A capture-mark-recapture study was conducted in crop fields in Morogoro, Tanzania, to investigate how the population dynamics of multimammate field rats, Mastomys natalensis, was influenced by the commonly practised land preparation methods and cropping systems. Two land preparation methods (tractor ploughing and slash and burn) and two cropping systems (mono-cropping with maize and inter-cropp...

Comparative studies have usually shown higher yields in conventional cropping systems (CCS) than in organic cropping systems (OCS). By utilizing a long-term field experiment on silt soil with 18 years of cropping history (1982–1999), including three OCSs and one CCS, we studied if this is true also for strawberry. The strawberry experiment was conducted in 2000–2002. The experiment had one CCS ...

in order to study the effects of cropping systems and mulch application in relay intercropped styrian pumpkin (cucurbita pepo l.) with chickpea (cicer arietinum l.), a field experiment was conducted as factorial layout based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the agricultural research station, college of agriculture, ferdowsi university of mashhad, during growing s...

Maize stover is beginning to be used as a cellulosic biofuel feedstock in the Midwestern United States; however, there are concerns that stover removal could result in increased soil erosion and loss of soil organic matter. Use of a winter cover crop following maize harvest has the potential to mitigate these impacts and may have additional benefits by providing continuous living cover in annua...

Biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks have the potential to improve a wide range of ecosystem services while simultaneously reducing dependence on fossil fuels. Here, we report on the six-year production potential (above ground net primary production, ANPP), post-frost harvested biomass (yield), and gross harvest efficiency (GHE = yield/ANPP) of seven model bioenergy cropping systems in both...

Conservation agriculture (CA) practices are being widely promoted in many areas in sub-Saharan Africa to recuperate degraded soils and improve ecosystem services. This study examined the effects of three tillage practices [conventional moldboard plowing (CT), hand hoeing (MT) and no-tillage (NT)], and three cropping systems (continuous maize, soybean-maize annual rotation, and soybean/maize int...

The advantages and disadvantages of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) as compared to alternative irrigation systems are conceptually discussed. Each category (advantages and disadvantages) is subdivided into three groups: 1) Water and soil issues; 2) Cropping and cultural practices, and 3) System infrastructure issues. The adaptation and adoption of SDI systems into diverse cropping systems, geo...

Smallholder farming systems in Papua New Guinea are characterised by an integrated set of cash cropping and subsistence food cropping activities. In the Highlands provinces, the subsistence food crop sub-system is dominated by sweet potato production. Coffee dominates the cash cropping sub-system, but a limited number of food crops are also grown for cash sale. The dynamics between sub-systems ...