AGROECOLOGY (HB 2017)

This book is a collection of chapters, concerning the developments within the Agroecology field of study. The book includes scholarly contributions by various authors pertinent to Agricultural and Biological Sciences. Each contribution comes as a separate chapter complete in itself but directly related to the book's topics and objectives. The target audience comprises scholars and specialists in the field. ave4eva 2015 Cover 1 Agroecology 2 © 3 Contents 5 Preface 8 Chapter 1 Agricultural Systems in IGAD Region — A Socio-Economic Review 10 1. Introduction 10 2. Conceptualizing farming systems 12 3. Characteristics of farming systems 14 4. IGAD region: A general background 17 4.1. Socio-economic conditions of IGAD region 19 4.2. Disasters and resilience in IGAD region 22 4.3. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD): Background 22 4.4. IGAD region: Country profiles 23 4.4.1. Djibouti 23 4.4.2. Eritrea 25 4.4.3. Ethiopia 26 4.4.4. Kenya 27 4.4.5. Somalia 28 4.4.6. South Sudan 29 4.4.7. Sudan 30 4.4.8. Uganda 31 5. Farming systems in IGAD region 32 5.1. Introduction 32 5.2. Major farming systems in the region 33 5.3. Farming systems in Djibouti 38 5.4. Farming systems in Eritrea 39 5.5. Farming systems in Ethiopia 40 5.6. Farming systems in Kenya 43 5.7. Farming systems in Somalia 45 5.8. Farming systems in South Sudan 46 5.9. Farming systems in Sudan 47 5.10. Farming systems in Uganda 50 6. Conclusions, recommendations and policy implications 52 6.1. Conclusions 52 6.2. Recommendations and policy implications 54 Author details 56 References 56 Chapter 2 Characterization of Industrial Highly Organic Wastewater to Evaluate Its Potential Use as Fertilizer in Irrigation of Agricultural Land 66 1. Introduction 66 2. Application mechanisms of wastewaters on agricultural soils 67 2.1. Wastewater-soil-crop relation 68 2.2. Removal mechanisms of the wastewater constituents 69 2.3. Characteristics of the soil and its role in the application of wastewaters 71 2.4. Objective of the crop in the application of wastewater 72 3. Selected mathematical models 73 3.1. Water balance 73 3.2. Oxygen balance 75 3.3. Analysis of the diffusive transportation in the soil 75 3.4. Estimation of oxygen flux due to diffusive transportation 80 3.5. Time between applications 82 3.6. Nitrogen balance 82 3.7. Application area 83 4. Case of study 83 5. Conclusions 86 6. Recommendations 87 Author details 87 References 87 Chapter 3 Wastes in Building Materials Industry 90 1. Introduction 90 2. Waste classification 91 3. Wastes from industry used in building materials 94 3.1. By-product wastes 95 3.2. Organic wastes 98 3.3. Mineral waste 99 3.4. Construction demolition waste 100 3.5. Transportation industry waste 101 3.6. Other types of wastes used in building materials 102 3.7. Agricultural waste used in building material 102 4. Conclusions 103 Author details 104 References 104 Chapter 4 Soil Salinity Control in Irrigated Land with Agricultural Drainage Systems 110 1. Introduction 110 2. Theory 111 2.1. The Boussinesq equation 111 2.2. The drainable porosity 111 2.3. Initial and boundary conditions 112 2.4. Solute transport equation 113 2.5. Numerical scheme 113 2.6. Linear radiation condition 116 2.7. Selection of the space (Δx) and time (Δt) increments 117 3. Application 117 3.1. Laboratory experiment 117 3.2. Analysis of the salt content 118 3.3. The hydrodynamic characteristic 119 3.4. The granulometric curve 119 3.5. Inverse problem 119 4. Results and discussion 120 4.1. The granulometric curve 120 4.2. The hydrodynamic characteristic 120 4.3. Analysis of the salt content 121 4.4. Using the solution to simulate the leaching of saline soils 124 5. Conclusions 126 Author details 126 References 127 Chapter 5 Seeds of Change — Plant Genetic Resources and People’s Livelihoods 132 1. Introduction 132 2. Plant genetic resources and people’s livelihood 134 2.1. Global distribution of plant genetic resources 134 2.2. Plant genetic resources, minor crops and their potential in food, feed, fibre and fuel production 135 3. Human impact on plant genetic resources and options for their maintenance 136 4. Examples for the potential of introducing underused genetic resources 139 5. Tools for the evaluation of impact assessment 142 6. Final consideration 146 Author details 148 References 149 Chapter 6 Challenges and Opportunities in Estimating the Value of Goods and Services in Temperate Grasslands — A Case Study of Prairie Grasslands in Manitoba, Canada 156 1. Introduction 156 2. Methods 159 2.1. Concept of value of good/service 159 2.2. Process of valuation of Manitoba grassland ecosystem services 161 2.3. Market-based valuation 163 2.3.1. Perennial forage production 163 2.3.2. Carbon sequestration 164 2.3.3. Nutrient cycling 165 2.4. Non-market-based valuation 165 3. Results 166 3.1. Market-based valuation 168 3.1.1. Perennial forage production 168 3.1.2. Carbon sequestration 169 3.1.3. Nutrient cycling 169 3.2. Non-market-based valuation 170 3.3. Total value of Manitoba grasslands 171 4. Discussion 172 5. Conclusion 173 Author details 174 References 175 Chapter 7 Modelling of Best Management Practices in Agricultural Areas 180 1. Introduction 180 2. Best management practices and pollutant control in watersheds 181 2.1. Best management practices in watersheds 181 2.2. Optimizations of best management practices 183 3. Summary and discussion 190 Author details 191 References 191 Chapter 8 Effluent Cleaning, Greener Catalysts and Bioecomaterials from Agricultural Wastes 196 1. Introduction 196 2. Effluent cleaning with materials derived from rice and beer production wastes 197 3. Etherification of glycerol from biodiesel production with company ́s own residues 202 4. Lipases immobilised on materials prepared with agriresidues derived from rice production. 205 5. Bioecomaterials 211 5.1. Tissue engineering (Dental and Bone replacement therapies) 211 5.2. Controlled desorption of bioactive substances 221 6. Conclusions 225 Author details 226 References 226 Chapter 1 Agricultural Systems in IGAD Region — A Socio-Economic Review by Osman Babikir, Solomon Muchina, Ameha Sebsibe, Adan Bika, Agol Kwai, Caroline Agosa, George Obhai and Samuel Wakhusama Chapter 2 Characterization of Industrial Highly Organic Wastewater to Evaluate Its Potential Use as Fertilizer in Irrigation of Agricultural Land by Esteban Jácome Sandoval and Martin H. Bremer-Bremer Chapter 3 Wastes in Building Materials Industry by Marinela Barbuta, Roxana Dana Bucur, Sorin Mihai Cimpeanu, Gigel Paraschiv and Daniel Bucur Chapter 4 Soil Salinity Control in Irrigated Land with Agricultural Drainage Systems by Carlos Chávez, Carlos Fuentes, Fernando Brambila and Nami Morales-Durán Chapter 5 Seeds of Change — Plant Genetic Resources and People’s Livelihoods by Thomas Hilger, Iris Lewandowski, Bastian Winkler, Barbara Ramsperger, Paulo Kageyama and Carlos Colombo Chapter 6 Challenges and Opportunities in Estimating the Value of Goods and Services in Temperate Grasslands — A Case Study of Prairie Grasslands in Manitoba, Canada by Suren Kulshreshtha, Michael Undi, Jing Zhang, Mohammad Ghorbani, Karin Wittenberg, Ashley Stewart, Esther Salvano, Ermias Kebreab and Kimberly Ominski Chapter 7 Modelling of Best Management Practices in Agricultural Areas by Youn Shik Park, Kyoung Jae Lim, Jae E. Yang and Ki-Sung Kim Chapter 8 Effluent Cleaning, Greener Catalysts and Bioecomaterials from Agricultural Wastes by A.M. Martínez Serrano, M. Ramos, M. Yates, M.A. Martin-Luengo, F. Plou, J.L. Lacomba, G. Reilly, C. Vervaet, P. Muñoz, G. Garcia, J.L. Tarterra, B. Fite, A. Urtzainki, M.C. Vidal, E. Sáez Rojo, L. Vega Argomaniz, A. Civantos and V. Zurdo