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1
Foley, Daniel, Prasad Thenkabail, Adam Oliphant, Itiya Aneece, and Pardhasaradhi Teluguntla. "Crop Water Productivity from Cloud-Based Landsat Helps Assess California’s Water Savings." Remote Sensing 15, no. 19 (October 9, 2023): 4894. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs15194894.
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Demand for food and water are increasing while the extent of arable land and accessible fresh water are decreasing. This poses global challenges as economies continue to develop and the population grows. With agriculture as the leading consumer of water, better understanding how water is used to produce food may help support the increase of Crop Water Productivity (CWP; kg/m3), the ratio of crop output per unit of water input (or crop per drop). Previous large-scale CWP studies have been useful for broad water use modeling at coarser resolutions. However, obtaining more precise CWP, especially for specific crop types in a particular area and growing season as outlined here are important for informing farm-scale water management decision making. Therefore, this study focused on California’s Central Valley utilizing high-spatial resolution satellite imagery of 30 m (0.09 hectares per pixel) to generate more precise CWP for commonly grown and water-intensive irrigated crops. First, two products were modeled and mapped. 1. Landsat based Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa; mm/d) to determine Crop Water Use (CWU; m3/m2), and 2. Crop Productivity (CP; kg/m2) to estimate crop yield per growing season. Then, CWP was calculated by dividing CP by CWU and mapped. The amount of water that can be saved by increasing CWP of each crop was further calculated. For example, in the 434 million m2 study area, a 10% increase in CWP across the 9 crops analyzed had a potential water savings of 31.5 million m3 of water. An increase in CWP is widely considered the best approach for saving maximum quantities of water. This paper proposed, developed, and implemented a workflow of combined methods utilizing cloud computing based remote sensing data. The environmental implications of this work in assessing water savings for food and water security in the 21st century are expected to be significant.
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Wiedemann, Stephen, Eugene McGahan, Caoilinn Murphy, and Mingjia Yan. "Resource use and environmental impacts from beef production in eastern Australia investigated using life cycle assessment." Animal Production Science 56, no. 5 (2016): 882. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an14687.
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Resource use and environmental impacts are important factors relating to the sustainability of beef production in Australia. This study used life cycle assessment to investigate impacts from grass-finished beef production in eastern Australia to the farm gate, reporting impacts per kilogram of liveweight (LW) produced. Mean fossil fuel energy demand was found to vary from 5.6 to 8.4 MJ/kg LW, mean estimated fresh water consumption from 117.9 to 332.4 L/kg LW and crop land occupation from 0.3 to 6.4 m2/kg LW. Mean greenhouse gas emissions ranged from 10.6 to 12.4 kg CO2-e/kg LW (excluding land use and direct land-use change emissions) and were not significantly different (P > 0.05) for export or domestic market classes. Enteric methane was the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and multiple linear regression analysis revealed that weaning rate and average daily gain explained 80% of the variability in supply chain greenhouse gas emissions. Fresh water consumption was found to vary significantly among individual farms depending on climate, farm water supply efficiency and the use of irrigation. The impact of water use was measured using the stress-weighted water use indicator, and ranged from 8.4 to 104.2 L H2O-e/kg LW. The stress-weighted water use was influenced more by regional water stress than the volume of fresh water consumption. Land occupation was assessed with disaggregation of crop land, arable pasture land and non-arable land, which revealed that the majority of beef production utilised non-arable land that is unsuitable for most alternative food production systems.
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Wiedemann, S. G., M. J. Yan, and C. M. Murphy. "Resource use and environmental impacts from Australian export lamb production: a life cycle assessment." Animal Production Science 56, no. 7 (2016): 1070. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an14647.
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This study conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) investigating energy, land occupation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fresh water consumption and stress-weighted water use from production of export lamb in the major production regions of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The study used data from regional datasets and case study farms, and applied new methods for assessing water use using detailed farm water balances and water stress weighting. Land occupation was assessed with reference to the proportion of arable and non-arable land and allocation of liveweight (LW) and greasy wool was handled using a protein mass method. Fossil fuel energy demand ranged from 2.5 to 7.0 MJ/kg LW, fresh water consumption from 58.1 to 238.9 L/kg LW, stress-weighted water use from 2.9 to 137.8 L H2O-e/kg LW and crop land occupation from 0.2 to 2.0 m2/kg LW. Fossil fuel energy demand was dominated by on-farm energy demand, and differed between regions and datasets in response to production intensity and the use of purchased inputs such as fertiliser. Regional fresh water consumption was dominated by irrigation water use and losses from farm water supply, with smaller contributions from livestock drinking water. GHG emissions ranged from 6.1 to 7.3 kg CO2-e/kg LW and additional removals or emissions from land use (due to cultivation and fertilisation) and direct land-use change (due to deforestation over previous 20 years) were found to be modest, contributing between –1.6 and 0.3 kg CO2-e/kg LW for different scenarios assessing soil carbon flux. Excluding land use and direct land-use change, enteric CH4 contributed 83–89% of emissions, suggesting that emissions intensity can be reduced by focussing on flock production efficiency. Resource use and emissions were similar for export lamb production in the major production states of Australia, and GHG emissions were similar to other major global lamb producers. The results show impacts from lamb production on competitive resources to be low, as lamb production systems predominantly utilised non-arable land unsuited to alternative food production systems that rely on crop production, and water from regions with low water stress.
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Liao, Na, Xinchen Gu, Yuejian Wang, Hailiang Xu, and Zili Fan. "Analysis of Ecological and Economic Benefits of Rural Land Integration in the Manas River Basin Oasis." Land 10, no. 5 (April 23, 2021): 451. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land10050451.
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Land consolidation is an effective means of promoting the regularization of fragmented arable land, optimizing the allocation of land resources and improving the environment in farming areas, as well as an important means of increasing the economic returns of farming households, and it is important to scientifically assess the ecological and economic benefits of agricultural land consolidation. In this study, participatory rural assessment (PRA) was used to investigate, in detail, the meaning, satisfaction and changes in farmland rehabilitation before and after implementation. The accuracy of the remote sensing data was verified through an experiment on the net cultivation coefficient. We used a sample of 447 farmers from nine villages in Manas County to study the differences in plot area, crop unit value, income and irrigation before and after the farmers’ integration. We found that, after the integration of farmland, the cultivated area increased significantly, the crop unit yield increased by at least 42.66%, the average income of farmers increased by a value of RMB 4324/ha and the water savings were all higher than 7.18 m3/ha. At the same time, after the integration of farmland, the number of plots was significantly reduced, the arable land became more regular and the microclimate of the farmland improved significantly. The government and individuals should follow the concept and construction requirements of the “community of life in mountain, water, forest, lake, grass and sand”, consider the economic and ecological benefits of land consolidation, ensure the quality of farmland ecosystems, actively explore new models of land consolidation and stimulate the economic vitality of rural areas.
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Farzanah, Rashed, Mathias Clausen, Eva Arnspang, Jens Schmidt, and Juan-Rodrigo Bastidas-Oyanedel. "Feasibility of United Arab Emirates Native Seaweed Ulva intestinalis as a Food Source: Study of Nutritional and Mineral Compositions." Phycology 2, no. 1 (February 17, 2022): 120–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/phycology2010008.
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Food resources are limited in arid countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE); the salinity of the groundwater, together with a lack of natural fresh water sources and arable land, force the country to import most of its food. However, seaweed could play an important role in providing a locally available food resource, as it does not require fresh water and arable land to grow. The traditional use of several seaweed species as food sources has been documented in Asia and the Americas, where their nutritional composition has been well reported. Although the UAE’s aquatic environment is quite harsh due to high water salinity (over 40 g/L) and high surface water temperatures (over 35 °C), its native seaweed species could play a role as a food source in this arid region, thereby bolstering the country’s level of food security. To evaluate its potential in this context, fresh samples of the native Ulva intestinalis seaweed were collected in the shallow waters of Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE. These samples were calculated to contain 34.38 ± 0.24 kcal, with a biomass composition of 5.185 ± 0.04% carbohydrate, 3.32 ± 0.14% protein, and 0.04 ± 0.01% fat (by dry matter). Of all the minerals present in the biomass, potassium had the highest concentration (7947 ± 319.5 ppm), followed by magnesium (3075.9 ± 1357 ppm) and sodium (756.3 ± 478 ppm). The water-soluble vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, and C were below the detection limit in the samples. The rich concentration of essential minerals such as potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc in Ulva intestinalis makes it a promising novel food source. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental study to examine the feasibility of using seaweed that is native to the UAE as a nutritional and sustainable food source in order to address the challenge of food security currently being faced by the country.
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Kumar, Kaushal, Kamini Kumari, Somen Acharya, Thupstan Tsewang, Alok Mishra, Anshu Verma, and O. P. Chaurasia. "Hydroponic vs. soil cultivation of lettuce and spinach: A study in a polycarbonate greenhouse at high altitudes in the Trans-Himalayan region." Journal of Applied Horticulture 25, no. 02 (August 30, 2023): 199–205. http://dx.doi.org/10.37855/jah.2023.v25i02.35.
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This study compared the hydroponic and soil cultivation systems for lettuce and spinach production in India’s cold desert, high-altitude Trans-Himalayan region. Hydroponic cultivation is a soilless technique that provides fresh vegetables in regions with environmental stress and limited arable land. The experiment was conducted in hydroponic structures designed for leafy vegetable cultivation, including vertical and horizontal circulated nutrient film technique (NFT), non-circulated systems, and soil cultivation in an open, naturally ventilated double-layer polycarbonate greenhouse in Ladakh, India. Results showed that lettuce and spinach grown in the vertical circulated NFT system had significantly better plant growth characteristics such as plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, fresh weight, and yield than horizontal NFT, non-circulated, and soil systems. Moreover, fresh produce from vertical and horizontal NFT systems had higher nitrate content, soluble sugar content, and total sweetness index, indicating better crispiness of the produce. Mineral nutrient contents (Ca, Mg, B, Cu, Mn, Zn, Fe, and Ni) were also higher in the circulated NFT system compared to other systems studied. Thus, this study demonstrated that lettuce and spinach grown in NFT systems produced significantly higher yields with better nutritional quality than soil-grown systems in the Trans-Himalayan region. Hydroponic systems are recommended for successfully producing nutrient-rich vegetables in areas with limited water and arable land. This is the first demonstration of hydroponic systems in high-altitude cold desert conditions for growing leafy greens, and it has promising implications for sustainable agriculture.
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Wiedemann, Stephen G., Eugene J. McGahan, and Caoilinn M. Murphy. "Environmental impacts and resource use from Australian pork production determined using life cycle assessment. 2. Energy, water and land occupation." Animal Production Science 58, no. 6 (2018): 1153. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an16196.
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Utilisation of water, energy and land resources is under pressure globally because of increased demand for food, fibre and fuel production. Australian pork production utilises these resources both directly to grow and process pigs, and indirectly via the consumption of feed and other inputs. With increasing demand and higher costs associated with these resources, supply chain efficiency is a growing priority for the industry. This study aimed to quantify fresh water consumption, stress-weighted water use, fossil fuel energy use and land occupation from six case study supply chains and the national herd using a life cycle assessment approach. Two functional units were used: 1 kg of pork liveweight (LW) at the farm-gate, and 1 kg of wholesale pork (chilled, bone-in). At the farm-gate, fresh water consumption from the case study supply chains ranged from 22.2 to 156.7 L/kg LW, with a national average value of 107.5 L/kg LW. Stress-weighted water use ranged from 6.6 to 167.5 L H2O-e /kg LW, with a national average value of 103.2 L H2O-e /kg LW. Fossil fuel energy demand ranged from 12.9 to 17.4 MJ/kg LW, with a national average value of 14.5 MJ/kg LW, and land occupation ranged from 10.9 to 16.1 m2/kg LW, with a national average value of 16.1 m2/kg LW and with arable land representing 97% to 99% of total land occupation. National average impacts associated with production of wholesale pork, including impacts from meat processing, were 184 ± 43 L fresh water consumption, 172 ± 53 L H2O-e stress-weighted water, 27 ± 2.6 MJ fossil fuel energy demand and 25.9 ± 5.5 m2 land/kg wholesale pork. Across all categories through to the wholesale product, resource use was highest from the production of feed inputs, indicating that improving feed conversion ratio is the most important production metric for reducing the resource use. Housing type and energy generation from manure management also influence resource use requirements and may offer improvement opportunities.
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Mandic, Violeta, Vesna Krnjaja, Aleksandar Simic, Maja Petricevic, Marija Gogic, Milan Brankov, and Aleksandar Stanojkovic. "Effect of pH on germination and seedling growth of maize." Biotehnologija u stocarstvu 39, no. 2 (2023): 195–203. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/bah2302195m.
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Soil pH is one of the most important limiting factors for crop cultivation, including maize. About 30-40% of the world's arable land is acidic, and over a billion ha is alkaline. Today, there are 205 million ha of arable land under maize in the world, so it ranks third in area after rice and wheat. Maize hybrids have wide genetic variability and high pH tolerance. We tested the tolerance of maize hybrids seedlings of ZP 4708 and ZP 5797 to pH 5, 6, 7, and 8. Results showed that hybrid ZP 4708 has a higher adaptability to low and high pH, due to the higher value of germination energy (GE), shoot length (ShL), shoot fresh weight (ShFW), shoot dry weight (ShDW), germination rate index (GRI), and seedling vigor index (SVI) than hybrid ZP 5797. Results further showed, on average for hybrids, that pH 5 and pH 8 significantly decreased the GE, root length (RL), ShL, root fresh weight (RFW), ShFW, root dry weight (RDW), shoot fresh weight (ShDW), and SVI. These parameters did not differ significantly between pH 6 and pH 7. Seed germination was not affected by the pH, indicating that the seed vigor of both hybrids supports full germination potential. However, it could be expected that exposure to the lowest and highest pH values of the medium could affect seedlings growth in the field conditions, even though germination is high. SVI showed a positive and significant correlation with all investigated parameters, except germination (G) and relative seedling water content (RSWC).
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Lopez-Santamarina, Aroa, Jose Manuel Miranda, Alicia del Carmen Mondragon, Alexandre Lamas, Alejandra Cardelle-Cobas, Carlos Manuel Franco, and Alberto Cepeda. "Potential Use of Marine Seaweeds as Prebiotics: A Review." Molecules 25, no. 4 (February 24, 2020): 1004. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules25041004.
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Human gut microbiota plays an important role in several metabolic processes and human diseases. Various dietary factors, including complex carbohydrates, such as polysaccharides, provide abundant nutrients and substrates for microbial metabolism in the gut, affecting the members and their functionality. Nowadays, the main sources of complex carbohydrates destined for human consumption are terrestrial plants. However, fresh water is an increasingly scarce commodity and world agricultural productivity is in a persistent decline, thus demanding the exploration of other sources of complex carbohydrates. As an interesting option, marine seaweeds show rapid growth and do not require arable land, fresh water or fertilizers. The present review offers an objective perspective of the current knowledge surrounding the impacts of seaweeds and their derived polysaccharides on the human microbiome and the profound need for more in-depth investigations into this topic. Animal experiments and in vitro colonic-simulating trials investigating the effects of seaweed ingestion on human gut microbiota are discussed.
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Brandolini, Filippo, and Mauro Cremaschi. "The Impact of Late Holocene Flood Management on the Central Po Plain (Northern Italy)." Sustainability 10, no. 11 (October 31, 2018): 3968. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su10113968.
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Fluvial environments have always played a crucial role in human history. The necessity of fertile land and fresh water for agriculture has led populations to settle in floodplains more frequently than in other environments. Floodplains are complex human–water systems in which the mutual interaction between anthropogenic activities and environment affected the landscape development. In this paper, we analyzed the evolution of the Central Po Plain (Italy) during the Medieval period through a multi-proxy record of geomorphological, archaeological and historical data. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD) coincided with a progressive waterlogging of large floodplain areas. The results obtained by this research shed new light on the consequences that Post-Roman land and water management activities had on landscape evolution. In particular, the exploitation of fluvial sediments through flood management practices had the effect of reclaiming the swamps, but also altered the natural geomorphological development of the area. Even so, the Medieval human activities were more in equilibrium with the natural system than with the later Renaissance large-scale land reclamation works that profoundly modified the landscape turning the wetland environment into the arable land visible today. The analysis of fluvial palaeoenvironments and their relation with past human activities can provide valuable indications for planning more sustainable urbanized alluvial landscapes in future.
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Koech, Richard, and Philip Langat. "Improving Irrigation Water Use Efficiency: A Review of Advances, Challenges and Opportunities in the Australian Context." Water 10, no. 12 (December 2, 2018): 1771. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w10121771.
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The demand for fresh water is on the increase, and the irrigation industry in Australia is looking to a future with less water. Irrigation consumes the bulk of the water extracted from various sources, and hence the efficiency of its use is of outmost importance. This paper reviewed the advancements made towards improving irrigation water use efficiency (WUE), with a focus on irrigation in Australia but with some examples from other countries. The challenges encountered, as well as the opportunities available, are also discussed. The review showed that improvements in irrigation infrastructure through modernisation and automation have led to water savings. The concept of real-time control and optimisation in irrigation is in its developmental stages but has already demonstrated potential for water savings. The future is likely to see increased use of remote sensing techniques as well as wireless communication systems and more versatile sensors to improve WUE. In many cases, water saved as a result of using efficient technologies ends up being reused to expand the area of land under irrigation, sometimes resulting in a net increase in the total water consumption at the basin scale. Hence, to achieve net water savings, water-efficient technologies and practices need to be used in combination with other measures such as incentives for conservation and appropriate regulations that limit water allocation and use. Factors that affect the trends in the irrigation WUE include engineering and technological innovations, advancements in plant and pasture science, environmental factors, and socio-economic considerations. Challenges that might be encountered include lack of public support, especially when the methods used are not cost-effective, and reluctance of irrigations to adopt new technologies.
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MOHAMED, Abdinur Ali, and Ahmed Ibrahim NAGEYE. "Relationship between Environmental Degradation, Resource Scarcity, and Civil Conflicts in Somalia." Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism 10, no. 3 (July 25, 2019): 640. http://dx.doi.org/10.14505//jemt.10.3(35).18.
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The purpose of this study was to examine relationship between environmental degradation, resource scarcity, and civil conflict in Somalia. Environmental degradation is disposed to increase the number of disputes emerging from duel over the scarce resources. Consequently, it makes the society such offensive that it is inclined to armed conflict.
In this study we investigated five variables in which civil conflict was the dependent variable. Population growth, land degradation, water resource and the climate change were explanatory variables. Time series data, 1990-2015, from various sources was employed. Regression methods, Ordinary Least Square was used to estimate the model parameters. Augmented Dickey-Fuller test was used to examine stationary of the data as Johansen cointegration was used to detect the long run relation between the study variables.
The study found that one million increase of the rural population will lead the likelihood of the civil conflicts by about 1.04%. The decline of every one hector of arable land will cause the likelihood of the civil conflict to increase by about 1.5%. The rise of the one kilometer cubic of fresh water decreases the likelihood of the civil conflicts to about 4.49%. Rise of the temperature came to be insignificant and has no contribution to the civil conflicts in Somalia.
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Hayibo, Koami Soulemane, Pierce Mayville, Ravneet Kaur Kailey, and Joshua M. Pearce. "Water Conservation Potential of Self-Funded Foam-Based Flexible Surface-Mounted Floatovoltaics." Energies 13, no. 23 (November 28, 2020): 6285. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13236285.
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A potential solution to the coupled water–energy–food challenges in land use is the concept of floating photovoltaics or floatovoltaics (FPV). In this study, a new approach to FPV is investigated using a flexible crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) module backed with foam, which is less expensive than conventional pontoon-based FPV. This novel form of FPV is tested experimentally for operating temperature and performance and is analyzed for water-savings using an evaporation calculation adapted from the Penman–Monteith model. The results show that the foam-backed FPV had a lower operating temperature than conventional pontoon-based FPV, and thus a 3.5% higher energy output per unit power. Therefore, foam-based FPV provides a potentially profitable means of reducing water evaporation in the world’s at-risk bodies of fresh water. The case study of Lake Mead found that if 10% of the lake was covered with foam-backed FPV, there would be enough water conserved and electricity generated to service Las Vegas and Reno combined. At 50% coverage, the foam-backed FPV would provide over 127 TWh of clean solar electricity and 633.22 million m3 of water savings, which would provide enough electricity to retire 11% of the polluting coal-fired plants in the U.S. and provide water for over five million Americans, annually.
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Chernova, O. V., I. O. Alyabina, O. S. Bezuglova, and Yu A. Litvinov. "The current state of the humus content of arable chernozems of the true steppes (the example of the Rostov region, Russia)." South of Russia: ecology, development 15, no. 4 (January 17, 2021): 99–113. http://dx.doi.org/10.18470/1992-1098-2020-4-99-113.
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Aim. To estimate the humus content and stocks of arable chernozems of two soil-ecological zones (Predcaucasia and Yuzhno-Russkaya) within the Rostov region, as well as the possibility of the optimization of the state of their humus under current conditions.Material and Methods. The following data sources were used: soil and general geographic information accumulated in the Soil-geographic Database of the Russian Federation information system, the Red Book of the Rostov Region Soils database, digitised archived soil survey data of 1977-1995 and agrochemical monitoring data of 2012-2017.Results. The stabilisation of the humus content of the arable chernozems of the Predcaucasian zone in recent decades has been demonstrated and can be explained by a decrease in the dehumification rate under minimal tillage. The average humus content in the soils of the Yuzhno-Russkaya zone decreased by approximately 0.5% during the same period, which may be caused by the high proportion of row-crops cultivated in an erosion-prone area. The current average humus content in arable chernozems is very low, it is close to the critical level, below which crop yield is decreased despite of sufficient mineral fertilizers using.Conclusion. The main causes of soil dehumification in the region are agrogenic humus mineralization due to a constant deficit of compensating amounts of fresh organic matter, deflation of fine soil material from ploughed surfaces and water erosion. The optimisation of land use structure and crop structure, which takes into account the characteristics of these territories, is required to reduce the intensity of these processes under current conditions.
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Mishra, Neha, Saurabh Mishra, and Ranu Prasad. "Current Status and Challenges of Microalgae as an Eco-Friendly Biofuel Feedstock: A Review." Present Environment and Sustainable Development 15, no. 1 (June 30, 2021): 179–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.15551/pesd2021151014.
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Global warming, depleting energy reserve and raising demand have created a upsurge for alternative and environmentally friendly renewable energy sources. Currently, microalgae have recognized as a promising biofuel feedstock’s due to the several unique characteristics includes high productivity, no competition for arable land, fresh water and high CO2 sequestration efficiency. High caloric value, low density and low viscosity make it promising source of renewable energy. They also serve the dual purpose of biofuel production along with the production of potentially valuable biomass, which could be utilize for phyco-remediation, food, animal feeds, fertilizers, drugs etc. In spite of huge opportunity, only few algae species were investigated till date. This review paper presents the brief view on the potential of microalgae for biofuel feedstock, different culturing system, algal conversion technology. In addition, hurdles in commercialization of algal based biofuel technology and strategies were also discussed.
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Kumari, Dr Rashmi, and Dr Manoj Kumar Upadhyay. "Energy Transformation Through Primary Productivity and Nutrient Dynamics of Lentic Water." International Journal for Research in Applied Sciences and Biotechnology 9, no. 1 (February 22, 2022): 171–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.31033/ijrasb.9.1.20.
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Some societies can cope, at least temporarily, with pollution and availability constraints. In most of the world, however, population increases continue without significant reduction rates. Growth will continue to impose increasing demands upon freshwater supplies. Control and reversal of degradation requires a proper economic and social valuation of fresh water. Human impact on freshwater ecosystems will increase until industrial growth is stabilized.
Emotionalism and alarmist reactions to the momentum of exploitation by the technological system accomplish little. Understanding the metabolic responses of aquatic ecosystems is essential in order to confront and offset the effects of human alterations. Many small ponds in different parts of the world have been drained or reclaimed to extend arable land. This has caused unusual fluctuations in water land, the impact of which is tremendous. The biodiversity and dynamics of different phytoplankton population are one of the least explored areas in aquatic biology.
Ecological studies give humans a deep insight into principles of life, its forms and levels of existence. F.A forel may be considered as the founder of modern limnology for his original work on Swiss Lakes. The primary social need of every sustainable society is to protect and utilize all their natural resources wisely.
In India, such studies on the pattern of energy flow in aquatic ecosystem by various organisms at different trophic levels are very few. Odum suggested to bring out a comparative picture by investigating the physical, chemical and biological characteristic of lentic water bodies. It is clear that no detailed bioecological investigations have been done so far in this area.
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Zhang, Zechao, Zelin Xia, Chunjiang Zhou, Geng Wang, Xiao Meng, and Pengcheng Yin. "Insights into Salinity Tolerance in Wheat." Genes 15, no. 5 (April 29, 2024): 573. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes15050573.
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Salt stress has a detrimental impact on food crop production, with its severity escalating due to both natural and man-made factors. As one of the most important food crops, wheat is susceptible to salt stress, resulting in abnormal plant growth and reduced yields; therefore, damage from salt stress should be of great concern. Additionally, the utilization of land in coastal areas warrants increased attention, given diminishing supplies of fresh water and arable land, and the escalating demand for wheat. A comprehensive understanding of the physiological and molecular changes in wheat under salt stress can offer insights into mitigating the adverse effects of salt stress on wheat. In this review, we summarized the genes and molecular mechanisms involved in ion transport, signal transduction, and enzyme and hormone regulation, in response to salt stress based on the physiological processes in wheat. Then, we surveyed the latest progress in improving the salt tolerance of wheat through breeding, exogenous applications, and microbial pathways. Breeding efficiency can be improved through a combination of gene editing and multiple omics techniques, which is the fundamental strategy for dealing with salt stress. Possible challenges and prospects in this process were also discussed.
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Dzidzienyo, Prosper, Juan-Rodrigo Bastidas-Oyanedel, and Jens Schmidt. "Pyrolysis Kinetics of the Arid Land Biomass Halophyte Salicornia Bigelovii and Phoenix Dactylifera Using Thermogravimetric Analysis." Energies 11, no. 9 (August 30, 2018): 2283. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en11092283.
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Biomass availability in arid regions is challenging due to limited arable land and lack of fresh water. In this study, we focus on pyrolysis of two biomasses that are typically abundant agricultural biomasses in arid regions, focusing on understanding the reaction rates and Arrhenius kinetic parameters that describe the pyrolysis reactions of halophyte Salicornia bigelovii, date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and co-pyrolysis biomass using thermo-gravimetric analysis under non-isothermal conditions. The mass loss data obtained from thermogravimetric analysis of S. bigelovii and date palm revealed the reaction rate peaked between 592 K and 612 K for P. dactylifera leaves and 588 K and 609 K for S. bigelovii at heating rates, 5 K/min, 10 K/min and 15 K/min during the active pyrolysis phase. The activation energy for S. bigelovii and P. dactylifera leaves during this active pyrolysis phase were estimated using the Kissinger method as 147.6 KJ/mol and 164.7 KJ/mol respectively with pre-exponential factors of 3.13 × 109/min and 9.55 × 1010/min for the respective biomasses. Other isoconversional models such as the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa were used to determine these kinetic parameters during other phases of the pyrolysis reaction and gave similar results.
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Ewaid, Salam Hussein, Salwan Ali Abed, and Nadhir Al-Ansari. "Assessment of Main Cereal Crop Trade Impacts on Water and Land Security in Iraq." Agronomy 10, no. 1 (January 9, 2020): 98. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10010098.
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Growing populations, socio-economic development, the pollution of rivers, and the withdrawal of fresh water are all signs of increasing water scarcity, and with 85% of global use, agriculture is the biggest freshwater user. The water footprint (WF) and virtual water (VW) are concepts used recently for freshwater resources assessment. The WF reflects how much, when and where the water was used whereas VW reveals the volume of water embedded in goods when traded. The first goal of this research is to determine the WF per ton and the WF of production (Mm3/yr) of wheat, barley, rice, and maize in Iraq. The second goal is estimating the quantities of the 4 main cereal crops imported into Iraq and assessing the impact on reducing WF and land savings for 10 years from 2007 to 2016. The results showed that the WF per ton was 1736, 1769, 3694, 2238 m3/ton and the WF of production was 5271, 1475, 997, 820 Mm3/yr for wheat, barley, rice, and maize, respectively. The median total VW imported was 4408 Mm3/yr, the largest volume was 3478 Mm3/yr from wheat, and Iraq saved about 2676 Mm3 of irrigated water and 1,239,539 M ha of land by importing crops every year during 2007–2016. The study revealed the significance of better irrigation management methods to decrease the WF through a selection of crops that need less water and cultivation in rain-fed areas, as well as the use of cereal import to conserve scarce water resources, which is crucial both in terms of water resource management and preservation of the environment. The results of this research could be used as a guideline for better water management practices in Iraq and can provide helpful data for both stakeholders and policymakers.
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D Nasihien, Ronny, Iswachyu Dhaniarti, Anton Muhibuddin, Cholil Hasyim, M. Ikhsan Setiawan, Diah Ayu Restuti Wulandari, Achfas Zacoeb, et al. "Portable Urban Agriculture Technology and Soil Nutrient Drive App That Support Farmers Profit." International Journal of Engineering & Technology 7, no. 2.6 (March 11, 2018): 331. http://dx.doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i2.6.11705.
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A narrow land farmed urban Agriculture. It used for daily fresh vegetables and fruit for the housing community in urban areas. Portable Urban Agriculture Technology as a support facility to increase production of Urban Agriculture, the Greenhouse portable system could be built and transferred to a specific location is convenient, safe, fast, lightweight structural material (PVC 0.55mm Tarpaulin) so that the Urban Agricultural Products closer to residential consumers in urban. The impact was the price was cheaper but quality. The objective was to plan, build and test prototype Water inflated tent activity as a facility to strengthen Greenhouse's strength, speed, effectiveness and comfort. Application method stages of the Cup or SDN on a former tin mining land, with Portable Urban Agriculture Technology support soil nutrient drive are as follows: first Reconstruction of the land in the form of land arrangement in accordance contours and irrigation channels that exist in the field is very important to support the success of the method SDN; second Management of top soil in the form of top soil enriched with organic material will support environmental compliance in the soil, especially for the growth and development of VAM hyphae and root system; third Soil Amendment to improve the physical and chemical properties of former mining land; fourth Activities vegetation of mined land with SDN method optimizes the achievement of the goals replanting of sustainable of native vegetation for erosion and runoff, repair and restoration of biodiversity, landscape aesthetics that will impact habitat improvement fauna, biodiversity, soil productivity and water quality. Tree plant species such as Acacia mangium, Acacia auriculiformis and Leucaena diversifolia microbes that have been infected with mycorrhizal fungi (VAM) will be very effective and support this effort. Vegetation activities with SDN method includes the following steps: first Seedling plants with VAM; second Preparation of arable land that supports the development of VAM in the soil; third Planting of the first cup with VAM; fourth Incubate 1 month; fifth Planting of the second cup with VAM; sixth 1 month incubation; and seventh The planting of the main crop.
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Wiedemann, Stephen, Rod Davis, Eugene McGahan, Caoilinn Murphy, and Matthew Redding. "Resource use and greenhouse gas emissions from grain-finishing beef cattle in seven Australian feedlots: a life cycle assessment." Animal Production Science 57, no. 6 (2017): 1149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an15454.
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Grain finishing of cattle has become increasingly common in Australia over the past 30 years. However, interest in the associated environmental impacts and resource use is increasing and requires detailed analysis. In this study we conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate impacts of the grain-finishing stage for cattle in seven feedlots in eastern Australia, with a particular focus on the feedlot stage, including the impacts from producing the ration, feedlot operations, transport, and livestock emissions while cattle are in the feedlot (gate-to-gate). The functional unit was 1 kg of liveweight gain (LWG) for the feedlot stage and results are included for the full supply chain (cradle-to-gate), reported per kilogram of liveweight (LW) at the point of slaughter. Three classes of cattle produced for different markets were studied: short-fed domestic market (55–80 days on feed), mid-fed export (108–164 days on feed) and long-fed export (>300 days on feed). In the feedlot stage, mean fresh water consumption was found to vary from 171.9 to 672.6 L/kg LWG and mean stress-weighted water use ranged from 100.9 to 193.2 water stress index eq. L/kg LWG. Irrigation contributed 57–91% of total fresh water consumption with differences mainly related to the availability of irrigation water near the feedlot and the use of irrigated feed inputs in rations. Mean fossil energy demand ranged from 16.5 to 34.2 MJ lower heating values/kg LWG and arable land occupation from 18.7 to 40.5 m2/kg LWG in the feedlot stage. Mean greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the feedlot stage ranged from 4.6 to 9.5 kg CO2-e/kg LWG (excluding land use and direct land-use change emissions). Emissions were dominated by enteric methane and contributions from the production, transport and milling of feed inputs. Linear regression analysis showed that the feed conversion ratio was able to explain >86% of the variation in GHG intensity and energy demand. The feedlot stage contributed between 26% and 44% of total slaughter weight for the classes of cattle fed, whereas the contribution of this phase to resource use varied from 4% to 96% showing impacts from the finishing phase varied considerably, compared with the breeding and backgrounding. GHG emissions and total land occupation per kilogram of LWG during the grain finishing phase were lower than emissions from breeding and backgrounding, resulting in lower life-time emissions for grain-finished cattle compared with grass finishing.
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Monteiro, Pedro, Silvia Lomartire, João Cotas, Diana Pacheco, João C. Marques, Leonel Pereira, and Ana M. M. Gonçalves. "Seaweeds as a Fermentation Substrate: A Challenge for the Food Processing Industry." Processes 9, no. 11 (October 31, 2021): 1953. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pr9111953.
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Seaweeds are gaining momentum as novel and functional food and feed products. From whole consumption to small bioactive compounds, seaweeds have remarkable flexibility in their applicability, ranging from food production to fertilizers or usages in chemical industries. Regarding food production, there is an increasing interest in the development of novel foods that, at the same time, present high nutritious content and are sustainably developed. Seaweeds, because they require no arable land, no usage of fresh water, and they have high nutritious and bioactive content, can be further explored for the development of newer and functional food products. Fermentation, especially performed by lactic acid bacteria, is a method used to produce functional foods. However, fermentation of seaweed biomass remains an underdeveloped topic that nevertheless demonstrates high potential for the production of new alimentary products that hold and further improve the organoleptic and beneficial properties that these organisms are characterized for. Although further research has to be deployed in this field, the prebiotic and probiotic potential demonstrated by fermented seaweed can boost the development of new functional foods.
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Mateescu, C., A. Dima, and D. Marin. "Sustainable solution for alien algae management to reduce the environmental consequences of sea and river transport." Technium: Romanian Journal of Applied Sciences and Technology 2, no. 1 (January 16, 2020): 97–103. http://dx.doi.org/10.47577/technium.v2i1.67.
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The accelerated development of sea and river transport over the past few decades has led to a negative phenomenon regarding the invasion and development of alien algal species, threating to modify the ecosystem functions. Algae are an attractive feedstock for biofuels production due to many advantages such as rapid growth, chemical composition rich in lipids, carbohydrates and proteins, but also because algae do not require farmland and do not create controversy in using arable land for energy purpose to the detriment of food-intended crops. Indigenous or alien algal biomass has been excessively developed in the Black Sea basin and areas affected by eutrophication, causing environmental problems. This paper presents a sustainable management solution for mitigating the negative impact of alien algae by exploiting their energy potential for producing biogas. An innovative concept of tubular bioreactor for biogas production was developed within INCDIE ICPE-CA and could be successfully applied to harness algal biomass and produce biogas for domestic and industrial use, while simultaneously ensuring sanitation of sea shore and fresh water streams.
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Galazova, Svetlana, Tatiana Sitokhova, and Zalina Dzokaeva. "Russia’s New Environmental Policy in the Context of “Green” Transformation." BIO Web of Conferences 63 (2023): 04006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/20236304006.
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Russia has the world’s richest natural capital. It holds 6% of the world’s oil reserves, 17% of natural gas, 18% of coal, 15% of iron ore, 4% of copper, 10% of nickel and 17% of rare earth metals. Also important are renewable resources, which have gained strategic importance in the 21st century. About 20% of the world’s fresh water is located in Russia (mostly in Lake Baikal) and 20% of the world’s forest resources. Russia accounts for about 9% of the world’s arable land, but this area has decreased by more than 12% since 1990. Despite the fact that the catch of fish resources has decreased by about half since the end of the Soviet era, Russia ranks 6-7th in the world in this indicator and has shown the highest growth rate in the world over the last decade following reforms in the fisheries regulatory sector. Fishing catch. But more importantly, the ecological capacity of the Russian ecosystem significantly exceeds the ecological footprint of the Russian economy, making Russia one of the world’s largest environmental contributors.
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Wojcieszak, Dawid, Jacek Przybył, Łukasz Czajkowski, Jerzy Majka, and Artur Pawłowski. "Effects of Harvest Maturity on the Chemical and Energetic Properties of Corn Stover Biomass Combustion." Materials 15, no. 8 (April 12, 2022): 2831. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma15082831.
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Over the last decade, there has been increased interest in applying biomass as a raw material for producing biofuels used for thermochemical conversions. Extensive use of biomass could lead to controversial competition for arable land, water, and food; therefore, only waste materials and agricultural by-products and residues should be used to produce biofuels. One suitable by-product of agricultural production is crop residue from the harvest of maize for grain (corn stover). The harvest residues of corn stover consist of four fractions, i.e., husks, leaves, cobs, and stalks, which are structurally and morphologically distinct. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of selected maize cultivars with distinct FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) earliness classifications on the chemical and energetic properties of their corn cob cores. We determined the chemical properties based on elemental analysis, and the energy properties based on the heat of combustion and calorific values. The content of ash and volatile compounds in the corn cobs were also determined. The results indicated that the heat of combustion of fresh and seasoned corn cob cores ranged from 7.62–10.79 MJ/kg and 16.19–16.53 MJ/kg, respectively. The heat of combustion and calorific value of corn cob cores in the fresh state differed significantly and were strongly correlated with maize cultivars with distinct FAO earliness.
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Martín, Angel, Sara Ibáñez, Carlos Baixauli, Sara Blanc, and Ana Belén Anquela. "Multi-constellation GNSS interferometric reflectometry with mass-market sensors as a solution for soil moisture monitoring." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 24, no. 7 (July 15, 2020): 3573–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-3573-2020.
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Abstract. Per capita arable land is decreasing due to the rapidly increasing population, and fresh water is becoming scarce and more expensive. Therefore, farmers should continue to use technology and innovative solutions to improve efficiency, save input costs, and optimise environmental resources (such as water). In the case study presented in this paper, the Global Navigation Satellite System interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR) technique was used to monitor soil moisture during 66 d, from 3 December 2018 to 6 February 2019, in the installations of the Cajamar Centre of Experiences, Paiporta, Valencia, Spain. Two main objectives were pursued. The first was the extension of the technique to a multi-constellation solution using GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO satellites, and the second was to test whether mass-market sensors could be used for this technique. Both objectives were achieved. At the same time that the GNSS observations were made, soil samples taken at 5 cm depth were used for soil moisture determination to establish a reference data set. Based on a comparison with that reference data set, all GNSS solutions, including the three constellations and the two sensors (geodetic and mass market), were highly correlated, with a correlation coefficient between 0.7 and 0.85.
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He, Tianming, Chunxia Wang, Zonglan Wang, Xinlin He, Hongguang Liu, and Jia Zhang. "Assessing the Agricultural Water Savings–Economy–Ecological Environment System in an Arid Area of Northwest China Using a Water Rights Transaction Model." Water 13, no. 9 (April 29, 2021): 1233. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13091233.
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As water trading has become increasingly used to optimize the allocation of water resources, it has become necessary to transfer agricultural water allocations for economic development and ecological environmental uses by way of water rights trading. In this paper, we constructed an example water rights trading model in the arid oasis area of Shihezi Irrigation District (located in Northwest China), using the field investigation method and governmental water management decisions based on the systems theory of the agricultural water savings–economy–ecological environment. Furthermore, focusing on the added industrial value produced by trading water, the value of the ecological services provided by fresh water, the negative value of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and the negative ecological value of reduced fertilizer application, a quantitative analysis was carried out using the Shihezi Irrigation District as an example. The results showed that under the most stringent water resource management plan and with the objective of returning land and reducing water, the irrigation area can save 52,504,500 m3 of surplus water from the agricultural sector, of which 49,879,300 m3 can be reallocated to the industrial sector and 2,625,200 m3 can be reallocated to the ecological sector. Using the water rights transaction method, this regional agricultural water saving could generate an industrial benefit equal to 35,024,300 yuan, an ecosystem service equal to 19,482,200 yuan, and an overall benefit equal to 54,420,500 yuan. The water rights trading model proposed in this paper for an arid oasis areas can provide a reference for other arid areas, helping to achieve the sustainable economic development of the economic and ecological environments in arid oasis areas through water rights trading.
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López Mora, Manuel Felipe, María Fernanda Quintero Castellanos, Carlos Alberto González Murillo, Calina Borgovan, María del Carmen Salas Sanjuan, and Miguel Guzmán. "Predictive Model to Evaluate Water and Nutrient Uptake in Vertically Grown Lettuce under Mediterranean Greenhouse Conditions." Horticulturae 10, no. 2 (January 25, 2024): 117. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10020117.
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The decrease in arable land, water scarcity, and climate change increase the pressure on natural resources and agricultural production systems. In this context, agriculture must ensure food production for the rapidly growing and increasingly urban population of the world. Efforts must be made to obtain the highest yield from the unit area and promote the transition to more sustainable production systems Hydroponics is a modern growing technology mainly applied in greenhouses, which has developed rapidly over the past 30–40 years. Substrate-free hydroponic vertical crops (VC) can reduce the pressure conventional agriculture exerts on resources, saving water and nutrients, and increasing crop yields per unit area. Therefore, this study aimed to validate a proposed predictive model (PM) to simulate water and nutrient uptake in vertical crops under greenhouse conditions. On the basis of the Penman–Monteith equation, the PM estimates transpiration, while nutrient uptake was estimated using the Carmassi–Sonneveld submodel. The PM was experimentally evaluated for vertically grown lettuce under Mediterranean greenhouse conditions during spring 2023. The irrigation technique was a closed-loop fertigation circuit. The experiment consisted of testing two densities (50 and 80 plants·m−2) and three plant positions (low, medium, and upper). ANOVA (p < 0.05) and R2 were used to evaluate the PM performance and crop behavior. The low density and the upper position had significantly higher mass values. The results suggest a high degree of performance for the PM, as the R2 ranged from 0.7 to 0.9 for water and nutrient uptake. Both densities had a yield 17–20 times higher than conventional lettuce production and significant savings in water, about 85–88%. In this sense, the PM has great potential to intelligently manage VC fertigation, saving water and nutrients, which represents an advance toward reaching SDG 6 and SDG 12 within the 2030 Agenda.
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Różkowski, Kazimierz, Jacek Różkowski, and Oimahmad Rahmonov. "The Historical Aspect of the Impact of Zn and Pb Ore Mining and Land Use on Ecohydrological Changes in the Area of the Biała Przemsza Valley (Southern Poland)." Land 12, no. 5 (April 30, 2023): 997. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land12050997.
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The article presents the impact of Zn and Pb ore mining and land use on ecohydrological changes in the area of the Biała Przemsza valley in the historical aspect, with particular emphasis on the period 1941–2021. GIS was used to analyse the maps to identify spatial and temporal changes in land use. The following trends could be observed in the spatial development of the Biała Przemsza valley: rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in the 21st century, marked reduction in the surface area of arable land and sands, and dynamics of the increase in the surface area occupied by forests. Notable changes occurred in the plant ecosystems between 1941 and 2021 due to land management. Groundwater level lowering due to mining activity resulted in the change from wet meadows to fresh or dry xerothermic grasslands, while forest cover increased by 4% within the catchment area. The hydrographic network evolved. After the commissioning of the Zn-Pb ore mines Olkusz and Pomorzany in the 1960s and 1970s, a regional depression cone with an area of 400 km2 was formed, while the maximum groundwater inflows to the mines reached 360 m3/min. Changes in the hydrodynamic conditions have resulted in changes in the hydrogeochemical regime of the Triassic aquifer manifested by increased levels of, e.g., SO4 and Cl. Wastewater with lignosulphonate compounds from the paper factory caused periodic degradation of some of the water flowing into the Pomorzany mine. As a result of mining activity, the character of some sections of the Biała Przemsza river changed to an infiltrating one, the quantitative depletion of groundwater resources within the range of the mine drainage cone occurred, river springs disappeared, and the flow in the river decreased. At the same time, mine water was discharged to the tributaries of the Biała Przemsza. A radical reduction in the flow of the Biała Przemsza and its tributaries occurred after the decommissioning of the Zn-Pb ore mines at the turn of 2021 and 2022.
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Shakya, Rashmi, Elvira Capilla, Natalia Torres-Pagán, Marta Muñoz, Monica Boscaiu, Ioan Lupuţ, Oscar Vicente, and Mercedes Verdeguer. "Effect of Two Biostimulants, Based on Ascophyllum nodosum Extracts, on Strawberry Performance under Mild Drought Stress." Agriculture 13, no. 11 (November 7, 2023): 2108. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13112108.
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The world’s population continues to grow while available natural resources, such as arable land, water, and quality soil, are decreasing. Therefore, it is essential to implement environmentally friendly crop management strategies, which include the use of biostimulants. This study analysed the effects on strawberry plants of ActyseiTM and Phylgreen®, two commercial biostimulants based on extracts of the seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum. The study was conducted under field capacity (regular irrigation) and at 50% field capacity (mild water stress conditions) for 12 weeks. Different growth parameters of the aerial parts of the plants were measured weekly, such as the number of leaves, length of the longest leaf, leaf area, and the number of flowers and fruits produced, as well as the chlorophyll content, determined with a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detector. At the end of the experiment, the plant material was collected, and the roots and aerial parts were weighed separately to obtain the fresh and dry weight of the samples. Fruit quality was assessed by analysing morphological parameters (weight and size) and some biochemical variables (proline, total soluble sugars, and antioxidant compounds contents). ActyseiTM application generally enhanced plant growth in control plants and under mild water stress conditions, even though root weight was reduced. In contrast, no significant effect of Phylgreen® on vegetative growth was observed, except for stimulating the root growth of plants watered at field capacity. Both biostimulants, Phylgreen® to a greater extent, showed an impact on the plants already seven weeks after their initial application, stimulating flower and fruit production, especially at field capacity.
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Badgujar, Smita, and Arun Kumar Dwivedi. "Economical and environment friendly self-compacting concrete." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1130, no. 1 (January 1, 2023): 012041. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1130/1/012041.
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Abstract A rapid industrialization and urbanization resulted in the increased demand for usage of electricity at an alarming rate. At the same time, coal ashes are produced in coal based thermal power plant in large quantity. Fly ash is being used as an alternative material in construction industries while pond ash is disposed-off on huge land areas resulting in environmental pollution through soil, water and air. This research emphases on the study of performance of pond ash as a fine aggregate in self-compacting concrete (SCC). Fine aggregate is substituted by pond ash in percentages of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. The fresh state properties of SCC like flowability, passing ability of all mixes have been checked by conducting inverted slump cone and L-box according to IS code of practice. The cost analysis of SCC has been conducted to establish the relative cost savings. From the experimental investigation, cost analysis and life cycle assessment, it is concluded that SCC with 20% fine aggregate replaced by pond ash can be economical and environment friendly self-compacting concrete.
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Theissen, Tim, Annette Otte, and Rainer Waldhardt. "Land-Use Change Related to Topography and Societal Drivers in High-Mountains – A Case Study in the Upper Watershed of the Tergi (Kazbegi Region), Greater Caucasus." European Countryside 11, no. 3 (September 1, 2019): 317–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/euco-2019-0020.
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Abstract High mountain ecosystems, with strong topographic and climatic gradients, are fragile and particularly sensitive to changes in land use. The abandonment of historic cultural landscapes has often led to changes in the pattern of land cover and thus, to a shift in the functions of high mountain landscapes, like fresh water supply, productivity or erosion control. In order to understand the effects of land-use change on the land-cover pattern at the local and regional scale, we analyzed and classified the mountainous landscape structure in the Kazbegi region in Georgia, located in the Central Greater Caucasus. For 13 settlements, we determined the land cover as present in 1987 and 2015, and quantified the changes over time to detect land-cover development trends for each settlement. Using a cluster analysis, the study area was analyzed regarding to topography (altitude, aspect, slope) and distance to settlements at the regional scale to gain six groups with separating conditions. Furthermore, each settlement was classified according to topography and land-cover change to obtain site-specific, comparative development trends. Our results show that this Caucasian high-mountain landscape is characterized by open grassland (67%) used as pasture and hay meadow, and natural birch forests (7%) in patches in the upper half of the subalpine belt. Within the settlements but also in their surroundings, field vegetables are cultivated in home gardens (1%). Land-cover change during the observation period mainly affected the cultural grassland with hay meadow abandonment. Moreover, shrubbery and forest expanded considerably on abandoned pastures. We further detected a strong relationship to topography that considerably varied between settlements resulting in specific trends in land-use change. Hay-making and arable land cultivation are focused today on sun-exposed and gentle slopes near the settlements. Shrub encroachment and reforestations were localized on farther distances and mostly on north-exposed slopes. Besides providing basic information about the historic and current land-use and land-cover patterns, our results quantify the landscape change during almost 30 years. A spatio-temporal analysis revealed an understanding of how land-use decisions influence the landscape pattern. In the context of societal development, regional socioeconomic processes, like shifts in the agricultural structure and population outmigration, seem to be societal drivers of changes. Our findings reveal linkages and interrelationships between natural, human-induced environmental and socioeconomic processes within high-mountain socio-ecological systems. Moreover, we suggest that sustainable land-use strategies for spatial development on sub-regional level, especially in marginal high-mountain regions, should consider topography and its influence on land-use change.
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Tymochko, Ihor, Оlha Bezrodnova, Volodymyr Solomakha, and Valentyna Maliarenko. "Forest Typology and Settlement Characteristics of the Emerald Network “The Lower Part of the Uda River Valley” in the Kharkiv Region." Scientific Horizons 24, no. 6 (November 24, 2021): 41–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.48077/scihor.24(6).2021.41-49.
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The importance and significance of the conservation of the Emerald Object “The lower part of the Uda River Valley” (UA0000295) in botanical and general ecological aspects is discussed in detail. It is located on the outskirts of Kharkiv with an area of 13,381.0 ha. The studied area combines floodplains of regions occupied by meadows, shrub fragments and forest vegetation, and pine forests with artificial pine plantations. Areas of the loess plateau with arable land and deciduous forests, as well. List of the leading plant species, area's, main ecological and biotic features of identified habitats under Resolution 4 of the Berne Convention, in particular, C1.222, C1.32, C1.33, C3.34, D5.2, E1.2, E2.2, E3.4, F9.1, F3.247, G1.11, G1.21, G1.41, G1.8, G3.4232, G1.A4, G1.A1 for the Emerald Object are presented. The largest areas are occupied by biotops of lowland bogs with sedge and reed thickets without stagnant water (D5.2). There are plain hay fields (E2.2) and wet and moist meadows with a predominance of grasslands (E3.4) and deciduous forests in medium rich and rich soils (G1.A1), fresh and dry forests, and Sarmatian-type forests (G3.4232). The typological diversity of the forest of the territory, the area covered with forest vegetation is 11,585.0 ha, were outlined. Oak (Quercus robur L.) (8,091.5 ha, 69.83%) with a predominance in its plantations of fresh maple-linden oak and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) (2,529.8 ha, 21.84%) with a predominance of fresh oak-pine sedge are the main forest-forming species. Some species have appropriate conservation status in Ukraine (Botrychium lunaria (L.) SW., Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) Soo s.l., Epipactis palustris (L.) Crantz, Anacamptis coriophora (L.) R.M. Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W. Chase (Orchis coriophora L.), A. palustris (Jacq.) R.M. Bateman, Pridgeon & M.W. Chase (Orchis palustris Jacq.), and several species are protected at the regional level (Centaurium erythraea Rafn., C. pulchellum (Sw.) Druce, Dianthus stenocalyx Juz., Inula helenium L., Iris pseudacorus L., Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim., Caltha palustris L., Geum rivale L., Parnassia palustris L., Sanguisorba officinalis L., Valeriana officinalis L.)
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MUDRAK, Ruslan, and Olena DOVGAL. "ACTUAL PROBLEMS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: FAMINE AND MALNUTRITION." Ukrainian Journal of Applied Economics 5, no. 2 (May 7, 2020): 311–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.36887/2415-8453-2020-2-37.
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Introduction. At the end of 2019, almost 690 million people or 8.9% of the world population experienced physical and moral sufferings as a result of the deficit of edible food with a proper nutritious value. The lack of food became lethal for many people. On 20 August, 2020, 7134 thousand people died of starvation. The most deplorable fact is that the third part of those who died of starvation is children. Besides chronic famine, more and more people are facing the problem of temporary famine or malnutrition, i.e. forced decrease of food consumed and its quality. Two billion people or 25.9% of the world population didn’t have regular access to a sufficient amount of nutritious food in 2019. Deficit of nutritious calories, low quality of food and its imbalance result in physical and mental development delay of people. Losses of labor productivity because of famine can cause GDP decrease per capita by 6-10%. The Purpose is the advancement of urgent problems of famine and lack of delivery for the implementation of the concept of stable development in the framework of the global economy. Results. The main reasons of the current scale of famine and malnutrition could be the following: 1) reduction of land areas suitable for agricultural production; 2) increase of food raw materials for biofuel production; 3) increase of the fresh water deficit; 4) change of the climate causing the frequency and the scale of devastating floods, droughts, fires, hurricanes, etc.; 5) poverty; 6) pandemic COVID-19; 7) military conflicts. Solution of the global problem of famine and malnutrition requires a complex approach. Analysis of the factors causing this problem shows that the application of the previous approaches is not sufficient under current conditions. We think that the top-priority task in the task list of UNO aimed at the achievement of zero hunger is the prevention of further climate changes, immediate adaptation of local systems of agricultural production to new conditions, preservation and extensive restoration of the resource potential of rural territories. Mentioned tasks correspond to the fulfillment of the conditions of sustainable development. It means that the implementation of the concept of sustainable development within the global economy is a powerful tool to solve the global issue of famine and malnutrition. Keywords: famine and malnutrition, arable land, biofuels, fresh water deficit, climate change, poverty, COVID-19, military conflicts, sustainable development.
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Markova, Olga, and Valentina Maslennikova. "Comparison and display on small-scale maps and diagrams of the territorial resources of the largest countries of the World and their major cities." InterCarto. InterGIS 26, no. 1 (2020): 141–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.35595/2414-9179-2020-1-26-141-157.
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The largest countries of the world are inevitably involved in various global processes, both natural and socio-economic. These countries have common features and characteristic differences in the state of their territorial resources; the study of these characteristics is of interest for the global prospects of sustainable development. A large territory provides a variety of natural conditions and resources for the country; however, not in all countries it is possible to effectively use them in the economy throughout the all country. An analysis of their territorial resources was carried out for the six largest countries of the world according to the following parameters: area, efficiency, environmental load on the territory of the country, number, density, forecast of population growth or decline for 2050, main agricultural land (arable land, pastures, the provision of the population, degradation and pollution of the soils), forest resources (including security per capita, share in the area of countries), fresh water resources (including per capita provision and availability), greenhouse gas emissions, including per capita, the proportion of mammals endangered, proportion of areas of preserved ecosystems. The data obtained was displayed on the maps; a common legend is built for them in tabular form. A number of other parameters of the state of territorial resources and the environment were also studied. In the process of research, the most important cities of these countries were also studied and diagrams showing their similarities and differences in a number of indicators were constructed: area, population and population density, time of foundation, climatic and landscape parameters, the presence of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, high-rise construction parameters. The developed methodology is effective for assessing a variety of data on territorial resources that can be used to build models of sustainable development of the largest countries and regions of the Earth.
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Brenes-Peralta, Laura, María F. Jiménez-Morales, Rooel Campos-Rodríguez, Fabio De Menna, and Matteo Vittuari. "Decision-Making Process in the Circular Economy: A Case Study on University Food Waste-to-Energy Actions in Latin America." Energies 13, no. 9 (May 6, 2020): 2291. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13092291.
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Economies have begun to shift from linear to circular, adopting, among others, waste-to-energy approaches. Waste management is known to be a paramount challenge, and food waste (FW) in particular, has gained the interest of several actors due to its potential impacts and energy recovery opportunities. However, the selection of alternative valorization scenarios can pose several queries in certain contexts. This paper evaluates four FW valorization scenarios based on anaerobic digestion and composting, in comparison to landfilling, by applying a consistent decision-making framework through a combination of linear programming, Life Cycle Thinking (LCT), and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The evaluation was built upon a case study of five universities in Costa Rica and portrayed the trade-offs between environmental impacts and cost categories from the scenarios and their side flows. Results indicate that the landfill scenario entails higher Global Warming Potential and Fresh Water Eutrophication impacts than the valorization scenarios; however, other impact categories and costs are affected. Centralized recovery facilities can increase the Global Warming Potential and the Land Use compared to semi-centralized ones. Experts provided insights, regarding the ease of adoption of composting, in contrast to the potential of energy sources substitution and economic savings from anaerobic digestion.
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Kumar, Vikanksha, Arun, and Jatinder Singh. "Trends in Hydroponics Practice/Technology in Horticultural Crops: A Review." International Journal of Plant & Soil Science 35, no. 2 (February 22, 2023): 57–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2023/v35i22759.
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Currently, hydroponics, a soilless production method, promises to deliver high quality, nutritious, fresh, residue-free crops, overcoming the problems of climate change, freshwater shortage, necessity of fertile land, and the overwhelming requirement of the expanding food demand. Hydroponics production is now garnering prominence across the world because of its effective resource management and cultivation of high value crops. Developed nations like Netherlands, Australia, France, England, Israel, Canada, and the United States are among the world leaders in hydroponic innovation/cultivation. Certain advantages of this technology include shorter crop growth times than traditional crop soil-based, year-round output, low disease, and insect attack, and removal of several labour-intensive intercultural procedures such as weeding, spraying and watering. Nutrient film technique has been successfully employed in the large-scale cultivation of leafy and other vegetables across the world with water savings of 70 to 90%. Commercial hydroponic technology must be successfully implemented, thus it's essential to devise low-cost methods that seem to be simple to use and sustain, need less manpower altogether, and have reduced installation and function costs. Therefore, hydroponics could represent a superior approach to grow various fruits, vegetables, and livestock feed in addition to fulfil the upcoming need for world nutrition.
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Soe Htet, Maw Ni, Honglu Wang, Vivek Yadav, Thongsouk Sompouviseth, and Baili Feng. "Legume Integration Augments the Forage Productivity and Quality in Maize-Based System in the Loess Plateau Region." Sustainability 14, no. 10 (May 16, 2022): 6022. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14106022.
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The changing climate, inadequate water supply, insufficient agricultural inputs, decreasing in agricultural arable land areas under forage crops of Northwestern Loess Plateau region, expanding livestock population, increasing demands for meat and milk production, and food and feed security concerns all insist on a necessary requirement in forage quality production. Cereal–legume mixed-cropping is a biological approach to enhancing herbage yield and quality of upgraded animal feed (forage and silage). However, little information exists about the appropriate mixing seeding ratios and its impacts on yield and quality. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the forage yield and nutritional quality of maize (Zea mays L.) and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in mono-and mixed-cropping approaches at the seeding proportions of 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 45:55, 25:75, and 0:100 in 2019 and 2020 in Northwestern Loess Plateau region. A randomized complete block design with four replicates was used in this experiment. The results indicated that forage quality was significantly affected by the mixture ratios. The land equivalent ratio (LER) of all mixed-cropping treatments greater than 1.0, in which maize–common bean at the 50:50 seeding ratio achieved higher LER (1.46) than that of other treatments, showing that mixed-cropping combination systems are better users of land resources. Laboratory forage quality analysis and Pearson correlation analysis showed that the relative feed value had highly positive correlation with total digestible nutrients and relative forage quality in mixed-cropping treatments. Our results showed that fresh forage yield and dry matter yield were higher in monocropped maize forage than in other intercropped forages, whereas crude protein yield was lower compared with other mixed cropping forages. After 60 days of ensiling, the highest organic acid profile and ammonia-nitrogen were observed in M25:CB75 silage compared with other silages. The highest ensilability of fermentation coefficient was also found in M50:CB50 compared with other intercropped silages. Regarding forage preservation, silage showed higher contents of crude protein, relative feed value and lower crude fiber, water-soluble carbohydrate neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber contents than forage. This study determined that the ratios of maize–common bean 25:75 and 50:50 were the most desirable mixture ratios among mixed-cropped forage and silage based on chemical composition and quality analysis for livestock feeding.
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Soren, James. "Interaction of Capitals and the Climate Change Vulnerabilities: A Study on Santal People of Ramdevpur Abasan of Barind Tract Region of Bangladesh." Global Sustainability Research 2, no. 4 (November 15, 2023): 46–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.56556/gssr.v2i4.628.
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In spite of Bangladesh's vulnerability to climate change because of its geographical location, geomorphology, and greater dependence on nature, all the communities of the country are not vulnerable to climate change in the same ways. The Santals of Bangladesh are one of the most climate change-vulnerable communities because they are marginalized because they have fewer physical, natural, economic, human, and social capitals. Truly, there is much research on the climate change vulnerability of Bangladesh; however, existing research does not discuss this matter. This research was conducted with the objectives of knowing the interaction between Bangladeshi Santals’ different types of capital, the effects of climate change, and the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to climate change. Following the qualitative methodology, this research found that Santals of research field are already marginalized because of having no ownership of land, homesteads and livestock, least access to fresh water, naturally-grown vegetables, trees, and crop seeds), no alternative income sources, less annual income and savings, less educational qualifications, less or no knowledge about climate change, no training on climate change and climate change adaptation, no skills for alternative income, and no access to prior warning about natural calamities, less connectivity to organizations, least access to government services, and having few helpful kin relatives, and interaction among these capitals; climate change effects are making them more vulnerable.
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Boiko, V. S., A. Yu Timokhin, and V. V. Mikhailov. "Fertility of irrigated lands in the south forest-steppe of the Omsk region." TAURIDA HERALD OF THE AGRARIAN SCIENCES 4 (28) (2021): 40–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.33952/2542-0720-2021-4-28-40-49.
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Unsustainable irrigation of chernozems can lead to secondary salinization and other negative consequences. The purpose of the research was to assess the fertility and hydrochemical composition of meadow-chernozem soil of the forest-steppe of Western Siberia under conditions of prolonged irrigation. The surveys were carried out in the fields of the agricultural production cooperative (APC) “Pushkinsky” and Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE) “Omskoye”; cultivation technology – adaptive system of irrigated agriculture. The studies were conducted in 2015–2020 on the Pushkin irrigation system. The object of the research – irrigated meadow-chernozem heavy loamy soil. The methods of route field research and laboratory analyzes were used. The results obtained were compared with the baseline values (1978). With long-term irrigation and intensive agricultural use, the fertility indicators of meadow-chernozem soil did not significantly deteriorate. The arable horizons have a neutral and close to neutral reaction (pH 5.8–6.2), average humus content (5.9–7.2%). The supply of nitrate nitrogen, as a rule, remained at a low and medium level (6.0–14.7 mg/kg) due to the high removal by vegetative crops and the absence of fallow fields in the structure of irrigated arable land. Long-term systematic application of phosphorus-containing fertilizers and creation of a positive P balance led to the improvement of soil phosphate status (99–177 mg/kg). The content of exchangeable potassium remains high (144–353 mg/kg) and is stable over time, which is a feature of chernozems with a heavy particle size distribution. The content of mobile forms of lead, zinc and cadmium does not exceed approximate permissible concentrations in the soil. When analyzing the cation-anionic composition of the water extract of the soil profile of FSUE “Omskoe”, a weak salinity of the chloride type was revealed in the 0.6-1.4 m layer; of the sulfate-chloride type – in the 1.4-1.8 m layer. In the future, it may lead to secondary salinization and serve as a limiting factor for high yields. The absorbing complex of meadow-chernozem soil in the southern forest-steppe is highly saturated with bases. Sodium concentration is minimal; calcium and magnesium cations prevail. The groundwater samples are moderately fresh and of good quality. Among the anions, HCО3- prevails, among the cations – Mg2+ and Ca2+, which indicates the need to control the groundwater level to maintain a favorable ecological state of meadow-chernozem soil.
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Loures, Luís, Alejandro Chamizo, Paulo Ferreira, Ana Loures, Rui Castanho, and Thomas Panagopoulos. "Assessing the Effectiveness of Precision Agriculture Management Systems in Mediterranean Small Farms." Sustainability 12, no. 9 (May 6, 2020): 3765. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12093765.
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While the world population continues to grow, increasing the need to produce more and better-quality food, climate change, urban growth and unsustainable agricultural practices accelerate the loss of available arable land, compromising the sustainability of agricultural lands both in terms of productivity and environmental resilience, and causing serious problems for the production-consumption balance. This scenario highlights the urgent need for agricultural modernization as a crucial step to face forthcoming difficulties. Precision agriculture techniques appear as a feasible option to help solve these problems. However, their use needs to be reinvented and tested according to different parameters, in order to define both the environmental and the economic impact of these new technologies not only on agricultural production, but also on agricultural sustainability. This paper intends, therefore, to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of precision agriculture through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)/remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) techniques in small Mediterranean farms. We present specific data obtained through the application of the aforementioned techniques in three farms located along the Portuguese-Spanish border, considering three parameters (seeding failure, differentiated irrigation and differentiated fertilization) in order to determine not only the ecological benefits of these methods, but also their economic and productivity aspects. The obtained results, based on these methods, highlight the fact that an efficient combination of UAV/RPAS and NDVI techniques allows for important economic savings in productivity factors, thus promoting a sustainable agriculture both in ecological and economic terms. Additionally, contrary to what is generally defended, even in small farms, as the ones assessed in this study (less than 50 ha), the costs associated with the application of the aforementioned precision agriculture processes are largely surpassed by the economic gains achieved with their application, regardless of the notorious environmental benefits introduced by the reduction of crucial production inputs as water and fertilizers.
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D Stevens, Joseph, David Murray, Dean Diepeveen, and Danny Toohey. "Adaptalight: An Inexpensive PAR Sensor System for Daylight Harvesting in a Micro Indoor Smart Hydroponic System." Horticulturae 8, no. 2 (January 25, 2022): 105. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8020105.
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Environmental changes and the reduction in arable land have led to food security concerns around the world, particularly in urban settings. Hydroponic soilless growing methods deliver plant nutrients using water, conserving resources and can be constructed nearly anywhere. Hydroponic systems have several complex attributes that need to be managed, and this can be daunting for the layperson. Micro Indoor Smart Hydroponics (MISH) leverage Internet of Things (IoT) technology to manage the complexities of hydroponic techniques, for growing food at home for everyday citizens. Two prohibitive costs in the advancement of MISH systems are power consumption and equipment expense. Reducing cost through harvesting ambient light can potentially reduce power consumption but must be done accurately to sustain sufficient plant yields. Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) meters are commercially used to measure only the light spectrum that plants use, but are expensive. This study presents Adaptalight, a MISH system that harvests ambient light using an inexpensive AS7265x IoT sensor to measure PAR. The system is built on commonly found IoT technology and a well-established architecture for MISH systems. Adpatalight was deployed in a real-world application in the living space of an apartment and experiments were carried out accordingly. A two-phase experiment was conducted over three months, each phase lasting 21 days. Phase one measured the IoT sensor’s capability to accurately measure PAR. Phase two measured the ability of the system to harvest ambient PAR light and produce sufficient yields, using the calibrated IoT sensor from phase one. The results showed that the Adaptalight system was successful in saving a significant amount of power, harvesting ambient PAR light and producing yields with no significant differences from the control. The amount of power savings would be potentially greater in a location with more ambient light. Additionally, the findings show that, when calibrated, the AS7265x sensor is well suited to accurately measure PAR light in MISH systems.
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Copley, M. A., and S. G. Wiedemann. "<i>Corrigendum to</i>: Environmental impacts of the Australian poultry industry. 1. Chicken meat production." Animal Production Science 63, no. 5 (March 21, 2023): 522. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/an22230_co.
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<sec> Context Steadily increasing consumption of chicken meat (Australia’s most consumed meat protein) has resulted in expanded production. With societal expectations that industries improve sustainability, understanding baseline impacts is vital. </sec> <sec> Aims This study determined carbon footprint (kg CO<sub>2</sub>-e), fossil energy (MJ), fresh water consumption (L), stress (LH<sub>2</sub>O-e) and scarcity (m<sup>3</sup>), and land-occupation (m<sup>2</sup>) impacts for conventional (C) and free-range (FR) production systems, identified hotspots and the implications of changes in production over the past decade, to establish targets for future improvement. </sec> <sec> Methods In the largest study of its kind, attributional life-cycle assessment with data collected for ∼50% of birds processed was used, reporting impacts per kilogram of the typical market mix of chicken products, and boneless chicken. Uncertainty was assessed through Monte Carlo analysis, and results are presented as the means and standard deviation. </sec> <sec> Key results Slightly lower impacts per kilogram of chicken meat product were observed for C production (2.1±0.03kgCO<sub>2</sub>-e, 18.0±0.3MJ, 178.6±22.4L, and 10.2±0.1m<sup>2</sup>) than for FR (2.2±0.03kgCO<sub>2</sub>-e, 18.5±0.3MJ, 189.6±24.6L, and 10.6±0.1m<sup>2</sup>). Feed production was the major hotspot, followed by grow-out and meat processing. Land use (LU) and direct land use-change (dLUC) impacts associated with imported soymeal added 1.7±0.3 and 1.8±0.3kgCO<sub>2</sub>-e to C and FR respectively. FR carbon footprint and land occupation were significantly (<i>P</i><0.05) higher. Since 2010, fossil energy, arable land, and greenhouse-gas emissions have declined. One countertrend was LU and dLUC emissions, which increased due to changed soy imports, resulting in a slightly higher C carbon footprint. </sec> <sec> Conclusions Multi-indicator analysis is fundamental to understanding, communicating, and improving performance, and distinguishing between short-term fluctuations and long-term trends. Since 2010, feed-production impacts have increased (due to imported soymeal in poultry diets), indicating that alternative feed protein sources are a priority. Efficiency improvements reduced per-kilogram impacts across other indicators, demonstrating a positive trend in producing more food from fewer inputs. </sec> <sec> Implications Australian chicken meat is a low-impact animal protein. Future improvements require alternative feed proteins, technology adoption and practice change to maintain or reduce impacts as production expands alongside consumer demand. </sec>
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Lester, Simon, and William Crawford. "An introduction to Geosynthetic Cementitious Composite Mats and Barriers – a new approach to lining canals." E3S Web of Conferences 368 (2023): 03008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202336803008.
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A new class of geosynthetic has recently emerged known as GCCMs (Geosynthetic Cementitious Composite Mats) defined by the ASTM D-35 committee in 2017 as ‘a factoryassembled geosynthetic composite consisting of a cementitious layer contained within a layer or layers of geosynthetic materials that becomes hardened’. GCCMs consist of a three-dimensional fibre structure filled with a dry cement/concrete mix, overlain by a hydrophilic filter layer and underlain by a watertight membrane, which is typically a polymeric film. The material is delivered in its dry format and unrolled into place using similar installation techniques to traditional geosynthetics. Once in place, it is hydrated by spraying with water and the cement/concrete mix hardens. The result is a watertight polymeric film which is overlain by a protective fibre-reinforced concrete layer. GCCMs have been in use since 2009 and are predominantly used for the lining of water channels for small scale drainage. More recently a variant of GCCMs has emerged which integrates a geomembrane liner onto the rear surface which allows the joints to be thermally welded. These are known as Geosynthetic Cementitious Composite Barriers (GCCBs). It is estimated that Egypt has more than 110,000 kilometers of canals comprised of approximately 30,000 km of public canals (first and second level) and 80,000 km of private third-level canals (mesqas) and irrigation ditches. A common problem associated with canals, is seepage. Seepage can result directly in water loss through the network or result in waterlogging of adjacent land. In the case of land used for cultivation, waterlogging can reduce crop yields or cause salinization of the soils. This does not only occur in earthen canals, but also in concrete lined canals, particularly those that have experienced cracking, scour, panel separation or damage. It is also a common misconception that concrete lining of canals is an effective method of mitigating seepage losses. The 25-year study performed by the USBR indicates that concrete over geomembrane has a 95% effectiveness at reducing seepage through canals1. This abstract introduces a revolutionary new class of materials called Geosynthetic Cementitious Composite Mats (GCCM’s), specifically Type II GCCM’s to ASTM D8364 for lining of bulk water transportation canals. The Type II GCCM in question consists of concrete encapsulated by between two geotextile layers with a minimum 1mm thick LLDPE geomembrane backing which can be thermally welded to produce a testable and low permeability joint, per ASTM D5820, with air channel testing to ensure a leak free installation. Because it is a composite of concrete and geomembrane in a single application, installation can occur as a one-stepprocess imparting both cost and time savings to the project. The abrasion resistance of the concrete layer is 3.5 times that of typical 20Mpa concrete typically used for canal applications. With a design life of more than 50 years, this new product classification will provide a feasible, long-term solution to help preserve and protect fresh, clean water, one of Egypt’s most precious – and ever more scarce – natural resources.
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Singh, Ankit Kumar, Boris Bravo-Ureta, Richard McAvoy, and Xiusheng Yang. "GREENBOX Technology II - Comparison of Environmental Conditions, Productivity, and Water Consumption With Greenhouse Operation." Journal of the ASABE 66, no. 5 (2023): 1089–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.13031/ja.15344.
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Highlights Increasing population, demand, and urbanization have increased food security pressures. We compared GREENBOX with a greenhouse for urban crop production. GREENBOX and greenhouse provided the required environmental conditions and comparable biomass output year-round. GREENBOX performance is comparable to a greenhouse for urban crop production but with more advantages. Abstract. The Yang Laboratory at the University of Connecticut has developed the GREENBOX technology for growing fresh produce in urban areas to meet the increasing demand for sustainable and local food production. Previous studies have shown that GREENBOX units can provide the desired environmental conditions to sustain crop production in midlatitude urban warehouse environments. This study was conducted to compare the environmental conditions, productivity, and water consumption for growing lettuce between GREENBOX and a conventional greenhouse that has been widely applied for crop production. Two modular GREENBOX units, equipped with LED lighting, hydroponic growing platform, and climate controls, were located in a high ceiling headhouse of a greenhouse complex to mimic warehouse conditions. We used bays in a nearby greenhouse that was glass glazed, equipped with supplemental lighting, and fully controlled by an Argus Titan control system for comparison purposes. Forty-eight (48) heads of Butterhead Rex lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were grown over four 30-day cycles in spring, summer, fall, and winter in the GREENBOX units and the greenhouse bays, respectively, at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States. Environmental variables, including light, temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration, were measured at a frequency of every minute. Biomass data of wet weight, dry weight, total leaf area, and lettuce head area were collected using destructive and non-destructive methods every three days. The water consumption rate was logged using a lysimeter. We derived the Daily Light Integral (DLI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Specific Leaf Area (SLA), productivity, and water consumed per lettuce head, per unit wet weight, and per unit dry weight from the measurements. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA. The DLI values in the GREENBOX units were significantly higher than the recommended minimum DLI by over 20 mol/m2.d in the GREENBOX units and over 10 mol/m2.d in the greenhouse bays. The range of the daily temperature variation is only a few degrees in the GREENBOX units, while in the greenhouse bays was over 20°C. The average daily temperature in both growing locations fell within the optimal range of 17-29°C for lettuce. The relative humidity inside both growing locations fell primarily within the optimal range of 40%-60%. The mean CO2 concentrations inside both growing locations were slightly lower than the ambient concentration of 350 ppm. Measured parameters such as LAI, SLA, and productivity followed similar patterns, slightly different amongst seasons and higher in warmer seasons. ANOVA revealed a slightly (statistically insignificant) higher level of productivity in the GREENBOX units over the greenhouse bays (p=0.16), with higher values during the warmer seasons (p=0.72 in spring and summer). GREENBOX used 1.83-2.69 L of water per lettuce head, while the greenhouse bays used 1.69-3.84 L of water per lettuce head year-round. The water use was consistently lower in the GREENBOX units. We found that the GREENBOX units and greenhouse bays provided comparable environmental conditions, biomass output, and water consumption. Those variables, however, were more consistent in the GREENBOX units. GREENBOX environment was less affected by outside weather and, therefore, exhibited reduced fluctuations. The GREENBOX is advantageous over the greenhouse as it does not require arable or open land for intercepting sunlight and can be operated in available urban buildings such as warehouses. Keywords: GREENBOX, Greenhouse, Lettuce, Productivity, Water use.
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Andreasen, Marianne Høyem. "Agerbruget i enkeltgravskultur – Senneolitikum og ældre bronzealder i Jylland belyst ud fra plantemakrofossil." Kuml 58, no. 58 (October 18, 2009): 9–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.7146/kuml.v58i58.26388.
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Agriculture in Jutland during the Single Grave culture, Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age – as revealed by archaeobotanical analysesPlant macrofossils can, together with other archaeological finds, provide an insight into many aspects of past agriculture and society. They can be preserved in various ways (fig. 1).Carbonised plant macro-remains can give us information on some of the species handled and used by people in the past, but they do not provide a complete picture of the exploited flora as not all plants have an equal chance of becoming charred. To aid analysis of charred plant macrofossils, soil samples are often processed in a socalled flotation machine (fig. 2).Waterlogged plant macrofossils can provide a view of the vegetation around a particular site, but it can be difficult to determine which plants people exploited in the past and which simply occurred naturally. Waterlogged plant macrofossils are prepared for analysis by wet-sieving.The other forms of preservation (fig. 1) give only a very fragmented picture of the past flora as very special conditions lead to their preservation.The period extending from the Single Grave culture to the end of the Early Bronze Age covers about 1800 years of Danish prehistory (2800-1800 BC). To date, a total of 41 archaeobotanical analyses have been carried out from 35 sites from this period in Jutland (fig. 3), which provides a relatively poor chronological representativity. Seen geographically, there are many blank areas and other areas show a tendency towards a clustering of sites (fig. 3). This distribution is not an expression of the distribution of the prehistoric evidence but is exclusively a result of a bias in sampling.Arable agriculture was introduced to Southern Scandinavia around 4000 BC, and during the Funnel Beaker culture it was dominated by emmer, although naked barley, hulled barley, einkorn and bread wheat were also present from the beginning. Naked barley did, however, become more common during the course of the period towards the beginning of the Single Grave culture (fig. 4). At the same time, pollen evidence reveals that there was a general opening up of the landscape with a greater extent of grazing land and arable fields, the exception to this being in Djursland.During the Single Grave culture naked barley was the dominant crop (fig. 5), but not to such a great extent as was previously thought, becaurse wheat, in the form of emmer (fig. 7), also occurs in such quantities that it must have been a separately cultivated crop. This crop apparently having had a ritual significance, perhaps because it was used in beer making, can perhaps explain the dominant position of naked barley. This ritual element is also apparent in that naked barley was apparently used as a decorative element on certain pottery vessels (fig. 6).In the Late Neolithic, naked barley was no longer the clearly dominant crop (fig. 8), although it does dominate percentagewise with regard to the number of grains and chaff fragments (fig. 9), as wheat is now the dominant crop at seven out of the 13 sites. Naked barley was the dominant form of barley (fig. 10), while emmer was the predominant form of wheat, although there is also a large quantity of spelt in the material, and it is almost the numerical equivalent of emmer (fig. 11). The fact that wheat and barley became more-or-less of equal importance as crops is an interesting development. This suggests that, in the Late Neolithic, there was the adoption of more diverse agriculture in which a greater number of different crops were cultivated than previously. It also seems that several different cereals were cultivated at the same time at most sites. This was an important innovation as it reduced the risk of a total harvest failure.This development continued into the Early Bronze Age, when wheat became increasingly widespread at the cost of barley; various forms of wheat are dominant at seven out of 11 localities (fig. 12). Wheat is also now the dominant cereal type with 56% of all grains and chaff fragments. Naked barley was still the dominant form of barley, but hulled barley occurs at seven localities (fig. 13). With regard to wheat, it varies from locality to locality as to which type is dominant; emmer and spelt are each dominant at two sites and bread wheat is dominant at one (fig. 14). Overall, emmer dominates with 64% of all the identifiable wheat grains and chaff fragments, whereas spelt comprises 24% and the other wheat types are much less widespread (fig. 15). Agriculture in the Early Bronze Age was apparently very diverse, involving the cultivation of many different crops. At least two different crops were cultivated at all sites, probably to spread the risk of crop failure and to secure a good harvest.On the basis of the plant macrofossils and the other archaeological finds it is possible to gain an insight into various agrarian processes. There are no finds of the actual fields, but ard marks have been found dating all the way back to the beginning of the Funnel Beaker culture. Each farmstead probably had more than one field as the dominant cereal types were probably cultivated as monocultures. The fields were ploughed with the aid of a ard, probably a “crook ard”, which is the oldest known type in Denmark (fig. 16). The ard was probably drawn by oxen as seen depicted on the Litsleby rock carving (fig. 17). This is confirmed by finds of cattle foot bones from the Middle Neolithic showing characteristic deformities which indicate the exploitation of oxen as draught animals. We do not know when in the year the fields were ploughed but it is very likely that this took place in connection with preparation for sowing, and possibly also after sowing in order to cover the seed corn with soil. It is generally thought that up until the end of the Roman Iron Age all crops were sown in the spring. Based on the evidence from the weed flora, this seems also to have been the case during the period dealt with here. The weed seed assemblages also indicate that the arable fields were not manured or weeded.On the basis of similarities to modern sickles, it is presumed that cereals were harvested using, respectively, blade sickles (Single Grave culture), flat-flaked flint sickles (Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age) and bronze sickles (Early Bronze Age). However, no wear analyses have been carried out to date on sickles from these periods. In addition, use could have been made of so-called “threshing combs” (fig. 18), as known from the Late Funnel Beaker culture. Seeds of weeds of short stature seen in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age finds suggest that the cereals were harvested low on the straw.There are no records of threshing implements, but finds of threshed but not fully processed/cleaned naked barley from the Single Grave culture at Grydehøj suggest that use was made of flails, sticks or similar. After threshing, the grain was cleaned, a process possibly carried out in the same way as revealed by ethnographic 55 studies (fig. 19). In the finds so far, it was only possible to identify two waste products from cereal processing: the waste from the final hand-cleaning, by which impurities and glumes are removed (the glumes are most easily removed by loosening them from the lightly roasted grain with the aid of a quern or possibly a wooden mortar (fig. 20)), and the waste product arising from sieving naked barley with a fine-meshed sieve.There are three different find categories representing more-or-less fully processed cereal products – stored grain, offerings and material burnt by accident during cooking or roasting. The grain was probably stored in some form of container but unfortunately these are not often preserved. This is probably due to them being made from organic material, as seen at Peterborg Vest near Horsens (Late Neolithic) where the grain was stored in wooden containers, and during the Iron Age, from where there are finds of wooden containers and leather sacks. Pottery vessels are of course another possibility, but from the study period the only example is from Uglviggård. In the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age it appears that the grain was, as a rule, stored in the eastern part of the house.It is difficult to evaluate precisely the economic significance of arable agriculture relative to animal husbandry as the archaeological record tends to favour the former whereas pollen evidence gives better information on the latter. This disparity is probably due to prevailing conditions and the potential for preservation, as well as the fact that cereals (apart from rye) belong to a special group of plants that are “cleistogamous” (fig. 21), i.e. the plant’s flowers never open and, as a consequence, no pollen is released. At the present time it is not possible, therefore, to evaluate precisely the relationship between the economic significance of arable agriculture and animal husbandry. Wild plants were also exploited. There is evidence for the gathering of hazelnuts, apples, berries, various weed seeds and acorns.It is possible, on the basis of the finds of charred grain and seeds, combined with other archaeological finds, to obtain a relatively clear picture of the crops, arable agri culture and agrarian practices in the period extending from the Single Grave culture until the end of the Early Bronze Age. The shift that apparently began at the transition from the Late Neolithic – whereby arable agriculture became increasingly diverse, involving the simultaneous cultivation of several crops at every site - could suggest that arable agriculture became of greater importance relative to animal husbandry and perhaps, in particular, the exploitation of natural resources. At the same time, this strategy distributed risk and therefore provided a more stable subsistence base as the risk of failed crops was reduced. It is possible that this increased stability in the subsistence base could have contributed to laying the foundations for some of the increased surplus apparent in Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age society in the form of greater investment in prestige objects and the potential to support specialised craftsmen.The economy did not of course just comprise arable agriculture. Animal husbandry also played an important role, but the importance of this role relative to arable agriculture is unfortunately not revealed by the finds. Agriculture was supplemented by the gathering of various nuts, fruits, berries and edible plants. In addition, birds, land and marine mammals were hunted, and there was fishing for fresh- and salt-water fish and gathering of shellfish. In other words, there was a broad-based and diverse economy during all three archaeological periods.Marianne Høyem AndreasenMoesgård Museum
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Abdelmawgoud, Shady Mohamed Shawky, Hossam Hosney Abdul Aziz, Ahmed Abdel Ati Shibl, and Mufidah Al-Sayed Qabeel. "A Comparative Economic Study of Tomato Production by Hydroponics and Conventional Agriculture (With Soil) in Greenhouses: A Case Study in the Nubaria Region." Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, April 9, 2021, 126–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.9734/ajaees/2021/v39i230538.
Full textAbstract:
One of the most important challenges and obstacles faced by tomato farmers in the new lands is the scarcity of productive resources and their high cost, especially the suppliers of fresh water and arable land, which negatively affects the net yield. Therefore, this research paper aims to make a comparison between tomato production using traditional greenhouses (with soil) and using Hydroponics technology in the new lands with the research sample, aiming to measure the effect of using hydroponics in agricultural greenhouses on the most important indicators of economic returns, by studying and analyzing the cost components of the two production types and studying the most important productive, economic and financial indicators.
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"Needs of Effective Water Conservation." International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering 8, no. 4 (November 30, 2019): 6643–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.35940/ijrte.d8919.118419.
Full textAbstract:
The earth’s supply of fresh water is fixed. Its distribution is skewed spatially and temporarily. The maximum usage of water withdrawals is by agricultural sector for irrigation. It is socially, economically and culturally entwined with the lives of people. In the course of irrigation development many irrigation projects have been evolved across India. There are various irrigation techniques followed in different parts of India. The continued growth of population, industrialization, urbanization, climate change, emission of greenhouse gases and deforestation build up pressure on available water resources and arable land for food production. It is further worsened with crop production loss, deterioration of water sheds, disappearance of wetlands and reoccurrence of erratic monsoon. The fall of ground water table, deterioration of quality water, salinization, soil degradation, water logging and irrational use of water emphasized the need for conservation of irrigation water sources. While we have adopted many conservation measures like artificial recharge scheme, percolation ponds, check dams, irrigated agriculture modernization and rehabilitation works on the one side, the problem of irrigation water scarcity and shortage in the availability of quality water still persists. Hence, an attempt has been made to study the need s and effective management on conservation of irrigation water resources.
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Olatunji, Kehinde O., Daniel M. Madyira, and Jacob O. Amos. "Sustainable enhancement of biogas and methane yield of macroalgae biomass using different pretreatment techniques: A mini-review." Energy & Environment, August 13, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0958305x231193869.
Full textAbstract:
Macroalgae can be grown without the use of fertilizer, fresh water, or arable land. These qualities support its use for biofuel production because it frees up land for other traditional energy sources and food crops. It has been investigated as biogas feedstock to substitute for fossil fuels burning with attendant effects on the ecosystem. The microstructural arrangement of macroalgae biomass is restricting their conversion to biogas. Therefore, application of pretreatment before anaerobic digestion is needed to enhance their availability to microbial degradation and subsequent increase in biogas yield. Pretreatment application for substrate catalysis is vital to recovering eco-friendly and economical energy from macroalgae. This study summarizes the state of the art of various pretreatment methods employed to enhance macroalgae biomass's anaerobic digestion process. These methods were categorized as thermal, biological, chemical, nanoparticle additives, mechanical, and combined. Merits and challenges associated with each of these methods were also considered. The study shows that all the pretreatment methods considered can improve the biogas yield if the appropriate method is selected based on the type of macroalgae species. Pilot-scale studies that will assist in assessing their feasibility on the full-scale implementation are still missing.
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Kumar, Kaushal, Kamini Kumari, Thupstan Tsewang, Vivek Kumar Tiwari, Avantika, Devi Sahay, Alok Mishra, Anshu Verma, and Somen Acharya. "Hydroponic Technique: A New approach for Crop Production at Trans Himalayan High-altitude Cold Desert Regions of India." International Journal of Plant & Soil Science, April 19, 2022, 43–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2022/v34i1531006.
Full textAbstract:
Aims: The trans-Himalayan high-altitude cold desert regions of India is characterized by a rugged topography at an altitude ranging from 2550 to 7742 meters above sea level. It has a vast geographical area of 72976 km2 with very little cultivated area of about 13726 hectare. Hydroponic is a soilless cultivation technique which may produce fresh vegetable in areas where environmental stress (cold, heat, dessert etc.) and limited space or on non-arable land is a major constrains for agriculture production.
Methodology: The experiment was conducted under open natural ventilated double layer polycarbonate green house in cold desert high altitude conditions of Leh, India. The hydroponic structures were designed for crop production (viz. leafy greens, vegetables, fruits etc) in deep water culture (DWC) and nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponic techniques and compared them with conventional soil grown system. Nutrient solution for growing vegetables was prepared and standardized.
Results: The result obtained has shown that crop yield was significantly higher in hydroponic system as compared to traditional system for all crops. The recorded increase in yield for various crops in hydroponic system compared to soil grown system were: arugula 221%, atriplex 248%, coriander 288%, fenugreek 208%, lettuce 293%, mint 237%, mustard 227%, spinach 294%, cucumber 533%, strawberry 280%, summer squash 229% and tomato 345% which were significantly higher. Hydroponics can be explored to grow vegetables round the year especially for leafy greens. The hydroponic systems may come out as a valuable asset to forward and remote area of trans-Himalayan region for growing fresh vegetables where cultivated land and availability of the water are the limiting factors for crop production.