crop management

This working paper by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) highlights opportunities and limitations for understanding agricultural drivers of deforestation through remote sensing. In this working paper, 14 of the most commonly used land cover data products are identified, with summarised spatial data, temporal and thematic properties, and estimates of forest and cropland area are compared. The limitations to land cover data that result from their divergent predictions are described and the implications for using this data to assess the agricultural drivers of deforestation in Africa are discussed. »

This report by PROIntenseAfrica discusses the role of improved farm power and mechanization, seed priming, improved soil fertility (microdosing) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices in the intensification of agricultural production in Mali and Sudan. Capacity building, awareness creation through farmers training and access to credits are crucial for the adoption and sustainable use of agricultural technologies in Mali and Sudan. Given the very high loss due to pest damage, intensification of crop production without an adequate protection from pest damage is not economically viable. »

This article in the Agronomy for Sustainable Development Journal explores some of the existing methods to assess potential grain yield, the size of the gap between average and rainfall-limited potential yield and to suggest pathways for future gains in crop yields in the presence of soil degradation, climate change and seasonal variability of rainfall. They focus mainly on cereal and grain legume crops but recognise that oilseed crops such as canola and mustard play an important role in many rainfed cropping systems. »