integrating natural resources management in the secondary school curriculum in kenya has received a lot of talk without adequate practical activities. the farmers of the future programme under the world agroforestry centre, formally the international centre for research in agroforestry (icraf), initiated a practical approach to integration of natural resources management in the secondary school...

Soil health, along with water supply, is the most valuable resource for humans, as human life depends on the soil’s generosity. Soil degradation, therefore, poses a threat to food security, as it reduces yield, forces farmers to use more inputs, and may eventually lead to soil abandonment. Unfortunately, the importance of preserving soil health appears to be overlooked by policy makers. In this...

The recent IPCC Fourth Assessment report concluded that Australia has significant vulnerability to the changes in temperature and rainfall projected under climate change (Hennessy et al. 2007). Agriculture and natural resources were two of the key sectors identified as likely to be affected strongly. Extensive grazing is by far the most widespread agricultural land use in Australia. Most of the...

This study examines the productivity and resilience of agroecosystems in the Korean Peninsula. Having learned valuable lessons from a Chapman University project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture which concentrated on the semi-arid region of southwestern United States, our joint Korea—Chapman University team has applied similar methodologies to the Korean Peninsula, which is ...

Interest in using bacteriophages to control the growth and spread of bacterial pathogens is being revived in the wake of widespread antibiotic resistance. However, little is known about the ecological effects that high concentrations of phages in the environment might have on natural microbial communities. We review the current evidence suggesting phage-mediated environmental perturbation, with...

Two different patterns in input–output relations can be distinguished in agricultural production. For the first, yields are obtained at zero rates of certain external inputs, such as in wheat growing, or dairying based on grazing. For a second type of input–output relation, inputs are required before any yield can be obtained, such as in irrigation schemes in desert areas, or industrial product...

The spectrum of risks that affect the income of agricultural producers and agribusinesses is quite broad. The two predominant risks are: price risk, reflecting variations in market prices for agricultural commodities and production inputs; and production risk, which encompasses variations in the volume or quality of the commodity produced. This note focuses on one of the most pervasive producti...