Agriculture Soil News | Agriculture XPRT

SoCo: Sustainable agriculture and soil conservation

The European Parliament has requested the European Commission to carry out a study on Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Conservation. Two Directorates of the EC are involved in this project: DG Agriculture and DG Joint Research Centre. The JRC participates in the project with two institutes: Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES: Land Management and Natural Hazards Unit and the Rural, ...

Sep. 29, 2009

Alternative agricultural practices combine productivity and soil health

The progressive degradation of useful soils for agriculture and farm animal husbandry is a growing environmental and social problem, given that it endangers the food safety of an increasing world population. This fact prompted the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development – Neiker-Tecnalia – to design a series of research projects in order to evaluate alternative agricultural ...

Jul. 30, 2009

By ScienceDaily

Artificial wetlands on farmland help to prevent soil loss and recapture agricultural by-products

Small field wetlands are a simple and effective way to reduce soil erosion and nutrient pollution, recent research suggests. The authors adapted Norwegian designs for the UK environment and created a series of small rectangular lakes on the edges of agricultural fields. After three years, the wetlands had prevented tonnes of soil from leaving the land, and helped alleviate some of the nutrient ...

Nov. 1, 2015

By European Commission, Environment DG

High levels of glyphosate in agricultural soil: ‘Extension of approval not prudent.’

There has been a great deal of discussion about the use and extension of the approval of use of glyphosate as a herbicide. Glyphosate is the most used herbicide in Europe. In 2016 the approval by the European Commission for the use of this agent expired. However, an extension of approval of use is currently being discussed. One of the conditions of this is that the agent cannot have a negative ...

Oct. 16, 2017

By Wageningen University and Research Centre

World Soil Day hails symbiotic role of pulses to boost sustainable agriculture

Soil and pulses can make major contributions to the challenge of feeding the world's growing population and combating climate change, especially when deployed together, according to Soils and Pulses: Symbiosis for Life, a new report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization released on ...

Dec. 5, 2016

By Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

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 ...

May 9, 2012

By Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Sustainable Agriculture to Promote Biodiversity

• Biodiversity affects key ecosystem services, such as the primary production of food for humans and the rest of nature, plus the recycling of nutrients and water. • One hectare of land contains a lot of biodiversity in the soil – equivalent to the weight of one cow of bacteria, two sheep of protozoa, and four rabbits of soil animals such as earthworms. The INSPIA* project is ...

May 2, 2014

By European Crop Protection Association (ECPA)

Sustainable agricultural partnerships

American Business Conferences will be hosting its 4th in the global series of Sustainable Agriculture Summits in San Francisco on 10-11 August. This established forum where incisive and detailed strategies on how to measure and reduce water and carbon impacts throughout the agricultural supply chain is quickly filling up due to the exceptional value building qualities the summit promotes. ...

Jul. 16, 2010

By CSRwire - Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire

Grasslands: The future of sustainable agriculture

Grassland: Quietness and Strength for a New American Agriculture was written to increase our awareness of the vital role grass and grassland plants have in ensuring a sustainable future for American agriculture. Published by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, the book's content is geared toward agriculturists, students, the ...

May 21, 2009

By Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Diesel efficiency in agricultural production

The topic of diesel efficiency has only become an increasing focus for farmers in recent decades, following earlier decades of concentrating above all on timely and high quality performance of work with modern agricultural machinery and equipment. The discussion on diesel efficiency, which is still topical today, was triggered not only by rising fuel costs, but also by the environmental policy ...

Nov. 11, 2013

By European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)

Resilience, sustainability in agriculture

Agriculture is going through a revolution, one that rivals the industrial revolution of the 19th century and the green revolution in the 20th century, according to Charles Francis, Editor of the recently published book, Organic Farming: The Ecological System. Francis claims that these previous changes transformed industries based primarily on local resources and principally serving local ...

Dec. 9, 2009

By Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Blue Sphere Announces US Agricultural and Dairy Farm Waste to Energy and High Value Soil Amendment Production Initiative

Blue Sphere Corp. (OTCBB: BLSP) (the "Company" or "Blue Sphere"), a company in the Cleantech sector as an emission reduction and renewable energy project integrator, is pleased to announce that it has embarked on a campaign to implement dairy farm waste to energy and high-value soil amendment production projects across the United States. These projects will ...

Nov. 10, 2011

By Blue Sphere Corporation

Rediscovering sound soil management

At the same time that demand for food is soaring along with the world’s population, the soil’s ability to sustain and enhance agricultural productivity is becoming increasingly diminished and unreliable. Fortunately, it’s not too late to restore our soil resources. What it will take, say the editors and contributors to a new book, Soil Management: Building a Stable Base for ...

May 10, 2011

By Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Soil moisture monitoring station

PureSense Environmental Inc. recently installed its soil moisture monitoring equipment at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The installation at Cal Poly is in a cauliflower seed project run by students of the university. The equipment allows students to view soil moisture data and learn how to make informed irrigation decisions based on the data they receive from the ...

Jan. 3, 2011

Safeguarding our soils for the future

Measures to protect and improve our soil to meet rising demand for food and to combat climate change have been unveiled by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn. England’s soil has suffered over the last 200 years from the impacts of intensive farming and industrial pollution, and today is under threat from erosion by wind and rain, a loss of organic matter and nutrients, and pressure for ...

Sep. 25, 2009

By Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

G8 pledges US$20bn for agriculture

G8 leaders meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, unveiled a plan to commit US$20 billion of funding to the development of agriculture and said they would tackle persistent food shortages in developing countries. The three-year initiative will also help developing countries develop scientific research in agriculture; foster international collaborations and improve the dissemination of research. The leaders ...

Jul. 13, 2009

By SciDev.Net

Simulating the effect of climate change on agriculture

Increased atmospheric CO2 levels and climate change are believed to contribute to extreme weather conditions, which is a major concern for many. And beyond extreme events, global warming is also predicted to affect agriculture.1,2 ...

Nov. 14, 2017

By Edinburgh Sensors Ltd

Soil scientists in Afghanistan

As part of USDA’s effort to support the Afghanistan military campaign, Operation Enduring Freedom, the Natural Resources Conservation Service–National Soil Survey Laboratory (NRCS-NSSL), working in partnership with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) developed an agreement to sample soils; teach local nationals about soil and water conservation, soil sampling, and techniques for ...

Jan. 12, 2010

By American Society of Agronomy

Scaling up conservation agriculture in Zambia

The European Union (EU), FAO and the Government of Zambia launched a four-year, €11 million programme to increase crop production and productivity of over 300 000 small-scale farmers by promoting practices based on conservation agriculture. The agricultural production of smallholder farmers in Zambia is most affected by soil degradation, high-input prices, poor produce markets and poor ...

Jun. 18, 2013

By Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Sustainable agricultural partnerships summit 2010

Senior executives from across the industry will provide practical outputs and best practices on how to manage infiltration and soil water storage, new irrigation technologies, carbon sequestration and traceability solutions among other areas. It"s also the only Summit of its kind specially designed to include the active participation from a diverse range of growers and small-scale suppliers. ...

May 19, 2010

By CSRwire - Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire

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