Improving soil and water conservation and ecosystem services by sustainable soil management practices: From a global to an Italian soil partnership

Purpose– Temporary and permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land due to natural and human-induced activities such as soil erosion, changing cropping practices and less use of organic matter (OM) has been the greatest challenge faced by mankind in recent years, particularly in the hills and mountains of Nepal. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of sustainable soil management practices to mitigate desertification process in the hills of Nepal.Design/methodology/approach– Promotion of sustainable soil management (SSM) practices through a decentralised agriculture extension approach by involving all the stakeholders in a participatory way.Findings– SSM practices mainly: OM management, fodder and forage promotion, increased biomass production systems, integrated plant nutrition systems, and bioengineering for soil and water conservation are identified as the most appropriate and relevant technologies in mitigating the desertification process without deteriorating land quality, particularly conserving the top-soils effectively and efficiently in the hills and mountains of the country.Research limitations/implications– This research is focus on the overall effect of SSM practices due to time and budget constraints. There is scope for doing research on the different aspects of SSM practices and the extent of their effect on different soil parameters (chemical, biological and physical).Practical implications– SSM interventions clearly indicated that there is significant impact in increasing soil fertility, conserving fertile top-soils and mitigating physical, chemical and biologic desertification processes. These are possible through maintaining and improving the soil organic matter, which is the most important indicator for soil health. SSM practices have resulted in an increase of up to 30 per cent in crop yield compared to yields without SSM practices. This might be due to the improvement in SOC which improves soil texture, increases nutrient supply from organic source and conserves water quality, thus, improving soil quality.Social implications– This has created awareness among farmers. Hence, farmers are mitigating pH through increased use of organic manures, where there is less availability of agriculture lime and they are far from road access.Originality/value– SSM practices significantly contributes to combat soil desertification in the hills of Nepal.

Knowledge sharing and adoption behaviour: An imperative to promote sustainable soil use and management

The study examined the effect of market access on the adoption of sustainable soil management practices by farmers in the study area. Specifically, the study described the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers; identified the sustainable soil management practices adopted by the farmers; determined factors influencing the choice of sustainable soil management practices used; determined the relationship between market access and the adoption intensity of sustainable soil management practices and identified constraints faced in adopting sustainable soil management practices. Multistage sampling procedure was employed to collect data from one hundred and fifty (150) farmers. Thereafter, data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate probit regression. The findings revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 45 years, with a mean household size of about 6 members. Majority (69.6%) of the respondents had formal education and a mean year of experience of about 18. The study also revealed that all the respondents had access to one form of market or the other for purchase of inputs and sales of their products. In addition, the mean distance covered from farm to home was less than 5 kilometres for most of the respondents while the distance from home to major market and farm to major market was between 5 and 10 kilometres. The most popular sustainable soil management practices adopted by the farmers were the use of chemical fertilizers, crop rotation and intercropping. Furthermore, the multivariate probit regression model showed that age of the respondents, educational level, farm size, household size, farming experience, farm income, awareness of sustainable soil management practices, average distance to the input market, average distance to the output market, average price of product, average price of input for each practice, subsidies on input for each practice, significantly influenced the adoption of sustainable soil management practice by farmers. Also, it was found by the study that inadequate fund is the major constraint faced by the respondents in adopting sustainable soil management practices.

Sustainability which is the successful management of resources for agriculture to satisfy the changing human needs and the capacity to remain productive and at the same time conserving the resource base, is the focus of this study. Therefore, the various conventional methods of managing soil, which are commonly being practiced by crop farmers were considered. The study examines the sustainable soil management practices of crop farmers in Mkpat-Enin Local Government Area of Akwa- Ibom state. A sample of 150 farmers were selected through multi-stage random sampling technique. Results show that majority of the crop farmers were females in their working population with educational status of less than secondary education. It shows that there is no significant relationship between the demographic characteristics of crop farmers and their use of sustainable soil management practices. The result also revealed the level of use of sustainable soil management practices. The result shows that there is no significant relationship between sustainable soil management practices used and yield of crops (r = -0.0162, p= -0.8450). It also shows that productivity of farmers is significantly related to the sustainable soil management practices used (r =0.2602, p = 0.001) and there is significant relationship between farmers yields and farm size (r = 0.9905; p = 0.001) while productivity also showed significant relationship with farm size (r = 0.9947, p = 0.000). There is therefore, the need to encourage farmers to use sustainable soil management practices through removing the constraints they encounter. [JEXT Vol.3 2002: 80-88]

This paper explores the determinants of sustainable soil management (SSM) practices among Bangladeshi paddy farmers. Relevant information from 2681 paddy farmers was extracted from the nationally representative Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS 2018–2019) dataset. Four SSM practices were commonly practiced with 37.04% of the sampled farmers adopting at least one SSM practice. ‘Use of organic fertilizer’ was the most common practice, whereas the other three, viz. ‘zero-tillage’, ‘incorporate paddy residue’, and ‘legume cultivation’ were less practiced by the farmers. Econometric analysis revealed that differences in the farmers’ socio-economic conditions, environmental and institutional settings were the main drivers of the SMM practice decisions. Climatic factors were critical in shaping the farmers’ decision to adopt SSM practices. Education, access to information and extension services increased the adoption probability of SSM practices. Improved infrastructure and being located within the economically vulnerable areas (e.g., Feed the Future zone) influenced the farmers’ adoption decision, but the magnitude and direction varied depending on the individual circumstances. The farmers’ socio-economic conditions, e.g., assets and farm size, also had a notable influence on the adoption of SSM practices. Policy implications include strengthening extension services, incorporation of climatic information in education and dissemination of information on SSM practices, particularly to farmers living in vulnerable areas.

This research was conducted in the month of June (2012) at Chisapani, Nagdaha and Kathjor VDCs of Ramechhap district of Nepal to analyze the impact of sustainable soil management practices on household food security. Pre-tested semi structured interview schedule were used to collect the primary data from 120 farmers, 40 farmers from each VDC by applying simple random sampling technique. It was found that before adopting sustainable soil management practices the food sufficiency from own production was 3.98 months and after the adoption the food sufficiency months was 7.67 and farmers perceived that there is increased access to food. Similarly, the income and expenditure on food consumption before the adoption of practices were Rs. 25758.33 and Rs. 12133.33 respectively and after the adoption of practices were Rs. 51675 and Rs. 7175 respectively. Farmers expressed that increase in production and productivity was major reason in adopting sustainable soil management practices. The increase in the production and productivity was the main reason for contributing towards household food security. Lack of irrigation facilities was major problem in adopting the sustainable soil management practices. The study revealed that sustainable soil management practices had significant impact on food sufficiency, income and production of different crops which ultimately results to improvement in food security in the study area than before. Finally, this study concludes that the sustainable soil management practices had high contribution to household food security.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v1i4.11239 Int. J. Soc. Sci. Manage. Vol-1, issue-4: 164-168

An abundance of soil organic carbon (SOC) generally enhances the quality of lands for agriculture or forestry. Concentration of SOC varies in accordance to the type of land use, the inputs to the soil, and natural factors including climate and vegetation. SOC is vital for sustaining agricultural productivity which chiefly depends on both the inherent soil type and crop management practices affecting depletion or replenishment of organic matter over the years. Assessment of SOC concentration is a characteristic measurement of evaluating soil quality and the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural land. This study aims to assess SOC distribution on selected farmlands of Nepal’s mid-hills, where farmers have adopted sustainable soil management practices in non-irrigable hill terraces (“Bari” land) in comparison with those of surrounding Bari and forests where no such interventions are made. Thus the present study estimated SOC content of three types of land use – farmland with sustainable soil management practices (SSMP), farmland without sustainable management practices (Non-SSMP) and the community managed forest in four mountain districts of Nepal, namely Baglung, Dhading, Kavre and Okhaldhunga. This study found the average SOC stocks in the SSMP land in the range of 20 - 44 Mgha-1,those in non-SSMP agricultural areas 15 to 48 Mgha-1, and in the forested land 16 to 23 Mgha-1. In general, the abundance of SOC stocks are in the order of SSM>Non-SSM>Forests. The analysis indicates the high potential for carbon sequestration in hill agriculture lands through sustainable soil management. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 133-141 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7452

Towards a sustainable viticulture: The combination of deficit irrigation strategies and agroecological practices in Mediterranean vineyards. A review and update

CONTEXTCropland soil organic carbon (SOC) stock can be increased by agricultural management, but is subject to various factors. The extent and rates of SOC sequestration potential, as well as the controlling factors, under different climate and management practices across a region or country are important for policy-makers and land managers, however have been rarely known. OBJECTIVEWe aim to investigate the extent and rates of SOC sequestration potential over 2021–2040 under different scenarios of climate change and Sustainable Soil Management (SSM) practices, and quantify the impacts of climate change and SSM practices on the SOC sequestration potential, for croplands across Finland at a spatial resolution of 1 km. METHODSRothC model is run iteratively to equilibrium to calculate the size of the SOC pools and the annual plant carbon inputs. Then, it is applied to investigate the SOC sequestration potential over 2021–2040 under different scenarios of climate change and SSM practices. Finally, facorial simulation experiments are conducted to quantify the impacts of climate change and SSM practices, alone and in combination, on SOC sequestration potential. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONUnder the combined impacts of climate change and SSM practices, the SOC sequestration potential during 2021–2040 relative to 2020 will be on average − 0.03, 0.007, 0.05, and 0.13 t C ha−1 yr−1, respectively, with carbon input being business as usual, 5%, 10%, and 20% increase. This is equivalent to an annual change rate of −0.04%, 0.009%, 0.07%, and 0.17%, respectively. Therefore, a 20% increase in C input to soil will not be enough to obtain a 4‰ increase per year over the 20-year period in Finland. Carbon input will promote SOC sequestration potential; however, climate change will reduce it on average by 0.28 t C ha−1 yr−1. Across the cropland in Finland, on average, the relative contributions of C input, temperature, and precipitation to SOC sequestration potential in 2021–2040 will be 56%, 24%, and 20%, respectively, however there is a spatially explicit pattern. The SOC sequestration potential will be relatively high and dominated by C input in west and southwest Finland. By contrast, it will be relatively low and dominated by climate in north and east Finland, and the central part of southern Finland. SIGNIFICANCEOur findings provide the information as to where, how much, and which SSM practices could be applied for enhancing SOC sequestration at a high spatial resolution, which is essential for stakeholders to increase cropland SOC sequestration efficiently.

Sustainable soil management is essential to prevent agricultural soil degradation and maintain food production and core soil‐based ecosystem services. Regenerative agriculture, one approach to sustainable soil management, is rapidly gaining traction in UK farming and policy. However, it is unclear what farmers themselves consider to be sustainable soil management practices, and how these relate to the principles of regenerative agriculture. Further, there is little insight into how sustainable soil management is currently promoted in agricultural knowledge and innovation services (AKIS). To address these knowledge gaps, we undertook the first national‐scale survey of sustainable soil management practices in the United Kingdom and complemented it with targeted interviews. We found high levels of awareness (>60%) and uptake (>30%) of most sustainable soil management practices among mixed and arable farmers. Importantly, 92% of respondents considered themselves to be practising sustainable soil management. However, our analysis shows that farmers combine practices in different ways. Not all these combinations correspond to the full set of regenerative agriculture principles of reduced soil disturbance, soil cover and crop diversity. To better understand the relationship between existing sustainable soil management practices in the United Kingdom and regenerative agriculture principles, we derive a “regenerative agriculture score” by allocating individual practices among the principles of regenerative agriculture. Farmers who self‐report that they are managing soil sustainably tend to score more highly across all five principles. We further find that sustainable soil management messaging is fragmented and that few AKIS networks have sustainable soil management as their primary concern. Overall, our study finds that there are multiple understandings of sustainable soil management among UK farmers and land managers and that they do not correspond to regenerative agriculture principles in a straightforward way. This diversity and variety in sustainable soil management needs to be taken into account in future policy and research.

This study investigated the level of adoption and factor affecting the level of adoption of sustainable soil management practices. This research was based on the primary data that was collected in 2012 at Chisapani, Nagdaha and Kathjor VDCs of Ramechhap district of Nepal to analyze the level of adoption and factor affecting the level of adoption of sustainable soil management practices. Pre-tested semi structured interview schedule were used to collect the primary data from 120 farmers, 40 farmers from each VDC by applying simple random sampling technique. The major sustainable soil management practices adopted were found to be improved farm yard manure, improved cattle urine, inclusion of the vegetable and legume in the farming system and use of the bio-pesticide. The level of technology adoption was found to be 79.55% and this shows that the level of adoption was high. The higher level of adoption was due to increase in the production and productivity of the crops and improvement in soil fertility. While considering about the factor affecting the adoption of sustainable soil management practices, the study showed that the five variables namely training, credit, income, livestock standard unit and experience were significantly affecting for higher level of adoption. A unit increase in training, credit, livestock standard unit and experience would increase the probability of level of adoption by 3.48%, 0.83%, 0.45% and 1.1% respectively and a hundred rupees increase in income would increase the probability of level of adoption by 0.0819%.

This study investigated the level of adoption and factor affecting the level of adoption of sustainable soil management practices. This research was based on the primary data that was collected in 2012 at Chisapani, Nagdaha and Kathjor VDCs of Ramechhap district of Nepal to analyze the level of adoption and factor affecting the level of adoption of sustainable soil management practices. Pre-tested semi structured interview schedule were used to collect the primary data from 120 farmers, 40 farmers from each VDC by applying simple random sampling technique. The major sustainable soil management practices adopted were found to be improved farm yard manure, improved cattle urine, inclusion of the vegetable and legume in the farming system and use of the bio-pesticide. The level of technology adoption was found to be 79.55% and this shows that the level of adoption was high. The higher level of adoption was due to increase in the production and productivity of the crops and improvement in soil fertility. While considering about the factor affecting the adoption of sustainable soil management practices, the study showed that the five variables namely training, credit, income, livestock standard unit and experience were significantly affecting for higher level of adoption. A unit increase in training, credit, livestock standard unit and experience would increase the probability of level of adoption by 3.48%, 0.83%, 0.45% and 1.1% respectively and a hundred rupees increase in income would increase the probability of level of adoption by 0.0819%.

This study was carried out to assess the impact of sustainable soil management (SSM) practices in relation to technology adoption and farm income in Ramechhap district of Nepal in 2015. Total 120 sample households were taken (60 SSM practices adopters and 60 non-adopters) using random sampling technique. Primary data were collected through face-to-face interview, focus group discussion, direct observation and key informant interview to gauge the impact using with-without SSM project intervention approach. Descriptive statistics along with independent t-test, chi square test, Probit and income function multi-regression models were used for data analysis. From the cost-benefit analysis, in tomato production, all the variables were found to be significantly different except cost of planting materials. The gross margin, gross income and B: C ratio were also found to be significantly different in tomato production by SSM practices adoption. In beans, potato and cauliflower production, most of the variables were found to be significantly different. The results revealed that, farm income was higher in adopters by significant margin whereas the income from services and remittance was higher in non-adopters than adopters. Probit model revealed that type of family and trainings received were found statistically and positively significant on SSM practices adoption whereas education of household head had negative impact. Income function multi-regression model showed that SSM adoption, male of the respondent, education of the household head and farm size have positively significant on farm income whereas nuclear family type was negatively determinate on farm income. Among the variables, SSM practices adoption was major determinate factor on farm income. If farmer adopted SSM practices, farm income would be about 198 percent higher than among non-adopters. SSM technology has identified an environmentally friendly and improved rural farmers’ income in a sustainable manner in Nepal.

Soil health, soil quality, and soil security, all the three mainly focused on the status of the soil fertility that is essential for all living things in the terrestrial environment. Due to several anthropogenic and natural sources, soil degradation is one of the major constraints for agricultural productivity. Around 40% of the arable land is already degraded for various factors including urbanization and soil sealing, soil acidification, salinization, soil erosion, soil contamination, etc. Despite there is a link between soil quality and food productivity, the status of global food production has been updated regularly rather than the status of world soil resources. Both the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasized to ensure the food security globally as we need to serve more than 9 billion people by 2050. Further, the soil acts as a carbon sink efficiently rather than aquatic ecosystems in many parts of the world, which will help to mitigate the climate change. Hence, the soil protection is of the utmost importance for all the securities especially water, food, and energy. Sustainable soil management and agricultural practices such as efficient water utilization, climate-smart agriculture, AeroFarms, and organic farming are the key aspects to ensure the food security globally.

There is a general consensus among stakeholders about the benefits of sustainable soil management practices for soil health, yet their implementation lags behind expectations. The aim of this paper is to analyse factors supporting or hindering the implementation of sustainable soil management practices in conventional and organic farming systems. This is achieved using a Logit model, based on penalized maximum likelihood estimation on survey data by 76 farmers from 10 federal states in Germany. Affected factors were categorized in two main groups: agricultural soil management practices, and barriers to their implementation. The measures for soil improving agricultural management included (I) structural landscape elements, (II) organic fertilization, (III) diversified crop rotation, (IV) permanent soil cover (V) conservation tillage, (VI) reduced weight pressure, and (VII) optimized timing of wheeling. Results show differences in preferences between conventional and organic farmers for key sustainable soil management practices, including conservation tillage, optimized wheeling timing, reduced weight pressure, and diversified crop rotation. Economic constraints decrease crop rotation diversification in conventional systems by 14%. Conservation tillage raises the chance of a farm being conventional by 16%, while optimizing wheeling timing reduces it by 60%, highlighting soil compaction concerns among organic farmers. Marginal effects confirm that economic factors, not knowledge, are the main barriers to sustainable soil management. Inconsistent policies, lack of support, and insufficient financial incentives from government institutions can hinder the willingness of farmers to adopt these practices, further exacerbating the barriers to adoption.