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Browsing Journal Articles by Subject "Agriculture"
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- ItemA Comparison of Approaches to Regional Land-Use Capability Analysis for Agricultural Land-Planning(2021-04-24) Tara A. Ippolito; Jeffrey E. Herrick; Ekwe L. Dossa ; Maman Garba; Mamadou Ouattara; Upendra Singh; Zachary P. Stewart; P.V.V. Prasad ; Idrissa A. Oumarou; Jason C. NeffSmallholder agriculture is a major source of income and food for developing nations. With more frequent drought and increasing scarcity of arable land, more accurate land-use planning tools are needed to allocate land resources to support regional agricultural activity. To address this need, we created Land Capability Classification (LCC) system maps using data from two digital soil maps, which were compared with measurements from 1305 field sites in the Dosso region of Niger. Based on these, we developed 250 m gridded maps of LCC values across the region. Across the region, land is severely limited for agricultural use because of low available water-holding capacity (AWC) that limits dry season agricultural potential, especially without irrigation, and requires more frequent irrigation where supplemental water is available. If the AWC limitation is removed in the LCC algorithm (i.e., simulating the use of sufficient irrigation or a much higher and more evenly distributed rainfall), the dominant limitations become less severe and more spatially varied. Finally, we used additional soil fertility data from the field samples to illustrate the value of collecting contemporary data for dynamic soil properties that are critical for crop production, including soil organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen.
- ItemA Review of the Use of Engineered Nanomaterials to Suppress Plant Disease and Enhance Crop Yield(2015-02-03) Alia Servin; Wade H. Elmer ; Arnab Mukherjee; Roberto de la Torre-Roche ; Helmi Hamdi; Jason C. White; Bindraban, Prem S.; Christian O. DimkpaNanotechnology has the potential to play a critical role in global food production, food security, and food safety. The applications of nanotechnology in agriculture include fertilizers to increase plant growth and yield, pesticides for pest and disease management, and sensors for monitoring soil quality and plant health. Over the past decade, a number of patents and products incorporating nanomaterials into agricultural practices (e.g., nanopesticides, nanofertilizers, and nanosensors) have been developed. The collective goal of all of these approaches is to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural practices by requiring less input and generating less waste than conventional products and approaches. This review evaluates the current literature on the use of nanoscale nutrients (metals, metal oxides, carbon) to suppress crop disease and subsequently enhance growth and yield. Notably, this enhanced yield may not only be directly linked to the reduced presence of pathogenic organisms, but also to the potential nutritional value of the nanoparticles themselves, especially for the essential micronutrients necessary for host defense. We also posit that these positive effects are likely a result of the greater availability of the nutrients in the ‘‘nano’’ form. Last, we offer comments on the current regulatory perspective for such applications.
- ItemBalancing Agricultural Development Resources: Are GM and Organic Agriculture in Opposition in Africa?(2012) Ari Novy; Samuel Ledermann; Carl E. Pray; Latha NagarajanOrganic agriculture has been promoted vigorously by many civil and donor organizations engaged in agricultural development in Africa. Certified organic products are grown in more than half of African countries, targeted mainly towards export markets. In contrast, adoption of GM agriculture has been met with skepticism in much of Africa, with only three African countries approving GM crops for commercial planting. In this article, we empirically tested several factors that may explain African attitudes toward GM and organic agriculture. To test these factors, we used a newly generated dataset on agriculture, trade, and development indicators for a subset of African countries. We found that African countries’ openness to GM agriculture is significantly predicted by variables for wealth, organic agricultural area, colonial legacy, past rejection of GM, and the percentage of the country under land protection. Interestingly, our analyses reveal that openness to GM agriculture is positively correlated with the abundance of organic agriculture. We also show that Europe has exerted significant influence on African acceptance of GM via colonial legacy and advisory positions.
- ItemEvaluation of Satellite-Based, Modeled-Derived Daily Solar Radiation Data for the Continental United States(2011-07) Jeffrey W. White; Gerrit Hoogenboom; Paul W. Wilkens; Paul W. Stackhouse Jr; James M. HoelDecision support tools for agriculture oft en require meteorological data as inputs, but data availability and quality are oft en problematic. Diffi culties arise with daily solar radiation (SRAD) because the instruments require electronic integrators, accurate sensors are expensive, and calibration standards are seldom available. NASA’s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (NASA/ POWER; power.larc.nasa.gov) project estimates SRAD based on satellite observations and atmospheric parameters obtained from satellite observations and assimilation models. Th ese data are available for a global 1° × 1° coordinate grid. Th e SRAD can also be generated from atmospheric attenuation of extraterrestrial radiation (Q0). We compared daily solar radiation data from NASA/ POWER (SRADNP) with instrument readings from 295 stations (observed values of daily solar radiation, SRADOB) and values estimated by Weather Generator for Solar Radiation (WGENR) generator. Two sources of air temperature and precipitation records provided inputs to WGENR: the stations reporting solar data and the NOAA Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) stations. Th e resulting data were identifi ed as solar radiation valaues obtained using the Weather Generator for Solar Radiation soft ware in conjunction with daily weather data from the stations providing values of observed values of daily solar radiation (SRADWG) and solar radiation values obtained using the Weather Generator for Solar Radiation soft ware in conjunction with daily weather data from NOAA COOP stations (SRADCO), respectively. Values of SRADNP for individual grid cells consistently showed higher correlations (typically 0.85–0.95) with SRADOB than did SRADWG or SRADCO. Mean values of SRADOB, SRADWG, and SRADNP for a grid cell usually were within 1 MJ m–2 d–1 of each other, but NASA/POWER values averaged 1.1 MJ m–2 d–1 lower than SRADOB. This bias increased at lower latitudes and during summer months and is partially explained by assumptions about ambient aerosol properties. Th e NASA/POWER solar data are a promising resource for studies requiring realistic accounting of historic variation.
- ItemLand Use Capability Analysis for Agricultural Land Planning in Niger(2020-10-30) Tara A. Ippolito ; Jeffrey E. Herrick; Ekwe L. Dossa ; Maman Garba; Mamadou Ouattara; Upendra Singh; Zachary P. Stewart; P.V.V. Prasad ; Jason C. NeffSmallholder agriculture is a major source of income and food for developing nations. With more frequent drought and increasing scarcity of arable land, land use planning can be used to better allocate land resources to support regional agricultural activity. To support this objective, we used the Land Capability Classification (LCC) system to map the basic limitations to agricultural use of land. The LCC is a stepwise hierarchical land assessment system that can be used to understand factors that limit land use potential. We carried out our assessment in the Dosso region of Niger. Using two public soil data sets, Food and Agriculture Organization Harmonized World Soil Database and International Soil Reference and Information Center (ISRIC) SoilGrids, and a modified version of the LCC, we developed 250 m gridded maps of LCC values across the region. To validate the LCC maps, we interpolated soil physical data from 1308 field sites in the Dosso region and created LCC maps based on these interpolated data. We find that across the region, land is very severely limited for agricultural use by available water-holding capacity (AWC) which limits dry season agricultural potential, especially without irrigation, and requires more frequent irrigation where supplemental water is available. If the AWC limitation is removed in the LCC algorithm (i.e. simulating the use of sufficient irrigation or a much higher and more evenly distributed rainfall than is received by the Dosso region), the dominant regional limitations become less severe and more spatially varied.
- ItemNanofertilizer for Precision and Sustainable Agriculture: Current State and Future Perspectives(2017-08-23) Ramesh Raliya; Vinod Saharan; Christian O. Dimkpa; Pratim BiswasThe increasing food demand due to the rising global population has prompted the large-scale 6 use of fertilizers. Due to resource constraints and low use efficiency of fertilizers, the cost to the 7 farmer is increasing dramatically. Nanotechnology offers a great potential to tailor fertilizer 8 production with the desired chemical composition, improve the nutrient use efficiency that may 9 reduce environmental impact and boost the plant productivity. Furthermore, controlled release 10 and targeted delivery of nanoscale active ingredients can realize the potential of sustainable 11 and precision agriculture. A review of nanotechnology-based smart and precision agriculture is 12 discussed in this paper. Scientific gaps to be overcome, and fundamental questions to be 13 answered for safe and effective development and deployment of nanotechnology are 14 addressed.