The purpose of this study was to investigate the extract of Catalpa bignonioides plants and characterize novel natural cellulosic fibers from the fruits as an alternative material for sustainable ...products. The Catalpa bignonioides tree contains pharmacologically active compounds and is found all over the world. The sustainable natural fibers were easily extracted in an environmentally friendly manner from the fruits of the plant and characterized in terms of their chemical, thermal, and physical properties. The Catalpa bignonioides fibers (CBF) were composed of cellulose (58.3%), hemicellulose (3.1%), and lignin (38.6%) and had a low density (0.713 g/cmsup.3). Fourier transform (FT-IR) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were used to search for the chemical groups, crystalline structures, and surface morphology of the CBF fibers. The results suggest that CBF fibers are a suitable alternative for composite and textile applications.
A systematic review has been done to collate all empirical evidence in order to answer a question regarding the development of ecofriendly farming. This farming system nowadays has been developed in ...order to overcome the negative impact of the application of green revolution technology. As we know, green revolution technology need more chemical inputs to double crop productions, which causes a negative impact on resources, a decrease in crops production, an increase pests and diseases, high residues of inorganic inputs, environmental unbalance and problem for human health. Several studies have proven that the application of organic farming can significantly improve land productivity and reducing the use of chemical inputs. This means that organic farming is a solution for sustainable agricultural development by utilizing renewable resources, avoiding the use of chemical inputs, improving land ecosystems, and maintaining environmental quality. In sustainable agriculture development, integration of livestock and crops is common, where organic waste from livestock and plants is used as organic fertilizer. All these need to be an aspiration as a policy step to build environmentally friendly agriculture towards organic.
Investigating the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factors (VFs) within soil microbial communities is crucial for understanding microbial ecology and the evolution of antibiotic ...resistance. However, the study of ARGs, VFs, and their predominant microbial hosts in soils under varying rice production management practices remains largely underexplored. To this end, a three-year field experiment was conducted under organic management within a double rice cropping system in South China. The study revealed that, in contrast to conventional management (CK), organic farming practices did not significantly alter the total reads of ARGs and VFs. However, there was a notable alteration in the ARGs abundance at the antibiotic class level, such as an increase (P < 0.05) in the abundance of Multidrug ARGs (by 1.7 %) and a decrease (P < 0.05) in Rifamycin (by 17.5 %) and Fosfomycin ARGs (by 15.3 %). Furthermore, a significant shift in VFs was observed under organic farming compared to CK, characterized by an increase (P < 0.05) in offensive VFs and a decrease (P < 0.05) in nonspecific VFs and the regulation of virulence-associated genes. Key microbial taxa identified as influencing ARGs and VFs in the tested soil samples, e.g., Proteobacteria. The findings highlight the need for more detailed attention to soil ecology within organic rice production systems in South China, particularly concerning the significant alterations observed in ARGs and VFs.
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•Soil ARGs and VFs were determined after 3 year of organic farming management.•Organic farming did not alter the total number of gene reads of ARGs and VFs.•Organic farming altered several specific ARGs and VFs.•Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi are important in influencing ARGs and VFs functions.
Faunal-mediated nutrient cycling, especially N mineralization, has the potential to make a significant contribution to nutrient supply to crop plants in production systems involving e.g. green manure ...cover crops. We investigated the effects of enchytraeids on N mineralization from mung bean residues in microcosm experiments using an organically-farmed soil with an inherently large population of enchytraeids. Enchytraeids promoted N mineralization by 23% after a distinct lag of between four and 12 weeks, concomitant with a substantial increase in population size followed by an almost complete collapse. Nitrogen release from the necromass would have contributed a small but significant fraction of the N mineralized, and the result suggested the presence of other mechanisms. Enchytraeids suppressed nematode populations, while did not affect the mean weight diameter (MWD) of soil aggregates, although mung bean residues increased MWD. We conclude that enchytraeids have potential to play significant roles in mediating N supply to crops but matching supply-and-demand periods may be challenging.
•Enchytraeids promoted N mineralization from crop residue by 23%.•Their stimulatory effects were seen after 12 weeks, but not four weeks of incubation.•16% of N mineralization was caused by decomposition of dead enchytraeids.
Although organic farming and agroecology are normally not associated with the use of new technologies, it’s rapid growth, new technologies are being adopted to mitigate environmental impacts of ...intensive production implemented with external material and energy inputs. GPS, satellite images, GIS, drones, help conventional farming in precision supply of water, pesticides, fertilizers. Prescription maps define the right place and moment for interventions of machinery fleets. Yield goal remains the key objective, integrating a more efficient use or resources toward an economic-environmental sustainability. Technological smart farming allows extractive agriculture entering the sustainability era. Societies that practice agroecology through the development of human-environmental co-evolutionary systems represent a solid model of sustainability. These systems are characterized by high-quality agroecosystems and landscapes, social inclusion, and viable economies. This book explores the challenges posed by the new geographic information technologies in agroecology and organic farming. It discusses the differences among technology-laden conventional farming systems and the role of technologies in strengthening the potential of agroecology. The first part reviews the new tools offered by geographic information technologies to farmers and people. The second part provides case studies of most promising application of technologies in organic farming and agroecology: the diffusion of hyperspectral imagery, the role of positioning systems, the integration of drones with satellite imagery. The third part of the book, explores the role of agroecology using a multiscale approach from the farm to the landscape level. This section explores the potential of Geodesign in promoting alliances between farmers and people, and strengthening food networks, whether through proximity urban farming or asserting land rights in remote areas in the spirit of agroecological transition. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons 4.0 license.
Today, there is an ongoing debate about the environmental sustainability of the products of organic farming. To compare the performance of conventional and organic farming systems regarding ...environmental impact and productivity, the comprehensive environmental assessment tool ‘life cycle assessment’ can be used. The lower crop yields attained by organic systems compared to conventional farming systems might, however, outweigh the benefits of the use of more environmental-friendly practices when evaluating the environmental impact per product unit. Although these practices are beneficial for the environment, which is reflected in the delivery of a range of ecosystem services (ES), the focus is traditionally put only on the (harvested) product. Because the agricultural product involves actually a bundle of ES, the impact should be allocated among the whole output of an agricultural system. In this study, we propose an allocation procedure based on the capacity of agricultural systems to deliver ES to divide the environmental impact over all agricultural outputs (i.e. provisioning and other ES). Allocation factors are developed for conventional and organic arable farming systems. Applying these allocation factors, we demonstrate that for about half of the studied food products (including maize, potato), organic farming has clear environmental benefits in terms of resource consumption in comparison to conventional cultivation methods. This allocation approach allows a more complete comparison of the environmental sustainability of organically and conventionally produced food.
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•LCA does not account for all ecosystem services (ES) supplied by agroecosystems.•This leads to varying LCA results when comparing organic and conventional food.•The environmental impact should be allocated among all ES supplied by agroecosystems.•An allocation approach based on the capacity to deliver ES is proposed.•The approach allows to compare the impact of conventional and organic food systems.
Microorganisms play a key role in nutrient cycling in agriculture and can contribute to improve soil quality and enhance crop production. Thus, there is a need to identify the most suitable ...management practices which foster increases in soil microbial biomass and diversity. A meta-analysis was performed to assess changes in microbial abundance in agricultural soils affected by: (i) management practices (tillage, fertilization and crop diversification); and (ii) environmental factors, including climate characteristics and soil properties. The scope of the meta-analysis was to evaluate whether microbial abundances are affected or not by organic fertilization or no fertilization, crop diversification (intercropping and crop rotations) and conservation tillage (reduced tillage/no-tillage) as an alternative to intensive conventional monocultures in agriculture. Only papers showing data on phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), providing indicators about soil microbial (total PLFA), fungal and bacterial biomass reached a critical mass to perform the meta-analysis. Therefore, soil microbial diversity could not be analyzed considering different management practices. Results showed that intercropping and crop rotations only significantly increased the abundance of fungi, with the corresponding increase in the fungal-to-bacterial ratio. Organic fertilization contributed to significant increases in bacterial and fungal abundance and total PLFA compared to mineral fertilization. Contrarily, the lack of fertilization negatively affected total PLFA, with no significant effect on bacterial and fungal abundances. Reduced tillage significantly increased total PLFA, fungal and bacterial abundances compared to conventional tillage, while no tillage had only a positive effect on fungi. Thus, as a general pattern, the adoption of sustainable management practices, mostly organic fertilization and reduced tillage, has overall positive effects on soil total microbial, fungal and bacterial abundance. These variables were not related to soil physicochemical properties and climatic factors, suggesting a positive global effect of sustainable management practices on soil microbial abundances. Thus, this study shows new insights by a meta-analysis of global studies about the effect of sustainable management practices on soil microbial abundances, needed for land-managers, policy-makers and farmers to select sustainable cropping systems that enhance microbial abundance.
•A meta-analysis was performed to assess microbial abundance in agricultural soils.•Sustainable management practices were assessed as alternative to conventional ones.•Only studies dealing with PLFAs provided indicators about soil microbial abundance.•Sustainable management practices had positive effects on soil microbial abundance.•Soil physicochemical properties and climatic factors did not affect the results.
The key objective of the study was to determine the extent of attitude of the women farmers towards organic farming. The study was conducted in two union of Nilphamari Sadar upazila such as Lakshmi ...Chap and Palashbari under Nilphamari district. Total 100 women farmers were selected from the study area as the population and random sample techniques was used to comprised of 80 constituted the sample of the study. Data were collected by a pre-tested interview schedule during 25 April to 25 May 2020. Simple and direct questions with different scales were used to obtain information. Attitude of the women farmers towards organic farming was measured by Likert scale. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression was used for analysis. Slightly above three-fifths (63.7 percent) of the women farmers had moderately favorable attitude towards organic farming while 21.3 percent slightly favorable attitude and 15.0 percent of women farmers under highly favorable attitude towards organic farming. It is noticed that the majority (85.0 percent) of the women farmers showed slightly favorable to moderately favorable attitude towards organic farming. Educational qualification, training experience, and access to extension contact of the respondents had significant positive contribution with their attitude towards organic farming. The most important problem (77.50 percent) faced by the women farmers was “higher amount of insect pest and diseases”. The foremost (67.50 percent) suggestion offered by the women farmers was “Developing organic pesticide company through private and government initiatives”.
Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 12(1): 174-181, June 2022
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