Plant-fungal associations have been explored by routine cultivation based approaches and cultivation based approaches cannot catalogue more than 5% of fungal diversity associated with any niche. In the present study, an attempt has been made to catalogue fungal diversity associated with belowground parts i.e. rhizosphere and cormosphere, of Crocus sativus (an economically important herb) during...

Nodding needlegrass [Nassella cernua (Stebbins & R.M. Love) Barkworth], a California native perennial grass, was tested for its effects on grapevine and soil–water relations in a drip-irrigated vineyard in Parlier, CA. Vine water status and in-row and between-row soil moisture (at 0.3 m, 0.6 m, 0.9 m, 1.2 m, and 1.5 m) were monitored semiweekly from June to September. There was no overall signi...

The cultivation of agricultural soils has until recently predominantly been achieved by inverting the soil using tools such as the plough. Soil tillage is one of the basic and important components of agricultural production technology. Various forms of tillage are practised throughout the world, ranging from the use of simple stick or jab to the sophisticated para-plough. The practices develope...

To develop a new and truly sustainable agriculture that reverses environmental deterioration and at the same time augmenting the supply of food, agro-ecological innovations are necessary which consider the importance of using soil information in decision-making (Ball & De la Rosa, 2006). Soils can be used for almost all agricultural purposes if sufficient inputs are supplied. The application of...

This is a preliminary study of the depth distribution of (137)Cs radionuclides in cultivated anthrosol soil of a 15-year old peach tree plantation at the experimental field "Radmilovac" near Belgrade. Before planting, the soil was ploughed at the depth of 1 m. The soil had not been annually ploughed, irrigated and treated with mineral fertilizers for three years before sampling. Activity concen...

The oxidation of atmospheric CH4 in upland soils is mostly mediated by uncultivated groups of microorganisms that have been identified solely by molecular markers, such as the sequence of the pmoA gene encoding the β-subunit of the particulate methane monooxygenase enzyme. The objective of this work was to compare the activity and diversity of methanotrophs in Amazonian Dark Earth soil (ADE, Ho...

96 AI MAGAZINE An adequate use of land resources is an essential guarantee of sustainable development, and many authors have suggested different approaches (Chi-Mei et al. 2002; Stewart, Janssen, and van Herwijnen 2004; Matthews et al. 2000; Tsuruta, Hoshi, and Sugai 2001; Bocco, Sayago, and Tartara 2002). The optimal use of soils is the basis of all forms of sustainable land use, that is, agri...

The soil surface roughness is one of the most susceptible to variation in time and space characteristic, and depends on many variables like cultivation practices or soil aggregation. Various indices are used for its quantification, in microscale soil roughness is commonly expressed by HSD calculated from DEM of small sample area. The source of DEM can be close range photogramethry or laser scan...