With all of the environmental and social problems confronting our food systems today, it is apparent that none of the strategies we have relied on in the pasthigher-yielding varieties, increased ...irrigation, inorganic fertilizers, pest damage reductioncan be counted on to come to the rescue. In fact, these solutions are now part of the problem. It i
The efficient use of water in agriculture is one of the most significant agricultural challenges that modern technologies are helping to cope with through Irrigation Advisory Services (IAS) and ...Decision Support Systems (DSS). These last are considered powerful management instruments able to help farmers achieve the best efficiency in irrigation water use and to increase their incomes through obtaining the highest possible crop yield. In this context, within the project “An advanced low cost system for farm irrigation support – LCIS” (a joint Italian-Israeli R&D project), a fully transferable DSS for irrigation support, based on three different methodologies representative of the state of the art in irrigation management tools (W-Tens, in situ soil sensor; IRRISAT®, remote sensing; W-Mod, simulation modelling of water balance in the soil-plant and atmosphere system), has been developed. These three LCIS-DSS tools have been evaluated, in terms of their ability to support the farmer in irrigation management, in a real applicative case study on maize grown on Andosols in a private farm in southern Italy in the 2018 season. The evaluation considered the predictive performance of the tools and also the pros and cons of their application, due their different spatial scale applicability, costs and complexity of use. The results have shown that all three approaches are able to realise the maximum obtainable maize production. However, the method based on in situ soil sensor (W-Tens) supplied 40% more water compared to the other two methods, whereas the IRRISAT® and W-Mod approaches represent the best solution in terms of irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). Moreover, IRRISAT® has the advantage of being able to work without soil spatial information, although unlike W-Tens both the latter methods need a high level of user expertise and consequently support of external service providers. Integration between different tools represents an opportunity for improved water use efficiency in agriculture (e.g., field sensors and remote sensing).
Display omitted
•LCIS irrigation tools achieve similar maize production with different water supply.•IRRISAT and W-Mod approaches are the best solution to save water.•Integration of W-Tens and IRRISAT approaches to irrigation support is reccomended.
Agribusiness undermines EU green policy Navarro, Alberto; Vicente López-Bao, José
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
2024-Apr-12, 2024-04-12, 20240412, Letnik:
384, Številka:
6692
Journal Article
This open access book presents the findings from on-site research into radioactive cesium contamination in various agricultural systems affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident ...in March 2011. This fourth volume in the series reports on studies undertaken at contaminated sites such as farmland and forests, focusing on soil, water, mountain, agricultural products, and animals. It also provides additional data collected in the subsequent years to show how the radioactivity levels in agricultural products and their growing environments have changed with time and the route by which radioactive materials entered agricultural products as well as their movement between different components (e.g., soil, water, and trees) within an environmental system (e.g., forests). The book covers various topics, including radioactivity testing of food products; decontamination trials for rice and livestock production; the state of contamination in, trees, mushrooms, and timber; the dynamics of radioactivity distribution in paddy fields and upland forests; damage incurred by the forestry and fishery industries; and the change in consumers’ attitudes. In the series of this book, a real-time radioisotope imaging system has been introduced, a pioneering technique to visualize the movement of cesium in soil and in plants. This is the only book to provide systematic data on the actual change of radioactivity, which is of great value to all researchers who wish to understand the effect of radioactive fallout on agriculture. In addition, it helps the general public better understand radio-contamination issues in the environment. The project is ongoing; the research groups from the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences of The University of Tokyo continue their work in the field further to evaluate the long-term effects of the Fukushima accident.
Precision agriculture (PA) technologies offer a potential solution to food security and environmental challenges but, will only be successful if adopted by farmers. Adoption in China lags behind that ...in some developed agricultural economies despite scientifically proven benefits of PA technologies for Chinese agriculture. Adoption is dependent on farmer attitudes and perceptions towards PA technologies. An exploratory qualitative study using in-depth interviews was conducted with Chinese arable farmers (n = 27) to explore their perceptions towards and adoption intentions of PA technologies in two Chinese provinces (Hebei and Shandong). A thematic analysis revealed five central themes to have emerged from the data, these were: “socio-political landscape”, “farming culture”, “agricultural challenges”, “adoption intentions (barriers/facilitators” and “practical support mechanisms”
.
All were likely to influence the level and rate of adoption of PA technologies amongst family farmers in China. The research revealed an openness to the potential of PA technologies amongst family farmers, although there was heterogeneity in the perceptions of PA technology and willingness to adopt. Improved rates of adoption will be achieved by reducing the barriers to adoption, including the need for low-cost PA applications that can be applied at small scale, improved information provision, financial support mechanisms including more accessible subsidies and credit, and reliable, regulated and affordable service provision.
•Compared to crop monocultures soil erosion rates were reduced by 50 % under agroforestry in <5 years.•Soil organic carbon increased by 21 % under agroforestry compared to crop monocultures.•Under ...agroforestry soil nitrogen storage and availability of soil inorganic N increased by 13 and 46 %, respectively.•Soil inorganic phosphorus increased by 11 % under agroforestry compared to crop monocultures.
Agroforestry has been increasingly recognized as a key example of agroecological praxis contributing to the sustainable intensification of food production while providing a number of additional benefits to society. However, a quantitative synthesis of the impact of agroforestry on soil health and associated ecosystem services in the humid and sub-humid tropics is still lacking. The objective of this study was to quantify the contribution of agroforestry practices to soil-mediated ecosystem services, specifically, regulation of soil erosion, storage of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N), availability of soil N and phosphorus (P) to crops, and alleviation of soil acidity across the humid and sub-humid tropics. The analysis demonstrated that agroforestry can reduce soil erosion rates by 50 % compared to crop monocultures. This finding is supported by higher infiltration rates, lower runoff, higher proportion of soil macroggregates, and greater stability of soil structure under agroforestry. SOC increased by 21 %, N storage increased by 13 %, available N by 46 % and available P by 11 % while soil pH increased by 2% under agroforestry compared to crop monocultures. We conclude that agroforestry can make significant contributions to provision of soil-mediated ecosystem services in the humid and sub-humid tropics.
Soil sensors and plant wearables play a critical role in smart and precision agriculture via monitoring real‐time physical and chemical signals in the soil, such as temperature, moisture, pH, and ...pollutants and providing key information to optimize crop growth circumstances, fight against biotic and abiotic stresses, and enhance crop yields. Herein, the recent advances of the important soil sensors in agricultural applications, including temperature sensors, moisture sensors, organic matter compounds sensors, pH sensors, insect/pest sensors, and soil pollutant sensors are reviewed. Major sensing technologies, designs, performance, and pros and cons of each sensor category are highlighted. Emerging technologies such as plant wearables and wireless sensor networks are also discussed in terms of their applications in precision agriculture. The research directions and challenges of soil sensors and intelligent agriculture are finally presented.
Recent advances of soil sensors for monitoring soil moisture, temperature, nutrition, pH value, insects/pests, and pollutants, as well as emerging plant wearables are reviewed. The designs, performance, and pros and cons of each sensor, manufacturing technology, and wireless sensor network for smart and precision agriculture are discussed. The research trends and challenges of smart agriculture systems are also presented.
In recent years, the use of substances of natural origin, such as botanical pesticides, has emerged as a preferred alternative to the use of synthetic pesticides, the excessive use of which has ...raised a lot of concern over safety to human/animal health and the environment. Recent developments in nanotechnology have opened up a new avenue for the development of more efficient formulations that can overcome many of the obstacles generally faced in their use in the field, such as loss of activity because of degradation, instability, volatilization, and so on. This Review discusses the key developments in this area, as well as the challenges in relation to nanoscale formulation of botanical pesticides. It presents an appraisal of the recent scientific research, along with an account of the products that have already reached the market. While it acknowledges the great potential of nanotechnology-derived formulations of botanical pesticides for increasing agricultural productivity and reducing health and the environmental impacts, it also highlights the technological challenges that must be addressed to enable adoption of the technology for wider use in agri-food production.
PDF
