Journal of Sustainable Agriculture最新文献

{"title":"Closing the Loop: Nutrient Balances in Organic and Conventional Coffee Agroforests","authors":"K. Tully, D. Lawrence","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.586599","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.586599","url":null,"abstract":"Agroforests are a primary example of ecologically sustainable agroecosystems due to their efficient use of natural resources and ability to buffer against ecological and socioeconomic stresses. We constructed nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) balances to examine the ecological sustainability of conventional, organic, and unfertilized coffee agroforests. A similar percentage of applied nutrients were recovered in conventional and organic coffee yields. However, nutrient excess (inputs minus outputs) was higher in conventional farms, suggesting they may be more prone to nutrient loss. Nutrient pools were large overall, with unfertilized farms tending to store nutrients aboveground, and fertilized farms belowground. Future research should investigate the fate of excess nutrients to develop specific strategies promoting nutrient optimization in agroforests.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"671 - 695"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.586599","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59668951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Residual Effects of Leaf Mulch on Sweet Corn and Rye","authors":"J. Heckman, C. Wyenandt, Mary C. Provance-Bowley","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.586592","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.586592","url":null,"abstract":"When municipal shade tree leaves (MCST-leaf) are used as mulch the residues impact soil fertility for crops in the rotation. Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.), grown near Pittstown, New Jersey, using leaf mulch, was followed in the next year by sweet corn (Zea mays L.) and by a fall-seeded rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop. A 15 cm layer of MCST-leaf mulch adds an estimated 448 kg ha−1 of N organically bound within 45 Mg ha−1 of leaf dry matter. Because of the high C/N ratio, little of this N becomes available in the first growing season as was apparent from the N immobilization and N deficiency temporarily observed when the land was initially cropped to pumpkin. Sweet corn ear size was increased on amended soil compared to unamended soil. Crop responses with both sweet corn and rye indicated that significant amounts of nitrogen became plant available from leaf mulch decomposition. Leaf mulch improves soil fertility for several years after incorporation but in ways not apparent through soil nitrate testing. Besides enhanced N nutrition, sweet corn ear size on MCST-leaf amended soil may be related to other improvements in soil quality such as increased water holding capacity.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"639 - 649"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.586592","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59668840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Recent Developments of No-Till and Organic Farming in India: Is a Combination of These Approaches Viable?","authors":"Olivier Duboc, F. Zehetner, M. Gerzabek","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.586569","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.586569","url":null,"abstract":"The increase in crop production brought by the green revolution in India is now shadowed by new challenges related to soil degradation (e.g., erosion, decline of soil organic matter content, salinization) and scarcity of water resources. The present work particularly discusses the contribution of no-till and organic farming, which are increasingly being adopted in India, to meet the increasing food demand in a sustainable way. Under no-till, erosion is reduced to rates close to those found in natural ecosystems, provided enough mulch is retained at the surface which is usually not the case in India, because of competing uses, for example, fodder, fuel, construction material, and also crop residue burning for land preparation. No-till should therefore not be considered separately from complementary measures, aiming at retaining mulch on the soil surface. Efficient recycling of organic material needs to be implemented concomitantly with diversifying fodder and fuel sources which requires enhancing the multifunctionality of farming systems. These prerequisites make it difficult for farmers to adopt no-till, particularly the poorer ones for whom experimentation with new techniques often involve unbearable financial risks. Organic farming apprehends the farm as an organism, and is thus a good option to improve sustainability as introduced above, by e.g., closing nutrient cycling. However, organic farming typically implies tillage for weed control (no chemical herbicides). “Natural farming,” as promoted by Fukuoka (1978) combines no-till with organic farming. An overview of available literature on Indian experiences with “natural farming,” most of it originating from unconventional sources (i.e., reports available on Internet, but no peer reviewed literature) indicates that crop yields can compare well with the highest yields in a particular region. Increased productivity and environmental benefits are also often mentioned. The limited accuracy of these sources makes it necessary to pursue further investigations, and we conclude with propositions for future work in this context. This should start with a rigorous assessment of existing “natural farming” systems regarding their productivity and environmental benefits, in order to demonstrate its potential before starting projects that promote the system for broader adoption.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"192 1","pages":"576 - 612"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.586569","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59669061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cultivating Sustainable Soils","authors":"S. Gliessman","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.586565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.586565","url":null,"abstract":"The conventional wisdom in agriculture is that soil must be cultivated to bring about such benefits as control weeds, incorporate organic matter, prepare the seedbed, conserve soil moisture, and allow better root development. Despite these potential benefits, too much of a good thing can also cause problems, such as loss of good soil structure, acceleration of the breakdown of soil organic matter, increased erosion, and loss of some of the elements that maintain the productive capacity of the soil ecosystem. For this reason, paying attention to how the soil is managed and what the impacts are, both in the short as well as the long term, are important parts of sustainable agriculture. As with any agroecological factor, understanding how intensity, frequency, and timing of our actions impact long-term sustainability is essential. Many patterns of soil tillage exist, from very intensive to reduced to zero tillage. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Balancing both sides is necessary. The articles in this issue address soil management in many different ways. Cultivation intensity and its impacts on soil characteristics are examined in some cases, mulch management in another, and depth of sowing of seed in cultivated soil in yet another. A unique aspect of this collection of articles, though, is the way that soil management is considered as a component of food system sustainability at a scale beyond an individual farm. Be it impacts on nutrient cycles in coffee agroforests or linking soil management to agricultural diversification under a range of socioeconomic settings in Cuba, the soil is the foundation for sustainability.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"575 - 575"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.586565","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59669013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cultivation Intensity in Relation to Organic Matter and Related Properties in a Vertisol in Southern Turkey","authors":"J. Ryan, S. Kapur, H. Ibrikci, Murari Singh","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.586577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.586577","url":null,"abstract":"As most of the organic carbon (C) in the biosphere resides in the soil in the form of soil organic matter (SOM), tillage practices can potentially increase C losses to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, thus contributing to greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change. In the past century, conventional tillage, involving plowing and secondary cultivation, has unwittingly decreased C stocks in arable soils in North America, Europe, and Australia. The information on the effects of tillage on soil C and related properties in the Mediterranean region is scant, with evidence of resilience being even rarer. While long-term trials that directly measure tillage effects are rare in the Mediterranean, the alternative is a retrospective based on soil management history. In this study of a Vertisol in southern Turkey, we sampled sections of a field that had been intensively cultivated for about 20 years and 40 years, as well as a section left undisturbed in native vegetation for 14 years following years of conventional tillage. The SOM and total nitrogen (N) values were inversely related to cultivation intensity or duration, while the highest values were from the uncultivated site. Labile biomass C and N values followed the same trends with cultivation, whereas available P increased with cultivation time; in contrast, the percentage of water-stable aggregates decreased with cultivation duration. The study showed that such clay soils show a high degree of resilience and can recover in a relatively short time period if left uncultivated or in fallow. While preservation or set aside of arable crop land is not a viable option for farmers, reducing tillage intensity is feasible. The study suggests that minimum tillage or no-till could promote resilience and mitigate the adverse soil effects of conventional tillage that have already occurred.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"613 - 623"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.586577","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59668824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global Questions, Local Answers: Soil Management and Sustainable Intensification in Diverse Socioeconomic Contexts of Cuba","authors":"Nils McCune, Y. R. González, E. A. Alcántara, O. F. Martínez, Calixto Onelio Fundora, Niria Castillo Arzola, P. Cairo, M. D’haese, S. DeNeve, F. G. Hernández","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.586595","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.586595","url":null,"abstract":"In the complex context of global food and agricultural systems, research in agriculture must respond to multidisciplinary questions of economic development, ecological sustainability and food justice. With the objective of responding to several of the most important questions facing agriculture today, this article describes recent research in three Cuban cropping systems: state farms, cooperatives, and small family farmers. Soil management is considered here as a crux of human intervention in agroecosystems, capable of determining the impacts of productive activities upon agricultural and ecosystem functions. Management practices commonly used in each farm system are evaluated using two systems of indicators, one for technological quality and one for agricultural intensification. Soil physical quality is characterized through laboratory analysis of samples taken in the same type of soil under long-term production in state, cooperative, and family farmer cropping systems. Soil structure management in the small farmer system is especially worthy of study, because this agricultural system has developed an intensive agroecological productive model on the basis of low external input use, polycultures and internal nutrient cycling. Favorable policies and farmer organizations are discussed as indispensible elements of sustainable agricultural development. The relationships between soil management, local knowledge, and food access are explored in the Cuban context and as directions for food system studies.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"650 - 670"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.586595","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59668899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Asian Consumers' Willingness to Buy Locally Grown Ethnic Produce: A Study from East-coast United States","authors":"V. Puduri, R. Govindasamy","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.579837","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.579837","url":null,"abstract":"The primary objective of this study is to predict the willingness of Asian consumers' to buy locally grown ethnic produce. The study analyzes the results and compares the effects of Asian consumers' socio-economic characteristics on their willingness to buy locally grown ethnic produce. Based on survey data, a logistic regression model was developed to predict ‘who would be more willing to buy locally grown ethnic produce.’ The results of this analysis can be useful to policy makers, local produce growers and marketers who target diversified ethnic consumers.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"511 - 521"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.579837","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59668930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What Does it Mean to Write about Food Today?","authors":"Evan Kleiman","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.579830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.579830","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"465 - 466"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.579830","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59668805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agricultural Intensification, Monocultures, and Economic Failure: The Case of Onion Production in the Tipajara Watershed on the Eastern Slope of the Bolivian Andes","authors":"F. Aragona, B. Orr","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.579832","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.579832","url":null,"abstract":"This article documents and analyzes the historical process of agricultural intensification in Bolivia's Tipajara watershed. There is a particular focus on the recent rise and decline of a commercial onion monoculture. An econometric model indicates altered livelihood patterns as an outcome of the combination of rising costs for pesticides and declining yields from disease. Reliance on pesticides and a failure to rotate crops has led to an increase in the incidence of disease-causing organisms, which has resulted in a collapse of the onion economy in the Tipajara watershed. Emigration is currently the primary strategy employed by smallholder farmers as a response to the collapsing agricultural economy.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"467 - 492"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.579832","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59668868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Diffusion of Organic Farming in Lithuania","authors":"P. Kaufmann, R. Zemeckis, V. Skulskis, E. Kairytė, S. Stagl","doi":"10.1080/10440046.2011.579838","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2011.579838","url":null,"abstract":"The institutions governing organic farming in Lithuania constitute an unusual mix: relatively low information and support services are coupled with a high level of subsidy and low market prospects in the short to medium term. While the literature emphasizes a complex set of reasons for conversion consisting of personal (financial, health, environmental and other concerns), farm-related, and sometimes institutional factors, the hypothesis for Lithuania is that financial support is the dominant reason for increasing diffusion, not least because adoption numbers match the development of subsidy levels fairly well. To investigate this, and to understand why the majority of farmers still do not convert in face of relatively high financial support, a survey with organic and conventional farmers was conducted during spring and early summer 2005. The results suggest that the main motivations for future in-conversions are primarily connected with economic and farm management reasons. These depend primarily on the farm type; whether farmers believe that it is possible to manage an organic farm effectively; the subsidy, and related to this, the farmers' expectations of effects on land and land-rent prices. The survey points also to substantial farm-support deficits, with a low uptake of extension services in general and low availability of organic farming specific advisory services. By concluding, we recommend to rebalance direct subsidy levels with investments into support infrastructure and market development to increase the effectiveness of the whole organic farming ‘system,’ Finally, we critically discuss effects of land capitalisation of relatively high direct organic subsidies, which might have distorting effects if they are not linked to production levels.","PeriodicalId":50032,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture","volume":"35 1","pages":"522 - 549"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10440046.2011.579838","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59668940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}