Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) is the non-food crop with the largest acreage in the world. Tobacco is criticized because it causes health problems to its consumers and because production causes environmental damage such as soil degradation, deforestation and water pollution. Diversification has...

This study was conducted to evaluate the economic sustainability of single enterprise farming operations when compared to integrated operations. The single operations consisted of either a hog only production system, a forage-based production system or beef cattle on pasture and the integrated...

Reactive nitrogen (N) flows (all forms of N except N2) are greatly increasing worldwide. This is mainly due to the ever larger use of inorganic N fertilizers used to sustain the growing food production. N flows have major impacts on water, air and soil quality as well as on biodiversity and...

Many smallholders in Nepal rely on marginal lands that are subject to declining fertility due in part to traditional farming practices. The adoption of conservation agriculture practices has the potential to improve livelihoods and food security but depends on knowledge sharing among farmers,...

Investing in more efficient irrigation technology is usually regarded as a means to reduce the use of water by irrigated agriculture. However, some authors report that the introduction of irrigation systems that apply water more uniformly may actually increase water catchment depletion: the...

Land degradation is affecting rural livelihoods across sub-Saharan Africa. Promoting sustainable land management requires a thorough understanding of land use change drivers, processes and effects. However, in most African countries reliable data for such investigations are missing. We therefore...

Traditionally, primary grain production systems in China have been on a small scale and are associated with high costs and low labor productivity. Therefore, the substitution of small-scale farming with large-scale farming has been discussed in recent years. The North China Plain (NCP) is one of...

This paper is a micro-level investigation into the farm-level productivity and efficiency impacts of zero tillage (ZT), a prominent resource conservation technology in agriculture. Often heralded as more sustainable than its conventional tillage alternatives, ZT has a number of positive...

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) efforts to achieve food security are challenged by poverty, low soil fertility, unequal global trade relationships, population growth, weak institutions and infrastructure, and future climate changes and variability. Crop models are the primary tools available to...

Fulfilling the targets of the European Nitrate Directive (91/676/EEC) and the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) has required governments to take action to prevent excessive application of livestock manure. In Denmark, where intensive livestock production has caused serious nitrogen leaching...