Home  About us  Contact
 

Vegetable Production (vegetable + production)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences50%

Selected Abstracts

Agricultural diversification and integrated pest management in Bangladesh

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2004
Chowdhury Mahmoud
IPM; Bangladesh; Vegetable production; Off-farm employment Abstract We study factors associated with a shift toward diversified, high-valued vegetable crops and the incentives associated with the use of IPM methods for vegetable producers in Bangladesh. The primary objective is to measure how IPM technologies affect the crop and technology choices of low-income rice farmers. A three-season household optimisation model is used to study crop and technology choice under price and yield uncertainty. The model is parameterised using data from vegetable farms and experimental IPM trials conducted in Bangladesh. Simulation results show that access to IPM technology and IPM availability combined with access to credit increase household welfare and lead to higher rates of vegetable adoption. Off-farm employment opportunities work against vegetable cultivation and IPM use by risk-averse farmers. Implications for policy and extension efforts are highlighted. [source]

Use of vegetative furrows to mitigate copper loads and soil loss in runoff from polyethylene (plastic) mulch vegetable production systems

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2004
Pamela J. Rice
Abstract The transport of runoff with high copper concentrations and sediment loads into adjacent surface waters can have adverse effects on nontarget organisms as a result of increased turbidity and degraded water quality. Runoff from vegetable production utilizing polyethylene mulch can contain up to 35% of applied copper, a widely used fungicide/bactericide that has adverse effects on aquatic organisms. Copper is primarily transported in runoff with suspended particulates; therefore, implementation of management practices that minimize soil erosion will reduce copper loads. Replacing bare-soil furrows with furrows planted in rye (Secale cereale) significantly improved the sustainability of vegetable production with polyethylene mulch and reduced the potential environmental impact of this management practice. Vegetative furrows decreased runoff volume by >40% and soil erosion by >80%. Copper loads with runoff were reduced by 72% in 2001, primarily as a result of reduced soil erosion since more than 88% of the total copper loads were transported in runoff with suspended soil particulates. Tomato yields in both years were similar between the polyethylene mulch plots containing either bare-soil or vegetative furrows. Replacing bare-soil furrows with vegetative furrows greatly reduces the effects of sediments and agrochemicals on sensitive ecosystems while maintaining crop yields. [source]

Globalized Horticulture: The Formation and Global Integration of Export Grape Production in North East Brazil

JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 4 2010
BEN SELWYN
In horticulture contemporary globalization is associated with (at least) two connected processes , the concentration, centralization and expanding reach of global retailers and the emergence of numerous new sites of export horticulture specializing in fresh fruit and vegetable production aimed at metropolitan markets. Whilst there have been numerous studies about developmental impacts, conditions of labour, and producers' upgrading strategies within this new context, few studies give much, if any, space to explaining and analyzing the processes through which these new regions have come into being. This article provides a detailed account of the emergence and global integration of one of these new sites , the São Francisco valley grape branch in North East Brazil, within the context of the wider regional fruiticulture sector. It focuses on state activities and incentives, the provenance of grape producers and their organizations, and grape branch composition. [source]

Balancing fertility management and economics in organic field vegetable rotations

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 15 2007
Ulrich Schmutz
Abstract BACKGROUND: Organic field-scale vegetables are among the most profitable enterprises in organic farming systems. They are also some of the most nutrient-demanding crops, and many organic arable systems with field-scale vegetables are stockless. Without livestock manure inputs, nutrient supply depends on fertility-building crops, which generate only costs and no income. Different strategies of fertility management were compared on a central England research farm. Fertility management treatments consisted of different lengths of fertility building with green waste compost additions. Outputs and inputs in terms of nutrients and economics were monitored for 31 rotations during 1996,2002. RESULTS: N, P and K rotational nutrient balances, as well as C inputs, showed a negative relationship with rotational gross margins. Variable and allocated fixed costs of fertility building were low, between 2 and 5% of variable costs (£0.5,2 ha,1 for 1 kg N ha,1 supplied to the rotation). The intensity of vegetable cropping in these rotations was moderate (25,40% vegetable crops in the rotation) and balancing of fertility management and economics was possible at this intensity without livestock manure or other permitted fertiliser additions. CONCLUSION: Completely stockless systems (in analogy may be called vegan) are possible in organic vegetable production without compromising on fertility or economics. However, for a higher vegetable-cropping intensity (up to 90%) a more sophisticated mix of short-term fertility-building and N-trapping crops will be needed and such rotations may require further external addition of green waste or livestock manure. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Atmospheric nitric oxide stimulates plant growth and improves the quality of spinach (Spinacia oleracea)

ANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
C.W. Jin
Abstract Nitric oxide (NO) is an endogenous signalling molecule implicated in a growing number of plant processes and has been recognised as a plant hormone. The present research employed spinach plant (Spinacia oleracea cv. Huangjia) and closed growth chambers to investigate the effects of gaseous NO application on vegetable production in greenhouses. Treatment of low concentration of NO gas (ambient atmosphere with 200 nL L,1 NO gas) significantly increased the shoot biomass of the soil-cultivated plants as compared with the control treatment (ambient atmosphere). In addition, the NO treatment also increased the photosynthetic rate of leaves, indicating that the enhancement of photosynthesis is an important reason leading to more biomass accumulation induced by NO gas. Furthermore, the NO treatment decreased nitrate concentration but increased the concentrations of soluble sugar, protein, antioxidants (vitamin C, glutathione and flavonoids), and ferric reducing-antioxidant power (FRAP) in shoots of the plants grown in soil, suggesting that the gaseous NO treatment can not only increase vegetable production but also improve vegetable quality. In addition, the effects of the combined application of NO and CO2 (NO 200 nL L,1 and CO2 800 ,L L,1) on shoot biomass was even greater than the effects of elevated CO2 (CO2 800 ,L L,1) or the NO treatment alone, implying that gaseous NO treatment can be used in CO2 -elevated greenhouses as an effective strategy in improving vegetable production. [source]