Farming Systems - Science topic

Dear Dr Hua Cao,

I had long association with various Quality Systems and I strongly recommend your relevant comments.

Yes , it is possible under each Nation’s Quality Infrastructure (QI) to make Soil Health Card a mandatory component of modern agricultural practices.

Looking forward which country makes it possible in next few years ( ie. 3 years).

with best wishes,

SUMRao

Ankur Singh Prem Baboo Sunil Meghwanshi Subhrajit Mandal

Respected Scholars:

Indian farmers face several barriers to adopting Integrated Farming Systems (IFS), including a lack of awareness and technical knowledge, economic constraints such as high initial investment costs and limited access to credit, and inadequate market access and infrastructure. Additionally, unsupportive policies, insufficient extension services, perceived risks, and climate variability further hinder adoption. Cultural factors, traditional practices, social norms, small and fragmented land holdings, and insecure land tenure also play significant roles. To promote IFS adoption, strategies such as enhancing extension services, providing financial support, improving market access, developing supportive policies, establishing demonstration projects, and encouraging community-based approaches are essential.

Enriched compost in organic farming involves combining organic materials like kitchen scraps, crop residues, and manure. These materials provide essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, enhancing soil fertility. The composting process requires turning the pile regularly to aerate it, promoting the breakdown of organic matter by beneficial microorganisms. The resulting compost improves soil structure, water retention, and microbial activity, fostering a healthy environment for plant growth.

1. **Collecting Organic Materials:** Gather kitchen scraps (fruit and vegetable peels), yard waste (leaves, grass clippings), and livestock manure. These materials provide a mix of green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) components.

2. **Layering Materials:** Create layers in the compost pile, alternating between green and brown materials. This balance ensures proper carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, aiding microbial decomposition.

3. **Moisture Management:** Maintain adequate moisture levels, akin to a wrung-out sponge. Regularly turn the compost pile to aerate it and prevent over-saturation, facilitating microbial activity.

4. **Microbial Action:** Beneficial microorganisms break down organic matter during the composting process. Nitrogen-rich materials, like manure and kitchen scraps, encourage microbial growth, accelerating decomposition.

5. **Temperature Monitoring:** Composting generates heat as microorganisms break down materials. Regularly monitor the internal temperature, aiming for a range of 120-160°F (49-71°C) to ensure efficient decomposition.

6. **Aeration:** Turn the compost pile every few weeks to introduce oxygen, promoting aerobic decomposition and preventing unpleasant odors associated with anaerobic conditions.

7. **Curing Stage:** After active decomposition, let the compost cure for a few weeks. This allows beneficial microbes to stabilize, and the compost to mature.

8. **Screening:** Sieve the compost to remove any large, undecomposed materials. The resulting enriched compost is now ready for use in organic farming.

**Contributions to Soil:**

- **Nutrient Content:** The breakdown of organic materials releases essential nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) vital for plant growth.

- **Soil Structure:** Compost improves soil structure by enhancing aggregation, promoting better aeration, and preventing compaction.

- **Water Retention:** Compost acts as a sponge, enhancing the soil's water-holding capacity and reducing the risk of water runoff.

- **Microbial Diversity:** The organic matter in compost fosters a diverse microbial community, promoting beneficial soil organisms that contribute to plant health.

- **pH Regulation:** Compost helps regulate soil pH, creating a more stable and optimal environment for plant nutrient uptake.

Modern farming systems include Agriculture 4.0, which means that you can optimize resources, use IoT to irrigate, know the appropriate moment to combat pests, reduce the tractor intervention in the land, avoid agrochemical use as a traditional farming system, and be alert to climatic information. Also, use genetically improved seeds for better success. An important key: to using farmer expertise and sharing news technologies with farmers

Globalization has enhanced agricultural system. Rising global trade in agriculture has increased the share of exports of many developed and developing countries. Share of LDCs in agri- exports is still low. Technology has been much advanced and applications in agriculture has made much profitable. FDI in agriculture at international level has been rising, Cultural exchanges has definetely increased access to many new innovation and diversification at bigger scale.

Regards,

Chandan Kumar (PhD).

Volodrone for crop spraying?

Use of Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning and data science to determine the best location to grow crops?

Internet of Things technologies to automate irrigation?

Agrobots for weeding and crop harvesting?

Please which one do you feel shall be mass-produced and marketed in the next 5 years?

Conventional agriculture causes increased greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion, water pollution, and threatens human health. Organic farming has a smaller carbon footprint, conserves and builds soil health, replenishes natural ecosystems for cleaner water and air, all without toxic pesticide residues. While organic farming tends to enhance soil health and conventional practices degrade it, relying on tillage for weed control on both organic and conventional farms degrades soil organic matter and can disrupt soil life in ways that reduce crop mineral uptake and phytochemical production. Soil organic matter significantly improves the soil's capacity to store and supply essential nutrients (such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium), and to retain toxic elements. It allows the soil to cope with changes in soil acidity, and helps soil minerals to decompose faster.

In my opinion, vericulture can be an excellent alternative or complement to traditional agriculture if it is carried out in sustainable urban areas that strive to be self-sufficient in many respects, including food, and try to function as much as possible in accordance with sustainable development goals.

What do you think about this topic?

Please answer,

I invite everyone to join the discussion,

Thank you very much,

Best regards,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

The association with Rhizobium bacteria and other organisms that favor the formation and increase in the concentration of glomalin can make millet potentially conducive to this task.

Agro-diversification in the context of millet-based integrated farming systems refers to the practice of cultivating a variety of millet crops along with complementary agricultural components to create a sustainable and resilient farming system. This approach emphasizes the integration of millets with other crops, livestock, agroforestry, and other agricultural activities to optimize resource use, increase productivity, and enhance ecological sustainability. Here are some key aspects of agro-diversification in millet-based integrated farming systems:

1. Cultivating diverse millet varieties: Agro-diversification involves growing different types of millets such as pearl millet, finger millet, foxtail millet, and proso millet. Each millet variety has unique characteristics, nutritional profiles, and adaptability to different agro-climatic conditions. By cultivating diverse millet varieties, farmers can enhance their resilience to climate change, pests, and diseases while providing consumers with a range of nutritious food options.

2. Crop rotation and intercropping: Agro-diversification encourages the practice of crop rotation and intercropping within millet-based systems. Crop rotation involves alternating millet crops with other crops, such as legumes, oilseeds, or vegetables, in a specific sequence. This helps break pest and disease cycles, improve soil fertility, and minimize weed growth. Intercropping involves growing different crops together on the same piece of land, optimizing resource utilization, increasing biodiversity, and maximizing productivity.

3. Livestock integration: Integrating livestock, such as cattle, sheep, or goats, within millet-based farming systems can provide multiple benefits. Livestock can contribute to the recycling of crop residues and manure, which can be used as organic fertilizers for millet cultivation. They also provide a source of additional income through milk, meat, or fiber production. Furthermore, livestock grazing in millet fields can help control weeds and pests, reducing the need for chemical inputs.

4. Agroforestry and tree integration: Agro-diversification promotes the integration of trees and agroforestry practices within millet-based farming systems. Planting trees, such as fruit trees, timber trees, or nitrogen-fixing trees, alongside millet crops offers numerous advantages. Trees provide shade, which can help conserve soil moisture and protect millet crops from extreme weather conditions. They also enhance biodiversity, improve soil fertility through nutrient cycling, and diversify farmers' income sources through the sale of tree products.

5. Value addition and market diversification: Agro-diversification encourages value addition and market diversification for millet-based products. Farmers can process millets into various value-added products like millet flour, millet-based snacks, porridge mixes, or millet-based beverages. Diversifying the product range helps farmers cater to diverse consumer preferences and tap into niche markets, thus improving their income and market opportunities.

6. Knowledge sharing and capacity building: Agro-diversification in millet-based farming systems requires knowledge, skills, and information exchange among farmers, researchers, and extension agencies. Promoting farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing, organizing training programs, and facilitating access to information on best practices and innovations contribute to the successful adoption and implementation of agro-diversification strategies.

By adopting agro-diversification in millet-based integrated farming systems, farmers can enhance their resilience, improve soil health, increase productivity, diversify income sources, and contribute to sustainable agricultural practices. It offers a holistic approach that considers the ecological, economic, and nutritional aspects of farming, promoting a more sustainable and resilient food production system.

Thiago Martins Santos, Yes. Brazil has plenty of land and farm labor so there less push to make the farming intensive. Also the fraction of the population with advanced technical education is lower than in our countries (Israel and Denmark).

Implementing millet-based integrated farming systems for food and nutritional security faces several constraints and challenges. Here are some key ones:

Dr. thank you for your contribution to the discussion.

thank you for your contribution to the discussion.

All the mentioned cases, dear researchers, have a logical solution. The stronger the researcher's knowledge in the field of statistical information, the more statistical data analysis will cost less. The type of system selection is very important in reducing the cost.

You can integrate corn and legumes(like cowpea as a living mulch) by intercropping them in a best spatial pattern to increase forage yield and weed suppression, like what I did in my article:

10.22092/IJWS.2022.356354.1400

Dear Reza

In your point 1, not everything is profit or cost. You can minimize water consumption as well of fertilizers or maximize land use.

In your point 4 you should say 'mathematical inequations' not 'equations'.

This is where the strength of LP lies

When using animals for agriculture, such as in livestock farming, ethical considerations should be taken into account. These include the welfare of the animals, which must be a primary consideration.

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulates research facilities that use animals and sets standards for the humane care and treatment of animals.

Researchers should also consider replacing animal experiments with other methods wherever possible and reducing the number of animals used to obtain reliable data.

Dear Senapathy Marisennayya, Dear Abdulraheem Mukhtar Iderawumi, Dear BENUKAR BISWAS,

Yes. Converting unsustainable industrial agriculture to sustainable organic agriculture is not an easy process, as it requires many changes, including technological, organisational, logistical, etc. changes. However, the most difficult changes are in the awareness of citizens. However, once this is achieved, it would then be possible to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, end environmental degradation by ending the unnecessary deforestation still taking place in more areas of forest, improve the quality of vegetable crops, produce healthier food free of pesticides and other chemical pesticides, reduce the level of environmental pollution, reduce the scale of pollinator extinction and, most importantly, increase the scale of cultivation of vegetable crops for human rather than animal food. This last positive aspect could significantly reduce the scale of the currently developing food crisis and the increasing scale of hunger in many poorer countries. The problem is very serious. Due to record heat, forest and crop fires, drought occurring in many areas of almost all continents, and the war in Ukraine, a serious food crisis and famine could occur in many countries in 2023. Sustainable organic farming may be the solution to significantly reduce the scale of this crisis. However, applied changes need to be undertaken as quickly as possible, as these change processes will take years and the problem is already here. And the key change is to change people's awareness of the many positive aspects of developing sustainable organic farming. A change that involves increasing the pro-environmental awareness of citizens.

Thank you very much,

Greetings,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Hello Takele; What an interesting idea! I have the good fortune of living in an affluent society (Southern California). There are horses in many neighborhoods. The horses are pets, not workers. In nearby, rural areas, that pet status is also true...and includes a nostalgia for the "good old days".

I think that it is true that the livestock is nostalgic if farm work can be mechanized economically. Horses, mules and donkeys eat a lot and require more attention and expense than a tractor does. So the farmer compares the ongoing costs and benefits and decides.

Subsistence farmers use equines out of simple necessity. Making a serious effort to talk to such farmers about their economic judgements might reveal some way to approach your question. Would a person with a battered old tractor return to using horses? Why?

Best regards, Jim Des Lauriers

I support JC Tarafdar`s opinion

Jagjeet Singh Gill Yes MSP is no doibt the best suggestion and there are many news ways where farmers are trying and getting success I just saw few videos on the Youtube and u name the crop and people have tried various ways and doubled the income,

For example Napier grass was just 40-50 tonnes per acre per year was growing in India a decade back now the same has increased almost to 150 -170 tonnes of napier grass and few claim they can get around 300-400 tonnes per acre of land annually

Farmers, advisors and policymakers are faced with complex choices. They are faced with a wide range of technologies that are either available or under development; they must deal with the uncertainties of both the effects these new technologies will have throughout the agri-food chain and the impact that a whole range of policies will have on the sustainability of farming systems. In addition, there is increasing pressure on agricultural research and advisory budgets that must be accommodated.

Very nice question. Traditional farming system has provided all the necessary clues for modern day agriculture, traditional system of farming would never be a hurdle to modernise present day agriculture. Somewhere qe can find solution to present day climate change related issue. The onset of concepts like natural farming , organic farming, conservation agriculture all have overlappung objectives and stemmed from traditional concepts of agriculture only....

I would also be glad to come in with climate change, farming systems and soil science. Thanks.

Kindly check the following link that includes a set of priority practices for sustainable intensification that provides policy makers, researchers, and farmers with a starting point for thinking about how to implement sustainable intensification in practice:

Farming system defined as 'Raising of crop along with allied enterprises that have complementary relationship and sustainable basis production system with least damage to ecosystem and provide livelihood security to the peoples'.

That is okay, you can also try this website

Thank you for sharing this question

Great thanks Dr Juan Carlos Torrico for this topic discussion.

Precision Agriculture (which means intervening at the right time and in the best place with the right dose) is becoming more and more important in the world not only in developed countries but also in developing countries in which it arouses interest.

Precision Agriculture, which is based on high technology, certainly has its advantages in increasing yields both in cultivated plants and in animals, especially on large farms. Thanks to drones and sensors in the field, several factors are controlled such as irrigation and fertilization. In animals and thanks to digital technology, it is possible to monitor the health and growth of livestock.

So as the name suggests, it's all about being precise about spacial location of information and thus producing more while applying less inputs and energy.

Many advantages of course, but some specialists emphasize the importance or even the necessity of the quality of the input data because the latter will necessarily impact the quality of the final decision. On the other hand, according to some specialists, because of all data is tainted with uncertainty it is that it is essential to be able to measure and quantify this uncertainty and also take it into account in the final decision / application.

Thus, it turns out that, precision agriculture requires learning new technological and environmental skills as well as managerial skills. Therefore, it is important to incorporate it into training systems for a good mastery of all its tools.

Finally, precision agriculture could be useful for the future and for the sustainability of agricultural production if it is done while respecting Diversity and protecting the Soil and the Environment. However and particularly in countries newly concerned by this type of agriculture, it is necessary before its implementation to take preliminary studies to assess its benefits and impacts on the environment and to decide on the locations of its implementation as well as the identification of the types of farms as well as the sensitization of farmers for this type of agriculture but also the estimate of its costs. In addition, its success also requires knowledge and permanent supervision by agricultural advisory services.

The genetic engineering process has raised many concerns, largely because it involves mutations in hundreds or thousands of locations throughout the plant’s DNA

Othman Muayad Mohammed Tofeq

dear Frank T. Edelmann this type of agriculture is economically expensive compared to regular agriculture, noting that this type of agriculture is widespread in Japan and has a shortage of agricultural land, but it is economical for certain types of crops

Following

Good question. Follower

@Rezaul, the availability of product on market car scientifically evaluate by his price. Because on perfect market, the price is one indicator of the demand and the offer. Some times, the quantity of stock can also influence the availability, therefore in assessment of food security, the availability of the intern production and the importation are requires for to get this one.

Certainly, I am interested in read your material. It will be useful indeed for new research ideas.

Excuse me. I am not very sure but is this post-doc position or similar research vacancies in the area of Vertical Farming still available? Honestly, I couldn't find your active email for private contact and technical discussions. Thank you

Following things may be done:

1. Grid sampling and mapping, estimation of plant population

2. If possible, inclusion of plants in gap/ less population (in this case high yielding varieties may be chosen)

3. Adoption of good agronomic practices (GAP) as far as possible.

Thanks.

I still remember , few months back , we debated on the issue , is there any research work undertaken on the effect of transgenic crops on rhizosphere ecology versus non- transgenic crops...

Thank you Kan and Albaba for answers !

Please take a look at this useful PDF attachment.

International Farming system Association ( IFSA) is one , the address is: IFSA Europe Group,Universität für Bodenkultur Wien,Feistmantelstr. 4 1180 Vienna,Austria, Europe

There are not too many...

Nice response Dr Dobriyal. How do you see a empirical relation between carbon footprint and net primary productivity vis- a- via plant biomass...

Sustainable development is a broad concept, to be coupled with organic agriculture. Sustainable agriculture may be more appropriate.

In my opinion, unfortunately organic agriculture can not fully contribute to global sustainable agriculture, and hence sustainable development. On a local basis, and isolated instances, it may provide the need for food in certain regions. For example, it may work in a small to medium, low populated country in Europe (the green continent), where mostly there is sufficient rainfall and abundant good quality water supplies. But in an arid region, with high population, and the demand for economic and urbanization growth (for example UAE), i don't think organic farming would be enough. In general, I believe at this time, organic farming is not sustainable. To me at 21st century, the rigid, and restrictive rules of Organic farming, is like a hardliner religious society that opposes any advancement in human technologies and wants to live according to the culture and needs of several hundred centuries ago. BUT, I always grow organic vegetables and chickens in my small garden and yard. I love it, but I don't believe that it could be the solution to global human hunger.

Good luck.

A simple ANOVA could be used to differentiate between different species richness at different altitudes. It depends on how many independent variable you are comparing, i.e. altitude, season, time of day, land cover, anthropogenic influence? You could also look at differences in functional diversity (see papers by Villeger, Mason, Mouchet etc.). My paper "Alexander et al. 2019 - Drivers of fine-scale avian functional diversity with changing land use: an assessment of the effects of eco-estate housing development and management" may provide you with a brief explanation of functional diversity, its importance as a measure of diversity, and the stats I used to determine differences.

It's measure a total output or total value, divided by the amount of a single input used in production. The resulting ratio describes the average amount of output..

WUE by the amount of water used/amount of CO2

Several ecosystem services are provided by farming systems. These include climate regulation (i.e. greenhouse gases), food production, nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition and dynamics, water protection etc. There are standard methods that can be used in assessing each of these services. for example, for climate regulation, greenhouse gases of concern like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide can be measured.

What collaboration are you seeking?

Bruce Robin Nyyamweha, it's a mediterranean call.

Good question, following .

Dear Binayak

Reviews of shift from chemical to organic agriculture suggests that it takes atleast 3-5 years for a farm to earn as much as earlier. As governments subsidise industries, why cannot it subsidise organic farmers for that time?

Organic agriculture is a public good, as it ensures that earth nutrients are there for the next generation. It consumes less of ground water. Further, organic products are good for the farmers and consumers too.

Having said that care needs to be taken to ensure that work load of women does not increase, as male migration from rural to urban areas is high. Introduction of drudgery reduction organic farming is necessary

Best

Ranjani

Best time to leave lucerne crop for seed production is from 10-15 March.

rather than tissue culture I would suggest introduction of varieties and then selection

tissue culture could be tried after the first round of selected cultivars are in full operation

and go for hardcore physiological drought tolerant traits in the first go of selection

Do you mean the internal environment of the peasant family or the peugeot and temperatures

You mean agriculture in greenhouses

The proof is in the pudding in vernacular English. Rerun the experiment to see if the result is consistent if it indeed is do not question the result.

Beware that too high nitrates can induce a toxic reaction when eaten by livestock and humans. Check for the level which is optimized in the produce you are interested in producing it may not a problem for cut flowers very well could be for lettuce production for example.

High levels of nitrates can also make plants more stimulating for sucking insects such as aphids. Humic acids and seaweed extracts can stimulate a more defensive plant metabolism and could moderate an excessive nitrate condition.

First, a site analysis should be done to study the topography, soil traits, availability of water, altitude, and more. This information is valuable to match your goal for land use and verify its feasibility. Only at this point the economics comes in the picture to substantiate or not the initial goal. Holistic Resource Management is the discipline mentioned here and its proponent is Allan Savory. Although Savory's work dealt primarily with range land management, I think its theoretical principles are applicable to small parcels of land. Permaculture design (Mollison and Holmgren) is also another valuable approach in support of integrated farming systems.

There is a lot of evidence out there on Sustainability of Small Farming. Productivity-wise, it could match Large Farms. The challenge is of a small farm generating enough surplus for maintaining a whole family. However systematic study of this subject is still limited.

Although I recognize the vital importance of water for a successful cultivation of crops in a context like the one described by Timothy fetching water from an off-farm/garden location may be ineffective. Therefore, I think permaculture design can assist for example with the establishment of a Key line in the fields which aims at collecting and storing storm water precipitation. In addition to this, techniques like: mulching, companion cropping, agroforestry, managing the soil to increase over time its content of organic matter are just a few ideas to enhance water retention on site. Obviously, selecting crops that are not so demanding to irrigation can help too.

Hi Maharul,

Practical models of vertical farming with fish farming are there in India. Combining it with honeybee, I have not seen. Best wisher to you.

Regards

Emmanuel

Livestock Science

Volume 139, Issues 1–2, July 2011, Pages 44-57📷

Sustainability of pasture-based livestock farming systems in the European Mediterranean context: Synergies and trade-offs☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2011.03.018Get rights and content

Abstract : The sustainability of livestock farming systems (LFS) in relation to global concerns about climate change, population dynamics and the quality of the agro-ecosystem services that are provided to society and their trade-offs has become a fundamental issue for public and scientific debate. However, LFS differ widely in terms of the use of resources, degree of intensification, species and orientation of production, local/regional socio-economic and market context, cultural roles, etc. Therefore, we need to disaggregate livestock farming systems when analysing any aspect of sustainability.

This paper discusses low-input pasture-based farming systems (meat sheep and beef cattle) located in mountainous and other less favoured areas of the European Mediterranean basin. We first describe their recent evolution in terms of the level of intensification and structural, economic, social and environmental factors at the farm level, paying special attention to critical points of sustainability. Despite the diversity encountered, there are some common factors that threaten their future, such as an excessive dependency on premiums, the lack of generational turnover due to a number of increasingly influential social factors and a continuous process of abandonment of large marginal areas and concentration in more favourable areas. Next, we depict some relevant synergies and trade-offs between a number of factors that we have previously described, taking into account the wider socio-economic environment in which farms operate. Pasture-based LFS can satisfy societal demands (for public goods such as landscape and biodiversity or ethical concerns about food production) and are less vulnerable to market changes. However, they are not paid for the environmental services they deliver, they suffer displacement by other economic activities, and they are very sensitive to climate change scenarios. We also point out a number of options for designing and implementing more sustainable pasture-based LFS under very uncertain circumstances; the concepts of resilience, adaptive capacity and self-sufficiency are discussed within this context. Finally, we summarise some areas for future research: –valuation and integration of positive externalities of pasture-based LFS in an analytical sustainability frameworks and management tools, –assessment of the diversity of systems, the impact they generate and the public goods they deliver, –analysis of complex relationships between intensification of production, dependence on off-farm/on-farm inputs, productivity and working conditions, –consideration of the social factors that determine continuity and working conditions, –and the necessity of performing dynamic studies that allow the understanding and anticipation of change.

Livestock Production Science

Volume 80, Issues 1–2, March 2003, Pages 17-31📷

Contribution of organic farming to increase sustainability of Mediterranean small ruminants livestock systems,ttps://doi.org/10.1016/S0301-6226(02)00316-0Get rights and content

Abstract: The aim of the paper is to evaluate the feasibility and constraints of organic farming to increase the sustainability of Mediterranean small ruminant livestock systems. The paper analyzes the factors affecting sustainability of small ruminant livestock systems in the Mediterranean basin, such as seasonal forage availability or suboptimal pasture utilisation due to overgrazing but also the factor of undergrazing. The paper considers how the application of practices of organic farming may contribute to promoting sustainable land use and improving environment conservation, animal welfare, and product quality. Also the prospects of new information-based technologies, like geographic information systems and global positioning systems, to improve sustainability are presented. A model of pasture-based dairy sheep production system is proposed, with special emphasis on the organisation of a farm forage system to meet animal nutritional requirement. Some options for an integrated strategy for the control of parasitic disease in small ruminant production systems are discussed. These are based on a combination of general prevention methods (i.e. risk control and identification), grazing management (i.e. multifunctional grassland management), nonchemical treatments (i.e. homeopathic herbal preparations) and novel approaches (i.e. biological control and bioactive forages). Comparative effects of phytotherapy and conventional treatment on dairy sheep helminthic disease and on metabolic status and animal welfare are presented.

The prospects of organic farming are of particular interest for the less favoured Mediterranean areas, where it may contribute to the safeguard of agricultural functions, like care and preservation of landscape, and safeguarding of rural villages with positive effects on the quality of life in rural communities. Some activities would be particularly appropriate in natural parks, where small ruminants and other domestic animals interact with wildlife and where biodiversity must be preserved.

For positive results a new collaborative decision-making process is required between rural and urban communities, businesses and government. In addition, strong supports from scientific research and the extension services are needed to correct and fully utilize new information technologies to exploit the magnitude and potential of organic farming for enhancement of sustainable small ruminant production systems in the Mediterranean region.

All natural products vary in their composition of nutrients and other nutritionally relevant substances. Different cultivars of the same crop may differ in nutrient composition, which can also vary depending on fertilizer and pesticide regimen, growing conditions, season, and other factors. The nutrient composition of livestock products can similarly be affected by factors such as the age and breed of the animal, feeding regimen, and season. It has been well accepted that the nutrient content of organically produced and conventionally produced foodstuffs vary.

Please see following review:

Mr. Faustino, Will you explain about stare case farming. Do you mean stair case farming, a method of vertical farming. Some times stair case farming is used for terrace farming in hills. Yes vertical farming has answer for production of food in the urbans where there is shortage of land.

Please see following publication:

As a concept, vertical farming has been around for decades, and thinkers like Columbia professor Dickson Despommier are credited with advancing the concept. Until recently, however, it was never economically viable.Even now, the concept has major drawbacks. It's capital-intensive to start a vertical farm, energy costs can run very high, and space constraints limit what can be grown. Due to the lack of soil, the produce also doesn't get an organic label—even though it costs consumers about as much as organic products do.

"The challenge has been to make it commercially profitable," said Colangelo. "We looked at a number of different methods and through trial and error we figured out how not to build a farm." Recycling, filtering and sterilization system is the additional merit  with the goal of recycling 98% of the water used.All fresh water into Vertical Farm System installations has particulate, fluoride and heavy metal contaminants removed and is sterilised before entering the system.City wastewater(mainly gray water, which is water coming from households with the exception of that coming from toilets) can be treated to use in such vertical farms and this could lead to much lower costs for an urban area as such treatment can be done within the city and the water supplied to the vertical farms.

See the attached paper as an example of how the question on optimum size can be handled.

You need to determine power. The power of any test of statistical significance is defined as the probability that it will reject a false null hypothesis. Statistical power is inversely related to beta, or the probability of making a Type II error. So, power = 1 – β. 

Statistical power is the likelihood that a study will detect an effect when there is an effect there to be detected. If statistical power is high, the probability of making a Type II error, or concluding there is no effect when, in fact, there is one, decreases.

Statistical power is affected chiefly by the size of the effect and the size of the sample used to detect it. Bigger effects are easier to detect than smaller effects, while large samples offer greater test sensitivity than small samples.

The power of any test of statistical significance will be affected by four main parameters:

1. The effect size

2. The sample size (N)

3. The alpha significance criterion (α)

4. Statistical power, or the chosen or implied beta (β)

All four parameters are mathematically related. If you know any three of them you can figure out the fourth.

So, you can calculate minimum sample size required to have a decent chance of detecting the effect you are studying. For example, if you had a sample of N = 100 households and you expected to find an effect size equivalent to R = 0.30, a quick calculation would reveal that you have an 57% chance of obtaining a statistically significant result using a two-tailed test with alpha set at the conventional level of 0.05. If you had a sample twice as large, the probability that your results will turn out to be statistically significant would be 86%.

I hope this helps :)

Synergistic blending of crops, horticulture, dairy, fisheries, poultry, agroforestry, bee keeping etc. could be viable option to provide regular income and at site employment to small land holder, decreasing cultivation cost through multiple use of resources and providing much needed resilience for predicted climate change scenario where rainfed ecosystem is more vulnerable. Contemporarily farmers should cover their risk through adoption of crop insurance.

The rotation and intercropping of legumes can have a positive effect on issues of soil impoverishment and also improves the ratios and diets of animals and humans. Under your South Sudan conditions, moisture can be the most limiting factor. Because of this in limiting moist situation crops like cowpea and peanut might be better options. Soybean has fairly high moisture requirements in comparison. In terms of cereal component maize sorghum and millet show increasing ability to deal with periodic drought issues. If you are growing sorghum for intercropping the ability to get good legume results using dwarf sorghum varieties as not to shade out the legume component. In mechanical planting planters which are based on 1 2 and 4 rows would be common depending on your ability to generate traction.  Under mechanical planting conditions, alternate rows or boxes are planted with legume and sorghum. Whether you are using machine and/or hand harvest this will facilitate harvest and processing.  In machine harvest the large size difference of the sorghum and soybean seed will allow crop separation by sieving. If I would make a recommendation plant in 90 cm row difference and alternate dwarf sorghum and cowpea. In for moisture limiting environment pigeon pea work with millet using the same one to one crop intercropping. Millet will give a crop much before the pigeon pea which will spread out labor and processing efforts.