land use change may influence many natural phenomena and ecological processes, including runoff, soil erosion, sedimentation and soil conditions. decreasing of forest area in the north of iran is one of the critical problems in recent years. the aims of this study are to detect land use changes between 1967 to 2002 using satellite images of land sat 7 etm+ (2002), aerial photos and digital topo...

We hypothesize that biological diversification across ecological, spatial, and temporal scales maintains and regenerates the ecosystem services that provide critical inputs—such as maintenance of soil quality, nitrogen fixation, pollination, and pest control—to agriculture. Agrobiodiversity is sustained by diversified farming practices and it also supplies multiple ecosystem services to agricul...

The paper includes: (i) a descriptive account of what has actually happened in the Baltic States in regard to agricultural sector reforms; (ii) an analysis of the institutions, policies, laws and regulations underlying the process of privatizing farming and land ownership; (iii) the interaction of these factors and their agricultural policy implications; and (iv) the influence of interest group...

Many farmers are interested in finding ways of controlling odour on their farms. Reducing odour associated with hog farming will be instrumental to the success of our industry. Ontario Pork and other organizations worldwide are searching for ways to reduce odour. Sorting through the enormous amount of information is quite daunting. Ontario Pork and others in the red meat sector in collaboration...

Water management is a major concern across the world. From northern China to the Middle East to Africa to the United States, growing populations can stress local water resources as they demand more water for both direct consumption and agriculture. Irrigation based agriculture draws especially heavily on these resources and usually cannot survive without them; however, irrigation systems must b...

Based on a survey of 897 farming households in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, our results show that while farming households had high demands for capital, 47.7% have experienced having their application for a Rural Credit Cooperative (RCC) loan denied because of their low income. Agricultural production and income are significantly influenced by weather risks, and agricultural income accounts for...

Invasive alien species Mikania micrantha, which originated from Central and South America, has spread quickly and become one of the most seriously invasive weedy species in Yunnan Province, Southwest of China. The harmful effects of this plant on major cash crops and local plant communities have been surveyed in 50 townships of 6 counties of Yunnan Province since 2006. Moreover, bioactivity and...

Smallholder teak (Tectona grandis) plantations have been identified as a potentially valuable component of upland farming systems in northern Laos that can contribute to a “livelihood transition” from subsistence-oriented swidden agriculture to a more commercially-oriented farming system, thereby bringing about a “forest transition” at the landscape scale. In recent years, teak smallholdings ha...

A great challenge to science is to elucidate how agriculture can feed the increasing world population without damaging the environment, while preserving other resources such as freshwater. In the Seine basin, characterised by intensive agriculture, most of surface and underground water is contaminated by nitrate. Conventional agriculture has regularly increased the use of industrial fertilisers...

Black farmers in America have had a long and arduous struggle to own land and to operate independently. For more than a century after the Civil War, deficient civil rights and various economic and social barriers were applied to maintaining a system where many blacks worked as farm operators with a limited and often total lack of opportunity to achieve ownership and operating independence. Dimi...