Toward Sustainability Soil and Water Research Priorities for Developing Countries (1991) / Chapter Skim
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3. Research Priorities to Support Sustainable Agriculture
3. Research Priorities to Support Sustainable Agriculture
Pages 22-42
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From page 22... ...
Several of the unique characteristics of tropical environments from mountain highlands to arid rangelands to humid forests played particularly important roles in the iMuch of the developing world is located in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America. These are essentially tropical continents that is, most of the land area is located either in tropical latitudes or is influenced by tropical atmospheric systems.
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From page 23... ...
Given the problems faced by tropical agriculture, the unique characteristics of the environments and cultures, and the strengths and weaknesses of the existing knowledge base, research in the following areas could offer great rewards in support of sustainable agriculture and natural resource management: Overcoming institutional constraints on resource conservation; Enhancing soil biological processes; Managing soil properties; Improving water resource management; Matching crops to environments; and · Incorporating social and cultural dimensions into research.
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From page 24... ...
Research on the use of mycorrhizal fungi is not highlighted because it lacked immediate, practical value to the farmers in most need of sustainable agricultural strategies. Research on soil acidity and its effects on the growth of agriculturally important crops is not listed because this is reasonably well understood and many measures are already known to correct such problems.
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From page 25... ...
Critical research priorities should include: · Studies of land and water resource tenure and access policies that affect long-term stewardship and sustainable agricultural practices; · Analyses of social, political, and economic dynamics of pricing policies and how these affect the stewardship or degradation of land and water resources; and · Thorough evaluations of in situ and ex situ germplasm conservation, and the relative merits and problems each offers for maintaining biodiversity to provide a wide range of genetic options for varying hydrologic regimes and soil fertilities. Other priority issues should include: · Evaluation of local and regional institutional arrangements to improve the integrated conservation of soil and water; · Evaluation of short-term incentives that might be used to implement long-range sustainability goals; and · Assessment of the nature and impact of national policies that affect the use of industrial inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and mechanization.
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From page 26... ...
Instead, all should be attempting to integrate their special knowledge in pursuit of answers to the complex local, regional, and institutional constraints on resource conservation. ENHANCING SOIL BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES Sustainable agriculture requires maintenance of the soil biota, particularly in areas of low-income, low-input agricultural systems where soil biological processes are critical for sustaining and enhancing soil fertility.
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From page 27... ...
Effective management of soil biological processes to cycle and fix essential crop nutrients can reduce expenditures on fossil fuels. The synchronization of nutrient release from organic inputs to meet nutrient uptake demand by crops is critical and little understood.
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From page 28... ...
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From page 29... ...
Research has led to substantial progress in identifying the fundamental constraints and basic principles of soil management, although such work has been conducted largely in developed countries in temperate regions. However, for both the developed and developing world, a central weakness is our limited capability to provide optimal site-specific soil and water management practices that can be employed by individual land users within the context of their needs and the prevailing social, economic, and political climate.
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From page 30... ...
Organic materials can have multiple benefits in reducing or alleviating many soil chemical problems. Notable among these are providing nitrogen and other essential nutrients and correcting soil acidity.
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From page 31... ...
The broken surface traps windblown sand, reducing erosion and protecting young crops from sand blast and burial. Credit: Neil Caudle, North Carolina State University.
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From page 33... ...
IMPROVING WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT For much of the tropical world, water is the key natural resource, and managing variable, dynamic water supplies thus is a critical challenge if agriculture is to be sustainable. As populations grow and urban and industrial water demands increase, competition for water has intensified.
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From page 34... ...
Some of the greatest potential benefits of improved water management may well be found "at the margins" of the water management field, such as the improvement of little known or innovative approaches and technologies. The challenge is to help farmers optimize their use of available water while maintaining the quality.
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From page 35... ...
· Investigating the policy and political issues of pricing and subsidies of Innovative thinking can help surmount the constraints posed by insufficient rain early in the growing season. In Nigeria, local farmers have developed a system where sorghum is started in irrigated nurseries and then transplanted into the fields once the rainy season is under way.
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From page 36... ...
water and products in water-scarce areas and the long-term impacts these have on agricultural strategies and soil management. Other priority issues should include: · Conducting comparative institutional analyses of risks and benefits of water management strategies, including local as well as large-scale institutions.
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From page 37... ...
Since both rain-fed and irrigated agricultural systems often produce significant environmental impacts, research is needed to evaluate and improve the criteria and methods for carrying out environmental impact studies for project design and existing projects MATCHING CROPS TO ENVIRONMENTS Research to enhance the matches between crops and environments is an ongoing and still critical endeavor. This work should include studies focused on the concept of ecological niche and the ways in which agriculture might benefit from use of appropriate organisms, including opportunities offered by genetic manipulation.
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From page 38... ...
38 SOIL AND WATER RESEARCH PRIORITIES ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ :~ ~ ~~ ~~-~-~-~:~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ :~ -: ~~ ~~ : ~: over time to tolerate local constraints, they have particular merit in guiding sustainable agriculture research efforts. To comprehend underlying cultural, economic, and social context from the household level, two approaches are required.
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From page 39... ...
In general, the matching of crops to tropical environments has not received adequate research attention because of a traditional emphasis on "conventional crops," annual crops, and monoculture production systems. Critical research priorities should include: · Improved understanding of indigenous knowledge, especially local soil and crop taxonomies as well as the analysis of the array of environmental knowledge that could help orient current research; · The potentials and problems of erosion-prevention crops and strategies; · Crops developed and selected for their adaptations to chemical stresses such as aluminum toxicity, alkalinity, and soil and irrigation water salinity; · More analysis of mixed management practices, including techniques such as alley cropping, agroforestry, and successional management, and their potential to meet multiple needs including, but going beyond, yield.
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From page 40... ...
In matching crops to environments, large potential may exist for transferring valuable or useful plants from one ecosystem niche to other analogous sites. The winged bean is one of the better known cases, but many lesser known species could undergo similar development processes.
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From page 41... ...
Many more crops and livestock, not widely known, show similar promise and could help to enhance the productivity of agriculture, particularly in marginal environments. INCORPORATING SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIMENSIONS Most people involved in research and development for developing countries now agree that research- if it is to be of practical value must incorporate social, cultural, and economic factors as well as technical and scientific ones.
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From page 42... ...
The social and cultural dimensions of the research must be kept focused on issues of relevance to the other scientists involved, and on overall project goals. At most sites, important areas for research will include: · Indigenous soil, water, and agricultural classification systems; · Allocation of time and division of labor both by gender and seasonal~ty; · Land tenure and access to resources; · Subsistence, nutrition, and the cash economy; and · Values, indigenous views on the people-land balance, and attitudes toward agriculture, soil, water, children, and the future.
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