Sustainable Agricultural Development

This paper reviews the key issues with regard to land resource governance and its dimensions in terms of sustainability and rural development. It explains the links between these areas and the related research and policy implications. It concludes by recommending the required priority actions at the global and country level to move the land resource governance agenda forward within the perspective of promoting sustainability and development of the rural areas and communities. The paper presumes that the land resource governance is expected to remain a key area of national and international engagement in the near future, especially in the context of climate change and food crisis, because the access to land is becoming ever more relevant for livelihood enhancement, food security, and rural development. Moreover, the poor land governance and policies that undermine tenure security often tend to diminish investments and encourage unsustainable practices of land management that generate short-term gains at the cost of social and environmental balance. Based on this, pro-poor, democratic and sustainable governance solutions are urgently required that respect and strengthen the tenure rights and security for smallholder farmers, pastoralists, forest dependent people and indigenous people.

During 2008, the emergence of “land grabbing” (the purchase or long-term lease of vast tracts of land from mostly poor, developing countries by wealthier, food-insecure nations as well as private entities to produce food for export) has raised deep concern over food security and rural agricultural development. This paper investigates land grabbing within the context of the global food crisis and the ways in which foreign investment in developing country land markets impacts land reform agendas and other policies to promote food security. While many argue that the establishment of a conducive investment environment is necessary to stimulate agricultural production, there is a pressing need to study the implications of increased foreign private control over crucial food-producing lands. By critically analyzing the combination of factors motivating this trend and the potential effects of such investments on agricultural production, this chapter incites important discussion about the role of the private sector in promoting—or hindering—global food security.

Continuing population and consumption growth demand more food in the developing world, where most of the farmers are resource-poor smallholders and face multifaceted challenges to meet increasing food demand for their families and livestock from good as well as marginal/saline lands. This can be attributed to water scarcity, poor understanding of the problem, lack of access to new technology, financial constraints, and diminished soil and water quality. Owing to this menace, many farmers have set aside marginal lands and abandoned agriculture on these lands. Producing more food from the same area of land while reducing the environmental impact requires sustainable intensification. Rather than wringing their hands in despair over these problems, the scientists of the Dubai-based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) are turning adversity into advantage by providing technical support to poor farmers through the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) of respective partner countries in improving soil quality and by providing alternative agricultural production systems to farmers for better agricultural services, which lead to improvements of their livelihoods and food security. These practices include initial soil and water resources assessment for better understanding of resource quality to develop site-specific management plans (site preparation, use of soil amendments, leaching excess salts, salinity mapping and monitoring, nutrient management, and other cultural practices), and provision of production system that fit these conditions. The initial plan helps farmers to take necessary actions to improve and maintain soil health during the course of crop growth and to assure that soil quality is not degraded and the environment is conserved. In this chapter ICBA work and approach has been comprehensively described with examples of projects implemented around the world in IDB member countries.

Salinization of land has threatened civilization from ancient to modern times. To mitigate salinization, efforts have been made in the aspects of management and reclamation including using salt tolerant crops. Soybean is one of the major food and oil crops in most of the countries where salinity problems exist or are likely to be developed. Reducing the spread of salinization and increasing the salt tolerance of high yielding crops are key global issues. In this regards, an experimental design was laid out during two successive summer seasons of 2007 and 2008 at three different sites with soil salinity levels of 3.13, 6.25 and 9.38 dS m^{− 1} at the experimental farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Fayum University, Egypt. The experiment was conducted to determine how can inoculation with Rhizobium japonicum, Azospirillum lipoferum and ascorbic acid solely and in combination mitigate the negative effects of salinity on soybean growth and yield. The experiment was conducted using randomized complete block design on three different sites with soil salinity levels of 3.13, 6.25 and 9.38 dS m^{− 1}, using two soybean cultivars (Giza₂₂ and Giza₁₁₁), 7 treatments (biofertilizer and ascorbic acid solely and their combinations) and three replications. The results revealed soil salinity significantly reduced plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaves area per plant (cm²), shoot dry weight, total chlorophyll and total caroteniods. Soil salinity significantly reduced ascorbic acid, total indoles, α-amylase activity and polyphenoloxidase activity while it increased total soluble phenols, total soluble sugars and free proline. Soil salinity decreased significantly the percentage of N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu while it increased Na and Cl in the plant. Soil salinity also reduced all seed yield parameters in addition to seed yield quality (protein and oil contents). No significant difference was found between both cultivars used in most measured traits. Biofertilizer treatment associated with ascorbic acid at 100 and 200 ppm showed the best results compared with other treatments (control, biofertilizer alone, ascorbic acid at 100 ppm and ascorbic acid at 200 ppm).

This study crafts a policy framework for sustainable utilisation of farmland for the Waterberg District Municipality in South Africa. The district, being predominantly agricultural and rural, faces contention in terms of land allocation for traditional agricultural land uses versus contemporary uses such as golf courses, game ranching and holiday accommodation/lodges. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that these challenges were besetting the district at a time when it did not have a policy for sustainable land use. Fully cognisant of this shortcoming, the municipality decided to generate a policy framework for sustainable utilisation of farmland. The approach entailed a participatory situational analysis identifying all land zones for agricultural purposes in the district and prime agricultural land as well as environmentally sensitive areas. In addition, the policy environment governing the development of agricultural land was thoroughly assessed to ensure compliance, consistency and alignment of the policy with the provincial and national policies. The outcome is a policy framework expected to facilitate, guide and influence the sustainable subdivision of farmland taking into account the realities of the existence of competing needs for agricultural land use. The policy framework clearly shows specific areas that may and may not subdivide further, with reasons. Also, it presents a set of guidelines and minimum requirements, to inform decision-making regarding subdivision proposals.

This paper examines the introduction of urban agriculture as a medium for gradual urbanization, collaboration, exchange and identification of new multicultural urban inhabitants, especially immigrants originating from rural areas. The paper, after defining the state of urban agriculture for today’s urbanism, examines the terms multiculturality, transculturality and multifunctionality in continuously productive urban voids and peri-urban areas. It also describes intercultural gardens in Germany, proposes the concept of transcultural gardens and presents six not yet realized projects in Greece.

Food security is a human right and represents a serious threat to humankind, originating as it does from a worsening shortage of irrigation water. The sustainability of rural development is purely subjected to ethnic, gender and racial discrimination. The present study takes a look at the On-Farm Water Management (OFWM) programme, a participatory approach providing technical know-how and capital shares for watercourse construction, and improving the capacity building and empowerment of farmers to help them combat poverty and become socially mobile. Mapping, designing and watercourse improvement are contributed by the government, while farmers are obligated to pay their share in the form of labour. Local farmers have the necessary know-how about the field geographical area, raw material, procurement and local customs. During the course of this study, four Tehsils of the district of Faisalabad, Pakistan, were chosen as experimental units. The project conclusion resulted in 33% more water being saved by improved watercourses. About 25% arid area was brought under cultivation by saving irrigation water as well as generating 30% more employment. Overall, 50% of the economic situation was improved in rural areas, which is really a great step forward in achieving sustained rural development.

Water is necessary to offset the water requirement of rice crops, especially under irrigated rice conditions (lowland, deepwater rice). Insufficient water supply during rice cultivation may obstruct the rice-growing rate and ultimate yield. On the other hand, anaerobic rice systems emit methane (CH₄), a greenhouse gas, and hence contribute to global warming. In this regards, introduction of aerobic rice systems may be an option to reduce CH₄ emissions and maintain water resources in the ecosystem. In an effort to reduce CH₄ emissions, the DNDC-rice model was used to validate CH₄ emissions under field conditions with various water management regimes including continuously flooded, mid season drainage, multiple drainage, and local farmer practice in the irrigated rice cultivation areas in Thailand. The results have shown lower CH₄ emissions from drainage fields than continuously flooded management. Relatively, longer field drainage presented a high potential for CH₄ reduction. Rice yields under four water managements were not significantly different; however, rice growth rate and water requirement was dissimilar. The water consumption under mid season drainage treatment was reduced by 5.3% and rice grain yield was increased by 5% compared to conventional water management at the study site. The results from model simulation can explain the phenomenon of electron donors/electron acceptors in rice soil. The contents of electron acceptors strongly affect CH₄ emissions from rice fields, particularly under alternative forms of water managements. The results from the field experiment and modeling suggested field drainage during growing season as one option to mitigate CH₄ emissions but maintain rice grain yield.

The Aral Sea drainage basin (ASDB) in Central Asia is a region under severe water stress. Its population depends to a large extent economically on irrigated agriculture, which consumes over 90% of the withdrawn freshwater in the drainage basin. There is thus a strong need to increase the water productivity, i.e. the ratio between crop production and water use. We analyse impacts on water use of possible large-scale implementations of alternative irrigation techniques, replacing traditional furrow irrigation on cotton fields in the ASDB. We base our quantifications on experimental field comparisons of yield and water use between traditional furrow irrigation and alternative irrigation techniques (drip irrigation, alternate furrow irrigation, surge flow irrigation and surge flow irrigation on alternate furrows). All alternative methods, except drip irrigation, are associated with lower cotton yields than the traditional furrow irrigation. In order to keep the cotton production unchanged when yields are lower, extended irrigation areas are needed, over which non-negligible additional water volumes will be lost. We show that despite such negative feedback effects, the irrigation water use on cotton fields in the ASDB could decrease by as much as 10 km³/year, if the traditional furrow irrigation were to be replaced by one of the investigated alternative methods. Such decreases in water use can considerably influence the hydrological conditions in the entire basin. In particular, by reducing the severe water stress in the lower ASDB, which suffers from elevated groundwater tables, and high soil and groundwater salinity.

Laboratory batch experiments were conducted to investigate the sorption of nitrate from aqueous solutions using hydrothermally synthesized and surface modified zeolite nano particles. The ability of surface modification with hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium (HDTMA) and Dioctadecyldimethyl ammonium (ADOD) greatly enhance the sorption and slow release of nitrate. The slow release tendency of the modified materials has also been studied through Thin Layers in Funnels and Soil Column Analytical Test. The synthesized materials were characterized by different instrumental techniques viz. X-ray diffraction, FTIR, SEM, EDS, TEM, and TGA.

On one hand, we are observing a continuous and irrational exploitation of raw materials. On the other hand, we are producing more waste. We should not expect, therefore, that the Earth produces more. We should do more with what the Earth produces, and need to adopt sustainable waste management. We must turn to nature, where there is no waste and where any surpluses are metabolized by the system itself. If we adopt such principles in all forms of production, it will favor the development of zero-emissions production, as the waste (output) of one process is usable as a resource (input) for another production process. Specifically, the research, conducted in collaboration with the Neosidea Group, proposes an analytical tool for configuring and setting up networks among different companies. Industries are led to organize themselves into sustainable local networks, i.e., local production systems where the waste products of one industry can be sold as a resource to another to their mutual benefit. Waste enriched with new values becomes a resource and is made available for producing new products strictly connected to the local know-how. By applying the systemic approach we can see how the cultural identity of the territory is reinforced, the biodiversity is conserved, and the quality of the products generated is improved: this creates positive effects on the territory both in environmental and economic terms.

For centuries, humans have bred animals for a variety of purposes. Farm animals have been selectively bred for maximum productivity. However, research shows that many types of farm animals, including poultry, are now suffering ill-health and poor levels of welfare due to these high levels of productivity. High-yielding dairy cows and fast-growing meat chickens are all affected. These animals can no longer survive to a natural lifespan. Such breeds are unsuited to farming in developing countries and more robust and native breeds should be used. Methods such as cloning, which is likely to be used to replicate large numbers of these same high-yielding animals and which may involve wastage of life and considerable animal suffering in its development stages, should be avoided.

The question of the sustainability of agricultural production, considering especially the animal production sector and its development, can be dated back to the second part of the twentieth century. Sustainability is a subject of priority today, as sustainability is considered to be a core element influencing our existence and in the survival of forthcoming generations. The notion of sustainability comprises three aspects: ecological, social and political and economic target systems, which by now have been supplemented with cultural and regional elements, including the protection of the environment, local traditions and the scale of values, cultural and historical heritage. The principles of sustainable development also include the improvement of human and animal health and the maintenance of vital rural communities. For centuries, sheep have contributed substantially to grassland-based agricultural production in Hungary. The sheep sector supports rural areas as a tool for sustainability in the animal production sector. This paper briefly reviews the levels of sustainability in Hungarian animal production, focusing particularly on sheep production. We then identify the most significant economic issues affecting this sustainability through use of a “SWOT” analysis, a “problem tree” and “structure of objectives” methods, based on our findings.

On-farm feeding trials were carried out to examine the effect of supplementing urea-treated sorghum stover (UTSS) with sesame cake (SC) or fishmeal (FM) on the body weight of sheep. Twenty-one male sheep were divided into three groups of seven sheep in each treatment. All the sheep used in this experiment were from breed (Gerej), with the same age and initial body weight and from the same area.

The feeding trials were conducted in Gash Barka situated in western lowlands of Eritrea. Initially all the sheep were fed on UTSS for an adaptation period of 15 days. The control diet consisted of UTSS fed ad libitum, the second and third treatments were composed of UTSS fed ad libitum, supplemented daily with 80 g/head of SC and 60 g/head of FM, respectively. The experiment was conducted for 90 days and both feed intakes and body weights were recorded regularly. The results showed that the dry matter intake (DMI) was significantly different (p < 0.05) between the control and SC-supplemented groups, but not between the other treatments. It was the highest for the SC-supplemented group at 847 g/head/day followed by the FM-supplemented group and the control at 826 and 821 g/head/day, respectively. Sheep supplemented with SC had the highest significant (p < 0.05) body weight gain (BWG) (134 g/head/day) followed by the group supplemented with FM (115 g/head/day). The BWG for the control was 66 g/head/day. Feed conversion was best on SC (6.92) followed by FM (7.70) supplementation. The lowest cost of feed per kg of BWG (16.91 Nfa) was attained by supplementing with SC. It can be concluded that feeding UTSS alone or supplementing with small amounts of SC or FM can increase the live weight of sheep at a reasonable cost.

Throughout East Africa, animal feed resources fluctuate seasonally and are often of limited availability. Finding alternative feed resources that can sustain animal production during the long dry season is an essential need. Cactus is a drought tolerant and succulent feed resource available throughout the year in Eritrea. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of increasing levels of spineless cactus inclusion in the diet of sheep fed urea-treated barley straw. Twenty-four fat-tailed Highland male sheep with a mean live weight of 21.1 kg were randomly assigned into four treatments (T1–T4). Animals in T1 received ad libitum amount of urea (5%) treated barley straw (UTBS) alone, while those in T2, T3 and T4 received ad libitum UTBS supplemented with 175 g, 350 g and 525 g of spineless cactus (dry matter basis), respectively. With increasing level of cactus, there were significant increases in DMI (p < 0.001) and body weight performance (p < 0.05), while water consumption decreased (p < 0.001). The highest DMI was found in the last two treatments (101.8 and 96.5 g/kgBW^0.75d, respectively) as compared to the first two treatments (94.4 and 87.6 g/kgBW^0.75d). The water intake was significantly decreased with the progressive increase in cactus. The highest body weight gain (51.9 g/day) was found when sheep received 350 g dry matter (DM) of cactus (T3), while the lowest was in the control diet (26.8 g/day). The metabolism trial demonstrated that available energy intake was directly related to performance in the feeding trial. In conclusion, feeding cactus with UTBS can significantly increase animal performance and feed intake, and reduced water intake.

Totally 160 sheep and goats were used in 84 feeding trial days to compare the feeding value of halophyte as alternative animal feed with locally available. In this study, three feed types, i.e. halophyte (H), sorghum husk (SH) and shishay (S)—locally manufactured commercial feed—were used to formulate the ration of the four treatments (i.e. Tr. 1 Tr. 2 Tr. 3 and Tr. 4): Tr. 1 (100% H), Tr. 2 (70% SH and 30% H), Tr. 3 (70% SH and 30% S) and Tr. 4 (100% SH). Feed composition analysis for each treatment, and using SAS procedures statistical analysis of body weight gain (BWG) and dry matter intake (DMI) were carried out for each species and feed conversion rate (FCR) and average daily gain (ADG) were calculated. The results of sheep showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) among all treatments except between Tr. 2 and Tr. 3 for BW; and Tr. 1 was significantly different from Tr. 2 and Tr. 4 for DMI. However, these results were no different for goats among all treatments, with the exception DMI of Tr. 4. Therefore, the present study indicated that the inclusion of halophyte (up to 30%) in the diet can substitute the 30% S, which is expensive and readily unavailable, as alternative animal feed for small ruminants to fill the gap of feed shortage and non-availability in Eritrea. However, further study is necessary to see the impact of halophyte on milk production, fertility, meat quality and its economical use as animal feed.

Litters from replacement birds, layers and broilers were collected; sun-dried and analyzed for the content of crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), ash and fat. The litters were ensiled with leftover bread in a ratio of 45.5: 54.5 by weight in plastic containers for a minimum of 21 days. The process of ensiling resulted in a product that had a higher CP content after ensiling. The ensilages were of wholesome appearance, palatable and safe. Sixteen Barka cattle were divided into groups of four cattle in each treatment and a 90 days trial was conducted. The treatments consisted of a control diet (T₁) consisting of a commercial type ration made up of 30% wheat bran, 36.3% leftover bread, 2.4% fishmeal, 30.3% taff straw and 1% salt. The other three treatments consisted of ensilages of 30% replacement litter (T₂); layer litter (T₃) or broiler litter (T₄) with leftover bread 36.3%, fishmeal 2.4%, taff straw 30.3% and salt 1%. The feeding system was restricted and all the groups consumed all the feed that was offered to them (7.44 kg of DM per cattle per day). Average body weight gains (ABG) for T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ were 1.093, 1.019, 0.673 and 0.966 kg/day, respectively. ABG for T₁, T₂ and T₄ were not significantly different (p > 0.05), whereas cattle fed on T₃ were significantly different (p < 0.05) from ABG of T₁, T₂ and T₄. Wheat bran can be completely replaced by replacement and broiler litters in rations for Barka cattle.