203 results for group: agriculture-1

Critical evaluation of strategies for mineral fortification of staple food crops

Sonia Gómez-Galera, Eduard Rojas, Duraialagaraja Sudhakar, Changfu Zhu, Ana M Pelacho, Teresa Capell, Paul Christou Abstract Staple food crops, in particular cereal grains, are poor sources of key mineral nutrients. As a result, the world's poorest people, generally those subsisting on a monotonous cereal diet, are also those most vulnerable to mineral deficiency diseases. Various strategies have been proposed to deal with micronutrient deficiencies including the provision of mineral supplements, the fortification of processed food, the biofortification of crop plants at source with mineral-rich fertilizers and the implementation of breeding ...

Diverging patterns at the forest edge: Soil respiration dynamics of fragmented forests in urban and rural areas

Sarah M. Garvey, Pamela H. Templer, Erin A. Pierce, Andrew B. Reinmann, Lucy R. Hutyra Abstract As urbanization and forest fragmentation increase around the globe, it is critical to understand how rates of respiration and carbon losses from soil carbon pools are affected by these processes. This study characterizes soils in fragmented forests along an urban to rural gradient, evaluating the sensitivity of soil respiration to changes in soil temperature and moisture near the forest edge. While previous studies found elevated rates of soil respiration at temperate forest edges in rural areas compared to the forest interior, we find that soil ...

Soil and foliar application of rock dust as natural control agent for two-spotted spider mites on tomato plants

Nicoletta Faraone, Rodger Evans, Julia LeBlanc & Neil Kirk Hillier Abstract Mineral-based products represent a valid alternative to synthetic pesticides in integrated pest management. We investigated the effects of a novel granite dust product as an agent for controlling two-spotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), on tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Two-choice tests for repellency and repulsiveness, and no-choice bioassays with different type of applications (soil, foliar, and soil–foliar) were used in order to evaluate performance and action of the product. Evaluation of epidermal micromorphology and ...

Ants as a powerful biotic agent of olivine and plagioclase dissolution

Ronald I. Dorn Abstract The biotic enhancement of Ca-Mg silicate weathering has helped maintain Earth’s habitability over geological time scales by assisting in the gradual drawdown of atmospheric CO2. 25 years of in-situ measurements of Ca-Mg silicate mineral dissolution by ants, termites, root mats, bare ground, and a control reveals ants to be one of the most powerful biotic weathering agents yet recognized. Six sites in Arizona and Texas (USA) indicate that eight different ant species enhance mineral dissolution by ∼50×–300× over controls. A comparison of extracted soil at a 50 cm depth in ant colonies and adjacent bare ground shows ...

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 ...