Conversion to organic agriculture describes the process of learning and implementation of changes on the farm towards a more sustainable and natural way of farming. The form the process takes depends on the local circumstances and the predisposition of the farmer or the community, and it varies from farm to farm. The more knowledge a farmer has about the concepts and practices of organic farmin...

As a way of turning sea into land for living space for humans, the actions of sea reclamation bring about significant benefits. Nevertheless, it is also an under-recognized threat to the environment and the marine ecosystem. Based on images in two periods, sea reclamation information of countries around the South China Sea was extracted from 1975 to 2010. The spatial state and driven forces of ...

Relevance Concerns about the environmental impact of farming has increasingly been the focus of discussions in the EU. Croplands, a primary land use in Europe, have a significant impact on the environment (soil, water bodies, global climate, local biodiversity and human health). The use of fertilisers and pesticides associated with conventional farming may lead to pollution and/or climate chang...

There is a great demand of tomato and cucumber in Qatar than their production. has been categorized as BWh (B=Arid or Dry; W=Waste Desert; h=hot) based on the Köppen's classification. In addition to having high summer temperatures, humidity, intense sun radiation, poor soil, strong winds, also limited precipitation. As result, climate no longer favorable for agricultural Furthermore, conditions...

Shifting agriculture in the tropics has been replaced by sedentary smallholder farming on a few hectares of degraded land. To address low yields and low income both, the soil fertility, the agroecosystem functions, and the source of income can be restored by diversification with nitrogen-fixing trees and the cultivation of indigenous tree species that produce nutritious and marketable products....

The aim of this paper was to present results from two long term field experiments comparing potato samples from conventional farming systems with samples from biodynamic farming systems. The principal component analyses (PCA), consistently exhibited differences between potato samples from the two farming systems. According to the PCA, potato samples treated with inorganic fertilizers exhibited ...

I develop a model of heterogeneous land quality and study the relation between trade, farming productivity and welfare in Peru, where high domestic and international trade costs pose a major barrier to efficient farming. To quantify the model, I use a new dataset on spatially disaggregated crop prices, yields and land allocations. I then use the model to measure the welfare and productivity eff...

Land use and land cover patterns are shaped by the interplay of human and ecological processes. Thus, heterogeneous cultural landscapes have developed, delivering multiple ecosystem services. To guarantee human well-being, the development of land use types has to be evaluated. Scenario development and land use and land cover change models are well-known tools for assessing future landscape chan...

Tongyu County in Northeast China is highly prone to land degradation due to its fragile physical settings characterized by a flat topography, a semi-arid climate, and a shallow groundwater table. This study aims to determine the causes of land degradation through detecting the long-term trend of land cover changes. Degraded lands were mapped from satellite images recorded in 1992 and 2002. Thes...