Linking Crop Rotation and Fertility Management by a Transition Matrix: Spatial and Dynamic Aspects in Programming of Ecosystem Service

This paper deals with crop rotation as a method to pest control and soil fertility from an economic point of view. In the past farmers created complex rotations to benefit from processes like natural pest control, recycling of organics, pollination and water retention. Cropping orders utilizing small fields to accommodate long lists of crop sequences were a major feature of agriculture. Today we are faced with large fields and monoculture. Usually, attempts to recognize economic benefits from rotation through modelling are meagre because of complexity. We address the issue of complexity as well as spatial and dynamics aspects of long run benefits by suggesting feasible types of modelling crop rotations (dynamic optimization). A newly introduced transfer matrix shall delineate impacts of crop compositions in period t to fertility of land in t+1. Categorizing different states of nature (which have to be communicated in line with farmers’ knowledge of externalities) it can be implemented into modern crop rotations.crop rotation modelling, spatially explicit and dynamic programming, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Diagnostic agronomique et agro-environnemental des successions culturales en Wallonie (Belgique)

Agronomical and agro-environmental diagnosis of crop sequences in Wallonia (Belgium). Crop sequence, recognized as a fundamental concept providing a balance both agronomic at parcel level and agro-environmental at the agro-ecosystem level, is analyzed on the scale of the Walloon agricultural regions (Belgium). This study aims to make a diagnosis of the qualitative performances of crop sequences, through the individual analysis of some of their explanatory components such as the effect of the previous crop on the next one, the observed return time of the re-occuring crops, the number of crops observed during the sequence and finally the duration of intercrop period. These four components are analyzed at parcel level, the results being aggregated at regional level. Study concerns both a spatial analysis based on a period of 7 years, and a temporal analysis aiming to observe a possible evolution, region by region, during two successive and equivalent periods. The drawn up appraisal reveals spatial differences in terms of practices linked to crop sequences, on the other hand, one quasi temporal stability of the analyzed parameters emerges from obtained results. Besides, these results constituting a contribution to an appraisal of the agriculture in Wallonia may serve as reference values for an evolution of regional agricultural practices global follow-up

Insecticidal and repellant activities of Southeast Asia plants towards insect pests: a review

Crops are being damaged by several plant pests. Several strategies have been developed to restrict the damage of cultivated plants by using synthetic pesticides and repellants. However, the use to control these insects is highly discouraged because of their risks on humans. Therefore, several alternatives have been developed from plant extracts to protect crops from plant pests. Accordingly, this review focuses on outlining the insecticidal and repellant activities of Southeast Asia plants towards insect pests. Several extracts of plants from Southeast Asia were investigated to explore their insecticidal and repellant activities. Azadiracha indica (neem) and Piper species were highly considered for their insecticidal and repellant activities compared to other plants. This review also addressed the investigation on extracts of other plant species that were reported to exert insecticidal and repellant activities. Most of the conducted studies have been still in the primarily stage of investigation, lacking a focus on the insecticidal and repellant spectrum and the identification of the active constituents which are responsible for the insecticidal and repellant activity

PLANEJAMENTO AGREGADO DA PRODUÇÃO EM NUTRIÇÃO DE BOVINOS DE CORTE: UMA ABORDAGEM ATRAVÉS DE PROGRAMAÇÃO LINEAR INTEIRA MISTA

Este artigo propõe um modelo de programação linear inteira mista de planejamento agregado de produção no contexto de fazendas de bovinocultura de corte em ciclo completo (cria, recria e engorda). Apesar das aplicações da pesquisa operacional no ramo ainda se restringirem a problemas de blending para formulação de rações, trata-se de uma abordagem útil e pertinente, sobretudo pela peculiaridade deste sistema de produção (em relação à indústria) de ter capacidade passível de alta variação ("sazonalidade da capacidade") ao longo do ano, devido às estações secas. Assim, o modelo apresentado tem o objetivo de auxiliar nas decisões de dimensionamento da quantidade de animais e, ao mesmo tempo, na forma de manejo dos pastos (decisões de veda e adubação) e manejo nutricional (decisões de suplementação e confinamento). O modelo foi testado com dados de uma agropecuária do oeste de São Paulo e Mato Grosso de Sul, através de entrevistas com gestores e trabalhadores rurais. Resultados interessantes para a gestão foram obtidos, possibilidade a utilização otimizada dos recursos naturais e um dimensionamento de orçamento antecipadamente. Os resultados preliminares motivaram a um maior refinamento dos parâmetros e abrem janelas para extensões da pesquisa incorporando novos elementos para enriquecer como ferramenta de apoio à decisão

Dynamics of Crop Evapotranspiration of Four Major Crops on a Large Commercial Farm: Case of the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, New Mexico, USA

Crop evapotranspiration (ETa) is the main source of water loss in farms and watersheds, and with its effects felt at a regional scale, it calls for irrigation professionals and water resource managers to accurately assess water requirements to meet crop water use. On a multi-crop commercial farm, different factors affect cropland allocation, among which crop evapotranspiration is one of the most important factors regarding the seasonally or annually available water resources for irrigation in combination with the in-season effective precipitation. The objective of the present study was to estimate crop evapotranspiration for four major crops grown on the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (NAPI) farm for the 2016–2010 period to help crop management in crop plant allocation based on the different objectives of the NAPI. The monthly and seasonal satellite-based ETa of maize, potatoes, dry beans, and alfalfa were retrieved and compared using the analysis of variance and the least significant difference (LSD) at 5% of significance. Our results showed the highly significant effects of year, months, and crops. The year 2020 obtained the highest crop ETa, and July had the most evapotranspiration demand, followed by August, June, September, and May, and the pool of April, March, February, January, December, and November registered the lowest crop ETa. Maize monthly ETa varied from 17.5 to 201.7 mm with an average seasonal ETa of 703.8 mm. The monthly ETa of potatoes varied from 9.8 to 207.5 mm, and their seasonal ETa averaged 600.9 mm. The dry bean monthly ETa varied from 10.4 to 178.4 mm, and the seasonal ETa averaged 506.2 mm. The alfalfa annual ETa was the highest at 1015.4 mm, as it is a perennial crop. The alfalfa monthly ETa varied from 8.2 to 202.1 mm. The highest monthly crop ETa was obtained in July for all four crops. The results of this study are very critical for cropland allocation and irrigation management under limited available water across a large commercial farm with multiple crops and objectives

Modelo de evaluación de tecnologías frente al cambio climático en el trópico alto de Nariño, Colombia

La papa (Solanum tuberosum) es un cultivo clave para la seguridad alimentaria de la población mundial y característico de los sistemas de producción campesina en Colombia. Se siembra en zonas de alta montaña, cerca de ecosistemas frágiles y estratégicos como los páramos y sus zonas de amortiguación, realidades como el cambio y la variabilidad climática afectan significativamente la sostenibilidad del sistema. Productores y asistentes técnicos locales, han definido el déficit hídrico como la principal limitante agroclimática para el cultivo. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar mediante modelos microeconómicos la viabilidad de tecnologías agrícolas orientadas a aumentar la resiliencia al cambio climático en el cultivo de papa. Se recopiló información primaria, de tipo cuantitativo y cualitativo mediante encuestas y talleres participativos con productores y asistentes técnicos, a través de un Análisis Factorial Múltiple de Mezcla de Datos (FAMD) se tipificó el sistema de producción; se hizo uso de programación lineal para evaluar económicamente los sistemas de pequeño y mediano productor, tecnologías de siembra de nuevas variedades certificadas y de labores de fertilización como alternativas para enfrentar un escenario de déficit hídrico. Los resultados muestran diferentes tipos de productores de papa, así como alta viabilidad de la incorporación de estas prácticas, por lo cual este modelo es un insumo para el proceso de toma de decisiones de los productores y asistentes técnicos que contribuyan al aumento de la resiliencia, rentabilidad y sostenibilidad del sistema productivo ante los escenarios de cambio y variabilidad climática

Methodology for multi-temporal prediction of crop rotations using recurrent neural networks

ABSTRACT: In a context of growing demand for food and the scarcity of natural resources, the development of more sustainable agriculture is imperative. This means it is necessary to limit the environmental impact of agricultural activities on soil and water and to be mindful of the carbon footprint, while maintaining crop yields and economic benefits for producers. Crop rotation is a valuable tool in sustainable agriculture, but this technique has to be appropriately coupled with sustainable fertilization plans to optimize crops. The proposed methodology uses recurrent neural networks (RNN); more precisely, LSTMs, in a Seq2Seq architecture, to predict the most probable scenarios of crop rotations to be exploited in a field in subsequent growing seasons, according to cropping habits. The output can be used in crop models to build a decision support system for greater sustainability in agricultural production by allowing producers to choose the strategy that offers the best compromise between profitability and environmental impact

An Evaluation of the Impact of the Adoption of the Onboard Module Building Cotton Harvest System on the Economic Competitiveness of Cotton Production in Louisiana

Planted acreage of cotton in Louisiana has decreased over the past several years due to higher cotton variable production costs, stagnant cotton market prices, and higher grain yields and market prices for corn and soybeans. The general objective was to determine the economic impact of the adoption and use of an onboard module building cotton harvest system on the ability of the cotton enterprise to compete for planted acreage in the mixed crop farming areas of Louisiana. Specific research objectives included the estimated of comparative ownership and operating costs for the module building harvest systems relative to existing basket/module builder harvest systems, and to evaluate the impact of the use of the new cotton harvest system on expected levels of crop rotation net returns. SERF analysis was utilized to evaluate the impact of risk preferences on the crop rotation decision. The total cotton system harvest cost for a 6-row module picker was estimated to be $51 per harvested acre, compared to$77 per acre for a 6-row basket harvest system and $149 per acre for a 4-row basket harvest system. Two levels of mean crop yields were evaluated: average yield history in the region (cotton – 1,150 lbs./acre, corn – 154 bu./acre, soybeans – 44 bu./acre), and recently observed higher yields for cotton and corn (cotton – 1,380 lbs./acre, corn – 176 bu./acre). Results indicated that cotton/corn rotations generally had higher expected net returns above variable costs over cotton/soybean and corn/soybean rotations under the price, yield and cost assumptions of the study. Risk efficiency evaluation of crop rotation alternatives indicated that the cotton/corn rotations were generally more dominate than the cotton/soybean rotations, due primarily to the higher level of expected net returns from corn production compared to expected net returns from soybean production. The risk analysis along with the net return simulation analysis conducted confirmed the continuing importance of the levels of expected crop market prices and yields in determining optimal crop rotation choices