Commercial Farms Research Articles

Change in Bee Pollinators’ Guild Over the Time in the Punjab: State Under Intensive Agriculture

Change in Bee Pollinators’ Guild Over the Time in the Punjab: State Under Intensive Agriculture

Microbiology, induction, and management practices to mitigate lameness caused by bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis in broiler chickens

Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) lameness is the most prevalent skeletal disorder in poultry, implicated by the inherent risk of the high growth rate of modern broilers. The non-synchronization of massive body mass accretion vs maturation of the structural bone induces vulnerability to bone microfracture and immunosuppression, leading to bacterial necrosis in the skeletal and thoracic vertebral bones, leg paralysis, and eventual death. BCO lameness also imposes animal welfare issues and confers food safety risks. A study in 20 broiler farms in Australia recorded 28% BCO lesions of the necropsied birds, while a study in commercial flocks in Europe reported 19% moderate-to-severe lameness symptoms. The high incidence of lameness in commercial broiler farms reduces production value and leads to a huge economic loss in the poultry industry. Managing BCO lameness in broiler poultry is more challenging than that of other species because the peak of lameness incidence emerges at the marketing age of broilers. Moreover, curative treatment of the affected broilers is arduous due to their larger populations but shorter production cycles. Thus, condemnation of clinically lame birds has been a common practice in broiler farms to prevent the transmission of highly contagious BCO throughout the broiler populations. This practice decreases the production value and increases the economic forfeits. Therefore, presenting intervention measures for managing and controlling BCO in broiler poultry is necessary. Knowledge of etiological agents, pathogenesis, detection, and experimental lameness models to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention measures is highly important in presenting approaches to mitigate BCO lameness. Thus, this review focuses on microbiology studies of BCO, models of creating experimental lameness, and intervention measures mitigating BCO lameness in broiler chickens.

High-yield rice with rich nutrition and low toxicity can be obtained under potato-rice cropping system.

Rice is often rotated with dryland crops to produce sufficient foodstuff, as rice is the main food crop of humans. In order to verify whether under the intensive rice-based cropping system, high yield and good quality of rice can be achieved simultaneously to ensure food security. Five long-term paddy-upland rotations - wheat-rice (WR), rapeseed-rice (RR), garlic-rice (GR), broad beans-rice (BR) and potato-rice (PR) - were conducted from 2014 to investigate rice yield, along with the profiling of 24 elements in rice grain. Mg, Zn, Cu, As, Mo and Sb concentrations were highest in the aleurone layer, and Ag and Cd concentrations showed little variation among different parts of the rice grain. Al, Ti, V, Si, Fe and Tl concentrations in the endosperm under GR were higher, while the Se concentration under PR was the highest. Furthermore, the yield of GR and PR were higher than the other three rotations with N supplementation, and the sustainable yield index of PR and WR were larger than 0.8. When we consider the concentration of toxic (As, Cd and Pb) and nutrient elements (Ca, Fe, Zn, Se, Cu and Mg) in the endosperm and grain yields, PR can simultaneously achieve high yield, high nutrition and low toxicity with different nitrogen treatments. Here we provide novel insights regarding the selection of rice-based cropping systems, focused on producing nutritious and safe rice with high grain yield. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Anomalous white shrimp detection in intensive farming based on improved YOLOv8

Timely detection of anomalous shrimp is crucial for ensuring farming safety. Therefore, this study developed an effective model to detect abnormal shrimp behaviors, including curling, floating, leaping, cannibalism, and death. The proposed model uses YOLOv8 as the baseline, adjusts network parameters to align with the characteristics of abnormal shrimp, employs content-aware reassembly of features (CARAFE) to preserve more semantic information, and utilizes dynamic convolution to enhance the network's expressiveness. Achieving a 97.8 % mAP@0.5 and 96.1 % F1 score on a custom dataset, the model demonstrated superior detection performance and a smaller size compared with Faster-RCNN, single-shot multi-box detector (SSD), YOLOv5, YOLOv6, and YOLOv7. Based on the proposed model, we developed an abnormal shrimp monitoring system with significant potential to benefit white shrimp cultivators.

Conservation agriculture improves soil health and sustains crop yields after long-term warming

Climate warming threatens global food security by exacerbating pressures on degraded soils under intensive crop production. Conservation agriculture is promoted as a sustainable solution that improves soil health and sustains crop yields in a changing climate, but these benefits may be affected by long-term warming. Here, we investigate the effects of conservation agriculture compared to conventional agriculture on 17 soil properties, microbial diversity and crop yields, during eight-years’ experimental warming. An overall positive effect of warming on soil health over time under conservation agriculture is characterized by linear increases in soil organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon. Warming-triggered shifts in microbial biomass carbon and fungal diversity (saprogen richness) are directly linked to a 9.3% increase in wheat yields over eight years, but only under conservation agriculture. Overall, conservation agriculture results in an average 21% increase in soil health and supports similar levels of crop production after long-term warming compared to conventional agriculture. Our work provides insights into the potential benefits of conservation agriculture for long-term sustainable food production because improved soil health improves resilience to the effects of climate warming.

Greenhouse gas emissions during alfalfa cultivation: How do soil management and crop fertilisation of preceding maize impact emissions?

ContextThe use of alfalfa in rotation with intensive crops is common practice to mitigate the physical and chemical issues arising from intensive farming practices. However, there is a dearth of studies on this practice. Given the current concern regarding climate change and the significant impact agriculture has on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, understanding the emissions associated with this practice, as well as the most suitable soil and crop management techniques for their mitigation, is of paramount importance. ObjectiveThe present study aimed to (i) quantify emissions of N2O, CO2 and CH4 in an alfalfa crop following a maize cropping scenario; (ii) to determine which tillage system generates the lowest GHG emissions, and; (iii) to determine how N fertilisation from a preceding intensive maize crop affects GHG emissions during alfalfa cropping period. MethodsA three-year field experiment (2019, 2020 and 2021) was conducted to assess the emissions of N2O, CO2 and CH4 from alfalfa cultivation following a three-year period of irrigated maize. Two soil management practices (no-tillage and conventional tillage) were implemented during both the maize cropping period and the alfalfa establishment. Additionally, the nitrogen (N) fertilisation rates applied to the preceding maize crop were included as a treatment (0, 200, and 400 kg N ha⁻¹, corresponding to zero, medium, and high fertilisation levels, respectively) in a randomized block design with two factors. ResultsEmissions of N2O in alfalfa ranged from 0.05 to 0.32 mg N2O-N m⁻² day⁻¹, being significantly higher only during first month of sampling in the treatments that had received fertilisation. CO2 emissions ranged from 1158 to 4258 mg CO2-C m⁻² day⁻¹. Year-average CH4 fluxes were −0.27 g C ha⁻¹ day⁻¹. The average total dry matter produced by alfalfa was 17700 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, being higher for the no-tillage treatment, though significantly so only during first month of sampling. ConclusionsUnder Mediterranean conditions, the tillage system and mineral N fertilizer rates have a relative effect on greenhouse gas emissions during the alfalfa cropping period. Plots without N fertilization initially produced lower N2O emissions and higher total dry matter, resulting in the lowest scaled emissions. For the tillage treatment, no significant differences were found in emission dynamics, which may be due to the fact that alfalfa does not involve soil disturbance, leading to a homogenization of the treatments. However, the NT treatment showed lower scaled emissions due to higher yields in the first year. Therefore, alfalfa cultivation is characterized by low GHG emissions, high yields, and a notable capacity to mitigate the negative effects of previous intensive crops. SignificanceThis study provides data on GHG emissions during alfalfa cropping in the typical Maize-alfalfa crop rotation under Mediterranean irrigated systems, which is useful for new agricultural policies aimed at reducing pollution in the agricultural sector. Additionally, it demonstrates the capability of this crop to mitigate adverse agronomic and environmental conditions caused by preceding intensive farming practices.

Potential of integrated multitrophic aquaculture to make prawn farming sustainable in Bangladesh

Farmed freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) comprise a significant portion of Bangladesh’s seafood exports, raising concerns about their environmental impacts. Freshwater prawn farms, which require a relatively high amount of feed supply, release 1.0 MT CO2-equivalents/year, equating to 18.8 kg CO2e/MT prawn, contributing significantly to global warming and climate change risks. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) offers an alternative farming method to conventional prawn farming systems, as it minimizes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change impacts. Systematically reviewing 112 scientific articles on IMTA, this article offers recommendations for adopting IMTA to promote sustainable freshwater prawn farming in Bangladesh. IMTA is undergoing extensive experimentation and practice in many parts of the world, offering economic benefits, social acceptability, and environmental sustainability. In addition to native prawn species, various indigenous organic extractive freshwater mollusks, and inorganic extractive plants are available which can seamlessly be used to tailor the IMTA system. Extractive organisms, including aquatic mollusks and plants within prawn farms, can capture blue carbon effectively lowering GHG emissions and helping mitigate climate change impacts. Aquatic mollusks offer feed for fish and livestock, while aquatic plants serve as a dual food source and contribute to compost manure production for crop fields. Research on IMTA in Bangladesh was primarily experimented on finfish in freshwater ponds, with the absence of studies on IMTA in prawn farms. This necessitates conducting research at the prawn farmer level to understand the production of extractive aquatic mollusk and plants alongside prawn in the prawn-producing regions of southwestern Bangladesh.

Antioxidant, Nutritional Properties, Microbiological, and Health Safety of Juice from Organic and Conventional 'Solaris' Wine (Vitis vinifera L.) Farming.

This study investigated the technological parameters, microbiological, and functional properties of juice from Solaris grapes grown under conventional and organic farming systems to assess how these cultivation methods influence juice quality. The one-year study focused on key aspects such as the levels of health-promoting polyphenols, the presence of mycotoxins, and pesticide residues. Organic grapes showed greater bacterial and fungal diversity, with significant differences in dominant genera. Sphingomonas and Massilia were the predominant bacteria across both systems, while Erysiphe was more common in conventional grapes, and Aureobasidium was abundant in both. Despite the presence of genes for mycotoxin production, no mycotoxins were detected in the juice or pomace. Organic juice exhibited significantly higher levels of polyphenols, leading to enhanced antioxidant properties and improved technological characteristics, including lower acidity and higher nitrogen content. However, residues of sulfur and copper, used in organic farming, were detected in the juice, while conventional juice contained synthetic pesticide residues like cyprodinil and fludioxonil. These findings highlight that while organic juice offers better quality and safety in terms of polyphenol content and antioxidant activity, it also carries risks related to residues from organic treatments, and conventional juice poses risks due to synthetic pesticide contamination.

Farmland Degradation in the Czech Republic: Drivers and Barriers of Mitigation Strategies in Agricultural Soils

ABSTRACTIn line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15.3, which aims to restore degraded land and soil, and the priorities of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) to mitigate environmental issues caused by intensive agriculture, understanding the factors influencing farmers' adoption of soil conservation practices (SCPs) is crucial. However, there is still a limited understanding of these specific factors, particularly in the context of the Czech Republic. This study investigates the perceptions and determinants influencing the adoption of SCPs among farmers in the Czech Republic. We analyzed 358 randomly selected farm households using probit and multivariate probit models. Our results show that a significant number of farmers perceive soil degradation as an important problem, attributing it to factors such as low soil nutrient content, declining soil humus, water and wind erosion. The results of our analysis showed positive associations for perceived effectiveness and profitability, indicating that farmers tend to adopt practices such as minimum tillage, mulching, mixed cropping, cover cropping, and continuous soil cover when these methods are perceived to be effective and profitable. Conversely, negative associations are found for perceptions of soil degradation and education, suggesting potential barriers to adoption with higher levels of perceived soil degradation and education. The study also highlights the complex interplay of information sources on adoption, with both positive and negative trends. In light of these findings, we propose recommendations, including that awareness campaigns should be tailored to address perceptions of soil degradation, and that the use of peer networks and information dissemination from research institutions can bridge the gap between scientific recommendations and on‐farm practices. Policy makers and agricultural extension services should work together to develop targeted strategies that take into account regional differences in the factors influencing adoption and ultimately promote widespread adoption of SCPs.

Accelerated Data Engine: A faster dataset construction workflow for computer vision applications in commercial livestock farms

Large-scale, high-quality dataset was the foundation of developing advanced artificial intelligence applications. However, creating such a benchmark dataset in a professional field, such as precision management of animals, was always a challenge because of the costly and labor-intensive process of annotation and review. This study introduced a novel workflow named Accelerated Data Engine (ADE), designed to efficiently produce representative and high-quality computer vision datasets from raw animal surveillance footage. By incorporating referring and grounding models (R&G models) as auto-annotators, along with a distillation mechanism for dataset-auditors, ADE significantly speeded up the dataset construction process. The new workflow received natural language inputs as referrals to identify animal instances, delineated their body shapes, and then refined the auto-annotated data through a selection process. To demonstrate the efficacy of ADE, three 30-minute surveillance video samples featuring pigs, sheep, and cattle were discussed in this study. The results indicated the R&G models effectively annotated animals across various farms, while distillation mechanisms could identify various detection errors, balance the data representations, refine annotations, and verify the data quality. Two high-quality cattle datasets (6.5 k and 486 frames), including 26 k and 2.5 k cattle instances, were generated through the ADE workflow from 24-hour surveillance videos on a commercial cattle farm and made publicly available. The proposed dataset has achievable performance between 74.6 %∼84.1 %. The ADE workflow saved 78.4 % of manual work compared to the traditional dataset construction workflow (approximately 141 h). This pioneering approach empowered the fast creation of benchmark animal datasets and would enhance computer vision applications in the livestock production industry in the future.

Association of crop commercialization and rural households' multidimensional poverty using targeted maximum likelihood estimation

Recent evidence shows the highest prevalence of multidimensional poverty in the world. To alleviate poverty, Ethiopia is investing in stimulating agricultural commercialization for poverty reduction, driving sustainable economic growth, and creating jobs. Therefore, this study investigated the causal relationship between crop commercialization and multidimensional poverty across Ethiopian rural households using the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey 2018/19 data, which included 1129 crop commercialized and 1585 completely subsistence rural households. Moreover, this study also examined the causal effect of crop commercialization on the multidimensional poverty mediated by mobile phone ownership status. The study used the double robust method of the augmented inverse probability of treatment weighted (AIPTW) and targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE) methods. The result showed that crop commercialization has an association with multidimensional poverty. Specifically, the TMLE with a default super learner model estimates were the most precise and suggest that the prevalence of risk of being multidimensionally poor among rural households who were crop commercialized is 12.2 % lower than for those who were completely subsistence households. Thus, it is important to have more robust policies like crop commercialization to target rural multidimensional poverty reduction. Moreover, the controlled direct effect estimation analyses showed that crop-commercialized rural households reduced the adjusted risk of multidimensional poverty by; 12 % for those who owned mobile phones and 7.8 % for those who did not. To ensure sustainable livelihoods for rural multidimensional poor households, it is necessary to have a multidisciplinary policy intervention to promote crop commercialization through the spread of mobile phones in rural areas.

Effects of Using Mechanical Brushes on the Productive Performance of Dairy Cows

Intensive farming can reduce production costs and maximize animal production efficiency; however, it also causes many adverse effects on the welfare of dairy cows. A mechanical brush is an automated grooming device that promotes the grooming behavior of dairy cattle, thereby helping to alleviate stress. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of using mechanical brushes on the production performance of dairy cows by comprehensively analyzing their milk production, health status, and reproductive performance. The cows were assigned to 6 groups: 109 lactating dairy cows (brush treatment) and 105 controls (without brush treatment), 64 dry milk dairy cows (brush treatment) and 49 controls (without brush treatment), and 198 perinatal cows (brush treatment) and 65 controls (without brush treatment). We found an increasing trend in the daily utility time and usage frequency of mechanical brushes for each cow during the lactating period (7.73 ± 4.02 min/d and 2.90 ± 1.22 times/d, respectively), dry period (15.97 ± 14.16 min/d and 4.21 ± 2.91 times/d, respectively), and perinatal period (25.15 ± 19.05 min/d and 5.45 ± 3.83 times/d, respectively) (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). The installation location of the mechanical brush significantly affected the frequency of its usage during the different periods. The head was the preferred body part for using the mechanical brush during the lactation and dry periods (59.32% and 44.54%, respectively), while the hip was the main preferred grooming part during the perinatal period (40.17%). Overall, the time, frequency, and preferred body part of dairy cows that used mechanical brushes varied across different physiological stages. Additionally, mechanical brush use in lactating and dry dairy cows significantly improved cleanliness of the body’s surface (p < 0.05) and enhanced milk production of lactating cows (p < 0.01), particularly for cows with four and five parities. Thus, the use of mechanical brushes could improve the production performance of dairy cows and enhance sustainability of large-scale farms.

Strip‐cropping legacy enhances potato plant defence responses to aphids via soil‐mediated mechanisms

Abstract Intensive agriculture often comes at the expense of soil health. A shift towards practices that foster soil health will support yield and defences against pests and diseases. Growing crops in monoculture is the standard in modern agriculture, though strip‐cropping, in which different crops are planted in strips, is a promising strategy in the transition towards sustainable agriculture. Increasing crop diversity is hypothesized to positively influence arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), thereby enhancing soil health, but the mechanisms by which AMF‐plant symbioses contribute to higher yields and reduced pest populations in strip‐cropping systems remain unclear. We used a green‐house experiment with potato plants to explore the soil legacy effects of mono‐cropping versus strip‐cropping systems, AMF inoculation and aphid infestation on AMF root colonization, the induction of plant defences (untargeted LCMS‐based metabolomics), aphid population size and potato yield. We found that potato plants grown in strip‐cropping soil had higher AMF colonization than plants grown in mono‐cropping soil. Potato plants grown in strip‐cropping soil also had higher shoot nitrogen content, increased solamargine levels, and reduced aphid populations. AMF root colonization was only enhanced by the addition of commercial AMF in mono‐cropping soils. Potato plant metabolites were affected by strip‐cropping soil, including jasmonic acid (JA) derivatives. Structural equation models revealed that strip‐cropping soil directly reduced aphid populations and also had a negative direct effect on the JA precursor OPC‐8, and hydroxyJA‐glucosides, indicating complex effects of strip‐cropping soils on JA‐inducible plant defences. Indirect benefits of strip‐cropping soil and AMF inoculation on tuber yield were mediated by their direct positive effects on plant nitrogen content. Our results emphasize the potential of strip‐cropping to enhance AMF root colonization in the field. We show that soil legacy effects of strip‐cropping alter the plant metabolome in ways that suppress of aphid populations. Strip‐cropping legacy effects are the result of crop diversity, crop neighbour and edge effects resulting from crop management practices. While the mechanisms by which soil from strip‐cropping supresses pest populations still need to be identified, our study underscores the potential for strip‐cropping to enhance pest control and yield via soil mediated processes. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Ecological practices increase soil fertility and microbial diversity under intensive farming

Intensive farming offers a potential solution to feed the growing population due to its high productivity. Conventional management (CO) based on inorganic fertilization practices degrades soil quality, but restorative practices including ecological intensification (EI) and organic management results in maintaining soil quality without compromising productivity. In this paper, two different management systems were evaluated: CO, based on inorganic fertilization, and EI, focused on providing organic nutrients to soils to support crops.EI increased soil fertility, together with higher alpha diversity indices, more differentially abundant amplicon sequence variant (ASVs) (247 EI vs. 165 CO) and indicator taxa (60 EI vs. 32 CO). Distinct bacterial taxa were associated with the different management systems, revealing their roles in soil processes and nutrient availability. In the CO treatment, indicator genera such as Nitrospira and Desulfarculaceae were linked to N fertilization and nitrite oxidation, while RB41 was associated with phosphorus availability. Ammoniphilus, PAUC26f, and BSV26 were also indicators of CO management. Conversely, EI treatment promoted bacteria involved in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling, such as Halomonas, Chryseolinea and Rhodobacteraceae. Gemmatimonas, Steroidobacter, Altererythrobacter, Acidibacter and Anseongella contribute to carbon and nitrogen cycling. Burkholderiaceae and Rhodopirellula play roles in phosphate solubilization and organic P mineralization, respectively. Numerous taxa with plant growth-promoting (PGP) attributes, such as BIrii41, Pseudomonas, and Lysobacter, were also identified as indicators of the EI treatment.EI associated bacteria were positively correlated with soil organic carbon contents, nitrates, and exchangeable bases, while negatively correlated with CO bacteria. A distance-based multivariate multiple regression (DistLM) demonstrated a strong relationship (r2 = 0.78) between soil physicochemical variables and bacterial community structure, with SOC explaining the most variations in the model. Other significant parameters included potassium (K), electrical conductivity (EC), and nitrates. The results suggest that EI promotes more sustainable soils in terms of fertility and microbial diversity.

FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI IMPLEMENTASI PEMANFAATAN LIMBAH PETERNAKAN SAPI POTONG DI KECAMATAN SUWAWA SELATAN

Cattle farming needs to prioritize sustainable waste management. The productivity of beef cattle farming is not yet fully maximized because it still uses conventional farming practices. The objectives of the study: (1) to identify the characteristics of beef cattle farmers in South Suwawa District and (2) to examine the factors that influence the implementation of farmers in waste utilization. The study used a sample of 60 farmers through accidental sampling. This study used the SPSS 23 Program with multiple regression analysis. The results of the study showed (1) age, education, gender, occupation, and experience of cattle farmers have an impact on the management of waste utilization efforts and (2) the significance test (t-test) and (f-test) showed that the variables representing the knowledge aspect (X1) and attitude aspect (X2) did not have a statistically significant or real effect. Although environmental factors (X3) have the same impact. The importance of farmer behavior in increasing understanding and changing attitudes to minimize environmental pollution and contribute to achieving zero waste goals.

Assessing pesticide residue occurrence and risks in the environment across Europe and Argentina

The widespread and extensive use of pesticides in European crop production to reduce losses from weeds, diseases, and insects may have serious consequences on the ecosystem and human health. This study aimed to identify 20 active substances of high health risk, based on their detection frequency within and across the environmental matrices (soil, crop, water, and sediment) and to identify their associated hazardous effects. A sampling campaign was conducted across 10 case study sites in Europe and 1 in Argentina and included conventional and organic farming systems. In 31% of cases, the detected substances were found at a higher concentration in the soil than in the corresponding crops, 93% of the compounds were fungicides, and the remainder were insecticides. 43% of the substances, 57% of which were insecticides, were detected only in soil. There was a clear relationship between soils and crops in terms of contamination, but not between water and sediment. Portuguese soil (wine grapes) had the highest number of substances (12) with average concentrations (AC) varying between 1 and 162 μg/kg, followed by French (11 substances in wine grapes) (1≤AC≤64 μg/kg) and Spanish soils (9 substances in vegetables) (3≤AC≤59 μg/kg). The crops corresponding to these soils contained a relatively high number of detected substances and several in high average concentrations (AC). The risk quotient was consistently higher for conventional farms than for organic farms. For the soils from conventional farms, 5 active substances (chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, boscalid, difenoconazole, lambda-cyhalothrin, and one metabolite: AMPA) were considered high risk. For water samples, 2 substances (dieldrin and terbuthylazine) found were high risk, and for sediment, there were 3 substances (metalaxyl-M, spiroxamine, and lambda-cyhalothrin). There were 6 substances detected in crops that are suspected to cause human health effects. Uncontaminated soil is a prerequisite for the adoption of sustainable alternatives to pesticides. Efforts are needed to elucidate the unknown effects of mixtures, including biocides and banned compounds in addition to the substances used in agriculture.

Comparison of manual and automated body condition scoring of commercial dairy cattle.

Body condition scoring of dairy cows estimates their body reserves. Automation allows increased data availability and reduced labour costs. The aim of this study was to compare an automated (AUT) body condition score (BCS) system to manual observers on a single commercial dairy farm in south-west England. Three practising veterinary surgeons performed body condition scoring of 315 dairy cows using the agriculture and horticulture development board (AHDB) Body Condition Scorecard. AUT BCSs were obtained from two 3D cameras and compared to the BCSs recorded by the three operators. The AUT system only agreed with manual scorers at a BCS of 3. The system failed to detect cows classified as underconditioned (BCS ≤ 2.25) by any of the operators (sensitivity 0%). It also systematically underestimated the BCS of cows classified as overconditioned (BCS ≥ 3.5) by the operators. For overconditioned cows, the sensitivity of the AUT system ranged from 30.7% to 48.8% when compared with the manual operators. The AUT system also had weaker agreement with operators for Jersey cows, with Cohen's weighted kappa values of 0.28 for Jersey animals and 0.40 for Holsteins. This study used a convenience sample of animals on a single farmat a single time point, so the extent to which the findings can be more widely generalised is unclear. The AUT system failed to detect animals classified as underconditioned by the operators and underestimated the condition of cows classified as overconditioned by the operators. Currently, without improvements to the algorithm, the clinical usefulness of such an AUT system for body condition scoring is limited.

Nano Management Techniques for Soil Reclamation

The application of nano-scale management strategies for soil remediation presents a promising avenue for tackling soil salinity issues and bolstering agricultural sustainability. Nano-sized materials like gypsum, biochar, sulphur, and zinc offer novel solutions by capitalizing on their distinct properties to alleviate soil stressors and bolster soil vitality. These nano materials demonstrate heightened reactivity, mobility, and efficacy compared to traditional alternatives, facilitating precise delivery and enduring effects on soil characteristics and crop performance. Through targeted ion displacement, soil structure enhancement, and improved nutrient accessibility, nano management approaches play a pivotal role in rehabilitating saline and sodic soils, thereby fostering agricultural resilience in adverse environmental conditions. Moreover, the integration of nano technologies in farming practices holds considerable promise for advancing precision agriculture, optimizing resource utilization, and mitigating ecological concerns associated with conventional farming methods. As research in this domain advances, ongoing exploration and refinement of nano management techniques are imperative to ensure their effectiveness, safety, and long-term sustainability, thereby contributing to the establishment of robust and productive agricultural systems.

The role of farm subsidies in changing India’s water footprint

Dwindling groundwater supplies threaten food security and livelihoods. Output subsidies for farmers are a ubiquitous agricultural policy tool, yet their contribution to growing groundwater stress remains poorly quantified. We show how output subsidies guaranteeing the purchase of crops at higher than market prices may have contributed substantially to declining water tables in India. Our analysis suggests that these policies may have led to a 30% over-production of water intensive crops. In the northwestern state of Punjab, rice procurement can potentially account for at least 50% of the groundwater table decline over 34 years. In the central state of Madhya Pradesh, wheat procurement adopted in the late 2000s appears to have driven a 5.3 percentage point increase in dry wells and a consequent 3.4 percentage point increase in deep tubewells. These results suggest that well-intentioned but poorly designed subsidies can impose harmful externalities on the environment and undermine long-term sustainable development.

Barriers of adopting sustainable soil management practices for organic and conventional farming systems

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.