March 2011

Integrating indigenous knowledge and soil science approaches to detailed soil survey in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Farmers’ knowledge about their soils and their management constitutes a complex wisdom system, which if integrated with modern soil science, could provide the necessary synergy for sustainable agricultural development. A field work was undertaken in parts of Kaduna State to ascertain the indigenous knowledge of farmers and compared it with scientific classification of the same soils. The farmers used non-taxonomic...

Author(s): Raji, B. A., Malgwi, W. B., Berding, F. R. and Chude, V. O.

March 2011

Growth and development of jack-bean and pigeon-pea in cassiterirte mine spoil

Cassiterite mining has caused critical damages to the environment with respect to soil degradation and water pollution. In a greenhouse experiment two leguminous species, jack-bean (Canavalia ensiformis) and pigeon-pea (Cajanus cajan), were grown using cassiterite mine spoil as substrate, in the presence of rhizobia and with or without mycorrhizal fungi, and the substrate was amended or not with organic compost and...

Author(s): Paulo Furtado Mendes Filho, Rafael Leandro de Figueiredo Vasconcellos and Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira Cardoso

March 2011

Rangeland characteristics of a supercritically degraded landscape in the semi-arid area of South Africa

The objective of this study was to investigate rangeland condition in a semi-arid area with doubling erosion rates. Work was conducted using aerial photographic analysis and field investigations were conducted using 10 paired 20 x 20 m plots and 2 1 x 1 m quadrats randomly located with each plot. Degraded sites showed significant differences in soil compaction but not in soil water infiltration time. Degraded sites were...

Author(s): Clifford Tafangenyasha, Amos T. Mthembu, Hector Chikoore, Nothile Ndimande, Sifiso Xulu and Nonkululeko Gwcensa

March 2011

The linkage between land reform and land use changes: A case of Vietnam

Recently, land reform and land tenure have been once again considered as the important issue of development agenda. Land reform via land allocation and titling has been widely undertaken in transition and developing countries across continents. As a result, a massive transfer of land rights from state and collective bodies to private entities have been adopted. Such land reforms have significantly influenced land...

Author(s): Ha Thuc Vien