Good Wetland Agricultural Practices

Within the Guiding Agriculture Wetland Interaction (GAWI) project the Driver!Pressure!State! Impact!Response (DPSIR) approach has been adopted to describe and analyse agriculture!wetland interactions. The DPSIR approach provides a consistent framework to analyse the complex causal chain among drivers, pressures, state and impacts, and facilitates the targeted identification of response strategies aimed at improving the sustainability of wetlands

Yield trends and yield gap analysis of major crops in the world

This study aims to quantify the gap between current and potential yields of major crops in the world, and the production constraints that contribute to this yield gap. Using an expert-based evaluation of yield gaps and the literature, global and regional yields and yield trends of major crops are quantified, yield gaps evaluated by crop experts, current yield progress by breeding estimated, and different yield projections compared. Results show decreasing yield growth for wheat and rice, but still high growth rates for maize. The yield gap analysis provides quantitative estimates of the production constraints for a number of crops and regions and reveals the difficulty to measure and compare yield potentials and actual yields consistently under a range of environmental conditions, and it shows the difficulty to disentangle interacting production constraints. FAO yield growth projections are generally lower than what possibly could be gained by closing current yield gaps

Socio-economic assessment of two small-scale irrigation schemes in Adami Tullu Jido Kombolcha Woreda, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

The sustainability of irrigated agriculture is questioned and the challenge is to increase simultaneously land and water productivity in the face of the limited availability of land and water in the CRV, the Central Rift Valley. The aim of this research is to assess the social-economic performance of two communitybased small-scale irrigation schemes in Adami Tullu Jido Kombolcha Woreda (ATJK) and to identify options to improve irrigation performance and resource managemen

Modelling Livestock Component in FSSIM

This document summarises the development of a ruminant livestock component for the Farm System Simulator (FSSIM). This includes treatments of energy and protein transactions in ruminant livestock that have been used as a basis for the biophysical simulations that will generate the input production parameters for FSSIM. The treatments are derived principally from the “French” feed evaluation and rationing system for protein and energy. Currently, we have constructed routines that are capable of simulating input-output relationships for energy and protein in the following representative systems; dairy cattle; suckler cows; growing and finishing cattle; sheep and goats. The calculations of energy and protein requirements for these classes of livestock are described in detail in this documen

Sustainable land use in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Mali: exploring economically viable options using multiple goal lineair programming.

Technical options in crop and animal husbandry to reduce soil nutrient mining and other forms of natural resource degradation in the Sudano-Sahelian zone should be economically attractive, if they are to be adopted. A model is presented in which agronomic and economic information and goals are combined to explore possibilities for agro-ecologically sustainable and economically viable land use in three different climatic regions in Mali and for a situation of non-degraded soils. The time frame of the study is to the year 2010. For each region, an agro-ecologically sustainable land use system (a combination of crop, livestock and pasture production systems) that maximizes income of the agricultural sector and satisfies self sufficiency targets is identified. Special attention is given to the use of chemical fertilizer in crop activities. It is shown that use of chemical fertilizer is an important element of sustainable and economically viable land use, especially in higher rainfall regions. Population size has a marked effect on optimal land use systems in the regions, but self sufficiency is not endangered even if the population is 50% higher than estimated for 2010. It is argued that results should not be used to simulate the actual situation or future developments, but to define priorities for agricultural development in the Sudano-Sahelian region

Quantifying N response and N use efficiency in Rice-Wheat (RW) cropping systems under different water management

About 0·10 of the food supply in China is produced in rice¿wheat (RW) cropping systems. In recent decades, nitrogen (N) input associated with intensification has increased much more rapidly than N use in these systems. The resulting nitrogen surplus increases the risk of environmental pollution as well as production costs. Limited information on N dynamics in RW systems in relation to water management hampers development of management practices leading to more efficient use of nitrogen and water. The present work studied the effects of N and water management on yields of rice and wheat, and nitrogen use efficiencies (NUEs) in RW systems. A RW field experiment with nitrogen rates from 0 to 300 kg N/ha with continuously flooded and intermittently irrigated rice crops was carried out at the Jiangpu experimental station of Nanjing Agricultural University of China from 2002 to 2004 to identify improved nitrogen management practices in terms of land productivity and NUE. Nitrogen uptake by rice and wheat increased with increasing N rates, while agronomic NUE (kg grain/kg N applied) declined at rates exceeding 150 kg N/ha. The highest combined grain yields of rice and wheat were obtained at 150 and 300 kg N/ha per season in rice and wheat, respectively. Carry-over of residual N from rice to the subsequent wheat crop was limited, consistent with low soil nitrate after rice harvest. Total soil N hardly changed during the experiment, while soil nitrate was much lower after wheat than after rice harvest. Water management did not affect yield and N uptake by rice, but apparent N recovery was higher under intermittent irrigation (II). In one season, II management in rice resulted in higher yield and N uptake in the subsequent wheat season. Uptake of indigenous soil N was much higher in rice than in wheat, while in rice it was much higher than values reported in the literature, which may have consequences for nitrogen fertilizer recommendations based on indigenous N suppl

Water-wise Rice Production

Rice is a profligate user of water. It takes 3,000–5,000 liters to produce 1 kilogram of rice, which is about 2 to 3 times more than to produce 1 kilogram of other cereals such as wheat or maize. Until recently, this amount of water has been taken for granted. Now, however, the water crisis threatens the sustainability of the irrigated rice ecosystem. In Asia, 17 million ha of irrigated rice areas may experience ‘physical water scarcity’ and 22 million ha ‘economic water scarcity’ by 2025. To safeguard food security and preserve precious water resources, ways must be explored to grow rice using less water. IRRI, together with Plant Research International of Wageningen University and Research Centre, organized a thematic workshop on Water-Wise Rice Production held 8-11 April 2002 at IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines. The objectives were to present and discuss the state-of-the-art in the development, dissemination, and adoption of water-saving technologies at spatial scales ranging from the field to irrigation system. This book contains the papers presented at the workshop