Abstract: Organic agriculture (OA) is often regarded as a sustainable agricultural pathway for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, and an increasing number of initiatives promoting OA were initiated over the last decades. However, holistic empirical evidence on the effects of such initiatives on the sustainability of smallholder farmers is still scanty. We analyzed the effects of five initiatives promoting OA on farm-level sustainability. We selected farmers exposed to the initiatives...
ABSTRACTThe study was carried out in Kamwengye district Kicheche Sub County in the westernpart of Uganda to assess the role of organic agriculture /farming in improving theagriculture of small scale farmers.It focused on the farming practices, potential benefits of organic farming, level ofawareness and the factors constraining the adoption of organic farming.The traditional practices that characterize the farming systems of smallseaie farmers andland size in most developing countries due to ...
ABSTRACT The study analyzed organic farming practices among rural households in SouthSouth Nigeria. The study determined the level of awareness and use of organic farming practices in the study are, identified the sources of information on organic farming practices; assessed farmers perceived benefits of organic farming practices; identified constraints to organic farming and determined strategies for the improvement of organic farming practices. Data were collected with structured questionn...
ABSTRACT This study analysed the economics of smallholder organic farmers in the Muleba district. Specifically, the study was conducted to identify the costs associated with organic and conventional coffee production, to assess the profitability of the two farming system and to determine the effect of premium price in compensation of yield in organic coffee. The study also addressed the coffee organic standard demanded by importers. Multistage, purposive and simple random sampling procedures...
ABSTRACT This research was done to assess contribution of organic farming on improving well-being of smallholder farmers through crop productivity, profit and food security among 324 smallholder farmers in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. The specific objectives were to: examine how farmers implement organic farming practices and sell their products; compare productivity, profit and food security between conventional/traditional farmers and organic farmers; determine factors affecting productivity,...
ABSTRACT The study analyzed organic farming practices among rural households in SouthSouth Nigeria. The study determined the level of awareness and use of organic farming practices in the study are, identified the sources of information on organic farming practices; assessed farmers perceived benefits of organic farming practices; identified constraints to organic farming and determined strategies for the improvement of organic farming practices. Data were collected with structured questionn...
ABSTRACT In Nigeria several small scale farmers make use of organic materials such as compost and manure to maintain soil organic matter and as sources of nutrients. The advantages of organic farming could include increased productivity and enhanced biodiversity of the farm lands and surrounding environment. This paper examined the utilization of organic of practices and materials, with highlight on farmers' demographics, knowledge of organic farming, attitude and constraint to use of organic...
Abstract/Overview Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, which can reduce the provisioning of ecosystem services in managed ecosystems. Organic farming and plant diversification are farm management schemes that may mitigate potential ecological harm by increasing species richness and boosting related ecosystem services to agroecosystems. What remains unclear is the extent to which farm management schemes affect biodiversity components other than speci...
Abstract Management practices such as tillage, crop rotation, irrigation, organic and inorganic inputs application are known to influence diversity and function of soil microbial populations. In this study, we investigated the effect of conventional versus organic farming systems at low and high input levels on structure and diversity of prokaryotic microbial communities. Soil samples were collected from the ongoing long-term farming system comparison trials established in 2007 at Chuka and ...
Abstract Microbial diversity and function in agro-ecosystems is influenced by various aspects linked to soil and agronomic practices for example, tillage, irrigation, crop rotation and application of organic and inorganic inputs. Farming systems practices may affect the dynamic interactions existing between soil, plant and microorganisms in different agricultural biomes. Due to limitations associated with conventional microbial cultivation strategies, only a fractional number of cultivable s...
Abstract: Despite their important ecological roles for soil health and soil fertility, free-living nematodes (FLN) have received relatively limited research attention. The present study evaluated the community structure and diversity of FLN in a field setting. The experiments were conducted in on-farm and on-station field plots sown to maize (Zea mays) and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) under four cropping practices. These farming systems included organic (compost and biopesticide use), conventi...
Abstract: Nitrogen (N) deficit is one of the limiting factors to food security in most developing countries while the excessive use of N has resulted in environmental contamination. Timely N availability, at the right rate is crucial to improving crop yield and N use efficiency in farming systems. Therefore, understanding nitrogen dynamics under different farming systems is essential to improve N use and recovery efficiencies of crops and in addressing environmental impacts associated with i...
Abstract: Plant parasitic nematodes (PPN) are biotic constraints to crop production worldwide resulting in significant yield losses. Management of these nematodes has primarily depended on chemical nematicides; but due to the increased pressure for more economic and environmentally friendly strategies, alternative methods like organic and conventional amendments, have been considered. To test the efficacy of conventional and farmer practice systems against organic farming in the suppression ...
ABSTRACT Traditional farming embraces the use of local tools like hoes, jembes, sticks and indigenous farming technology for a wide range of farm operations from land preparation to planting, harvesting, storage and selling the surplus harvests while the impacts of traditional farming include soil degradation, soil erosion and others. This study was therefore to assess the degree of traditional farming and its impacts on soil degradation in Kasemeni division in Kwale County, Kenya. The study ...
ABSTRACT Agriculture remains the mainstay of the African economy as an engine of economic growth and development where 88% of the continent’s populations living in rural areas earn their livelihood from agriculture (Ndambi 2008). Also 80% of Uganda’s cultivated land area falls under subsistence form of agriculture (Kalyebara 2005). It is this phenomenon that prompted a research study whose intention was to investigate the implications of subsistence farming in the natural environment, the...