Innovative Pro-Smallholder Farmers’ Permanent Mulch for Better Soil Quality and Food Security Under Conservation Agriculture

Mgolozeli, Sibongiseni; Nciizah, Adornis D.; Wakindiki, Isaiah I.C.; Mudau, Fhatuwani N.

doi:10.3390/agronomy10040605

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The Benefits of CA Impacts on Soil Quality Soil is considered to be of good quality when it can sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health. The positive impact of CA with respect to soil quality improvement is often exhibited by an increase in soil organic carbon, good infiltration rates, high water-holding capacity, and good soil structure (Naab et al 2017;Bamutaze et al 2019;Mgolozeli et al 2020). For instance, in their study, Mgolozeli et al (2020) demonstrated the effect of CA in improving soil organic carbon particularly in the top 10-cm soil depth, promoting higher soil aggregate stability and improving the overall condition of the soil.…”

Section: Status Of Sustainable Agriculture In Kenyamentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The positive impact of CA with respect to soil quality improvement is often exhibited by an increase in soil organic carbon, good infiltration rates, high water-holding capacity, and good soil structure (Naab et al 2017;Bamutaze et al 2019;Mgolozeli et al 2020). For instance, in their study, Mgolozeli et al (2020) demonstrated the effect of CA in improving soil organic carbon particularly in the top 10-cm soil depth, promoting higher soil aggregate stability and improving the overall condition of the soil. Comparative studies of the infiltration capacity of soils under no-tillage (NT) and CT systems showed that soils in the NT system had higher total infiltration, and in the final steady state, the NT plots had an infiltration rate that was four times that of the CT plots (Fig.…”

Section: Status Of Sustainable Agriculture In Kenyamentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Fig.1Changes in the soil infiltration rate within 120 min under no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) treatments. (Source:Mgolozeli et al 2020) …”

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confidence: 99%

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“Conservation Agriculture,” Possible Climate Change Adaptation Option in Taita Hills, Kenya

Motaroki

Ouma

Kalele

2021

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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The vicious cycle of food insecurity in Kenya and Africa at large is partly attributed to the high reliance on rainfed agriculture, which makes production systems vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and variability. Conservation agriculture (CA) has been disseminated as a climate-smart practice that operates on three main principles to realize the multiple benefits of making crop production systems more resilient to climate change impacts, enhancing food security, and providing environmental services, such as carbon sequestration. As a major source of livelihood in the Taita Hills, agriculture is constrained by climate change owing to its rainfed nature. The yield and environmental and economic benefits of CA make it a suitable alternative approach to sustainable agricultural intensification, which is fundamentally different from conventional approaches based on intensive tillage and often disrupts ecosystem functions. This chapter provides the rationale for enhancing the adoption of CA in the Taita Hills by evaluating the current challenges affecting crop production, the role of CA in addressing the challenges and its potential benefits, and the barriers that must be overcome in order to promote its wide-scale adoption. A number of constraints appear to hinder the wide-scale adoption of CA in the Taita Hills, including lack of awareness, tenure-related issues, and weak policy and institutional support. Addressing these constraints will help catalyze investments for upscaling CA in the Taita Hills, with potential for replication in other parts of the country.

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Section: Status Of Sustainable Agriculture In Kenyamentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Status Of Sustainable Agriculture In Kenyamentioning

confidence: 98%

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“Conservation Agriculture,” Possible Climate Change Adaptation Option in Taita Hills, Kenya

Motaroki

Ouma

Kalele

2021

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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“…This technique has mainly been studied in vegetables [9][10][11][12][13][14][15], cereals [13,[15][16][17][18][19], some fruit species [1,4,8,20,21] and in forestry [6]. Several studies have demonstrated effects on weed control [18], fruit yield [6,[13][14][15]18], fruit weight, plant development [1], the absorption and accumulation of nutrients in plants [4,10,11], water use efficiency [4,11,[15][16][17]22], changes in soil temperatures [16,17] and cover effects on root growth [23]. However, it is also necessary to evaluate fruit quality (firmness and size) and physiological characteristics to minimize stress in the plant, influenced by the use of mulches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Fruit Quality Response of Blueberry to Different Mulches

et al. 2022

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Mulch is widely used in blueberry cultivation for weed control; however, there is still uncertainty as to how the use of different types of mulch alters leaf photosynthetic behavior and the quality and productivity of blueberry fruit. The objective of our research was to evaluate the effect of different types of mulch on the physiological, quality and yield characteristics of blueberries. Three treatments were established: T1 (control), T2 (pine bark) and T3 (geotextile) in two cultivars: Ochlockonee and Legacy. The parameters measured were: the photochemical quantum yield of photosystem II (YII), the maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), electron transport rate (ETR), fruit quality and yield parameters. The results show lower soil temperature in T1 during the morning (p < 0.05) compared to the two mulch treatments, which was the opposite during the afternoon, the temperatures were more stable and closer to the optimum (21 °C) in T2 and T3, with mulch favoring root and foliar development. On the other hand, the treatments with mulch favored a higher photosynthetic efficiency of photosystem II (YII) at the end of afternoon and were associated with an increased firmness of the fruit; the firmness of all fruits was higher than that in the control treatment (p < 0.05) in the Legacy cultivar, but without differences between them, with values of 73 and 75 gf mm−1 for T2 and T3, respectively, and 67 gf mm−1 for the Control. In addition, it was observed that the use of mulch only increased the fruit yield in the Legacy cultivar, both in T2 and T3, with both being superior to T1 (p < 0.05). It can be concluded that the use of mulch decreases soil temperature in the midday and late afternoon, improving the edaphoclimatic conditions during the development of the blueberry. In addition, plants with mulch have lower stomatal conductance, which promotes greater photosynthetic efficiency during the day, increasing both firmness and fruit yield.

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“…Recently, numerous studies were devoted to the problem of assessing soil quality in different countries (Baliuk et al. [3]; Bartolomei et al [4]; Colantoni et al [5]; Huera-Lucero et al [6]; Salvati et al [7]; Vashisht et al [8]) and innovative measures to improve (i) soil quality under different land use systems and (ii) food security under conservation agriculture (Abdul Rahman et al [9]; Fantappiè et al [10]; Mgolozeli et al [11]; Pan et al [2]). The results of studies indicate that «although the recycling of organic materials to fields is considered a key practice for improving soil quality, the effects of this procedure was found to reduce farm profitability due to increases in material costs and labour» [2].…”

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confidence: 99%

Soil fertility, financial support, and sustainable competitiveness: evidence from Ukraine

Кучер

2020

Agric. resour. econ.

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Purpose. The purpose of this paper was to highlight the results of the study of the influence of the soil fertility and financial support on the formation of sustainable competitiveness of Ukrainian agricultural enterprises. Methodology / approach. To achieve the purpose, we used such methods: correlation analysis (to identify and assess the close relationship between the ecological-agrochemical assessment of soils, financial support per hectare, and the sustainable competitiveness); econometric modeling (to develop a mathematical model of the dependence of the subindex of competitiveness by the yield on the ecological-agrochemical assessment of soils and the financial support per hectare); economic-statistical and monographic (for the assessment and analysis of the influence of the ecological-agrochemical assessment of soils and financial support per hectare on the formation of sustainable competitiveness); abstract-and-logical (for generalization and analysis of the research results); graphical (for the visual representation of the revealed dependencies). The study was performed on a selected sample of agricultural enterprises of districts of Kharkiv, Volyn and Chernihiv region, which represent all the soil-climatic zones of Ukraine. The time range of this research covers the years 2010–2016. The database of the 189 observations in Kharkiv region, 93 – in Volyn region and 88 – in Chernihiv region was as the empirical basis. Results. This paper presents empirical evidence for the impact of the soil fertility and financial support on the formation of sustainable competitiveness of enterprises. The obtained results prove the hypothesis of a positive relationship between the ecological-agrochemical assessment of soils, financial support per hectare, and the sustainable competitiveness of subjects, however, the level of impact of soil fertility differs significantly in different soil-climatic conditions. It is shown that soil fertility and financial support can sometimes act as substitutes, for example, in a zone of insufficient moisture or low soil fertility. Increasing the financial support for agricultural production per hectare may be a strategy to increase productivity when soils are less fertile. Originality / scientific novelty. For the first time, one- and two-factor linear and quadratic econometric models were developed, which made it possible to carry out quantitative assessment of the impact of the ecological-agrochemical assessment of soils and the financial support per hectare on the formation of the subindex of competitiveness by the yield in various soil-climatic zones of Ukraine. The provision on the formation of the subindex of competitiveness by the yield under the conditions of the economic law of diminishing returns, was further developed. Practical value / implications. The main results of the study can be used for (i) estimation and forecasting of the level of competitiveness depending on the ecological-agrochemical assessment of soils and the financial support per hectare; (ii) determining the effect of measures to improve the soil fertility on the competitiveness; (iii) determining the impact of soil degradation on competitiveness of agribusiness entities; (iv) identification of reserves to improve competitiveness.

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Innovative Pro-Smallholder Farmers’ Permanent Mulch for Better Soil Quality and Food Security Under Conservation Agriculture

Cited by 22 publications

References 42 publications

“Conservation Agriculture,” Possible Climate Change Adaptation Option in Taita Hills, Kenya

“Conservation Agriculture,” Possible Climate Change Adaptation Option in Taita Hills, Kenya

Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Fruit Quality Response of Blueberry to Different Mulches

Soil fertility, financial support, and sustainable competitiveness: evidence from Ukraine

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