ICCA Glossary
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Rice, Technology, and History: the Case of China
RICE, TECHNOLOGY, AND HISTORY The Case of China By Francesca Bray Wet-rice farming systems have a logic of technical and economic evolution that is distinctively different from the more familiar Western pattern of agricultural development. The well-documented history of rice farming in China provides an opportunity for students to reassess some commonly held ideas about tech- nical efficiency and sustainable growth. rom 1000 to 1800 CE China was the world’s most populous state and its most powerful and productive economy. Rice farming was the mainstay of this empire. Rice could be grown successfully in only about half of the territory, in the south- F ern provinces where rainfall was abundant. There it was the staple food for all social classes, landlords and peasants, officials and artisans alike. The more arid climate in the north was not suited to rice; northern farmers grew dry-land grains like wheat, millet, and sorghum for local consumption. But the yields of these grains were relatively low, whereas southern rice farming produced sufficient surpluses to sustain government and commerce throughout China. Vast quantities of rice were brought north to provision the capital city— home to the political elite, the imperial court, and all the state ministries—and to feed the huge armies stationed along the northern frontier. People said that the north was like a lazy brother living off the generosity of his hard-working and productive southern sibling. Thou- sands of official barges carried rice from Jiangnan to the capital region along the Grand Canal, and more rice still was transported north in private ships along the coast (fig. -
Green Manure Cover Crops
Green Manure Cover Crops By David Blood, Alameda County Master Gardener utumn is in the air so it’s time for Bay Area gardeners to think about a winter Acrop. Here we can plant lettuce, peas, turnips, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley, potatoes, onions, garlic and many more vegetables in the fall. If you’ve a garden like mine, four plots double-dug and based on the bio-intensive system, your soil is tired. After a long summer season, a minimum of 1 inch of good home-made compost is in order. Two inches would be even better. If you’re like me, the Gardener is also tired after a long summer season. But if the garden is not replenished and just left fallow through the winter, there will be problems in the spring. The garden will still need compost and be overrun with weeds. Is there another route? Yes there is. A crop can be planted anytime root penetration and a grass or cereal crop in the fall which will choke out weeds and for bio mass and root penetration. I get a soil add both nitrogen and vegetable matter to builder mix that has two vetches, two peas the soil. The legume family, which includes and oats but there are other combinations beans and peas (plus a few plants we don’t generally available in most garden centers.. eat like vetches and clover) has the ability to fix nitrogen from the air. The crop is easy to plant. After clearing the garden, scatter the seed per the directions When the plants die, that nitrogen becomes and turn over the first few inches of soil. -
How to Manage Weeds in Maize for High Yields
7. Integrated weed management Two or more of the above methods are used in combination to manage weeds with resultant ecological as well as social -economic benefits. REMEMBER How to manage weeds To achieve high and good quality yields, timeliness and cost effectiveness are crucial for every weed control in maize for high yields option. Kenya Agricultural Research Institute P.O. Box 57811-00200, NAIROBI. Tel: 254-20-4183301-20, FAX 254-20-4183344 Email: [email protected] Website: www. kari.org Compiled by: Mwangi, H.W. For more information contact: Good maize yields Centre Director, KARI Kabete P.O Box 14733-00800, Nairobi. Tel: (020) 4444144 KARI information brochure series / 8 /2008 Ksh. 20 Introduction 2. Hand weeding 5. Plant residue mulches Competition between maize and weeds can cause total This is done using various tools like hoes, knives and These are crop residues that are used to cover the crop loss depending on several weed factors. ploughs. Two weedings between the 2nd and 7th spaces between the growing crops. week after germination are often adequate for maize These factors include: depending on the agro eco zone. This method is not common due to a shortage of crop residues and destruction by termites. i) Type of weeds which may be This should be:- • Grass or broad leafed • First weeding at 2-3 weeks • Free living or parasitic 6. Chemical weed control (Herbicides) • Second one at 6-7 weeks after emergence. • Weed life cycle (Annual (1yr), Biennial (2yrs) These are chemicals that kill weeds. They exist in form perennial (>2yrs)) weed. -
Safe Use of Wastewater in Agriculture: Good Practice Examples
SAFE USE OF WASTEWATER IN AGRICULTURE: GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES Hiroshan Hettiarachchi Reza Ardakanian, Editors SAFE USE OF WASTEWATER IN AGRICULTURE: GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES Hiroshan Hettiarachchi Reza Ardakanian, Editors PREFACE Population growth, rapid urbanisation, more water intense consumption patterns and climate change are intensifying the pressure on freshwater resources. The increasing scarcity of water, combined with other factors such as energy and fertilizers, is driving millions of farmers and other entrepreneurs to make use of wastewater. Wastewater reuse is an excellent example that naturally explains the importance of integrated management of water, soil and waste, which we define as the Nexus While the information in this book are generally believed to be true and accurate at the approach. The process begins in the waste sector, but the selection of date of publication, the editors and the publisher cannot accept any legal responsibility for the correct management model can make it relevant and important to any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, expressed or the water and soil as well. Over 20 million hectares of land are currently implied, with respect to the material contained herein. known to be irrigated with wastewater. This is interesting, but the The opinions expressed in this book are those of the Case Authors. Their inclusion in this alarming fact is that a greater percentage of this practice is not based book does not imply endorsement by the United Nations University. on any scientific criterion that ensures the “safe use” of wastewater. In order to address the technical, institutional, and policy challenges of safe water reuse, developing countries and countries in transition need clear institutional arrangements and more skilled human resources, United Nations University Institute for Integrated with a sound understanding of the opportunities and potential risks of Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources wastewater use. -
Principles of Sustainable Weed Able Weed
PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE WEED MANAGEMENT FOR CROPLANDS AGRONOMY SYSTEMS SERIES Abstract: To some extent, weeds are a result of crop production, but to a larger extent they are a consequence of management decisions. Managing croplands according to nature’s principles will reduce weed problems. And while these principles apply to most crops, this publication focuses on agronomic crops such as corn, soybeans, milo, and small grains. The opportunities to address the root causes of weeds are not always readily apparent, and often require some imagination to recognize. Creativity is key to taking advantage of these opportunities and devising sustainable cropping systems that prevent weed problems, rather than using quick-fix approaches. Annual monoculture crop production generally involves tillage that creates conditions hospitable to many weeds. This publication discusses several alternatives to conventional tillage systems, including allelopathy, intercropping, crop rotations, and a weed- free cropping design. A Resources list provides sources of further information. By Preston Sullivan boundaries within which we operate and the NCAT Agriculture Specialist rules for success within those boundaries. September 2003 The “weed control” paradigm is reactive— it addresses weed First, Free Your Brain problems by using As Iowa farmer Tom Frantzen poetically states: various tools and tech- “Free your brain and your behind will follow.” nologies. “How am I What Tom is referring to is discovering new para- gonna get rid of this vel- digms. Joel Barker, author of Paradigms—The vet-leaf?” and “How do Business of Discovering the Future (1), defines a I control foxtail?” are re- paradigm as a set of standards that establish the active statements. -
PHOTOSYNTHESIS • Life on Earth Ultimately Depends on Energy Derived from the Sun
Garden of Earthly Delights or Paradise Lost? [email protected] Old Byzantine Proverb: ‘He who has bread may have troubles He who lacks it has only one’ Peter Bruegel the Elder: The Harvest (1565) (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. USA) PHOTOSYNTHESIS • Life on earth ultimately depends on energy derived from the sun. • Photosynthesis by green plants is the only process of Sucrose biological importance that can capture this energy. Starch Proteins • It provides energy, organic matter and Oils oxygen, and is the only sustainble energy source on our planet. WE DEPEND TOTALLY ON PLANTS TO SUSTAIN ALL OTHER LIFE FORMS 1 Agriculture the most important event in human history Agriculture critical to the future of our planet and humanity Agriculture is part of the knowledge based bio-economy of the 21st century Each Year the World’s Population will Grow by about ca. 75 Million People. The world population has doubled in the last 50 years 2008 Developing countries 1960 10% of the Population Lives 1927 on 0.5% of the World’s Income Developed countries 2 Four innovations brought about change in agriculture in the twentieth century.What are the innovations which will change agriculture in this century? Mechanisation: Tractors freed up perhaps 25 % of extra land to grow human food instead of fodder for draught horses and oxen; • Fertilisers: Fritz Haber’s 1913 invention of a method of synthesising ammonia transformed agricultural productivity, so that today nearly half the nitrogen atoms in your body were ‘fixed’ from the air in an ammonia factory, not in a soil bacterium; • Pesticides: Chemicals derived from hydrocarbons enabled farmers to grow high-density crops year after year without severe loss to pests and weeds; • Genetics: In the 1950s Norman Borlaug crossed a variety of dwarf wheat, originally from Japan, with a different Mexican strain to make dwarf wheats that responded to heavy fertilisation by producing more seeds, not longer stalks. -
Choosing a Soil Amendment Fact Sheet No
Choosing a Soil Amendment Fact Sheet No. 7.235 Gardening Series|Basics by J.G. Davis and D. Whiting* A soil amendment is any material added not be used as a soil amendment. Don’t add Quick Facts to a soil to improve its physical properties, sand to clay soil — this creates a soil structure such as water retention, permeability, water similar to concrete. • On clayey soils, soil infiltration, drainage, aeration and structure. Organic amendments increase soil amendments improve the The goal is to provide a better environment organic matter content and offer many soil aggregation, increase for roots. benefits. Over time, organic matter improves porosity and permeability, and To do its work, an amendment must be soil aeration, water infiltration, and both improve aeration, drainage, thoroughly mixed into the soil. If it is merely water- and nutrient-holding capacity. Many and rooting depth. buried, its effectiveness is reduced, and it will organic amendments contain plant nutrients interfere with water and air movement and and act as organic fertilizers. Organic matter • On sandy soils, soil root growth. also is an important energy source for amendments increase the Amending a soil is not the same thing bacteria, fungi and earthworms that live in water and nutrient holding as mulching, although many mulches also the soil. capacity. are used as amendments. A mulch is left on the soil surface. Its purpose is to reduce Application Rates • A variety of products are available bagged or bulk for evaporation and runoff, inhibit weed growth, Ideally, the landscape and garden soils and create an attractive appearance. -
Green Manures
GREEN MANURES A review conducted by HDRA as part of HDC Project FV 299: An investigation into the adoption of green manures in both organic and conventional rotations to aid nitrogen management and maintain soil structure This review describes the evidence for the various beneficial effects of green manures, lists the relative merits of the main species that are suitable for use in the UK and considers some of the practical aspects of their use. This review forms part of an HDC funded project led by Vegetable Consultancy Services Ltd with HDRA as a subcontractor. The practical work involves field trials at four sites in East Anglia (two conventional, one organic and one in conversion) to be conducted between 2006 and 2008. The field trials will investigate the performance of different fertility building crops and their effects on subsequent cash crop yield, nitrogen dynamics and pest, disease and weed problems. Project Leader: Peter Knight Vegetable Consultancy Services Ltd The Finches, Cake Street Old Buckenham Attleborough, Norfolk NR17 1RU Review conducted by: Dr Francis Rayns and Dr Anton Rosenfeld HDRA Ryton Organic Gardens Coventry CV8 3LG The information contained in this report, including any expression of opinion and any projection or forecast, has been obtained or is based upon sources believed by the authors to be reliable but is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness. The information is supplied without obligation and on the understanding that any person who acts upon it or otherwise changes his/her position in reliance thereon does so entirely at their own risk. The use of green manures 1 CONTENTS Page 1. -
Dakota Olson Hometown
Evaluating the Effect of Management Practices on Soil Moisture, Aggregation and Crop Development By: Dakota Olson Hometown: Keswick, IA The World Food Prize Foundation 2014 Borlaug-Ruan International Internship Research Center: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Location: El Batan, Mexico P a g e | 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………..3 Background Information………………………………………………………………………..4 CIMMYT Research Institute The Dr. Borlaug Legacy (in relation to CIMMYT) Discuss the long-term project of CIMMYT (1999-2014) Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………5 Introduction to Field Management Practices Objectives Conservation Agriculture Program Procedures and Methodology………………………………………………………………….6 The Field Plot Technical Skills o Yield Calculations o Time to Pond Measurements o Calculating Volumetric Water Content Results……………………………………………………………………………………………8 Objective 1: Effect of Tillage Method and Crop Residue on Soil Moisture Objective 2: Effect of Tillage Method and Crop Residue on Crop Yield Objective 3: Relationship between Time to Pond and Crop Yield Analysis of Results…………………………………………………………………………….11 Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendations…………………………………………..15 Personal Experiences…………………………………………………………………………17 Pictures…………………………………………………………………………………………20 References and Citations…………………………………………………………………….21 P a g e | 3 Preface and Acknowledgements My success at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) would not be possible without the multitude of supporters that allowed me to pursue this incredible opportunity. A massive thank-you to the World Food Prize Organization and the staff and supporters that supply hundreds of youth and adults across the world with empowerment and opportunities to play as a stake-holder in international development issues. A big thank- you to Lisa Fleming of the World Food Prize Foundation for playing an integral role in the success of my international internship while in Mexico. -
Timber Users, Timber Savers: Homestake Mining Company and the First Regulated Timber Harvest
Copyright © 1992 by the South Dakota State Historical Society. All Rights Reserved. Timber Users, Timber Savers: Homestake Mining Company and the First Regulated Timber Harvest RICHMOND L CLOW The Progressive Fra (1900-1916) has emerged as a period crucial to the success of the late nineteenth century conservation crusade. During this optimistic era of social reform, with its faith in tech- nology and efficiency, demands for a halt to the destruction and waste of the nation's natural resources became established federal policy. Many studies have examined the varied themes of the con- servation movement, from the aesthetic importance of the environ- ment to the fear that the depletion of resources, such as timber, threatened the very existence of American society.' These studies have most often defined the users of resources as the despoilers of the environment. Such an approach, however, ignores the role of industry in conservation. 1. Samuel P. Hays, Conser\'ation and the Cospel of Efficiency: The Progressive Con- servation Movement, 1890-1920 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1959), pp. 1-3. Donald ]. Pisani, in "Forests and Conservation, 1865-1890,"/ouma/oMmencan History 75 (Sept. 1985): 340-59, asserts that a conservation "ethic" existed for several decades before Progressive reformers popularized the cause. While scientists led the later movement, its leaders in the post-Civil War years were as often "moralists and philosophers" who anticipated modern conservationists in their understanding of the interrelatedness of natural resources. For more on the late nineteenth cen- tury fears of timber famine that helped lo spur the conservation movement, see David A. -
Harvest Ceremony
ATLANTIC OCEAN PA\\' fl.. Xf I I' I \ f 0 H I PI \ \. I \I ION •,, .._ "', Ll ; ~· • 4 .. O\\'\\1S s-'' f1r~~' ~, -~J.!!!I • .. .I . _f' .~h\ ,. \ l.J rth..i'i., \ inc-v •.u d .. .. .... Harvest Ceremony BEYOND THE THANK~GIVING MYTH - a study guide Harvest Ceremony BEYOND THE THANKSGIVING MYTH Summary: Native American people who first encountered the “pilgrims” at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts play a major role in the imagination of American people today. Contemporary celebrations of the Thanksgiving holiday focus on the idea that the “first Thanksgiving” was a friendly gathering of two disparate groups—or even neighbors—who shared a meal and lived harmoniously. In actuality, the assembly of these people had much more to do with political alliances, diplomacy, and an effort at rarely achieved, temporary peaceful coexistence. Although Native American people have always given thanks for the world around them, the Thanksgiving celebrated today is more a combination of Puritan religious practices and the European festival called Harvest Home, which then grew to encompass Native foods. The First People families, but a woman could inherit the position if there was no male heir. A sachem could be usurped by In 1620, the area from Narragansett Bay someone belonging to a sachem family who was able in eastern Rhode Island to the Atlantic Ocean in to garner the allegiance of enough people. An unjust or southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, unwise sachem could find himself with no one to lead, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, was the home as sachems had no authority to force the people to do of the Wampanoag. -
Stale Seedbed Practices for Vegetable Production
HORTSCIENCE 36(4):703–705. 2001. tional tillage program. The intent was to deter- mine the best method for killing seedlings in stale seedbed systems and the usefulness of a Stale Seedbed Practices for Vegetable single weed removal pass vs. several passes Production with brief intervening fallow periods. Materials and Methods Brian Caldwell South Central New York Area Vegetable and Small Fruit Program, Cornell Studies were conducted at the NRCS Big Flats Plant Materials Center, at Big Flats, Cooperative Extension, Owego, NY 13827 N.Y., during the 1997 and 1998 growing Charles L. Mohler1 seasons. The soil type was a Unadilla silt loam (course-silty, mixed, mesic, typic Dystro- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, chrept), and the fields were nearly level. NY 14853 The fields had cover crops of winter-killed oats (Avena sativa L.) and were initially field Additional index words. weeds, cultivation, flaming, glyphosate, purslane, chickweed cultivated and harrowed in Apr. 1997 and May Abstract. Effects of several stale seedbed procedures on weed density and biomass were 1998. Treatments were replicated four times in evaluated on a silt loam soil in central New York. After an initial rotary tillage, weeds were a randomized complete-block design. Plots allowed to emerge and either single or multiple applications of glyphosate, propane flame, measured 3.6 × 3.6 m. spring tine weeder, springtooth harrow, or rotary tiller were used to kill the weeds over a Initial seedbeds were prepared with a tractor 4-week period. The last (or only) application occurred immediately prior to simulated mounted 1.5-m John Deere rotary tiller (Deere seeding of a crop performed by passing an empty seeder through the plots.