Implications of changes in traditional Faidherbia albida based land use systems on productivity were investigated in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. The relation between F. albida based-land use systems and crop productivity was explored in 77 fields and 81 farms at field and regional scales, respectively. Barley yield and soil fertility increased when field locations were closer to a F. albida trunk in the F. albida alone (AA) and F. albida + livestock (AL) land use systems. However, the F. albida + Eucalyptus camaldulensis (AE) land use system showed a decreasing trend in barley yield and soil fertility as distance from a F. albida trunk decreased. At regional scales, higher F. albida tree density per farm and sparsely cultivated land use types were associated with increased potential ecosystem services (barley yield). This study suggests that local biodiversity components (e.g. F. albida trees) can increase crop yield and soil fertility significantly when grown within and around farm lands. This study contributes to the knowledge on agricultural productivity enhancement by developing an approach to scaling up from farm to regional level.

Advances in sensor miniaturization are increasing the global popularity of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing applications in many domains of agriculture. Fruit orchards (the source of the fruit industry chain) require site-specific or even individual-tree-specific management throughout the growing season—from flowering, fruitlet development, ripening, and harvest—to tree dormancy. The recent increase in research on deploying UAV in orchard management has yielded new insights but challenges relating to determining the optimal approach (e.g., image-processing methods) are hampering widespread adoption, largely because there is no standard workflow for the application of UAVs in orchard management. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review focused on UAV-based orchard management: the survey includes achievements to date and shortcomings to be addressed. Sensing system architecture focusing on UAVs and sensors is summarized. Then up-to-date applications supported by UAVs in orchard management are described, focusing on the diversity of data-processing techniques, including monitoring efficiency and accuracy. With the goal of identifying the gaps and examining the opportunities for UAV-based orchard management, this study also discusses the performance of emerging technologies and compare similar research providing technical and comprehensive support for the further exploitation of UAVs and a revolution in orchard management.

Biodiversity, GIS, Productivity, Soil degradation, Spatial scales,

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