• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.567-575
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• 2018

The soil physical quality is a core factor in achieving two of sustainable agriculture's goals: productivity and environment. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in soil physical properties for nearly a decade through periodic monitoring of three cultivation types: upland, orchard, and paddy. Field surveys and lab analysis were conducted to determine the soils physical properties after every 4 years; upland (2009, 2013, and 2017), orchard (2010 and 2014), and paddy (2011 and 2015). In each year soil samples from 162-338 sites were collected. The bulk density of upland subsoil decreased from $1.53Mg\;m^{-3}$ to $1.50Mg\;m^{-3}$ while the plowing depth and subsoil organic matter increased from 13.7 cm to 19.5 cm and from $12.6g\;kg^{-1}$ to $18.3g\;kg^{-1}$ respectively during the period 2009-2017. Plowing depth for orchard increased from 16.7 cm to 18.9 cm. However, organic matter content decreased from $15.9g\;kg^{-1}$ to $15.4g\;kg^{-1}$ during the 2010-2014 period. For paddy, plowing depth and subsoil organic matter decreased from 17.5 cm to 16.7 cm and from $17.5g\;kg^{-1}$ to $15.8g\;kg^{-1}$ respectively. The subsoil bulk density increased from $1.47Mg\;m^{-3}$ to $1.52Mg\;m^{-3}$ from 2011-2015. Excess ratio for soil physical standards increased from 16% to 22% in orchard, 56% to 62% in paddy, and decreased from 41% to 29% in upland. The overall soil physical quality had been ameliorated for upland, but degraded for paddy. Improved tillage practices and application of appropriate organic matter is necessary to enhance the quality of soils, especially in the paddy field.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.163-171
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• 2024

Changes in the soil layer on Dokdo are important both academically and with regard to sustainable conservation and utilization of the islands. Continuous investigation and observation are necessary, as the soil layer is essential to the growth of plants and, therefore, the islands' ecosystem. Such work was carried out for about 8 years using soil erosion measuring bars, which are durable and facilitate simple monitoring of changes in the soil layer. Each bar comprised a rod measuring 30~50 cm long and 1.5 cm in diameter, and the use of stainless steel afforded resistance to corrosion caused by sea breezes. Six measuring bars were installed in the soil layers of each of two islands, Dongdo and Seodo, and measurements were taken one to three times a year from 2014 to 2021. The field measurements indicate that soil was deposited on Dongdo but eroded on Seodo during the observation period. As the measuring bars on Dongdo were located in the central and lower parts of the island, the observed changes in the soil layer resulted mainly from sedimentation of material eroded by weathering or soil runoff from the upper part of the island. In contrast, the measurement locations on Seodo were located in the upper and central parts of the island, where soil erosion and runoff diminished the soil layer at the observation points.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.13-21
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• 2021

The feasibility of HWS for agricultural use was analyzed through a crop cultivation test to utilize the hydroponic waste solution (HWS) generated from the nutriculture greenhouse. The fertilizing effect of HWS was assessed on the basis of the inorganic nitrogen (N) mostly existed in HWSs, and nitrogen (urea) fertilizer. Lettuce was selected as the target crop influenced by the soil treatment and also for the crop cultivation test. Thus, the change in growth characteristics of lettuce and that in chemical characteristics of the soil were investigated. In terms of the growth of lettuce, the C control group with 70% nitrogen (urea) fertilizer and 30% HWS and the D control group with 50% nitrogen (urea) fertilizer and 50% HWS were more effective than the practice control group (B) with 100% nitrogen (urea) fertilizer. The results of this study confirmed the combined applicability of the chemical fertilizer and HWS for crop cultivation. Because NO₃-N present in HWS has a high possibility of leaching into the soil, its applicability as a fertilizer has been considered to be relatively low in Korea. However, if an appropriate mixing ratio of urea fertilizer and HWS could be applied, the problems associated with leaching of nitrate nitrogen could be reduced with beneficial effects on crop cultivation. Thus, future studies are required on the treatment effect of HWS with repeated cultivation, impact assessment on the surrounding environment, and appropriate fertilization methods using nitrogen (urea) fertilizer and HWS. These studies would facilitate the sustainable recycling of HWS.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.243-248
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• 1995

Agrochemicals for the plant-disease control are criticized severely for causing environmental pollution and residual problems, and consequently microbial disease control agents are expected to be safer and more economical for sustainable agriculture. Treatment of biological control agents to seed requires the use of effective delivery systems that allow full expression of the benefical qualities of the bioprotectant. For the activation and establishment of bioprotectant around the plant seed which are able protect the seeds and seedlings from pathogen attack, the optimal liquid coating formulation was obtained using 2% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (binder), 20% sesame dregs (solid particulate material), and dried spore of Bacillus subtilis YBL-7 (bioprotectants, 10 mg/g of seed). Suppressive of root rot was demonstrated in pot trials with coated kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seeds. Coated seeds with B. subtilis YBL-7 spore in F. solani-infested soil reduced disease incidence by 85% to 90% after 30 days.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1209-1211
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• 2003

The wavelet and semivariogram analysis method are used to identify the city landscape and farmland landscape pattern on the 1m resolution IKONOS images. The results prove that wavelet method is a potential way for landscape pattern analysis. Compared to semivariogram analysis, Wavelet analysis can not only detect the overall spatial pattern, but also find multi-scale and direction structures. In this experiment, the wavelet analysis results indicate: (1) the city landscape image is mainly composed of three level structures whose spatial pattern characters appear at 2m, 16m, 128m and 256m accordingly; (2) the farmland landscape is mainly two scale spatial patterns appearing at the 2m, 128m and 256m. IKONOS Remote sensing, with the high spatial and spectral information, is a powerful tool that can use in many ecological systems research and sustainable management.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.471-477
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• 2013

Biochar amendment to agricultural soil is regarded as a promising option to mitigate climate change and enhance soil quality. It could sequester more carbon within the soil system and increase plant yield by changing soil physicochemical characteristics. However, sustainable use of biochar requires comprehensive environmental assessment. In this sense, it is important to measure additional greenhouse gas emission from soils after biochar addition. We investigated emissions of $CO_2$, $N_2O$, and $CH_4$ from incubated soils collected from rice paddy and cultivated grassland after amendment of 3% biochar (wt.) produced from rice chaff. During incubation, soils were exposed to three wet-dry cycles ranging from 5~85% soil gravimetric water content (WC) to investigate the changes in effect of biochar when influenced by different water levels. The $CO_2$ emission was reduced in biochar treatment compared to the control at WC of 30~70% both in rice paddy and grassland soils. This indicates that biochar could function as a stabilizer for soil organic carbon and it can be effective in carbon sequestration. The $N_2O$ emission was also reduced from the grassland soil treated with biochar when WC was greater than 30% because the biochar treated soils had lower denitrification due to better aeration. In the rice paddy soil, biochar addition resulted in decrease in $N_2O$ emission when WC was greater than 70%, while an increase was noted when WC was between 30~70%. This increase might be related to the fact that available nutrients on biochar surface stimulated existing nitrifying bacterial community, resulting in higher $N_2O$ emission. Overall results imply that biochar amendment to agricultural soil can stabilize soil carbon from fast decomposition although attention should be paid to additional $N_2O$ emission when biochar addition is combined with the application of nitrogen fertilizer.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.321-327
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• 2006

In Korea, there is a growing competitive for water resources between industrial, domestic and agricultural consumer, and the environment as many other OECD countries. The demand on water use is also affecting aquatic ecosystems particularly where withdrawals are in excess of minimum environmental needs for rivers, lakes and wetland habits. OECD developed three indicators related to water use by the agriculture in above contexts : the first is a water use intensity indicator, which is expressed as the quantity or share of agricultural water use in total national water utilization; the second is a water stress indicator, which is expressed as the proportion of rivers (in length) subject to diversion or regulation for irrigation without reserving a minimum of limiting reference flow; and the third is a water use efficiency indicator designated as the technical and the economic efficiency. These indicators have different meanings in the aspect of water resource conservation and sustainable water use. So, it will be more significant that the indicators should reflect the intrinsic meanings of them. The problem is that the aspect of an overall water flow in the agro-ecosystem and recycling of water use not considered in the assessment of agricultural water use needed for calculation of these water use indicators. Namely, regional or meteorological characteristics and site-specific farming practices were not considered in the calculation of these indicators. In this paper, we tried to calculate water use indicators suggested in OECD and to modify some other indicators considering our situation because water use pattern and water cycling in Korea where paddy rice farming is dominant in the monsoon region are quite different from those of semi-arid regions. In the calculation of water use intensity, we excluded the amount of water restored through the ground from the total agricultural water use because a large amount of water supplied to the farm was discharged into the stream or the ground water. The resultant water use intensity was 22.9% in 2001. As for water stress indicator, Korea has not defined nor monitored reference levels of minimum flow rate for rivers subject to diversion of water for irrigation. So, we calculated the water stress indicator in a different way from OECD method. The water stress indicator was calculated using data on the degree of water storage in agricultural water reservoirs because 87% of water for irrigation was taken from the agricultural water reservoirs. Water use technical efficiency was calculated as the reverse of the ratio of irrigation water to a standard water requirement of the paddy rice. The efficiency in 2001 was better than in 1990 and 1998. As for the economic efficiency for water use, we think that there are a lot of things to be taken into considerations to make a useful indicator to reflect socio-economic values of agricultural products resulted from the water use. Conclusively, site-specific, regional or meteorogical characteristics as in Korea were not considered in the calculation of water use indicators by methods suggested in OECD(Volume 3, 2001). So, it is needed to develop a new indicators for the indicators to be more widely applicable in the world.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.110 no.4
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• pp.479-495
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• 2021

To improve on the efficient management of forest resources, it is necessary to create a forest soil map, which represents a comprehensive database of forest lands. Although a 1:25,000 scale forest site map has been used in Korea, the need for a large-scale forest soil map with high precision and information on forest lands that is specialized for individual purposes has been identified. Moreover, to keep pace with the advancement in forest management and transition to a digital society, it is essential to develop a method for constructing new forest soil maps that can diversify its use. Therefore, this paper presented a developmental process and used a 1:5,000 scale forest soil map to propose future directions. National maps showing the soil type, depth, and texture were produced based on the survey and analysis of forest soils, followed by the Forest Land Soil Map (1:5,000) Production Standard Manual. Alternatively, forest soil map data were the basis on which various other maps that can be used to prevent and predict forest disasters and evaluate environmental capacities were developed. Accordingly, ways to provide appropriate information to achieve the national forest plan, secure forestry big data, and accomplish sustainable forest management that corresponds to the national development plan are proposed based on results from the current study.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1239-1248
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• 2024

Peatlands are marginal agricultural lands due to highly acidic soil conditions and poor drainage systems. Drought stress is a big problem in peatlands as it can affect plants through poor root development, so technological innovations are needed to increase the productivity and sustainability of upland rice on peatlands. Rhizobacteria can overcome the effects of drought stress by altering root morphology, regulating stress-responsive genes, and producing exopolysaccharides and indole acetic acid (IAA). This study aimed to determine the ability of rhizobacteria in upland rice to produce exopolysaccharides and IAA, identify potential isolates using molecular markers, and prove the effect of rhizobacteria on viability and vigor index in upland rice. Rhizobacterial isolates were grown on yeast extract mannitol broth (YEMB) medium for exopolysaccharides production testing and Nutrient Broth (NB)+L-tryptophan medium for IAA production testing. The selected isolates identify using sequence 16S rRNA. The variables observed in testing the effect of rhizobacteria were germination ability, vigour index, and growth uniformity. EPS-1 isolate is the best production of exopolysaccharides (41.6 mg/ml) and IAA (60.83 ppm). The isolate EPS-1 was identified as Klebsiella variicola using 16S rRNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The isolate EPS-1 can increase the viability and vigor of upland rice seeds. K. variicola is more adaptive and has several functional properties that can be developed as a potential bioagent or biofertilizer to improve soil nutrition, moisture and enhance plant growth. The use of rhizobacteria can reduce dependence on the use of synthetic materials with sustainable agriculture.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.137-150
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• 2010

Traditionally, like many people in mountain region of the Himalaya, the Lwang communities depend on mix of subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, and seasonal migrant labor for their livelihoods. These traditional systems are characterized by low productivity, diverse use of available natural resources (largely for home consumption), limited markets, and some aversion for innovation. The potential to generate wealth through commerce has largely been untapped by these mountain residents and thus is undervalued in local and national economies. Introduction of organic tea farming is a part of Lwang community's several initiatives to break the vicious poverty cycle Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) played facilitating roles in all their efforts since beginning. In five years, the tea plantation emerged as a new means for secured a livelihood. This study aims to analyze the current practices in tea farming both in terms of farm management and soil nutrient status(technical) and the prosperity of the tea farmers (social). The technical aspect covers the soil and tea leaf analysis of various nutrients contents in the soil and tea leaf. Originally, the technical aspect of the study was not planned but later during the consultation with the advisor it was taken into consideration which added value to the research study. The sample were collected from different locations and analyzed on the field itself. The other part of the study i.e. the social aspect was done through questionnaire survey and focus group discussion. the tea farming provided them not only a new opportunity but also earned an identity in the region. This initiative was undertaken as a piloting measure. Now that the tea is in production with processing unit established locally, more serious consideration has to be given for better yield and economic prosperity. This research finding will help the community to analyze their efforts and make correction measures in tea garden management and application of fertilizer. It is also expected to fill up the gaps of knowledge and information required to reduce economic stresses and enhance capacity of farmers to make the tea farming a sustainable and beneficial business. The findings are expected to Sustainability of organic tea farming has direct impacts on biodiversity conservation compared to the other traditional farming practices that are more resource intensive. The study will also contribute to identify key action points required for reducing poverty while conserving environment and enhancing livelihoods