Diagnosis for ecological intensification of maize-based smallholder farming systems in the Costa Chica, Mexico

Enhanced utilization of ecological processes for food and feed production as part of the notion of ecological intensification starts from location-specific knowledge of production constraints. A diagnostic systems approach which combined social-economic and production ecological methods at farm and field level was developed and applied to diagnose extent and causes of the perceived low productivity of maize-based smallholder systems in two communities of the Costa Chica in South West Mexico. Social-economic and production ecological surveys were applied and complemented with model-based calculations. The results demonstrated that current nutrient management of crops has promoted nutrition imbalances, resulting in K- and, less surprisingly N-limited production conditions, reflected in low yields of the major crops maize and roselle and low resource use efficiencies. Production on moderate to steep slopes was estimated to result in considerable losses of soil and organic matter. Poor crop production, lack of specific animal fodder production systems and strong dependence on animal grazing within communal areas limited recycling of nutrients through manure. In combination with low prices for the roselle cash crop, farmers are caught in a vicious cycle of cash shortage and resource decline. The production ecological findings complemented farmers opinions by providing more insight in background and extent of livelihood constraints. Changing fertilizer subsidies and rethinking animal fodder production as well as use of communal lands requires targeting both formal and informal governance structures. The methodology has broader applicability in smallholder systems in view of its low demand on capital intensive resource

Topsector Agro&Food : 'Agro&Food: De Nederlandse groeidiamant'

Innovatiecontract van de Topsector Agri&Food. De Agro & Food sector is de motor van de Nederlandse economie en de nummer 1 in de wereld. In totaal genereert de sector €48 miljard aan toegevoegde waarde. Dat is goed voor bijna 10% van de Nederlandse economie en werkgelegenheid. Nederland heeft de meest succesvolle en innovatieve Agro & Food-bedrijven, beschikt over kennisinstellingen van wereldklasse en staat aan de Europese top van private investeringen

DSMM XI study: dose definition for intravenous cyclophosphamide in combination with bortezomib/dexamethasone for remission induction in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma

A clinical trial was initiated to evaluate the recommended dose of cyclophosphamide in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone as induction treatment before stem cell transplantation for younger patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). Thirty patients were treated with three 21-day cycles of bortezomib 1.3 mg/m2 on days 1, 4, 8, and 11 plus dexamethasone 40 mg on the day of bortezomib injection and the day after plus cyclophosphamide at 900, 1,200, or 1,500 mg/m2 on day 1. The maximum tolerated dose of cyclophosphamide was defined as 900 mg/m2. At this dose level, 92% of patients achieved at least a partial response. The overall response rate [complete response (CR) plus partial response (PR)] across all dose levels was 77%, with a 10% CR rate. No patient experienced progressive disease. The most frequent adverse events were hematological and gastrointestinal toxicities as well as neuropathy. The results suggest that bortezomib in combination with cyclophosphamide at 900 mg/m2 and dexamethasone is an effective induction treatment for patients with newly diagnosed MM that warrants further investigation

Competition between a sugar beet crop and populations of Chenopodium album L. and Stellaria media L.

Analyse van de inlvoed van de morfologie van de onkruiden melganzevoet en vogelmuur op het concurrentievermoge

Long-term evaluation of dryland cropping systems intensification for sustainable production in the semi-arid tropics of India

We report some of the results from a 15-year long rotational trial conducted at ICRISAT in the Southern Peninsular India that will eventually form the basis for a detailed model evaluation of Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). This model will then be used to design crop rotations that have higher productivity and lower risks than conventional rotations like rainy fallow and post rainy sorghum or chickpea. The experimental results reported here show that this is entirely feasible. Our specific objectives were to: 1) quantify the benefits of grain legumes to non-legumes in the cropping system rotations; and 2) identify improved and sustainable cropping system options for crop productivity and intensification. Variability in the onset and distribution of monsoonal rains in June-July constitute a key risk of crop production on Vertisols. As such, fields are usually left as fallow during the rainy season (kharif) and cropped with sorghum or chickpea during only the post-rainy season (rabi) on stored soil moisture. However, due to the high water holding capacity of Vertisols, there is an opportunity to make better use of both seasons, and as such, a crop intensification approach with sequential double cropping was explored. Besides the extra crop yield gained from double -cropping, this practice may help to reduce erosion in the rainy season. Vertisols in this part of the world are generally deficient in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus. Response to N fertilization is much higher than with any other nutrient, and the response in the rainy season is greater than in the post-rainy season (Katyal, 1988). Legume-based systems have been particularly successful in providing N inputs where fertilizer is of marginal economic benefit as well as providing grain as part of the crop production system. In India, farmers remove stalks from the field for fodder, however relatively little N is removed in this process because stalks have very low N content. Legume root material and nodules remaining in the soil have shown positive residual effects on the subsequent cereal crop equivalent to 30-40 kg N ha-1(Kumar Rao et al., 1983). While this is not large enough to approach potential crop yields of rainy season crops, even a moderate N input could double the yield because the soils may supply as little as 30 kg N ha-1 to cereal crops. Such results led to the establishment of a long-term experiment at ICRISAT to examine the productivity of cropping systems with improved technologies including broad bed furrow land management, high yielding varieties, fertilizers and the inclusion of short duration legume crops in rotations