• Title/Summary/Keyword: Arid lands

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INFLUENCES OF SOIL-WATER PROPERTIES ON GROWTH OF MEDICINAL PLANT "KANZO" UNDER CONSTANT GROUNDWATER LEVEL

  • Kiyotomo, Haruka;Yasufuku, Noriyuki;Omine, Kiyoshi;Kobayashi, Taizo;Furukawa, Zentaro
    • Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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    • 2010.09c
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    • pp.81-85
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    • 2010
  • The medicinal plant, Kanzo (Glycyrrhiza uralensis), mainly grows on arid lands. The root of Kanzo has been compounded about 70% of herbal medicines in Japan because it has an important medicinal element. In addition, in recent years, the expansion of desertification becomes a serious problem. The cause is chiefly man activity such as over gathering plants1). The aim of this study is to prevent desertification by cultivating Kanzo with high quality. The first step is to grow Kanzo for greening. The second step is to stably produce the root with high medicinal quality. This paper presents growth properties of cultivating Kanzo by bottom watering method, which is under constant groundwater level. The main results of this paper are as follows: (1) The lower water content of cultivating soil is, the longer the root length is, (2) Growth of Kanzo is influenced by soil types, (3) Thick primary roots grow directly and vertically in low water content. On the other hand, thin secondary roots grow curvedly and horizontally in high water content and (4) Measuring evapo-transpiration velocity is the effective method to evaluate roots' growth tendency in the field.

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Constraints and opportunities to sustain future wheat yield and water productivity in semi-arid environment

  • Ahmad, Mirza Junaid;Choi, Kyung-Sook
    • Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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    • 2019.05a
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    • pp.185-185
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    • 2019
  • Sustaining future wheat production is challenged by anthropogenically forced climate warming and drying led by increased concentration of greenhouse gases all around the globe. Warming stresses, originating from the elevated $CO_2$ concentration, are continuously reported to have negative impacts on wheat growth and yield. Yet, elevated $CO_2$ concentration, despite being disparagingly blamed for promoting warming, is also associated with a phenomenon called $CO_2$ enrichment; in which wheat yield can improve due to the enhanced photosynthesis rates and less water loss through transpiration. The conflicting nature of climate warming and $CO_2$ enrichment and their interplay can have specific implications under different environments. It is established form the field and simulation studies that the two contrasting phenomena would act severely in their own respect under arid and semi-arid environments. Wheat is a dietary staple for masses in Pakistan. The country's wheat production system is under constant stress to produce more from irrigated agricultural lands, primarily lying under arid to semi-arid environments, to meet the rapidly growing domestic needs. This work comprehensively examines the warming impacts over wheat yield and water productivity (WP), with and without the inclusion of $CO_2$ enrichment, under semi-arid environment of Punjab which is the largest agricultural province of Pakistan. Future wheat yields and WPs were simulated by FAO developed AquaCrop model v 5.0. The model was run using the bias-correction climate change projections up to 2080 under two representative concentration pathways (RCP) scenarios: 4.5 and 8.5. Wheat yield and WPs decreased without considering the $CO_2$ enrichment effects owing to the elevated irrigation demands and accelerated evapotranspiration rates. The results suggested that $CO_2$ enrichment could help maintain the current yield and WPs levels during the 2030s (2021-2050); however, it might not withhold the negative climate warming impacts during the 2060s (2051-2080). Furthermore, 10 - 20 day backward shift in sowing dates could also help ease the constraints imposed by climate warming over wheat yields and WPs. Although, $CO_2$ enrichment showed promises to counteract the adverse climate warming impacts but the interactions between climate warming and $CO_2$ concentrations were quite uncertain and required further examination.

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Review of Slope Criteria and Forestland Restoration Plan in North Korea (북한의 산림복원계획과 기준 경사도 고찰)

  • Yu, Jaeshim;Park, Hyun;Lee, Sang-hyuk;Kim, Kyoungmin
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.19-28
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    • 2016
  • The objectives of this study were to establish the slope criteria and analyze the forest land restoration plan in North Korea. Reviewing the literature of the countries, the relationships among the climate, erosion controls, and slope criteria with forest restoration programmes, implemented were analyzed. Comparison of forest land management policies was conducted between South and North Korea. The soil erosion controls using biological barriers were at $15{\sim}20^{\circ}$slopes in arid climate regions and $25{\sim}30^{\circ}$ in humid climate regions. In the case of South Korea, an afforestation policy from the "Act on Clearance Project of Slash-and Burn Agriculture" of 1966 was enforced on mountains with slope greater than $20^{\circ}$, however, at present, the "Marginal Cropping Land Policy" recommends cropping lands with slope bigger than $8.5^{\circ}$ to forest land. In 1961, in "Land Reclamation of One Million Hectare", North Korea reclaimed additional cropping lands with slope bigger than $8.5^{\circ}$, and currently, the "Act on Forestry" states to enforce reforestation with slope bigger than $20^{\circ}$. This study recommends that South Korea aids for forest land restoration in North Korea based on the different stages of their development on reconciliation and cooperation between South and North Korea.

Rainfed Areas and Animal Agriculture in Asia: The Wanting Agenda for Transforming Productivity Growth and Rural Poverty

  • Devendra, C.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.122-142
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    • 2012
  • The importance of rainfed areas and animal agriculture on productivity enhancement and food security for economic rural growth in Asia is discussed in the context of opportunities for increasing potential contribution from them. The extent of the rainfed area of about 223 million hectares and the biophysical attributes are described. They have been variously referred to inter alia as fragile, marginal, dry, waste, problem, threatened, range, less favoured, low potential lands, forests and woodlands, including lowlands and uplands. Of these, the terms less favoured areas (LFAs), and low or high potential are quite widely used. The LFAs are characterised by four key features: i) very variable biophysical elements, notably poor soil quality, rainfall, length of growing season and dry periods, ii) extreme poverty and very poor people who continuously face hunger and vulnerability, iii) presence of large populations of ruminant animals (buffaloes, cattle, goats and sheep), and iv) have had minimum development attention and an unfinished wanting agenda. The rainfed humid/sub-humid areas found mainly in South East Asia (99 million ha), and arid/semi-arid tropical systems found in South Asia (116 million ha) are priority agro-ecological zones (AEZs). In India for example, the ecosystem occupies 68% of the total cultivated area and supports 40% of the human and 65% of the livestock populations. The area also produces 4% of food requirements. The biophysical and typical household characteristics, agricultural diversification, patterns of mixed farming and cropping systems are also described. Concerning animals, their role and economic importance, relevance of ownership, nomadic movements, and more importantly their potential value as the entry point for the development of LFAs is discussed. Two examples of demonstrated success concern increasing buffalo production for milk and their expanded use in semi-arid AEZs in India, and the integration of cattle and goats with oil palm in Malaysia. Revitalised development of the LFAs is justified by the demand for agricultural land to meet human needs e.g. housing, recreation and industrialisation; use of arable land to expand crop production to ceiling levels; increasing and very high animal densities; increased urbanisation and pressure on the use of available land; growing environmental concerns of very intensive crop production e.g. acidification and salinisation with rice cultivation; and human health risks due to expanding peri-urban poultry and pig production. The strategies for promoting productivity growth will require concerted R and D on improved use of LFAs, application of systems perspectives for technology delivery, increased investments, a policy framework and improved farmer-researcher-extension linkages. These challenges and their resolution in rainfed areas can forcefully impact on increased productivity, improved livelihoods and human welfare, and environmental sustainability in the future.

Ziziphus spina christifor Sustainable Agroforestry Farming in Arid Land of Khartoum State of Sudan

  • Mustafa Abdalla Nasre Aldin;Hussein Alawad Seid Ahmed;Mohamed El Mukhtar Ballal;Adil Mahgoub Farah
    • Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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    • v.39 no.1
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    • pp.20-26
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    • 2023
  • Cow pea (Vigna unguiculata) was intercropped with Ziziphus spina-christi as summer forage in two consecutive seasons of 2017 and 2018. The aims to find out suitable agroforestry practice for saline soils of Khartoum State. And to investigate effect of tree spacing on forage biomass yield under semi -irrigated systems. Completely randomized block design with 3 replicates was conducted for this trial. Thus Z.spina-christi that fixed at 4×4 m was intercropped with cowpea at 1 m and 1.5 m spacing from trees trunk. Tree growth parameters were measured in terms of tree height, tree collar diameter, tree crown diameter and fruit yield per tree. While crop were parameters were determined in terms of plant height, number of plant, forage biomass yield per ha and land equivalent ratio. Soil profile of 1×1 m and 1.5 m depth was excavated and its features were described beside its chemical and physical properties were analyzed for 0-10 cm, 0-30 cm, and 30-60 cm and 60-100 cm layers. The results revealed that soil pH, CaCO3, SAR, ESP, and EC ds/m were increased by increasing soil depths. Meanwhile tree growth in terms of tree height was significant in the first season 2017 when compared with tree collar diameter and tree crown diameter. Also significant differences were recorded for tree growth when compared with sole trees in the second season in 2018. Tree fruit showed marked variations between the two seasons, but it was higher under intercropping particularly at ZS2. Crop plant height was highly significant under sole cropping than intercropping in first season in 2017. In contrast forage biomass yield was significant under intercropping in ZS1 and ZS2 treatments. Land equivalent ratio was advantageous under this agroforestry system particularly under ZS2. Thus it recorded 5 and 9 for ZS2 in the two consecutive seasons respectively. Therefore, it is feasible to introduce this agroforestry system under such arid lands to provide summer forage yield of highly nutritive value and low cost for animals feed as well as to increase farmers' income and to halt desertification and to sequester carbon.

Soil Characteristics and Improvement of Reclaimable Hillside Land (산지토양(山地土壤)의 특성(特性)과 개량(改良))

  • Ryu, In-Soo
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.11 no.4
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    • pp.247-262
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    • 1979
  • Majority of reclaimable soils in hillside lands in Korea are red yellow soils, with exception in Jeju island, where most of reclaimable hillside lands are composed of volcanic ash soils. Songjeong, Yesan and Samgag series are the major soil series of red yellow soils which are available for the reclamation. When observed in the fields, they are distinguished as reddish brown clay loam, red yellow sand loam and yellowish brown sand loam. They have moderately good physical properties but their chemical properties are generally poor for crop cultivations. The chemical properties of red yellow soils, as compared to long time cultivated (matured) soils, are characterized by very low pH, high in exchangeable Al content and phosphorus fixation capacity. Also extraodinary low available phosphorus and organic matter contents are generally observed. On the other, the chemical properties of volcanic ash soils are characterized by high armophous Fe and Al hydroxides and organic matter contents, which are the causative factors for the extremely high phosphorus fixation capacity of the soils. The phosphorus fixation capacity of volcanic acid soils are as high as 5-10 times of that of red yellow soils. Poor growth of crops on newly reclaimed red yellow soils are mainly caused by very low available P and pH and high exchangeable Al. Relatively high P fixation capacity renders the failure of effective use of applied P when the amount of application is not sufficient. Applications of lime to remove the exchangeable Al and relatively large quantity of P to lower the P fixation capacity and to increase the available P are the major recommendations for the increased crop production on red yellow hillside soils. Generally recommendable amounts of lime and P to meet the aforementioned requirements, are 200-250kg/10a of lime and $30-35kg\;P_2O_5/10a$. Over doses of lime. frequently induces the K, B, arid Zn deficiencies and lowers the uptake of P. In volcanic ash soils, it is difficult to alter the exchangeable Al and the P fixation capacity by liming and P application. This may be due to the peculiarity of volcanic ash soil in chemical properties. Because of this feature, the amelioration of volcanic ash soils is not as easy as in the case of red yellow soils. Application of P as high as $100kg\;P_2O_5/10a$ is needed to bring forth the significant yield response in barley. Combined applications of appropriate levels of P, lime, and organic matter, accompanied by deep plowing, results in around doubling of the yields of various crops on newly reclaimed red yellow soils.

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Usability of a smartphone food picture app for assisting 24-hour dietary recall: a pilot study

  • Hongu, Nobuko;Pope, Benjamin T.;Bilgic, Pelin;Orr, Barron J.;Suzuki, Asuka;Kim, Angela Sarah;Merchant, Nirav C.;Roe, Denise J.
    • Nutrition Research and Practice
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.207-212
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    • 2015
  • BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The Recaller app was developed to help individuals record their food intakes. This pilot study evaluated the usability of this new food picture application (app), which operates on a smartphone with an embedded camera and Internet capability. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Adults aged 19 to 28 years (23 males and 22 females) were assigned to use the Recaller app on six designated, nonconsecutive days in order to capture an image of each meal and snack before and after eating. The images were automatically time-stamped and uploaded by the app to the Recaller website. A trained nutritionist administered a 24-hour dietary recall interview 1 day after food images were taken. Participants' opinions of the Recaller app and its usability were determined by a follow-up survey. As an evaluation indicator of usability, the number of images taken was analyzed and multivariate Poisson regression used to model the factors determining the number of images sent. RESULTS: A total of 3,315 food images were uploaded throughout the study period. The median number of images taken per day was nine for males and 13 for females. The survey showed that the Recaller app was easy to use, and 50% of the participants would consider using the app daily. Predictors of a higher number of images were as follows: greater interval (hours) between the first and last food images sent, weekend, and female. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this pilot study provide valuable information for understanding the usability of the Recaller smartphone food picture app as well as other similarly designed apps. This study provides a model for assisting nutrition educators in their collection of food intake information by using tools available on smartphones. This innovative approach has the potential to improve recall of foods eaten and monitoring of dietary intake in nutritional studies.

Seed Quality, Germinability and Initial Growth of Pterocarpus erinaceus (African Rosewood). How Important are Mother Tree Size, Source and Timing of Fruit Harvest?

  • Tiika, Richard J.;Issifu, Hamza;Baatuuwie, Bernard Nuoleyeng;Nasare, Latif Iddrisu;Husseini, Rikiatu
    • Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.69-77
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    • 2019
  • Pterocarpus erinaceus is a multipurpose tree species indigenous to semi-arid and Guinean-savanna woodlands of Africa. Natural regeneration on the savanna is being hampered by higher fire frequencies and other land use changes. Simultaneously, demand for timber from the species on the international market is on the rise, raising conservation concerns. To ensure sustainability, good quality seeds, sources of which have not received much research focus, are needed for afforestation. This study investigated how seed quality, germinability and initial seedling growth of P. erinaceus might be influenced by land-use type, mother tree size as well as source and timing of fruit harvest, using both correlational and experimental approaches. The results showed that up to 94.6% of all harvested fruits contained seeds, with no differences found between fruits harvested from cultivated and non-cultivated lands. Percentage of (sound) unblemished seeds was found to be higher for fruits harvested early March (47.3%) than fruits from late April (39.5%). Percentage sound seeds was 41.4% for dispersed fruits (i.e. detached fruits picked from under mother trees) which was not found to differ from undispersed fruits (i.e. fruits harvested while still attached to mother trees) at 45.5%. Also, the influence of fruit harvest time was not found to be different for dispersed and undispersed fruits. Correlations between seed set (proportion of fruits containing seeds) and mother tree size (both tree height and DBH) were found to be very low and non-significant for both dispersed and undispersed fruits. Across mother trees, mean emergence percent was 79.7%, and mean seedling height at three weeks following emergence was 5.32 cm. Both emergence percentage and seedling height were not found to differ among mother trees, but seeds from dispersed fruits had a higher emergence percent (85%) than seeds from undispersed fruits (74%). Implications of findings are discussed.

A Land Resources Survey of the Mula Area, S. E. Spain (동남(東南)스페인 Mula지역(地域)에서의 Land Resources Survey)

  • Yun, Suckew
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.29-64
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    • 1973
  • A land resources survey in the semi-arid area, Mula in S. E. Spain, of $400km^2$ is compiled. The basic aim of the project is to investigate the intrinsic qualities of the land resources of the area by means of applying an integrated method of natural resources survey mainly concerning with analysis and synthesis of land complexes, each of them represents an area or a group of areas with similar patterns of landforms, soils and vegetation, based on a geomorphological approach. The area is characterized by a linear arrangement of relief pattern with an asymmetric homoclinal repetition of slope attitudes elongating WSW-ENE, dipping steeply on the NW sides and gently on the SE sides, which have been resulted from the post-Alpine folding of the Triassic to Cretaceous limestone, the Eocene limestone, the Oligocene sandstone and the lower Miocene limestone and marl, and the post-lower Miocene faulting, tilting and subsequent differential erosion of the Miocene sedimentary formations. An integrated body of information in geology, landforms, soils and vegetation, which are significantry interrelated as an environmental complex, has been obtained. Using this data, 26 land complexes developing on the various situations of landforms, such as folded mountain ranges, tilted tablelands, bevelled cuestas, degraded hill-lands associating with enormous foots lopes, undulating terrains and terraced or flat plains, have been differentiated, mapped and described. The soils of the area are mostly light colored calcic lithosols which have been derived dominantly from the marly parent materials and developed into remarkable slope catenas in some places depending on the relief conditions. The land uses of the area are mainly characterized by the perennially irrigated cultivation of citrus orchards along the terraced alluvial deposits fringing the Segura and Mula River, and the dry-land cereal cultivation on gentler slopes. Pioneer dry-land cultivations within the shrubs on steeper slopes are restricted to the unchannelled tributary drainage floors. The availability of water is a fundamental controlling factor for existence of native and cultivated vegetation as a whole, and a number of active processes including sheet wash and gully erosion, especially on the scarp slopes, are the other important factors to be considered in conservation and management of the land in the area.

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