soil conditioning News
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New Expanded 2018 Soil Moisture Measurement Catalogue from Delta-T Devices
Delta-T Devices has released a new Soil Moisture Measurement Catalogue for 2018. It has been revised and expanded to include new sections on the SM150T Soil Moisture and Temperature Sensor, SDI-12 PR2 Profile Probe, DeltaLINK-Cloud online data management, and SDI-12 capability for the GP2 Data Logger and Controller. The new catalogue also features a number of “quick comparison” ...
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Sandwich system found effective in organic apple orchards
In organic apple orchards, one of the most serious challenges for growers is determining ways to limit weed competition while improving soil quality and ensuring high yields of quality apples. Scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences published a study of orchard floor management systems (HortScience, March 2015) that revealed the benefits of using "sandwich systems" in ...
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LI-COR Introduces New Multiplexer for Automated Soil CO2 Studies
Lincoln, Nebraska: LI-COR Biosciences now offers an automated solution for assessing spatial as well as temporal variability in CO2 flux. The new LI-8150 Multiplexer expands the capabilities of the company’s LI-8100 Automated Soil CO2 Flux System by allowing up to 16 chambers to be controlled by a single LI-8100 Analyzer Control Unit. The LI-8100 is an economical and lightweight system for ...
By LI-COR
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Introducing system models into Ag Research
In order to develop sustainable agricultural systems that address environmental challenges, more quantitative guidance and site-specific decision tools must become available to producers. Field research requires a quantitative approach to ensure complex interacting factors are taken into account. Process level models of cropping systems are based on synthesis and quantification of important ...
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International soil conference opens in Brisbane
“It’s underfoot but often forgotten yet our soil resources are crucial to our very existence,” says the Chief of CSIRO Land and Water, Dr Neil McKenzie. “Any gardener or farmer knows that soil is an astonishing material. It’s the natural reactor in the landscape that forms the basis for our supply of food, clean water and biodiversity.” Australia is a net ...
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New seeds of hope for Nepal’s farmers
Farmers badly affected by changing weather patterns in South Asia now have the opportunity to improve food security by planting new varieties of rice capable of withstanding the impact of both severe droughts and floods. This is particularly good news for countries such as Nepal, where around 65% of its more than 26 million people are involved in agriculture. Rice is the country’s most ...
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Preserve, promote, and utilise rich soil life
Healthy soil life can contribute to sustainable agriculture which, in addition to ensuring a good yield, keeps diseases under control and generates carbon and nitrogen retention. That is what Prof. Gerlinde De Deyn, Professor holding a personal chair in Soil Ecology, asserted in her inaugural address at Wageningen University & Research on 18 May. Life underground is richer in species than ...
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Soil carbon storage is not always influenced by tillage practices
The practice of no-till has increased considerably during the past 20 yr. Soils under no-till usually host a more abundant and diverse biota and are less prone to erosion, water loss, and structural breakdown than tilled soils. Their organic matter content is also often increased and consequently, no-till is proposed as a measure to mitigate the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide ...
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Management of rice paddy fields affects greenhouse gas emissions
How rice paddy fields are managed significantly influences the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs), a recent study concludes. Permanently flooded soils release more methane than soils that are flooded and then dried between production periods, for example. In general, the researchers recommend growing other crops in dried soil between production cycles, as well as limiting nitrogen fertilisers, to ...
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Why choose organic fertilizer?
Organic fertilizers contain a lot of organic matter. The state strongly advocates the application of organic fertilizers. The biggest advantage of organic fertilizers is that they are rich in organic matter! 1. Organic matter promotes the growth and development of crops. Humic acid in soil organic matter can enhance plant respiration, improve cell membrane permeability, and enhance the ...
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Nutrient Management Plans: A Study in Cause and Effect
It seems practical on the surface. Nutrient management plans (NMPs) should supply plants with ideal amounts of nutrients, minimize runoff, and maintain or even improve the soil condition. And the farmer behind the plan would work with a set of conservation practices designed to reduce harmful pollutants while still obtaining optimal crop yields. However, many U.S. Animal Feeding Operations ...
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Agrinos To Open State-of-the-Art Microbial Crop Input Production Facility in Oregon
Agrinos, a leading biological crop input provider committed to improving the productivity and sustainability of agriculture worldwide, announces the construction of a new, state-of-the-art production facility in Clackamas, Oregon. The 28,000 square-foot facility near Portland, Ore., will accommodate increased production capacity for the Agrinos line of proprietary High Yield Technology® ...
By Agrinos Inc
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BioConsortia Adds New Wheat Seed Treatment to growing list of products moving to registration
BioConsortia, Inc., innovator of microbial solutions for plant trait enhancement and yield improvement, has added a wheat seed treatment to the growing list of new biological products moving to registration phase. The new wheat product has come from BioConsortia’s biostimulant pipeline. This seed treatment product, along with several others, has been tested on spring and winter wheat in at ...
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Reinforcement of soil by plant roots
Landslides have devastating impacts across the globe resulting in the loss of life and the destruction of billions of dollars in infrastructure. Soil erosion from wind and water threatens food production, pollutes the environment, and can make living in major cities such as Beijing almost unbearable during dust storms. Just like the great dust bowl of the 1930s, many instances of soil erosion and ...
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New soil map for African farmers
Responding to sub-Saharan Africa's soil health crisis, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) announced this week an ambitious new effort to produce the first-ever, detailed digital soil map for all 42 countries of the region. This project combines the latest soil science and technology with remote satellite imagery and on-the-ground efforts to analyze thousands of soil samples ...
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Analyzing agroforestry management
The evaluation of both nutrient and non-nutrient resource interactions provides information needed to sustainably manage agroforestry systems. Improved diagnosis of appropriate nutrient usage will help increase yields and also reduce financial and environmental costs. To achieve this, a management support system that allows for site-specific evaluation of nutrient-production imbalances is needed. ...
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Greater focus on soil health needed to feed a hungry planet
More attention to the health and management of the planet's soils will be needed to meet the challenge of feeding a growing world population while coping with climate change and increased scarcity of natural resources, FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo today told a group of leading soil scientists and research organizations gathered at the UN agency's Rome headquarters to mark World ...
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New irrigation strategies for pecans in humid climates
Georgia is the largest pecan producing state in the U.S. Although this humid region receives an average of 127 cm or more rainfall annually, periods of moisture stress can occur during the pecan growing season, particularly during August and September when pecans are in the kernel-filling stage and water demand is at its peak. Pecan producers throughout the region depend on irrigation strategies ...
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Agricultural Bacteria: Blowing in the Wind
It was all too evident during the Dust Bowl what a disastrous impact wind can have on dry, unprotected topsoil. Now a new study has uncovered a less obvious, but still troubling, effect of wind: Not only can it carry away soil particles, but also the beneficial microbes that help build soil, detoxify contaminants, and recycle nutrients. Using a powerful DNA sequencing technique, called ...
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Semios Announces US$75M In Funding To Expand Largest IoT Network In Agriculture
Semios, the leading precision farming platform for permanent crops, has raised US$75 million in private equity funding to advance the development of its data-driven crop management solution. The financing was led by Morningside Group, a Boston-based private equity and venture capital firm. Since its founding in 2010, Semios has secured a total of US$115 million in external capital. Semios has ...
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