Farmland Articles

"Eight years into implementing a zero-till policy across the farm, we’re seeing improved yields of 10 tonnes per hectare for our first year wheat, and five tonnes per hectare on winter beans. We’ve also noticed that we continue to see year-on-year improvements to soil structure and crop yields. “The winter beans have been extremely valuable in the rotation to ensure nitrogen and ...

Aug. 1, 2016

By Certis UK

Individual farmers represent the main management entities of agricultural production under the family-contract responsibility system in China, and thus play crucial roles in the prevention and control of agricultural nonpoint source (ANPS) pollution. The analysis of the farmers' perceptions of ANPS pollution as well as the factors affecting their perceptions can provide valuable information ...

Dec. 21, 2015

By IWA Publishing

Water, one of the most crucial inputs of irrigation, should be utilized judiciously to identify appropriate strategies for planning and management of irrigated farmland. The present study was conducted for the crop maize (Zea mays), grown mainly in the rabi-season (July–October), to evaluate the irrigation water requirements in the temperate region of Kashmir Valley, India during the ...

Jul. 24, 2015

By IWA Publishing

The East African country of Malawi epitomizes the global problem of deforestation. Now, there are signs it could epitomize the solution, too, as government, community members and grassroots organizations tackle the problem together. Some 95 percent of rural Malawian households depend on wood for necessities such as cooking, clean water and sanitation. Many Malawians also depend on the ...

May 26, 2015

By Ensia

This study evaluated the impacts of future climate scenarios on the groundwater resources and agricultural economy of the Texas High Plains, using Hale county as a case study. Climate change impacts were incorporated into regional economic models using weather projections to develop crop response functions from crop models. These projections are based on quantitative projections of ...

Dec. 16, 2014

By IWA Publishing

This paper focuses on the institutional dynamics of family–led organic farms in the mountains of Nepal. It is based on continuous observations and experiences of local farmers who have dedicated themselves to organic agriculture for a significant period of time. It is found that family–led organic farming can contribute significantly to the sustainable use of local agricultural resources. The ...

Dec. 10, 2014

By Inderscience Publishers

A new method, the artificially‐high soil cadmium (Cd) concentration method, was used to screen for Cd hyperaccumulators among winter farmland weeds. Galinsoga parviflora was the most promising remedial plant among five Cd accumulators or hyperaccumulators. In Cd concentration gradient experiments, as soil Cd concentration increased, root and shoot biomass decreased and their Cd contents ...

Jul. 23, 2014

By John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The world’s increasing demand for palm oil and pulp wood for paper production attracts the private sector to invest more and more in these businesses in Indonesia and Malaysia. But are banks, the creditors of these businesses, aware of the risks of their investments in palm oil and ...

Jul. 9, 2014

By Wetlands International

Different resources are necessary in the new, product–oriented agricultural environment. This article explores the question of what information is best suited for strategic analysis and strategy formulation for firms involved in product–oriented agriculture. This article will draw upon theoretical literature from general management and interviews with agricultural producers to develop a new ...

May 27, 2014

By Inderscience Publishers

A long narrow strip of land (no more than 430 km wide) between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, Chile stretches 4,630 km from near lat. 18°S to Cape Horn (lat. 56°S), including at its southern end the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego, an island shared with Argentina. In the Pacific Ocean are Chile's several island possessions, including Easter Island, the Juan Fernández ...

Mar. 28, 2014

By IWA Publishing

The modern conservation movement has its roots in the Dust Bowl era of the 1930’s when harsh winds swept soil from parched Midwest fields and created towering clouds of dust that plagued the country. Hugh Hammond Bennett, the father of the modern soil conservation movement, dramatically threw open the curtains of the room in which he was delivering testimony on soil erosion before Congress ...

Feb. 14, 2014

By National Farmers Union

After three decades of unbridled economic growth and mounting ecological problems, China and its new leadership face a key challenge: cleaning up the dirty air, polluted water, and tainted food supplies that are fueling widespread discontent among the country’s burgeoning middle class. Thirty-five years ago, a landmark plenum of China’s Communist Party famously initiated the ...

Nov. 28, 2013

By GLOBE Foundation

The Associated Press recently published an article on “the secret environmental cost of U.S. ethanol policy.” There is much in this article that is too misleading, poor or deficient analysis, over-simplistic, or poorly drawn conclusions to comment on, but here are 19 big things the AP got wrong. ...

Nov. 20, 2013

By National Farmers Union

One of the main powerhouses of the Indonesian economy is the development of its agriculture. Indonesia has two major possibilities for the development of its economy. These include both human and natural resources. In this paper we explore the role of the Indonesian Agricultural Sector and its possible role as the powerhouse of the Green Economy. A survey methodology was used to obtain the data ...

Jul. 29, 2013

By Inderscience Publishers

This report presents the European Grassland Butterfly Indicator, based on national Butterfly Monitoring Schemes (BMS) in 19 countries across Europe, most of them in the European Union. The indicator shows that since 1990 till 2011 butterfly populations have declined by almost 50 %, indicating a dramatic loss of grassland biodiversity. This also means the situation has not improved since the ...

Jul. 23, 2013

By European Environment Agency (EEA)

This paper proposes an economic growth model to provide some insights into issues related to sustainable economy with capital and resource dynamics. The model combines the main economic mechanisms in the Solow growth model, the Ricardian two–sector economic model, and the logistic model in resource economics in a compact framework. We simulate the model, identifying the existence of two steady ...

Jun. 24, 2013

By Inderscience Publishers

Globally, irrigated agriculture is the largest abstractor, and predominant consumer, of groundwater resources, with large groundwater-dependent agro-economies now having widely evolved especially in Asia. Such use is also causing resource depletion and degradation in more arid and drought-prone regions. In addition crop cultivation practices on irrigated land exert a major influence on ...

Mar. 18, 2013

By IWA Publishing

Commencing in 2006, Butterfly Conservation started work to create a new large area (>20 hectares) of lowland heathland and acid grassland on existing arable land at Prees Heath Common, Whitchurch, Shropshire. The existing small and fragmented areas of heathland on Prees Heath Common supports the only remaining colony of the Silver-Studded Blue butterfly (Plebeius argus ) in the English ...

Jan. 21, 2013

By Ecological Restoration Consultants Limited

Local governance based on institutions for collective action can help overcome social dilemmas in natural and agricultural resource management. A common path towards local governance is decentralisation, and within this context, a transfer of property rights from central government to local resource users. Yet, despite the successes of many decentralisation policies, the phenomenon of elite ...

Nov. 16, 2012

By Inderscience Publishers

The Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa make up only 5 percent of the world’s population, yet they take in more than 20 percent of the world’s grain exports. Imports to the region have jumped from 30 million tons of grain in 1990 to nearly 70 million tons in 2011. Now imported grain accounts for nearly 60 percent of regional grain consumption. With water scarce, arable ...

Feb. 5, 2012

By Earth Policy Institute