Academic literature on the topic 'Agro-ecological factors'

AbstractThe impacts of climate change are already being felt on human and environmental systems, with the brunt of the impacts being felt by communities in the Global South, particularly small-holder farmers due to their poverty levels and greater direct dependency on natural resources for their livelihoods. Hence, there is a need to understand how to build small-holder farmers’ resilience to climate change. Climate change adaptation strategies need to build livelihood resilience in the face of climate change as well as address the factors that contribute to farmers’ vulnerability. This chapter draws from a mixed-method study conducted in three villages each in a different agro-ecological zone in the Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania, to explore how to build farmers’ livelihood resilience through addressing factors that increase livelihood vulnerability to climate change. These farmers’ livelihoods are vulnerable because of both the impacts of climate variability on the farmers’ livelihood assets and certain social and environmental structures and characteristics. Building small-holder farmers’ livelihood resilience that can ensure the desired levels of livelihood outcomes in the face of climate variability and change, requires integration of strategies across household resource management as well as farm-based livelihood assets, and a holistic rather than piecemeal approach to small-holder farmers’ livelihoods.

Although climate change is a global process, its local impacts are diverse. Existing agro-ecological conditions, structure of production, various production systems, technological development, socio-economic factors, and international competition and policy choices will determine the impact that climate change will have on the agricultural and forestry sectors and their adaptive capacity and mitigation potential. The authors use the Danube basin area in Serbia as a case study to test the hypothesis that only sustainable agriculture, based on optimum balance of different types of farming systems and practices and satisfying a range of the region’s specific ecological, social, and economic functions, as well as sustainable forestry, can cope successfully with the climate change. The main topics of the analysis are the climate change trends and impacts on agriculture and forestry and the assessment of their adaptive capacity and mitigation potential, including the proposition of relevant adaptation and mitigation measures.

Bio-organic agriculture considers the medium- and long-term impact of agricultural interferences on the agro-ecosystem. It aims to produce food while setting an ecological balance to soil fertility. Bio-organic agriculture takes a proactive design as opposed to treating problems after they emerge, so the study was conducted for studying two factors: First: the cultivars (Riviera and Arizona) class A resulting from cultivation of class E imported and cultivated in spring season 2018. The second factor: fertilizer combinations (bio-organic fertilizers compared with traditional chemical fertilizers). Arizona cultivar significantly achieved the highest values, in most of the study parameters compared to Rivera cultivar. Significant differences were observed between the treatments of fertilizer combinations, the treatment (organic fertilizer + bio-fertilizer + 25% chemical fertilizer) significantly achieved the best values compared to the control. Bi-interaction treatment (Arizona cultivar + organic fertilizer + bio-fertilizer + chemical fertilizer 25%) achieved the highest yield per hectare (43.24 tons.ha−1).

In Ethiopia, 85% of the population is engaged in agriculture (CSA, 1999). Agriculture supplies a significant proportion of the raw materials for the agro-industries, and accounts for 52% of the gross product and 90% of the export earnings. A wide range of climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic diversities influence Ethiopian agriculture. The dependency of most of the population on rain-fed agriculture has made the country’s economy extremely vulnerable to the effects of weather and climate, which are highly variable both temporally and spatially. If rains fail in one season, the farmer is unable to satisfy his needs and pay his obligations (tax, credit, etc). Farmers remain in the bottom line of poverty and lead a risky life. Moreover, due to climatic change and other human-induced factors, areas affected by drought and desertification are expanding in Ethiopia (NMSA, 1996a; WMO, 1986). There are three major food supply systems in Ethiopia (IGADD, 1988; Teshome, 1996): crop, livestock, and market-dependent systems. Cropbased systems are practiced principally over the highlands of the country and comprise a very diverse range of production, depending on altitude, rainfall, soil type, and topography. Any surplus above the farmer’s need is largely dependent on, for example, good weather conditions, absence of pests and diseases, availability of adequate human and animal power. Failure of rains during any cropping season means shortage of food supply that affects farmers and others. The livestock system constitutes about 10% of the total population, which is largely based in arid and semiarid zones of the country. This system is well adapted to highly variable climatic conditions and mainly depends on animals for milk and meat and is usually supplemented by grains during nondrought years. Approximately 15% of the Ethiopian population is market dependent and is affected by the preceding two food supply systems. Its food supply (grain, pulses, and oil seeds) has been facing serious shortages due to recurring droughts. People’s purchasing power determines access to food in the market-dependent food supply system. In Ethiopia, an agricultural drought is assessed using the concept of the length of growing period (LGP).

The vegetation cover plays a fundamental role in protecting the soil from erosive processes. Many researchers have developed investigations for the calculation of the RUSLE C Factor, with the use of operating bands in the near infrared. With the current advances in Geospatial Technologies, there are a good number of RGB airborne sensors in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UVA). The objective of this chapter is to evaluate some RGB indexes, proposed in the literature, for the protection of the soil from erosive processes by vegetation cover, in a region with a high agricultural vocation. The methodology consisted of capturing RGB images in an area of the Ecuadorian coastal region and calculating in thematic indices, within the visible one, which offer the possibility of quickly differentiating vegetation from other types of coverage on the ground. The evaluation allowed to define which indexes present the best results and adaptation to the type of crop or plant mass mapped, and to propose their use for zoning of risk of erosion under the agro-ecological conditions of the study area.

Soybean has an ecological adaptability due to the deep selectivity of this crop in relation to the specific features of the growing zone. At the same time, it makes increased demands on heat and moisture, especially during certain "critical" periods of growth and development. The lower threshold of active average daily temperatures is 15–17oC, and for full maturation of ultra-ripe and early-maturing varieties, the sum of active temperatures of 1700–2100oС is required. Assessment of the agro-climatic resources of the Ryazan region indicates the possibility of growing precocious soybean varietie