Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (SANREM) Knowledgebase

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The Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (SANREM) Knowledgebase is a collection of information resources (books, reports, journal articles, videos, movies, presentations) produced or identified, classified, and summarized by SANREM researchers. This collection provides direct access or links to resources relevant to sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. - http://www.oired.vt.edu/sanremcrsp/professionals/knowledgebase/

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 155

Access to information and farmer's market choice: The case of potato in highland Bolivia
Amaya, Nadezda; Alwang, Jeffrey R. (2011)
Potato incomes are critical determinants of Andean farmers' household well-being. Efforts to improve incomes of producers should recognize the role of access to market information. In highland Bolivia, market information has entered the digital age. Cell phones are ubiquitous, and networks lubricated by cellular technologies are affecting traditional means of gathering information. Andean markets are characterized by the heavy involvement of women. Lower information costs could change market choices and roles of men and women. This study explores the effects of information access on market choice near Cochabamba. It diagnoses the roles of men and women and investigates decision-making and changes in it. The research confirms the importance of gender and cell phones to market access. Market decisions are made jointly by men and women, but women take a leading role in marketing. Women dominate marketing by negotiating favorable prices with buyers who are also women. Marketing networks have not changed substantially since the introduction of new information technologies. While cellular technology has broadened access to information and quickened its flow, it has not fundamentally changed network structures. The study provides recommendations about improving competitiveness of small-scale potato producers: (1) increasing access to information by expanding the information content of existing networks; (2) expanding cell phones access; (3) consideration of the important roles intermediaries play; and (4) more technical support for market and information access.
Accessing and sharing knowledge resources for soil health research in Africa
Fisher, L.; Chimwaza, G.; Kinyangi, James M. (International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists, 2008)
This journal article describes the importance of access to knowledge resources in Africa and its relation to soil health and productivity. Degraded farmland is becoming an issue in Africa and improving soil health will potentially increase agricultural yields. To address the improvement of soil health, this article explains the survey taken in 2007 which polled 73 respondents from 23 countries about their access to information, their use of libraries and networks, and knowledge pathways they think could be improved. Results show that it could be useful to increase internetwork links that share information effectively among scientists, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. These collaborative efforts, along with increasing network membership and providing cheap resource resources, could have positive effects on the soil health in Africa.
Adaptation to climate change in forest management
Spittlehouse, D. L.; Stewart, R. B. (Kamloops, BC: FORREX-Forest Research Extension Partnership, 2003)
Adaptation in forestry is sustainable forest management that includes a climate change focus. Climate change over the next 100 years is expected to have significant impacts on forest ecosystems. The forestry community needs to evaluate the long-term effects of climate change on forests and determine what the community might do now and in the future to respond to this threat. Management can influence the timing and direction of forest adaptation at selected locations, but in many situations society will have to adjust to however forests adapt. Adapting to climate change in the face of the uncertain timing of impacts means we must have a suite of readily available options. A high priority will be coping with and adapting to forest disturbance while maintaining the genetic diversity and resilience of forest ecosystems. A framework for facilitating adaptation in forestry is discussed and a review of adaptive actions presented.
Addressing management questions for Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania, using the Savanna modelling system
Boone, Randall B.; Coughenour, M.; Galvin, Kathleen A.; Ellis, J. (Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science Ltd, 2002)
Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), in northern Tanzania, is a multiple-use area of importance to Maasai pastoralists and wildlife conservation. We adapted the Savanna modelling system to the NCA, creating an Integrated Management and Assessment System that allows users to assess responses to alternative management actions. We used the system to conduct fifteen experiments reflecting potential management questions. Results suggest that: the distribution of rainfall throughout the year may have a greater impact on the ecosystem than its quantity; cattle may be near a carrying capacity determined not by forage limitations but because of disease risks; increasing survival and reducing disease in livestock yields greater returns than increasing birth rates; allowing livestock to graze in areas where they are currently excluded may lead to a slight increase in livestock populations, but sometimes leads to large declines in wildlife populations; few ecosystem effects were noted when households and cultivation were allowed to grow at 3% per year for 15 years; and when up to 5% of the study area was in cultivation, there were declines 16% in livestock and wildlife populations, except for elephants, which declined by 48%. Users may modify our experiments using tools we have developed, or address other NCA management questions.
Addressing the dimensions of transboundary water use: The Nile Basin Initiative
Küng, R. (Tokyo, Japan: United Nations University Press, 2003)
The catchment area of the Nile-the longest river in the world at 6695 km-links 10 African countries: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania (Figure 1). A treaty regulating water use was signed in 1929 (revised in 1959) between Egypt and Sudan, which greatly favors Egypt. But more and more water is being claimed by countries upstream. Altogether, some 300 million people share the water of the Nile. The question of use represents an enormous potential for conflict, and water issues are now being addressed by the Nile Basin Initiative.
Agricultural innovation platform as a tool for development oriented research: Lessons and challenges in the formation and operationalization
Tenywa, Moses M.; Tukarhirwa, K. P. C.; Bruchara, R.; Adekunle, A. A.; Mugabe, J.; Wanjiku, C.; Mutabazi, S.; Fungo, B.; Kashja, N. I. M.; Pali, P.; Mapatano, S.; Ngaboyisonga, C.; Farrow, A.; Njuki, N.; Abenakyo, A. (2011)
The emergence of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) presents an opportunity to address any development problem. It involves innovative principles and an integrated research agenda while recognizing the need for greater organizational capacities among stakeholders in agriculture. Operationalization of IAR4D revolves around successful establishment and operation of an Agricultural Innovation Platform (AIP). Agricultural Innovation Platforms are being implemented in Lake Kivu Pilot Learning Site (LKPLS) of the Sub Saharan Africa Challenge Programme, covering three countries (Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo) with widely differing social political environments to address agricultural development challenges. This paper presents the processes, general guidelines lessons and experiences pertaining to “good practices” for organising and forming AIPs in the LKPLS. The life of AIPs covers three phases, namely; preformation, formation and post formation. The lessons and experiences are shared across 6 stages of AIP formation, namely; Identification of a research and developmental challenge(s), Site selection, Consultative and scoping study, Visioning and Stakeholder analysis, Development of action plans and Implementation of the action plans. Emerging lessons highlight AIPs as grounds and pillars for multi-level, multi-stakeholder interactions to identify, understand and address a complex challenge, concomitant emerging issues and learning towards achieving the agreed vision. Agricultural Innovation Platform formation is a dynamic, highly context specific process that incorporates all essential ingredients for successful innovation at once and provides an opportunity for local innovations to bear while at the same time nourishing on introduced innovations. In AIP formation, the recognition and value of indigenous knowledge and capitalization on prevailing policy, institutional setting and involvement of local leadership is vital. The form, nature and time taken by AIP formation process depends on both the conceptual and local context, quality of facilitation, socio-economic, culture, biophysical, political environment in which a common challenge and/or opportunity is identified and on the capacity of stakeholders to comprehend the Innovation Systems Approach (ISA) The process of AIP formation was faster in creating win-wins when market led. Strong leadership, strategic partnership , information flow, interactions and dealing with recurrent challenges during the AIP formation process are critical in fostering innovations. The major challenges included capacitating the stakeholders in requisite skills and dealing with persistent “handout-syndrome”
An agro-pastoral household model for the rangelands of East Africa
Thornton, Philip K.; Galvin, Kathleen A.; Boone, Randall B. (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Science B.V., 2003)
East Africa contains areas with some of the greatest large mammal biodiversity on the planet. These areas are key natural resources for the economic development of the region. They are also key areas for pastoralists who have co-existed with wildlife for millennia. Increasing populations, conflicts between wildlife and cattle, and the growth of agriculture, are all placing great pressure on these lands. This paper describes the development of a pastoralist socio-economic model that is linked to the Savanna ecosystem model. In this way, options and scenarios could be investigated for their impacts not only on the ecosystem but also on pastoralist households and their welfare. The model, named PHEWS (Pastoral Household and Economic Welfare Simulator), tracks the flow of cash and dietary energy in pastoralist households using a simple set of rules. The model was calibrated for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), northern Tanzania. The results of two population increase scenarios are presented. Model results indicate that all households in NCA depend to some degree on outside sources of calories, and that pastoralist welfare in NCA, even with small amounts of agriculture allowed, is under severe pressure at current human population levels. Strengths and weakness of the model are discussed, and next steps in its application identified.
Ameliorating physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils in the tropics with charcoal: A review
Glaser, B.; Lehmann, Johannes; Zech, W. (Biology and Fertility of Soils, 2002)
Rapid turnover of organic matter leads to a low efficiency of organic fertilizers applied to increase and sequester C in soils of the humid tropics. Charcoal was reported to be responsible for high soil organic matter contents and soil fertility of anthropogenic soils (Terra Preta) found in central Amazonia. Therefore, we reviewed the available information about the physical and chemical properties of charcoal as affected by different combustion procedures, and the effects of its application in agricultural fields on nutrient retention and crop production. Higher nutrient retention and nutrient availability were found after charcoal additions to soil, related to higher exchange capacity, surface area and direct nutrient additions. Higher charring temperatures generally improved exchange properties and surface area of the charcoal. Additionally, charcoal is relatively recalcitrant and can therefore be used as a long-term sink for atmospheric CO2. Several aspects of a charcoal management system remain unclear, such as the role of microorganisms in oxidizing charcoal surfaces and releasing nutrients and the possibilities to improve charcoal properties during production under field conditions. Several research needs were identified, such as field testing of charcoal production in tropical agroecosystems, the investigation of surface properties of the carbonized materials in the soil environment, and the evaluation of the agronomic and economic effectiveness of soil management with charcoal.
Análisis de la viabilidad socio-económica y ambiental del sistema de producción papa-leche en la microcuenca del río Illangama-Ecuador
Barrera, Victor H.; Alwang, Jeffrey R.; Cruz Collaguazo, E. P. (Asociación Latinoamericana de Producción Animal, 2010)
De acuerdo al Índice de Necesidades Básicas Insatisfechas (NBI), en la microcuenca del río Illangama, alrededor del 76% de la población es pobre y sus ingresos están entre US$120 y 160 por mes, aún después de adoptar sistemas complejos con un alto potencial de producción. El más importante de ellos es el sistema papa-leche que aporta la mayor proporción de ingresos familiares y garantiza su seguridad alimentaria. Desde este punto de vista, se realizó un análisis de la viabilidad socio-económica y ambiental del sistema con el propósito de establecer su eficiencia y flexibilidad bajo nuevas condiciones. Este análisis se basa en la información compilada de diferentes fuentes, niveles y escalas, mediante estudios de campo, investigación experimental y observación de parcelas de productores. Los resultados evidencian que el sistema tiene el más alto potencial de productividad en el área y es viable adoptar porque incrementa la producción y los ingresos. Representa la mejor opción debido a que los productores disponen de los medios de producción y mano de obra familiar, lo cual permitirá que el sistema sea sostenible. Desde el punto de vista ambiental, si el sistema es manejado adecuadamente con la implementación de alternativas tecnológicas, amigables con el ambiente, detendría el avance de la frontera agrícola hacia áreas de páramo. El sistema es una opción que los gobiernos locales deberían impulsar para preservar el ecosistema páramo. (Resumen de autores)
Assessing socioeconomic impacts of climate change on U.S. forests, wood-product markets and forest recreation
Irland, L.; Adams, D.; Alig, R.; Betz, C.; Chen, Chi Chung; Hutchins, M.; McCarl, Bruce A.; Skog, K.; Sohngen, B. (Washington, D.C.: American Institute of Biological Sciences, 2001)
In this paper we discuss the problems of projecting social and economic changes affecting forests and review recent efforts to assess the wood-market impacts of possible climate changes. To illustrate the range of conditions encountered in projecting socioeconomic change linked to forests, we consider two markedly different uses: forest products markets and forest recreation. In the case of forest products, we use an existing forest-sector model to arrive at new simulation results concerning the impacts of climate change. The impact of climate change on recreation has received less attention; here we consider a case study of downhill skiing. Other important forest values were not treated explicitly in this research. Our primary emphasis is on methods and issues in the socioeconomic assessment process. Our efforts may be viewed as an exercise in human ecology, studying complex interactions between human societies and their forests. We close with suggestions for future research.
Assessing the relative quality of old-growth forest: An example from the Robson Valley, British Columbia
DeLong, S. C.; Burton, P. J.; Harrison, M. (Kamloops, BC: FORREX-Forest Research Extension Partnership, 2004)
Forest planners in British Columbia (Canada) are required to identify forests suitable for designation as Old-Growth Management Areas. However, the tools currently in use lack the ability to identify appropriate stands. In 2000, we examined the ecological attributes of older forest in the Robson Valley Forest District in east-central British Columbia. The purpose was to determine the old-growth habitat value of stands of different age classes and to develop field procedures for assessing the relative old-growth quality of stands. We examined the relationships between stand age (both photo-interpreted and field-estimated) and attributes normally associated with old forest; in particular, we evaluated the relationship between stand age and functionally important tree and coarse woody debris configurations. Results from a representative portion of our study identified several attributes that were generally more abundant in older stands. The results also demonstrated that stands less than 140 years old have poorly developed old-forest habitat attributes, whereas these attributes are consistently well developed in stands greater than 140 years old. Also, the significance of these same attributes increases only slightly with increasing stand age. We created a rank scoring system to help forestry practitioners assess old-forest stands, particularly in the Interior Cedar-Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone, in terms of their value as old-growth wildlife habitat.
Beyond Yield: Plant disease in the context of ecosystem services
Cheatham, M. R.; Rouse, M. N.; Esker, Paul D.; Ignacio, S.; Pradel, W.; Raymundo, R.; Sparks, Adam H.; Forbes, Gregory Allan; Gordon, T. R.; Garrett, Karen A. (2009)
The ecosystem services concept provides a means to define successful disease management more broadly, beyond short-term crop yield evaluations. Plant disease can affect ecosystem services directly, such as through removal of plants providing services, or indirectly through the effects of disease management activities, including pesticide applications, tillage, and other methods of plant removal. Increased plant biodiversity may reduce disease risk if susceptible host tissue becomes less common, or may increase risk if additional plant species are important in completing
A biologists' perspective on amalgamating traditional environmental knowledge and resource management
Hawley, A. W. L.; Sherry, E. E.; Johnson, C. J. (Kamloops, BC: FORREX-Forest Research Extension Partnership, 2004)
Recent transitions in resource management and recognition of the role of First Nations in resource management have heightened the need for conciliation of these two different views of the world and the place of people in it (world view). Efforts to amalgamate these diverse perspectives in resource management are impeded by a legacy of cultural imperialism and difficulties in understanding and accommodating differences in world views, including the place of resource management in society, the meanings and implications of incongruent language, the management of people and resources, and the characteristics of information and knowledge. We examine the consequences of each of these to the establishment of a unified management system that emphasizes points of commonality and is based on respect and communication.
Biomanipulation of lake ecosystems: An introduction
Kasprzak, P.; Benndorf, J.; Mehner, T.; Koschel, R. (Freshwater Biology 47(12): 2277-2281, 2002)
1. This paper is an introduction to a special issue of Freshwater Biology containing selected papers from an international symposium on Food Web Effects of Fish in Lake Ecosystems: Research Progress, Water Quality and Fisheries Management held from 31 May to 3 June 2000 in Rheinsberg, Germany. The primary goal of the workshop was to enlarge the current view of fish-induced effects on lake ecosystems. An additional goal was to promote biomanipulation as a multiple-use tool for managing freshwater ecosystems. 2. The three main topics addressed at the workshop were: (i) mechanisms involved in biomanipulation, (ii) whole-lake case studies and (iii) management aspects in water quality and fisheries. 3. Mortality of Daphnia, nutrient recycling, habitat selection and fish predation are reported as important mechanisms governing food-web effects as a result of biomanipulation. 4. Whole-lake case studies indicate that repeated fish removal can help improve water quality of shallow lakes, but successful biomanipulation of deep, thermally stratifying lakes remains difficult. 5. In many cases, biomanipulation of lakes has proved to provide benefits in addition to improving water quality. As all lake users are potentially affected when biomanipulation is used as a lake management tool their concerns need to be clearly recognised if biomanipulation is to be successful in practice.
The boundaries and limits of community management: Lessons from the water sector in Ghana
Doe, S.; Khan, M. Sohail (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004)
Community management, a central part of community development, has gained wide acceptance among service intermediaries as a result of the failure of the top-down approach to community development. Governmental policy instruments therefore aim at a bottom-up approach in basic service delivery such as health care, water supply and sanitation without adequate critique of the circumstances. Operationally, the extent to which community management can be inserted into development strategies has remained elusive with mixed and often costly results. This paper critically examines community management and suggests some recommendations to help service intermediaries in the application of community management in communities larger than rural villages.
Bowen Ratio Energy Balance Measurement of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Fluxes of No-Till and Conventional Tillage Agriculture in Lesotho
O'Dell, Deb; Sauer, Thomas J.; Hicks, Bruce B.; Lambert, Dayton M.; Smith, David R.; Bruns, Wendy A.; Basson, August; Marake, Makoala V.; Walker, Forbes; Wilcox, Michael D.; Eash, Neal S. (Open Journal of Soil Science, 2014)
Global food demand requires that soils be used intensively for agriculture, but how these soils are managed greatly impacts soil fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2). Soil management practices can cause carbon to be either sequestered or emitted, with corresponding uncertain influence on atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The situation is further complicated by the lack of CO2 flux measurements for African subsistence farms. For widespread application in remote areas, a simple experimental methodology is desired. As a first step, the present study investigated the use of Bowen Ratio Energy Balance (BREB) instrumentation to measure the energy balance and CO2 fluxes of two contrasting crop management systems, till and no-till, in the lowlands within the mountains of Lesotho. Two BREB micrometeorological systems were established on 100-m by 100-m sites, both planted with maize (Zea mays) but under either conventional (plow, disk-disk) or no-till soil management systems. The results demonstrate that with careful maintenance of the instruments by appropriately trained local personnel, the BREB approach offers substantial benefits in measuring real time changes in agroecosystem CO2 flux. The periods where the two treatments could be compared indicated greater CO2 sequestration over the no-till treatments during both the growing and non-growing seasons.
Can trade liberalization have environmental benefits in developing country agriculture? A Sri Lankan case study
Bandara, J.; Coxhead, Ian (New York, N.Y.: North Holland, 1999)
In this article, the authors discuss the impact of trade policy reforms and related policies on land allocation between several crops in an agricultural economy, with a focus on the degree of erosion caused by different crop types. The prediction of land use changes is complicated by the influence of the world market on agricultural exports and the policy distortions at the national level. Likewise, shifts in the agricultural sectors may have economy-wide repercussions through the factor and commodities markets. The authors quantify and evaluate the probable impacts of tariff reduction with an applied general equilibrium model in Sri Lanka. They also analyze the economic and environmental impact of technical progress in the cultivation of tea, a major agricultural export. Both lowering tariffs and enhancing technical progress increase the amount of land allocated to tea, which is environmentally and economically beneficial to Sri Lanka because tea is less erosive than most alternative crops.
Carbon stock and its compartments in a subtropical oxisol under long-term tillage and crop rotation systems
de Campos, B. H. C.; Amado, T. J. C.; Bayer, C.; da S. Nicoloso, R.; Fiorin, J. E. (Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência do Solo, 2011)
Soil organic matter (SOM) plays a crucial role in soil quality and can act as an atmospheric C-CO2 sink under conservationist management systems. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects (19 years) of tillage (CT-conventional tillage and NT-no tillage) and crop rotations (R0 - monoculture system, R1 - winter crop rotation, and R2 - intensive crop rotation) on total, particulate and mineral-associated organic carbon (C) stocks of an originally degraded Red Oxisol in Cruz Alta, RS, Southern Brazil. The climate is humid subtropical Cfa 2a (Köppen classification), the mean annual precipitation 1,774 mm and mean annual temperature 19.2°C. The plots were divided into four segments, of which each was sampled in the layers 0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, 0.10-0.20, and 0.20-0.30 m. Sampling was performed manually by opening small trenches. The SOM pools were determined by physical fractionation. Soil C stocks had a linear relationship with annual crop C inputs, regardless of the tillage systems. Thus, soil disturbance had a minor effect on SOM turnover. In the 0-0.30 m layer, soil C sequestration ranged from 0 to 0.51 Mg ha-1 yr-1, using the CT R0 treatment as base-line; crop rotation systems had more influence on soil stock C than tillage systems. The mean C sequestration rate of the cropping systems was 0.13 Mg ha-1 yr-1 higher in NT than CT. This result was associated to the higher C input by crops due to the improvement in soil quality under long-term no-tillage. The particulate C fraction was a sensitive indicator of soil management quality, while mineral-associated organic C was the main pool of atmospheric C fixed in this clayey Oxisol. The C retention in this stable SOM fraction accounts for 81 and 89% of total C sequestration in the treatments NT R1 and NT R2, respectively, in relation to the same cropping systems under CT. The highest C management index was observed in NT R2, confirming the capacity of this soil management practice to improve the soil C stock qualitatively in relation to CT R0. The results highlighted the diversification of crop rotation with cover crops as a crucial strategy for atmospheric C-CO2 sequestration and SOM quality improvement in highly weathered subtropical Oxisols. (Cab Abstracts)
Cariboo Forest Region: Part 2 of 3. Forest health stand establishment decision aids
Swift, K.; Turner, J.; Rankin, L. (Kamloops, BC: FORREX-Forest Research Extension Partnership, 2002)
This paper presents the Stand Establishment Decision Aid (SEDA) for the Cariboo Forest Region, British Columbia, Canada, for different forest health problems such as atropellis canker, laminated root rot, spruce/white pine terminal weevil, tomentosus root disease and Warren's root collar weevil. The first section of the forest health SEDA provides a hazard rating system that identifies the specific biogeoclimatic zone and subzone where the forest health problem can potentially occur. The second section outlines some possible silvicultural considerations that affect the host species. These considerations could be used to develop a management strategy, if one is required. The SEDA concludes with a resource section outlining where more information can be located.
Cariboo Forest Region: Part 2 of 3. Vegetation complex stand establishment decision aids
Swift, K.; Turner, J. (Kamloops, BC: FORREX Forest Research Extension Partnership, 2002)
This paper is the second in a three-part series which presents Stand Establishment Decision Aids (SEDA) for the Cariboo Forest Region, British Columbia, Canada. The vegetation complexes covered are: dry shrub, fireweed, mixed hardwood-shrub, and wet alder. For each vegetation complex, the first two sections of the SEDAs identify specific species concern that are found within the particular vegetation complex, and the geographic location of the complex in the forest region. The third section provides a treatment necessity rating system that identifies the specific biogeoclimatic zone, subzone and site series where the vegetation complex can potentially be considered a problem. The fourth section outlines some possible silvicultural considerations that affect the species growing within this complex. These consideration could be used to develop a management strategy, if one is required. The fifth section provides information on some of the important autoecological characteristics of the species occurring within this complex, followed by information on what roles and functions these species play in the ecosystem. The vegetation community response is recognized as a function of many factors; therefore, the vegetation complex SEDAs conclude with a resource section outlining where more information can be located.

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