The Experts below are selected from a list of 321 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Muhammad Sharif - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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on Farm impacts of zero tillage wheat in south asia s rice wheat systems
Field Crops Research, 2008Co-Authors: Olaf Erenstein, Umar Farooq, R K Malik, Muhammad SharifAbstract:The recent slow down in productivity growth in the irrigated areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia has led to a quest for resource-conserving technologies that can reduce production costs, save water and improve production. Findings from Farm Surveys are used to evaluate the on-Farm impacts of zero tillage (ZT) wheat in the rice–wheat systems of India's Haryana state and Pakistan's Punjab province. ZT-induced effects primarily apply to the establishment and production costs of the wheat crop. Both study sites confirmed significant ZT-induced resource-saving effects in Farmers’ fields in terms of diesel, tractor time and cost savings for wheat cultivation. Water savings are, however, less pronounced than expected from on-Farm trial data. It was only in Haryana, India that there were significant ZT-induced water savings in addition to significant yield enhancement. The higher yield and water savings in Haryana, India result in significantly higher water productivity indicators for ZT wheat. In both sites, there are limited implications for the overall wheat crop management, the subsequent rice crop and the rice–wheat system as a whole. The combination of a significant “yield effect” and “cost-saving effect” makes adoption worthwhile and provide a much needed boost to the returns to wheat cultivation in Haryana, India. In Punjab, Pakistan, ZT is primarily a cost-saving technology for wheat cultivation. The prime driver for ZT adoption is not water savings or natural resource conservation but monetary gain in both sites. Water savings are only a potential added benefit.
Christine Aubry - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Combining Farmers' decision rules and landscape stochastic regularities for landscape modelling
Landscape Ecology, 2012Co-Authors: Noémie Schaller, Christine Aubry, El-ghali Lazrak, Philippe Martin, Jean-francois Mari, Marc BenoîtAbstract:Landscape spatial organization (LSO) strongly impacts many environmental issues. Modelling agricultural landscapes and describing meaningful landscape patterns are thus regarded as key-issues for designing sustainable landscapes. Agricultural landscapes are mostly designed by Farmers. Their decisions dealing with crop choices and crop allocation to land can be generic and result in landscape regularities, which determine LSO. This paper comes within the emerging discipline called "landscape agronomy", aiming at studying the organization of Farming practices at the landscape scale. We here aim at articulating the Farm and the landscape scales for landscape modelling. To do so, we develop an original approach consisting in the combination of two methods used separately so far: the identification of explicit Farmer decision rules through on-Farm Surveys methods and the identification of landscape stochastic regularities through data-mining. We applied this approach to the Niort plain landscape in France. Results show that generic Farmer decision rules dealing with sunflower or maize area and location within landscapes are consistent with spatiotemporal regularities identified at the landscape scale. It results in a segmentation of the landscape, based on both its spatial and temporal organization and partly explained by generic Farmer decision rules. This consistency between results points out that the two modelling methods aid one another for land-use modelling at landscape scale and for understanding the driving forces of its spatial organization. Despite some remaining challenges, our study in landscape agronomy accounts for both spatial and temporal dimensions of crop allocation: it allows the drawing of new spatial patterns coherent with land-use dynamics at the landscape scale, which improves the links to the scale of ecological processes and therefore contributes to landscape ecology.
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Can Farmers extend their cultivation areas in urban agriculture? A contribution from agronomic analysis of market gardening systems around Mahajanga (Madagascar)
Land Use Policy, 2011Co-Authors: Marie Mawois, Christine Aubry, Marianne Le BailAbstract:The rapid urbanization in developing countries implies an increasing pressure on urban agriculture for production. As most perishable food products come from this agriculture in close proximity to population concentrations, we analysed from an agronomic point of view how market-garden Farmers can meet this increasing urban demand. This work took place in the case of Mahajanga, a secondary city with high increasing demographic rate on the Northwest coast of Madagascar. Based on preliminary Surveys to characterize the Farming systems (on a sample of 91 Farms), 11 market-garden Farmers chosen in the three main agricultural zones of the urban area were surveyed during two years. Surveys aimed at understanding their decision rules in crop choices, crop allocation to land and resource management, and to estimate their room for manoeuvre to increase their leafy vegetable areas under cultivation. The wholesalers and retailers who buy the Farmers’ produce were also surveyed. A previous model of decision rules regarding crop location on Farm territory was used to analyse the on-Farm Surveys and cartographic methods (GIS and on-Farm manual representations) were used to quantify the land use. We highlight the following major points. (1) The leafy vegetable production in the surveyed Farms already intensively uses land: Farmers have complex decision rules largely depending on the water dynamics in the two main environments (lowlands and lakesides) where leafy vegetables are cultivated during the dry season. (2) The scarcity of Farmers’ resources (labour money and water) leads to very little internal room for manoeuvre to increase the leafy vegetable production in the Farms. (3) At territorial level however, some land reserve exist in one of the lowlands, but not on lakesides. The water availability for agriculture must be better informed through specialized hydrologic studies, as one of the main constraints nowadays to extend the agricultural area. An extrapolation to other cases of urban agriculture is then discussed as well as the role of agronomy to help urban planners to consider the place of agriculture in the urban development.
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Dechet Urbain-Agriculture-Environnement (DUAE): using waste as a resource for agriculture
Acta Horticulturae, 2010Co-Authors: Moussa N'dienor, Christine Aubry, Saidou SallAbstract:Increasing agricultural production sustainably implies the use of organic fertilizer. Urban wastes in developing countries are rich in recyclable organic matter and they increase as urbanization increases. A recent project carried out in Dakar analyzed the potential contribution of urban organic waste (OW) to urban horticultural production. A research project was conducted in order to 1) carry out Farm Surveys to understand local fertilization practices; 2) identify and characterize locally available organic wastes chemically; and 3) carry out experiments with these wastes in greenhouses and Farms to evaluate their agronomic potentialities and their implementation in local Farmers' practices. Horse and poultry manure are the main OW used by Farmers around Dakar; however, these may become less available and/or more expensive in the future. The OW obtained after sifting through other sources of urban wastes (i.e., compost) could provide an alternative and unlimited source of organic matter. However, chemical analyses of this compost show that organic matter and nitrogen levels are weak compared to manure. Experiments were therefore conducted in greenhouses with the two representative soils of the region, a sandy-clay soil (Deck) and a sandy soil (Dior): these showed no significant effect of compost on the early growth of tomatoes compared to treatment without compost, but rather a light-positive effect at the end of the tomato-growth cycle, consistent with the analytical properties of the product. The fertilizing value of this compost is low and will require the addition of other fertilizing inputs. On-Farm tests have been carried out on tomato in the same soils, where the agronomic values of treatments combining compost, manure and other local organic inputs are compared. The initial results are now under study (available December 2010).
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Modelling regional Land Use: articulating the Farm and the landscape levels by combining Farmers' decision rules and landscape stochastic regularities
2010Co-Authors: Noémie Schaller, Christine Aubry, El-ghali Lazrak, Philippe Martin, Jean-francois Mari, Marc BenoîtAbstract:Landscape spatial organization (LSO) strongly impacts many environmental issues. Modelling agricultural landscapes and describing meaningful landscape patterns are thus regarded as key-issues for designing sustainable landscapes. Agricultural landscapes are mostly designed by Farmers. Their decisions dealing with crop choices and crop allocation to land can be generic and result in landscape regularities, which determine LSO. This paper comes within the emerging discipline called "landscape agronomy", aiming at studying the organization of Farming practices at the landscape scale. We here aim at articulating the Farm and the landscape scales for landscape modelling. To do so, we develop an original approach consisting in the combination of two methods used separately so far: the identification of explicit Farmer decision rules through on-Farm Surveys methods and the identification of landscape stochastic regularities through data-mining. We applied this approach to the Niort plain landscape in France. Results show that generic Farmer decision rules dealing with sunflower or maize area and location within landscapes are consistent with spatiotemporal regularities identified at the landscape scale. It results in a segmentation of the landscape, based on both its spatial and temporal organization and partly explained by generic Farmer decision rules. This consistency between results points out that the two modelling methods aid one another for land-use modelling at landscape scale and for understanding the driving forces of its spatial organization. Despite some remaining challenges, our study in landscape agronomy accounts for both spatial and temporal dimensions of crop allocation: it allows the drawing of new spatial patterns coherent with land-use dynamics at the landscape scale, which improves the links to the scale of ecological processes and therefore contributes to landscape ecology.
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A conceptual representation of animal waste management at the Farm scale : The case of the Reunion Island
Agricultural Systems, 2006Co-Authors: Christine Aubry, Jean-marie Paillat, Francois GuerrinAbstract:Effluent management causes acute problems in the Reunion Island where livestock Farming is concentrated in the highlands with too little land available for spreading. A conceptual representation was developed from data collected through Farm Surveys, bibliographical analyses and expertise, in order to represent and better understand the management of animal wastes at the Farm level. It synthesizes practical knowledge about Farmer practices organised in interconnected modules representing the production, storage (discharge, emptying and transport), spreading, transformation and importing/exporting of effluents. This knowledge is described as structural and management variables and decision rules. From our findings, it appears that effluent management strongly depends upon the time left by other production activities and it is more reasoned by Farmers in terms of spreading dates than in terms of quantities to be spread over. This representation aims at being sufficiently generic to account for most of the Farming situations found in the Reunion Island. It can also serve as a basis to build computer models to help agricultural stakeholders evaluate and improve management strategies at the Farm or, even, community levels.
Olaf Erenstein - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a survey of factors associated with the adoption of zero tillage wheat in the irrigated plains of south asia
Experimental Agriculture, 2009Co-Authors: Olaf Erenstein, Umar FarooqAbstract:SUMMARY There is a quest for resource-conserving technologies that can save water, reduce production costs and improve production to address the slow down in productivity growth in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the cereal bowl of South Asia. Findings from Farm Surveys are used to evaluate the Farm household factors that affect the adoption of zero tillage (ZT) wheat in the rice-wheat systems of India’s Haryana State and Pakistan’s Punjab province. Three adoption classes are distinguished in each site: ZT adopters, dis-adopters and non-adopters. Bivariate analysis shows that adopters typically have the most favourable values for most of the indicators compiled and the non-adopters the least favourable, with dis-adopters often taking an intermediate position. The study highlights that ZT adoption in the initial diffusion stage is strongly linked to the wealth of the Farm household. This indicates the need for closer consideration of equity implications in future research and development. The structural differences between adoption categories also easily confound the assessment of ZT impact.
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on Farm impacts of zero tillage wheat in south asia s rice wheat systems
Field Crops Research, 2008Co-Authors: Olaf Erenstein, Umar Farooq, R K Malik, Muhammad SharifAbstract:The recent slow down in productivity growth in the irrigated areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia has led to a quest for resource-conserving technologies that can reduce production costs, save water and improve production. Findings from Farm Surveys are used to evaluate the on-Farm impacts of zero tillage (ZT) wheat in the rice–wheat systems of India's Haryana state and Pakistan's Punjab province. ZT-induced effects primarily apply to the establishment and production costs of the wheat crop. Both study sites confirmed significant ZT-induced resource-saving effects in Farmers’ fields in terms of diesel, tractor time and cost savings for wheat cultivation. Water savings are, however, less pronounced than expected from on-Farm trial data. It was only in Haryana, India that there were significant ZT-induced water savings in addition to significant yield enhancement. The higher yield and water savings in Haryana, India result in significantly higher water productivity indicators for ZT wheat. In both sites, there are limited implications for the overall wheat crop management, the subsequent rice crop and the rice–wheat system as a whole. The combination of a significant “yield effect” and “cost-saving effect” makes adoption worthwhile and provide a much needed boost to the returns to wheat cultivation in Haryana, India. In Punjab, Pakistan, ZT is primarily a cost-saving technology for wheat cultivation. The prime driver for ZT adoption is not water savings or natural resource conservation but monetary gain in both sites. Water savings are only a potential added benefit.
Francois Guerrin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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A conceptual representation of animal waste management at the Farm scale : The case of the Reunion Island
Agricultural Systems, 2006Co-Authors: Christine Aubry, Jean-marie Paillat, Francois GuerrinAbstract:Effluent management causes acute problems in the Reunion Island where livestock Farming is concentrated in the highlands with too little land available for spreading. A conceptual representation was developed from data collected through Farm Surveys, bibliographical analyses and expertise, in order to represent and better understand the management of animal wastes at the Farm level. It synthesizes practical knowledge about Farmer practices organised in interconnected modules representing the production, storage (discharge, emptying and transport), spreading, transformation and importing/exporting of effluents. This knowledge is described as structural and management variables and decision rules. From our findings, it appears that effluent management strongly depends upon the time left by other production activities and it is more reasoned by Farmers in terms of spreading dates than in terms of quantities to be spread over. This representation aims at being sufficiently generic to account for most of the Farming situations found in the Reunion Island. It can also serve as a basis to build computer models to help agricultural stakeholders evaluate and improve management strategies at the Farm or, even, community levels.
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a multi modelling approach to help agricultural stakeholders design animal wastes management strategies in the reunion island
Complexity and integrated resources management. Transactions of the 2nd Biennial Meeting of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Soc, 2005Co-Authors: Jean-michel Medoc, Rémy Courdier, Francois Guerrin, Jean-marie PaillatAbstract:Recent concentration of indoor livestock Farming in the Highlands of the Reunion Island generates environmental risks. Livestock effluent management is often difficult due to the lack of suitable spreading areas close to the Farms. However, crop Farms in the Lowlands are demanding organic matter to maintain soil fertility. This is the case of the locality of Grand-Het where pig and poultry effluents are intensively produced that should be exported towards the coastal zone where large areas of sugar-cane are available. This paper presents how we are supporting Grand-Ilet stakeholders to devise territorial management strategies of their wastes. To this end, a stepwise approach is being tested. First, the supply of animal wastes and the manage ment by Farmers are characterized through Farm Surveys and agronomic expertise. Then, the crop demand is determined by using a GIS considering a large zone surrounding Grand-Ilet onto which several constraints are applied to eliminate unsuitable spreading areas. Comparing supply and demand enables one to draw gen-eral conclusions about the strategic choices to be considered. In the case of Grand-Ilet, distances between livestock Farms and crop locations, and amounts of liquid manure to be processed, led one to consider implementing a treatment plant collectively managed by Farmers. To devise sustainable management strategies for such a trade-off, we are developing a participatory approach based on several simulation models (spread-sheet, hybrid dynamical system, agent-based). These models, developed in our team, aim at tackling several decision-making issues: (i) Which treatment process should be chosen? (ii) How to supply it with raw wastes? (iii) How to best organise organic material fluxes amongst Farms at the district level? Together with the description of those tools, each step of the approach is exemplified and the way of integrating the use of simulation models within the stakeholders' decision process is outlined. (Resume d'auteur)
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A multi-modelling approach to help agricultural stakeholders design animal wastes management strategies in the Reunion Island
2004Co-Authors: Jean-michel Medoc, Rémy Courdier, Francois Guerrin, Jean-marie PaillatAbstract:Recent concentration of indoor livestock Farming in the Highlands of the Reunion Island generates environmental risks. Livestock effluent management is often difficult due to the lack of suitable spreading areas close to the Farms. However, crop Farms in the Lowlands are demanding organic matter to maintain soil fertility. This is the case of the locality of Grand-Het where pig and poultry effluents are intensively produced that should be exported towards the coastal zone where large areas of sugar-cane are available. This paper presents how we are supporting Grand-Ilet stakeholders to devise territorial management strategies of their wastes. To this end, a stepwise approach is being tested. First, the supply of animal wastes and the manage ment by Farmers are characterized through Farm Surveys and agronomic expertise. Then, the crop demand is determined by using a GIS considering a large zone surrounding Grand-Ilet onto which several constraints are applied to eliminate unsuitable spreading areas. Comparing supply and demand enables one to draw gen-eral conclusions about the strategic choices to be considered. In the case of Grand-Ilet, distances between livestock Farms and crop locations, and amounts of liquid manure to be processed, led one to consider implementing a treatment plant collectively managed by Farmers. To devise sustainable management strategies for such a trade-off, we are developing a participatory approach based on several simulation models (spread-sheet, hybrid dynamical system, agent-based). These models, developed in our team, aim at tackling several decision-making issues: (i) Which treatment process should be chosen? (ii) How to supply it with raw wastes? (iii) How to best organise organic material fluxes amongst Farms at the district level? Together with the description of those tools, each step of the approach is exemplified and the way of integrating the use of simulation models within the stakeholders' decision process is outlined.
Nivelin Noev - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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subsistence Farming in central and eastern europe empirical evidence from albania bulgaria hungary and romania
Eastern European Economics, 2004Co-Authors: Erik Mathijs, Nivelin NoevAbstract:Present-day Central and East European agriculture is characterized by a high incidence of small-scale Farmers who are not producing for the market. This article uses household-level data from comparative Farm Surveys in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania to analyze the extent of subsistence Farming and to investigate which Farm household characteristics and endowments influence commercialization of agricultural produce.
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Subsistence Farming in Central and Eastern Europe : Empirical Evidence from Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania
Eastern European Economics, 2004Co-Authors: Erik Mathijs, Nivelin NoevAbstract:Present-day Central and East European agriculture is characterized by a high incidence of small-scale Farmers who are not producing for the market. This article uses household-level data from comparative Farm Surveys in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania to analyze the extent of subsistence Farming and to investigate which Farm household characteristics and endowments influence commercialization of agricultural produce.
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commercialization and subsistence in transition agriculture empirical evidence from albania bulgaria hungary and romania доклад на 10 конгрессе еаае exploring diversity in the european agri food system zaragoza spain 28 31 august 2002
2002Co-Authors: Erik Mathijs, Nivelin NoevAbstract:Present-day Central and Eastern European agriculture is characterized by a high incidence of small-scale Farmers who are not producing for the market. This paper uses household level data from comparative Farm Surveys in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania to analyze which Farm household characteristics and endowments influence commercialization and subsistence Farming.
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commercialization and subsistence in transition agriculture empirical evidence from albania bulgaria hungary and romania
2002 International Congress August 28-31 2002 Zaragoza Spain, 2002Co-Authors: Erik Mathijs, Nivelin NoevAbstract:Present-day Central and Eastern European agriculture is characterized by a high incidence of small-scale Farmers who are not producing for the market. This paper uses household level data from comparative Farm Surveys in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania to analyze which Farm household characteristics and endowments influence commercialization and subsistence Farming.
