ABSTRACT Tree Based Integrated Food-energy System is a farming system that combines food crops and trees for wood energy production on the same farm. This farming system aims at producing both food and wood energy on the same piece of land through sustainable crop integration and agro-systems. Therefore, this study was aimed at examining how this system can promote the livelihoods of small-holder farmers in Kenya, with particular focus on Chuka Igambang’ombe Sub-county in Tharaka Nithi Cou...
ABSTRACT Climate variability and change pose serious challenges to smallholder farmers and agro-pastoralists. Nonetheless, their trends and impacts on rain-fed farming system (RFFS) in semi-arid areas of Tanzania have not sufficiently been explored. This study was conducted in Iramba and Meatu districts to contribute to this knowledge gap. The study specifically (i) assessed meteorological data trends of rainfall and temperature between 1994 and 2011; (ii) determined farmers’ perception of ...
ABSTRACT Human activities (including agriculture) contribute to enhance release of primary greenhouse gases (GHGs) (CH4, CO2, N2O) into the atmosphere leading to global warming. Sugarcane is an important economic crop in Kenya being third highest contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) after tea and coffee. About 90% of Kenya‘s production is contributed by smallholders. To improve/maximize sugarcane yields, farmers convert natural vegetation to sugarcane farms; apply nitrogen fertilizer...
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 This paper presents a review on the literature of tobacco farming on the observed research on the impact of tobacco farming on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers as well its impact on land. In this study I drew on the existing academic structure on tobacco farming in Zimbabwe. An examination of the determinants of farmer partaking in tobacco farming was carried out on 30 smallholder farmers. The case was Mount Bokoto ward24 in Murewa District. This study was therefore initiated ...
ABSTRACT Sugarcane farming has been practiced the world over since the Persian farmers discovered the “reeds that produced honey without bees” between the 6th and 4th Centuries in India. Since then, sugarcane farming has been practiced in various tropical regions of the world with the major driver of the industry being the world’s increasing demand for sugar. This has led to the expansion of arable land under sugarcane cultivation, with a myriad of problems presenting themselves ecolog...
Environmental degradation is a serious problem facing Nigeria’s environment. Until recently the major known causes of environmental pollution in the country include gas flaring, oil spillage, activities of artisanal miners, unsustainable exploitation of biological resources by the populace such as illegal logging, using of chemicals and explosives for fishing, emission of industrial effluents, poor waste management systems among others which are responsible for climate change, leading to gl...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of HIV/AIDS on farm income and food production in Kavango region. Representative farm models of communal farms for each of the two most common farming systems in Kavango region were developed. These are the riverline and inland farming systems, which were then used to determine the levels of farm income and food production at farm level under various HIV/AIDS scenarios in terms of changes in resource availability and gender, bas...
ABSTRACT The influence of soil fertility management technologies on crop production has widely been researched in Tharaka-Nithi County. However, data on their contribution towards national greenhouse gas budget is scanty. This study aimed at characterising smallholder farming systems and simulating greenhouse gas emissions, maize yields, yield scaled nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and N2O emission factors from different soil fertility management technologies in Tharaka-Nithi County. Three hund...
Abstract The influence of soil fertility management technologies on crop production has widely been researched in Tharaka-Nithi County. However, data on their contribution towards national greenhouse gas budget is scanty. This study aimed at characterising smallholder farming systems and simulating greenhouse gas emissions, maize yields, yield scaled nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and N2O emission factors from different soil fertility management technologies in Tharaka-Nithi County. Three hun...
ABSTRACT Financial derivatives are used for hedging and transferring of risks in the financial system, government planning and regulatory systems. Derivatives have been used as a tool to identify risks and develop strategies to address the risks in Agriculture. The study’s main aim is to investigate the applicability of weather derivatives on tobacco farming in Zimbabwe and examines its role in production. Thus by studying the issue within the context of Zimbabwe weather patterns and their ...
This paper introduces a groundbreaking approach to revolutionize traditional farming practices by introducing a decision model-based agricultural electrical automation control system. The system integrates cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and sensor networks, with the goal of enhancing the efficiency and productivity of agricultural processes. By automating key tasks such as irrigation, fertilization, pest control, and harvesting, the s...
ABSTRACT The present study quantifies the effects of the determinants of commercialisation of maize production in the East Akyem District of Ghana. The Tobit model is used. The conventional t-test is also performed to examine the differences between the characteristics of the commercial and non-commercial maize farmers in the East Akyem District of Ghana. The study observes, inter alia, that farmer age, marital status, time farmer spends on maize fanning, farming system, whether male family m...
Abstract: Improvement of the contribution of the untapped huge goat resource of Ethiopia can be achieved through alleviating constraints and adjusting inefficient production practices which requires knowledge about roles of goat, husbandry practices, production constraints, performance under the prevailing condition and available resources. With this understanding, a survey study on goat production systems of mixed crop livestock (MCL) and Agro pastoral (AP) Farming systems in the rural kebe...
ABSTRACT The study was undertaken to analyze the relationship between mixed farming and soil degradation in Nyarubuye Sub County. The study objectives included; finding out different mixed farming practices in Nyarubuye Sub County, identify impacts of mixed farming on soil degradation in Nyarubuye Sub County and to analyze the solutions of on how to over come soil degradation. Data was collected basing on the above objectives and each objective was handled after the other. Different mixed f...