Adoption Of Land Management Practices Research Articles

Changes in soil properties with long-term organic inputs due to distance from homestead and farm characteristics in southern Ethiopian farmlands

Traditional farming systems across much of Sub-Saharan Africa have greater organic inputs near to the homestead than in fields further away. This is likely to produce a fertility gradient that impacts production capacity, and so provides an opportunity to explore impacts of organic amendments on soils. Across 198 farm plots in 69 households in Halaba, Southern Ethiopia, we investigated the influence of different organic input systems on soil properties. The study also examined the influence of household and farm characteristics on the adoption of land management practices and its impact on soil properties. Samples were taken from farm plots located close (<30 m), near (30–300 m) and far (>300 m) from the homestead, representing different levels of organic amendments. Soils located close to homesteads had significantly greater soil organic carbon, cation exchange capacity and soil nutrient content compared to soil located near and far from the homestead areas. Soil organic carbon concentrations close to the home were 15%, 27% and 45% greater than farm plots located at far from the home in Andegna Choroko, Asore and Lay Arisho kebeles, respectively. Across all sites, the mean soil organic carbon stock ranged from 20.6 t ha−1 to 84.6 t ha−1, depending on the location of the plots with respect to the homestead. Household and farm characteristics also influenced land management practices and soil properties. In some catchments, farm plots managed by female headed households and relatively rich farmers displayed significantly greater soil organic carbon than farm plots managed by male headed and relatively poor households. This was likely due to greater organic inputs in female headed households in areas where men were otherwise engaged in off-farm activities and in wealthier households with greater access to organic manures. Tree cover in farmlands influenced accumulation of soil organic carbon. The results suggest that out-scaling farm management practices that are common around homesteads, such as adding animal manure or household wastes and maintaining tree cover, would help to improve key soil properties and agricultural productivity.

Determinants of adoption of land management practices among farmers in Western Lake Tana and Beles River watersheds (Ethiopia) as a climate change adaptation strategy

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Analysis of Environmental Factors Determining the Adoption of Land Management Practices in Guinea Savanna Agro-Ecological Zone of Kaduna Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

This study analyzed the various determinants of land management practices in Chikun LGA of Kaduna State and determined most sustainable practice(s), with the specific focus on: Socio-economic characteristics of farmers; types of land management practices in relation to the determinant factors; effects of land management practices on the farm productivity; determine the most sustainable land management practice in the study area. A purposive sampling technique was adopted in collecting data from three hundred and eighty (380) rural farmers with structured questionnaires administered in Buruku, Chikun Local Government area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Five land management practices showed positive effects on the farm productivity as compared to the mean of 3 points; these were cover crop, crop rotation, irrigation, organic manure and fertilizer application. Two land management practices as perceived to have good effects on farm productivity of respondents were agro-forestry and bush fallow as shown in the component one of the result of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). It was concluded that the farming population was ageing and was adversely affected the choice of best practices due to lack of education and knowledge to adopt the best land management practice. Sustainable land management practices has the potential to reverse the trend of food scarcity and environmental disasters, help to improve local livelihoods, restore natural ecosystems and also contribute significantly to climate change adaptation and mitigation. There is clear evidence that the productivity of soils in Buruku Village will continue to decline if strategic measures are not put in place to manage soil fertility in different soil units to support agricultural land.

Natural insurance as condition for market insurance: Climate change adaptation in agriculture

This paper focuses on the potential use of insurance as a climate change adaptation mechanism in agriculture. We analyse the attractiveness of a climate risk insurance scheme and the choices farmers face between adaptation via farm management practices and purchase of crop insurance in the market. A choice experiment is used to reveal Danish farmers’ preferences regarding an insurance contract where adoption of land management practices to improve soil sustainability is conditional for obtaining insurance cover in the market. Results indicate that in general arable farmers and farmers with low soil quality who have experienced crop damages in the past are more likely to purchase such conditional insurance. Farmers with good quality soils, who perceive that they have already adapted their practices to climatic risks and who have not experienced losses due to adverse climatic events in the past are less willing to purchase insurance. The paper contributes to the limited knowledge on preferences for climate risk related insurance in agricultural systems in general, and in Europe in particular.

Determinants of adoption of land management practices in Kogi State Nigeria: a gender analysis

The study examined determinants of adoption of land management practices among male and female crop farmers in Kogi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was employed for the selection of the respondents. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection and analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Data were collected from one hundred and sixty three respondents (163). The mean age of the male respondents was found to be 51 years while that of the female was 44 years. The mean total size land cultivated was 1.1 hectares for male respondents and 0.5 hectares for female respondents while the mean years of schooling for male and female farmers were 11.6 and 11.2 years respectively. Multi variant probit model was used to determine the factors that influence farmers’ adoption of the land management practices on their farm. Although the results revealed that farmers age, land size, household size, years of schooling, farming experience and technical know- how were factors that significantly influence land management practices among both genders, It was concluded that years of schooling improve the level of adoption of land management practices among the female farmers while among the male respondents their land size was a critical factor that influence their land management practices. Keywords: Gender, Kogi, Land management practices, Level of Adoption, Crop farmers

Foraging behaviour of mulga birds in Western Australia. I. Use of resources and temporal effects

The foraging behaviour of mulga birds in the Murchison and Gascoyne Bioregions was studied in 1999 following a period of heavy rain and again in 2002 when it was dry. Mulga birds allocated foraging resources in a similar fashion to other bird communities, with species differing in the way that prey were taken, the substrates and plant species on which prey were found, and the heights at which prey were sought. The numbers of birds and bird species in the study areas declined with drier conditions and there was less breeding activity. Nomadic species, including honeyeaters, seed-eaters, and insect-eaters, largely left the area as it became drier and food resources changed. The birds that remained foraged differently when it was drier than when conditions were wetter and food more abundant. These observations illustrate the fragility of the mulga avifauna and its likely sensitivity to long-term climate change with predicted increasing temperatures, more extreme heat events, and reduced winter rainfall. Conservation of mulga birds and associated flora and fauna requires a whole-of-landscape approach and the adoption of land management practices by Australian governments and land managers that will allow species to adapt to climate change and guarantee their right to evolve.

The ethnobotanical importance and conservation value of native plants in eastern Arabian Peninsula

The eastern coastal area of the Arabian Peninsula is subject to overgrazing, agricultural activities, oil pollution and urban encroachments. These activities cause habitat destruction and may have changed species composition. The current study aimed at assessing conservation and ethnobotanical importance of plants and how they are affected by environmental threats. The natural vegetation composition was studied and the ethnobotanical relative importance (RI) index and the species conservation index (SCI) were calculated. The results showed that native plants provide many ecological and socioeconomic services, including the provisioning of food, medicine, and energy. The native species (&gt;77%) were reported to potentially be used for more than 170 therapeutic applications and for curing various human ailments. The medicinal plants (15%) attained RI value &gt;50% reflecting high versatility and importance in local pharmacopeia. The number of threats to species showed significant positive association with SCI index and insignificant positive association with RI index. The study indicated that the current human activities may have negatively impacted provisioning of ecosystem services especially those offered by native plants. The ability of the natural ecosystems to sustainably provide services will be enhanced by adoption of land management practices that restore species and reduce pressure on native plants.

Old wine, new bottles? Investigating the differential adoption of ‘climate-smart’ agricultural practices in western Kenya

This study assesses factors influencing the adoption of land management practices associated with a World Bank-financed project on ‘climate-smart’ agriculture: the Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project. Drawing upon mixed-methods research with participating farmers in Bungoma County, western Kenya, we find modest reported adoption rates overall for project-encouraged practices, amounting to 53.6 percent on average. However, we also find that there are systematic differences in the reported adoption rates of individual practices. Disaggregating our sample into three classes or ‘wealth groups’, we find that the ‘very poor’ and ‘poor’ groups exhibit substantially lower adoption rates (42 percent and 49 percent, respectively) relative to the ‘less poor’ wealth group (73 percent). Across these groups, practices related to livestock management and pest management are systematically less adopted (0–45 percent) than more popular practices such as agroforestry and tillage management, the reported adoption of which both range from 60 to 80 percent. Consequently, we suggest that barriers to the adoption of apparently ‘climate smart’ agricultural practices at scale may increasingly be political-economic rather than simply technical-managerial in nature. This reflects the poorest strata of farmers' struggles to negotiate the increasingly externally imposed imperatives of climate adaptation and mitigation with the necessity of ‘simple reproduction’ or survival of the household as a socioeconomic unit. Future generations of ‘climate smart’ agricultural programmes may thus benefit from disaggregating adaptation and mitigation objectives in order to avoid unduly burdening the poorest strata of participating households in rural African contexts.

Determinants of farmers\u2019 adoption of land management practices in Gelana sub-watershed of Northern highlands of Ethiopia

IntroductionSoil erosion is the major environmental problem in Ethiopia. In response to this problem, the country has been in continuous struggle to adopt land management practices. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the determinants of farmers’ adoption of land management practice in the Gelana sub-watershed, Northern highlands of Ethiopia.MethodsThe data was collected from 176 randomly selected farming households using a survey questionnaire and was analyzed using multinomial logit model (MNL).ResultsThe results showed that education, family size, slope of the plot, tenure security, training, access to farm credit and extension service positively and significantly affect adoption of land management practices while age has a negative and significant influence on adoption.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that improving farmers’ education status and increase the availability of credit to reduce poverty and increase income would enhance the adoption of land management practices.

Poverty and Environmental Degradation in Southern Burkina Faso: An Assessment Based on Participatory Methods

The poverty and environmental degradation vicious circle hypothesis considers the poor as agents and victims of environmentally degrading activities. Despite some studies, however, there still has not been a sufficient empirical examination of the poverty-environment nexus. Based on participatory poverty assessment (PPA) methods with two hundred farm households categorized by wealth status in southern Burkina Faso, six indicators of environmental degradation and a set of land management practices were examined to answer the following questions: (i) Which households (non-poor, fairly-poor, or poorest) are responsible for environmental degradation? (ii) Does poverty constrain adoption of land management practices considered to improve the land? Results indicate deforestation is highest for non-poor farmers, and non-poor and fairly-poor farmers have higher rates of overgrazing. In addition, the entire non-poor group, mainly recent migrants to the area, occupy borrowed lands with tenure perceived as insecure, considered by farmers to be a disincentive for assisted natural regeneration of vegetation. Thus, non-poor and fairly-poor farmers participate most in activities locally identified as environmentally degrading, and the former contribute more than the latter. On the other hand, adoption of land management practices considered to improve the land is relatively low amongst the poorest farmers.

Biological Impact of Divergent Land Management Practices on Tomato Crop Health

Development of sustainable food systems is contingent upon the adoption of land management practices that can mitigate damage from soilborne pests. Five diverse land management practices were studied for their impacts on Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici), galling of roots by Meloidogyne spp. and marketable yield of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and to identify associations between the severity of pest damage and the corresponding soil microbial community structure. The incidence of Fusarium wilt was >14% when tomato was cultivated following 3 to 4 years of an undisturbed weed fallow or continuous tillage disk fallow rotation and was >4% after 3 to 4 years of bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) rotation or organic production practices that included soil amendments and cover crops. The incidence of Fusarium wilt under conventional tomato production with soil fumigation varied from 2% in 2003 to 15% in 2004. Repeated tomato cultivation increased Fusarium wilt by 20% or more except when tomato was grown using organic practices, where disease remained less than 3%. The percent of tomato roots with galls from Meloidogyne spp. ranged from 18 to 82% in soil previously subjected to a weed fallow rotation and 7 to 15% in soil managed previously as a bahiagrass pasture. Repeated tomato cultivation increased the severity of root galling in plots previously subjected to a conventional or disk fallow rotation but not in plots managed using organic practices, where the percentage of tomato roots with galls remained below 1%. Marketable yield of tomato exceeded 35 Mg ha(-1) following all land management strategies except the strip-tillage/bahiagrass program. Marketable yield declined by 11, 14, and 19% when tomato was grown in consecutive years following a bahiagrass, weed fallow, and disk rotation. The composition of fungal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and bacterial 16S rDNA amplicons isolated from soil fungal and bacterial communities corresponded with observed differences in the incidence of Fusarium wilt and severity of root galling from Meloidogyne spp. and provided evidence of an association between the effect of land management practices on soil microbial community structure, severity of root galling from Meloidogyne spp., and the incidence of Fusarium wilt.

A Comparative Analysis of Crop Production Intensification and its Determinants among Kwara and Niger States Maize-Based Farming Households

Nigeria has been faced with food supply deficit in the past decades. Continuous increase in population density and the consequent pressures from competing demands for land over time have the tendency of worsening the Nigerian arable land situation in the foreseeable future, if unaddressed. Thus, this study compared crop production intensification and its determinants among Kwara and Niger States maize-based households. A total of two-hundred and fifty-two maize-based households were interviewed using structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using crop intensification index and Tobit regression model. Analysis revealed that Niger state households have higher crop intensity scores than those of Kwara state households. The estimated Tobit model revealed that market access, farm income and adoption of land management practices; and extension contact, farm income and adoption of land management practices are the significant variables among Kwara and Niger S tate maize-based households respectively. For sustainability of maize based production, there is the need for a policy option that addresses the provision of qualitative extension education and farming households' access to market in the study areas.

Impact of social, institutional and ecological factors on land management practices in mountain watersheds of Nepal

This paper analyses factors influencing the adoption of land management practices in two mountain watersheds of Nepal based on information collected through a questionnaire survey of 300 households. Farmers in both watersheds have adopted several types of structural and biological land management practices to control land degradation. The stepwise multiple linear regression model ran using SPSS revealed 10 variables significantly influencing the adoption of land management technologies. The variables found significant are: extension service, caste affiliation of farmers, household agricultural labor force, landholdings with fluvents, dystrochrepts, and rhodustalfs soils, training on land management, schooling period of the household head, participation in joint land management activities, and landslide density in farmlands. The predicted R value of 0.62, R square of 0.37, and adjusted R square of 0.35 indicate moderate explanatory power of the model as a whole. However, the acceptance of the variables included in the model helps us to draw very useful policy conclusions for sustainable land management. All above mentioned variables have positive influence on the adoption of land management technologies, but remarkably, extension services were revealed as the strongest factor influencing the adoption of technologies. This indicates the positive influence of the extension service provided by the Phewatal Management Project and the need for provision of similar type extension service for farmers elsewhere in the hills of Nepal.