technology for autonomous cars, robotics, pedestrian search, and other applications. Although a lot of progress has been made in pedestrian detection, it is still a challenging problem in wide field-of-view surveillance videos due to the random distribution and dynamic characteristics of pedestrians. Especially in large-scale high-resolution images, there are many pedestrians and vast scale variance, so it is difficult to accurately detect all pedestrians. In order to solve this problem, sliding window is used to crop all original images to obtain pre-detection results firstly in this paper. Then, the original images are cropped again with the object as the center utilizing the label files shared in the same scene to get multi-scale images. Finally, a region NMS algorithm, a fusion strategy about the results of small images mapped into large images, is proposed to remove the redundant shredded boxes caused by cropping image. We verify the effectiveness of the proposed method with Faster R-CNN, Cascade R-CNN, IterDet and Scale-aware Fast R-CNN models on PANDA dataset.

BACKGROUND Since first reported in Botswana, fall armyworm (FAW) continues to be a threat to crop production. This study aimed to estimate impacts of FAW on yield and farmers' livelihoods in Botswana, and to obtain data that could be extrapolated to national level. Further, farmer knowledge of the pest, management practices and pesticide use for FAW management were assessed. RESULTS In fact, 76% of the 220 respondents had seen FAW in their farms in the 2018/2019 cropping season, affecting almost the entire and about half of cultivated area for maize and sorghum, respectively. Thus, 51% of the respondents implemented FAW control measures, with chemical pesticides (27%) being the most common management against FAW. Only 33% of respondents in 2018/2019 were food self-sufficient, as opposed to 80% in an ordinary year, with farmers who reported not to have been affected by FAW more likely to be insufficient with food (88%) compared to 60% of the farmers who reported FAW attack. Drought was ranked the major stress experienced by the famers (35%), and also showed significant yield reducing effects on maize yield with pest and diseases reported second most important. Pesticides (20%) and training on pest management (18%) were the top ranked needs by farmers interviewed. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms the impact and threat of FAW to crop production in Botswana. Chemicals remain the go-to control option by a majority of the farmers. Other low-risk technologies exist and are proposed for adoption in the management of FAW. Of note is the acknowledgement that a single control strategy will not be effective against FAW and as such integrated pest management (IPM) on an area-wide scale is needed to achieve best results. Mass awareness, training and demonstration will be required to achieve this.

There is extensive research on smallholder farmers’ strategies to minimize the effects of extreme weather on their production. This research has proved crucial in revealing opportunities to adapt small farms to future climate change. However, it is common for this type of work to focus exclusively on successful strategies, framing adaptation as always positive, and thus missing the broader range of farmers’ cultivation practices and the factors that shape them. In this paper we ask: what can be revealed by examining practices that elevate—rather than reduce—the risk of crop failure amid unfavorable weather? This question is explored through an empirical case study of the Mixteca Alta, in southern Mexico, where the climate is becoming increasingly hostile to farming. Based on a qualitative research approach, we analyze whether and how a higher incidence of crop failure may be explained by changes in the way farmers cultivate, and why farmers may neglect the climatic risks that those changes entail. Our study finds that current management of cropping systems in the Mixteca has substituted resilient with sensitive components, and rendered these systems more rigid overall against erratic weather conditions. Adverse market and institutional conditions to farm and an accompanying process of livelihood diversification were identified as underlying drivers of the adoption of maladaptive agricultural practices. Our findings thus ascribe maladaptation to the trade-offs that smallholders must negotiate when confronted with multiple threats to their livelihoods. Identifying these trade-offs is key to informing policy and practice on how to enhance resiliency of cropping systems against climate change.

In this manuscript, mathematical models for cropping water need (C.W.N) and the size of land for irrigation (S.L.I) were formulated. The solutions of the models for Crop water need for Soya beans and Rice, and the size of land for irrigation (S.L.I) of the two crops was obtained. We fill the gap by considering the size of the irrigation land which is not considered by the Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O). The computational Method of solutions is carried out to get effective results. The climatic data of the study area (Bida Basin) under which our research is based includes: Rainfall, Humidity, Sunshine hours, minimum and maximum temperature, evapotranspiration were secondary data collected from Nigeria Metrological Society (NIMET). We compared the results of CROPWAT 8.0 software developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A. O) and our computational method so that we can arrive at a new finding and better results. The results for the computational method with the size of Land for irrigation shows that there is an increase in crop water need for the crops than the results of CROPWAT 8.0 software developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A. O) in which the size for the land is not considered. We therefore, recommended that the integral calculus can be used to estimate the irregular shape of the size of the land if the land shape is not in rectangular form before solutions are given for accuracy and effective results.

形態: カラー図版あり, Physical characteristics: Original contains color illustrations, Accepted: 2021-09-04, 資料番号:PA2210023000

Intensification of droughts in agricultural areas threaten global food security. The impacts of drought stresses vary widely across a region, not only due to climate variability but also due to heterogeneous soil and groundwater buffering capacities which protect against droughts. An innovative drought vulnerability index was developed by reconciling the negative effects of drought stresses against the robustness offered by hydrologic buffers. Indicators for climate stresses, soil and groundwater buffering capacities were defined using physical principles and integrated using a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) framework. The framework was applied to delineate drought vulnerability of agricultural production systems and evaluate current cropping choices across the High Plains region of the US that is underlain by the Ogallala Aquifer. Current crop growth choices appeared to be compatible with the intrinsic drought vulnerabilities with cotton and sorghum grown in higher vulnerability areas and corn and soybean produced in areas with lower vulnerability. Nearly 50% of the aquifer region fell in the transition zone exhibiting medium to high vulnerabilities warranting the need for better water management to adapt to a changing climate.

Cropping Pattern is a complicated process that is influenced by a variety of socioeconomic, agro-climatic, and ecological factors. Even though India has the second-largest manpower in the world, all sectors of the economy have been affected by the scarcity of labour, the impact being felt more in the agricultural sector. The acute scarcity of agricultural labourers in the India has resulted in crop establishment delays, poor crop growth, no or late weeding, inappropriate fertilizer use, insufficient irrigation water, and other factors that have pushed Indian farmers to switching from farming to non-farm occupations. The present study was undertaken to analyze the dynamics of cropping patterns in the state, Tamil Nadu. Tiruchirappalli and Pudukkottai districts were selected purposively to represent the high and low crop diversity cropping system respectively. The study was based on both primary and secondary data for the period of 10 years from 2010-11 to 2019-20 to analyze the decadal change. Tabular Analysis, Compound Growth Rate and Markov chain analysis were used to analyze the data. The study results revealed that there are marginal changes in cropping pattern, increases towards the commercial crops such as sugarcane, tapioca, cotton and banana. The total fallow land share has increased continuously leaving a lesser area for cropping. The reported dynamics change the agricultural productivity and increased mechanization, which might be due to growth in the labour scarcity. The results showed that farmers were shifting from high labour intensive crops such as paddy, sugarcane, cotton to low labor-intensive crops such as groundnut, black gram over the years. Due to the higher requirement of laborers for cultivating crops, crop retention probability was lesser which means the crops have become less and less stable. It is therefore recommended that the district, state, and country's agricultural extension systems must be geared up to curbing the shifting farmers away from traditional farming practices and educate them on the use of available labor-saving equipment and technology.

Optimal nutrition is crucial for honey bee colony growth and robust immune systems. Honey bee nutrition is complex and depends on the floral composition of the landscape. Foraging behavior of honey bees depends on both colony environment and external environment. There are significant gaps in knowledge regarding honey bee nutrition, and hence no optimal diet is available for honey bees, as there is for other livestock. In this review, we discuss (1) foraging behavior of honey bees, (2) nutritional needs, (3) nutritional supplements used by beekeepers, (4) probiotics, and (5) supplemental forage and efforts integrating floral diversity into cropping systems.

Climate change, conventional agricultural management practices, and increasing water scarcity pose a major threat to agricultural production and biodiversity as well as environmental sustainability. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is recognized as an efficient, sustainable, and feasible agricultural system that plays a vital role in addressing the potential impacts of climate change in Pakistan. First-hand information was collected from 450 farm households in 24 villages from Okara, Sahiwal, and Khanewal irrigation divisions, having various wheat-based cropping systems of Pakistan. This includes rice-wheat (RW), maize-wheat (MW), and cotton-wheat (CW) cropping systems in the Lower Bari Doab Canal (LBDC) irrigation system. This study estimated and compared the sustainability and efficiency analysis of CSA and conventional agricultural practices. This study also estimated the impact of water-smart practices of the CSA, technical training, and groundwater quality on agricultural production by using production function and bootstrap truncated regression. The findings of this study revealed that adopters of CSA of the wheat-based cropping systems have higher economic benefits and improved resource use efficiencies compared to the conventional farmers. The findings of the study also revealed the increased efficiency of CSA adopters over other two systems in CW cropping system. The water-smart practices of CSA, access to credit, technical training, use of groundwater of varying quality, and other inputs also showed variations in the agricultural production and resource use efficiency. It has been concluded that farmers can earn more profit, save inputs (such as water), and increase their production by adopting water-smart practices of CSA. Hence, the government and other relevant institutions should devise and implement policies that adequately addressed the importance and enhance the use of water-smart practices of CSA in Punjab and beyond.

The global distribution of cropping intensity (CI) is essential to our understanding of agricultural land use management on Earth. Optical remote sensing has revolutionized our ability to map CI over large areas in a repeated and cost-efficient manner. Previous studies have mainly focused on investigating the spatiotemporal patterns of CI ranging from regions to the entire globe with the use of coarse-resolution data, which are inadequate for characterizing farming practices within heterogeneous landscapes. To fill this knowledge gap, in this study, we utilized multiple satellite data to develop a global, spatially continuous CI map dataset at 30 m resolution (GCI30). Accuracy assessments indicated that GCI30 exhibited high agreement with visually interpreted validation samples and in situ observations from the PhenoCam network. We carried out both statistical and spatial comparisons of GCI30 with six existing global CI estimates. Based on GCI30, we estimated that the global average annual CI during 2016–2018 was 1.05, which is close to the mean (1.09) and median (1.07) CI values of the existing six global CI estimates, although the spatial resolution and temporal coverage vary significantly among products. A spatial comparison with two satellite-based land surface phenology products further suggested that GCI30 was not only capable of capturing the overall pattern of global CI but also provided many spatial details. GCI30 indicated that single cropping was the primary agricultural system on Earth, accounting for 81.57 % (12.28×106 km2) of the world's cropland extent. Multiple-cropping systems, on the other hand, were commonly observed in South America and Asia. We found large variations across countries and agroecological zones, reflecting the joint control of natural and anthropogenic drivers on regulating cropping practices. As the first global-coverage, fine-resolution CI product, GCI30 is expected to fill the data gap for promoting sustainable agriculture by depicting worldwide diversity of agricultural land use intensity. The GCI30 dataset is available on Harvard Dataverse: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/86M4PO (Zhang et al., 2020).

Agricultural soils are important reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which have close linkage to human health via crop production. Metal stress in environments may function as a selection pressure for antibiotic resistomes. However, there is still a lack of field studies focusing on the effect of historical mercury (Hg) contamination on antibiotic resistomes in agricultural soils. Here, we explored the ARG profile in soils with different cropping systems (paddy and upland) and linked them to legacy Hg exposure. We found that ARG profiles were significantly different between paddy and upland soils. However, both paddy and upland soils with long-term field Hg contamination harbored higher diversity and abundance of ARGs than non-polluted soils. The co-occurrence network reveals significant associations among Hg, Hg resistance genes, mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and ARGs. Together with path analysis showing legacy Hg possibly affecting soil resistomes through the shifts of soil microbiota, Hg resistance genes, and MGEs, we suggest that legacy Hg-induced potential co-selection might elevate the ARG level. Redundancy analysis further supports that legacy Hg pollution had a significant association with ARG variations in the paddy and upland soils (P < 0.01). Collectively, our results highlight the underappreciated role of legacy Hg as a potential persistent selecting agent in contributing to soil ARGs in agroecosystems.

Many food crops rely on pollination by animals. Historically, wind and wild organisms provided pollination as an ecosystem service that varied across agroecological zones, cropping systems, and time. The value of these pollination services is likely substantial but has not been estimated reliably. More recently, pollination services in major crop-producing regions have been provided through organized markets, primarily the rental of honey bees. The sustainability of commercially provided pollination services is being challenged by parasites, diseases, pesticide exposures, poor nutrition, and Colony Collapse Disorder. Economic analyses indicate that honey bee rental markets have been able to adjust to those challenges, at least to date. Understanding the future sustainability of rental markets requires greater knowledge of the contributions of wild pollinators, optimal management of pollination services from wild and managed organisms, and the value of pollination services provided by wild and managed organisms.

Conventional agriculture solely depends upon highly chemical compounds that have negatively ill-affected the health of every living being and the entire ecosystem. Thus, the smart delivery of desired components in a sustainable manner to crop plants is the primary need to maintain soil health in the upcoming years. The premature loss of growth-promoting ingredients and their extended degradation in the soil increases the demand for reliable novel techniques. In this regard, nanotechnology has offered to revolutionize the agrotechnological area that has the imminent potential over conventional agriculture and helps to reform resilient cropping systems withholding prominent food security for the ever-growing world population. Further, in-depth investigation on plant-nanoparticles interactions creates new avenues toward crop improvement via enhanced crop yield, disease resistance, and efficient nutrient utilization. The incorporation of nanomaterial with smart agrochemical activities and establishing a new framework relevant to enhance efficacy ultimately help to address the social acceptance, potential hazards, and management issues in the future. Here, we highlight the role of nanomaterial or nanocomposite as a sustainable as well stable alternative in crop protection and production. Additionally, the information on the controlled released system, role in interaction with soil and microbiome, the promising role of nanocomposite as nanopesticide, nanoherbicide, nanofertilizer, and their limitations in agrochemical activities are discussed in the present review.

Enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilisers (EENFs) attempt to improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) by synchronizing nitrogen (N) supply with crop demand to improve crop productivity/profitability and minimize environmental impacts. This study evaluated the impact of ten EENFs (at 125 and 250 kg N ha−1) compared to urea-N (at 0, 62.5, 125, 175, 250 and 300 kg N ha−1) subsurface banded in a no-till maize (Zea mays L.) production system. Crop growth was examined in both the year of application and in the following year (without fertiliser N) to assess residual impacts. Nitrous oxide emissions from a subset of EENFs applied at 150 kg N ha−1 in an adjacent experiment were monitored in year 1. Grain yield increased with increasing rates of applied urea-N in year 1, with a maximum potential yield of 11.2 t ha−1 achieved at ≥ 175 kg N ha−1. However, grain and biomass yield, agronomic NUE, and N transfer efficiency did not increase with EENFs compared to urea-N, and some controlled release fertilisers (CRFs) decreased yield by 9–16%. Nitrification inhibitors decreased cumulative N2O emissions by 67%, while CRFs had no significant effect. Residual fertiliser N remaining in the soil at the end of the first season was strongly correlated with grain yield in the subsequent cropping year, but EENFs did not have a greater residual impact on crop growth than urea-N. The inability of EENFs to deliver increased crop N uptake or grain yield does not provide a clear case for their use as an alternative to conventional urea.

Potassium (K) is the most neglected nutrient in Indian agriculture and accounts only 10% of the total fertilizer use. The increased cropping intensity and use of high yielding cultivars since the green revolution led to heavy withdrawal of K from soil. Persistent K mining over the past six decades has mined soil K level in many cultivated areas and continuously transforming sufficiency into deficiency. A recent soil test a little over 1 lakh samples from 33 states of India have categorized 41.1%, 29.3%, and 29.5% of soil samples as low, medium and high in available K respectively. Further, the trend of soil available K status showed a persistent decline in percentage of area under high and medium soil K. Consequently, the evidence of rice crop responding to K nutrition is increased. This review attempts the nexus of K nutrition in rice for devising strategies for potassium management in rice-based cropping systems in the country.

This study evaluated the impact of irrigation and cropping on soil physicochemical properties at Kyekide small scale irrigation farm in Jinja district, eastern Uganda. Treatments included Land-use systems under perennial and annual cropping with and without irrigation for over 20 years. The hypothesis was that there were insignificant differences in physicochemical properties of the soil under irrigated and non-irrigated cropping systems. Soil physical properties except hydraulic conductivity was not significantly different with irrigation and cropping. The pH of the soils ranged from moderately acidic to neutral pH (5.17-7.40), with irrigated soils tending to be more neutral than non-irrigated soils. SOM content was higher in the irrigated soils and perennial soils than in the non-irrigated and annual soils. The soils were moderately deficient in N and severely deficient in P (mean values =0.175% N and 1.183mg kg-1 P) compared with the critical of 0.2% and 15 mg kg-1, respectively. Irrigated soils had a significantly higher Na+ content than non-irrigated soils, with a mean value of 2.985cmol/kg. The K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ contents were higher in irrigated and perennial soils than non-irrigated and annual soils. The study suggested monitoring the soils under an irrigation scheme to prevent degradation due to increased salt accumulation or chemical fertility decline. Overall, monitoring of soil quality is vital in irrigation schemes to monitor the impacts of water on the environment.

In Burundi, many subsistence farmers employ mixed cropping systems in an attempt to provide food for their families in an environment with high risks, few safety nets and limited storage options. In this paper, we studied the crop portfolios that minimize energy and macronutrient deficiency. We accounted for yield variability, seasonality and storage availability. A mathematical programming approach was applied to four different farm types (based largely on farm size) to predict optimal mixes of crops for farmers to achieve the household year-round supply in calories, fats and proteins. The models predicted that farmers could best cover their household needs in terms of calories, fats and proteins by growing fewer crops in a more optimal combination. Bananas and cassava appear in the crop portfolios as sources of energy; growing beans add proteins to the diets and groundnuts and/or soybeans will supply the needed fats. Crop portfolios differ by farm type and change when yield variability and storage is accounted for. Some of the portfolios predicted by the models have a more diverse crop combination and include maize, rice and/or peas additional to the crops mentioned above. Results also highlighted the benefits of basic storage infrastructure in overcoming seasonal shortages. Nevertheless, even if they would choose to apply the proposed crop portfolios, farms with very small land size in Burundi will continue to struggle to supply sufficient food for the family. Further refinement for micronutrient supply, diet quality, food preferences and market purchases may change these findings.

There is considerable interest and value in identifying the gap between crop yields that have actually been achieved, and yields that could have potentially been achieved. A suite of methods currently exist to estimate the yield potential of a crop, but there are no approaches that predict the site- and season-specific yield potential using datasets that are readily available and easily accessible for farmers. The aim of this study was to fill this need and develop a novel approach to identify crop yield gaps through site- and season-specific models of crop yield potential. The study focused on cotton lint yield, with data from 14 different seasons and 68 different fields from a collection of large, irrigated cotton farms in eastern Australia. This abundance of yield data was then joined with other spatial and temporal datasets that describe yield, such as rainfall, temperature, soil, and management. A quantile random forest machine learning model was then used to model yield at 30 m resolution, where the 95th percentile predictions were treated as the yield potential. The yield gaps at a 30 m resolution were then estimated for all seasons and sites. The results were compared to a more traditional ‘historical maximum yield’ approach, where no data modelling and only empirical yield data was used to estimate the yield potential. This revealed that there was a general agreement between the two approaches, although the quantile machine learning approach is both site- and season-specific, not just site-specific. Overall, there is a great need for alternative approaches to estimate yield potential and yield gaps, as the approaches currently available possess many limitations. The approach developed in this study has the potential for wide-spread adoption in broadacre cropping systems, and if the causes of yield gaps are identified, could lead to the implementation of management strategies to close them.

Climate change is a global environmental threat, affecting every sector of the economy with agriculture being the most affected as a result of its dependence on climate especially rainfall and temperature. The objective of this study is to examine the impacts of climate change on agriculture (crop production) and identify the farmers’ adaptation strategies to the impacts of climate change in Senegal. This study employed systematic literature review. Searching of relevant documents were conducted between 26th December 2020 and 10th February, 2021. A comprehensive search of six databases were conducted. The databases searched were Scopus, African Journal Online (AJOL), ProQuest, Elsevier, Research gate, and Google scholar. The findings revealed that temperature is expected to increase by median value of 0.90C (0.70C-1.50C) by 2035, by 2.10 (1.60C-3.30C) by 2065, and 4.00C (2.6-5.90C) by 2100 and rainfall could increase by 1% (uncertainty range of −4% to +8%) by 2035, 2% (−8% to +8%) by 2065, and 5% (−10% to +16%) by 2100. As a result of rising temperatures, local agricultural production will be less than 50kg per capita by 2050. This is expected to have an effect on crop imports as well as regional migration. The decrease in rainfall under RCP2.6, (Representative Concentration Pathway) combined with the effect of temperature, has a significant impact on the yield of sorghum, maize, and millet, with production decreasing by up to 20-50%. Farmers employed several adaptation strategies to adapt to the impacts of climate change; sowing improved variety, mixed cropping, income diversification, ownership of multiple farms, religious practices in form of prayer. The review recommends strengthening of climate related institutions, adoption of new innovations, implementation of new climate related policies, climate monitoring and forecasting, enhancing and strengthening community-based adaptation through sensitization and incentives.

Soil microbiomes are extremely complex, with dense networks of interconnected microbial species underpinning vital functions for the ecosystem. In advanced agricultural research, rhizosphere microbiome engineering is gaining much attention, as the microbial community has been acknowledged to be a crucial partner of associated plants for their health fitness and yield. However, single or combined effects of a wide range of soil biotic and abiotic factors impact the success of engineered microbiomes, as these microbial communities exhibit uneven structural and functional networks in diverse soil conditions. Therefore, once a deep understanding of major influential factors and corresponding microbial responses is developed, the microbiome can be more effectively manipulated and optimized for cropping benefits. In this mini-review, we propose the concept of a microbiome-mediated smart agriculture system (MiMSAS). We summarize some of the advanced strategies for engineering the rhizosphere microbiome to withstand the stresses imposed by dominant abiotic and biotic factors. This work will help the scientific community gain more clarity about engineered microbiome technologies for increasing crop productivity and environmental sustainability.Key points• Individual or combined effects of soil biotic and abiotic variables hamper the implementation of engineered microbiome technologies in the field.• As a traditional approach, reduced-tillage practices coinciding with biofertilization can promote a relatively stable functional microbiome.• Increasing the complexity and efficiency of the synthetic microbiome is one way to improve its field-application success rate.• Plant genome editing/engineering is a promising approach for recruiting desired microbiomes for agricultural benefit.

The Great Plains provide a major portion of US beef cattle production, and beef cattle represent the largest sector of the regional agricultural economy. Cattle producers regularly contend with climate variability, but the consequences of this variability are less well understood than for cropping systems. A retrospective analysis of US Department of Agriculture AgCensus data was conducted to assess the extent to which climate variability (1978 − 2017) has affected the spatial and temporal distribution of beef cow numbers throughout the Great Plains. Cow numbers were remarkably stable, declining only 3.1% between 1978 and 2017. However, beef production increased 30% during this period, in response to a steady increase in live animal slaughter weight. Cow numbers decreased during droughts in the late 1980s and the early 2010s but recovered before the subsequent 5-yr census. Cow numbers decreased 5.1%, 8.8%, and 4.0% in the Northern, Central, and Southern Plains, respectively, between the 1982 and 1987 censuses, even though annual precipitation only decreased in the Northern Plains. The reduction in cow numbers during the 2010s drought, which is assumed to portend future extreme droughts, was greatest in the Southern Plains (− 17.6%) followed by the Central (− 11%) and Northern Plains (− 4.9%), compared with the 2007 census. The relative increase in beef cow numbers in the Northern Plains may represent an emerging signal of climate variability on rangeland beef production. This may be a consequence of weaker correlations between cow numbers and mean annual precipitation and temperature established by lower mean annual temperatures in the Northern Plains. This retrospective analysis indicates that continued climate warming and drying will adversely affect rangeland beef production, it identifies a large knowledge gap between climate variability and sustainable rangeland beef production, and it provides a reference to begin assessing the vulnerability of rangeland beef cattle production in future climates.

International audience; We examined the environmental impacts of farmland management practices (FMPs), considering FMPs as frequent or single actions that change both land use AND use rights (land and property relations). Based on a review of the international literature in both the social and life sciences and using an analytical framework of landscape agronomy, we explored the links between FMPs and changes in agricultural practices designed for the achievement of environmental goals. The Web of Science (WOS) and SCOPUS bibliographic databases were used to identify references on FMP types and their environmental effects based on the following search equations: 1- " Farmland tenure OR cropland tenure OR farm size and environment " and 2- “Farmland use rights OR farmland property rights AND environment OR pollution OR biodiversity.” Ninety references were selected from these databases and read in depth. Google scholar enabled us to identify an additional 20 papers, using the snowball approach. From this analysis, we present a typology of FMPs based on the distinction between bottom-up strategies, which rely on local initiatives from farmers to improve the overall functioning of their farms, and top-down strategies, which originate from public bodies or private organizations. Our results also highlight the environmental impacts of FMPs considered in the literature: tenure arrangements, whether rental or exchange of land parcels, may alter crop succession and reduce phytosanitary pressure without changing cropping plans. Considering the direct agronomic implications of farmers' land dynamics, we conclude that the area of FMPs is a potential tool for reducing the environmental impacts of agricultural activities and protecting natural resources. This is the subject of ongoing research that seeks to explore a particular FMP in greater depth, along with temporary exchanges of plots between farmers as an agri-environmental tool to reduce agricultural impacts on environment.

Thailand is the largest nature rubber exporter in the world. The rubber industry is particularly important for both the national economy and farmers. However, the increasing popularity of monoculture rubber plantation has posed challenges for the sustainable development of rubber industry due to the negative impacts of homogeneous cropping systems. Rubber crop diversity system is expected to alleviate the environment degradation and secure rubber farmers’ income. Nevertheless, the rubber diverse cropping systems adoption is more complicated for most rubber farmers in Thailand. Using the data on rubber farmers which cover 3344 observations from Office of Agricultural Economics in Thailand throughout the period of 2012–2014, this paper investigated the influential factors of rubber crop diversity adoption. The results indicate that rubber farmers are usually lack of management skills, information, and market access in crop diversity adoption. Adequate rainfall and water, household labour, land right certificate, land degradation, the use of organic fertilizer, crop sales channels and irrigation access have positive impacts on the adoption of rubber crop diversity. On the other hand, in the southern region, the hiring of foreign labours, agricultural training, off-farm work, male household heads as well as their age and education level are negatively associated with crop diversity adoption. According to the empirical results, it is necessary for rubber institutions to pay more attention to training programmes and education on rubber farmers’ diverse cropping system management skills. Moreover, rubber sustainable development strategies should offer rubber households additional incentives and financial support to relieve their financial constraints and improve the market accessibility. In addition, it is also necessary to focus on rubber households with poor natural resources and agricultural infrastructure and offer supports for infrastructure, such as irrigation systems, to increase rubber crop diversity adoption in Thailand.

The fragile balance in the world’s carbon equilibrium through the discovery of cheap carbon-based fuels in the nineteenth century has led to mass industrialisation and an explosion in the world human population, including that of Pakistan. Farmers worldwide will need to adapt their production systems to accommodate global warming and increased climate extremes resulting from these man-made environmental changes. The focus will need to be on smallholder farmers who generate 53% of the world’s food but who are least equipped to accommodate climate change. The most major limitation will be fresh water supply, no more exemplified than in Pakistan as Himalayan snowfall decreases and peak snow melt comes earlier in spring, limiting irrigation water for summer C4 crops such as corn, millet, sorghum and sugarcane. These are destined to replace the traditional C3 crops of wheat and rice, which will not be as suited to climate change conditions resulting from a projected mean 2°C rise in ambient temperature. Smallholder farmers will need to access superior-quality seed for crop cultivars for both human food and animal forage bred to withstand climatic change. Quantitative genetic selection programs for tropically adapted livestock must be implemented with a major focus on Pakistan’s Nili Ravi and Kundhi buffalo, together with Sahiwal cattle servicing the milk consumption needs of Pakistan’s burgeoning population of 211 million. The quality of forage available for livestock emanating largely from crop residues needs to be improved to meet the country’s greenhouse-gas production targets in line with international expectation. The challenge remains for governments to sustain marketing chains that allow them to be profitable when operating in an increasingly hostile environment. The conservation of soil fertility through increased carbon sequestration will be an important imperative. It is likely that females will play a more important role in directing adaptation in these communities. Successful adjustment will be dependent on effective extension programs working with all sectors of the community including males, females and children from all walks of life in both rural and urban environments. Failure to do so will lead to rapid increases in climate refugee numbers, which the world can ill-afford.

Silicon (Si) is increasingly recognized as a pivotal beneficial element for plants in ecology and agricultural sciences, but soil-plant Si cycling has been considered mostly through the prism of abiotic mineral weathering, whilst numerous biological processes have been overlooked. Leveraging ecological processes that impact soil-plant Si cycling in cropping systems might improve crop Si status, but this remains hypothetical to date. We aim to comprehensively compile information about biotic and abiotic processes driving soil-plant Si cycling, and translate their potential beneficial effects in agricultural practices. We emphasize the fundamental need to consider the effects of agricultural practices on Si mobility in soil-plant systems when striving towards sustainable agroecosystems. Regarding soil abiotic factors, degree of soil weathering, mineralogy, texture and pH are key predictors of soil Si dynamics, while soil aggregation processes deserve further investigation. The biological processes associated with mycorrhizal associations, silicate-solubilizing bacteria, and soil macrofauna enhance Si mobility in soil-plant systems, while the effect of root exudates is likely, but deserves further studies. Large herbivores strongly affect soil-plant Si mobility by increasing plant-derived Si turnover rates and redistribution, thereby making integrated crop-livestock systems a promising perspective to improve crop Si status. Recycling crop residues and implementing suitable cover crops promotes Si mobility in soil-plant systems by leveraging the relatively high solubility of plant-derived Si-bearing minerals. The soil-root-microorganism interactions facilitated by cereal-legume intercropping systems also contributes to the mobility of Si in the soil-plant continuum. The capacity of certain agricultural practices to increase Si mobility in soil-plant systems stresses the need to understand complex soil-plant-animal interactions when aiming to enhance Si-based plant stress resistance in agroecosystems.

Pre scaling up of malt barley was conducted at Dodola District of West Arsi Zone to increase production and productivity among malt barley producer’s farmers. Dodola district was selected due to its potential for barley production. Again three kabeles namely Ganata,Danaba and Kechema were selected purposively based on potential of the crop for malt barley production. From selected kebales 139 farmers were selected, for cropping season (2017/18). An improved variety of malt barley called IBON 174/03 distributed for farmers.One hundred quintals of malt barley seed was given for the selected farmers. The seed covered the land size of 83.5 ha at the rate of 125kg per hectare by the malt barley during the production year (2017/18).Orientation was given for the farmers on the advantages of producing in cluster over the conventional (traditional) way. In Addition to this awareness on production and packages of malt barley was also delivered to the farmers on set of June which was sponsored by Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR). Two times Monitoring and evaluation have been done in collaboration with Sinana research center researchers and agricultural office experts of Dodola district .Exchange visit as well as both villages based and large scale field day were arranged for further promotion of malt barley to other potential areas. From one hectare the productivity of improved malt barley (IBON 174/03 an average grain yield scored 45.1 q/ha, 40 q/ha and 35 q/ha at Ganata,Danaba and Kechema Kabeles respectively.Malt barley is potential crop in the highlands of West Arsi Zone in general and at Dodola district in particular. The crop is used for household consumption as well as industrial crop in generating income for small holder farmers. IBON 174/03 was acceptable during field day by farmers due to their disease tolerant, early maturity. After harvesting farmers like the variety IBON 174/03 due to its productivity (high yield per hectare). Thus, highland farmers should use IBON 174/03 variety of malt barley in order to increase their malt barley production and generate more income for their livelihood. Further dissemination of malt barley is more expected from concerned body for addressing potential areas.

The study determined the profitability of three different cropping systems. Data collected include cost of fixed assets, cost of variable inputs, yields and prices of outputs. Data were subjected to budgetary technique; analysis of variance and significant means were separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at 5% level of probability. Results of the gross margin analysis showed that both the intercropping and only sole Amaranth vegetable production were profitable. The intercrop production had a gross margin of N567,920/ha with a total revenue of N1, 600,000 /ha and having the highest output of 8000kg/ha while the sole Amaranth vegetable production had a gross margin of N179, 920/ha with a total revenue of N1,200,000/ha and having an output of 6000kg/ha. Also, the intercrop vegetable production had a benefit cost ratio, rate of return and gross ratio of 1.51, 0.52 and 0.66, respectively while sole Amaranth production had a benefit cost ratio, rate of return and gross ratio of 1.15, 0.15 and 0.87, respectively. The result indicates that the two vegetable productions were profitable. Further analysis revealed that intercropping did not have significant (p

Taoyuan County is a large grain and rapeseed production county. Taking advantage of the resource advantage of soil rich in selenium in Taoyuan County, it promotes high-yield cultivation and assembly technology of selenium-rich rice and rapeseed rotation in one-season rice area, optimizing the aggregate structure of the soil, improving the soil ecology and reducing the content of heavy metals in the soil, laying the foundation for the continuous increase in agricultural efficiency and farmers’ income. Through rice and rapeseed rotation, the overwintering base of rice field borers are reduced, and the incidence of pests and diseases in the coming year is effectively reduced. The popularization of assembling and supporting technologies for rice-rapeseed rotation cropping and the promotion of high-quality varieties and planting techniques can increase the farmers' income significantly. This paper will describe the methods and technologies in detail from three aspects: the assembling and supporting methods of selenium-enriched rice and rapeseed rotation high-yield cultivation, main points of the supporting technology for the rice selenium-enriched cultivation and main points of supporting technology for the rapeseed selenium-enriched cultivation.

Failure to sustain most of the rural poor and food security programmes in Nigeria after their life span is due to poor productivity of the capital investment of a project to generate a remunerative income to sustain a typical agrarian farming household in Nigeria. Thus, to critically investigate this hypothetical proposition, this research aimed at evaluating the viability of the IFAD rice project among the beneficiaries in Niger State of Nigeria. Undated data of the 2018 rainfed cropping season was elicited from 111 farmers through a multi-stage sampling technique and the information were collected viaa structured questionnaire complemented with an interview schedule. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected. The empirical results showed that the rice project in the study area is likely not to be sustained after the stipulated time frame for the programme as inspite of the programme aim of doubling farmers’ income viz. value chain. The capital investment is not productive to sustain an average farming household composed of 8 persons having an operational holding of less than two hectares. Therefore, the study recommends provision of consumption credit in addition to the production credit advanced to the farmers in order to make the capital investment viable so that its turnover after each production season will be consistently re-invested into the rice project and possibility of a farmer taken-up additional activities along the chain, thus keeping the business going concern viable and sustainable.

PEGADA HÍDRICA DO ARROZ CULTIVADO SOB DIFERENTES MANEJOS DE IRRIGAÇÃO EMANUELE BAIFUS MANKE1; ARYANE FARIAS DOS SANTOS2; MARÍLIA ALVES BRITO PINTO²; JOSÉ MARIA BARBART PARFITT3; ADILSON LUÍS BAMBERG3 E LESSANDRO COLL FARIA2 1Doutora em Ciências, Faculdade de Agronomia Eliseu Maciel, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, UFPel. Capão do Leão, RS, Brasil, manumanke@gmail.com ²Centro de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, UFPel. Pelotas, RS, Brasil, aryanefarias@hotmail.com; ma.agro@gmail.com; lessandro.faria@ufpel.edu.br 3Embrapa Clima Temperado, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa, Pelotas, RS, jose.parfitt@embrapa.br; adilson.bamberg@embrapa.br 1 RESUMO O arroz é um dos cereais mais produzidos e consumidos no mundo. O manejo da água na orizicultura é complexo, sendo os estudos acerca da pegada hídrica do arroz menos frequentes em relação a outras culturas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estimar de forma simplificada a pegada hídrica do arroz irrigado por aspersão e inundação sob diferentes manejos de irrigação, adotando como base a metodologia tradicional de estimativa da pegada hídrica. Os dados utilizados são provenientes de dois experimentos conduzidos na Estação Experimental Terras Baixas, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa) Clima Temperado, Capão do Leão, RS, Brasil. No Experimento 1 foram analisados três manejos de irrigação na safra do arroz de 2011/2012 e quatro na safra de 2012/2013. No Experimento 2 foram analisados quatro manejos de irrigação nas safras 2015/2016 e 2016/2017. Os manejos nas tensões de 20 e 10 kPa (aspersão) e por irrigação contínua (inundação) apresentaram menor pegada hídrica simplificada. Comparando-se a irrigação por aspersão e inundação, concluiu-se que na inundação, o manejo de irrigação contínua resultou em uma pegada hídrica simplificada menor. Palavras-chave: Oryza sativa, métodos de irrigação, inundação, aspersão MANKE, E. B.; SANTOS, A. F. dos; PINTO, M. A. B.; PARFITT, J. M. B.; BAMBERG, A. L.; FARIA, L. C. WATER FOOTPRINT OF RICE CULTIVATED UNDER DIFFERENT IRRIGATION MANAGEMENTS 2 ABSTRACT Rice is one of the most produced and consumed cereals in the world. The water management in rice farming is complex, and studies on the rice water footprint are less frequent than other cultures. The objective was to estimate the simplified water footprint of a sprinkler and flood-irrigated rice under different irrigation management, taking as model the traditional methodology of water footprint estimation. The raw data used are from two experiments performed using rice in the “Terras Baixas”, Experimental Station, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) Temperate Climate, located in Capão do Leão, RS, Brazil. In Experiment 1, three irrigation management applied in the rice cropping season of 2011/2012 and four in the cropping season of 2012/2013 were analyzed. In Experiment 2, four irrigation managements in the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 cropping seasons were evaluated. The irrigation managements in the tensions of 20 and 10 kPa (sprinkler) and continuous irrigation (flood) presented smallest simplified water footprint. Comparing sprinkler and flood irrigation, it can be concluded that the flood method, under continuous irrigation, resulted in a smallest simplified water footprint. Keywords: Oryza sativa, irrigation methods, flooded, sprinkler

Improving the groundwater governance structure can help reduce groundwater decline and improve the state of an aquifer. This study develops an approach to modify groundwater governance based on a participatory, water-food-energy (WFE) nexus. Given the need for the participation of actors in the decision-making for the WFE nexus, we identified and selected some powerful nexus actors. Using the actor’s viewpoints, factors that led to excessive withdrawal of groundwater resources in each sector were identified as governance challenges. Using the DPSIR (Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) approach, the actors assessed the cause-and-effect relationships of the groundwater governance challenges and proposed modification in the groundwater governance. Thirteen groundwater governance scenarios were defined. Then, the impact of scenarios on WFE sectors was evaluated by the participation of nexus actors and the nexus assessment ranking of the scenarios. The results show that, out of the 13 groundwater governance scenarios, only seven scenarios had positive effects in all three sectors (WFE). The scenario of developing and enforcing region-specific cropping patterns and value-chain management has the highest rank. This paper highlights the need for the participation of actors in decision-making and the use of WFE nexus in modifying the groundwater governance system.

The characteristics of imperfect markets are characterized by the presence of transaction costs. One sector that is an imperfect market is the agricultural sector. The purpose of this study was to analyze the structure of transaction costs and the implications of transaction costs on the benefits of hybrid corn farming. The research method uses transaction cost analysis and multiple linear regression. The research was conducted in Dompu Regency, West Nusa Tenggara with 120 respondents as corn farmers. The results show that implementation costs are the component of transaction costs that have the highest percentage of 43.35%, then supervision costs are 28.37%, transportation costs are 20.61%, negotiation costs are 3.70%, information costs are 3.41% and coordination 0.57%. These transaction cost components are distributed in each hybrid corn farming cycle, among others; (1) birth cycle; (2) cropping cycle; (3) maintenance cycle; (4) supervision; (5) harvest cycle; and (6) postharvest cycle. The postharvest cycle is the cycle that has the highest percentage of 23.17%, then the maintenance cycle is 18.53%, the harvest cycle is 17.65%, the cropping cycle is 17.28% and the control cycle is 13.99%. Transaction costs have a positive and significant effect on the profits of hybrid corn farming.

Quantifying the impacts of water consumption on available water resources forms one of the core indicators of many life cycle assessments (LCAs). Methods for measuring this impact have been under development for over a decade, with the Available Water Remaining (AWARE) method being the current consensus approach. Available characterisation factors rely on global databases, which are built from potentially inappropriate information. This analysis aims to develop AWARE factors specific to Australian basins using the most recent meteorological data and water consumption statistics available. Australian cotton cropping is used as a case study in the application of the newly developed characterisation factors, and a cotton-specific characterisation factor is developed. The analysis involved the compilation of meteorological data quantifying water run-off and statistical data on domestic, industrial and agricultural water consumption. A geographical information system (GIS) software was used to map the information at the Australian basin level. The information was used to develop a set of monthly and annual characterisation factors for each basin and at the country level, using the AWARE method. All underpinning information is available in a public repository. A cotton-specific AWARE factor was calculated based on land cropped and average irrigation requirements over the past 10 years. Comparing the data collected for this analysis with the data underpinning the current AWARE factors revealed some significant disparities. Using up-to-date statistics suggests that irrigation water requirements are 72% lower than the value currently used in AWARE, and that the characterisation factor for Australia should be up to 35% lower than currently reported. Basin definition was reviewed to align with the Life Cycle Inventory work conducted in Australia as part of AusLCI, so that characterisation factors correspond to the elementary flows defined in the Australian database of inventories. The new breakdown provides more granularity in the Murray-Darling division, where two-thirds of Australian irrigation water is consumed. Using the updated data to develop a factor for cotton shows a 20% reduction against using the current factors. The use of up-to-date water availability and consumption data for Australia would increase the robustness of the current AWARE impact assessment method for the region. All collected information was compiled to be easily updated for future iteration. The factors could be integrated in the global database of AWARE factors, though there may be inherent complexities in this process due to the variations in the geographical definitions of basins.

Marine and coastal pollution is a global issue for human health and biodiversity. We have investigated pollution sources, flow patterns, hotspots, challenges, and adaptation policies in Bangladesh. Industries, ship breaking yards, sewage, tourism, and transboundary depositions are the main sources of pollutions. The Ganges, Padma, Jamuna, Brahmaputra and Meghna carry wastes to the Bay of Bengal. Pollution hotspots are Dhaka, Gazipur, Narshingdi, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Khulna, Mongla port and Sylhet city. Textile and dyeing industries discharge 12.7–13.5 million m3 waste waters annually and pollute 20% of fresh water. Ship breaking yards dump about 22.5 tons polychlorinated biphenyls in a year. More than 50% of the marine oil pollution comes from urban activities. Plastic wastes at 3000 t day-1 and tourism are also contributing to the coastal pollution. Effluent releasing standards are not maintained, and thus higher concentrations of heavy metals are found with marine fishes. Use of heavy metal tolerant crops (rice: BRRI dhan47, potato: Cardinal, mustard: Brassica napus, flower: Marigold, vegetables: Cucumber, fibre: Kenaf, and so on), trap cropping, deep placement of fertilizers, integrated rice-fish-duck culture, etc can be adopted in polluted areas. There are laws for environmental issues, but coordination and financial capabilities does not warrant its effectiveness. Necessary steps are to be taken to improve infrastructure to ensure sanitation and benign discharge of industrial effluents. Systematic study on sources, fate and extent of current effluents dumping in water ways need to be assessed for wellbeing of aquatic life and human health.

The Mekong Delta produces 55% of Vietnam’s rice (Oryza sativa L.) through double or triple cropping each year. It accounts for a large proportion of Vietnam’s anthropogenic methane (CH4) emissions. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is a paddy water management practice recognized as a promising CH4 mitigation option and may increase rice yield. However, AWD may also increase nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and its implementation is troublesome for farmers. Therefore, a simplified form of AWD (referred to here as “multiple drainage,” MD) is often adopted in An Giang Province, where full dike systems are prevailing, in the Mekong Delta. To evaluate the effects of MD on rice yield and emissions of CH4 and N2O in An Giang Province, we carried out 2-year field experiments at three remote sites each surrounded by the dike systems. We compared MD and continuous flooding (CF) at each site under conventional agronomic practices through six consecutive rice growing seasons. Fluxes of CH4 and N2O were measured by a closed chamber method. MD was achieved with varying degrees of success at each site, except during heavy rainfall events. Rice yield was significantly (P

Dual-purpose cropping (sowing crops with the intention of both grazing them during vegetative growth and harvesting grain thereafter) has become a widespread farming practice in southern Australia. This synopsis paper integrates research from a multi-institutional research project conducted at three nodes located near Hamilton (south-western Victoria), Wagga Wagga (southern NSW) and Canberra (ACT), and sets out 11 principles for the effective utilisation of dual-purpose crops in meat production systems to increase profit and manage risk. Dual-purpose crops can be used to overcome feed quality gaps in late summer–autumn or feed quantity gaps in late autumn/winter. They provide large quantities of high-quality forages for grazing in summer, autumn and winter and can provide a substantial contribution to the annual number of grazing days on a farm. Utilisation of the high-quality dry matter provided by dual-purpose crops is most effective when directed at young growing stock for sale or future reproduction rather than reproducing adult ewes. For example, sale weight of yearlings per ewe was increased by 16% in systems at the Canberra node when dual-purpose crops were prioritised for grazing by weaners. Wool production was also increased in systems that included grazing of dual-purpose crops. Grazing crops in winter does not necessarily reduce supplementary feeding costs for winter or spring lambing. Modelling suggests that inclusion of dual-purpose crops does not substantially change the optimum time of lambing for sheep meat systems. Financial analysis of the experimental data from the Canberra node showed that although cash expenses per hectare were increased in the crop-grazing systems, the overall profitability of those systems over the life of the experiment was greater by AU$207/ha.year than that of the pasture-only system. Factors driving improved profitability included income from grain, higher income from meat and wool, and lower supplementary feeding costs. However, increasing the area sown to crop from 10% to 30% of the farm area in this Southern Tablelands system appeared to increase risk. In south-western Victoria, spring-sown canola carried risk similar to or less than other options assessed to achieve ewe-lamb mating weight. It is likely that at least part of the reduction in risk occurs through the diversification in income from the canola produced as part of the system. It was concluded that the grazing of cereal and canola crops for livestock production can be profitable and assist in managing risk.

The paper evaluates varying trends in ten climate variables, i.e., maximum temperature (Tmx), mean temperature (Tmp), minimum temperature (Tmn), diurnal temperature range (Dtr), total precipitation (Pre), cloud cover (Cld), wet day frequency (Wet), vapor pressure deficit (Vpd), vapor pressure (Vap), and potential evapotranspiration (Pet), and their impacts on wheat yields during Rabi cropping season in India from 1986 to 2015 using regression modeling and correlation analysis. There are three aspects in the present study, i.e., comprehensive coverage of climate variables, use of cropping season over weather classification, and investigation of India as study area because India accounts for ~1/6th of the world population and ~14% of global wheat production. We find that Tmx, Tmp, Tmn, Vpd, Pet are increasing in eight and Dtr and Cld in seven Indian states, whereas Wet and Vap are decreasing in five and Pre in four Indian states. Most climate variables in the present study negatively impact wheat yields. The climate trends drive total wheat yield losses up to ~309 kg/ha (~11%) over the study period. The regression models explain up to ~80% of wheat yield variability. The paper provides strong evidence that varying climate trends are negatively impacting wheat yield in India, thus presenting a global concern. Water supply and water demand are important climate variables, essential to be investigated in future studies. Using cropping season over standard weather classification provides more practical insight in the crop yield. This study emphasizes timely attention and intervention in agriculture practices leading to policy formation, amendments and practical execution.

Soil health and fertility are the basis for gaining sustainable profit through higher productivity by the farmers. Using optimal doses of fertilizers and cropping pattern as per the scientific recommendations is the first step towards sustainable farming. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the most important component in maintaining soil quality because of its role in improving physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. Organic matter is an important source of nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. Soil Health card is a Government of India's scheme promoted by the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, apart from giving the health index of soil, will also indicate fertilizer recommendations and soil amendment required for the farm. Under Govt. of Haryana sanctioned Soil Health Card project, ARF carried out the fertility status study of 3000 acres of land of village Baroda Mor, block Mundlana, Tehsil Gohana, Sonipat, Haryana and distribute the cards well before the harvesting of Rabi crop with proper recommendation on dosage of appropriate fertilizer as per deficiency of essential nutrient parameter. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i6.001

ESTIMATIVA DA DEMANDA HÍDRICA DE DIFERENTES CULTURAS NO PERÍMETRO IRRIGADO PONTAL SUL MARCELLO HENRYQUE COSTA DE SOUZA1; ROBERTA DANIELA DA SILVA SANTOS2; CLOVIS MANOEL CARVALHO RAMOS3 E LUÍS HENRIQUE BASSOI4 1 Setor de Operação do Sistema, Distrito de Irrigação Nilo Coelho – DINC, Vila CS-1, Perímetro Senador Nilo Coelho s/n. CEP: 56.300-990. Petrolina-PE, Brasil, marcello_henry@hotmail.com; 2 Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Roraima – IFRR, campus Novo Paraiso, BR-174, s/n - Vila Novo Paraíso, Caracaraí – RR. CEP:69365-000, Brasil, roberta.santos@ifrr.edu.br; 3 Colegiado de Engenharia Agrícola e Ambiental, UNIVASF, Avenida Antônio Carlos Magalhães, 510 - Santo Antônio. CEP: 48902-300 – Juazeiro – BA, clovis.ramos@univasf.edu.br; 4 Embrapa Instrumentação, R. 15 de Novembro, 1452 - Centro, São Carlos – SP. CEP:13560-970, Brasil. luis.bassoi@embrapa.br. 1 RESUMO O presente trabalho objetivou determinar a demanda hídrica para diferentes culturas no Perímetro Irrigado Pontal Sul e verificar se a lâmina fornecida é capaz de atender ou não as necessidades das culturas; identificar quando e qual cenário há maior necessidade de água; e definir quais cenários baseados em diferentes culturas e na disponibilidade de água poderão ser atendidos de acordo com a capacidade de bombeamento do perímetro irrigado. Para alcançar tais objetivos foram feitos levantamentos de dados, estudos bibliográficos, geração de cenários agrícolas (considerando diferentes culturas – Acerola, Caju, Goiaba, Banana, Coco, Uva e Manga) e estimativa das demandas do Perímetro Irrigado Pontal Sul. De acordo com os cenários gerados, o perímetro irrigado apresenta, em parte, dados que favorecem a superestimação de valores de água a serem fornecidos, porém também apresenta problemas no que diz respeito ao fornecimento de água para as culturas quando avaliados cenários e condições de exigência máxima das culturas. Assim, este estudo mostra a necessidade do estudo prévio e uma alternativa para um planejamento adequado para implantação das culturas e uso de sistemas de irrigação no Perímetro Irrigado Pontal Sul. Palavras-chave: irrigação, planejamento agrícola, uso de água. SOUZA, M. H. C.; SANTOS, R. D. S.; RAMOS, C. M. C.; BASSOI, L. H. ESTIMATION OF WATER DEMAND BY CROPS FOR WATER ALLOCATION IN PONTAL SUL IRRIGATION SCHEME 2 ABSTRACT This work aimed to determine the water demand for different crops in the Pontal Sul Irrigation Scheme and to verify if the water depth supplied is capable of attending crop water demands; to identify when and which scenario the water demand is maximum; and to define which scenarios based on different crops and on water availability can be met according to the pumping capacity of the irrigation scheme. To achieve these objectives, data surveys, bibliographic studies, generation of agricultural scenarios (considering different cultures - Barbados cherry, Cashew, Guava, Banana, Coconut, Grape and Mango) and estimation of the demands of the Pontal Sul Irrigated Perimeter were made. According to the scenarios generated, the Pontal Sul irrigated project presents, in part, data that favor the overestimation of water values ​​to be provided, but it also presents problems related to water supply for crops in scenarios and conditions of maximum crop requirements. Thus, this study shows the need for a previous study and an alternative for planning for cropping and the use of irrigation systems in Pontal Sul Irrigation Scheme. Keywords: irrigation, agricultural planning, water use.

The interest in promoting food and water security through development projects has led to the need to evaluate the impact of these projects. This study evaluates the impact from transitioning to a modern irrigation technology. Deciding to adopt or not an alternative irrigation technology (sprinklers) is not necessarily a random determination. Therefore, selection bias can be present and this can lead to biased estimates. In this study, we apply methodological specifications to correct for self-selectivity biases. Then, we measure and compare the technical efficiency scores from adopters and non-adopters. The empirical application uses data covering 56 small-scale greenhouse farms in Crete (Greece) for the cropping years 2009-2013. The results reveal that the average technical efficiency for farmers who adopted sprinkler irrigation is lower than the group of non-adopters, when the presence of selectivity bias cannot be rejected. This implies that either the farmers need more time to incorporate the know-how of the newly acquired technology or they become less motivated after the adoption. Consequently, agricultural water saving technologies need to be promoted in combination with support to the farmers, so they can cope with the lower performance in the first years after adoption.

The present study evaluated the income inequalities between IFAD and non-IFAD rice farmers in Nigeria’s Niger state. Undated data of 2018 cropping season elicited through structured questionnaire coupled with interview schedules from a total of 296 rice farmers (111 IFAD rice farmers and 185 non-IFAD rice farmers) through a multi-stage sampling technique. Tools viz. descriptive statistics, censored regression, Chow F-test statistics, Average treatment effect (ATE) and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition model were used for data analysis. The findings showed that the programme had effect on the farmers’ income in the short-run; while in the long-run, the non-remunerative product’s price has diffused the impact of the programme on the farmers’ income. However, it was observed that participation in the programme made the average income accumulation of the participated farmers to higher than that of the non-participants. The discrimination difference called programme participation accounts for more than 75% of the income gap, while endowment or characteristics difference accounts for less than 24% vis-à-vis the non-treated groups. Therefore, the programme should link the farmers with the appropriate off-takers in order to insulate them from adverse effect of market imperfection which tends to dampen the rice price during the boom season. Also, the farmers should engage in co-operative marketing and monitor price behavior using market information and intelligence. The scope of programme coverage should be expanded beyond the target group so as to enhance the farm families’ livelihoods; the rural, state and the national economies.

Weather variability over the long run exhibits the trends of change in climate and forewarns for development and deployment of adaptation measures. Gangetic plain of Uttar Pradesh in India is an agriculturally important geographical region of South East Asia. The region is vulnerable to weather variability led glacier melting, climate change impacts and increased competition for land. In addition, changes in rainfall, groundwater and weather patterns are deteriorating the agricultural and water systems that are bound to affect the food production and throw the poor populace into chaotic conditions. As weather variability trends are being increasingly used for sustaining the food production in climate-sensitive regions, the present study was taken up in Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh. Daily meteorological datasets of temperature, rainfall, rainy days, evaporation, wind speed, relative humidity and bright sunshine hours during the past 63 years (1956–2018) were analysed for long-term trends. The study indicated conspicuous long-term trends of reduction in annual rainfall (− 28.97 mm decade−1), rising level of daily Tmin (0.09 °C a decade) and RH (1.08% decade−1) coupled with significant declining trends in evaporation (− 0.31 mm day−1), wind speed (− 0.29 km h−1) and bright sunshine hours (− 0.19 h day−1), that poignantly elucidates a clear warming trend over the period in the region. Multi-pronged adaptation strategies comprising of development of water efficient crop varieties, cropping system diversification with less water requiring crops, adoption of water efficient irrigation techniques, surface water harvesting and copious ground water recharge have been proposed for coping up.

The study was conducted to know the landscape modification and agricultural intensification at a terrestrial segment of the Sidhmukh Canal Irrigation Project (SCIP) command area. The study confirms that the inception of the Sidhmukh Canal Project caused a massive land-use pattern change and shifted irrigation systems towards rain-fed farming to canal irrigation. Furthermore, the increased water availability by SCIP has extensively inflated irrigated land area, changed cropping pattern and land productivity. The study noticed a significant positive impact of SCIP on agricultural intensification. The study was accomplished by analysing primary data provided by the Department of Water Resources, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Economics & Statistics, Rajasthan Government.