Browsing by Subject "Agriculture"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Designing sustainable food systems #foodCHI
    (Association for Computing Machinary, 2017) Raturi, A.; Norton, J.; Tomlinson, B.; Blevis, E.; Dombrowski, L.
    There is significant interest in designing technologies for the food system, from agricultural modeling tools to apps enabling humans to assess nutritional value of various food choices to drones for pest detection. However, a good food system must be a sustainable one. There is an urgent need for deliberation and thoughtfulness in designing for both technologies that support existing food systems and new modalities that work towards more sustainable food systems. This workshop will bring together HCI researchers, designers, and practitioners with an interest in exploring what constitutes a sustainable food system, as well as defining the role of HCI in this domain. Our key objectives for this workshop will be to identify what opportunities for design and collaboration exist and to lay the foundation for an active foodCHI community. Copyright
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    An economic model of a genetic resistance commons: Effects of market structure applied to biotechnology in agriculture
    (Resources for the Future, 2003) Noonan, Douglas S.
    Genetic resistance resources represent an emerging class of environmental resources. These resources are the subject of increasing public interest, especially for resistance in agriculture and antibiotic use. This paper models genetic resistance resources as common-pool resources. The static model applies directly to the case of Bt corn, whose seeds are bioengineered to contain a pesticide. Firms produce an agricultural output, corn, using two inputs: Bt corn seeds and refuge areas. Production also depends on the common stock of environmental resistance. Seed use contributes to greater resistance, while refuge areas abate resistance. This costly form of abatement represents another (positive) externality, which allows for the optimal seed use to be greater than the competitive level. The use of seeds and refuge areas by other firms can be shown to be substitutes and compliments in production, respectively, for each firm. This simple model of externalities is complicated by introducing another important feature common to genetic resistance resources: monopoly supply in the biotechnology factor market. Monopoly provision of seeds, with imperfect price discrimination, leads the monopoly to act as a gatekeeper of the commons who tries to maximize its own rents rather than the rents from the resource. This divergence in interests leads to a deadweight loss as seed use is curtailed through higher monopoly prices. This equilibrium is compared to the competitive and the optimal cases. The way in which the resistance externality operates, through damaging others’ output or through affecting their marginal productivities, suggests whether the monopoly improves the efficiency of the seed market. Further consideration is given to the possibility that the monopoly determines the firms’ level of abatement. Assuming some enforcement mechanism, the monopoly chooses higher abatement levels to increase factor demand for seeds and increase its rents. The Under some plausible conditions, a monopoly supplier of the input that accesses the genetic resistance commons can be shown to actually improve welfare by mandating a higher level of care that also maximizes its profits. The distributional consequences of the different market structures are shown, noting how gains for the monopoly come at the expense of firms. In 2000, the EPA and Monsanto required purchasers of Bt corn to plant specific refuge areas in order to forestall resistance. This approach is readily extended to other cases, such as pesticides more generally or antibiotic use in the production of health services by households.
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    Global Synthesis of Drought Effects on Food Legume Production
    (PLOS, 2015-06-10) Daryanto, Stefani; Wang, Lixin; Jacinthe, Pierre-André; Department of Earth Sciences, School of Science
    Food legume crops play important roles in conservation farming systems and contribute to food security in the developing world. However, in many regions of the world, their production has been adversely affected by drought. Although water scarcity is a severe abiotic constraint of legume crops productivity, it remains unclear how the effects of drought co-vary with legume species, soil texture, agroclimatic region, and drought timing. To address these uncertainties, we collected literature data between 1980 and 2014 that reported monoculture legume yield responses to drought under field conditions, and analyzed this data set using meta-analysis techniques. Our results showed that the amount of water reduction was positively related with yield reduction, but the extent of the impact varied with legume species and the phenological state during which drought occurred. Overall, lentil ( Lens culinaris ), groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea ), and pigeon pea ( Cajanus cajan ) were found to experience lower drought-induced yield reduction compared to legumes such as cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ) and green gram ( Vigna radiate ). Yield reduction was generally greater when legumes experienced drought during their reproductive stage compared to during their vegetative stage. Legumes grown in soil with medium texture also exhibited greater yield reduction compared to those planted on soil of either coarse or fine texture. In contrast, regions and their associated climatic factors did not significantly affect legume yield reduction. In the face of changing climate, our study provides useful information for agricultural planning and research directions for development of drought-resistant legume species to improve adaptation and resilience of agricultural systems in the drought-prone regions of the world.
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    Phosphorus Loss in Adjacent Agricultural Watersheds Under Different Phosphorus Fertilizer Management
    (2025-04) Sheahan, Samantha G.; Jacinthe, Pierre-André; Druschel, Gregory; Wang, Lixin
    Intensive agricultural practices are linked to non-point source pollution of aquatic ecosystems around the world. In recent decades, there has been great impetus to investigate fertilizer management practices that contribute to crop productivity and protect water quality. A six-year study (2016-2021) was conducted in the School Branch watershed (Indiana, USA) to compare phosphorus (P) export from two adjacent fields receiving P fertilizer at different application rates. The fields were under corn-soybean rotation in a no-tillage and cover crop management. During the first years (2016-2017) of the study, or the “tri-state phase”, both fields received P fertilizer at an average rate of 78.5 kg P/ha/yr. During the “precision phase” (2018-2021), the West field received P at tri-state recommended rates, whereas the East field was switched to liquid injection of P fertilizer at an average rate of 22.4 kg P/ha/yr (or 70% less than tri-state rate). Water flow and P loss via surface and sub-surface pathways were monitored. Results showed no effect of P fertilizer rate on crop yield. However, despite the indication of soil P enrichment due to the initial high P input, reduction in P fertilizer input resulted in a substantial decrease (relative to an average loss of 2.9 kg P/ha/yr during the “tri-state phase”) in the amount of both DRP (25%) and TDP (72%) exported from the East field. The presence of a cover crop had variable effects on seasonal DRP export; in comparison to “no cover crop”, DRP loss tended to be higher (2 to 5-fold) in the fall and lower (2 to 4-fold) in the spring. Among the cover crops planted, winter wheat led to a marked reduction in water discharge and TDP export, underscoring the potential water quality benefits of this harvestable cover crop. Future studies should examine the underlying mechanisms of how different species of the cover crop affect seasonal P export.