Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources
Nutrient flux and balance studies are valuable tools to assess the sustainability of agro-ecosystems and potential consequences for agricultural productivity. This paper presents results from a study at the field/farm scale representing mixed farming systems typical for the East African Highlands. W...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2007
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/30005 |
| _version_ | 1855531194673790976 |
|---|---|
| author | Haileslassie, Amare Priess, J.A. Veldkamp, E. Lesschen, Jan Peter |
| author_browse | Haileslassie, Amare Lesschen, Jan Peter Priess, J.A. Veldkamp, E. |
| author_facet | Haileslassie, Amare Priess, J.A. Veldkamp, E. Lesschen, Jan Peter |
| author_sort | Haileslassie, Amare |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Nutrient flux and balance studies are valuable tools to assess the sustainability of agro-ecosystems and potential consequences for agricultural productivity. This paper presents results from a study at the field/farm scale representing mixed farming systems typical for the East African Highlands. We selected catchments in the Dega (cool highlands and Woina Dega (warm-to-cool mid-highlands) of the Central Highlands of Ethiopia, to get more insight on how individual land use strategies and access to resources affect the magnitude of nutrient flows and resulting balances and to explore some of reasons of the variability within and between farming systems at different altitudes. Our results show that environmental condition, farming system (e.g. choice of crop), access to resources (e.g. land, livestock and fertilizer) and smallholders' source of off farm income influence the magnitude of nutrient fluxes and the degree to which nutrient fluxes may be imbalanced. In some respects our results differ from studies carried out at larger (i.e. more aggregated) spatial scales, which consistently show that homestead fields are zones of accumulation and distant fields as zone of depletion. Our results indicate that this is not always the case, and highlight the need for studies at the field and farm scales to include detailed biophysical and socioeconomic information to help explain major nutrient fluxes and to evaluate the system with respect to sustainable production. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace30005 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2007 |
| publishDateRange | 2007 |
| publishDateSort | 2007 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace300052024-03-06T10:16:43Z Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources Haileslassie, Amare Priess, J.A. Veldkamp, E. Lesschen, Jan Peter highlands agriculture soil fertility socioeconomic environment environmental factors land use nutrients resource management farms livestock labour Nutrient flux and balance studies are valuable tools to assess the sustainability of agro-ecosystems and potential consequences for agricultural productivity. This paper presents results from a study at the field/farm scale representing mixed farming systems typical for the East African Highlands. We selected catchments in the Dega (cool highlands and Woina Dega (warm-to-cool mid-highlands) of the Central Highlands of Ethiopia, to get more insight on how individual land use strategies and access to resources affect the magnitude of nutrient flows and resulting balances and to explore some of reasons of the variability within and between farming systems at different altitudes. Our results show that environmental condition, farming system (e.g. choice of crop), access to resources (e.g. land, livestock and fertilizer) and smallholders' source of off farm income influence the magnitude of nutrient fluxes and the degree to which nutrient fluxes may be imbalanced. In some respects our results differ from studies carried out at larger (i.e. more aggregated) spatial scales, which consistently show that homestead fields are zones of accumulation and distant fields as zone of depletion. Our results indicate that this is not always the case, and highlight the need for studies at the field and farm scales to include detailed biophysical and socioeconomic information to help explain major nutrient fluxes and to evaluate the system with respect to sustainable production. 2007-05 2013-06-11T09:25:48Z 2013-06-11T09:25:48Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/30005 en Limited Access Elsevier Agricultural Systems;94(2): 459-470 |
| spellingShingle | highlands agriculture soil fertility socioeconomic environment environmental factors land use nutrients resource management farms livestock labour Haileslassie, Amare Priess, J.A. Veldkamp, E. Lesschen, Jan Peter Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources |
| title | Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources |
| title_full | Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources |
| title_fullStr | Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources |
| title_short | Nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale: Exploring effects of land-use strategies and access to resources |
| title_sort | nutrient flows and balances at the field and farm scale exploring effects of land use strategies and access to resources |
| topic | highlands agriculture soil fertility socioeconomic environment environmental factors land use nutrients resource management farms livestock labour |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/30005 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT haileslassieamare nutrientflowsandbalancesatthefieldandfarmscaleexploringeffectsoflandusestrategiesandaccesstoresources AT priessja nutrientflowsandbalancesatthefieldandfarmscaleexploringeffectsoflandusestrategiesandaccesstoresources AT veldkampe nutrientflowsandbalancesatthefieldandfarmscaleexploringeffectsoflandusestrategiesandaccesstoresources AT lesschenjanpeter nutrientflowsandbalancesatthefieldandfarmscaleexploringeffectsoflandusestrategiesandaccesstoresources |