Sustainable and rational management of agrophytocenoses depends on various bioindices and methods of application, particularly the development and protection of soil resources (Lai et al., 2002). Among other indices, enzyme activity is proposed as a universal index of soil fertility and contamination (Dilly et al., 2003). To ascertain and to make a comparison of bioactivity variation during the...

The biomass fraction of processed municipal and industrial wastes added to soil can 10 maintain, and in some case improve, the soil’s organic fertility. One of the main constraints in the 11 agricultural use of the sewage sludge is its content of heavy metals. In the long term, soil 12 administration of sewage sludge in agriculture could result in a risk of environmental impact. The 13 aim of t...

Humic substances, such as those listed in the above title, play a vital role in soil fertility and plant nutrition. Plants grown on soils which contain adequate humin, humic adds (HAs), and fulvic adds (FAs) are less subject to stress, are healthier, produce higher yields; and the nutritional quality of harvested foods and feeds are superior. The value of humic substances in soil fertility and ...

1 Spatial distributions of tropical trees often correlate with environmental variation, suggesting that ecological sorting caused by niche differentiation may be important for maintaining species diversity. 2 Four soil types have been identified in a 52-ha forest dynamics plot in Bornean mixed dipterocarp forest (ranked by increasing fertility and moisture: sandy loam, loam, fine loam, and clay...

Forage quality of orchardgrass and timothy hays can be evaluated from both nutritional and marketing perspectives. From the nutritional perspective it is conditioned by the 1) nutrient concentration, 2) rate of voluntary intake, 3) digestibility and 4) partitioning of metabolized products within the animal. From the marketing perspective, hay destined for urban feed store and Pacific Rim market...

1 2 It is now attested that a large part of the Amazonian rain forest has been cultivated 3 during Pre-Colombian times, using charcoal as an amendment. The incorporation of charcoal 4 to the soil is a starting point for the formation of fertile Amazonian Dark Earths, still selected 5 by Indian people for shifting cultivation. We showed that finely separated charcoal was 6 commonly incorporated ...

In a review published over two decades ago I asserted that, along soil fertility gradients, plant traits change in ways that reinforce patterns of soil fertility and net primary productivity (NPP). I reevaluate this assertion in light of recent research, focusing on feedbacks to NPP operating through litter decomposition. I conclude that mechanisms emerging since my previous review might weaken...

This chapter analyzes the technical efficiency of banana production among Ugandan smallholders by estimating a stochastic production frontier model with inefficiency effects. The empirical models are formulated within the overarching framework of the agricultural household specified in Chapter 2. The data design is also summarized in Chapter 2, although additional information about soil quality...