Economic Gains of Improving Soil Fertility and Water Holding Capacity with Clay Application (original) (raw)
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Plant Production Science, 2007
Water availability is one of the determinants of productivity of rainfed lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.). Quantifying water losses from a paddy field, such as deep percolation and lateral seepage, assists estimation of water availability to the rice crop and development of appropriate water management in the lowlands. The main objective of this study was to evaluate paddy water availability and productivity across various soils in Northeast Thailand. The daily rate of downward water flow from standing water in the field (D) varied between 0 and 3 mm day -1 from clayey to sandy soils when the standing water was connected to groundwater table. However, when the standing water was separated from groundwater table, D increased up to 5 mm day -1 on soils with very low clay content in the topsoil. Daily net lateral water flow from the field (L) averaged over the season varied between 5 and 24 mm day -1 for the outflow and between 3 and 16 mm day -1 for the inflow. Both the inflow and outflow tended to be associated negatively with the soil clay content. The seasonal water loss through D plus L during the growing season in the lowlands was also negatively related to the soil clay content. The yield of a major rainfed lowland rice cultivar in Northeast Thailand (KDML105) varied from 2 to 4 t ha -1 across the region, and the water productivity (the ratio of grain yield to cumulative rainfall from transplanting/seedling establishment to maturity) ranged from 3 to 9 kg ha -1 mm -1 . High clay soils could provide good standing water until late in the growing season, so the high production efficiency was measured on such soils.
Economic valuation of organic and clay-based soil amendments in small-scale agriculture in Lao PDR
Field Crops Research, 2013
At a farm level, economic returns are the single most important attributes that drive farmers to adopt agricultural technologies. This study was carried out at the Naphok and Veunkham villages, Lao PDR, to evaluate the yield response of a maize mono-cropping system to soil amendments and analyze the economic return of such interventions. The amendments were rice husk biochar, bentonite clay, compost, clay-manure compost, and rice husk biochar compost, in isolation and in various combinations. Over a period of two cropping seasons (2011)(2012), the enhancement of maize yield due to soil amendments ranged from 0.77 to 3.79 t ha −1 at Naphok and from 1.21 to 5.14 t ha −1 at Veunkham, resulting in net revenues ranging from −794 to 841 and −331 to 1391 US$ ha −1 , respectively. Soils amended with low-cost amendments such as compost, rice husk biochar, rice husk biochar compost, and clay-manure compost were economically viable within the first cropping season. In contrast, soils amended with higher-cost amendments such as bentonite clay requires up to five years to be economically viable. Such variations indicate that taking into account maize yield revenues only does not provide sufficient incentives to farmers to adopt higher-cost soil amendments. We conclude that there is a possibility to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and improve the income of smallholders using locally available low-cost soil amendments. Our findings provide important information for decision makers to promote the adoption of low-cost soil amendments, and, thereby, to contribute to productivity growth and food security through sustainable intensification.
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 10, Issue 7, 2020
This paper examines the environmental impact of the clay industry. Today, the environmental impact of the clay industry has gained a major concern. Among them the major impacts are raw materials of clay is obtained from the earth, digging huge pits in the earth's surface, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, disrupts ecosystems, the formation of sinkholes, changing water quality, and land use. Therefore, this research mainly is aimed to identify the environmental impact and changes that have occurred in the land use patterns, as well as migratory measures that can be applied on the identified several issues of clay mining. The methodology of the research was the mixed method under the holistic approach. Data were collected from clay factory owners and the residents in the vicinity in Six Grama Niladari Divisions (GNDs) in the Ma Oya South bank of Dankotuwa DSD and obtained water sample test reports from Long Life Laboratory. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics such as mean, mode, median, standard deviation, regression and ANOVA, geoprocessing, and spatial analyze is (IDW) were used to identify land use changes and water quality changes. Through the analysis, there were 67951sq. (m) of water pits and 478663 sq. (m) of clay digging spots in 2004. Comparatively in the year 2018, there were 167633sq. (m) of water pits and 556907sq. (m) of clay digging spots. The maximum values of water quality were identified as 7.9 of PH, 462 mg/l of total dissolved, 98 mg/l of turbidity, 107 mg/l of alkalinity 203 mg/l total hardness, and 489 us/cm of electric conductivity. There was a positive relationship between the income and expenditure (R=0.849) of the factory owners. The income of the population resides near these factories have been increased by 58.33% and 75% of the population resides by the Clay Pits. The knowledge of these people about the political influence on this industry varies; people near the clay pits are 100% aware and people near the factories, 75% aware of this factor. The result of the study further indicated that the highest land use allocation was given for the clay digging and deep water pits. Clay digging for brick and tile industries is a significant problem affecting negatively on the environment. Clay digging has also become a considerable issue in the Ma Oya reservation causing severe damage to the river bank and water quality. Finally, digging clay has drastically changed the landscape of the area and the land use has been changed. Therefore, the clay industry directly affects the environment in this region. To mitigate these issues, it can be suggested to implement such as restrictions on clay mining along the Ma Oya and enforcement of the existing laws on clay mining.
Applied Clay Science, 2007
Cultivating sandy soil is a promising solution to overcome the fight against hunger especially in the developing countries. The main problems of sandy soil are moisture holding capacity and nutrients deficiency. A containers experiment was carried out to study the enhancement of water productivity and crop yield of sandy soils treated with clay. The container size was 31 x 15 x 60 cm with one transparent side for visual viewing of the root development beside growth characteristics. The soil with bulk density of 1.5 g/cm 3 mixed with CaCO3 and P2O5 fertilizers was packed in the containers to 50 cm height. Three treatments: control, overlay and incorporate with four replicates were studied. The control treatment was only sandy soil, 4 % by weight of clay was overlay on the surface of sandy soil to constitute the overlay treatment (5.6 kg soil with 21.4 % clay overlay on 28.4 kg sandy soil with 93 % sand) while the same percentage of clay was incorporated with the upper 20 cm of sandy soil to represent the incorporate treatment. All the treatments received the same amount of irrigation water and fertilizers during the growing stage.
Impact of Different Developmental Projects on Soil Fertility
Environmental Chemistry for a Sustainable World, 2017
Soil fertility is highly important for countries where economy is dependent considerably on agriculture and animal husbandry. With the ambition of boosting economic growth many countries like India tap their vast mineral and human resources and expand industrial sector which also have considerable impact on soil fertility and agriculture. In order to have sustainable economy of a country, a harmony between industry and agriculture is highly essential. Though the cost involving protective and remedial measures appears to cut away the profit of industrial sector, these are extremely essential for shielding non-renewable soil resources which anchor the food producing agriculture sector. In order to formulate effective policies on protective and remedial measures, knowledge on the impact of different industries is required. This chapter reviews the research carried out worldwide to study the impact of major industries on soil quality and its consequences on quality of life including human. While some of the industries like thermal power plants, mining and associated ore beneficiation processes have direct impact on soil resources, other industries like textiles, paper & pulp, chemical & petrochemical, distillery etc. affect soil quality via polluted water used for irrigation.
Precision Agriculture, 2003
Variable Rate Technology (VRT) has the potential to increase crop yields and improve water quality relative to Uniform Rate Technology (URT). The effects on profitability and water quality of adopting VRT for nitrogen (N) and lime were evaluated for corn production on four claypan soil fields in north central Missouri under average to better than average weather conditions. Variable N and lime rates were based on measured topsoil depth and soil pH, respectively. VRT rates were compared to two different uniform N applications (URT-Nl based on the topsoil depth within these claypan soil fields, and URT-N2 based on a typical N rate for corn production in this area). Expected corn yield was predicted based on topsoil depth, soil pH, N rate, and lime rate. Water quality benefits of VRT relative to URT were evaluated based on potential leachable N. Sensitivity analyses were performed using simulated topsoil data for topsoil depth and soil pH. Results showed that VRT was more profitable than URT in the four sample fields under URT-N1, and in two of the four fields under URT-N2. Greater variation in topsoil depth and soil pH resulted in higher profitability and greater water quality benefits with VRT. Results support adoption of VRT for N and lime application for other claypan soil fields with characteristics similar to those in the fields used in this study.
Estimation of Economic Returns to Soil and Water Conservation Research – An Ex Ante Analysis
The economic returns to investment made in soil and water conservation research have been analyzed. Technologies such as conservation furrow, residue incorporation have been found to be economically viable under farmers' conditions. The study has covered four locations, viz. Agra and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Kota in Rajasthan and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The economic surplus analysis has revealed that when adopted on a large scale, soil and water conservation technologies generate significant economic surplus as reflected in high NPV and BC ratio. The share of producer surplus has been found to be higher in the total economic surplus generated from technology adoption. Thus, investments in generation and transfer of soil and water conservation technologies have been found be justified in terms of economic benefits. However, various constraints that hamper adoption of these technologies are to be addressed so that the potential benefits could be realized by both farmer and consumer.