Driving Future to Shape Sustainable Agricultural System: Urban-Rural Land Management and Environment Protection

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Contexts and Urban-Rural Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 5622

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1 Institute of Land Use, Technical and Precision Technology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
2 Institutes for Agricultural Research and Educational Farm, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi 138, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: climate change; GHG emissions; drought
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Guest Editor
Institutes for Agricultural Research and Educational Farm, University of Debrecen, Böszörményi 138, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: precision agriculture; sustainable agriculture; crop production; soil fertility; plant nutrition; crop management; climate change and agriculture; soil analysis; crop science

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Due to urbanization, climate change, and the rapid growth of the population, the agricultural sector is under tremendous pressure. Despite the obstacles of agricultural production in many regions due to land degradation, extreme climate events, and plant diseases, the agricultural industry must feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 and 12 billion people by 2100. In this sense, the 2nd goal of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (i.e., Goal 2: Zero Hunger) aims to end hunger and all types of malnutrition, especially for the majority of the vulnerable population, by 2030.

Recently, researchers have emphasized that the quality of soil and environment, along with ecosystem services, are being severely degraded as a result of unsustainable land management and the industrialization of agriculture. Thus, to achieve sustainability in the agricultural sector, a holistic approach to analyze the interaction between agricultural activities and ecosystem should be conducted, under ongoing climate change.

The focus of this Special Issue of Land is the current state of knowledge on sustainability in agriculture. New insights, which could be presented as research papers, reviews, and case reports, are welcome. Papers with a multidisciplinary dimension in agricultural systems are also encouraged.

Dr. Safwan Mohammed
Dr. Endre Harsányi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • precision agriculture
  • agriculture and big data
  • climate change
  • agricultural drought
  • agriculture and conflict
  • soil
  • greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector
  • soil-water relations
  • land degradation (erosion, salinization,)
  • crop production (maize, wheat, etc.)
  • land suitability assessment
  • land use changes
  • remote sensing

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 849 KiB  
Article
Precision Farming: Barriers of Variable Rate Technology Adoption in Italy
by Margherita Masi, Jorgelina Di Pasquale, Yari Vecchio and Fabian Capitanio
Land 2023, 12(5), 1084; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12051084 - 17 May 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1806
Abstract
Research dealing with the adoption of various precision agriculture technologies has shown that guidance and recording tools are more widespread than reactive ones (such as variable rate technology), with much lower utilization rates in European case studies. This study aims to analyze the [...] Read more.
Research dealing with the adoption of various precision agriculture technologies has shown that guidance and recording tools are more widespread than reactive ones (such as variable rate technology), with much lower utilization rates in European case studies. This study aims to analyze the propensity to innovate variable rate technologies among young Italian farmers. A cluster analysis was carried out revealing four groups. The first two groups represent non-adopters who think technological innovation is very complex from a technical point of view, as well as not very accessible as capital-intensive technology. The third and fourth groups represent adopters. The third reports an early level of adoption, still considering the cost of access a major barrier to technology implementation. The fourth, on the other hand, shows a more intensive level and considers the lack of institutional support a major limitation. The cluster with the most intensive adoption is characterized by the youngest age group, the farms with the largest size, and a prevalence of female entrepreneurs. The need for management training in day-to-day business operations upon adoption is detected for all groups. This paper identified relevant drivers and barriers in characterizing the adopting farm of variable rate technologies. Results may offer insights to the policy maker to better calibrate support interventions. Full article
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18 pages, 3922 KiB  
Article
Community Structure and Distribution Pattern of Woody Vegetation in Response to Soil properties in Semi-Arid Lowland District Kasur Punjab, Pakistan
by Muhammad Waheed, Fahim Arshad, Muhammad Majeed, Sammer Fatima, Naila Mukhtar, Robina Aziz, Wali Muhammad Mangrio, Hussein Almohamad, Ahmed Abdullah Al Dughairi, Motrih Al-Mutiry and Hazem Ghassan Abdo
Land 2022, 11(12), 2145; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11122145 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2621
Abstract
Plant diversity is lower in arid regions around the world. However, semi-arid regions have very high species richness and are notable in terms of vegetation structure and plant diversity. The major goal of this study was to assess the composition and diversity of [...] Read more.
Plant diversity is lower in arid regions around the world. However, semi-arid regions have very high species richness and are notable in terms of vegetation structure and plant diversity. The major goal of this study was to assess the composition and diversity of woody species with respect to edaphic properties in semi-arid lowlands of Kasur, Punjab Pakistan. Comprehensive field surveys were conducted to study the botanical diversity of woody vegetation in Kasur district (Punjab) during 2020–2022. Based on geography and vegetation richness, 120 sampling sites were selected, with each site comprising 05 transects of 500 m2 randomly. Therefore, from each sampling site, 25 quadrats were taken for exploring the biological assortment of woody vegetation. Soil samples were collected at a depth of 9 to 12 cm and placed in a polythene bag. The soil samples were tested for soil pH, EC, OM, macronutrients (N, P, and K), and cation exchange capacity (CEC). A total of 86 woody species belonging to 61 genera and 26 families were documented from diverse habitats of semi-arid lowland of Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan. The leading family was Leguminosae having 13 genera and 21 species, followed by Moraceae, including four genera and nine species, and Bignoniaceae with seven genera and 09 species. Overall, five woody plant communities were renamed by means of the maximum indictor-valued plant species, such as those listed below; 1. EDM: Eucalyptus-Dalbergia-Morus community; 2. PBM: Populus-Bombax-Morus community; 3. ZTZ: Ziziphus-Tamarix- Ziziphus community; 4. PAP: Prosopis-Acacia-Prosopis community, and 5. BCR: Broussonetia-Conocarpus-Ricinus community. The CCA ordination makes it apparent that appropriate edaphic aspects, such as pH, organic matter, N, P, K, soil texture (silt, sand, and clay), and cation exchange capacity (CEC), have a significant influence on how woody species are distributed. The current effort provides a fundamental layout to realize the influences of environmental variables on the arrangement, variety, and relations of woody vegetation, which is useful to improve the conservation and management events for the ecological restoration of degraded habitation in the studied district. Full article
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