Cassava Groundnut Intercropping: A Sustainable Land Management Practice for Increasing Crop Productivity and Organic Carbon Stock on Smallholder Farms

Cassava-groundnut intercropping is not a common practice among smallholder farmers in Sierra Leone even though both crops are well suited for intercropping. On-farm trials were conducted in three locations (Bai Largor, Bassah, and Njala Kanima) in the Moyamba district during the 2021 cropping season to investigate the efficacy of cassava-groundnut intercropping for increasing crop productivity and soil organic carbon stock on smallholder farms in the Moyamba district, Southern Sierra Leone. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design in three replications with treatments of sole groundnut, sole cassava and cassava-groundnut intercropping. Data on the yield and yield components of cassava and groundnut were analysed using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS 9.4 and means were compared using the standard error of difference (SED). The above-ground biomass, number of roots per plant, and fresh root yield of cassava were not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by the cassava-based cropping system. Averaged across locations, intercropping cassava with groundnut decreased the above-ground biomass, the number of roots per plant, and fresh root yield of cassava by 17%, 11%, and 17%, respectively. The above-ground biomass, number of pods per plant and fresh pod yield of groundnut were significantly (p 1), the highest net revenue and benefit-cost ratio. The benefit-cost ratio was also favourable for the sole cassava (BCR > 1) but not favourable for the sole groundnut (BCR < 1). Averaged across locations, intercropping cassava with groundnut increased the benefit-cost ratio by 121% and 13% when compared to the sole groundnut and sole cassava. In the event of a 40% yield loss for the cassava and groundnut, the benefit-cost ratio was favourable (1.12) only for the cassava groundnut intercropping system. The net soil organic carbon stock was favourable only for the cassava-groundnut intercrop. Averaged across locations, the net soil organic carbon for the cassava-groundnut intercropping increased by 3.4% when compared to the baseline within one cropping cycle of the cassava (12 months). The results confirm that cassava-groundnut intercropping is a sustainable land management practice that could enhance crop productivity and soil organic carbon stock on smallholder farms.

Evaluation of Sustainable Land Management and Diagnosis of Obstacle at County Scale in Sichuan Basin:Taking Lezhi County as Example

This paper established sustainable land resources evaluating indicators fit for hilly area in Sichuan Basin, Southwest of China, and evaluated the case of sustainable land management of Lezhi County from 1990 to 2001. The result showed that the land resource sustainable utilization ability in Lezhi County is belong to Second level （better sustainable）. Secondly, this paper diagnosed some years obstacles of sustainable land management of Lezhi County from base period to goal period and compared the obstacles factors in the indicators system. There were 16 indexes orderly become major affect factor to land sustainable utilization of Lezhi county in indicator system, of which there are 8 obstacles indexes exist both in 1990 and 2001. The value of obstacles degree of five indicators exceeded 5 in 1990, but in 2001, only two indicators＇ values were more than 5.

Modelling Land Use/Land Cover Change of River Rwizi Catchment, South-Western Uganda Using GIS and Markov Chain Model

Analysis of catchment Land use/Land cover (LULC) change is a vital tool in ensuring sustainable catchment management. The study analyzed land use/land cover changes in the Rwizi catchment, south western Uganda from 1989-2019 and projected the trend by 2040. Landsat images, field observations, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Changes in cropland, forestland, built up area, grazing land, wetland and open water bodies were analyzed in ArcGIS version 10.2.2 and ERDAS IMAGINE 14 software and a Markov chain model. All the LULC classes increased in area except grazing land. Forest land and builtup area between 2009-2019 increased by 370.03% and 229.53% respectively. Projections revealed an increase in forest land and builtup area by 2030 and only built up area by 2040. LULCC in the catchment results from population pressure, reduced soil fertility and high value of agricultural products.

Factors that influence the implementation of sustainable land management practices by rural households in Tigrai region, Ethiopia

Background:Sustainable land management is considered as one of the useful approaches to combat the threat of various forms of land degradation in Ethiopia.Despite this,there is scant information regarding households’decision towards the implementation of sustainable land management practices.This paper,therefore,looks into the determinants for the continued use and choice of the sustainable land management practices by smallholder farmers and its productivity effect in three randomly chosen districts in Tigrai region,Ethiopia.The study uses data from household survey and key informant interviews.The paper employs a binary logit to analyze the determinants for the decision of continued use of sustainable land management practices,and a multivariate probit to analyze the simultaneous adoption decision of sustainable land management practices using cross sectional data collected from 230 randomly selected households.The impact of sustainable land management practices was also evaluated using propensity score matching.Results:Farming techniques,wealth status,agro-ecological variations,and plot level characteristics were found to be associated with the implementation decision of sustainable land management practices by rural households.Besides,institutional supports and access to basic infrastructures influenced the overall continued use of sustainable land management practices and the preference of households toward these practices.The study also finds that the value of crop production of sustainable land management users was on average 77–100%higher than that of nonusers.Conclusions:The results of the current study confirm that the implementation of various sustainable land management practices are influenced by farming technologies deployed by rural households,agro-ecological variations,plot characteristics,and institutional supports.The findings also affirm that most of the sustainable land management practices are complementary to one another,and implementing two or more sustainable land management practices on a given plot is highly associated with higher value of crop production.Such complementarity highlights that the productivity effect of a given sustainable land management practice is enhanced by the use of the other ones.

Assessment of Institutional and Legal Framework for Sustainable Land Use Management Practices in Ashi River Watershed,China

Nonpoint source(NPS)pollutants resulting from land degradation(LD)have been a key influential factor on the deterioration of water quality.Consequently,sustainable land use management(SLM)practices have been employed to reduce the impacts of LD globally.However,the adoption of SLM practices is often not effective to protect water resources despite its capability of improving water quality.Empirically,evidence shows that activities of land users directly influence SLM practices and NPS pollution of water resources in watersheds,but invariably this has not been clearly understood.Understanding how SLM practices adoption could prevent NPS pollution of water resources in watershed is a necessity.Therefore,the primary aim of the investigation is to comprehend the status of SLM practices with the legal framework supporting the adoption of such practices in the Ashi River watershed.A survey instrument involving structured questionnaire was implemented to collect data.A randomly based lottery method was applied to sample information from 150 land users in two control units’communities.Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data.This research revealed that there is low adoption of SLM practices of the study site.The low adoption is due to weak capacity building and enforcement of regulations in the watershed.Occupation and age of the residents are the strongest predictors of SLM adoption rate.Residents connected with farming are more sensitive to the adoption status of SLM.It is our recommendation that policy makers should ensure capacity building,and enforcement of regulations can specifically compel farmers to adopt SLM technologies.This approach would complement other strategies to solve the NPS pollution issue of Ashi River.

Food Security of Shifting Cultivation Systems: Case Studies from Luang Prabang and Oudomxay Provinces, Lao PDR

The Government of the Lao PDR’s policy is to eliminate the cultivation of upland rice by means of ‘slash-and-burn’ cultivation and to replace it with more ecologically stable systems based on sustainable land use at the village and household level. The objectives of this policy are to alleviate poverty and to introduce more sustainable management of agricultural resources. In order to achieve these objectives, the government has initiated a program of relocation to upland ‘focal areas’ from which marketing, distribution and other services can be supplied, these being essential preconditions for effective agricultural development in these regions. This diagnostic study has examined communal and household strategies for addressing food security issues, and has highlighted the main problems encountered in the pursuit of food security on the local level. The specific objective was to conduct a broadly focused participatory problem diagnosis of the study areas in two districts Phonsay and Namo, in order to understand farmers’ problems, livelihood goals and how their perspectives on food security have changed, and to investigate food security in shifting cultivation systems in Luang Prabang andOudomxay provinces. Within these two provinces Phonsay and Namo districts were selected as the research areas. The two districts are the poorest districts in the Luang Prabang and Oudomxay provinces and two of ten priority poorest districts in the whole country. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for the study. The results of this study were reviewed against the sustainable land use systems strategy formulated from the Lao PDR policy. The study highlights both the benefits and stresses on household welfare, food insecurity conditions in the study areas, and interrelated problems of insufficient rice for household consumption. Finally based on these results the authors propose recommendations and future research indications.

Soil Conservation and Sediment Control in Europe

The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of soil conservation and sediment control in Europe from the perspectives of policy makers seeking solutions to current problems of soil loss and flooding.Data and information are derived from detailed reports written in support of the European Soils Directive,that addressed the threats facing European soils and from workshops organised to identify best practices and achieve sustainable land use in different EU countries.These were organised by the SCAPE(Strategies for Soil Conservation and Protection in Europe) supporting action.Regarding technical measures used to limit erosion and restore ecosystems,there is much similarity between Europe and China.The main soil and land degradation problems that soil conservation practitioners and scientists have to address are caused by land use and management impacts that have proved difficult or impossible to resist because of political conditions.The political leadership that regarded soil conservation and sediment control,as a cornerstone of sustainable economic development,which seemed to be present eight years,is urgently required once more.

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of the Noun Floodplain (Cameroon) Using Remote Sensing

In Cameroon, the pressure on wetlands appears to be increasing, leading to desertification and land degradation. This study aims to characterize the spatial and temporal dynamics of land cover in the Noun floodplain in Cameroon using multi-date satellite data. To achieve this, the methodology consisted in using remote sensing and geographical information’s systems techniques to identify spatial units and detect changes over a 22-year period (1999 to 2021). The land cover maps were produced from an unsupervised classification with maximum likelihood. The results identified eight classes: herbaceous savannahs with shrubs, forest galleries, fields and plantations, herbaceous tan, young fallows, mineralized and built-up soils, bare soils and surface waters. It appears that in 1999, the landscape was dominated by natural vegetation (72.6%) located from north to south of the Noun plain. However, since 2004, the landscape has been dominated by agricultural areas (56.8%). Natural formations have been progressively reduced in space over time. The evolution of the Noun floodplain landscape reveals that 14.3% of the space has remained stable. These are fields and plantations, young fallows, mineralized soils and surface water. This space has not migrated to other classes. While about 73.9% of the area has moved to higher classes, of which 35.6% to herbaceous tans and 26% to fields and plantations. On the other hand, 72.6% of the area (herbaceous savannahs and forests gallery) has been heavily degraded. These results show that the landscape of the Noun floodplain is marked by a progressive agricultural extension, which would be at the origin of the land degradation. Therefore they alert the different actors in the territory on the level of advanced land degradation and suggest sustainable land management on a local scale.

The Land- Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS): mobile apps and collaboration for optimizing climate change investments

Massive investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation are projected during coming decades.Many of these investments will seek to modify how land is managed.The return on both types of investments can be increased through an understanding of land potential:the potential of the land to support primary production and ecosystem services,and its resilience.A Land-Potential Knowledge System(LandPKS)is being developed and implemented to provide individual users with point-based estimates of land potential based on the integration of simple,geo-tagged user inputs with cloud-based information and knowledge.This system will rely on mobile phones for knowledge and information exchange,and use cloud computing to integrate,interpret,and access relevant knowledge and information,including local knowledge about land with similar potential.The system will initially provide management options based on long-term land potential,which depends on climate,to-pography,and relatively static soil properties,such as soil texture,depth,and mineralogy.Future mod-ules will provide more specific management information based on the status of relatively dynamic soil properties such as organic matter and nutrient content,and of weather.The paper includes a discus-sion of how this system can be used to help distinguish between meteorological and edaphic drought.

Determinants of adoption of multiple sustainable agricultural practices among smallholder farmers in Nigeria

Despite the important roles of Sustainable Agricultural Practices(SAPs)in improving productivity,welfare,and food security of farming households,the adoption rates of SAPs have been perceived to be generally low,especially in developing countries.Using cross-sectional data collected from the 2015 Nigeria General Household Survey,this study examines the factors influencing the adoption of multiple SAPs,while also considering the drivers of the intensity of adoption of these practices.The methods of data analysis are based on the Multivariate probit and the Ordered probit models.The SAPs considered include improved seeds,inorganic fertilizer,mixed-cropping techniques,and organic manure.The empirical results show that farmers’adoption of different SAPs and their intensity of use depend significantly on factors such as the age of household head,gender,education,household size,access to extension services,and household wealth status.Our findings imply that policymakers and agricultural development agencies should seek to maintain or increase household asset bases,and encourage both formal and informal training programme among farming households to facilitate the adoption of SAPs.

Modern concepts of soil conservation

Approaches to soil conservation are in constant evolution and improvement.This paper summarizes some of the modern approaches,ranging from no till to conservation agriculture to sustainable land management.These approaches are not separate,but components of a continuum of conservation approaches applicable at different levels and different scales.No tillage is important at the detailed,farm level,while CA and SLM are important at the farming systems and corporate levels.The successes achieved with no till in Argentina(also Brazil,Paraguay,Uruguay,Mexico,Canada,Australia,and others)illustrate how these concepts relate to each other.

The transformation of agriculture in Argentina through soil conservation

The adoption of no till was a major turning point in the transformation of agriculture in Argentina.This paper describes the process of adoption of no till,and the impacts of this on agricultural production.Whereas previously,soil erosion was so extreme and pervasive as to threaten the economic viability and survival of the industry,today with the majority of production under no till,Argentina produces more than ever in the past.The paper also illustrates how,after first focusing on technology adoption(no-till),the system in Argentina has now broadened to include the concepts of Conservation Agriculture(CA)and Sustainable Land Management(SLM).These strategic moves have contributed to an agricultural industry in Argentina that is more economically and environmentally sustainable than that of the past.