Fallow Land Research Articles

N-Dimensional Lattice Integrable Systems and Their bi-Hamiltonian Structure on the Time Scale Using the R-Matrix Approach

A time scale is a special measure chain that can unify continuous and discrete spaces, enabling the construction of integrable equations. In this paper, with the Lax operator generated by the displacement operator, N-dimensional lattice integrable systems on the time scale are given by the R-matrix approach. The recursion operators of the lattice systems are derived on the time scale. Finally, two integrable hierarchies of the discrete chain with a bi-Hamiltonian structure are obtained. In particular, we give the structure of two-field and four-field systems.

Impact of artisanal refining activities on bacterial diversity in a Niger Delta fallow land

Hydrocarbon pollution is a major ecological problem facing oil-producing countries, especially in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In this study, a site that had been previously polluted by artisanal refining activity was investigated using 16S rRNA Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology and bioinformatics tools. These were used to investigate the bacterial diversity in soil with varying degrees of contamination, determined with a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Soil samples were collected from a heavily polluted (HP), mildly polluted (MP), and unpolluted (control sample, CS) portion of the study site. DNA was extracted using the Zymo Research (ZR) Fungi/Bacteria DNA MiniPrep kit, followed by PCR amplification and agarose gel electrophoresis. The microbiome was characterized based on the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene. QIIME (Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology) 2 software was used to analyse the sequence data. The final data set covered 20,640 demultiplexed high-quality reads and a total of 160 filtered bacterial OTUs. Proteobacteria dominated samples HP and CS, while Actinobacteria dominated sample MP. Denitratisoma, Pseudorhodoplanes, and Spirilospora were the leading genera in samples HP, CS, and MP respectively. Diversity analysis indicated that CS [with 25.98 ppm of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)] is more diverse than HP (with 490,630 ppm of TPH) and MP (with 5398 ppm of TPH). A functional prediction study revealed that six functional modules dominated the dataset, with metabolism covering up to 70%, and 11 metabolic pathways. This study demonstrates that a higher hydrocarbon concentration in soil adversely impacts microbial diversity, creating a narrow bacterial diversity dominated by hydrocarbon-degrading species, in addition to the obvious land and ecosystem degradation caused by artisanal refining activities. Overall, the artisanal refining business is significantly driving ecosystem services losses in the Niger Delta, which calls for urgent intervention, with focus on bioremediation.

Residual Effect of Foliar Application of Nano Fertlizers and Organic Source of Nitrogen on the Productivity and Economics of Zero Tilled Green Pea in Rice-green Pea Cropping Sequence

Background: After rice harvest, the majority of farmers in Manipur leave their land fallow without planting anything, despite the fact that it has a great deal of potential for growing a second crop in the rabi season with the remaining moisture and nutrients. One of the most crucial options for Manipur’s farmers is green pea, which not only boosts their revenue but also makes use of the nutrients and residual moisture in the soil. The current fertilizer application system ignores the carryover effect of the manure or fertilizer applied to the previous crop and instead bases its decisions on the nutritional requirements of the specific crop. Applying organic sources of nutrients to the previous crop greatly benefits the following crop. In light of the aforementioned considerations, an experiment was set up to determine whether the foliar application of nano fertlizers and organic source of nitrogen in the previous kharif rice crop had any lasting effects on the productivity of the following green pea crop. Methods: A field experiment was conducted during the kharif and rabi season of 2020-21 and 2021-22 at Hiyanglam Mayai Leikai in the Kakching district of Manipur, in order to research the residual effect of foliar application of nano fertlizers and organic source of nitrogen on the productivity and economics of zero tilled green pea in rice- green pea cropping sequence. A factorial randomized block design (FRBD) with three replications was used to set up the experiment. Result: The pooled data showed that vermicompost @100% RDN had the highest growth and yield characterictics over the vermicompost @ 75% RDN and 50% RDN. The combinations of nano NPK @ 1.5% + 100% RDN through vermicompost resulted in the highest increase growth and yield attributing characters of green pea and lowest was observed in the control + @ 50% RDN treated plot.

Geostatistical modeling approach for studying total soil nitrogen and phosphorus under various land uses of North-Western Himalayas

The distribution of total soil nitrogen (TSN) and total soil phosphorus (TSP) plays a pivotal role in shaping soil quality, fertility, agricultural practices, and environmental balance, especially in ecologically sensitive regions like the North-Western Himalayas (NWH). The primary objectives of this study were to contribute to clarify the impact and the rationale of various land uses on the spatial variation of TSN and TSP in the corresponding soils. This study aimed to explore the relation of TSN and TSP distribution in NWH soils with various factors like landscape physiography and soil physical and chemical properties using random sampling and geostatistical analyses. Employing random sampling, 300 soil surface samples (at a depth of 0–20 cm) were collected across various 500 m × 500 m grids from agriculture, horticulture, forest and fallow lands in the NWH region. The spatial land heterogeneity of TSN and TSP were systematically analyzed using standard statistical and geostatistical approaches (Gaussian, spherical, exponential, and linear). Results revealed a decreasing order of TSN and TSP levels i.e., horticulture (0.410 and 0.723 mg/kg) > agriculture (0.314 and 0.597 mg/kg) > forest (0.236 and 0.572 mg/kg) > fallow (0.275 and 0.342 mg/kg). Stepwise multiple regression results demonstrated a correlation between TSN and soil organic carbon (SOC), while TSP was correlated with soil organic carbon (SOC) and fine-grained soil particles. Nugget % values indicated the following spatial variability for TSN: agricultural (1.4) > horticultural (3.2) > forest (3.9) > fallow land (4.8) > mixed land (5.8), whereas the spatial variability of TSP showed a similar trend for all land uses. The optimized conceptual framework and isotropy models varied for TSN and TSP on dependence on land use type. The results of this study revealed the spatial patterns and land use-related variations and improved the prediction of nutrient distribution, so contributing an optimized conceptual framework for future studies. Finally, this study provided crucial insights to enhance soil quality, fertility, agricultural sustainability, and environmental equilibrium in the ecologically fragile NWH region, contributing to solve a significant research gap in the global understanding of soil dynamics.

Organic Carbon Storage and Structural-Hydraulic Properties of Ultisol under Agricultural Land Use Systems at Umuahia

The extent and pattern of interaction among organic carbon, structural and hydraulic properties of soils under varying land use systems are of great concern in the overall management of soil fertility and productivity. This study was conducted to examine the relationship among soil organic carbon storage, structural and hydraulic properties of soils under different agricultural land use systems at Umuahia, Abia State. The treatments were the four (4) land use systems (continuously cultivated arable farmland, 3 – year fallow land, oil palm plantation, and forest land) in which nine (9) replicates each of disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were randomly collected to give thirty six observational units laid out in a randomized complete block design. The soil samples were prepared and analysed in the laboratory. Analyses of variance, regression and correlation analyses were conducted on the data collected using Genstat version 14 and SPSS version 20. Results show that organic carbon had significant positive relationship with saturated hydraulic conductivity, macro porosity and total porosity but significant negative relationship with bulk density at all the land use systems. However, the influence of organic carbon on the other parameters was greatest at continuously cultivated arable land followed by the 3 – year fallow land. There is need to increase organic matter input at the continuously cultivated arable land and 3 – year fallow land through increased organic manuring and extension of the fallow period, respectively.

AI-Based Prediction of Carrot Yield and Quality on Tropical Agriculture

The adoption of artificial intelligence tools can improve production efficiency in the agroindustry. Our objective was to perform the predictive modeling of carrot yield and quality. The crop was grown in two commercial areas during the summer season in Brazil. The root samples were taken at 200 points with a 30 × 30 m sampling grid at 82 and 116 days after sowing in both areas. The total fresh biomass, aerial part, and root biometry were quantified for previous crop harvesting to measure yield. The quality of the roots was assessed by sub-sampling three carrots by the concentration of total soluble solids (°Brix) and firmness in the laboratory. Vegetation indices were extracted from satellite imagery. The most important variables for the predictive models were selected by principal component analysis and submitted to the Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Random Forest (RF), and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) algorithms. SAVI and NDVI indices stood out as predictors of crop yield, and the results from the ANN (R2 = 0.68) were superior to the RF (R2 = 0.67) and MLR (R2 = 0.61) models. Carrot quality cannot be modeled by the predictive models in this study; however, it should be explored in future research, including other crop variables.

La Red Natura 2000 y las rapaces agroesteparias: el cernícalo primilla en la ZEPA ES435 Área esteparia de la margen derecha del río Guadarrama

Conservation biologists have questioned the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in conserving farmland birds. The Lesser Kestrel population in the SPA ES435 Área esteparia de la margen derecha del río Guadarrama and surrounding areas increased by 11.8% between 1997–1999 and 2019. However, the loss of nesting sites due to building collapse or restoration, the loss of foraging habitat, such as fallow land and field margins, due to agricultural intensification, and the spread of woody crops and solar photovoltaic power stations threaten this Lesser Kestrel population. Furthermore, SPA ES435 protects less than half of this Lesser Kestrel breeding population. It is necessary to enlarge SPAs to cover IBAs and encourage low-intensity farming (habitat quality compensates for habitat loss) within the Natura 2000 network in order to conserve the lesser kestrel and other farmland birds listed in Annex I of the Directive 2009/147/EC.

ENVINet5 deep learning change detection framework for the estimation of agriculture variations during 2012-2023 with Landsat series data.

Remote sensing is one of the most important methods for analysing the multitemporal changes over a certain period. As a cost-effective way, remote sensing allows the long-term analysis of agricultural land by collecting satellite imagery from different satellite missions. Landsat is one of the longest-running world missions which offers a moderate-resolution earth observation dataset. Land surface mapping and monitoring are generally performed by incorporating classification and change detection models. In this work, a deep learning-based change detection (DCD) algorithm has been proposed to detect long-term agricultural changes using the Landsat series datasets (i.e., Landsat-7, Landsat-8, and Landsat-9) during the period 2012 to 2023. The proposed algorithm extracts the features from satellite data according to their spectral and geographic characteristics and identifies seasonal variability. The DCD integrates the deep learning-based (Environment for visualizing images) ENVI Net-5 classification model and posterior probability-based post-classification comparison-based change detection model (PCD). The DCD is capable of providing seasonal variations accurately with distinct Landsat series dataset and promises to use higher resolution dataset with accurate results. The experimental result concludes that vegetation has decreased from 2012 to 2023, while build-up land has increased up to 88.22% (2012-2023) for Landsat-7 and Landsat-8 datasets. On the other side, degraded area includes water (3.20-0.05%) and fallow land (1-0.59%). This study allows the identification of crop growth, crop yield prediction, precision farming, and crop mapping.

Exploring the influence of LULC change on hydro-meteorological shifts in the Vedavathi basin

The influence of the changing land use land cover (LULC) pattern on the vegetation, water, and temperature parameters is ascertained in the study of the Vedavathi River basin. For the years 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2022 Landsat and MODIS satellite products (MOD11C3, MOD13Q1) along with the ground-based rainfall from IMD measurement were used to implement the methods of indices such as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference water index (NDWI) along with the land surface temperature (LST), and standardized precipitation index (SPI) and analyze the situation in the basin. Since 2005 more than 2000 km2 of fallow land has been transformed into cropland. 22.35% of grassland was converted to plantation in two decades while 13% of scrub forest has been reduced to wasteland. The increase in the cropland and the changing forest area has brought an increase in the mean NDVI value while at the same time an increase in the temperature value. The years 2003 and 2004 witnessed an extreme dry conditions in most of the stations while 2010 and 2020 experienced flood-like conditions. Overall majority of the drought conditions were witnessed in the 1990s and 2000s while flood conditions were prominent in the later part of the study. The study aims to provide an understanding between all these factors and what is the intensity of influence on each other.

Assessment of Rice-mustard & Rice-chickpea Cropping Sequence through Conservation Agricultural Practices under Rice- Fallow Cropping System in Satna District of Madhya Pradesh, India

Rice – Fallow land due to the growing of a longer more extended duration variety of Rice by farmers affect timely sowing of rabi crop and land remains fallow due to inadequate moisture in field along with terminal heat stresses (about 14000 ha area) in district Satna (M.P.).The trial consisted of three treatments viz., T1- Rice (Variety with maturity above 125 days) in Kharif- fallow in Rabi, T2- Rice (MTU-1010)-Mustard (Pusa Mustard 28), T3- Rice (MTU-1010)-Chickpea (RVG-202). The Rice- Mustard cropping system recorded higher Rice equivalent yield over Rice-fallow by 42.12 q ha-1, system productivity 36.97 kg ha-1day-1, profitability by ₹470.94 ha-1day-1 and net return ₹ 103608 ha-1. Similarly, Rice-Chickpea cropping system gave 37.84 q ha-1 Rice equivalent yield, 35.11 kg ha-1day-1 higher productivity, ₹ 431.56 ha-1day-1 and net return ₹ 94942 ha-1 higher profit than Rice-fallow cropping system. Thus, from the present study, it can be concluded that Rice-Chickpea and Rice-Mustard cropping systems are appropriate and effective ways to use fallow land under Rice- Fallow cropping system.

Assessment of organic matter state and physical properties of postagrogenic sod-podzolic soil and its arable analogue

Land is often withdrawn from agriculture for various reasons, about 1/4 of the world’s fallow land is in Russia, mainly in the taiga forest zone. Some changes, determined by a combination of various factors, take place in fallow land. Therefore, in order to determine the expediency or priority of returning fallow land to arable land, it is relevant to assess the main indicators of its fertility. To this end, a comparative study of the organic matter and physical properties of an arable sod-podzolic soil and its post-agricultural analogue, which has been fallow for more than 20 years, was carried out. A reliable increase in the carbon content of the light fraction of organic matter in the 0-10 cm layer of the fallow soil was observed in comparison with the corresponding horizon of the arable analogue. In the 10-20 cm horizon this increase was manifested in the form of a tendency, also the tendency of increase in the content of organic carbon (total humus) in the former arable layer of the fallow soil was manifested. The increase in these indicators of the state of organic matter is apparently due to the increase in the amount of plant residues as a result of the succession of natural herbaceous vegetation compared to the amount of post-harvest residues on arable land. The fallow soil also showed an increase in the number of macroaggregates, agronomically valuable aggregates and the water holding capacity of macroand microaggregates compared to the arable soil. Obviously, such an improvement in the structural condition indicators is related to the increase in humus content and the absence of mechanical tillage, which favours the destruction of aggregates. The fallow soil in comparison with the arable soil had reliably lower density and density of solid phase, which is explained by higher content of light fraction of organic matter in it, as well as better structure. The obtained results allow to assess the nature of changes in fertility indicators of sod-podzolic soil as a result of staying in fallow condition. The indicator of the content of the light fraction of organic matter is an earlier indicator of the recovery of the fallow soil compared to the total carbon content in the soil, which allows to determine the expediency and priority of the return of fallow soils to arable land.

Analysing Decadal Land Use Land Cover Dynamics in the Sub-Upper Krishna Basin of Maharashtra, India Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Aims: This study was conducted to examine Land Use Land Cover (LULC) dynamics in Maharashtra’s sub-upper Krishna basin from 2009 to 2019 using remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS), focusing on water bodies, vegetation, soil, settlements, and their changes.
 Study Design: Employing remote sensing and GIS for LULC mapping (2009-2019) the study used a maximum likelihood classifier in supervised classification, identifying six land use categories: water bodies, open shrubs, forests, agricultural land, settlements, and fallow land.
 Place and Duration of Study: It was conducted in the sub-upper Krishna basin, Maharashtra, over ten years’ data (2009-2019).
 Methodology: The study utilised satellite remote sensing and GIS tools for LULC mapping. A supervised classification was applied with a maximum likelihood classifier to categorize land. The changes in water bodies, open shrubs, forests, agricultural land, settlements, and fallow land were analysed using GIS approach.
 Results: It was seen that, over the decade, fallow land decreased by 3.03%, while agricultural land and settlements grew by 7.32% and 4.3%, respectively. Tree cover increased by 9.85%, water bodies by 0.93%, and open scrubland decreased by 1.77%. Institutional factors, easier water access, and technological and economic factors drove these changes.
 Conclusion: The study advocates the effective use of satellite remote sensing to monitor LULC changes, identifying key drivers, including institutional and technological factors, contributes to sustainable development planning. The findings aid predictions for future land use changes, supporting effective land management and conservation strategies in the region.

The Impact of Vegetation Types on Soil Hydrological and Mechanical Properties in the Hilly Regions of Southern China: A Comparative Analysis

Background: Vegetation roots are considered to play an effective role in controlling soil erosion by benefiting soil hydrology and mechanical properties. However, the correlation between soil hydrology and the mechanical features associated with the variation root system under different vegetation types remains poorly understood. Methods: We conducted dye-tracer infiltration to classify water flow behavior and indoor experiments (including tests on soil bulk density, soil organic carbon, mean weight diameter, soil cohesion, root density, etc.) to interpret variation patterns in three forest systems (coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest, CBF; coniferous forest, CF; Phyllostachys edulis, PF) and fallow land (FL). Results: Based on the soil dye-tracer infiltration results, the largest dyeing area was observed in CF (36.96%), but CF also had the lowest infiltration rate (60.3 mm·min−1). The soil under CBF had the highest shear strength, approximately 25% higher than other vegetation types. CF exhibited the highest aggregate stability, surpassing CBF by 98.55%, PF by 34.31%, and FL by 407.41%, respectively. Additionally, PF forests showed the greatest root biomass and length. The results of correlation analysis and PCA reveal complex relationships among hydrological and mechanical soil traits. Specifically, soil cohesion does not exhibit significant correlations with hydrological traits such as the dyeing area, while traits like MWD and PAD show either positive or negative associations with hydrological traits. Root traits generally exhibit positive relationships with soil mechanical traits, with limited significant correlations observed with hydrological traits. Conversely, we found that root biomass contributes significantly to the dyeing area (accounting for 51.48%). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the reforestation system is a successful approach for conserving water and reducing erosion by increasing soil-aggregated stability and shear strength, causing water redistribution to be more homogenized across the whole soil profile.

Study in a long-term laboratory experiment of the potential susceptibility to mineralization of organic matter in post-agrogenic light gray soils

Relevance. Since 2021, work has begun in Russia to assess the fertility of unused arable land and its involvement in agricultural circulation. Changes in the farming system of post-agrogenic soils can lead to uncontrolled mineralization of newly formed soil organic matter (SOM) under fallow vegetation and significant CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Studies of the nature of SOM accumulation under fallow vegetation and assessment of its potential susceptibility to mineralization are relevant, since they can become the basis for the development of agrotechnical methods for returning unused lands to arable circulation with the maximum preservation of their fertility.Methods. In a long-term laboratory incubation experiment, we studied the dynamics of changes in the intensity of basal (BR) and substrate-induced respiration (SIR) in postagrogenic soils to assess the potential susceptibility to SOM mineralization with a change in land use. Layered samples (0–10 and 10–20 cm) were used from the old arable horizons of two fallow plots with different humus conditions. The results of the incubation experiment were compared with the results of assessing the quantitative content and qualitative composition of SOM.Results. In the 0–10 cm layer, the respiration rates are higher than in the 10–20 cm layer. The results of the assessment of the respiration intensity are consistent with the assessment of the qualitative composition of SOM. The accumulation of SOM occurs mainly in the upper part of postagrogenic soils due to mobile easily oxidized organic compounds of a fulvic nature. When developing agrotechnical methods for returning fallow lands to arable circulation, it is necessary to focus primarily on basic processing technologies that ensure maximum preservation of potentially easily mineralized material accumulated in the upper layer.

Legacy effects of crop sequencing on biomass and their variability on farmers' fields in Finland are shaped by weather, farm conditions and rationales for land use

CONTEXTThe legacy effect of a previous crop on a subsequent crop in rotation is a valuable and often underutilized ecosystem service which can provide benefits when designing cropping systems, especially in the case of cereal-based land use. OBJECTIVETo support future diversification of crop sequencing in Finland, this study was carried out with the aims to identify the variation in the pre-crop values of relevant crop combinations in farmers' fields in Finland, depending on the weather and farm conditions. METHODSWe used a method developed to estimate on-farm realized pre-crop value from Sentinel − 2 images available annually for 120,174–711,828 field parcels in Finland during 2016–2020 (the total number of observations was >1,818,000). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSBoth the weather and farming conditions explained the variation in the pre-crop values, which might range from positive to negative. For example, a higher mean temperature and fewer rainy days during the growing season of a previous crop often reduced the legacy effects of crop sequencing, however, this was dependent on the crop choices. A higher number of rainy days and elevated temperatures during the subsequent crop's season often increased the pre-crop value, while prolonged droughts in either of the growing seasons tended to reduce these. The farmers' current land use did not support the realization of pre-crop value – especially in the case of potential benefits provided by grasslands for croplands. SIGNIFICANCEThis study highlights the challenges that weather variation and complexity of the production systems may cause for a farmer when aiming to identify the impacts of crop sequencing on yields, ecosystem services, and farm economy. Hence, there is an evident need to develop a decision support system that recognizes regional farming systems, available crop choices, crop management, weather conditions, and the farmers' rationale concerning decision making.

Agroecological assessment of fallow soils in the north‐west of the Republic of Bashkortostan

Aim. To analyse samples of fallow soils in the north‐west of the Republic of Bashkortostan in order to identify the main characteristics and properties of the soil cover. Material and Methods. Field studies were carried out in November 2021 and August 2022. A key site was chosen, an abandoned agricultural land in the territory of the Nizhnekaryshevsky village council of the Baltachevsky district. During the work, 45 soil samples were taken from the PY horizon (depth 10–20 cm). A morphological description of the soil was also carried out for the key area studied. During laboratory studies, the following properties were investigated: actual acidity, potential acidity, organic matter content, basal soil respiration. Results. The results obtained showed the spatial heterogeneity of the distribution of soil cover properties (actual and potential acidity, basal respiration, carbon and humus content) in the study area. Such heterogeneity is formed under the influence of a complex of physical and geographical factors. Conclusion. In the future, our research will also be devoted to the study of fallow lands on grey forest soils. Emphasis should be placed on studying the relationship between soil cover properties and plant communities and geological and geomorphological conditions. The study of various physical and geographical factors affecting the soil cover will make it possible to describe in more detail the entire mechanism and evolution of soils of abandoned agricultural lands.

Controls on in-stream nitrogen loss in western Lake Erie tributaries

Management efforts to reduce cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) in the Great Lakes have focused on decreasing tributary inputs of phosphorus (P). Recent research has indicated that reduction of both P and nitrogen (N) can lessen cHABs severity. Microbially mediated N cycling in streambed sediment may reduce N riverine loads, yet little is known about in-stream N processing rates in the Maumee River Basin, a major source of nutrients to Lake Erie. During summer of 2019 and 2021, we sampled streambed sediment to measure potential nitrification and denitrification rates using the acetylene block method at 78 sites throughout the Maumee River network. We used structural equation models to identify indirect and direct drivers of denitrification. Precipitation was greater in 2019, resulting in a 67 % increase in mean discharge, 41 % of farm fields to be fallow, and a 50 % reduction in fertilizer use. During summer field surveys, median stream-water nitrate concentrations were not different between 2019 and 2021. Median denitrification rates were 13.3 mg N/m2/h and 31.2 mg N/m2/h, respectively, indicating high potential to remove N. Nitrate concentrations and nitrification rates were strong direct drivers of denitrification, especially in 2019 when coupled nitrification–denitrification sustained denitrification. Nitrate concentrations varied with land use. Notably, nitrate concentrations increased with the area of fallow land, which may indicate the presence of a legacy N source. These findings indicate that promoting streambed denitrification could reduce N loads to Lake Erie, but legacy N currently stored in the system may mask N reduction efforts.

Spatio temporal change detection analysis of land use/land cover (LULC) using geospatial tools in the Kuzhithuraiyar sub-basin, Kodayar River, Kanniyakumari district, Tamilnadu, India


 
 
 Land use land cover (LULC) has altered dramatically because of anthropogenic activities, particularly in places where climate change and population growth are severe. The geographic information system (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS) and Remote sensing (RS) are widely used techniques for monitoring LULC changes. This study aimed to assess the LULC changes in Kuzhithuraiyar sub basin of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. The satellite images of four decades, that is 1992, 2002, 2012 and 2022, are collected and worked with the help of ArcGIS and ENVI Software. The findings have been validated in the field using GPS. The sub basin is classified based on Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) into nine classes. They are (i) Barren land, (ii) Built-up land, (iii) Crop land, (iv) Dense forest, (v) Fallow land, (vi) Grass land, (vii) Open forest, (viii) Shrub land and (ix) Water body and the gain and loss of each classes have been mapped. Land use/land cover change has occurred due to the direct and indirect involvement of population growth. Land use changes beyond the land’s capability played a significant role in triggering land degradation. To minimize these adverse consequences of land use change, environmentally friendly management measures must be implemented. Proper land use planning is essential for a sustainable development of the study area. Hence, this study will help in future sustainable planning and management.
 
 

CO2 at introduction of fallow into circulation on gray forest soil

The work is devoted to research of CO2 emission dynamics on fallow lands of 5-10 years of age. The purpose was to study the amount of CO2 emission from gray forest soil at different technologies of fallow land introduction into agricultural turnover in the sub-boreal forest of Western Siberia. Technologies of fallow land introduction into turnover have a significant influence on CO2 emission. Spring wheat was cultivated on experimental plots under 2 technologies (methods) of fallow land introduction into turnover. In comparison with fallow land, CO2 emission increased by 1.35 times at agrotechnical technology (with pre-sowing tillage). At combined technology (direct sowing) - 1.18 times. The agrotechnical technology of fallow land restoration contributed to higher CO2 emission (than the combined technology), probably due to higher intensity of soil tillage during fallow land restoration with this technology and increased aeration and microbiological activity in the soil layer. On the basis of the data obtained on carbon dioxide emission from gray forest soils in the sub-boreal forest, models of soil CO2 emission depending on the applied technology of fallow land conversion were developed.

Comparative characteristics of soddy-podzolic plowed and fallow lands for the organic farming

Agricultural lands are being actively withdrawn from the circulation. These lands are now fallow lands and go through the natural and anthropogenic processes like soil formation, tinning, bogging, swarding, weediness with bushes, weed, as well as with scrubs of birches and pines. Hence, the soil formation and functioning conditions and their ecological functions have significantly changed. Natural processes of vegetation recovery begin on the abandoned agricultural lands which leads to the recovery of forests. As a result, there occur soils which differ from the climatic type and arable soils. Practically all existing now statistic data can be summarized by saying that the character of changes in the chemical properties is closely related to the properties both of the soil, age of the fallow land and biocenosis. Taking into account patterns of reclamation preserve under the forest quite long in particular high concentration of nutritional chemicals and humus. The main objective of this investigation is to analyze the changing patterns of the composition and properties of soils which are not used in agriculture for a long time, for instance, soddy- podzolic plowed and fallow lands of the Mozhaisky district of the Moscow Region. The authors stated after the investigation that the soddy-podzolic plowed and fallow soils of different age differ insignificantly in the power of the humus-accumulated horizon (from 2.1% to 2.3%) and the distribution character of humus along the profile. Long existence of soils under fallow is not followed with changes in such properties as the reaction of environment, sum of absorbed bases, the hydrolytic acidity. On the arable lands the coefficient of soil fertility is 0.62, on the fallow ones up to 10 years old ⎯ 0.63 and on the fallow ones between 10 and 20 years old ⎯ 0.64.