Agriculture Land News
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Using nature`s resources to store carbon
The ability of the Earth's living systems to store carbon could play a vital role in the mitigation of climate change. A new report suggests that, in coming decades, safeguarding and restoring carbon in ecosystems has the potential to prevent well over 50 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon entering the atmosphere. Last year the EU launched its Climate Action and Renewable Energy package to set a target ...
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ABB irrigation control solution saves water and energy in Spain
The ABB solution controls the irrigation system for 10,700 plots of land in a 210 square-kilometer belt of prime agricultural land in the Zujar Canal region of western Spain, where local farmers grow sweet corn, tomatoes, olives, rice and a variety of other fruits and vegetables. Prior to ABB’s involvement, many farmers had to drive up to 40 kilometers to irrigate their land. They had to open ...
By ABB
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Third world climate conference
With climate change increasing the incidence and severity of weather events, agriculture, one of the most climate dependent of all human activities, depends heavily on effective meteorological services which are vital to climate change mitigation and adaptation, said an FAO expert today. “The economic costs associated with natural disasters, including extreme weather events, have increased ...
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Biofuel and crop research grows by AUS$1.6m
The research team will identify the genes associated with key plant properties responsible for growth, flowering and grain-filling in grasses. They will use the advanced robotic and imaging plant research tools of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) to conduct the research. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has recognised the unique, world-class capability that the APPF affords by ...
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Rainfall and manure application timing affect organic carbon losses
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) losses from tile drains are an underquantified portion of the terrestrial carbon cycle. This is particularly important in the eastern corn belt where tile drainage dominates the agricultural landscape. Specific land management practices, such as manure application, can play a large role in the export of DOC as soluble organic carbon is applied to or injected into ...
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Comparing farmland changes in China, the Netherlands and Germany
Converting agricultural land for non-agricultural use has implications for food security and environmental degradation, and concerns many countries across the world. How different nations address these issues has been examined in a recent study which compares the governance structures for farmland conversion in the Netherlands, Germany and China. Working within the RECREATE project1, partly ...
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Deep ploughing reduces diversity and number of earthworms
Less invasive soil preparation methods in farming, such as harrowing, have a positive impact on the numbers, biomass, and species richness of earthworms, unlike conventional ploughing, according to new research. The long-term study compared the results of five different methods of soil preparation on agricultural land in Germany over a ten-year period. Earthworms play a major role in the ...
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Healthy soils for a healthy planet
Healthy soils are vital in a world challenged by climate change. We need to decide how best to use land to provide food for a growing population and how it can be used to mitigate the effects of manmade emissions. The quality of soil must be maintained or restored if it is to provide its essential services: cycling nutrients, water and air, supporting biodiversity and acting as a substantial ...
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Agri-environment Schemes: Call for more landscape connectivity
A popular way to improve biodiversity is to provide financial rewards for environmentally friendly methods of managing farmland. A recent study investigates how the benefits of these schemes can be optimised and made more cost-effective. The findings highlight the importance of hedgerow trees in the survival of farmland wildlife. By 2010, the European Commission aims to halt the decline of ...
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A new tool to assess nitrogen and phosphorus flow in agriculture
MITERRA-EUROPE is a new tool that models the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, among other key pollutants, used in agriculture across all 27 Member States at regional, country and EU-27 levels. It can be used to calculate the effects of different strategies to minimise excess pollution. Many regions in the EU-27 use more nitrogen and phosphorus in agriculture than is required. The main sources ...
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Predicting the spread of plant invasions across Europe
For the first time, a map has been produced that can be used to predict the level of invasion by alien plants across Europe, which could help policy makers design conservation policies suited to different habitats and landscapes. Areas dominated by farming and urban land are among those identified as particularly at risk. Alien plants are non-native species introduced into foreign areas, ...
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New ORNL tool gets handle on cropland CO2 emissions
For the first time, farmers have data that tracks at the county level on-site and off-site energy use and carbon dioxide emissions associated with growing crops in the United States. This information is vital for examining changes in cropland production and management techniques and could play an even bigger role as more land is devoted to bioenergy crops, said Oak Ridge National Laboratory's ...
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Understanding phosphorus in soils is vital to proper management
Phosphorus is one of the key nutrients that can cause algal blooms and related water quality problems in lakes, rivers, and estuaries worldwide. Phosphorus entering waters originates from a variety of sources. Agricultural land receiving long term applications of organic by-products such as animal manure is one of the major contributors. Such soils often become enriched with P, leading to ...
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Traditional farming methods in India protect birds
Under the right conditions, traditional agricultural practices can support significant biodiversity in farmed areas over the long term. A new study shows that arecanut plantations combined with forest areas support bird life. The researchers studied bird communities in arecanut plantations found in southwest India to assess whether biodiversity could be sustained in an agriculturally developed ...
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Protecting farmland biodiversity
A new study describes the rate of loss in plant diversity in intensively farmed fields. The authors recommend that measures to protect biodiversity should focus on low-intensity farmland, due to difficulties associated with rebuilding lost biodiversity in intensively farmed land. Intensive agriculture is one of the main drivers of the decline in worldwide biodiversity. The rate of species ...
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Understanding land use change and US ethanol expansion
Understanding changes in land use—such as deforestation, urbanization and agriculture expansion—is important if society is to properly address the challenges of climate change, utilization of natural resources, and energy production and consumption. However, the intensifying debate over potential indirect land use changes resulting from biofuels expansion is nebulous at best. At worst, it is ...
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New EPA requirements for controlling wastewater from large animal feeding operations
EPA has finalized a rule helping to protect the nation’s water quality by requiring concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to safely manage manure. EPA estimates CAFO regulations will prevent 56 million pounds of phosphorus, 110 million pounds of nitrogen, and 2 billion pounds of sediment from entering streams, lakes, and other waters annually. “EPA’s new regulation of animal feedlots ...
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Harnessing carbon financing to boost sustainable farming
Some 100 experts from five continents have met to chart the way to harnessing a large new flow of funding – carbon finance – to agricultural development and to improving the lives of poor farmers the world over. Billions of dollars are available every year under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism to finance initiatives helping reduce the amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions into ...
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Scottish seaweed may help tackle climate change
Scotland’s seaweed could be the latest weapon in the fight against climate change, according to a new report commissioned by The Crown Estate and conducted by researchers at The Scottish Association for Marine Science. The report details the potential of farming marine algae to be used to produce biomass to heat homes and fuel transport while avoiding the problems associated with biofuels, such ...
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Abandoned farmlands are key to sustainable bioenergy
Biofuels can be a sustainable part of the world's energy future, especially if bioenergy agriculture is developed on currently abandoned or degraded agricultural lands, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University. Using these lands for energy crops, instead of converting existing croplands or clearing new land, avoids competition with food production and preserves ...
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