[en] 179 abstracts are presented but only 91 of them are in INIS scope and are treated separately. The content is indicated in the headings of the 12 working groups: food irradiation; radiation induced stimulation effects in living organisms; tracer techniques in animal sciences; physical methods; soil-plant relationships; applied mutagenesis; environment pollution; energy in agriculture; genetical methods in pest control; radioisotopes in insect ecology. (qui)

[en] Kisii District has a topography of undulating hills and is prone to severe soil erosion. The average rainfall is 1900 mm and occurs in biomodal pattern. During a participatory appraisal survey in 1995, farmers indicated that soil erosion in the area had contributed to decline in soil fertility resulting in low crop yields. To address this problem, an on-farm trial was conducted in 1996 at Nyamonyo village to test the effectiveness of four low cost methods of controlling soil erosion. These included maize stover trash line, sweet potatoes,Penicum maximum var. Makarikari grass strip and vetiveria zizanioides (Vertiver) grass strip. A treatment without soil erosion control measure was included. The trial was planted in three farms which acted as replicates. The treatments were planted in runoff plots measuring 4 x 2 m in which had a maize crop were laid down in a randomized complete block design. Surface runoff and eroded soils were collected in 50-l buckets. The experimental site had a slope ranging from 16 to 35%. Preliminary results indicated that maize stover trash line and sweet potato strips were more effective in controlling soil erosion than the grass strips. As the season progressed the grass strips became increasingly more effective in erosion control. The trail is still continuing but results indicate that for short term soil erosion control, maize stover trash lines and sweet potatoes are more effective while Makarikari and Vertiver grass strips are promising as long term soil erosion control measure

[en] Studies were conducted to find out whether inclusion of molasses had any effect on the fermentation quality and potential nutritive value of silage when wheat straw and poultry litter were ensiled with citrus pulp. A 4 x 2 factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with four treatments (T) containing wheat straw, poultry litter and citrus pulp respectively on DM basis with 0 and 5% molasses, were prepared as follows-: T1 (75:25:0); T2 (60:25:15); T3 (45:25:30) and T4 (30:25:45). For each treatment in triplicate between 5-10 kg of thoroughly mixed material were ensiled for for a period of 60 days in 20-l hard plastic container laboratory silos, lined with a double layer of polythene bags. Inclusion of 5% molasses when ensiling wheat straw and poultry litter with 0, 15, 30 and 45% citrus pulp had no significant effect on pH, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL) and in vitro OM digestibility. However, molasses resulted in a significant decrease in volatile fatty acids including N-butyric acid. There was a complete elimination of coliforms in all treatments, except in the silage that had neither molasses nor citrus pulp. There was a significant difference in titratable acidity levels between silage with 0 and 5% molasses, but this was only in silage with 30% citrus pulp. As the proportion of citrus pulp in silage increased from 0 to 45%, there was significant increase in silage acidity and also an increase in pH. However, there was no significant difference in pH between silage with 30 and 45% citrus pulp. There was a significant (P < 0.001) increase in in vitro OM digestibility from 0.33 to about 0.56 for silage with 0 and 45% citrus pulp respectively. It is concluded that when wheat straw and poultry litter are ensiled with citrus pulp, use of molasses offers no significant benefit inspite of the cost associated with its use. However, when no citrus pulp is included in the pre-mix, addition of some molasses would appear desirable so as to stimulate favourable fermentation. This can produce silage that is both safe from potentially pathogenic microorganisms such as coliforms and a potential feed resource for ruminants

No abstract available

[en] The article indicates the importance of using nuclear techniques in agricultural research and its development and the role the Agency has played since it was founded in 1957. Also the activities and achievements of the six sections that comprise the joint FAO/IAEA Division. In addition to a future look at the use of nuclear techniques in agricultural applications

[en] Highlights: • Nitrogen supply did not increase corn stover yield in water limited environments. • Nitrogen supply decreased specific biogas potential disregarding water availability. • Water and nitrogen interact in their effects on final methane yield. • Irrigation increased methane yield at any nitrogen status. Corn stover is a biogas feedstock capable of enhancing agriculture bioenergy potential. Although the influence of growing conditions on biogas yield of corn stover has been reported, the joint effects of water and nitrogen on biogas production potential have not been addressed. A two year experiment (Exp. 1 and Exp. 2) was conducted in Balcarce, Argentina to assess nitrogen supply effects on stover composition and potential methane yield of corn crops grown under contrasting water regimes. Treatments were a combination of two nitrogen fertilization doses (0 and 120 kg ha⁻¹) and two water regimes (irrigated and rainfed). Biomass composition (mass closure procedure) was determined, a BMP test was carried out and first-order kinetic parameters were obtained. Interactive effects of nitrogen and water on stover composition were found. BMP tests showed that the biogas production rate (k) decreased upon irrigation while its response to nitrogen depended on water availability. Nitrogen supply decreased specific biogas potential (B_max) independently of water availability. Methane yield increased with nitrogen fertilization under irrigation, while it decreased under rainfed conditions. The observed water and nitrogen supply interactive effects on stover yield, methane yield and biomass conversion efficiency highlights the importance of considering the joint effects of multiple factors when trying to assess the effects of the environment on biomass quality for bioenergy purposes.

[en] Comparison of furrow and trickle methods of irrigation to know their relative efficiency with respect to water applied and fertilizer used on tomatoes, cauliflower and lettuce as test crops using canal water, showed a significant saving of about 44 and 41 per cent respectively for irrigation water and fertilizer applied with trickle as compared to furrow irrigation. Trickle irrigated crops also showed a better response as regards the rate of survival, crop growth and time of maturity

[en] Indian agriculture has achieved remarkable success in the food grain production due to inception of 'rainbow revolution', which made the country self-sufficient in food production. Sustainable agriculture (SA) is an ongoing process, in which people take actions leading to development of agriculture that meets their current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It advocates avoiding all those actions, which reduce the ability of future generations to meet out the present generations. It is based on the optimal interaction between clean environment, healthy economy, and vital society by avoiding trade-off of problems to other regions on to the future. Moreover, sustainable agriculture is the function of people's progress and nature's capacity. In fact, SA commits us to considering the long-term effect and to recognize our place within the ecosystem. It encourages a continuous reflection on the implications of human activity on the ecosystem. Empirical evidences shows that in the race of self-sufficiency in food grain production, we compromised a lot on social and environmental fronts. The aftermath of green revolution is not so sustainable as it showed reverse side too, in the form of environmental degradation and ecological imbalances. Such threats have led to the need for promoting sustainable development in agriculture. Due to several unsustainable activities which resulted in resource degradation in the form of top soil loss, ground water depletion and forest degradation. The average soil loss is estimated to be over 16 tonnes/ha/year. The ground water depletion resulted in several blocks as 'grey blocks' and 'dark blocks'. This happened mainly due to increase in number of tube-wells and free supply of electricity making the cost of pumping water very low. Rate of human induced land degradation is very high. Out of total geographical area of 329.0 million ha, 187 million ha (57.0 %) are reported to have degraded, of which 162 million ha is wind and water related degradation. Moving from the existing unsustainable towards sustainable agriculture has in own social cost and benefits. The social costs, a society has to bear the short run may involve from loss of agriculture production to direct effect on employment opportunities in agriculture as well as allied sectors. But the social benefits of moving towards sustainable agriculture at least in the long run outweigh the initial social cost. For example - shifting from existing agriculture to SA benefits the society in terms of good soil, clean water, air improved productivity, which in turn will lead to the improved health of the society. Along with this, SA in the form of organic farming, vermiculture, etc. helps in providing additional employment and income to the society without any social cost (pollution (soil, air, water), and health, etc.). This paper analyzes the different dimensions of sustainable agriculture and its cost and benefits to the Indian society. Therefore, there is dire need to introduce policy measures. Viz., greater awareness about sustainability, proper education to farming community, and efficient management of natural resources to cater the serious challenge of sustainable agriculture. (author)

[en] A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of crop residues and tillage practices on BNF, WUE and yield of mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) under semi arid rainfed conditions at the Livestock Research Station, Surezai, Peshawar in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. The experiment comprised of two tillage i) conventional tillage (T1) and ii) no-tillage (T0) and two residues i) wheat crop residues retained (+) and ii) wheat crop residues removed (-) treatments. Basal doses of N at the rate of 20: P at the rate of 60 kg ha-1 were applied to mungbean at sowing time in the form of urea and single super phosphate respectively. Labelled urea having 5% 15N atom excess was applied at the rate of 20 kg N ha-1 as aqueous solution in micro plots (1m2) in each treatment plot to assess BNF by mungbean. Similarly, maize and sorghum were grown as reference crops and were fertilized with 15N labelled urea as aqueous solution having 1% 15N atom excess at the rate of 90 kg N ha/sup -1/. The results obtained showed that mungbean yield (grain/straw) and WUE were improved in notillage treatment as compared to tillage treatment. Maximum mungbean grain yield (1224 kg ha/sup -1/) and WUE (6.61kg ha/sup -1 mm/sup -1/) were obtained in no-tillage (+ residues) treatment. The N concentration in mungbean straw and grain was not significantly influenced by tillage or crop residue treatments. The amount of fertilizer-N taken up by straw and grain of mungbean was higher under no-tillage with residues-retained treatment but the differences were not significant. The major proportion of N (60.03 to 76.51%) was derived by mungbean crop from atmospheric N2 fixation, the remaining (19.6 to 35.91%) was taken up from the soil and a small proportion (3.89 to 5.89%) was derived from the applied fertilizer in different treatments. The maximum amount of N fixed by mungbean (82.59 kg ha/sup -1/) was derived in no-tillage with wheat residue-retained treatment. By using sorghum as reference crop, the biological nitrogen fixed by mungbean ranged from 37.00 to 82.59 kg ha/sup -1/ whereas with maize as a reference crop, it ranged from 34.74 to 70.78 kg ha/sup -1/ under different treatments. In comparison, non-fixing (reference) crops of sorghum and maize derived up to 16.6 and 15.5% of their nitrogen from the labelled fertilizer, respectively. These results suggested that crop productivity, BNF and WUE in the rainfed environment can be improved with minimum tillage and crop residues retention. (author)

[en] The general objective of this project was to contribute to the evaluation of land use and management impacts on C sequestration and nitrogen dynamics in soils. The land used through the presence/absence of crops and their species, and the land management through tillage, localisation of crop residues, fertilizer applications,... are important factors that affect the dynamics of organic matters in soils, particularly the mineralization of C and N, the losses to the atmosphere and hydrosphere, the retention of carbon into the soil. This project was conducted by four research groups, three of them having expertise in nutrient cycling of three major agro-ecosystems (arable crops, grasslands, forests) and the fourth one having expertise in modelling long term effects of land use on C storage into the soils. Within this common project one major objective was to better understand the fate of plant litter entering the soil either as above litter or as root litter. The focus was put on two factors that particularly affect decomposition: the initial biochemical quality of plant litter, and the location of the decomposing litter. One innovative aspect of the project was the use of stable isotope as ¹³C for carbon, based on the use of enriched or depleted ¹³C material, the only option to assess the dynamics of 'new' C entering the soil on the short term, in order to reveal the effects of decomposition factors. Another aspect was the simultaneous study of C and N. The project consisted in experiments relevant for each agro-ecosystem, in forest, grassland and arable soils for which interactions between residue quality and nitrogen availability on the one hand, residue quality and location on the other hand, was investigated. A common experiment was set up to investigate the potential degradability of the various residue used (beech leaf rape straw, young rye, Lolium and dactylic roots) in a their original soils and in a single soil was assessed. Based on these experiments, the Roth-C model of Coleman and Jenkinson (1996) was used to simulate the short term evolution of residual C, biomass C. A new parametrization based on biochemical composition of residues was proposed. (authors)