238 results for group: agriculture-1

Effectiveness of enhanced mineral weathering as a carbon sequestration tool and alternative to agricultural lime: An incubation experiment

Christiana Dietzen, Robert Harrison, Stephani Michelsen-Correa Abstract Applying finely ground silicate minerals to soils could mitigate CO2 emissions by enhancing the rate of carbon sequestration via silicate weathering. Using these minerals instead of agricultural lime to increase soil pH would also eliminate the dissolution of lime as a major source of agricultural CO2 emissions. However, dissolution rates of silicate minerals in the soil environment are uncertain and impacts of their application on the decomposition of soil organic matter have yet to be determined. A 3-month soil incubation was performed to investigate the effects ...

Changes in USDA food composition data for 43 garden crops, 1950 to 1999

Donald R Davis 1, Melvin D Epp, Hugh D Riordan Summary Objectives: To evaluate possible changes in USDA nutrient content data for 43 garden crops between 1950 and 1999 and consider their potential causes. Methods: We compare USDA nutrient content data published in 1950 and 1999 for 13 nutrients and water in 43 garden crops, mostly vegetables. After adjusting for differences in moisture content, we calculate ratios of nutrient contents, R (1999/1950), for each food and nutrient. To evaluate the foods as a group, we calculate median and geometric mean R-values for the 13 nutrients and water. To evaluate R-values for individual foods and ...

Declining Fruit and Vegetable Nutrient Composition: What Is the Evidence?

Donald R. Davis Abstract Three kinds of evidence point toward declines of some nutrients in fruits and vegetables available in the United States and the United Kingdom: 1) early studies of fertilization found inverse relationships between crop yield and mineral concentrations—the widely cited “dilution effect”; 2) three recent studies of historical food composition data found apparent median declines of 5% to 40% or more in some minerals in groups of vegetables and perhaps fruits; one study also evaluated vitamins and protein with similar results; and 3) recent side-by-side plantings of low- and high-yield cultivars of broccoli and grains ...

Food Patterns Equivalents Intakes by Americans: What We Eat in America,

Shanthy A Bowman, Natalia Schroeder, Randy P LaComb Abstract The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) encourage Americans to increase their fruit, vegetables, and whole grains intakes and limit added sugars and solid fats intakes [1]. This report highlights the salient changes in the U.S. population’s intake of selected USDA Food Patterns groups, including added sugars and solid fats, using What We Eat in America, NHANES 2003-2004 and 2015-2016 dietary data [2-4]. Download

Local fertilizers to achieve food self-sufficiency in Africa

Davide Ciceri, Antoine Allanore Abstract One of the key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations (UN) aims by 2030 to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”. Fertilizers will play a pivotal role in achieving that goal given that ~90% of crop production growth is expected to come from higher yields and increased cropping intensity. However, materials-science research on fertilizers has received little attention, especially in Africa. In this work we present an overview of the use of fertilizers in Africa to date, and based on that overview we suggest future research ...

The use of rocks to improve family agriculture in Brazil

Suzi H. Theodoro, Othon H. Leonardos Abstract During the second half of the 20th century, the introduction of new chemical agriculture technologies brought about a revolution in food production, but this has also cause deep deterioration in our relationships with the natural environment. In developing tropical countries, record yields were accompanied by rural exodus, widespread deforestation and loss of topsoil. The stonemeal research described herein is an alternative to such practices as it is an environmental friendly and socially responsible technology based on soil rejuvenation and conservation by means of the addition of natural rock ...

Rocks as fertilizers: preliminary studies on potassium availability of some common rocks in Sri Lanka

J. M. NIWAS and C. B. DISSANAYAKE Abstract Preliminary investigations of the K availability of some commonly occurring rocks of Sri Lanka showed that granulitic gneiss, pink granite, migmatitic gneiss and microcline granite release relatively high amounts of K indicating the capability of using these to provide K in plant nutrition. The finer crushed sizes are more effective in releasing K, and the availability of the K-reserves under appropriate soil conditions makes them possible substitutes for synthetic K fertilizers. Download  

Agronomic feasibility of using basalt powder as soil nutrient remineralizer

Augusto Vaghetti Luchese, Laércio Augusto Pivetta, Marcelo Augusto Batista, Fábio Steiner, Ana Paula da Silva Giaretta and Janete Chaves Dellabeta Curtis Abstract Tropical agriculture is highly dependent of soluble fertilizers, what raises the cost of production. An alternative to reduce the costs inputs is the use of low-cost alternative nutrient sources, such as the basic rocks. The aim of the work was to evaluate the effect of basalt powder on the soil chemical properties and plant growth. The experiment was arranged in a 2×2×2×3+4 factorial scheme: two soils (clay soil and sandy clay loam soil); two crops (maize and soybean); two ...

Vermicomposting with rock powder increases plant growth

Maria Eunice Paulade Souza, André Mundstock Xavierde Carvalho, Daniely de Cássia Deliberali, Ivo Jucksch, George Gardner Brown, Eduardo Sá Mendonçaca, Irene Maria Cardoso Abstract The growth of earthworms in substrates enriched with rock (gneiss and steatite) powder, and the potential of vermicomposting in increasing solubilization of minerals present in rock powder and in promoting plant growth were evaluated. Cattle manure (400 g), was enriched with 0, 5 and 20% of gneiss or steatite powder. Each pot with this mixture received nine earthworms (Eisenia andrei), at a density of 1000 indiv. m−3. After 60 d, earthworms were collected, ...

Evaluation of the potential of volcanic rock waste from southern Brazil as a natural soil fertilizer

Claudete Gindri Ramos, Xavier Querol, Adilson Celimar Dalmora, Karen Cristinade Jesus Pires, Ivo André Homrich Schneider, Luis Felipe Silva Oliveir, Rubens Muller Kautzmann Abstract This study was developed to evaluate the chemical and mineralogical properties of acid volcanic rock waste from mining activities by measuring the availability of macronutrients and micronutrients in Milli-Q water, and in acidic solutions to evaluate the potential use of this type of waste as natural soil fertilizers. The sample used in this work was obtained from a company of the mining district of Nova Prata, Rio Grande do Sul State, southern Brazil. Petrographic ...