Soil: the great connector of our lives now and beyond COVID-19

Humanity depends on the existence of healthy soils, both for the production of food and for ensuring a healthy, biodiverse environment, among other functions. COVID-19 is threatening food availability in many places of the world due to the disruption of food chains, lack of workforce, closed borders and national lockdowns. As a consequence, more emphasis is being placed on local food production, which may lead to more intensive cultivation of vulnerable areas and to soil degradation. In order to increase the resilience of populations facing this pandemic and future global crises, transitioning to a paradigm that relies more heavily on local food production on soils that are carefully tended and protected through sustainable management is necessary. To reach this goal, the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recommends five active strategies: improved access to land, sound land use planning, sustainable soil management, enhanced research, and investments in education and extension

Strip position, tillage, and water regime effects on a strip intercropping rotation

Economic, and environmental reasons justify searching for alternative, sustainable production systems. Including small grain crops and legumes in the rotations improve diversification, and can reduce erosion, N fertilizer use, pests, and other biological problems. Strip cropping rotations of corn and beans have shown productive advantages per unit land compared with the rotation in open fields, if water availability is not limiting. A three year strip intercropping rotation, including corn, soybeans, and oats followed by hairy vetch or interseeded with nondormant alfalfa is being studied. The objectives of the reported research were to compare the effect of tillage systems and positions in the strips, on soil water content and crop yields. In 1989 and 1990, block experiments with each crop to evaluate strip position were conducted on Typic Argiudolls and Hapludolls using ridge till (site 1); on a Typic Argiaquoll (site 2), a split-plot four block experiment, with three tillage systems (conventional, reduced, and no till) as the main plots, and strip positions as the minor treatments was evaluated. Only crop yields were measured at site 1; at site 2 also measured were corn yield components, early corn and soybean growth, soil water content, and corn and soybean canopy temperatures. Precipitation during June, July, and August was 189 and 260 mm in 1989, and 584 and 444 mm in 1990, at sites 1 and 2, respectively. Positive border effect in corn was clearly present in 1990. Positive border effect was present both years in oats. Soybean yields were reduced in the borders in 1989, but soybean border yields were closer to the center yields in 1990. On a unit land basis, the strip intercropping rotation was more productive than the sole crops rotation in the wet year, and not different in the dry year. Site 2 results indicated that oat yields were not affected by tillage in 1989; reduced and no till were the best tillage systems for corn; for soybeans, no till > reduced > conventional yields were observed. In 1990, reduced and conventional till were the best tillage systems for corn, but soybean yields were not affected by tillage. Soil water contents, and corn and soybean canopy temperatures were related with the crop yield results.</p

Intensificación agrícola : oportunidades y amenazas para un país productivo y natural

Prólogo -- La Universidad al servicio de la República -- Colección Artículo 2 – Introducción -- Capítulo 1 : La Agricultura en Uruguay y su Evolución -- Capítulo 2 : Biotecnología moderna, cultivares transgénicos y proceso de adopción en Uruguay -- Capítulo 3 : La erosión de suelos en sistemas agrícolas -- Capítulo 4 : Valorización y conservación de la biodiversidad en Uruguay -- Capítulo 5 : Impactos socio-económicos de la expansión agrícol

Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change: Limiting Degradation of Soil and Water Resources

Climate change is associated with elevated temperatures, more intense rainfalls and longer and hotter droughts. These changes add stress to soil and water resources, which form the foundation for a productive resilient agriculture. Crop management practices often stress soil and water resources leading to loss of soil organic carbon, increased soil erosion and degraded water quality. However, selected management systems can improve soil and water quality or limit their degradation, even in light of anticipated climate change stressors. This chapter identifies approaches to increase the adoption of recognized favorable practices in different countries or regions. Three primary approaches seem to exist: (1) incentive-based with no or minor regulatory component; (2) regulatory-dominated with government exercising authority over producer practice options; and (3) long-term planning addressing spatial and temporal land management elements and adoption of those plans with a combination of government support and regulatory authority.This chapter is published as Cruse, R. M., Wang, E., Wang, C., García-Préchac, F., Panagos, P., Liu, B., Heaton, E. and D. Todey. 2022. Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change: Limiting Degradation of Soil and Water Resources. In Climate Actions: Local Applications and Practical Solutions, edited by Brenda Groskinsky, pp. 7-34. Boca Raton: CRC Press. See here.Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted

El Campo Natural ocupa el 60% de la superficie del país

Participantes: Director de Recursos Naturales, Fernando García Préchac. Director General del Instituto Plan Agropecuario, Carlos Molina. Presidente de la Mesa de Campo Natural, Marcelo Pereira.La Mesa de Ganadería sobre Campo Natural se creó por resolución ministerial en 2012. Está integrada por el Ministerio de Ganadería Agricultura y Pesca (MGAP), el Instituto Plan Agropecuario (IPA), la Facultad de Ciencias (FCIEN), la Facultad de Agronomía (FAGRO), el Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) y el Secretariado Uruguayo de la Lana (SUL), y de forma ampliada se integran el Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA), el Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (SNAP), la Federación Uruguaya de Grupos CREA (FUCREA), el Instituto Nacional de Carnes (INAC), la Alianza del Pastizal, la Asociación Uruguaya de Ganaderos del Pastizal (AUGAP), las Cooperativas Agrarias Federadas (CAF), la Asociación Rural del Uruguay (ARU), la Federación Rural y la Comisión Nacional de Fomento Rural (CNFR)