Browsing by Author "Thomas, R."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Agropastoral systems for the tropical savannas of Latin America
    Guimaraes, E.; Sanz, J.; Rao, I.; Amezquita, M.; Amezquita, E.; Thomas, R. (International Center of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA), 2004)
    The savanna ecosystem of tropical Latin America (250 million hectares) is rapidly being incorporated into agricultural production, mostly monocropping and pastures, in response to population increase, demand for food, and, at the production level, demand for certain crops. In some savannas (e.g., the Brazilian Cerrados), such exploitation is degrading the land through erosion, soil compaction, loss of organic matter, inappropriate grazing, and pest and weed infestation at a rate of 2%-4% per year, which demonstrates unsustainability. This book presents agropastoral systems (zero and minimal cultivation, integration of crops and pastures) as alternatives to check the degradation of this tropical ecosystem throughout the entire region. Also described are the research, progress, and conclusions as expressed at meetings of the Agropastoral Network for the Savannas, held in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Bolivia between 1992 and 1996. Researchers, farmers, extension workers, students, and policy makers will all recognize the usefulness of this work.
  • Desertification, drought, poverty and agriculture: Research lessons and opportunities
    Winslow, M.; Shapiro, B. I.; Thomas, R.; Shetty, S. V. R. (Aleppo, Syria; Patancheru, India; and Rome, Italy: joint publication of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and the UNCCD Global Mechanism (GM), 2004)
    Desertification has been defined as the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas that results from a variety of factors including climate change and human activities such as deforestation, overgrazing of livestock, over cultivation, and irrigation practices. This report gives an historical overview of desertification, presents research priorities for reducing degradation of dryland areas, and relates progress that has been made in the drylands in the battle against desertification.
  • Nature's plow: Soil macroinvertebrate communities in the Neotropical savannas of Colombia
    Jimenez, J.; Thomas, R. (International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), 2001)
    This book compiles recent knowledge on soil macroinvertebrates, emphasizing the earthworms of the acid-soil savannas of Colombian Eastern Plains. An inventory of biological resources, including abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna, and their specific ecologies, were produced for natural and agricultural systems at "Centro Nacional de Investigacion Carimagua", together with an evaluation of the impact of those resources on soil and plants. In addition, the volume details the effects of the ecosystem engineers' functional group of earthworms on the soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. Options for conserving and using the biological resources found in soils under different land management practices are presented.