It is well established that agricultural practices alter the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities. However, the impact of changing soil microbial communities on the functioning of the agroecosystems is still poorly understood. Earlier work showed that soil tillage drastically altered microbial community composition. Here we tested, using an experimental grassland (Lolium, Tri...

The magnitude and extent of soil erosion in the Pacific Northwest region of the US still makes chilling reading. In a conventional farming approach in land mostly planted to winter wheat, there can be a loss of 12 bushels of topsoil, mostly from water erosion, for each bushel of wheat produced, with on-site losses of up to 1/8 in. of this highly fertile topsoil. Off-site outcomes were equally d...

Understanding and measuring the sustainability of farms is key to evaluating progress towards policy goals for a more sustainable agriculture. In LIFT project, farm typology was developed classify according their ecological performance, based on farm-level variables from Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Selected are used assess three dimensions farming: total input intensity; degree circul...

The study carried out an assessment of agricultural land management practices in food crops production among small scale farmers in Kwara Sate, Nigeria. Specifically, the study determined the socio economic characteristics of crop farmers in Kwara State; ascertained the cropping patterns common among them; highlighted the soil conservation methods adopted by the farmers; examined the relationsh...

Title of Dissertation: ON THE EVALUATION OF CONSERVATION COST-SHARING PROGRAMS. AN APPLICATION OF A MONTE CARLO EM ALGORITHM Ricardo Smith-Ramírez, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Professor Erik Lichtenberg Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Abstract. The 2002 Farm Bill has placed a great emphasis on programs cost-sharing the adoption of conservation practice...

A number of government programs, including USDA conservation programs, provide financial incentives to entice changes in behavior. An important question for these programs is whether temporary payments can lead to persistent behavioral changes. Over the past 20 years, the USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) has provided more than $250 million to farmers adopting no-till crop pr...

Supply chain is the process of continuous flow of products or services from source to the destination. Supply chain management has become an effective tool now a day to survive in this competitive world. Organizations do their best to harvest profits by adopting better supply chain management practices for competitive advantage and organizational performance. In this paper an attempt has been m...