The main objective of this paper is to review the progress that has been made in South Africa with respect to whole-farm economic modelling over the past 2 decades. Farming systems are complex and careful consideration to the stochastic dynamic nature of irrigation farming processes and their linkages with the larger water system is necessary when conducting whole-farm modelling. Both simulatio...

During a study of the effect of soil temperature on the development of a tobacco mosaic, frenching was observed on the plants at the higher soil temperatures. Since this is apparently the first time, JONES (3), that soil temperature has been recognized as a factor in inducing frenching of tobacco, Nicotiana Tabacum L., it seemed important that the technique be developed as a possible means of d...

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Trichoderma harzianum R3P2 biocontrol agent on soil microbial community in tobacco monoculture. To this end, we studied the changes in soil metabolic diversity with cell suspensions methodology using Biolog (Inc., Hayward, CA.) GN2 MicroplatesTM. Principal ® component analysis showed that functional abilities of the soil microbial community in t...

Intensive livestock farms emit large concentrations of NH3, most of which is deposited very close to the source. The presence of trees enhances the deposition. Rates to downwind forests can exceed 40 kg N ha−1 y−1. The steep gradient in large NH3 concentrations of 34.3±20.4, 47.6±24.9, 21.7±16.8 μg NH3 m3 at the edge of a forest 15, 30 and 45 m downwind of the farm to near background concentrat...

More than one hundred volatile organic substances were identified by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in the indoor and outdoor air, stable and farm road dust and farm soil samples from two pig and cattle farms in the South Moravian Region. Volatile fatty acids (acetic, propanoic, butanoic and pentanoic acids) and their esters dominated along with aldehydes (butanal, pentanal an...

Fertilization plays an important role in crop growth and soil improvement. This study was conducted to determine the best fertilization system for wheat production. Experiments were arranged in a complete block design with three replications in two years. Main plots consisted of six methods of fertilization including (N1): farmyard manure; (N2): compost; (N3): chemical fertilizers; (N4): farmya...

Prevalence of Salmonella enterica on a Danish pig farm presenting recurrent infections was investigated. A comparison of the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of fecal isolates from piggeries, waste slurry, and agricultural soil amended with Salmonella-contaminated animal waste (slurry) and subclinical isolates from the same farm (collected in 1996 and later) showed identical patterns, ...

We analyzed how three different dairy management systems –continuous grazing, confinement and management intensive grazingcompare across nine sustainability indicators set by the Dairy Stewardship Alliance. A self-assessment survey comprising animal husbandry, biodiversity, energy, community health, farm financials, nutrient, pest, water and soil management was assessed twice across the same fa...