bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Soil quality: Attributes and relationship to alternative and sustainable agriculture
Authors: Parr J.F. , Papendick R.I. , Hornick S.B. , Meyer R.E. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractDifferent chemical, physical, and biological properties of a soil interact in complex ways that determine its potential fitness or capacity to produce healthy and nutritious crops. The integration of these properties andine resulting level of productivity often is referred to as “soil quality.” Soil quality can be defined as an inherent attribute of a soil that is inferred from its specific characteristics and observations (e.g., compactability, erodibility, and fertility). The term also refers to the soil's structural integrity, which imparts resistance to erosion, and to the loss of plant nutrients and organic matter. Soil quality often is related to soil degradation, which can be defined as the time rate of change in soil quality.Soil quality should not be limited to soil productivity, but should encompass environmental quality, human and animal health, and food safety and quality. There is inadequate reliable information on how changes in soil quality directly affect food quality, or indirectly affect human and animal health. In characterizing soil quality, biological properties have received less emphasis than chemical and physical properties, because their effects are difficult to measure, predict, or quantify. Improved soil quality often is indicated by increased infiltration, aeration, macropores, aggregate size, aggregate stability, and soil organic matter, and by decreased bulk density, soil resistance, erosion, and nutrient runoff. These are useful, but future research should seek to identify and quantify reliable and meaningful biological/ecological indicators of soil quality, such as total species diversity or genetic diversity of beneficial soil microorganisms, insects, and animals.Because these biological/ecological indexes of soil quality are dynamic, they will require effective monitoring and assessment programs to develop appropriate databases for research and technology transfer. We need to know how such indexes are affected by management inputs, whether they can serve as early warning indicators of soil degradation, and how they relate to the sustainability of agricultural systems.
International activities in assessing and monitoring soil degradation
Authors: Sanders D.W. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe problem of land degradation is not new, but never before has it been so widespread or affected the lives of so many people. The need for a global assessment of land degradation was highlighted by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. Since then, several attempts have been made to develop methodologies that will allow for systematic assessment and monitoring of global land degradation. Systematic work started in 1975, when FAO and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) collaborated in a study to develop a provisional method for soil degradation. This method was tested, and maps on a scale of 1:5,000,000 were produced for North Africa and the Near East. However, the method proved difficult to apply accurately, so this project was followed by another where the method was revised and refined in an effort to assess and map desertification. Again, problems were encountered because of the complexity of the subject and the lack of usable reliable data. More recently, ISRIC, using a simplified methodology and the assistance of some 250 scientists from around the world, has produced a world map of human induced soil degradation at a scale of approximately 1:10,000,000. Meanwhile, interest has been growing in the problem of nutrient depletion in developing countries and a study has been completed of N, P and K balances in the soils of 38 African countries. Although we still do not have an accurate assessment of global land degradation and no systematic monitoring is yet in place, these innovative studies have provided us with a sound basis for future work and have identified many of the practical problems of measuring land degradation, data collection and analysis that will have to be overcome before more accurate assessment and monitoring can be achieved.
Characterization of soil quality: Physical and chemical criteria
Authors: Arshad M.A. , Coen G.M. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe impact of soil degradation on human welfare and the global environment presents a major challenge. A significant decline in soil quality has occurred worldwide through adverse changes in its physical, chemical and biological attributes and contamination by inorganic and organic chemicals. There is a need to develop criteria to evaluate soil quality so that the progress of any corrective action required by the international community can be monitored.There currently are no generally accepted criteria to evaluate changes in soil quality. This lack impedes the design and evaluation of meaningful soil management programs. This paper examines the principal physical and chemical attributes that can serve as indicators of a change in soil quality under particular agroclimatic conditions. Proposed indicators include soil depth to a root restricting layer, available water-holding capacity, bulk density/penetration resistance, hydraulic conductivity, aggregate stability, organic matter, nutrient availability/retention capacity, pH, and where appropriate, electrical conductivity and exchangeable sodium. We also discuss the justification for selecting these key attributes, their measurement, critical limits for monitoring changes in soil productivity, and future research needs in soil quality.
Invertebrates as determinants and indicators of soil quality
Authors: Stork Nigel E. , Eggleton Paul 
Published: October 2009

AbstractInvertebrates are an integral part of soils and are important in determining the suitability of soils for the sustainable production of healthy crops or trees. We discuss the importance of the soil invertebrate fauna in relation to terrestrial habitats and global biodiversity as we understand it. We describe the role of the main invertebrate groups in soils, including earthworms, termites, springtails, and nematodes, and how they determine soil quality. Practical problems in dealing with the invertebrate fauna include sampling, taxonomy and availability of biological information on species. Various measures are available that use invertebrates to assess soil quality, each with its advantages and disadvantages. They include abundance, biomass, density, species richness, trophic/guild structure, food web structure, keystone species and ecosystem engineers. We propose the three most useful and practical of these as suitable to be combined with other biological (microbial) and non-biological (hydrological, physical, chemical) criteria into a single index of soil quality that might be used on a regional, if not international basis.
Advisory/oversight councils: An alternative approach to farmer/citizen participation in agenda setting at land-grant universities
Authors: Stevenson G. W. , Klemme Richard M. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractReviews of historical and organizational literature provide the backdrop for a general discussion of citizen input into land-grant universities and for a specific case study: the Citizens Advisory/Oversight Council of the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This strong citizens' council, established in 1989, took its form in response to institutionally structured fears among university personnel, on one hand, and farmers and citizen groups on the other. Each group's recognition that the other's concerns were legitimate led to an acceptable resolution. We describe the principal characteristics of the resulting successful CIAS Council that is composed of farmers and representatives of the state's environmental community. Such councils facilitate new approaches to integrating the craft and science of farming, and for linking the production side of agricultural systems with policy issues.
Farmer participation in research: A model for adaptive research and education
Authors: Gerber John M. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractMany farmers view with skepticism the dominant agricultural research and extension education model, in which new knowledge on f arming practices is developed by researchers and delivered through extension programs. The participatory research and education model is designed to support a shared vision of research and education as a learning process among partners working in community. The participatory model is offered as a way to achieve better communication and enhanced cooperation among farmers, researchers and extension educators.
Mandatory supply controls versus flexibility policy options for encouraging sustainable farming systems
Authors: Dobbs Thomas L. , Becker David L. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractWe analyzed two sets of farm policy options, representing different ideological approaches to government involvement in agriculture, to estimate their effects on the relative economic attractiveness of “sustainable” and “conventional” farming systems. The mandatory supply control approach, through strict acreage limitations on program crops, represents a strong government role in commodity supply management. The Normal Crop Acreage approach, on the other hand, allows farmers greater flexibility in deciding what crops to grow. We used economic models of five pairs of case study farms in different agroclimatic areas of South Dakota, covering corn-soybean, spring wheat, and winter wheat growing regions. Mandatory restrictions on the planted acreage of “program” crops, including soybeans, were found to favor the conventional systems, because they induced high prices for crops that predominate in conventional systems, especially com, soybeans, and wheat. In principle, however, mandatory acreage controls could require compliance with certain sustainable agriculture practices. Normal Crop Acreage (NCA) proposals can encourage greater use of sustainable farming systems. Where conventional corn and soybean production is relatively profitable, as in parts of eastern South Dakota, NCA options by themselves appear insufficient to induce changeovers to sustainable cropping systems. In wheat growing areas of northern and western South Dakota, however, where the two systems oflen are about equally profitable, NCA policies could promote sustainable systems, particularly if deficiency payments are not reduced for harvesting legumes and other non-program crops on NCA base. To have this positive effect, NCA policies must be introduced gradually and structured to limit adverse effects on the markets for legumes and other non-program crops that are important in sustainable rotations.
A compendium of crop varietal tolerance to weeds
Authors: Callaway M. Brett 
Published: October 2009

AbstractGenetic improvements in crop tolerance to diseases, insects, and other stresses have reduced or eliminated applications of pesticides and other inputs for many crops. However, little work has been done to examine the potential for increasing levels of tolerance to weeds, even though herbicides account for 69% of the pesticides used in the United States eachyear. This paper documents thatfor all 21 crops examined, varieties differ in their tolerance of non-parasitic weeds. Characteristics influencing varietal tolerance to weeds are summarized.
What will be required to guarantee the sustainability of U.S. agriculture in the 21st century?
Authors: Dicks Michael R. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe increased effort by Congress to reduce agriculture's adverse consequences on the environment has been focused almost entirely on changing agricultural production practices at the farm level Because the agricultural sector is highly integrated, attempts to change a specific industry within the sector, such as production, input supply, or processing, may have undesirable effects. Programs designed to achieve society's environmental objectives by forcing change in agricultural production practices will lead to increased frustration, new programs and regulations, and further conflict between society and farmers. To guarantee sustainability of U.S. agriculture into the next century, efforts to incorporate new social needs into production agriculture should include changes in the research agendas of public and private institutions, marketing grades and standards, and the institutions that support the agricultural producer.
Comparison of alternative farming systems. I. Infiltration techniques
Authors: Logsdon S.D. , Radke J.K. , Karlen D.L. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractQuantitative data are needed to understand how alternative farming practices affect surface infiltration of water and associated surface soil properties. We used a rainfall simulator, double ring infiltrometer, small single ring infiltrometers, and tension infiltrometers to measure water infiltration for Clarion loam (fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludoll) and for Webster silty clay loam (fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Haplaquoll) soils located on a conventionally-managed and an alternatively-managed farm in central Iowa. Steady-state measurements suggested that infiltration rates were somewhat higher for the alternative farming system. Bulk densities were sometimes lower, and volume of large pores was a little higher for the alternative farming system. Small single rings were more reproducible than rainfall simulators or double ring infiltrometers, and data trends were the same as for rainfall simulators.
Managing interference in a sweet corn-white clover living mulch system
Authors: Fischer Albert , Burrill Larry 
Published: October 2009

AbstractLiving mulches are vegetative covers that can be grown in association with row crops to reduce soil erosion, improve trafficability and suppress weeds. Interference by the living mulch can reduce yields of an associated crop. The interference between a white clover (Trifolium repensL. ‘New Zealand’) living mulch and sweet corn (Zea maysL. ‘Golden Jubilee’) was studied using an established clover sward that was mowed and then sprayed with 1 to 1.5 kg ai/ha of atrazine. Corn was planted at different densities and planting arrangements into a narrow band tilled in the clover. Interference by clover reduced corn yields by 12 to 39%. However, when corn row width was reduced from 0.76 to 0.38 m, competition among corn plants declined; they became more vigorous and clover- suppress ive and reached even higher yields than conventional (no mulch) corn in 0.76 m rows. Similarly, sweet corn planted at a range of densities into a clover mulch killed by atrazine yielded more in equidistant planting than in wide (0.76 m) rows. A near equidistant corn planting arrangement can be a low-input alternative to achieve season-long clover suppression and thus minimize clover's competition with the intercropped corn.
Cereal and wool production in the Esperance Sandplain area of Western Australia: The need for a systems approach for sustainable agriculture
Authors: Fulton Murray 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe problems facing farmers in the Esperance Sandplain region of Western Australia—salinity, herbicide resistance, wind erosion, and plant disease—are highly interrelated. Unless the biological, economic and social aspects of the problems are examined in an integrated way, no sustainable system will be found. Similarly, agricultural teaching and research must become much more integrated if they are to address agricultural and environmental problems satisfactorily. This will require changes in the structure of university and research institutions and in the rewards for research and teaching.
Environment-friendly swine feed formulation to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus excretion
Authors: Honeyman Mark S. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractThe nutrient composition of swine excreta can be altered by manipulating the composition of the pig's diet Several approaches are reviewed: feeding according to the pig's growth phase, formulation according to the feed's digestible amino acids, use of crystalline amino acids, the ideal protein approach, formulation according to available phosphorus, and the addition ofphytase enzymes. Each has the potential to lower nitrogen or phosphorus excretion levels. Together they can dramatically reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus concentration of swine manure, which could be a major advantage in regions with a high density of swine or for swine operations with limited access to arable land. However, the value of the swine manure would be much less as a fertilizer because these two elements are important plant nutrients.
Creating a farmer sustainability index: A Malaysian case study
Authors: Taylor Donald C. , Mohamed Zainal Abidin , Shamsudin Mad Nasir , Mohayidin Mohd Ghazali , Chiew Eddie F.C. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractIn on-farm studies of sustainable agriculture, farmers often have been classified as sustainable according to their organizational affiliation; self identification; or use or non-use of a particular production practice or input, usually synthetic chemicals. Because this is a great oversimplification, researchers recently have been incorporating several dimensions of sustainability into a composite measure. Typically this is a relative measure of sustainability, with scores assigned by comparing individual farmers' practices to those used by all farmers. In contrast, in the farmer sustainability index (FSI) presented here, practices are scored according to their inherent sustainability. We report on the development of an FSI in a case study involving 33 production practices used by 85 cabbage farmers in Malaysia. We describe its underlying principles, the procedure and rationale for scoring each sustainability item, and the result of combining the constituent items into a composite index.
Innovative approaches for integrated research and educational programs
Authors: Bezdicek David F. , DePhelps Colette 
Published: October 2009

AbstractOver the past half century, American agricultural productivity has increased while the number of full time farmers and rural populations have decreased. Although most people believe we have a safe, nutritious, and affordable food supply, the high level of productivity has had negative impacts on the environment and rural communities and has increased farmers' dependence on purchased inputs. As Americans become more concerned about food safety and the environment, a new paradigm for American agriculture is emerging. This new alternative agriculture takes an ecological approach to food production. The challenge facing the land-grant university system is how to answer questions about sustainable agricultural systems, maintain productivity and respond to the needs and concerns of their broadened clientele. Whole farm case studies, focus groups, farm improvement clubs, on-farm research, field-size research trials, and whole farm comparisons are new qualitative and quantitative methods for interdisciplinary research and education. These methods integrate biological and social strategies and bring community members into the research and education process. When these groups work together, questions critical to maintaining the long-term sustainability and productivity of agricultural systems can be answered.
Will there be people in sustainable ecosystems? Designing an educational mosaic for the 22nd century
Authors: Francis Charles , King James 
Published: October 2009

AbstractUnlike other creatures, humans have the unique ability to delay their own extinction. We can store, analyze and transmit information to the next generations, and education helps us adapt to varied ecological situations. Looking beyond the 21st century to a post-industrial society where biological systems will emerge as the most renewable and sustainable activities on the planet, we need educational systems to prepare creative problem solvers who can confront and adapt to change and be willing to move toward lifelong growth and learning. Students need to understand the complexity of biological systems and the importance of connectedness. We need to educate them about watersheds and ecosystems, about the roles of a wide range of species and how they interact, and about long-term sustainability. Some programs already involve interactive student activities, case studies, and real world examples, and have empowered students to formulate their own approaches to challenges. A new initiative in the North Central region includes a structured experiential program in practical agroecosystem studies that taps into the technical and financial resources in the region's 12 land-grant universities and other organizations. In the future, we will need to forge more linkages between education and research, understand the impacts of alternative strategies for food production and other human needs, and search for ways to empower people to pursue their own educational agendas. This approach should include a mosaic of educational opportunities that will promote the survival of our species beyond the 22nd century.
Farmer initiated on-farm research
Authors: Rosmann Ronald L. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractPractical Farmers of Iowa was founded in 1985 to help farmers generate and share information on environmentally sound farming methods. Its on-farm research trials allow farmers to do statistically valid comparisons of competing techniques, such as different weed control methods. However, sustainable agriculture means more than providing farmers with adequate information about appropriate techniques. It also requires policies that reward farmers for adopting sustainable methods and that support rural community well-being.
Case studies of integrated/whole farm system designs: Field-scale replicated IPM trials
Authors: Young Frank L. , Ogg Alex G. , Papendick Robert I. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractA 6-yr interdisciplinary field project using large plots was initiated in 1985 to assist Pacific Northwest growers in developing an integrated pest management system to control weeds, reduce erosion and grow crops profitably. Run by a network of 10 to 14 scientists from eight disciplines supported by five agencies, the project showed that wellmanaged conservation tillage systems had a higher average profit and lower economic risk than traditional conventionally tilled systems. Information was disseminated successfully to user groups by field days, plot tours and an educational video. Organizational strategies included an interdisciplinary design with three levels of objectives. Cooperating scientists were invited to participate in writing the proposal and followed strict field protocols and attended mandatory organizational meetings. This long-term study used large machinery, went beyond the transitional stage and allowed treatments to mature. Limitations included the restricted number of experimental variables, the location of the plots, the large labor force required, and publication decisions.