Agricultural practices have proven to be unsuitable in many cases, causing considerable reductions in soil quality. Land management practices can provide solutions to this problem and contribute to get a sustainable agriculture model. The main objective of this work was to assess the effect of different agricultural management practices on soil microbial community structure (evaluated as abunda...

to investigate the effects of supplementary irrigation and application of different compost levels on morphological traits, yield and yield components of two chickpea cultivars under dry land conditions, a field experiment was conducted at the research field in khoramabad, iran in 2009-2010. the experiment was split split plot based on randomized complete block design with four levels of irriga...

Fungus-farming ant colonies vary four to five orders of magnitude in size. They employ compounds from actinomycete bacteria and exocrine glands as antimicrobial agents. Atta colonies have millions of ants and are particularly relevant for understanding hygienic strategies as they have abandoned their ancestors' prime dependence on antibiotic-based biological control in favour of using metapleur...

The collapse of collective farming in Russia after 1990 and the subsequent economic crisis led to the abandonment of more than 45 million ha of arable lands (23% of the agricultural area). This was the most widespread and abrupt land use change in the 20th century in the northern hemisphere. The withdrawal of land area from cultivation led to several benefits including carbon (C) sequestration....

The agricultural sector in Japan is currently undergoing drastic changes. A comparison of statistical data for the years 1980 to 2016 shows that gross agricultural production decreased from 10.3 trillion yen to 8.8 trillion yen, agricultural land decreased from 5.46 million hectares (ha) to 4.47 million ha, the working population in the agricultural sector decreased from 6.97 million to 1.92 mi...

means of increasing worker productivity so that higher wages can be paid and as a means of getting the work done with a smaller labor force. A part, at least, of the difference between the level of mechanization here and abroad is explained by differences in wage rates. As wages go up, it pays to use more machines and fewer men. In recent years, for example, it took about 67 gallons of milk to ...

In Zambia, like in other colonies, the British introduced a distinction between ”crown land” and ”native reserve land”. While in the latter land management and all the natural resources going with it, was left to ”native authorities” according to the principle of indirect rule, the former was administered in keeping with British regulations. Areas which lend to commercial farming, sites of copp...