Soil quality is an important factor and maintained by inhabited microorganisms. Soil physicochemical characteristics determine indigenous microbial population and rice provides food security to major population of the world. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of physicochemical variables on bacterial community composition and diversity in conventional paddy fields which could refl...

In a bid to return the country to food selfsufficiency, the Government of Kenya has been spearheading strategies for a new ‘Green Revolution’ in the food producing sector, as spelt out in its Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (SRA), a ten-year action plan launched in 2004. The SRA is entrenched in Kenya’s Vision 2030, the country’s framework for long-term investment and development (Republi...

There is increasing interest in rural development circles in promoting alternative livelihoods opportunities for pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods. However, there is very little empirical evidence that effectively evaluates the impact of the existing approaches. As pastoral and agro-pastoral production conditions change, due to factors such as increasing competition over natural resources ...

Agriculture is a major threat to global biodiversity. A common claim that large-scale agro-industrial farming mainly responsible for the biodiversity decline, while smaller family farms are more wildlife friendly. Here we leverage natural experiment along former inner German border estimate causal impact of farm size on We combine land cover data with bird diversity establish mechanisms through...

1 Institute of Agro-products Processing Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China; E-Mails: [email protected] (L.S.); [email protected] (Y.Z.); [email protected] (Y.M.E.F.); [email protected] (J.C.); [email protected] (J.L.); [email protected] (J.N.S.); [email protected] (F.X.); [email protected] (L.Z.); [email protected] (Y.W.) 2 Key Labor...

Using Mahalanobis D2statistics, the level of genetic diversity among soybean genotypes based on 12 agro-morphological traits was investigated in this study. A total 100 were grouped into six clusters. Cluster I had maximum number (53 genotypes), followed by cluster II (37 III (6 clusters IV and V (1 genotype each), VI (2 genotypes). Clusters greatest inter-cluster distance (117618.10). Intra-cl...

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) are lethal parasites of insects, used as biocontrol agents. The objectives of this work were to survey the presence of EPN in continental Portugal and to characterize the different species. Of the 791 soil samples collected throughout continental Portugal, 53 were positive for EPN. Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora were the two most abundant ...

This study sought to assess mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity and phylogeographic structure of chickens from five agro-ecological zones of Zimbabwe. Furthermore, chickens from Zimbabwe were compared with populations from other geographical regions (Malawi, Sudan and Germany) and other management systems (broiler and layer purebred lines). Finally, haplotypes of these animals were aligned to c...

BACKGROUND American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) is renowned worldwide for its eutherapeutic effects. The replantation of American ginseng usually fails due to problems associated with continuous cropping. An imbalance in the microbial community is thought to be responsible for this, but the overall changes in microbial communities under a continuous cropping system are unclear. METHODS T...

*The impact of various agricultural practices on soil biodiversity and, in particular, on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), is still poorly understood, although AMF can provide benefit to plants and ecosystems. Here, we tested whether organic farming enhances AMF diversity and whether AMF communities from organically managed fields are more similar to those of species-rich grasslands or conve...