Assessment of water use and its productivity in the Spanish irrigation district "Río Adaja"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez-Sinobas, Leonor; Naroua, Iliassou; Sánchez-Calvo, Raúl

2015-04-01

A study of the assessment of the irrigation water use has been carried out in the Spanish irrigation District "Río Adaja" that has analyzed the water use efficiency and the water productivity indicators for the main crops during the first three years of operation (2010/2011, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013). A soil water balance model was applied taking into account climatic data for the nearby weather station and soil properties. Crop water requirements were calculated by the FAO Penman-Monteith with the application of the dual crop coefficient and by considering the readily available soil water content (RAW) concept. Likewise, productivity was measured by the indexes: annual relative irrigation supply (ARIS), annual relative water supply (ARWS), relative rainfall supply (RRS), the water productivity (WP), the evapotranspiration water productivity (ETWP), and the irrigation water productivity (IWP). The results show that the irrigation district applied deficit irrigation in most crops (ARIS<1), and also improved water productivity. This was higher in 2010/2011 which showed the highest effective precipitation Pe. The IWP (€/m3) index varied among crops with the highest values for onion (4.14), potato (2.79), carrot (1.37) and barley (1.21) for the first year and, onion (1.98), potato (1.69), carrot (1.70) and barley (1.16) in the second year. Thus, these crops would be a proper cropping pattern to maximize the gross income in the irrigation district.

Characteristics of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Effluent Load from a Paddy-field District Implementing Crop Rotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hama, Takehide; Aoki, Takeru; Osuga, Katsuyuki; Nakamura, Kimihito; Sugiyama, Sho; Kawashima, Shigeto

Implementation of collective crop rotation in a paddy-field district may increase nutrients effluent load. We have investigated a paddy-field district implementing collective crop rotation of wheat and soybeans, measured temporal variations in nutrients concentration of drainage water and the amount of discharged water for consecutive three years, and estimated nutrients effluent load from the district during the irrigation and non-irrigation periods. As a result, the highest concentration of nutrients was observed during the non-irrigation period in every investigation year. It was shown that high nutrients concentration of drainage water during the non-irrigation period was caused by runoff of fertilizer applied to wheat because the peaks of nutrients concentration of drainage water were seen in rainy days after fertilizer application in the crop-rotation field. The effluent load during the non-irrigation periods was 16.9-22.1 kgN ha-1 (nitrogen) and 0.84-1.42 kgP ha-1 (phosphorus), which respectively accounted for 46-66% and 27-54% of annual nutrients effluent load.

[Distribution of virtual water of crops in Beijing].

PubMed

Wang, Hong-Rui; Dong, Yan-Yan; Wang, Jun-Hong; Wang, Yan; Han, Zhao-Xing

2007-11-01

Virtual water content of grains and vegetables in Beijing's districts is calculated and analyzed for many years by irrigating water quota method, which is compared with the distribution and exploitation of groundwater in Beijing. The results indicate the virtual water content of grains shows a downward trend in all the districts, but the grain production in Yanqing district brings great pressure to the local groundwater. Secondly, the virtual water content of vegetables shows an upward trend in Shunyi District, Daxing district and Pinggu District and is accounting for more and more gradually. Thirdly, the total virtual water volume of grains is decreasing, and the total virtual water volume of vegetables is increasing and the total virtual water volume of crops in Beijing is reducing in recent years, which corresponds with the structural adjustment of policies.

Differential Impacts of Climate Change on Crops and Agricultural Regions in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, A. N.

2015-12-01

As India's farmers and policymakers consider potential adaptation strategies to climate change, some questions loom large: - Which climate variables best explain the variability of crop yields? - How does the vulnerability of crop yields to climate vary regionally? - How are these risks likely to change in the future? While process-based crop modelling has started to answer many of these questions, we believe statistical approaches can complement these in improving our understanding of climate vulnerabilities and appropriate responses. We use yield data collected over three decades for more than ten food crops grown in India along with a variety of statistical approaches to answer the above questions. The ability of climate variables to explain yield variation varies greatly by crop and season, which is expected. Equally important, the ability of models to predict crop yields as well as their coefficients varies greatly by district even for districts which are relatively close to each other and similar in their agricultural practices. We believe these results encourage caution and nuance when making projections about climate impacts on crop yields in the future. Most studies about climate impacts on crop yields focus on a handful of major food crops. By extending our analysis to all the crops with long-term district level data in India as well as two growing seasons we gain a more comprehensive picture. Our results indicate that there is a great deal of variability even at relatively small scales, and that this must be taken into account if projections are to be made useful to policymakers.

Decision Support Systems To Manage Water Resources At Irrigation District Level In Southern Italy Using Remote Sensing Information. An Integrated Project (AQUATER)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rinaldi, M.; Castrignanò, A.; Mastrorilli, M.; Rana, G.; Ventrella, D.; Acutis, M.; D'Urso, G.; Mattia, F.

2006-08-01

An efficient management of water resources is crucial point for Italy and in particular for southern areas characterized by Mediterranean climate in order to improve the economical and environmental sustainability of the agricultural activity. A three-year Project (2005-2008) has been funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Policies; it involves four Italian research institutions: the Agricultural Research Council (ISA, Bari), the National Research Council (ISSIA, Bari) and two Universities (Federico II-Naples and Milan). It is focused on the remote sensing, the plant and the climate and, for interdisciplinary relationships, the project working group consists of agronomists, engineers and physicists. The aims of the Project are: a) to produce a Decision Support System (DSS) combining remote sensing information, spatial data and simulation models to manage water resources in irrigation districts; b) to simulate irrigation scenarios to evaluate the effects of water stress on crop yield using agro-ecological indicators; c) to identify the most sensitive areas to drought risk in Southern Italy. The tools used in this Project will be: 1. Remote sensing images, topographic maps, soil and land use maps; 2. Geographic Information Systems; 3. Geostatistic methodologies; 4. Ground truth measurements (land use, canopy and soil temperatures, soil and plant water status, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Crop Water Stress Index, Leaf Area Index, actual evapotranspiration, crop coefficients, crop yield, agro-ecological indicators); 5. Crop simulation models. The Project is structured in four work packages with specific objectives, high degree of interaction and information exchange: 1) Remote Sensing and Image Analysis; 2) Cropping Systems; 3) Modelling and Softwares Development; 4) Stakeholders. The final product will be a DSS with the purpose of integrating remote sensing images, to estimate crop and soil variables related to drought, to assimilate these variables into a simulation model at district scale and, finally, to estimate evapotranspiration, plant water status and drought indicators. A project Web home page, a technical course about DSS for the employers of irrigation authorities and dissemination of results (meetings, publications, reports), are also planned.

Identification of Suitable Water Harvesting Zones Based on Geomorphic Resources for Drought Areas: A Case Study of Una District, Himachal Pradesh, India.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prakasam, D. C., Jr.; Zaman, B.

2014-12-01

Water is one of the most vital natural resource and its availability and quality determine ecosystem productivity, both for agricultural and natural systems. Una district is one of the major potential agricultural districts in Himachal Pradesh, India. More than 70% of the population of this district is engaged in agriculture and allied sectors and major crops grown are maize, wheat, rice, sugarcane, pulses and vegetables. The region faces drought every year and about 90 per cent of the area is water stressed. This has resulted in crop loss and shortage of food and fodder. The sources of drinking water, small ponds and bowlies dry-up during summer season resulting in scarcity of drinking water. Una district receives rainfall during monsoons from June to September and also during non-monsoon period (winter). The annual average rainfall in the area is about 1040 mm with 55 average rainy days. But due to heavy surface run-off the farmers not able to cultivate the crops more than once in a year. Past research indicate that the geomorphology of the Una district might be responsible for such droughts as it controls the surface as well as ground water resources. The research proposes to develop a water stress model for Una district using the geomorphic parameters, water resource and land use land cover data of the study area. Using Survey of India topographical maps (1:50000), the geomorphic parameters are extracted. The spatial layers of these parameters i.e. drainage density, slope, relative relief, ruggedness index, surface water body's frequency are created in GIS. A time series of normalized remotely sensed data of the study area is used for land use land cover classification and analyses. Based on the results from the water stress model, the drought/water stress areas and water harvesting zones are identified and documented. The results of this research will help the general population in resolving the drinking water problem to a certain extent and also the cultivators to water the crops more than twice per year which might increase the crop yield in Una district.

Climate change vulnerability, adaptation and risk perceptions at farm level in Punjab, Pakistan.

PubMed

Abid, Muhammad; Schilling, Janpeter; Scheffran, Jürgen; Zulfiqar, Farhad

2016-03-15

Pakistan is among the countries highly exposed and vulnerable to climate change. The country has experienced many severe floods, droughts and storms over the last decades. However, little research has focused on the investigation of vulnerability and adaptation to climate-related risks in Pakistan. Against this backdrop, this article investigates the farm level risk perceptions and different aspects of vulnerability to climate change including sensitivity and adaptive capacity at farm level in Pakistan. We interviewed a total of 450 farming households through structured questionnaires in three districts of Punjab province of Pakistan. This study identified a number of climate-related risks perceived by farm households such as extreme temperature events, insect attacks, animal diseases and crop pests. Limited water availability, high levels of poverty and a weak role of local government in providing proper infrastructure were the factors that make farmers more sensitive to climate-related risks. Uncertainty or reduction in crop and livestock yields; changed cropping calendars and water shortage were the major adverse impacts of climate-related risks reported by farmers in the study districts. Better crop production was reported as the only positive effect. Further, this study identified a number of farm level adaptation methods employed by farm households that include changes in crop variety, crop types, planting dates and input mix, depending upon the nature of the climate-related risks. Lack of resources, limited information, lack of finances and institutional support were some constraints that limit the adaptive capacity of farm households. This study also reveals a positive role of cooperation and negative role of conflict in the adaptation process. The study suggests to address the constraints to adaptation and to improve farm level cooperation through extended outreach and distribution of institutional services, particularly climate-specific farm advisory services. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extraction and Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Crops Based on Multitemporal High Resolution Data-Taking Qiaocheng District of Bozhou as AN Example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, H.; He, J.; Zhou, H.; Guan, F.; Li, L.; Ren, B.; Wang, Z.

2018-04-01

Remote sensing technology has become an important method to rapidly acquireing of planting layout and composition of regional crops.It is very important to accurately master the planting area of Chinese medicine crops in the Characteristic planting area because it relations to accurately master the cultivation of Chinese medicine crops, formulate related policies and adjustment of crop planting structure.The author puts forward a method of using remote sencing technology for momitoring Chinese medicine which has good applicability and generalization. This paper took Qiaocheng District of Bozhou as an example to Verify the feasibility of the method, providing a reference for solving the problem of interpretation and extraction of Chinese medicinal materials in the region.

Assessment of water use in the Spanish irrigation district "Río Adaja"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naroua, Illiassou; Rodriguez-Sinobas, Leonor; Sánchez Calvo, Raúl

2013-04-01

Intensive agricultural practices combined with the increasing pressure of urbanization and the changing lifestyles, have strengthened the problems of competing users over limited water resources in a fragile and already stressed environment. Sustainable irrigated agriculture is prescribed as a policy approach that maximizes economic benefits while maintaining environmental quality. Within this framework a proper management of irrigation systems saving water is required. On the other hand, crops with high tolerance to water stress and deficit irrigation are recommended. However, crop yield, among other factors, is very sensitive to water Thus, studies addressing the relations among crop water requirements, irrigation depth and crop yield are necessary. This type of study has been carried out in the Spanish irrigation District "Río Adaja" in the year 2010-2011 with the crops: wheat, barley, sugarbeet, corn, onion, potato, sunflower, clover and carrot. A soil hydrology balance model was applied taking into account climatic data for the nearby weather station and soil characteristics. Effective precipitation was calculated by the index curve number. Crop water requirements were calculated by the FAO Penman-Monteith with the application of the dual crop coefficient. Likewise, productivity was measured by the following indexes: annual relative irrigation supply (ARIS), relative water supply (RWS), relative rainfall supply (RS) and water productivity (WP). Results show that water applied with the irrigation of clover, sugarbeet, corn and onion was less than their water requirements There was a 35 % difference between the amount of water simulated with the model and the gross amount applied during the irrigation period by the irrigation district. WP values differed among crops depending, mainly, on the crop`s market price and the amount of irrigation water. The highest values corresponded to potato and onion crops.

Encounter risk analysis of rainfall and reference crop evapotranspiration in the irrigation district

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jinping; Lin, Xiaomin; Zhao, Yong; Hong, Yang

2017-09-01

Rainfall and reference crop evapotranspiration are random but mutually affected variables in the irrigation district, and their encounter situation can determine water shortage risks under the contexts of natural water supply and demand. However, in reality, the rainfall and reference crop evapotranspiration may have different marginal distributions and their relations are nonlinear. In this study, based on the annual rainfall and reference crop evapotranspiration data series from 1970 to 2013 in the Luhun irrigation district of China, the joint probability distribution of rainfall and reference crop evapotranspiration are developed with the Frank copula function. Using the joint probability distribution, the synchronous-asynchronous encounter risk, conditional joint probability, and conditional return period of different combinations of rainfall and reference crop evapotranspiration are analyzed. The results show that the copula-based joint probability distributions of rainfall and reference crop evapotranspiration are reasonable. The asynchronous encounter probability of rainfall and reference crop evapotranspiration is greater than their synchronous encounter probability, and the water shortage risk associated with meteorological drought (i.e. rainfall variability) is more prone to appear. Compared with other states, there are higher conditional joint probability and lower conditional return period in either low rainfall or high reference crop evapotranspiration. For a specifically high reference crop evapotranspiration with a certain frequency, the encounter risk of low rainfall and high reference crop evapotranspiration is increased with the decrease in frequency. For a specifically low rainfall with a certain frequency, the encounter risk of low rainfall and high reference crop evapotranspiration is decreased with the decrease in frequency. When either the high reference crop evapotranspiration exceeds a certain frequency or low rainfall does not exceed a certain frequency, the higher conditional joint probability and lower conditional return period of various combinations likely cause a water shortage, but the water shortage is not severe.

The Benchmark Farm Program : a method for estimating irrigation water use in southwest Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Duerr, A.D.; Trommer, J.T.

1982-01-01

Irrigation water-use data are summarized in this report for 74 farms in the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Most data are for 1978-90, but 18 farms have data extending back to the early 1970's. Data include site number and location, season and year, crop type, irrigation system, monitoring method, and inches of water applied per acre. Crop types include citrus, cucumbers, pasture, peanuts, sod, strawberries, and tropical fish farms are also included. Water-application rates per growing season ranged from 0 inches per acre for several citrus and pasture sites to 239.7 inches per acre for a nursery site. The report also includes rainfall data for 12 stations throughout the study area. (USGS)

Detecting the Spatio-temporal Distribution of Soil Salinity and Its Relationship to Crop Growth in a Large-scale Arid Irrigation District Based on Sampling Experiment and Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, D.; Huang, G., Sr.; Xu, X.; Huang, Q., Sr.; Xiong, Y.

2016-12-01

Soil salinity analysis on a regional scale is of great significance for protecting agriculture production and maintaining eco-environmental health in arid and semi-arid irrigated areas. In this study, the Hetao Irrigation District (Hetao) in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with suffering long-term soil salinization problems, was selected as the case study area. Field sampling experiments and investigations related to soil salt contents, crop growth and yields were carried out across the whole area, during April to August in 2015. Soil salinity characteristics in space and time were systematically analyzed for Hetao as well as the corresponding impacts on crops. Remotely sensed map of soil salinity distribution for surface soil was also derived based on the Landsat OLI data with a 30 m resolution. The results elaborated the temporal and spatial dynamics of soil salinity and the relationships with irrigation, groundwater depth and crop water consumption in Hetao. In addition, the strong spatial variability of salinization was clearly presented by the remotely sensed map of soil salinity. Further, the relationship between soil salinity and crop growth was analyzed, and then the impact degrees of soil salinization on cropping pattern, leaf area index, plant height and crop yield were preliminarily revealed. Overall, this study can provide very useful information for salinization control and guide the future agricultural production and soil-water management for the arid irrigation districts analogous to Hetao.

Planting structure adjustment and food security in major food production district: A case study on 10 main food production counties in Gansu Province, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, S. J.; Yang, C. L.; Zhou, L. Y.

2017-07-01

This paper made an empirical study on planting structure adjustment and food security, in which main data and information came from the questionnaires of 10 main food-production counties in Gansu Province, China. The investigation results showed that: 1) During 1995 and 2014, the cultivated land area per household dropped by 2.40%, in which food crop area declined by 3.16%, yet cash crop area increased by 129% in the survey area. In the same period, the revenue per household increased by 162.99%, while food income from the revenue only increased by 17.42%; 2) In Hexi and Longzhong districts, mean wheat crop area per household shows a downtrend, while cash crop area increased significantly in the past 20 years. Especially, the household food output and income did not appear a simultaneous increase trend. In Longdong district, the household food output and income showed a simultaneous uptrend, and household income came mainly from miscellaneous grain (e.g. sorghum, bean, buckwheat, etc.); 3) In order to pursue higher economic efficiency of cultivated land, the farmers were forced to adjust planting structure and develop characteristics industries, profitable agriculture and cash crop with comparative advantage, which resulted in few food stock and impacted seriously on regional food security.

Method for Estimating Annual Atrazine Use for Counties in the Conterminous United States, 1992-2007

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thelin, Gail P.; Stone, Wesley W.

2010-01-01

A method was developed to estimate annual atrazine use during 1992 to 2007 on sixteen crops and four agricultural land uses. For each year, atrazine use was estimated for all counties in the conterminous United States (except California) by combining (1) proprietary data from the Doane Marketing Research-Kynetec (DMRK) AgroTrak database on the mass of atrazine applied to agricultural crops, (2) county harvested crop acreage, by county, from the 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007 Censuses of Agriculture, and (3) annual harvested crop acreage from National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) for non-Census years. DMRK estimates of pesticide use on individual crops were derived from surveys of major field crops and selected specialty crops in multicounty areas referred to as Crop Reporting Districts (CRD). The CRD-level atrazine-use estimates were disaggregated to obtain county-level application rates by dividing the mass (pounds) of pesticides applied to a crop by the acreage of that crop in the CRD to yield a rate per harvested acre. When atrazine-use estimates were not available for a CRD, crop, or year, an estimated rate was developed following a hierarchy of decision rules that checked first for the availability of a crop application rate from surveyed atrazine application rate(s) for adjacent CRDs for a specific year, and second, the rates from surveyed CRDs within for U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Production Regions for a specific year or multiple years. The estimation method applied linear interpolation to estimate crop acreage for years when harvested acres for a crop and county were not reported in either the Census of Agriculture or the NASS database, but were reported by these data sources for other years for that crop and county. Data for atrazine use for the counties in California was obtained from farmers' reports of pesticide use collected and published by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation-Pesticide Use Reporting (DPR-PUR) because these data are more complete than DMRK survey data. National and state annual atrazine-use totals derived by this method were compared with other published pesticide-use estimates and were highly correlated. The method developed is designed to be applicable to other pesticides for which there are similar data; however, for some pesticides that are applied to specialty crops, fewer surveys are usually available to estimate application rates and there are a greater number of years with unreported crop acreage, potentially resulting in greater uncertainty in use

Adaptation for Planting and Irrigation Decisions to Changing Monsoon Regime in Northeast India: Risk-based Hydro-economic Optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, T.; Cai, X.

2013-12-01

Delay in onset of Indian summer monsoon becomes increasingly frequent. Delayed monsoon and occasional monsoon failures seriously affect agricultural production in the northeast as well as other parts of India. In the Vaishali district of the Bihar State, Monsoon rainfall is very skewed and erratic, often concentrating in shorter durations. Farmers in Vaishali reported that delayed Monsoon affected paddy planting and, consequently delayed cropping cycle, putting crops under the risks of 'terminal heat.' Canal system in the district does not function due to lack of maintenance; irrigation relies almost entirely on groundwater. Many small farmers choose not to irrigate when monsoon onset is delayed due to high diesel price, leading to reduced production or even crop failure. Some farmers adapt to delayed onset of Monsoon by planting short-duration rice, which gives the flexibility for planting the next season crops. Other sporadic autonomous adaptation activities were observed as well, with various levels of success. Adaptation recommendations and effective policy interventions are much needed. To explore robust options to adapt to the changing Monsoon regime, we build a stochastic programming model to optimize revenues of farmer groups categorized by landholding size, subject to stochastic Monsoon onset and rainfall amount. Imperfect probabilistic long-range forecast is used to inform the model onset and rainfall amount probabilities; the 'skill' of the forecasting is measured using probabilities of correctly predicting events in the past derived through hindcasting. Crop production functions are determined using self-calibrating Positive Mathematical Programming approach. The stochastic programming model aims to emulate decision-making behaviors of representative farmer agents through making choices in adaptation, including crop mix, planting dates, irrigation, and use of weather information. A set of technological and policy intervention scenarios are tested, including irrigation subsidies, drought and heat-tolerant crop varieties, and enhancing agricultural extension. A portfolio of prioritized adaption options are recommended for the study area.

Evaluation of cropping pattern in rainfed areas based on studies of pranata mangsa and weather dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaki, M. K.; Furi, N. T.; Syamsiyah, Jauhari; Sumani

2018-03-01

Weather dynamics such as the fifth time of the rainy season and drought are becoming more frequent. These conditions pose a significant impact on the strategies of cultivation such as cropping pattern and crop yields, especially in rainfed areas. One of the steps that can be taken is to return to local wisdom, such as pranata mangsa. This study aimed at analyzing the relationship of the variability of precipitation in rainfed areas with pranata mangsa and then to evaluate cropping patterns based on the result of the analysis. The study was conducted in rainfed areas of the District of Jumantono, Karanganyar Regency; and District of Teras and District of Ampel, Boyolali Regency in June until December 2014. The research method is a descriptive exploratory survey with purposive sampling based on moderate altitude (200-700 masl). The types of data that are used are primary and secondary. Data analysis was used correlation test. The results showed that precipitation in rainfed areas has a close relationship with paranata mangsa. These results explain that pranata mangsa still relevant to be used even though it has happened weather dynamics.

Understanding the Impact of Extreme Temperature on Crop Production in Karnataka in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahato, S.; Murari, K. K.; Jayaraman, T.

2017-12-01

The impact of extreme temperature on crop yield is seldom explored in work around climate change impact on agriculture. Further, these studies are restricted mainly to crops such as wheat and maize. Since different agro-climatic zones bear different crops and cropping patterns, it is important to explore the nature of the impact of changes in climate variables in agricultural systems under differential conditions. The study explores the effects of temperature rise on the major crops paddy, jowar, ragi and tur in the state of Karnataka of southern India. The choice of the unit of study to understand impact of climate variability on crop yields is largely restricted to availability of data for the unit. While, previous studies have dealt with this issue by replacing yield with NDVI at finer resolution, the use of an index in place of yield data has its limitations and may not reflect the true estimates. For this study, the unit considered is taluk, i.e. sub-district level. The crop yield for taluk is obtained between the year the 1995 to 2011 by aggregating point yield data from crop cutting experiments for each year across the taluks. The long term temperature data shows significantly increasing trend that ranges between 0.6 to 0.75 C across Karnataka. Further, the analysis suggests a warming trend in seasonal average temperature for Kharif and Rabi seasons across districts. The study also found that many districts exhibit the tendency of occurrence of extreme temperature days, which is of particular concern in terms of crop yield, since exposure of crops to extreme temperature has negative consequences for crop production and productivity. Using growing degree days GDD, extreme degree days EDD and total season rainfall as predictor variables, the fixed effect model shows that EDD is a more influential parameter as compared to GDD and rainfall. Also it has a statistically significant negative effect in most cases. Further, quantile regression was used to evaluate the robustness of the estimates of EDD in relation to crop yield. This showed the estimates to be robust across quantiles for most of the crops studied. Thus indicating a strong negative influence of exposure to extreme temperature on crop yield in the region.

Annual agricultural pesticide use for Midwest Stream-Quality Assessment, 2012-13

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baker, Nancy T.; Stone, Wesley W.

2014-01-01

This report provides estimates of annual agricultural use of 190 pesticide compounds for counties and selected watersheds of Midwestern States for 2012 and 2013 compiled for subsequent analysis by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, Midwest Stream-Quality Assessment (MSQA). One of the goals of MSQA is to characterize contaminants at perennial-stream sites throughout the Corn Belt. Evaluating pesticide inputs from agricultural sources will aid in that characterization. Crop acres for selected Midwestern crops were obtained from the Cropland Data Layer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and used in conjunction with GfK Kynetec, Inc. proprietary Crop Reporting District-level pesticide-use data to estimate pesticide use for counties and watersheds. Estimated pesticide use (EPest) values were calculated by using both the “EPest-high” and “EPest-low” methods, the distinction being that there are more counties with estimated pesticide use for EPest-high compared to EPest-low, owing to differing assumptions about missing survey data. County-level and watershed-level estimates of annual agricultural pesticide use are provided as downloadable, tab-delimited files for both EPest-high and Epest-low. Summary graphs of MSQA watershed-level pesticide use for selected crops are also provided.

Dirty air costs growers $500 million in crop losses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tintori, K.A.

Air pollution damage to ornamental plants and crops, already costing the nation more than $500 million in losses yearly, is steadily increasing. California is one of the hardest hit areas with an annual loss of about $125 million. In metropolitan areas of Southern California, photochemical smog has made it impossible to raise orchids and growers have had to relocate in remote rural areas. Smog damage is now reported in 27 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Mexico. The pollutants most easy to identify are five toxic gases: sulfur dioxide, ozone, peroxyacetyl nitrate, ethylene, and fluorides. The symptoms of eachmore » type of pollutant injury are described. 2 figures, 1 table.« less

Flood of May 27-28, 1954, in Panola and Lafayette Counties, Mississippi

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goines, W.H.

1955-01-01

As a result of heavy rains during the late afternoon and night of May 27, 1954, record-breaking floods occurred on small streams in Panola and Lafayette Counties. All flooding was in rural areas, and no loss of life was reported. The Agriculture Stabilization Committees at Sardis and at Oxford estimated the crop and soil losses in Panola county as $400,000, and in Lafayette County as $25,000. The total damage to county roads and State highways was estimated to be in excess of $25,000. The purpose of this report is to present rainfall information and more detailed runoff data than are found in the regular Water Supply Papers. The report contains a summary of peak discharges at 10 miscellaneous sites and a detailed record of discharge at the gaging station Clear Creek near Oxford, Miss. Field investigation incident to this report were conducted by members of the District Office, U.S. Geological Survey, Jackson, Miss., I. E. Anderson, District Engineer.

A Study on Land Suitability for Rice Cultivation in Khordha District of Odisha (India) Using Remote Sensing and GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rath, Sudhansu S.; Panda, Jagabandhu; Annadurai, R.; Nanda, Sachikanta

2018-05-01

With the global population on the rise, it is important to address the increasing demand for food. According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations), by 2050, the developing countries must double their food production to meet the growing demand. Proper land utilization can be one of the solutions for this problem. In view of this, the current study focussed on land suitability analysis for Khordha district of Odisha (India) for rice crop. This study estimated that the amount of land suitable for rice cropping was 195,731 ha against the currently cultivated land of 122,183.38 ha. Therefore, there was a possibility of more amount of land that could be available for rice cultivation in Khordha district than the currently cultivated area. In order to perform this exercise, the land use and land cover data from IRS (Indian remote sensing satellite), soil nutrient parameters like pH values and nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous and organic carbon contents were considered. In addition, the climatic parameters such as near surface temperature, rainfall and number of rainy days were taken into account. The unused land identified in Khordha district in this study might be utilized for cultivating rice crop in this region.

A Study on Land Suitability for Rice Cultivation in Khordha District of Odisha (India) Using Remote Sensing and GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rath, Sudhansu S.; Panda, Jagabandhu; Annadurai, R.; Nanda, Sachikanta

2018-02-01

With the global population on the rise, it is important to address the increasing demand for food. According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations), by 2050, the developing countries must double their food production to meet the growing demand. Proper land utilization can be one of the solutions for this problem. In view of this, the current study focussed on land suitability analysis for Khordha district of Odisha (India) for rice crop. This study estimated that the amount of land suitable for rice cropping was 195,731 ha against the currently cultivated land of 122,183.38 ha. Therefore, there was a possibility of more amount of land that could be available for rice cultivation in Khordha district than the currently cultivated area. In order to perform this exercise, the land use and land cover data from IRS (Indian remote sensing satellite), soil nutrient parameters like pH values and nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous and organic carbon contents were considered. In addition, the climatic parameters such as near surface temperature, rainfall and number of rainy days were taken into account. The unused land identified in Khordha district in this study might be utilized for cultivating rice crop in this region.

The agricultural features of Nizhegorodskaya gubernia (province) in the XIX century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirillova, Vasilisa

2017-04-01

One of the main conditions for the sustainable development of any country is the food security of the population, based on the development of agriculture. This condition can be realized through the efficient use of the productive capacity of agriculture, and above all natural resources. From 1882 to 1887 in the Nizhegorodskaya gubernia (province) complex physiographic (landscape) researches were conducted by V.V. Dokuchaev and his followers. This investigation was focused on studying the relationship between the soils and the environment, having no parallel either in Russia or abroad, and received evaluation of the soils was the first experience of such a scale and nature. Reports of the expedition were presented in 14 volumes on the natural science of the study, and 11 volumes of economic statistics. Natural science volume includes descriptions of irrigation and hydrography, geology, soil and vegetation in uezds (districts). Economic volume represent a set of common data on the situation of the peasant economy, they contain information about the number of arable land, including fertilized, hayfields, forests, manure stocks, livestock, harvest volumes, proportions of cultivated crops. The aim of this research was to study the list and structure of crops cultivated in the Nizhegorodskaya gubernia in the XIX century and their compliance with the soil and climatic conditions. From the materials of the expedition reports for the eight districts of the Nizhegorodskaya gubernia was compiled a list of crops and crop area information which was introduced in the GIS (MapInfo). Geographic information systems were used to visualize the collected material in the form of maps, cartograms and charts. For the conformity assessment of soil and climatic conditions of the studied area of selected crops a map "Agricultural zoning of Russia for optimal crop growing" by I.I. Karmanov and D.S. Bulgakov (National Soil Atlas, 2011) was applied. According to this map the Nizhegorodskaya gubernia is located in three agro-climatic areas: (№9) European Southern taiga, sod-podzolic (humus soils of Opol'e), rye, barley, oat, potato and forage (corn silage), (number 11) North-steppe (ETP), gray forest soils with patches of chernozems, winter-wheat-rye, barley, oat, potato with corn silage, (№12) forest-steppe (ETP), leached and podzolized chernozems with gray forest soils , winter-wheat-rye, barley, oat, potato with sugar beet and corn for silage. Analysis of digitized information on cultivated crops of Nizhegorodskaya gubernia in the XIX century and agro-climatic characteristics of areas has shown that the list of selected crops in general corresponds to the recommendations by present-day scientists, but has its own characteristics. In reporting materials there is no information about the cultivation of crops such as winter wheat, sugar beet and corn. Potatoes and barley are cultivated in small quantities, their place is taken lentil, millet and spelt, which in today's recommendations are not mentioned.

12. DETAIL, DECORATIVE PANEL, HEAT EXCHANGER (CROPPED PRINT FROM 21/4 ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

12. DETAIL, DECORATIVE PANEL, HEAT EXCHANGER (CROPPED PRINT FROM 2-1/4 x 2-3/4 NEGATIVE) - U.S. General Services Administration, Central Heating Plant, C & D Streets between Twelfth & Thirteenth Streets Southwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

Evaluation of a monitoring program for assessing the effects of management practices on the quantity and quality of drainwater from the Panoche Water District, western San Joaquin Valley, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leighton, David A.; Fio, John L.

1995-01-01

An evaluation was made of an existing monitoring program in the Panoche Water District for 1986-93. The Panoche Water District is an agricultural area located in the western San Joaquin Valley of California. Because irrigation drainage from this area has high concentrations of dissolved solids and selenium, management strategies have been developed to improve the quality of drainwater discharge. The purpose of the Panoche Water District's monitoring program is to assess the effects of water- and land-use practices on local ground water and drain flow from the district. Drainflow from the district consists of the discharge from 50 separate on-farm underground tile-drainage systems. The Panoche Water District maintains information on water deliveries, planned and actual crop types, and planned and actual acreages planted each year. In addition, the water district monitors ground-water and drainage-system discharges using a variety of data-collection methods. A total of 62 observation well sites are used to monitor ground-water level and quality. A total of 42 sites were monitored for drainflow quantity, and drain flow quality samples were collected from the outlets of each of the 50 drainage systems. However, these data were collected inconsistently and (or) intermittently during the period studied. All data obtained from the water district were compiled and stored in a geographic information system database. Water delivered for irrigation by the Panoche Water District is a mix of imported water and local ground water pumped directly into delivery canals. Although delivered water is a mix, information on the proportion of water from the two sources is not reported. Also, individual growers pump directly to their crops unknown quantities of ground water, the total of which could be greater than 60 percent of total applications during years when water district deliveries are greatly reduced (for example, the years during and following a drought). To evaluate the effects of irrigation on ground-water and drainflow quality, data on the combined chemical characteristics and the volume of water applied to crops are needed as part of the district's monitoring program. For example, without these data, this study could estimate only the effects of irrigation on ground-water recharge for 1986 (60.4 106 m3/y), 1987 (74.2 106 m3/y), and 1988 (56.0 106 m3/y) in the Panoche Water District water years when the amount of ground water pumped by individual growers was probably small. Water-level data show a significant decline of the water table in the upslope, undrained parts of the study area, and little or no significant change in the down slope, drained parts of the study area. Pumping from productions wells, most of which are located in the upslope part of the study area, may have contributed to the decline of the water table in the upslope area. The quantities of drainflow, dissolved solids, and selenium discharged from the study area decreased during the study period. However, drainflow, dissolved solids, and selenium discharged from individual on-farm drainage systems did not decrease. These data also illustrate the need for consistent and regular monitoring of the factors that affect drainage in the western San Joaquin Valley.

77 FR 49459 - Notice of Extension to Public Comment Period for Consent Decree Lodged Under the Comprehensive...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-16

... Court for the District of Massachusetts in United States v. Bayer CropScience Inc. et al., Civil Action No. 1:12-cv-10847 and Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Bayer CropScience Inc. et al., Civil Action No... of Massachusetts against Bayer CropScience Inc. and Pharmacia Corporation in connection with the...

Farmer's response to changing climate in North East India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De, Utpal Kumar

2015-02-01

Diversification of land use in the cultivation of various crops provides an alternative way to moderate the climate risk. By choosing alternative crops that are resilient to various weather parameters, farmers can reduce the crop damage and achieve optimum output from their limited land resources. Apart from other adaptation measures, crop diversity can reflect farmers' response towards changing climate uncertainty. This paper tries to examine the changing climatic condition through spatio-temporal variation of two important weather variables (precipitation and temperature) in the largest North-East Indian state, Assam, since 1950. It is examined by the variation in crop diversification index. We have used (1) Herfindahl Index for measuring degree of diversification and (2) locational quotient for measuring the changes in the regional crop concentration. The results show that, in almost all the districts, crop specialization has been taking place slowly and that happened mostly in the last phase of our study. The hilly and backward districts recorded more diversification but towards lower value crops. It goes against the normal feature of crop diversification where farmers diversify in favour of high value crops. Employing ordinary least squares method and/or Fixed Effect model, irrigation is found to have significant impact on crop diversification; while the flood plain zones and hill zones are found to have better progress in this regard, which has been due to the survival necessity of poor farmers living the zone. Thus crop diversity does not reflect very significant response from the farmers' side towards changing weather factors (except rainfall) though they have significant impact on the productivity of various crops, and thus profitability. The study thus suggests the necessity for rapid and suitable diversification as alternative climate change mitigation in the long run.

Evaluation of crop production, trade, and consumption from the perspective of water resources: a case study of the Hetao irrigation district, China, for 1960-2010.

PubMed

Liu, Jing; Sun, Shikun; Wu, Pute; Wang, Yubao; Zhao, Xining

2015-02-01

The integration of water footprints and virtual water flows allows the mapping of the links between production, trade, and consumption and could potentially help to alleviate water scarcity and improve water management. We evaluated the water footprints and virtual water flows of crop production, consumption, and trade and their influencing factors in the Hetao irrigation district in China for 1960-2010. The water footprint of crop production and the export of virtual water fluctuated but tended to increase during this period and were influenced mainly by agricultural factors such as crop yield, irrigation efficiency, and area sown. The water footprint of crop consumption and the import of virtual water increased during 1960-1979 and decreased during 1980-2010 and were influenced by socio-economic factors such as total population, the retail-price index, and the proportion of the population in urban areas. Most of the water footprint of production was exported to other areas, which added to the pressure on local water systems. The import of virtual water led to a saving of water for the Hetao irrigation district, while its share of the water footprint of consumption has decreased significantly since 1977. An increase in irrigation efficiency can alleviate water scarcity, and its application should be coupled with measures that constrain the continued expansion of agriculture. Full-cost pricing of irrigation water was an effective policy tool for its management. Re-shaping regional water-production and water-trade nexuses by changing crop structures could provide alternative opportunities for addressing the problems of local water scarcity, but the trade-offs involved should first be assessed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Regional agricultural susceptibility to climate variability: A district level analysis of Maharashtra, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swami, D.; Parthasarathy, D.; Dave, P.

2016-12-01

Climate variability (CV) has adverse impact on crop production and inadequate research carried out to assess the impact of CV on crop production has aggravated the ability of farmers to adapt (Jones et al., 2000). A better understanding of CV is required to reduce the vulnerability of farmers towards existing and future CV. Further, a wide variation in policies related to climate change exists at global level and considering the state/nation as a single unit for policy formulations may lead to under-representation of regional problems. Hence, the present work chooses to focus on CVassessment at the regional/district level of Maharashtra state in India. Here, interannual variability of wet and dry spells from year 1951-2013, are used as a measure of CV. Statistical declining trend of wet spells for (12/34) districts was observed across all the districts of Maharashtra. Districts showing highest change in wet spell pre and post 1976/77 are Beed, Latur and Osmanabad belong to Central Maharashtra Plateau zone and Western Maharashtra scarcity zone. Dry spells for (8/34) districts were found to statistically increase across all the districts of Maharashtra. Washim, Yavatmal of Vidarbha zone; and Latur, Parbhani of Amravati division belonging to Central Maharashtra Plateau zone and Central Vidarbha zone are found to reflect the large variation in their behavior pre and post 1976/77. Findings reveal that districts from the same agro-climate zones respond differently to CV, indicating significant spatial heterogeneity within the region. Trend in monsoon variability was found to be prominent after 1976/77, suggesting an enhanced role of climate change on climate variability after 1977. It necessitates separate policy formulation related to CV and agriculture for each district to bring out the solution for regional issues (socio-political, farmers, agriculturalists, economical) more clearly. Further we have attempted to link agriculture vulnerability and crop sensitivity to CV. Results signify spatial and temporal variability of different agro-ecological and climate parameters; suitable adaptation measures to famers and policy makers need to address this change. The findings can be utilized by farmers and policy makers while formulating agricultural policies and adaptation measures related to climate change.

Meteorological models for estimating phenology of corn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daughtry, C. S. T.; Cochran, J. C.; Hollinger, S. E.

1984-01-01

Knowledge of when critical crop stages occur and how the environment affects them should provide useful information for crop management decisions and crop production models. Two sources of data were evaluated for predicting dates of silking and physiological maturity of corn (Zea mays L.). Initial evaluations were conducted using data of an adapted corn hybrid grown on a Typic Agriaquoll at the Purdue University Agronomy Farm. The second phase extended the analyses to large areas using data acquired by the Statistical Reporting Service of USDA for crop reporting districts (CRD) in Indiana and Iowa. Several thermal models were compared to calendar days for predicting dates of silking and physiological maturity. Mixed models which used a combination of thermal units to predict silking and days after silking to predict physiological maturity were also evaluated. At the Agronomy Farm the models were calibrated and tested on the same data. The thermal models were significantly less biased and more accurate than calendar days for predicting dates of silking. Differences among the thermal models were small. Significant improvements in both bias and accuracy were observed when the mixed models were used to predict dates of physiological maturity. The results indicate that statistical data for CRD can be used to evaluate models developed at agricultural experiment stations.

From the LCA of food products to the environmental assessment of protected crops districts: a case-study in the south of Italy.

PubMed

Cellura, Maurizio; Ardente, Fulvio; Longo, Sonia

2012-01-01

In the present study, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to evaluate the energy consumption and environmental burdens associated with the production of protected crops in an agricultural district in the Mediterranean region. In this study, LCA was used as a 'support tool', to address local policies for sustainable production and consumption patterns, and to create a 'knowledge base' for environmental assessment of an extended agricultural production area. The proposed approach combines organisation-specific tools, such as Environmental Management Systems and Environmental Product Declarations, with the environmental management of the district. Questionnaires were distributed to producers to determine the life cycle of different protected crops (tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, peppers, melons and zucchinis), and obtain information on greenhouse usage (e.g. tunnel vs. pavilion). Ecoprofiles of products in the district were also estimated, to identify supply chain elements with the highest impact in terms of global energy requirements, greenhouse gas emissions, eutrophication, water consumption and waste production. These results of this study enable selection of the 'best practices' and ecodesign solutions, to reduce the environmental impact of these products. Finally, sensitivity analysis of key LCA issues was performed, to assess the variability associated with different parameters: vegetable production; water usage; fertiliser and pesticide usage; shared greenhouse use; substitution of plastics coverings; and waste recycling. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying Pathways for Improving Household Food Self-Sufficiency Outcomes in the Hills of Nepal

PubMed Central

Karki, Tika B.; Sah, Shrawan K.; Thapa, Resam B.; McDonald, Andrew J.; Davis, Adam S.

2015-01-01

Maintaining and improving household food self-sufficiency (FSS) in mountain regions is an ongoing challenge. There are many facets to the issue, including comparatively high levels of land fragmentation, challenging terrain and transportation bottlenecks, declining labor availability due to out-migration, and low technical knowledge, among others. Using a nonparametric multivariate approach, we quantified primary associations underlying current levels of FSS in the mid-hills of Nepal. A needs assessment survey was administered to 77 households in Lungaun (Baglung District), Pang (Parbat District), and Pathlekhet (Myagdi District), with a total of 80 variables covering five performance areas; resulting data were analyzed using Classification and Regression Trees. The most parsimonious statistical model for household FSS highlighted associations with agronomic management, including yields of maize and fingermillet within a relay cropping system and adoption of improved crop cultivars. Secondary analyses of the variables retained in the first model again focused primarily on crop and livestock management. It thus appears that continued emphasis on technical agricultural improvements is warranted, independent of factors such as land holding size that, in any case, are very difficult to change through development interventions. Initiatives to increase household FSS in the mid-hills of Nepal will benefit from placing a primary focus on methods of agricultural intensification to improve crop yields and effective technology transfer to increase adoption of these methods. PMID:26047508

Mapping agroecosystem zone using remote sensing for food security analysis in Bantul district Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murti, Sigit Heru

2017-10-01

Food security is one of the most important issue for Indonesia. The huge population number and high population growing rate has made the food security a critical issue. This paper describe the application of remote sensing data to (1) map agroecosystem zones in Bantul District, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2012 and (2) analyze the food security in the study area based on the resulting agro-ecosystem map. Bantul District is selected as the pilot area because this area is among the highest food crop production area in the Province. ALOS AVNIR-2 image accquired on 15 June 2010 was integrated with Indonesian Surface map (RBI map), soil types map, and slope steepness map. Population statistics data was also used to calculate the food needs. Field survey was conducted to obtain the crop field productivity information on each agro-ecosystem zone and assess the accuracy of the model. This research indicates that (1) Bantul District can be divided into three agroecosystem zones, where each zone has unique topograhic configuration and soil types composition, and (2) Bantul Distict is categorized as food secure area since the rice production in 2012 managed to cover the food needs of the people with the surplus of 33,208.6 tonnes of rice. However, when the analysis was conducted at sub-district level, there are four subdistrict with food insecurity where the food needs surpass the rice production. These sub-district are Kasihan Sub-district (-5,598.4 t), Banguntapan Sub-district (-2,483.4 t), Pajangan Sub-district (-1,039.6 t) and Dlingo Sub-district (-798.7 t).

Preliminary estimates of annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 2010-11

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baker, Nancy T.; Stone, Wesley W.

2013-01-01

This report provides preliminary estimates of annual agricultural use of 374 pesticide compounds in counties of the conterminous United States in 2010 and 2011, compiled by means of methods described in Thelin and Stone (2013). U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) county-level data for harvested-crop acreage were used in conjunction with proprietary Crop Reporting District (CRD)-level pesticide-use data to estimate county-level pesticide use. Estimated pesticide use (EPest) values were calculated with both the EPest-high and EPest-low methods. The distinction between the EPest-high method and the EPest-low method is that there are more counties with estimated pesticide use for EPest-high compared to EPest-low, owing to differing assumptions about missing survey data (Thelin and Stone, 2013). Preliminary estimates in this report will be revised upon availability of updated crop acreages in the 2012 Agricultural Census, to be published by the USDA in 2014. In addition, estimates for 2008 and 2009 previously published by Stone (2013) will be updated subsequent to the 2012 Agricultural Census release. Estimates of annual agricultural pesticide use are provided as downloadable, tab-delimited files, which are organized by compound, year, state Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, county FIPS code, and kg (amount in kilograms).

Use of Drought Index and Crop Modelling for Drought Impacts Analysis on Maize (Zea mays L.) Yield Loss in Bandung District

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurniasih, E.; Impron; Perdinan

2017-03-01

Drought impacts on crop yield loss depend on drought magnitude and duration and on plant genotype at every plant growth stages when droughts occur. This research aims to assess the difference calculation results of 2 drought index methods and to study the maize yield loss variability impacted by drought magnitude and duration during maize growth stages in Bandung district, province of West Java, Indonesia. Droughts were quantified by the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) at 1- to 3-month lags for the January1986-December 2015 period data. Maize yield responses to droughts were simulated by AquaCrop for the January 1986-May 2016 period of growing season. The analysis showed that the SPI and SPEI methods provided similar results in quantifying drought event. Droughts during maize reproductive stages caused the highest maize yield loss.

Crop weather models of corn and soybeans for Agrophysical Units (APU's) in Iowa using monthly meteorological predictors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leduc, S. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

Models based on multiple regression were developed to estimate corn and soybean yield from weather data for agrophysical units (APU) in Iowa. The predictor variables are derived from monthly average temperature and monthly total precipitation data at meteorological stations in the cooperative network. The models are similar in form to the previous models developed for crop reporting districts (CRD). The trends and derived variables were the same and the approach to select the significant predictors was similar to that used in developing the CRD models. The APU's were selected to be more homogeneous with respect crop to production than the CRDs. The APU models are quite similar to the CRD models, similar explained variation and number of predictor variables. The APU models are to be independently evaluated and compared to the previously evaluated CRD models. That comparison should indicate the preferred model area for this application, i.e., APU or CRD.

Innovations in Agriculture in Oregon: Farmers Irrigation District Improves Water Quality, Maximizes Water Conservation, and Generates Clean, Renewable Energy

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Hood River Farmers Irrigation District used $36.2 million in CWSRF loans for a multiple-year endeavor to convert the open canal system to a piped, pressurized irrigation system to maximize water conservation and restore reliable water delivery to crops

Potential Land Mapping for Agricultural Extentification in Mengwi Sub-district to Support Food Balance in Badung Regency, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Made Trigunasih, Ni; Lanya, Indayati; Ratna Adi, I. G. P.; Hutauruk, Jeremia; Feronika

2017-12-01

The availability of agricultural land for food crops, especially in Bali, is rapidly declining every year. The availability of rice fields in Badung regency, especially in Mengwi Sub-district until 2040 is no longer exist, this means that Mengwi Sub-district has lost the rice fields. The existence of land conversion will affect food availability for the country, so there will be food deficit. The food balance in Badung Regency in 2015 with Cultivation Index (IP) and initial productivity in each Sub-district showed a food deficit of 32,843.44 tons, then after increasing IP of 2,5 the productivity in Kecamatan Petang and Kuta at 7 tons / ha, and Abiansemal, Mengwi and North Kuta Sub-districts with 8 tons / ha which indicate a surplus in 2020 and 2030 respectively of 25,155.19 tons, and 3,401.79 tons. But in 2040 and 2050 there was a food deficiency of 18,434.78 tons and 11,824.82 tons respectively. Considering that productivity improvement efforts cannot rely solely on intensification approaches, but also need to be done with extensification or expansion of agricultural areas to support food production. This research was conducted in Mengwi Sub-district, Badung Regency. Mengwi Sub-district consists of 20 villages. The objectives of this research are: (1) to map potential land that can be converted to agricultural land of food crops, and (2) to know the amount of food demand to supply food balance in Badung Regency in 2040. Research methodology includes (1) preliminary study, (2) interpretation of satellite images, (3) mapping and measurement of land area, and (4) calculation of additional food availability. The results indicate that the potential land that can be converted to agricultural land for food crops is 132 ha, consists of 128.51 ha of mixed plantation and 3.49 ha of bare land/bush. The result of additional land produced 1601.73 tons of rice that increased the food availability in Mengwi Sub-district to 45425.7 tons. The addition of surplus in 2040 in Mengwi sub-district amounted to 21669.23 tons but did not cover the food deficit in Badung regency in 2040.

Estimating riparian and agricultural evapotranspiration by reference crop evapotranspiration and MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nagler, Pamela L.; Glenn, Edward P.; Nguyen, Uyen; Scott, Russell; Doody, Tania

2013-01-01

Dryland river basins frequently support both irrigated agriculture and riparian vegetation and remote sensing methods are needed to monitor water use by both crops and natural vegetation in irrigation districts. We developed an algorithm for estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) based on the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) sensor on the EOS-1 Terra satellite and locally-derived measurements of reference crop ET (ETo). The algorithm was calibrated with five years of ETa data from three eddy covariance flux towers set in riparian plant associations on the upper San Pedro River, Arizona, supplemented with ETa data for alfalfa and cotton from the literature. The algorithm was based on an equation of the form ETa = ETo [a(1 − e−bEVI) − c], where the term (1 − e−bEVI) is derived from the Beer-Lambert Law to express light absorption by a canopy, with EVI replacing leaf area index as an estimate of the density of light-absorbing units. The resulting algorithm capably predicted ETa across riparian plants and crops (r2 = 0.73). It was then tested against water balance data for five irrigation districts and flux tower data for two riparian zones for which season-long or multi-year ETa data were available. Predictions were within 10% of measured results in each case, with a non-significant (P = 0.89) difference between mean measured and modeled ETa of 5.4% over all validation sites. Validation and calibration data sets were combined to present a final predictive equation for application across crops and riparian plant associations for monitoring individual irrigation districts or for conducting global water use assessments of mixed agricultural and riparian biomes.

Pigeon Pea and Cowpea-Based Cropping Systems Improve Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Colonisation of Subsequent Maize on the Alfisols in Central Malawi

PubMed Central

Semu, Ernest; Mrema, Jerome P.; Nalivata, Patson C.

2017-01-01

Mycorrhizal associations contribute to the sustainability of crop production systems through their roles in nutrient cycling and other benefits in the soil-plant ecosystems. A two-year study was conducted on the Alfisols of Lilongwe and Dowa districts, Central Malawi, to assess the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungal colonisation levels in pigeon pea, cowpea, and maize grown in sole cropping, legume-cereal, and legume-legume intercropping systems and in the maize grown in short rotation (year 2) as influenced by the previous cropping systems and N fertilizer application. The gridline intersect method was used to assess the VAM fungal colonisation levels. Results showed that all treatments that included legumes whether grown as sole crop, in legume-cereal or in legume-legume cropping systems in the previous year, had significantly higher (P < 0.05) VAM fungal colonisation of the rotational maize crop roots by a range 39% to 50% and 19% to 47% than those in maize supplied and not supplied with N fertilizer, respectively, in a maize-maize short rotation, at the Lilongwe site. A similar trend was reported for the Dowa site. Furthermore, there were positive correlations between VAM fungal colonisation and the plant P content, dry matter yield, and nodule numbers. Further studies may help to assess the diversity of VAM fungal species in Malawi soils and identify more adaptive ones for inoculation studies. PMID:28584528

Pigeon Pea and Cowpea-Based Cropping Systems Improve Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Colonisation of Subsequent Maize on the Alfisols in Central Malawi.

PubMed

Njira, Keston O W; Semu, Ernest; Mrema, Jerome P; Nalivata, Patson C

2017-01-01

Mycorrhizal associations contribute to the sustainability of crop production systems through their roles in nutrient cycling and other benefits in the soil-plant ecosystems. A two-year study was conducted on the Alfisols of Lilongwe and Dowa districts, Central Malawi, to assess the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungal colonisation levels in pigeon pea, cowpea, and maize grown in sole cropping, legume-cereal, and legume-legume intercropping systems and in the maize grown in short rotation (year 2) as influenced by the previous cropping systems and N fertilizer application. The gridline intersect method was used to assess the VAM fungal colonisation levels. Results showed that all treatments that included legumes whether grown as sole crop, in legume-cereal or in legume-legume cropping systems in the previous year, had significantly higher ( P < 0.05) VAM fungal colonisation of the rotational maize crop roots by a range 39% to 50% and 19% to 47% than those in maize supplied and not supplied with N fertilizer, respectively, in a maize-maize short rotation, at the Lilongwe site. A similar trend was reported for the Dowa site. Furthermore, there were positive correlations between VAM fungal colonisation and the plant P content, dry matter yield, and nodule numbers. Further studies may help to assess the diversity of VAM fungal species in Malawi soils and identify more adaptive ones for inoculation studies.

Probabilistic assessment of phenophase-wise agricultural drought risk under different sowing windows: a case study with rainfed soybean.

PubMed

Dhakar, Rajkumar; Sarath Chandran, M A; Nagar, Shivani; Visha Kumari, V

2017-11-23

A new methodology for crop-growth stage-specific assessment of agricultural drought risk under a variable sowing window is proposed for the soybean crop. It encompasses three drought indices, which include Crop-Specific Drought Index (CSDI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), and Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The unique features of crop-growth stage-specific nature and spatial and multi-scalar coverage provide a comprehensive assessment of agricultural drought risk. This study was conducted in 10 major soybean-growing districts of Madhya Pradesh state of India. These areas contribute about 60% of the total soybean production for the country. The phenophase most vulnerable to agricultural drought was identified (germination and flowering in our case) for each district across four sowing windows. The agricultural drought risk was quantified at various severity levels (moderate, severe, and very severe) for each growth stage and sowing window. Validation of the proposed new methodology also yielded results with a high correlation coefficient between percent probability of agricultural drought risk and yield risk (r = 0.92). Assessment by proximity matrix yielded a similar statistic. Expectations for the proposed methodology are better mitigation-oriented management and improved crop contingency plans for planners and decision makers.

Madera Unified School District, 2004-2009. District Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pivot Learning Partners, 2012

2012-01-01

Situated in the heart of the fertile San Joaquin Valley twenty miles north of Fresno, the city of Madera has a population of 56,710 people. Agriculture is the driving force behind the local economy; the area produces more than 100 crops including raisin grapes, almonds, figs, pistachios, alfalfa, corn, milk, cattle and poultry. The total value of…

Agricultural irrigated land-use inventory for Polk County, Florida, 2016

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marella, Richard L.; Berry, Darbi; Dixon, Joann F.

2017-08-16

An accurate inventory of irrigated crop acreage is not available at the level of resolution needed to better estimate agricultural water use or to project future water demands in many Florida counties. A detailed digital map and summary of irrigated acreage was developed for Polk County, Florida, during the 2016 growing season. This cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Office of Agricultural Water Policy of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is part of an effort to improve estimates of water use and projections of future demands across all counties in the State. The irrigated areas were delineated by using land-use data provided by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, along with information obtained from the South and Southwest Florida Water Management Districts consumptive water-use permits. Delineations were field verified between April and December 2016. Attribute data such as crop type, primary water source, and type of irrigation system were assigned to the irrigated areas.The results of this inventory and field verification indicate that during the 2016 growing seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter), an estimated 88,652 acres were irrigated within Polk County. Of the total field-verified crops, 83,995 acres were in citrus; 2,893 acres were in other non-citrus fruit crops (blueberries, grapes, peaches, and strawberries); 621 acres were in row crops (primarily beans and watermelons); 1,117 acres were in nursery (container and tree farms) and sod production; and 26 acres were in field crops including hay and pasture. Of the total inventoried irrigated acreage within Polk County, 98 percent (86,566 acres) was in the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the remaining 2 percent (2,086 acres) was in the South Florida Water Management District.About 85,788 acres (96.8 percent of the acreage inventoried) were irrigated by a microirrigation system, including drip, bubblers, and spray emitters. The remaining 3.2 percent of the irrigated acreage was irrigated by a sprinkler system (2,360 acres) or subsurface flood systems (504 acres). Groundwater was the primary source of water used on irrigated acreage (88 percent, or 78,050 acres); the remaining 10,602 acres (12 percent) used groundwater combined with surface water as the irrigation source.The irrigated acreage estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for this 2016 inventory (88,652 acres) is about 11 percent higher than the 79,869 acres estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for 2012. Citrus and pasture in Polk County show the biggest difference in irrigated acreage between the USGS and USDA totals. Irrigated citrus acreage inventoried in 2016 by the USGS totaled 83,996 acres, whereas the USDA reported 78,305 acres of citrus in 2012. The USGS identified 6 acres of irrigated pasture and 20 acres of hay, whereas the USDA reported 6,631 acres of irrigated pasture and 1,349 acres of hay for 2012. In general, differences between the 2016 USGS field-verified acreage totals and acreage published by the USDA for 2012 could be due to (1) irrigated acreage for some specific crops increased or decreased substantially during the 4-year interval between 2012 and 2016 because of production or economic changes, (2) the assumption that if an irrigation system was present, it was used in 2016, when in fact some landowners may not have used their irrigation systems during this growing period even if they had a crop in the field, or (3) the amount of irrigated acreage published by the USDA for selected crops may be underestimated as a result of how information is obtained and formulated by the agency during census compilations.

The Area IV Soil Conservation Districts Cooperative Research Farm: Thirty years of collaborative research to improve cropping system sustainability in the Northern Plains

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Findings and interpretations generated from long-term cropping system studies serve to inform the status and trajectory of ecosystem services, while concurrently providing opportunities for further inquiry related to basic/fundamental research. Recent calls for increased investment in long-term cro...

Agricultural irrigated land-use inventory for the counties in the Suwannee River Water Management District in Florida, 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marella, Richard L.; Dixon, Joann F.; Berry, Darbi R.

2016-07-28

The irrigated acreage that was field verified in 2015 for the 13 counties in the Suwannee River Water Management District (113,134 acres) is about 6 percent higher than the estimated acreage published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (107,217 acres) for 2012; however, this 2012 value represents acreage for the entire portion of all 13 counties, not just the Suwannee River Water Management District portion. Differences between the 2015 field-verified acreage totals and those published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 2012 may occur because (1) irrigated acreage for some specific crops increased or decreased substantially during the 3-year interval due to commodity prices or economic changes, (2) calculated field-verified irrigated acreage may be an overestimate because irrigation was assumed if an irrigation system was present and therefore the acreage was counted as irrigated, when in fact that may not have been the case as some farmers may not have used their irrigation systems during this growing period even if they had a crop in the field, or (3) the amount of irrigated acreages published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for selected crops may be underestimated in some cases.

The relation between type of farming and prevalence of Parkinson's disease among agricultural workers in five french districts

PubMed Central

Moisan, Frédéric; Spinosi, Johan; Dupupet, Jean-Luc; Delabre, Laurène; Mazurie, Jean-Louis; Goldberg, Marcel; Imbernon, Ellen; Tzourio, Christophe; Elbaz, Alexis

2011-01-01

Retrospective assessment of pesticide exposure is complex; however, patterns of pesticide use strongly depend on farming type, which is easier to assess than pesticide exposure. Our aim was to estimate Parkinson’s disease (PD) prevalence in five French districts in 2007 among affiliates of Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA) and to investigate the relation between PD prevalence and farming type. We identified PD cases from administrative files as persons who used levodopa and/or benefited from free health care for PD. Densities of 16 farming types were defined at the canton of residence level (1988 French agricultural census). We used logistic regression to study the relation between PD prevalence and density of farming types and a semi-Bayes approach to deal with correlated exposures. We identified 1,659 PD cases, yielding an age- and sex-standardized PD prevalence of 3.01/1,000. Prevalence increased with age and was higher in men than women. We found a higher PD prevalence among affiliates living in cantons characterized by a higher density of farms specialized in fruits and permanent crops (multivariable semi-Bayes model: OR4+5 vs 1+2+3 quintiles = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.08–1.36; test for trend, P = 0.035). In France, farms specialized in fruits and permanent crops rank first in terms of insecticide use per hectare. Our findings are consistent with studies reporting an association between PD and insecticide use and show that workers in farms specialized in fruits or permanent crops may be an occupational group at higher PD risk. PMID:21412834

Spatiotemporal analysis of projected impacts of climate change on the major C3 and C4 crop yield under representative concentration pathway 4.5: Insight from the coasts of Tamil Nadu, South India

PubMed Central

A, Ramachandran; Praveen, Dhanya; R, Jaganathan; D, RajaLakshmi; K, Palanivelu

2017-01-01

India's dependence on a climate sensitive sector like agriculture makes it highly vulnerable to its impacts. However, agriculture is highly heterogeneous across the country owing to regional disparities in exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. It is essential to know and quantify the possible impacts of changes in climate on crop yield for successful agricultural management and planning at a local scale. The Hadley Centre Global Environment Model version 2-Earth System (HadGEM-ES) was employed to generate regional climate projections for the study area using the Regional Climate Model (RCM) RegCM4.4. The dynamics in potential impacts at the sub-district level were evaluated using the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCPs). The aim of this study was to simulate the crop yield under a plausible change in climate for the coastal areas of South India through the end of this century. The crop simulation model, the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) 4.5, was used to understand the plausible impacts on the major crop yields of rice, groundnuts, and sugarcane under the RCP 4.5 trajectory. The findings reveal that under the RCP 4.5 scenario there will be decreases in the major C3 and C4 crop yields in the study area. This would affect not only the local food security, but the livelihood security as well. This necessitates timely planning to achieve sustainable crop productivity and livelihood security. On the other hand, this situation warrants appropriate adaptations and policy intervention at the sub-district level for achieving sustainable crop productivity in the future. PMID:28753605

Spatiotemporal analysis of projected impacts of climate change on the major C3 and C4 crop yield under representative concentration pathway 4.5: Insight from the coasts of Tamil Nadu, South India.

PubMed

A, Ramachandran; Praveen, Dhanya; R, Jaganathan; D, RajaLakshmi; K, Palanivelu

2017-01-01

India's dependence on a climate sensitive sector like agriculture makes it highly vulnerable to its impacts. However, agriculture is highly heterogeneous across the country owing to regional disparities in exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. It is essential to know and quantify the possible impacts of changes in climate on crop yield for successful agricultural management and planning at a local scale. The Hadley Centre Global Environment Model version 2-Earth System (HadGEM-ES) was employed to generate regional climate projections for the study area using the Regional Climate Model (RCM) RegCM4.4. The dynamics in potential impacts at the sub-district level were evaluated using the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCPs). The aim of this study was to simulate the crop yield under a plausible change in climate for the coastal areas of South India through the end of this century. The crop simulation model, the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) 4.5, was used to understand the plausible impacts on the major crop yields of rice, groundnuts, and sugarcane under the RCP 4.5 trajectory. The findings reveal that under the RCP 4.5 scenario there will be decreases in the major C3 and C4 crop yields in the study area. This would affect not only the local food security, but the livelihood security as well. This necessitates timely planning to achieve sustainable crop productivity and livelihood security. On the other hand, this situation warrants appropriate adaptations and policy intervention at the sub-district level for achieving sustainable crop productivity in the future.

Organochlorine pesticide residues in ground water of Thiruvallur district, India.

PubMed

Jayashree, R; Vasudevan, N

2007-05-01

Modern agriculture practices reveal an increase in use of pesticides and fertilizers to meet the food demand of increasing population which results in contamination of the environment. In India crop production increased to 100% but the cropping area has increased marginally by 20%. Pesticides have played a major role in achieving the maximum crop production, but maximum usage and accumulation of pesticide residues was highly detrimental to aquatic and other ecosystem. The present study was chosen to know the level of organochlorines contamination in ground water of Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, India. The samples were highly contaminated with DDT, HCH, endosulfan and their derivatives. Among the HCH derivatives, Gamma HCH residues was found maximum of 9.8 microg/l in Arumbakkam open wells. Concentrations of pp-DDT and op-DDT were 14.3 microg/l and 0.8 microg/l. The maximum residue (15.9 microg/l) of endosulfan sulfate was recorded in Kandigai village bore well. The study showed that the ground water samples were highly contaminated with organochlorine residues.

Area estimation of crops by digital analysis of Landsat data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, M. E.; Hixson, M. M.; Davis, B. J.

1978-01-01

The study for which the results are presented had these objectives: (1) to use Landsat data and computer-implemented pattern recognition to classify the major crops from regions encompassing different climates, soils, and crops; (2) to estimate crop areas for counties and states by using crop identification data obtained from the Landsat identifications; and (3) to evaluate the accuracy, precision, and timeliness of crop area estimates obtained from Landsat data. The paper describes the method of developing the training statistics and evaluating the classification accuracy. Landsat MSS data were adequate to accurately identify wheat in Kansas; corn and soybean estimates for Indiana were less accurate. Systematic sampling of entire counties made possible by computer classification methods resulted in very precise area estimates at county, district, and state levels.

Summary of reported agriculture and irrigation water use in Prairie County, Arkansas, 1991

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holland, T.W.; Manning, C.A.; Stafford, K.L.

1993-01-01

This report summarizes the 1991 water-use reporting through the Conservation District Office in Prairie County, Arkansas. The number of withdrawal registrations for Prairie County was 2,187 (1,786 groundwater and 401 surface water). Water with- drawals reported during the registration process total 26.93 Mgal/d (26.84 Mgal/d groundwater and 0.09 Mgal/d surface water) for agriculture and 191.08 Mgal/d (138.79 Mgal/d groundwater and 52.29 Mgal/d surface water) for irrigation. The registration reports for 1991 indicate that this water was applied to 144,956 acres of land to irrigate rice, corn, soybeans, milo, cash grains, unknown crop, cotton hay, berries, and fruit trees as well as for the agricultural uses of animal aquaculture, minnows, timber, and ducks.

Reading the Water Table: The Interaction between Literacy Practices and Groundwater Management Training in Preparing Farmers for Climate Change in South India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chavva, Konda Reddy; Smith, Cristine A.

2012-01-01

This article focuses on farmers' use of literacy for individual decision-making on crop-water management and crop choices and investigates how farmer participants perceive the usefulness of Farmer Water School (FWS) training. It draws upon a study conducted with farmers of Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, India. This study has demonstrated that…

A Comparative Study of Spatial Aggregation Methodologies under the BioEarth Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandrasekharan, B.; Rajagopalan, K.; Malek, K.; Stockle, C. O.; Adam, J. C.; Brady, M.

2014-12-01

The increasing probability of water resource scarcity due to climate change has highlighted the need for adopting an economic focus in modelling water resource uses. Hydro-economic models, developed by integrating economic optimization with biophysical crop models, are driven by the economic value of water, revealing it's most efficient uses and helping policymakers evaluate different water management strategies. One of the challenges in integrating biophysical models with economic models is the difference in the spatial scales in which they operate. Biophysical models that provide crop production functions typically run at smaller scale than economic models, and substantial spatial aggregation is required. However, any aggregation introduces a bias, i.e., a discrepancy between the functional value at the higher spatial scale and the value at the spatial scale of the aggregated units. The objective of this work is to study the sensitivity of net economic benefits in the Yakima River basin (YRB) to different spatial aggregation methods for crop production functions. The spatial aggregation methodologies that we compare involve agro-ecological zones (AEZs) and aggregation levels that reflect water management regimes (e.g. irrigation districts). Aggregation bias can distort the underlying data and result in extreme solutions. In order to avoid this we use an economic optimization model that incorporates the synthetic and historical crop mixes approach (Onal & Chen, 2012). This restricts the solutions between the weighted averages of historical and simulated feasible planting decisions, with the weights associated with crop mixes being treated as endogenous variables. This study is focused on 5 major irrigation districts of the YRB in the Pacific Northwest US. The biophysical modeling framework we use, BioEarth, includes the coupled hydrology and crop growth model, VIC-Cropsyst and an economic optimization model. Preliminary findings indicate that the standard approach of developing AEZs does not perform well when overlaid with irrigation districts. Moreover, net economic benefits were significantly different between the two aggregation methodologies. Therefore, while developing hydro-economic models, significant consideration should be placed on the aggregation methodology.

Predcition of Long term Water table Trends in Response to Groundwater Irrigation and Climate Change in an Indian Context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thekkemeppilly Sivakumar, I.; Steenhuis, T. S.; Walter, M. F.; Ghosh, S.; Salvi, K. A.

2015-12-01

Intensified groundwater irrigation is a major factor that contributes to water table decline. This phenomenon has been documented in many parts of the world. This study investigates trends in water table in response to agriculture intensification to meet increasing food demand, water management practices and climate change. A shallow-aquifer model based on the extended Thornthwaite-Mather procedure is used to predict groundwater levels in response to precipitation, evapotranspiration, and groundwater pumping for irrigation. Krishna district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in southern India which has a sub-humid, monsoon climate and Calicut district of Kerala state with a wet tropical monsoon climate have been chosen as sites for this study. The effect of increasing food demand by a growing population is investigated by increasing the number of crops per year from one to three. We consider three climate scenarios and two water management practices in this study. The three climate scenarios are the ones those envisaged by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). The two water management practices considered are the traditional flooded agriculture and the system of rice intensification method which does not use total flooding. The results show that single crop agriculture in Krishna district is sustainable for all climate scenarios and water management practices with a maximum depth to water table around 6 - 7 m at the end of dry season and the water table recovers to the surface most of the time. Increasing crop production with two or three crops per year with groundwater irrigation is unsustainable with the water table levels dropping potentially to 200 - 1000 m at the end of 21st century. We found that climate change and better irrigation water management practices affected ground water levels only minimally compared to the growing more than one crop per year. Our study leads to the conclusion that ground water irrigated rice can only be sustainable when crop evaporation is less then precipitation and in order to meet increasing food demands the rice yield per unit water should be improved.

Research on the autumn irrigation schedule of Hetao Irrigation District of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Y.

2016-12-01

Salinization of soil has great influence on the function of crop land, leading to the crop failure to some extent. One of the inducement of salinization is that the water pressure of frozen soil is lower than that of unfrozen, salt is drew up to the frozen layer along with water during the freezing process. To prevent the salinization of soil, people carry out the autumn irrigation in Hetao Irrigation District which located is located in Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia, north of China. Autumn irrigation is an irrigation event before the freezing of soil, the function of autumn irrigation includes soil moisture conservation, loosening the soil and leaching the salt. Among all the crop models, none is designed to simulate the water and salt movement during freezing and thawing progress. So In this study, SWAP (Soil Water Atmosphere Plant) model is modified by adding the freezing and thawing module which enable the model to take into consideration the effect of freezing and thawing on water and salt movement. After validating the modified model using field data and lab test results, the model was used to simulate the results of various autumn irrigation schedules, exploring the influence of different autumn irrigation amounts on the water, salt and heat condition and transportation of soil. Finally, proper autumn irrigation schedule was obtained to instruct the production of Hetao Irrigation District.

Cluster analysis of Southeastern U.S. climate stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stooksbury, D. E.; Michaels, P. J.

1991-09-01

A two-step cluster analysis of 449 Southeastern climate stations is used to objectively determine general climate clusters (groups of climate stations) for eight southeastern states. The purpose is objectively to define regions of climatic homogeneity that should perform more robustly in subsequent climatic impact models. This type of analysis has been successfully used in many related climate research problems including the determination of corn/climate districts in Iowa (Ortiz-Valdez, 1985) and the classification of synoptic climate types (Davis, 1988). These general climate clusters may be more appropriate for climate research than the standard climate divisions (CD) groupings of climate stations, which are modifications of the agro-economic United States Department of Agriculture crop reporting districts. Unlike the CD's, these objectively determined climate clusters are not restricted by state borders and thus have reduced multicollinearity which makes them more appropriate for the study of the impact of climate and climatic change.

A study on agricultural drought vulnerability at disaggregated level in a highly irrigated and intensely cropped state of India.

PubMed

Murthy, C S; Yadav, Manoj; Mohammed Ahamed, J; Laxman, B; Prawasi, R; Sesha Sai, M V R; Hooda, R S

2015-03-01

Drought is an important global hazard, challenging the sustainable agriculture and food security of nations. Measuring agricultural drought vulnerability is a prerequisite for targeting interventions to improve and sustain the agricultural performance of both irrigated and rain-fed agriculture. In this study, crop-generic agricultural drought vulnerability status is empirically measured through a composite index approach. The study area is Haryana state, India, a prime agriculture state of the country, characterised with low rainfall, high irrigation support and stable cropping pattern. By analysing the multiyear rainfall and crop condition data of kharif crop season (June-October) derived from satellite data and soil water holding capacity and groundwater quality, nine contributing indicators were generated for 120 blocks (sub-district administrative units). Composite indices for exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity components were generated after assigning variance-based weightages to the respective input indicators. Agricultural Drought Vulnerability Index (ADVI) was developed through a linear combination of the three component indices. ADVI-based vulnerability categorisation revealed that 51 blocks are with vulnerable to very highly vulnerable status. These blocks are located in the southern and western parts of the state, where groundwater quality is saline and water holding capacity of soils is less. The ADVI map has effectively captured the spatial pattern of agricultural drought vulnerability in the state. Districts with large number of vulnerable blocks showed considerably larger variability of de-trended crop yields. Correlation analysis reveals that crop condition variability, groundwater quality and soil factors are closely associated with ADVI. The vulnerability index is useful to prioritise the blocks for implementation of long-term drought management plans. There is scope for improving the methodology by adding/fine-tuning the indicators and by optimising the weights.

Results of Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) drought analysis (South Dakota drought 1976)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, D. R.

1976-01-01

LACIE using techniques developed from the southern Great Plains drought analysis indicated the potential for drought damage in South Dakota. This potential was monitored and as it became apparent that a drought was developing, LACIE implemented some of the procedures used in the southern Great Plains drought. The technical approach used in South Dakota involved the normal use of LACIE sample segments (5 x 6 nm) every 18 days. Full frame color transparencies (100 x 100 nm) were used on 9 day intervals to identify the drought area and to track overtime. The green index number (GIN) developed using the Kauth transformation was computed for all South Dakota segments and selected North Dakota segments. A scheme for classifying segments as drought affected or not affected was devised and tested on all available 1976 South Dakota data. Yield model simulations were run for all CRD's Crop Reporting District) in South Dakota.

Crop weather models of barley and spring wheat yield for agrophysical units in North Dakota

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leduc, S. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

Models based on multiple regression were developed to estimate barley yield and spring wheat yield from weather data for Agrophysical units(APU) in North Dakota. The predictor variables are derived from monthly average temperature and monthly total precipitation data at meteorological stations in the cooperative network. The models are similar in form to the previous models developed for Crop Reporting Districts (CRD). The trends and derived variables were the same and the approach to select the significant predictors was similar to that used in developing the CRD models. The APU models show sight improvements in some of the statistics of the models, e.g., explained variation. These models are to be independently evaluated and compared to the previously evaluated CRD models. The comparison will indicate the preferred model area for this application, i.e., APU or CRD.

Determination of the optimal level for combining area and yield estimates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, M. E. (Principal Investigator); Hixson, M. M.; Jobusch, C. D.

1981-01-01

Several levels of obtaining both area and yield estimates of corn and soybeans in Iowa were considered: county, refined strata, refined/split strata, crop reporting district, and state. Using the CCEA model form and smoothed weather data, regression coefficients at each level were derived to compute yield and its variance. Variances were also computed with stratum level. The variance of the yield estimates was largest at the state and smallest at the county level for both crops. The refined strata had somewhat larger variances than those associated with the refined/split strata and CRD. For production estimates, the difference in standard deviations among levels was not large for corn, but for soybeans the standard deviation at the state level was more than 50% greater than for the other levels. The refined strata had the smallest standard deviations. The county level was not considered in evaluation of production estimates due to lack of county area variances.

Analytical Results for Municipal Biosolids Samples from a Monitoring Program Near Deer Trail, Colorado (U.S.A.), 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crock, J.G.; Smith, D.B.; Yager, T.J.B.; Berry, C.J.; Adams, M.G.

2009-01-01

Since late 1993, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District of Denver (Metro District), a large wastewater treatment plant in Denver, Colo., has applied Grade I, Class B biosolids to about 52,000 acres of nonirrigated farmland and rangeland near Deer Trail, Colo. (U.S.A.). In cooperation with the Metro District in 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began monitoring groundwater at part of this site. In 1999, the USGS began a more comprehensive monitoring study of the entire site to address stakeholder concerns about the potential chemical effects of biosolids applications to water, soil, and vegetation. This more comprehensive monitoring program has recently been extended through 2010. Monitoring components of the more comprehensive study include biosolids collected at the wastewater treatment plant, soil, crops, dust, alluvial and bedrock groundwater, and stream-bed sediment. Streams at the site are dry most of the year, so samples of stream-bed sediment deposited after rain were used to indicate surface-water effects. This report will present only analytical results for the biosolids samples collected at the Metro District wastewater treatment plant in Denver and analyzed during 2008. Crock and others have presented earlier a compilation of analytical results for the biosolids samples collected and analyzed for 1999 thru 2006, and in a separate report, data for the 2007 biosolids are reported. More information about the other monitoring components is presented elsewhere in the literature. Priority parameters for biosolids identified by the stakeholders and also regulated by Colorado when used as an agricultural soil amendment include the total concentrations of nine trace elements (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc), plutonium isotopes, and gross alpha and beta activity. Nitrogen and chromium also were priority parameters for groundwater and sediment components.

Performance of Vegetation Indices for Wheat Yield Forecasting for Punjab, Pakistan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dempewolf, J.; Becker-Reshef, I.; Adusei, B.; Barker, B.

2013-12-01

Forecasting wheat yield in major producer countries early in the growing season allows better planning for harvest deficits and surplus with implications for food security, world market transactions, sustaining adequate grain stocks, policy making and other matters. Remote sensing imagery is well suited for yield forecasting over large areas. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been the most-used spectral index derived from remote sensing imagery for assessing crop condition of major crops and forecasting crop yield. Many authors have found that the highest correlation between NDVI and yield of wheat crops occurs at the height of the growing season when NDVI values and photosynthetic activity of the wheat plants are at their relative maximum. At the same time NDVI saturates in very dense and vigorous (healthy, green) canopies such as wheat fields during the seasonal peak and shows significantly reduced sensitivity to further increases in photosynthetic activity. In this study we compare the performance of different vegetation indices derived from space-borne red and near-infrared spectral reflectance measurements for wheat yield forecasting in the Punjab Province, Pakistan. Areas covered by wheat crop each year were determined using a time series of MODIS 8-day composites at 250 m resolution converted to temporal metrics and classified using a bagged decision tree approach, driven by classified multi-temporal Landsat scenes. Within the wheat areas we analyze and compare wheat yield forecasts derived from three different satellite-based vegetation indices at the peak of the growing season. We regressed in turn NDVI, Wide Dynamic Range Vegetation Index (WDRVI) and the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) from the four years preceding the wheat growing season 2011/12 against reported yield values and applied the regression equations to forecast wheat yield for the 2011/12 season per district for each of 36 Punjab districts. Yield forecasts overall corresponded well with reported values. NDVI-based forecasts showed high correlations of r squared = 0.881 and RMSE 11%. The VCI performed similarly well with r squared = 0.886 and RMSE 11%. WDRVI performed better than either of the other indices with r squared = 0.909 and RMSE 10%, probably due to the increased sensitivity of the index at high values. Wheat yields in Pakistan show on average a slow but steady annual increase but overall are comparatively stable due to the fact that the majority of fields are irrigated. The next steps in this study will be to compare NDVI- with WDRVI-based yield forecasts in other environments dominated by rain-fed agriculture, such as Ukraine, Australia and the United States.

Banana orchard inventory using IRS LISS sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishant, Nilay; Upadhayay, Gargi; Vyas, S. P.; Manjunath, K. R.

2016-04-01

Banana is one of the major crops of India with increasing export potential. It is important to estimate the production and acreage of the crop. Thus, the present study was carried out to evolve a suitable methodology for estimating banana acreage. Area estimation methodology was devised around the fact that unlike other crops, the time of plantation of banana is different for different farmers as per their local practices or conditions. Thus in order to capture the peak signatures, biowindow of 6 months was considered, its NDVI pattern studied and the optimum two months were considered when banana could be distinguished from other competing crops. The final area of banana for the particular growing cycle was computed by integrating the areas of these two months using LISS III data with spatial resolution of 23m. Estimated banana acreage in the three districts were 11857Ha, 15202ha and 11373Ha for Bharuch, Anand and Vadodara respectively with corresponding accuracy of 91.8%, 90% and 88.16%. Study further compared the use of LISS IV data of 5.8m spatial resolution for estimation of banana using object based as well as per-pixel classification and the results were compared with statistical reports for both the approaches. In the current paper we depict the various methodologies to accurately estimate the banana acreage.

Socio-Economic and Cultural Determinants of Human African Trypanosomiasis at the Kenya – Uganda Transboundary

PubMed Central

Rutto, Jane Jemeli; Osano, Odipo; Thuranira, Elias Gitonga; Kurgat, Richard Kiptum; Odenyo, Victor Agab Omondi

2013-01-01

Background Kenya and Uganda have reported different Human African Trypanosomiasis incidences in the past more than three decades, with the latter recording more cases. This cross-sectional study assessed the demographic characteristics, tsetse and trypanosomiasis control practices, socio-economic and cultural risk factors influencing Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (T.b.r.) infection in Teso and Busia Districts, Western Kenya and Tororo and Busia Districts, Southeast Uganda. A conceptual framework was postulated to explain interactions of various socio-economic, cultural and tsetse control factors that predispose individuals and populations to HAT. Methods A cross-sectional household survey was conducted between April and October 2008. Four administrative districts reporting T.b.r and lying adjacent to each other at the international boundary of Kenya and Uganda were purposely selected. Household data collection was carried out in two villages that had experienced HAT and one other village that had no reported HAT case from 1977 to 2008 in each district. A structured questionnaire was administered to 384 randomly selected household heads or their representatives in each country. The percent of respondents giving a specific answer was reported. Secondary data was also obtained on socio-economic and political issues in both countries. Results Inadequate knowledge on the disease cycle and intervention measures contributed considerable barriers to HAT, and more so in Uganda than in Kenya. Gender-associated socio-cultural practices greatly predisposed individuals to HAT. Pesticides-based crop husbandry in the 1970's reportedly reduced vector population while vegetation of coffee and banana's and livestock husbandry directly increased occurrence of HAT. Livestock husbandry practices in the villages were strong predictors of HAT incidence. The residents in Kenya (6.7%) applied chemoprophylaxis and chemotherapeutic controls against trypanosomiasis to a larger extent than Uganda (2.1%). Conclusion Knowledge on tsetse and its control methods, culture, farming practice, demographic and socio-economic variables explained occurrence of HAT better than landscape features. PMID:23638206

Biotechnological approaches to determine the impact of viruses in the energy crop plant Jatropha curcas

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Geminiviruses infect a wide range of plant species including Jatropha and cassava both belonging to family Euphorbiaceae. Cassava is traditionally an important food crop in Sub - Saharan countries, while Jatropha is considered as valuable biofuel plant with great perspectives in the future. Results A total of 127 Jatropha samples from Ethiopia and Kenya and 124 cassava samples from Kenya were tested by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for RNA viruses and polymerase chain reaction for geminiviruses. Jatropha samples from 4 different districts in Kenya and Ethiopia (analyzed by ELISA) were negative for all three RNA viruses tested: Cassava brown streak virus (CBSV), Cassava common mosaic virus, Cucumber mosaic virus, Three cassava samples from Busia district (Kenya) contained CBSV. Efforts to develop diagnostic approaches allowing reliable pathogen detection in Jatropha, involved the amplification and sequencing of the entire DNA A molecules of 40 Kenyan isolates belonging to African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) and East African cassava mosaic virus - Uganda. This information enabled the design of novel primers to address different questions: a) primers amplifying longer sequences led to a phylogenetic tree of isolates, allowing some predictions on the evolutionary aspects of Begomoviruses in Jatrophia; b) primers amplifying shorter sequences represent a reliable diagnostic tool. This is the first report of the two Begomoviruses in J. curcas. Two cassava samples were co - infected with cassava mosaic geminivirus and CBSV. A Defective DNA A of ACMV was found for the first time in Jatropha. Conclusion Cassava geminiviruses occurring in Jatropha might be spread wider than anticipated. If not taken care of, this virus infection might negatively impact large scale plantations for biofuel production. Being hosts for similar pathogens, the planting vicinity of the two crop plants needs to be handled carefully. PMID:21812981

Summary of reported agriculture and irrigation water use in White County, Arkansas, 1991

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holland, T.W.; Manning, C.A.; Stafford, K.L.

1993-01-01

This report summarizes the 1991 water-use reporting through the Conservation District Office in White County, Arkansas. The number of withdrawal registrations for White County was 1,365 (1,146 groundwater and 219 surface water). Water withdrawals reported during the registration process total 1.37 Mgal/d (0.95 Mgal/d groundwater and 0.42 Mgal/d surface water) for agriculture and 69.91 Mgal/d (43.78 Mgal/d groundwater and 26.13 Mgal/d surface water) for irrigation. The registration reports for 1991 indicate that this water was supplied to 46,315 acres of land to irrigate rice, sorghum, corn, soybeans, milo, cash grains, hay, vegetables, berries, grapes, fruit trees, sod, and unknown crop as well as for the agricultural uses of animal aquaculture, minnows, ducks, and sport clubs.

Summary of reported agriculture and irrigation water use in Monroe County, Arkansas, 1991

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holland, T.W.; Manning, C.A.; Stafford, K.L.

1993-01-01

This report summarizes the 1991 water-use reporting through the Conservation District Office in Monroe County, Arkansas. The number of withdrawal registrations for Monroe County was 1,886 (1,677 groundwater and 209 surface water). Water withdrawals reported during the registration process total 8.87 Mgal/d (5.75 Mgal/d groundwater and 3.12 Mgal/d surface water) for agriculture and 210.61 Mgal/d (190.99 Mgal/d groundwater and 19.62 Mgal/d surface water) for irrigation. The registration reports for 1991 indicate that this water was applied to 127,670 acres of land to irrigate rice, sorghum, soybeans, milo, cash grains, cotton, hay, and unknown crops, as well as for agricultural uses of animal aquaculture, minnows, and ducks. {descriptors: *Water use, *Arkansas, *Monroe County, Selective withdrawal, Groundwater, Surface water

Daily monitoring of 30 m crop condition over complex agricultural landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, L.; Gao, F.; Xie, D.; Anderson, M. C.; Yang, Y.

2017-12-01

Crop progress provides information necessary for efficient irrigation, scheduling fertilization and harvesting operations at optimal times for achieving higher yields. In the United States, crop progress reports are released online weekly by US Department of Agriculture (USDA) - National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). However, the ground data collection is time consuming and subjective, and these reports are provided at either district (multiple counties) or state level. Remote sensing technologies have been widely used to map crop conditions, to extract crop phenology, and to predict crop yield. However, for current satellite-based sensors, it is difficult to acquire both high spatial resolution and frequent coverage. For example, Landsat satellites are capable to capture 30 m resolution images, while the long revisit cycles, cloud contamination further limited their use in detecting rapid surface changes. On the other hand, MODIS can provide daily observations, but with coarse spatial resolutions range from 250 to 1000 m. In recent years, multi-satellite data fusion technology such as the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) has been used to combine the spatial resolution of Landsat with the temporal frequency of MODIS. It has been found that this synthetic dataset could provide more valuable information compared to the images acquired from only one single sensor. However, accuracy of STARFM depends on heterogeneity of landscape and available clear image pairs of MODIS and Landsat. In this study, a new fusion method was developed using the crop vegetation index (VI) timeseries extracted from "pure" MODIS pixels and Landsat overpass images to generate daily 30 m VI for crops. The fusion accuracy was validated by comparing to the original Landsat images. Results show that the relative error in non-rapid growing period is around 3-5% and in rapid growing period is around 6-8% . The accuracy is much better than that of STARFM which is 4-9% in non-rapid growing period and 10-16% in rapid growing period based on 13 image pairs. The predicted VI from this approach looks consistent and smooth in the SLC-off gap stripes of Landsat 7 ETM+ image. The new fusion results will be used to map crop phenology and to predict crop yield at field scale in the complex agricultural landscapes.

Future climate impacts on maize farming and food security in Malawi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevens, Tilele; Madani, Kaveh

2016-11-01

Agriculture is the mainstay of Malawi’s economy and maize is the most important crop for food security. As a Least Developed Country (LDC), adverse effects of climate change (CC) on agriculture in Malawi are expected to be significant. We examined the impacts of CC on maize production and food security in Malawi’s dominant cereal producing region, Lilongwe District. We used five Global Circulation Models (GCMs) to make future (2011 to 2100) rainfall and temperature projections and simulated maize yields under these projections. Our future rainfall projections did not reveal a strong increasing or decreasing trend, but temperatures are expected to increase. Our crop modelling results, for the short-term future, suggest that maize farming might benefit from CC. However, faster crop growth could worsen Malawi’s soil fertility problem. Increasing temperature could drive lower maize yields in the medium to long-term future. Consequently, up to 12% of the population in Lilongwe District might be vulnerable to food insecurity by the end of the century. Measures to increase soil fertility and moisture must be developed to build resilience into Malawi’s agriculture sector.

Site specific toxicological risk from fluoride exposure through ingestion of vegetables and cereal crops in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India.

PubMed

Jha, S K; Nayak, A K; Sharma, Y K

2011-05-01

A study was carried out to assess toxicological risk from the fluoride (F) exposure due to ingestion of vegetables and cereal crops such as rice and wheat grown in potentially fluoridated area (brick kiln and sodic areas), of different age groups in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Fluoride contents in vegetables and cereal were found to be in the order brick kiln sites>sodic sites>normal sites. Among vegetables maximum F concentration was found in spinach and mint, whereas in cereal crops, wheat accumulated more F than rice. The exposure dose of F was determined using estimated daily intake (EDI) and bio-concentration factor (BCF) of F. The children of age group 3-14 years in the potentially fluoridated area were found to be at the risk of fluorosis. The mean BCF value of F was the highest in mint (36.6 mg/kg(dwt) plant/mg/kg(dwt) soil), followed by spinach (33.99 mg/kg(dwt) plant.mg/kg(dwt) soil). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Crop identification and area estimation over large geographic areas using LANDSAT MSS data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bauer, M. E. (Principal Investigator)

1977-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT MSS data was adequate to accurately identify wheat in Kansas; corn and soybean estimates in Indiana were less accurate. Computer-aided analysis techniques were effectively used to extract crop identification information from LANDSAT data. Systematic sampling of entire counties made possible by computer classification methods resulted in very precise area estimates at county, district, and state levels. Training statistics were successfully extended from one county to other counties having similar crops and soils if the training areas sampled the total variation of the area to be classified.

Deriving vulnerability indicators for crop production regions in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perdinan; Atmaja, Tri; Sehabuddin, Ujang; Sugiarto, Yon; Febrianti, Lina; Farysca Adi, Ryco

2017-01-01

Food supply is considered as one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Higher temperature and changes in rainfall patterns and intensity may adversely impact crop production, which will eventually affect the food supply. Consequently, adaptation strategies should be devised to minimize the potential adverse impacts and maximize its potential benefits. The adaptation strategies should be devised by considering factors contributed to causing vulnerability following the concept of food supply chain, starting from production to consumption. This study focuses on identifying the contributed factors to vulnerability of crop production regions in Indonesia. The contributed factors were identified by defining indicators for each component of the food supply chain using an example of crop production centers in Indonesia, the West Java Province. The identification considers existing issues of the food supply chain, covering aspects of production, post-harvest and storage, distribution, and consumption, based on the field surveys conducted in Indramayu district of the West Java, the main grower of paddy production, and Garut district of the West Java, the main grower of corn production. The selection of the vulnerability indicators was also considered the data availability for the study area. The analysis proposed a list of indicators classified into production, post-harvest and storage, distribution and consumption that are proposed to assess the regional vulnerability of crop production regions in Indonesia. This result is expected to contribute in understanding the process of devising climate change adaptation intended for enhancing food supply resilience to climate change.

Comparison of CRD, APU, and state models for Iowa corn and soybeans and North Dakota barley and spring wheat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

French, V.

1983-01-01

A comparison was made among the CEAS crop reporting district (CRD), agrophysical unit (APU), and state level multiple regression yield models for corn and soybeans in Iowa and barley and spring wheat in North Dakota. The best predictions were made by the state model for North Dakota spring wheat, by the APU models for barley, by the CRD models for Iowa soybeans, and by APU covariance models for Iowa corn. Because of this lack of consistency of model performance, CRD models would be recommended due to the availability of the data.

Comparative Performance Analysis of a Hyper-Temporal Ndvi Analysis Approach and a Landscape-Ecological Mapping Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, A.; de Bie, C. A. J. M.; Scarrott, R. G.; Ha, N. T. T.; Skidmore, A. K.

2012-07-01

Both agricultural area expansion and intensification are necessary to cope with the growing demand for food, and the growing threat of food insecurity which is rapidly engulfing poor and under-privileged sections of the global population. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to have the ability to accurately estimate crop area and spatial distribution. Remote sensing has become a valuable tool for estimating and mapping cropland areas, useful in food security monitoring. This work contributes to addressing this broad issue, focusing on the comparative performance analysis of two mapping approaches (i) a hyper-temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis approach and (ii) a Landscape-ecological approach. The hyper-temporal NDVI analysis approach utilized SPOT 10-day NDVI imagery from April 1998-December 2008, whilst the Landscape-ecological approach used multitemporal Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery acquired intermittently between 1992 and 2002. Pixels in the time-series NDVI dataset were clustered using an ISODATA clustering algorithm adapted to determine the optimal number of pixel clusters to successfully generalize hyper-temporal datasets. Clusters were then characterized with crop cycle information, and flooding information to produce an NDVI unit map of rice classes with flood regime and NDVI profile information. A Landscape-ecological map was generated using a combination of digitized homogenous map units in the Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery, a Land use map 2005 of the Mekong delta, and supplementary datasets on the regions terrain, geo-morphology and flooding depths. The output maps were validated using reported crop statistics, and regression analyses were used to ascertain the relationship between land use area estimated from maps, and those reported in district crop statistics. The regression analysis showed that the hyper-temporal NDVI analysis approach explained 74% and 76% of the variability in reported crop statistics in two rice crop and three rice crop land use systems respectively. In contrast, 64% and 63% of the variability was explained respectively by the Landscape-ecological map. Overall, the results indicate the hyper-temporal NDVI analysis approach is more accurate and more useful in exploring when, why and how agricultural land use manifests itself in space and time. Furthermore, the NDVI analysis approach was found to be easier to implement, was more cost effective, and involved less subjective user intervention than the landscape-ecological approach.

Land Suitability Modeling using a Geographic Socio-Environmental Niche-Based Approach: A Case Study from Northeastern Thailand

PubMed Central

Heumann, Benjamin W.; Walsh, Stephen J.; Verdery, Ashton M.; McDaniel, Phillip M.; Rindfuss, Ronald R.

2012-01-01

Understanding the pattern-process relations of land use/land cover change is an important area of research that provides key insights into human-environment interactions. The suitability or likelihood of occurrence of land use such as agricultural crop types across a human-managed landscape is a central consideration. Recent advances in niche-based, geographic species distribution modeling (SDM) offer a novel approach to understanding land suitability and land use decisions. SDM links species presence-location data with geospatial information and uses machine learning algorithms to develop non-linear and discontinuous species-environment relationships. Here, we apply the MaxEnt (Maximum Entropy) model for land suitability modeling by adapting niche theory to a human-managed landscape. In this article, we use data from an agricultural district in Northeastern Thailand as a case study for examining the relationships between the natural, built, and social environments and the likelihood of crop choice for the commonly grown crops that occur in the Nang Rong District – cassava, heavy rice, and jasmine rice, as well as an emerging crop, fruit trees. Our results indicate that while the natural environment (e.g., elevation and soils) is often the dominant factor in crop likelihood, the likelihood is also influenced by household characteristics, such as household assets and conditions of the neighborhood or built environment. Furthermore, the shape of the land use-environment curves illustrates the non-continuous and non-linear nature of these relationships. This approach demonstrates a novel method of understanding non-linear relationships between land and people. The article concludes with a proposed method for integrating the niche-based rules of land use allocation into a dynamic land use model that can address both allocation and quantity of agricultural crops. PMID:24187378

Comparison of SPI and SPEI applicability for drought impact assessment on crop production in the Danubian Lowland and the East Slovakian Lowland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labudová, L.; Labuda, M.; Takáč, J.

2017-04-01

Drought belongs among the main impact factors considering crop yields. Therefore, this paper is focused on the assessment of drought occurrence and intensity as well as on its impact on crop yields on the Danubian and the East Slovakian lowlands with the spatial resolution at district level. Yield data were the main limitation of the study, which resulted in the limited length of the assessed period (1996-2013). The standardized yields of ten crops (winter wheat, spring wheat, winter barley, spring barley, rye, maize, potatoes, oilseed rape, sunflower, and sugar beet) were correlated with monthly, 2-, and 3-monthly standardized precipitation index (SPI) and standardized precipitation and evapotranspiration index (SPEI). For this purpose, the common significance level of alpha = 0.05 was used. The temporal evolution of both indices and drought occurrence during the period 1961-2013 were assessed for each district. Most crops show a higher correlation with the SPEI than with the SPI in contrast to potatoes, which reached a higher significant correlation using the SPI. The correlation also increases with increasing number of months within a time step. The highest correlation can be seen between maize and the 3-monthly SPEI in August representing summer precipitation and potential evapotranspiration conditions. Furthermore, a very high correlation was recorded considering sugar beet, which is influenced mainly by summer precipitation, because the correlation coefficient between the sugar beet and the 3-monthly SPI is as high as using the 3-monthly SPEI. Crop yields in the East Slovakian Lowland do not seem to be influenced by wet/dry periods identified using the SPI and the SPEI as their correlation with both indices is quite low and insignificant.

Vocational Agriculture in Ponape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dayrit, Ruben S.

1975-01-01

The general objectives of agriculture education in both the elementary and secondary schools in Ponape District are to develop interest in agriculture among students and to provide practical and technical skills in growing crops and raising domestic animals. (Author)

36 CFR 30.4 - Recreation District II.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... in each case: (i) Agricultural pursuits such as crop farming, grazing, animal husbandry, nurseries... nearest right-of-way line of a road or street. However, a lesser area than 5 acres may be utilized for...

36 CFR 30.4 - Recreation District II.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... in each case: (i) Agricultural pursuits such as crop farming, grazing, animal husbandry, nurseries... nearest right-of-way line of a road or street. However, a lesser area than 5 acres may be utilized for...

36 CFR 30.4 - Recreation District II.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... in each case: (i) Agricultural pursuits such as crop farming, grazing, animal husbandry, nurseries... nearest right-of-way line of a road or street. However, a lesser area than 5 acres may be utilized for...

Ethnobotany, diverse food uses, claimed health benefits and implications on conservation of barley landraces in North Eastern Ethiopia highlands

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Barley is the number one food crop in the highland parts of North Eastern Ethiopia produced by subsistence farmers grown as landraces. Information on the ethnobotany, food utilization and maintenance of barley landraces is valuable to design and plan germplasm conservation strategies as well as to improve food utilization of barley. Methods A study, involving field visits and household interviews, was conducted in three administrative zones. Eleven districts from the three zones, five kebeles in each district and five households from each kebele were visited to gather information on the ethnobotany, the utilization of barley and how barley end-uses influence the maintenance of landrace diversity. Results According to farmers, barley is the "king of crops" and it is put for diverse uses with more than 20 types of barley dishes and beverages reportedly prepared in the study area. The products are prepared from either boiled/roasted whole grain, raw- and roasted-milled grain, or cracked grain as main, side, ceremonial, and recuperating dishes. The various barley traditional foods have perceived qualities and health benefits by the farmers. Fifteen diverse barley landraces were reported by farmers, and the ethnobotany of the landraces reflects key quantitative and qualitative traits. Some landraces that are preferred for their culinary qualities are being marginalized due to moisture shortage and soil degradation. Conclusions Farmers' preference of different landraces for various end-use qualities is one of the important factors that affect the decision process of landraces maintenance, which in turn affect genetic diversity. Further studies on improving maintenance of landraces, developing suitable varieties and improving the food utilization of barley including processing techniques could contribute to food security of the area. PMID:21711566

Effects of irrigation practices on water use in the groundwater management districts within the Kansas high plains, 1991-2003

USGS Publications Warehouse

Perry, Charles A.

2006-01-01

Data compiled for the High Plains region of Kansas that includes five Groundwater Management Districts (GMDs) were analyzed for trends in irrigation water use, acres irrigated, precipitation, irrigation system types, and irrigated crop types to determine the effects of irrigation practices on water use over time. For the study period 1991 through 2003, precipitation decreased significantly (with 95-percent confidence) in northwestern and west-central Kansas but not in the southwestern and south-central parts of the State. Irrigation water use had no statistically significant trend during this period. There was a good (R= -0.77) relation between average regional precipitation and total GMD irrigation water use. When irrigation water use was adjusted for this relation, there was a positive trend (90-percent confidence level) in the adjusted irrigation water use. Another adjustment to water use was made using the ratio of annual precipitation to 1991-2005 average precipitation, which resulted in a negative trend (95-percent confidence level) in irrigation water use. This demonstrated the contradictory nature of precipitation adjustments to water use, making their utility somewhat suspect. GMD 3 in southwestern Kansas used 63 percent of the total acre-feet of irrigation water within all the GMDs. When all GMDs are considered, the number of irrigated acres for flood and center pivot systems without drop nozzles decreased significantly during the study period. At the same time the number of drop nozzle irrigated acres increased significantly. The number of irrigated acres of water-intensive crops (corn, alfalfa, and soybeans) also increased significantly, whereas the number of less- or non-water-intensive crops (grain sorghum and wheat), and multiple crop type acres decreased. Drop nozzle irrigation systems used approximately 2 percent less water in a year-by-year comparison than center pivot systems and 8 to 11 percent less water than flood irrigation. The best estimator of irrigation water use incorporated total acres irrigated and annual average or March-October regional precipitation. A conclusion that can be drawn from the trend analyses described in this report is that, although irrigation water use for all GMDs showed no statistically significant trend, an apparent increased efficiency of center pivots irrigation systems with drop nozzles has allowed more water-intensive crops to be grown on more irrigated acres.

Modeled nitrous oxide emissions from corn fields in iowa based on county level data.

PubMed

Jarecki, Marek K; Hatfield, Jerry L; Barbour, Wiley

2015-03-01

The U.S. Corn Belt area has the capacity to generate high nitrous oxide (NO) emissions due to medium to high annual precipitation, medium- to heavy-textured soils rich in organic matter, and high nitrogen (N) application rates. The purpose of this work was to estimate NO emissions from cornfields in Iowa at the county level using the DeNitrification-DeComposition (DNDC) model and to compare the DNDC NO emission estimates with available results from field experiments. All data were acquired for 2007 to 2011. Weather Underground Network and the Iowa State University Iowa Soil Properties and Interpretation Database 7.3 were the data sources for DNDC inputs and for computing county soil parameters. The National Agriculture Statistic Service 5-yr averages for corn yield data were used to establish ex post fertilizer N input at the county level. The DNDC output suggested county-wide NO emissions in Iowa ranged from 2.2 kg NO-N ha yr in south-central to 4.6 to 4.7 kg NO-N ha yr in north-central and eastern Iowa counties. In northern districts, the average direct NO emissions were 3.2, 4.4, and 3.6 kg NO-N ha yr for west, central, and east, respectively. In central districts, average NO emissions were 3.5, 3.9, and 3.4 kg NO-N ha yr for west, central, and east, respectively. For southern districts, NO emissions were 3.5, 2.6, and 3.1 kg NO-N ha yr for west, central, and east, respectively. Direct NO emissions estimated by the DNDC model were 1.93% of N fertilizer input to corn fields in Iowa, with values ranging from 1.66% in the northwest cropping district to 2.25% in the north-central cropping district. These values are higher than the average 1% loss rate used in the IPCC Tier 1 approach. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

A Real-time Irrigation Forecasting System in Jiefangzha Irrigation District, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cong, Z.

2015-12-01

In order to improve the irrigation efficiency, we need to know when and how much to irrigate in real time. If we know the soil moisture content at this time, we can forecast the soil moisture content in the next days based on the rainfall forecasting and the crop evapotranspiration forecasting. Then the irrigation should be considered when the forecasting soil moisture content reaches to a threshold. Jiefangzha Irrigation District, a part of Hetao Irrigation District, is located in Inner Mongolia, China. The irrigated area of this irrigation district is about 140,000 ha mainly planting wheat, maize and sunflower. The annual precipitation is below 200mm, so the irrigation is necessary and the irrigation water comes from the Yellow river. We set up 10 sites with 4 TDR sensors at each site (20cm, 40cm, 60cm and 80cm depth) to monitor the soil moisture content. The weather forecasting data are downloaded from the website of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The reference evapotranspiration is estimated based on FAO-Blaney-Criddle equation with only the air temperature from ECMWF. Then the crop water requirement is forecasted by the crop coefficient multiplying the reference evapotranspiration. Finally, the soil moisture content is forecasted based on soil water balance with the initial condition is set as the monitoring soil moisture content. When the soil moisture content reaches to a threshold, the irrigation warning will be announced. The irrigation mount can be estimated through three ways: (1) making the soil moisture content be equal to the field capacity; (2) making the soil moisture saturated; or (3) according to the irrigation quota. The forecasting period is 10 days. The system is developed according to B2C model with Java language. All the databases and the data analysis are carried out in the server. The customers can log in the website with their own username and password then get the information about the irrigation forecasting and other information about the irrigation. This system can be expanded in other irrigation districts. In future, it is even possible to upgrade the system for the mobile user.

An image based method for crop yield prediction using remotely sensed and crop canopy data: the case of Paphos district, western Cyprus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papadavid, G.; Hadjimitsis, D.

2014-08-01

Remote sensing techniques development have provided the opportunity for optimizing yields in the agricultural procedure and moreover to predict the forthcoming yield. Yield prediction plays a vital role in Agricultural Policy and provides useful data to policy makers. In this context, crop and soil parameters along with NDVI index which are valuable sources of information have been elaborated statistically to test if a) Durum wheat yield can be predicted and b) when is the actual time-window to predict the yield in the district of Paphos, where Durum wheat is the basic cultivation and supports the rural economy of the area. 15 plots cultivated with Durum wheat from the Agricultural Research Institute of Cyprus for research purposes, in the area of interest, have been under observation for three years to derive the necessary data. Statistical and remote sensing techniques were then applied to derive and map a model that can predict yield of Durum wheat in this area. Indeed the semi-empirical model developed for this purpose, with very high correlation coefficient R2=0.886, has shown in practice that can predict yields very good. Students T test has revealed that predicted values and real values of yield have no statistically significant difference. The developed model can and will be further elaborated with more parameters and applied for other crops in the near future.

Application of SAR remote sensing and crop modeling for operational rice crop monitoring in South and South East Asian Countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setiyono, T. D.; Holecz, F.; Khan, N. I.; Barbieri, M.; Maunahan, A. A.; Gatti, L.; Quicho, E. D.; Pazhanivelan, S.; Campos-Taberner, M.; Collivignarelli, F.; Haro, J. G.; Intrman, A.; Phuong, D.; Boschetti, M.; Prasadini, P.; Busetto, L.; Minh, V. Q.; Tuan, V. Q.

2017-12-01

This study uses multi-temporal SAR imagery, automated image processing, rule-based classification and field observations to classify rice in multiple locations in South and South Asian countries and assimilate the information into ORYZA Crop Growth Simulation Model (CGSM) to monitor rice yield. The study demonstrates examples of operational application of this rice monitoring system in: (1) detecting drought impact on rice planting in Central Thailand and Tamil Nadu, India, (2) mapping heat stress impact on rice yield in Andhra Pradesh, India, and (3) generating historical rice yield data for districts in Red River Delta, Vietnam.

Effects of surface applications of biosolids on groundwater quality and trace-element concentrations in crops near Deer Trail, Colorado, 2004-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yager, Tracy J.B.; Crock, James G.; Smith, David B.; Furlong, Edward T.; Hageman, Philip L.; Foreman, William T.; Gray, James L.; ReVello, Rhiannon C.

2013-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Metro Wastewater Reclamation District (Metro District), studied biosolids composition and the effects of biosolids applications on groundwater quality and trace-element concentrations in crops of the Metro District properties near Deer Trail, Colorado, during 2004 through 2010. Priority parameters for each monitoring component included the nine trace elements regulated by Colorado for biosolids (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc); other constituents also were analyzed. All concentrations for the priority parameters in monthly biosolids samples were less than Colorado regulatory limits, and the concentrations were relatively consistent. Biosolids likely were the largest source of nitrogen and phosphorus on the Metro District properties. Plutonium isotopes were not detected in the biosolids, but many organic wastewater compounds (organic wastewater compounds: wastewater indicators, pharmaceuticals, and hormones) were detected in substantial concentrations relative to minimum reporting levels and various surface-water concentrations. Bismuth, copper, mercury, nitrogen, phosphorus, silver, biogenic sterols, detergent degradates, disinfectants, fire retardants, fragrances, pharmaceuticals, and plasticizers would be the most likely biosolids signature to indicate the presence of Metro District biosolids in soil or streambed sediment from the study area. Antimony, cadmium, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, nickel, nitrogen, phosphorus, selenium, tungsten, vanadium, zinc, detergent degradates, disinfectants, fire retardants, fragrances, pharmaceuticals or their degradates, and plasticizers would be the most likely biosolids signature for groundwater and surface water in the study area. More biosolids-signature components detected and larger concentration differences from untreated materials, baseline, and blank samples indicate more evidence of biosolids presence or effects. Although the inorganic constituent concentrations were relatively large in samples from one monitoring well, the concentrations of organic wastewater compounds in groundwater samples were not correspondingly large. Concentrations of organic wastewater compounds in the groundwater samples from all five monitoring wells were less than the minimum reporting levels with only a few detections. Some of the organic wastewater compounds detected could have anthropogenic sources that are not biosolids. Concentrations of priority parameters in groundwater varied spatially and temporally but generally were less than Colorado regulatory limits. Concentrations of dissolved nitrate, arsenic, and selenium, in addition to chloride, sulfate, total dissolved solids, boron, iron, manganese, and uranium, in samples from some wells exceeded the Colorado standards. Concentrations of dissolved nitrate (three wells), molybdenum (one well), selenium (two wells), and uranium (one well) in shallow groundwater had significant (alpha = 0.05) upward trends in some parts of the study area. The biosolids-signature results indicate that the aquifers intercepted by the five routinely sampled wells likely have received some recharge through treated (biosolids-applied) fields or biosolids-affected ponds. Adverse effects from this biosolids-related recharge range from few (if any) at one well to large and significantly (alpha = 0.05) increasing nitrate concentrations at another well. A statistical evaluation of five paired wheat-grain samples from treated (biosolids-applied) fields and untreated (control) fields did not indicate any evidence that biosolids applications significantly (alpha = 0.05 or 0.10) increased concentration of any of these constituents in wheat grain. The wheat-grain concentrations from this study were similar to those from other studies for fields in North America where no biosolids were applied. The data for the limited crop samples indicate that biosolids applications are not increasing the concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, sulfur, and zinc in mature wheat grain from the study area.

Landsat based historical (1984-2014) crop water use estimates and trends in the Southwestern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senay, G. B.; Schauer, M.; Friedrichs, M.; Velpuri, N. M.; Singh, R. K.

2016-12-01

Remote sensing-based field scale evapotranspiration (ET) maps are useful for characterizing water use patterns and assessing crop performance. Historical (1984-2014) Landsat-based ET maps were generated for major irrigation districts in the southwestern US. A total of 3,396 Landsat images were processed using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy balance (SSEBop) model that integrates weather and remotely sensed images to estimate monthly and annual ET within the study areas over the 31 years. Model output evaluation and validation using point-based eddy covariance flux tower, gridded-flux data and water balance ET approaches indicated relatively strong association between SSEBop ET and validation datasets. Historical trend analysis of seven agro-hydrologic variables using the Seasonal Mann-Kendall test showed interesting results. In a pair wise comparison, management influenced variables such as actual evapotranspiration (ETa), land surface temperature (Ts) and runoff (Q) were found to be more variable than their corresponding climate counterparts of atmospheric water demand (ETo), air temperature (Ta) and precipitation, responding to the impacts of management decisions. Our results indicated that only air temperature showed a consistent increase (up to 1.2 K) across all 9 irrigation sub-basins during the 31 years. District-wide ETa estimates were used to compute historical crop water use volumes and monetary savings for the Palo Verde Irrigation district (PVID). During the peak crop fallowing program in PVID, the water savings reached a maximum of 85,000 ac-ft per year which is equivalent to a dollar amount of $ 600 million. This study has many applications in planning water resource allocation, monitoring and assessing water usage and performance, and quantifying impacts of climate and land use/land cover changes on water resources. With increased computational efficiency and model development, similar studies can be conducted in other parts of the world.

Application of remote sensing techniques for identification of irrigated crop lands in Arizona

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Billings, H. A.

1981-01-01

Satellite imagery was used in a project developed to demonstrate remote sensing methods of determining irrigated acreage in Arizona. The Maricopa water district, west of Phoenix, was chosen as the test area. Band rationing and unsupervised categorization were used to perform the inventory. For both techniques the irrigation district boundaries and section lines were digitized and calculated and displayed by section. Both estimation techniques were quite accurate in estimating irrigated acreage in the 1979 growing season.

Investigations using data from LANDSAT-2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hossain, A. (Principal Investigator)

1977-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT imageries of Mirpur area of Dacca district were used in connection with surveys for black plastic clay. The imageries showed the broad pattern of small valleys cutting into Madhupur clay. Land use maps of Haor areas of Sylhet and Mymensingh districts were prepared. As a test case, two thana areas, namely Nickley and Astogram, were classified in different categories such as crop, settlement, and water. It does not show much agreement with the Agriculture Dept.'s statistics.

Remotely sensed vegetation indices for seasonal crop yields predictions in the Czech Republic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hlavinka, Petr; Semerádová, Daniela; Balek, Jan; Bohovic, Roman; Žalud, Zdeněk; Trnka, Miroslav

2015-04-01

Remotely sensed vegetation indices by satellites are valuable tool for vegetation conditions assessment also in the case of field crops. This study is based on the use of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) derived from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) aboard Terra satellite. Data available from the year 2000 were analyzed and tested for seasonal yields predictions within selected districts of the Czech Republic (Central Europe). Namely the yields of spring barley, winter wheat and oilseed winter rape during the period from 2000 to 2014 were assessed. Observed yields from 14 districts (NUTS 4) were collected and thus 210 seasons were included. Selected districts differ considerably in their soil fertility and terrain configuration and represent transect across various agroclimatic conditions (from warm and dry to relative cool and wet regions). Two approaches were tested: 1) using of composite remotely sensed data (available in 16 day time step) provided by the USGS (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/); 2) using daily remotely sensed data in combination with originally developed smoothing method. The yields were successfully predicted based on established regression models (remotely sensed data used as independent parameter). Besides others the impact of severe drought episodes within vegetation were identified and yield reductions at district level predicted (even before harvest). As a result the periods with the best relationship between remotely sensed data and yields were identified. The impact of drought conditions as well as normal or above normal yields of field crops could be predicted by proposed method within study region up to 30 days prior to the harvest. It could be concluded that remotely sensed vegetation conditions assessment should be important part of early warning systems focused on drought. Such information should be widely available for various users (decision makers, farmers, etc.) in order to improve planning, business strategies but also to target the drought relief in case of major drought event. This study was funded by project "Building up a multidisciplinary scientific team focused on drought" No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0248, project supported by Czech National Agency of Agricultural Research No. QJ1310123 "Crop modelling as a tool for increasing the production potential and food security of the Czech Republic under Climate Change".

Long-term variation of Surface Ozone, NO2, temperature and relative humidity on crop yield over Andhra Pradesh (AP), India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arunachalam, M. S.; Obili, Manjula; Srimurali, M.

2016-07-01

Long-term variation of Surface Ozone, NO2, Temperature, Relative humidity and crop yield datasets over thirteen districts of Andhra Pradesh(AP) has been studied with the help of OMI, MODIS, AIRS, ERA-Interim re-analysis and Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) of AP. Inter comparison of crop yield loss estimates according to exposure metrics such as AOT40 (accumulated ozone exposure over a threshold of 40) and non-linear variation of surface temperature for twenty and eighteen varieties of two major crop growing seasons namely, kharif (April-September) and rabi (October-March), respectively has been made. Study is carried to establish a new crop-yield-exposure relationship for different crop cultivars of AP. Both ozone and temperature are showing a correlation coefficient of 0.66 and 0.87 with relative humidity; and 0.72 and 0.80 with NO2. Alleviation of high surface ozone results in high food security and improves the economy thereby reduces the induced warming of the troposphere caused by ozone. Keywords: Surface Ozone, NO2, Temperature, Relative humidity, Crop yield, AOT 40.

Performance of district disaster management teams after undergoing an operational level planners' training in Uganda.

PubMed

Orach, Christopher Garimol; Mayega, Roy William; Woboya, Vincent; William, Bazeyo

2013-06-01

Uganda is vulnerable to several natural, man-made and a hybrid of disasters including drought, famine, floods, warfare, and disease outbreaks. We assessed the district disaster team's performance, roles and experiences following the training. The disasters most commonly experienced by the district teams were epidemics of diseases in humans (7 of 12), animals (epizoonotics) (3 of 12) and crops (3 of 12); hailstorms and floods (3 of 12). The capabilities viewed most useful for management of disasters were provision of health care services (9/12) and response management (8 of 12). The capability domains most often consulted during the disasters were general response management (31%), health services (29%) and water and sanitation (17%). The skills areas perceived to be vital following the training were response to epidemics 10/12, disaster management planning 8/12, hazards and vulnerability analysis 7/12 and principles of disaster planning 7/12 respectively. Main challenges mentioned by district teams were inadequacy of finance and logistics, lack of commitment by key partners towards disaster preparedness and response. The most common disaster experienced disasters related to outbreaks of diseases in man, animals and crops. The most frequently applied capabilities were response management and provision of emergency health services. The activities most frequently implemented following disaster management teams training were conducting planning meetings, refinement of plans and dissemination of skills gained. The main challenges were related to limited budget allocations and legal frameworks for disaster management that should be addressed by both central and local governments.

Prevalence and spatial distribution of Theileria parva in cattle under crop-livestock farming systems in Tororo District, Eastern Uganda

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) present a major economic burden to communities across East Africa. Farmers in East Africa must use acaracides to target ticks and prevent transmission of tick-borne diseases such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, cowdriosis and theileriosis; the major causes of cattle mortality and morbidity. The costs of controlling East Coast Fever (ECF), caused by Theileria parva, in Uganda are significant and measures taken to control ticks, to be cost-effective, should take into account the burden of disease. The aim of the present work was to estimate the burden presented by T. parva and its spatial distribution in a crop-livestock production system in Eastern Uganda. Methods A cross sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence and spatial distribution of T. parva in Tororo District, Uganda. Blood samples were taken from all cattle (n: 2,658) in 22 randomly selected villages across Tororo District from September to December 2011. Samples were analysed by PCR and T. parva prevalence and spatial distribution determined. Results The overall prevalence of T. parva was found to be 5.3%. Herd level prevalence ranged from 0% to 21% with majority of the infections located in the North, North-Eastern and South-Eastern parts of Tororo District. No statistically significant differences in risk of infection were found between age classes, sex and cattle breed. Conclusions T. parva infection is widely distributed in Tororo District, Uganda. The prevalence and distribution of T. parva is most likely determined by spatial distribution of R. appendiculatus, restricted grazing of calves and preferential tick control targeting draft animals. PMID:24589227

Reductions in India's crop yield due to ozone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghude, Sachin D.; Jena, Chinmay; Chate, D. M.; Beig, G.; Pfister, G. G.; Kumar, Rajesh; Ramanathan, V.

2014-08-01

This bottom-up modeling study, supported by emission inventories and crop production, simulates ozone on local to regional scales. It quantifies, for the first time, potential impact of ozone on district-wise cotton, soybeans, rice, and wheat crops in India for the first decade of the 21st century. Wheat is the most impacted crop with losses of 3.5 ± 0.8 million tons (Mt), followed by rice at 2.1 ± 0.8 Mt, with the losses concentrated in central and north India. On the national scale, this loss is about 9.2% of the cereals required every year (61.2 Mt) under the provision of the recently implemented National Food Security Bill (in 2013) by the Government of India. The nationally aggregated yield loss is sufficient to feed about 94 million people living below poverty line in India.

Does Validity Fall from the Sky? Observant Farmers and the Endogeneity of Rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, B. M.

2016-12-01

Weather, particularly rainfall, is a popular source of identifying variation in many areas of empirical economics. Deviations from mean rainfall are commonly used as a source of exogenous and unpredictable variation in household consumption, aggregate consumption, and income. Yet the prevalence of 10-day weather forecasts and longer-range seasonal forecasts enabled by earth observations suggest plenty of information about future weather events is available. This paper posits that farmers observe signals about future rainfall outcomes and respond appropriately. While the idea of short-run weather expectations influencing crop choices has been occasionally speculated, this paper's broad-based empirical evidence of such adaptation is new. Evidence of anticipatory adaptation is found in two data sets on Indian agriculture which are popular both in general and among papers using rainfall for identifying variation. The crop selections of Indian farmers are found to be strongly correlated with the season's upcoming rainfall in an agronomically efficient manner. In years where rainfall is one standard deviation below the mean, the district-wide acreage of sorghum (a relatively drought resistant crop) increases by almost 3%, while the district-wide acreage of rice (a relatively water-intensive crops) decreases by over 1%. The response of farming households from a popular survey of rural villages are larger than the average response of aggregate acreage, consistent with poorer, smaller-scale farmers being more risk averse. This paper also presents a methodology for estimating the impact of income shocks which accounts for the anticipatory adaptation enabled by this information.

Impact assessment of climate change on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and mustard (Brassica spp.) production and its adaptation strategies in different districts of Gujarat, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, V.; Patel, H. R.; Yadav, S. B.; Patil, D. D.

2015-12-01

Gujarat is the western-most state of India with a long (1600 km) sea coast on the Arabian Sea. Average annual rainfall ranges from as high as 1900 mm in the sub-humid southeast to as low as 250 mm in the arid north. There are three distinct crop seasons- rainy (June to September), winter (Oct.-Nov. through Feb.-March) and summer (Feb-March through May-June). Wheat and mustard are grown during winter seasons. The past climatic records suggested increasing trends in rainfall( 2 to 5 mm per year), maximum (0.03 to 0.05 0C per year) and minimum temperatures (0.02 to 0.05 0C per year) at most of places in Gujarat. But the minimum temperature is fould to be increasing significantly at all the locations. This affects the winter season crops viz. wheat and mustard adversely. Simulation results with DSSAT CERES-wheat model revealed that with increase in temperature by 2 0C in different months (November to February) the decrease in wheat yield is observed between 7 to 29 per cent. The impact of increase in maximum temperature during early (November) and late (February) is less (<12.5 %) than that during active vegetative and reproductive period (December and January; >24.8 %). The climate change projections during 2071-2100 using PRECIS output suggested that there would be increase in maximum temperature by 3.2 to 5.2 0C in different districts of Gujarat over baseline period of 1961-1990 while minimum temperature is project to increase by 2.8 to 5.8 0C. Rainfall is also projected to increase by 28 to 70 per cent in different districts. The impact of climate change on wheat would be reduction in its duration by 14-20 days and the grain yield would be reduced by 20-55 per cent in different districts. In case of mustard crops the duration of crop would be reduced by 11 to 16 days and seed yield would be reduced by 32-50 per cent. In order to mitigate the ill effect of climate change, various adaptation strategies vis change in dates of sowing, change in variety, additional irrigation and fertilizer applications were simulated. Shifting of sowing dates of wheat by 15 days from its normal sowing (Nov 15), 5 to 10 per cent higher yield could be obtained. Similarly commonly grown cv. GW 496 is to be replaced by GW 322 to obtain 4-11 per cent higher yield. Two additional irrigation would increase the wheat yield by 5-15 per cent in different districts of Gujarat.

Pesticides use by smallholder farmers in vegetable production in Northern Tanzania.

PubMed Central

Ngowi, A.V.F.; Mbise, T.J.; Ijani, A.S.M.; London, L.; Ajayi, O. C.

2007-01-01

Small-scale farmers in Northern Tanzania grow vegetables that include tomatoes, cabbages and onions and use many types of pesticides to control pests and diseases that attack these crops. Based on the use of questionnaires and interviews that were conducted in Arumeru, Monduli, Karatu, and Moshi rural districts, this study investigates farmers’ practices on vegetable pest management using pesticides and related cost and health effects. The types of pesticides used by the farmers in the study areas were insecticides (59%), fungicides (29%) and herbicides (10%) with the remaining 2% being rodenticides. About a third of the farmers applied pesticides in mixtures. Up to 90% had a maximum of 3 pesticides in a mixture. In all cases there were no specific instructions either from the labels or extension workers regarding these tank mixtures. Fifty three percent of the farmers reported that the trend of pesticide use was increasing, while 33% was constant and 14% was decreasing. More than 50 percent of the respondents applied pesticides up to 5 times or more per cropping season depending on the crop. Insecticides and fungicides were routinely applied by 77% and 7%, respectively by these farmers. Sixty eight percent of farmers reported having felt sick after routine application of pesticides. Pesticide-related health symptoms that were associated with pesticides use included skin problems and neurological system disturbances (dizziness, headache). Sixty one percent of farmers reported spending no money on health due to pesticides. These results can be used to develop a tool to quantify the cost of pesticide use in pest management by small-scale vegetable farmers in Northern Tanzania and contribute to the reformation of pesticide policy for safe and effective use of pesticides. PMID:18528532

Urban farming model in South Jakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indrawati, E.

2018-01-01

The development of infrastructure rapidly, large of population and large of urbanization. Meanwhile, agricultural land is decreasing and agricultural production continues to decline. The productive crops is needed for consumption and it is also to improve the environment from oxygen provisioning, antidote to air pollution and to improve soil conditions. The use of yard land for horticultural crops (vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants), spices, medicines, herbs etc. can benefit for the owners of the yard particularly and the general public. The purpose of this research is to identify the model of home yard utilization, mosque yard, office, school, urban park and main road and sub main road, which can improve environmental quality in Pesanggrahan district. The method of analysis used descriptive analysis method by observation. Then analyzed the percentage of the use of yard with productive crops as urban farming. The results showed that the most productive crops were planted in Kelurahan Pesanggrahan 67% which compared with in Kelurahan Ulujami 47%, and in Kelurahan Petukangan Utara 27%. The most types of productive crops were grown as fruit trees and vegetable crops.

Connecting Groundwater, Crop Price, and Crop Production Variability in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollack, A.; Lobell, D. B.; Jain, M.

2015-12-01

Farmers in India rely on groundwater resources for irrigation and production of staple crops that provide over half of the calories consumed domestically each year. While this has been a productive strategy in increasing agricultural production and maintaining high yields, groundwater resources are depleting at a quicker rate than natural resources can replace. This issue gains relevance as climate variability concurrently adds to yearly fluctuations in farmer demand for irrigation each year, which can create high risk for farmers that depend on consistent yields, but do not have access to dwindling water resources. This study investigates variability in groundwater levels from 2005 to 2013 in relation to crop prices and production by analyzing district-level datasets made available through India's government. Through this analysis, we show the impact of groundwater variability on price variability, crop yield, and production during these years. By examining this nine-year timescale, we extend our analysis to forthcoming years to demonstrate the increasing importance of groundwater resources in irrigation, and suggest strategies to reduce the impact of groundwater shortages on crop production and prices.

Remote Sensing Monitoring of Changes in Soil Salinity: A Case Study in Inner Mongolia, China.

PubMed

Wu, Jingwei; Vincent, Bernard; Yang, Jinzhong; Bouarfa, Sami; Vidal, Alain

2008-11-07

This study used archived remote sensing images to depict the history of changes in soil salinity in the Hetao Irrigation District in Inner Mongolia, China, with the purpose of linking these changes with land and water management practices and to draw lessons for salinity control. Most data came from LANDSAT satellite images taken in 1973, 1977, 1988, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006. In these years salt-affected areas were detected using a normal supervised classification method. Corresponding cropped areas were detected from NVDI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) values using an unsupervised method. Field samples and agricultural statistics were used to estimate the accuracy of the classification. Historical data concerning irrigation/drainage and the groundwater table were used to analyze the relation between changes in soil salinity and land and water management practices. Results showed that: (1) the overall accuracy of remote sensing in detecting soil salinity was 90.2%, and in detecting cropped area, 98%; (2) the installation/innovation of the drainage system did help to control salinity; and (3) a low ratio of cropped land helped control salinity in the Hetao Irrigation District. These findings suggest that remote sensing is a useful tool to detect soil salinity and has potential in evaluating and improving land and water management practices.

Impacts of Climate Change on Water Requirements of Dry Season Boro Rice: Recent Trends and Future Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acharjee, T. K.; Ludwig, F.; Halsema, G. V.; Hellegers, P.; Supit, I.

2017-12-01

The North-West part of Bangladesh is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, because of dry season water shortage and high water demand for rice cultivation. A study was carried out to understand the impacts of recent climate change (1980-2013) and future consequences (for 2050s and 2080s) on water requirements of Boro rice. The reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo), potential crop water requirement (∑ETC), effective rainfall (ER), potential irrigation requirement for crop evapotranspiration (∑ETC-ER) and net irrigation requirement of Boro rice were estimated in CropWat using observed daily climate data for recent trends and statistically downscaled and bias corrected GCM outputs (five models and two RCPs) for future scenarios. ETo showed a significant decreasing recent trends due to increasing relative humidity and decreasing wind speed and sun shine hours instead of an increase in temperature. However, the strong future increase in temperature will lead to an insignificant increase in ETo. ∑ETC showed a decreasing recent trend and will further decrease in the future because of shortened duration of Boro growth stages as crop's phenological response to increased temperature. The variations in trends of ∑ETC-ER found among different districts, are mainly linked to the variations in trends of changes in effective rainfall. During last three decades, the net irrigation requirement has decreased by 11% at an average rate of -4.4 mm/year, instead of a decreasing effective rainfall, mainly because of high rate of decrease of crop evapotranspiration (-5.9 mm/year). In future, although daily water requirement will increase, the total net irrigation requirement of Boro rice will decrease by 1.6% in 2050s and 7.4% in 2080s for RCP 8.5 scenario on an average for five models and four districts compared to the base period (1980-2013). High variations in projected changes in rainfall bring high uncertainty for future water requirements estimation. Therefore, a warming climate will not directly increase the water demand for crop agriculture in North-West Bangladesh but will make the future agricultural water management more complex by bringing more variations and uncertainty in the system.

Assessment of crop growth and soil water modules in SWAT2000 using extensive field experiment data in an irrigation district of the Yellow River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luo, Y.; He, C.; Sophocleous, M.; Yin, Z.; Hongrui, R.; Ouyang, Z.

2008-01-01

SWAT, a physically-based, hydrological model simulates crop growth, soil water and groundwater movement, and transport of sediment and nutrients at both the process and watershed scales. While the different versions of SWAT have been widely used throughout the world for agricultural and water resources applications, little has been done to test the performance, variability, and transferability of the parameters in the crop growth, soil water, and groundwater modules in an integrated way with multiple sets of field experimental data at the process scale. Using an multiple years of field experimental data of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the irrigation district of the Yellow River Basin, this paper assesses the performance of the plant-soil-groundwater modules and the variability and transferability of SWAT2000. Comparison of the simulated results by SWAT to the observations showed that SWAT performed quite unsatisfactorily in LAI predictions during the senescence stage, in yield predictions, and in soil-water estimation under dry soil-profile conditions. The unsatisfactory performance in LAI prediction might be attributed to over-simplified senescence modeling; in yield prediction to the improper computation of the harvest index; and in soil water under dry conditions to the exclusion of groundwater evaporation from the soil water balance in SWAT. In this paper, improvements in crop growth, soil water, and groundwater modules in SWAT were implemented. The saturated soil profile was coupled to the oscillating groundwater table. A variable evaporation coefficient taking into account soil water deficit index, groundwater depth, and crop root depth was used to replace the fixed coefficient in computing groundwater evaporation. The soil water balance included the groundwater evaporation. The modifications improved simulations of crop evapotranspiration and biomass as well as soil water dynamics under dry soil-profile conditions. The evaluation shows that the crop growth and soil water components of SWAT could be further refined to better simulate the hydrology of agricultural watersheds. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-temporal UAV based data for mapping crop type and structure in smallholder dominated Tanzanian agricultural landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagol, J. R.; Chung, C.; Dempewolf, J.; Maurice, S.; Mbungu, W.; Tumbo, S.

2015-12-01

Timely mapping and monitoring of crops like Maize, an important food security crop in Tanzania, can facilitate timely response by government and non-government organizations to food shortage or surplus conditions. Small UAVs can play an important role in linking the spaceborne remote sensing data and ground based measurement to improve the calibration and validation of satellite based estimates of in-season crop metrics. In Tanzania most of the growing season is often obscured by clouds. UAV data, if collected within a stratified statistical sampling framework, can also be used to directly in lieu of spaceborne data to infer mid-season yield estimates at regional scales.Here we present an object based approach to estimate crop metrics like crop type, area, and height using multi-temporal UAV based imagery. The methods were tested at three 1km2 plots in Kilosa, Njombe, and Same districts in Tanzania. At these sites both ground based and UAV based data were collected on a monthly time-step during the year 2015 growing season. SenseFly eBee drone with RGB and NIR-R-G camera was used to collect data. Crop type classification accuracies of above 85% were easily achieved.

Coupled stochastic soil moisture simulation-optimization model of deficit irrigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alizadeh, Hosein; Mousavi, S. Jamshid

2013-07-01

This study presents an explicit stochastic optimization-simulation model of short-term deficit irrigation management for large-scale irrigation districts. The model which is a nonlinear nonconvex program with an economic objective function is built on an agrohydrological simulation component. The simulation component integrates (1) an explicit stochastic model of soil moisture dynamics of the crop-root zone considering interaction of stochastic rainfall and irrigation with shallow water table effects, (2) a conceptual root zone salt balance model, and 3) the FAO crop yield model. Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm, linked to the simulation component, solves the resulting nonconvex program with a significantly better computational performance compared to a Monte Carlo-based implicit stochastic optimization model. The model has been tested first by applying it in single-crop irrigation problems through which the effects of the severity of water deficit on the objective function (net benefit), root-zone water balance, and irrigation water needs have been assessed. Then, the model has been applied in Dasht-e-Abbas and Ein-khosh Fakkeh Irrigation Districts (DAID and EFID) of the Karkheh Basin in southwest of Iran. While the maximum net benefit has been obtained for a stress-avoidance (SA) irrigation policy, the highest water profitability has been resulted when only about 60% of the water used in the SA policy is applied. The DAID with respectively 33% of total cultivated area and 37% of total applied water has produced only 14% of the total net benefit due to low-valued crops and adverse soil and shallow water table conditions.

A previously undiscovered group of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) is observed living in the Tonkolili district of Sierra Leone.

PubMed

Halloran, Andrew R; Cloutier, Christina T; Sesay, Papanie Bai

2013-06-01

A previously undocumented group of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) was recently discovered along the Pampana River in the Tonkolili District of Sierra Leone. Based on interviews from local residents (N = 6), we estimate the group size to be approximately 30 individuals. Though this population does not show up in the most recent census of chimpanzees in Sierra Leone, it concurs with findings that indicate most of the chimpanzees in Sierra Leone live scattered throughout the country alongside villages, rather than in protected areas. During a three-week observation in the area, two chimpanzees were hunted and killed. The reason for these deaths, along with other reported instances of hunting in the area, are primarily due to crop-raiding and competition for resources between chimpanzees and humans. We conclude that this is a heavily imperiled population. Based on the ecology of the area and composition of local villages, we propose a number of conservation strategies that will promote a symbiotic relationship between the chimpanzees and human populations residing in the area. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Attitudes of Agricultural Experts Toward Genetically Modified Crops: A Case Study in Southwest Iran.

PubMed

Ghanian, Mansour; Ghoochani, Omid M; Kitterlin, Miranda; Jahangiry, Sheida; Zarafshani, Kiumars; Van Passel, Steven; Azadi, Hossein

2016-04-01

The production of genetically modified (GM) crops is growing around the world, and with it possible opportunities to combat food insecurity and hunger, as well as solutions to current problems facing conventional agriculture. In this regard the use of GMOs in food and agricultural applications has increased greatly over the past decade. However, the development of GM crops has been a matter of considerable interest and worldwide public controversy. This, in addition to skepticism, has stifled the use of this practice on a large scale in many areas, including Iran. It stands to reason that a greater understanding of this practice could be formed after a review of the existing expert opinions surrounding GM crops. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the predictors that influence agricultural experts' attitudes toward the development of and policies related to GM crops. Using a descriptive correlational research method, questionnaire data was collected from 65 experts from the Agricultural Organization in the Gotvand district in Southwest Iran. Results indicated that agricultural experts were aware of the environmental benefits and possible risks associated with GM crops. The majority of participants agreed that GM crops could improve food security and accelerate rural development, and were proponents of labeling practices for GM crops. Finally, there was a positive correlation between the perception of benefits and attitudes towards GM crops.

Impact of Climate Variability on Maize Production in Pakistan using Remote Sensing and Machine Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richetti, J.; Ahmad, I.; Aristizabal, F.; Judge, J.

2017-12-01

Determining maize agricultural production under climate variability is valuable to policy makers in Pakistan since maize is the third most produced crop by area after wheat and rice. This study aims to predict the maize production under climate variability. Two-hundred ground truth points of both maize and non-maize land covers were collected from the Faisalabad district during the growing seasons of 2015 and 2016. Landsat-8 images taken in second week of May which correspond spatially and temporally to the local, peak growing season for maize were gathered. For classifying the region training data was constructed for a variety of machine learning algorithms by sampling the second, third, and fourth bands of the Landsat-8 imagery at these reference locations. Cross validation was used for parameter tuning as well as estimating the generalized performances. All the classifiers resulted in overall accuracies of greater than 90% for both years and a support vector machine with a radial basis kernel recorded the maximum accuracy of 97%. The tuned models were used to determine the spatial distribution of maize fields for both growing seasons in the Faisalabad district using parallel processing to improve computation time. The overall classified maize growing area represented 12% difference than that reported by the Crop Reporting Service (CRS) of Punjab Pakistan for both 2015 and 2016. For the agricultural production normalized difference vegetation index from Landsat-8 and climate indicators from ground stations will be used as inputs in a variety of machine learning regression algorithms. The expected results will be compared to actual yield from 64 commercial farms. To verify the impact of climate variability in the maize agricultural production historical climate data from previous 30 years will be used in the developed model to asses the impact of climate variability on the maize production.

MIGRATORY LABOR IN WISCONSIN AGRICULTURE.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ROSE, A. THOMAS

A SERIES OF CHARTS RELATED TO MIGRATORY WORKERS IN WISCONSIN IS PRESENTED. THE TABLES DEPICT THE SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD PROCESSING EMPLOYMENT TIMETABLE OF MAJOR CROP ACTIVITIES, UTILIZATION OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN SUCH ACTIVITIES, MIGRANT WORKERS REGISTERED BY DISTRICT OFFICES, STATE OF RESIDENCE, STATE OF LAST EMPLOYMENT, AND STATE OF NEXT…

Quality of terrestrial data derived from UAV photogrammetry: a case study of the Hetao irrigation district in northern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hongming; Baartman, Jantiene E. M.; Yang, Xiaomei; Gai, Lingtong; Geissen, Violette

2017-04-01

Most crops in northern China are irrigated, but the topography affects water use, soil erosion, runoff and yields,. Technologies for collecting high-resolution topographic data are essential for adequately assessing these effects. Ground surveys and techniques of light detection and ranging have good accuracy, but data acquisition can be time-consuming and expensive for large catchments. Recent rapid technological development has provided new, flexible, high-resolution methods for collecting topographic data, such as photogrammetry using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The accuracy of UAV photogrammetry for generating high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) and for determining the width of irrigation channels, however, has not been assessed. We used a fixed-wing UAV for collecting high-resolution (0.15 m) topographic data for the Hetao irrigation district, the third largest irrigation district in China. We surveyed 112 ground checkpoints (GCPs) using a real-time kinematic global positioning system to evaluate the accuracy of the DEMs and channel widths. A comparison of manually measured channel widths with the widths derived from the DEMs indicated that the DEM-derived widths had vertical and horizontal root mean square errors of 13.0 and 7.9 cm, respectively. UAV photogrammetric data can thus be used for land surveying, digital mapping, calculating channel capacity, monitoring crops, and predicting yields, with the advantages of economy, speed, and ease.

Measuring the economic impact of climate change on major South African field crops: a Ricardian approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gbetibouo, G. A.; Hassan, R. M.

2005-07-01

This study employed a Ricardian model to measure the impact of climate change on South Africa's field crops and analysed potential future impacts of further changes in the climate. A regression of farm net revenue on climate, soil and other socio-economic variables was conducted to capture farmer-adapted responses to climate variations. The analysis was based on agricultural data for seven field crops (maize, wheat, sorghum, sugarcane, groundnut, sunflower and soybean), climate and edaphic data across 300 districts in South Africa. Results indicate that production of field crops was sensitive to marginal changes in temperature as compared to changes in precipitation. Temperature rise positively affects net revenue whereas the effect of reduction in rainfall is negative. The study also highlights the importance of season and location in dealing with climate change showing that the spatial distribution of climate change impact and consequently needed adaptations will not be uniform across the different agro-ecological regions of South Africa. Results of simulations of climate change scenarios indicate many impacts that would induce (or require) very distinct shifts in farming practices and patterns in different regions. Those include major shifts in crop calendars and growing seasons, switching between crops to the possibility of complete disappearance of some field crops from some region.

The Application of Soil-Agroclimatic Index for Assessing the Agronomic Potential of Arable Lands in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulgakov, D. S.; Rukhovich, D. I.; Shishkonakova, E. A.; Vil'chevskaya, E. V.

2018-04-01

An assessment of the agronomic potential of arable lands in the forest-steppe zone of Russia (by the example of separate soil-agronomic districts) on the basis of the soil-agroclimatic index developed under the supervision of I.I. Karmanov is considered. The agricultural areas (64) separated on the territory of Russia and characterizing soil-agroclimatic conditions for cultivation of major and accompanying crops are differentiated into soil-agronomic districts (SADs) with due account for the administrative division of the country. A large diversity of agroclimatic and agronomical conditions creates the prerequisites for the inclusion of administrative regions into different SADs. The SADs concept implies a detailed analysis of information on the soil properties, geomorphic conditions, and farming conditions. The agronomic potential for major crops in the key SADs in the forest-steppe zone of the East European Plain (Voronezh and Penza oblasts) is high, though it is 25-30% lower than that in the North Caucasus (for winter wheat, sugar beet, sunflower, and spring barley) and in Kaliningrad oblast (for oats). In Western Siberia (Tyumen, Omsk, and Novosibirsk oblasts) and Eastern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk region and Irkutsk oblast), the agronomic potential of spring crops (wheat, barley, and oats) is only utilized by 35-45% in comparison with their European analogues. In the Far East with its monsoon climate and soil conditions (meadow podbels, brown forest soils), the crops characteristic of the European forest-steppe (soybean, rice, sugar beet) and the Trans-Ural forest-steppe (spring wheat) are cultivated. Their biological potential is utilized by only 50-60% in comparison with the European analogues. The materials of this study give us information on the degree of correspondence between the soilagroclimatic potential of the territory and the biological potential of cultivated crops. This is important in the context of improving the natural-agricultural zoning of Russia and its information support.

Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE). YES phase 1 yield feasibility report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Each state model was separately evaluated to determine if a projected performance to the country level would satisfy a 90/90 criterion. All state models, except the North Dakota and Kansas models, satisfied that criterion both for district estimates aggregated to the state level and for state estimates directly from the models. In addition to the tests of the 90/90 criterion, the models were examined for their ability to adequately respond to fluctuations in weather. This portion of the analysis was based on a subjective interpretation of values of certain description statistics. As a result, 10 of the 12 models were judged to respond inadequately to variation in weather-related variables.

An integrated crop model and GIS decision support system for assisting agronomic decision making under climate change.

PubMed

Kadiyala, M D M; Nedumaran, S; Singh, Piara; S, Chukka; Irshad, Mohammad A; Bantilan, M C S

2015-07-15

The semi-arid tropical (SAT) regions of India are suffering from low productivity which may be further aggravated by anticipated climate change. The present study analyzes the spatial variability of climate change impacts on groundnut yields in the Anantapur district of India and examines the relative contribution of adaptation strategies. For this purpose, a web based decision support tool that integrates crop simulation model and Geographical Information System (GIS) was developed to assist agronomic decision making and this tool can be scalable to any location and crop. The climate change projections of five global climate models (GCMs) relative to the 1980-2010 baseline for Anantapur district indicates an increase in rainfall activity to the tune of 10.6 to 25% during Mid-century period (2040-69) with RCP 8.5. The GCMs also predict warming exceeding 1.4 to 2.4°C by 2069 in the study region. The spatial crop responses to the projected climate indicate a decrease in groundnut yields with four GCMs (MPI-ESM-MR, MIROC5, CCSM4 and HadGEM2-ES) and a contrasting 6.3% increase with the GCM, GFDL-ESM2M. The simulation studies using CROPGRO-Peanut model reveals that groundnut yields can be increased on average by 1.0%, 5.0%, 14.4%, and 20.2%, by adopting adaptation options of heat tolerance, drought tolerant cultivars, supplemental irrigation and a combination of drought tolerance cultivar and supplemental irrigation respectively. The spatial patterns of relative benefits of adaptation options were geographically different and the greatest benefits can be achieved by adopting new cultivars having drought tolerance and with the application of one supplemental irrigation at 60days after sowing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Regional monitoring activities, June 1958

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andersen, B.V.

1958-07-17

The Klamath Falls measurements indicated old fallout materials were present on the vegetation. Cs{sup 137} on Zone B vegetation (200 East Area) averaged 4.1 {times} 10{sup -6} {mu}c/gm this month, compared to an average of 4.4 {times} 10{sup -6} {mu}c/gm last month. Other special measurements this month included calculation of reactor effluent water originated radioisotopes present in samples of Zone Z (Franklin County Irrigation District) vegetation analyzed by gamma spectroscopy. Monthly average values were below the detection limit of about 2 {times} 10{sup -6} {mu}c/gm for Zn{sup 65} and Cr{sup 57}. Maximum Zn{sup 65} concentration was 1.7 {times} 10{sup -6}more » {mu}c/gm on samples collected May 28, 1958. Crop samples of strawberries, green beans, apricots, and potatoes from the Franklin County Irrigation District were taken during June. Analytical results are not yet available. Analytical detection limits for isotopes expected in crop samples were requested at 1/500 of the public limit for human intake of the isotopes.« less

A simple method to estimate vegetation indices and crop canopy factors using field spectroscopy for solanum tuberosum during the whole phenological cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perdikou, S.; Papadavid, G.; Hadjimitsis, M.; Hadjimitsis, D.; Neofytou, N.

2013-08-01

Field spectroscopy is a part of the remote sensing techniques and very important for studies in agriculture. A GER-1500 field spectro-radiometer was used in this study in order to retrieve the necessary spectrum data of the spring potatoes for estimating spectral vegetation indices (SVI's). A field campaign was undertaken from September to the end of November 2012 for the collection of spectro-radiometric measurements. The study area was in the Mandria Village in Paphos district in Cyprus. This paper demonstrates how crop canopy factors can be statistically related to remotely sensed data, namely vegetation indices. The paper is a part of an EU cofounded project regarding estimating crop water requirements using remote sensing techniques and informing the farmers through 3G smart telephony.

Rabi cropped area forecasting of parts of Banaskatha District,Gujarat using MRS RISAT-1 SAR data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parekh, R. A.; Mehta, R. L.; Vyas, A.

2016-10-01

Radar sensors can be used for large-scale vegetation mapping and monitoring using backscatter coefficients in different polarisations and wavelength bands. Due to cloud and haze interference, optical images are not always available at all phonological stages important for crop discrimination. Moreover, in cloud prone areas, exclusively SAR approach would provide operational solution. This paper presents the results of classifying the cropped and non cropped areas using multi-temporal SAR images. Dual polarised C- band RISAT MRS (Medium Resolution ScanSAR mode) data were acquired on 9thDec. 2012, 28thJan. 2013 and 22nd Feb. 2013 at 18m spatial resolution. Intensity images of two polarisations (HH, HV) were extracted and converted into backscattering coefficient images. Cross polarisation ratio (CPR) images and Radar fractional vegetation density index (RFDI) were created from the temporal data and integrated with the multi-temporal images. Signatures of cropped and un-cropped areas were used for maximum likelihood supervised classification. Separability in cropped and umcropped classes using different polarisation combinations and classification accuracy analysis was carried out. FCC (False Color Composite) prepared using best three SAR polarisations in the data set was compared with LISS-III (Linear Imaging Self-Scanning System-III) image. The acreage under rabi crops was estimated. The methodology developed was for rabi cropped area, due to availability of SAR data of rabi season. Though, the approach is more relevant for acreage estimation of kharif crops when frequent cloud cover condition prevails during monsoon season and optical sensors fail to deliver good quality images.

Environmental impact of irrigation in La Violada District (Spain): II. Nitrogen fertilization and nitrate export patterns in drainage water.

PubMed

Isidoro, D; Quílez, D; Aragüés, R

2006-01-01

Fertilizer leaching affects farm profitability and contributes to nonpoint-source pollution of receiving waters. This work aimed to establish nitrate nitrogen export from La Violada Gully in relation to nitrogen fertilization practices in its basin (La Violada Gully watershed, VGW, 19,637 ha) and especially in La Violada Irrigation District (VID, 5282 ha). Nitrogen (N) fertilization in VID (and VGW) was determined through interviews with local farmers for the hydrologic years 1995 and 1996 and NO3-N load in the gully was monitored from 1995 to 1998. The N fertilizer applied in VGW was 2175 Mg in 1995 and 2795 Mg in 1996. About 43% was applied in VID (945 Mg in 1995 and 1161 Mg in 1996). The most fertilized crop was corn: 398 kg N ha-1 (665 Mg) in 1995 and 453 kg N ha-1 (911 Mg) in 1996. Nitrogen fertilization was higher than N uptake for irrigated crops, especially for corn and rice. Nitrate N load in La Violada Gully averaged 427.4 Mg yr-1. Seventy-five percent of the exports took place during the irrigation season (321.8 Mg). During the non-irrigation season maximum NO3-N loads (3.1 Mg NO3-N d-1) were found after heavy rains following the N side-dressing of wheat in the rain-fed area of VGW (February). During the irrigation season NO3-N load was determined by outflow from the district (caused by irrigation) and to a lesser extent by changes in NO3 concentration (caused by fertilization), showing peaks in April (pre-sowing corn N fertilization and first irrigations) and June to August (highest irrigation months and corn side-dress N applications, maximum 6.3 Mg NO3-N d-1 in July). Adjusting N fertilization to crops' needs, improving irrigation efficiencies, and better scheduling N fertilization and irrigation in corn could reduce N export from VID.

Comparison of indoor air quality management strategies between the school and district levels in New York State.

PubMed

Lin, Shao; Kielb, Christine L; Reddy, Amanda L; Chapman, Bonnie R; Hwang, Syni-An

2012-03-01

Good school indoor air quality (IAQ) can affect the health and functioning of school occupants. Thus, it is important to assess the degree to which schools and districts employ strategies to ensure good IAQ management. We examined and compared the patterns of IAQ management strategies between public elementary schools and their school districts in New York State. District-level information obtained from surveys of district facilities managers in 326 districts was described and stratified by district size and socioeconomic status. School-level information obtained from surveys of head custodians in 770 elementary schools was then compared with the district-level information in 241 districts. About 47% of participating school districts reported having a district-wide IAQ program, with a large range in the prevalence of specific IAQ management strategies. Airing out newly painted areas was the most commonly reported (92%) and having a classroom animal policy was the least commonly reported (29%). Larger districts and districts with a district-wide IAQ program were more likely to report certain IAQ strategies than other districts. Elementary schools and their districts were most likely to report airing out newly painted areas (76%). The most common area of disagreement was construction after hours (50%). The top strategy not reported at either level was having an IAQ coordinator (53%). Many school districts lack key IAQ management strategies, and differences exist between district-level policy and school-level practice. Districts and schools should work together to formalize and expand existing IAQ policies and inform stakeholders about these strategies. © 2012, American School Health Association.

Endophytic fungi occurring in fennel, lettuce, chicory, and celery--commercial crops in southern Italy.

PubMed

D'Amico, Margherita; Frisullo, Salvatore; Cirulli, Matteo

2008-01-01

The occurrence of endophytic fungi in fennel, lettuce, chicory, and celery crops was investigated in southern Italy. A total of 186 symptomless plants was randomly collected and sampled at the stage of commercial ripeness. Fungal species of Acremonium, Alternaria, Fusarium, and Plectosporium were detected in all four crops; Plectosporium tabacinum was the most common in all crop species and surveyed sites. The effect of eight endophytic isolates (five belonging to Plectosporium tabacinum and three to three species of Acremonium) inoculated on lettuce plants grown in gnotobiosis was assessed by recording plant height, root length and dry weight, collar diameter, root necrosis, and leaf yellowing. P. tabacinum and three species of Acremonium, inoculated on gnotobiotically grown lettuce plants, showed pathogenic activity that varied with the fungal isolate. Lettuce plants inoculated with the isolates Ak of Acremonium kiliense, Ac of Acremonium cucurbitacearum, and P35 of P. tabacinum showed an increased root growth, compared to the non-inoculated control. The high frequency of P. tabacinum isolation recorded in lettuce plants collected in Bari and Metaponto, and in fennel plants from Foggia agricultural districts, suggests a relationship not only between a crop species and P. tabacinum, but also between the occurrence of the endophyte and the crop rotation history of the soil.

Assessment of the efficiency and water productivity in the Spanish irrigation associations "Canal Toro-Zamora" and "Canal Villagonzalo" from the Duero basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez-Sinobas, Leonor; Amado Mendoza Hidalgo, Edwin

2017-04-01

Within a water scarcity scenario, the irrigated agriculture economic sector would be affected by the reduction on water supply and this might have a negative impact on the National gross income. Water for irrigation in Spain comprises the 75% of total consumption. Therefore, the search for irrigation strategies dealing with sustainable irrigation by saving water and improving the environment quality is encouraged. Within this framework the assessment of water use in the irrigation districts to assist water stakeholder decisions is reinforced. Water resources can be assessed at field scheme or regional scale by analyzing the water use efficiency and the water productivity indicators. Which determine the water availability and the water supply quality in irrigation areas. Among then, the following are broadly used: water productivity WP, and irrigation water productivity IWP, annual relative water supply (ARWS) and the annual relative irrigation water supply (ARIS). Keeping in mind the water scarcity scenario for irrigation in the short and long term and the probably scenario of water allocation for different uses following criteria of efficiency and productivity, this work is aimed at assessing the water use efficiency and water productivity of two modernized Spanish irrigation districts CCRRs: "Canal Toro-Zamora" and "Canal Villagonzalo" from the Duero basin. For that purpose, the above indicators were estimated for years 2014 and 2015. Crop water requirements are needed to calculate the indicators. For this study, maize was chosen since it is the major crop in the area and its water needs were estimated with the FAO program Cropwat. Local crop coefficients (Kc) were determined with the open access application SpiderWebGis (http://maps.spiderwebgis.org/webgis/) which uses satelital images to monitor Kc coefficients in all crops across Spain. In both CCRRs the maize Kc coefficients were similar for all the phenology stages although a slightly spatial variability was observed. Likewise, water use efficiency was good (ARIS = 1) and the other indicators behave reasonably highlighting a good irrigation management. Thus, these indicators, and the methodology proposed to estimate kc, could assist water stakeholder decisions for water management strategies at the irrigation district. Moreover, the results could be references for benchmarking at regional, national or international level.

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2009 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

2010-01-01

Each district that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment in reading receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Austin Independent School District's student achievement in reading. In 2009,…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2009 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

2010-01-01

Each district that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment in reading receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for Austin Independent School District's student achievement in reading. In 2009,…

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-based paddy rice monitoring system: Development and application in key rice producing areas in Tropical Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setiyono, T. D.; Holecz, F.; Khan, N. I.; Barbieri, M.; Quicho, E.; Collivignarelli, F.; Maunahan, A.; Gatti, L.; Romuga, G. C.

2017-01-01

Reliable and regular rice information is essential part of many countries’ national accounting process but the existing system may not be sufficient to meet the information demand in the context of food security and policy. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery is highly suitable for detecting lowland paddy rice, especially in tropical region where pervasive cloud cover in the rainy seasons limits the use of optical imagery. This study uses multi-temporal X-band and C-band SAR imagery, automated image processing, rule-based classification and field observations to classify rice in multiple locations across Tropical Asia and assimilate the information into ORYZA Crop Growth Simulation model (CGSM) to generate high resolution yield maps. The resulting cultivated rice area maps had classification accuracies above 85% and yield estimates were within 81-93% agreement against district level reported yields. The study sites capture much of the diversity in water management, crop establishment and rice maturity durations and the study demonstrates the feasibility of rice detection, yield monitoring, and damage assessment in case of climate disaster at national and supra-national scales using multi-temporal SAR imagery combined with CGSM and automated methods.

Contribution of pod borer pests to soybean crop production (case in Pondidaha, Konawe District, Southeast Sulawesi)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahayu, M.; Bande, LOS; Hasan, A.; Yuswana, A.; Rinambo, F.

2018-02-01

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is one of the most important crops which production continues to be improved in all areas of soybean cultivation centers in an effort to maintain the availability of soybean foods, including Southeast Sulawesi. The purpose of this study was to analyze the contribution of pod borer pests to soybean crop production. Methods of direct observation were made on observed variables, including species and population of pest pod borer, intensity, and crop production. The result that found four types of pod borer pests are Nezara viridula, Riptortus linearis, Etiella zinckenella, and Leptocorisa acuta, each with a different population and contribution to the intensity of pod damage. The result of path analysis showed that directly population of N. viridula (61.14) and E. zinckenella (66.44) gave positive contribution in increasing pod damage, by 0.332 and 0.502 respectively, while the negative contribution was shown by population of R. linearis and L. acuta. Damage of the pod causes increased production of low soybean is only about 0.202, therefore required appropriate control techniques to control pod borer pests populations in soybean crops.

[Research on the virtual water composition and virtual water trade for agriculture in Beijing].

PubMed

Wang, Hong-rui; Wang, Yan; Wang, Jun-hong; Dong, Yan-yan; Han, Zhao-xing

2007-12-01

Based on the irrigation norm of typical district and county, and revised by the isoline map of Chinese crops water demand, the change of crops program was analyzed as well as the agricultural water use and its GDP benefits. Then the virtual water was calculated for years. At last, the input-output method was used to calculate the trade of virtual water in Beijing. As the results, the virtual water for cereal crops has been decreasing in Beijing, from 1.832 x 10(9) m3 in 1990 to 4.283 x 10(8) m3 in 2004. Otherwise the virtual water for technical crops has been increasing, which is from 9.06 x 10(8) m3 in 1990 to 1.492 x 10(9) m3 in 2004. On the whole, the virtual water for crops has been decreasing in Beijing. From the angle of primary products Beijing is a virtual water importing area. Virtual water importing of annual average is 2.37 x 10(8) m3, which is about 5.93% of the total water of Beijing. Virtual water has been an important supplement of local real water of Beijing.

Rice crop growth monitoring using ENVISAT-1/ASAR AP mode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konishi, Tomohisa; Suga, Yuzo; Omatu, Shigeru; Takeuchi, Shoji; Asonuma, Kazuyoshi

2007-10-01

Hiroshima Institute of Technology (HIT) is operating the direct down-links of microwave and optical earth observation satellite data in Japan. This study focuses on the validation for rice crop monitoring using microwave remotely sensed image data acquired by ENIVISAT-1 referring to ground truth data such as height of rice crop, vegetation cover rate and leaf area index in the test sites of Hiroshima district, the western part of Japan. ENVISAT-1/ASAR data has the capabilities for the monitoring of the rice crop growing cycle by using alternating cross polarization mode images. However, ASAR data is influenced by several parameters such as land cover structure, direction and alignment of rice crop fields in the test sites. In this study, the validation was carried out to be combined with microwave image data and ground truth data regarding rice crop fields to investigate the above parameters. Multi-temporal, multi-direction (descending and ascending) and multi-angle ASAR alternating cross polarization mode images were used to investigate during the rice crop growing cycle. On the other hand, LANDSAT-7/ETM+ data were used to detect land cover structure, direction and alignment of rice crop fields corresponding to the backscatter of ASAR. Finally, the extraction of rice planted area was attempted by using multi-temporal ASAR AP mode data such as VV/VH and HH/HV. As the result of this study, it is clear that the estimated rice planted area coincides with the existing statistical data for area of the rice crop field. In addition, HH/HV is more effective than VV/VH in the rice planted area extraction.

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2009 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

2010-01-01

Each district that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment in reading receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for San Diego Unified School District's student achievement in reading. In 2009,…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2009 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2010

2010-01-01

Each district that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment in reading receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. This report presents the results for San Diego Unified School District's student achievement in reading. In 2009,…

Geology of the Ralston Buttes district, Jefferson County, Colorado: a preliminary report

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sheridan, Douglas M.; Maxwell, Charles H.; Albee, Arden L.; Van Horn, Richard

1956-01-01

The Ralston Buttes district in Jefferson County is one of the most significant new uranium districts located east of the Continental Divide in Colorado. The district is east of the Colorado Front Range mineral belt, along the east front of the range. From November 1953 through October 1956, about 10,000 tons of uranium ore, much of which was high-grade pitchblende-bearing vein material, was shipped from the district. The ore occurs in deposits that range in size from bodies containing less than 50 tons to ore shoots containing over 1,000 tons. The only other mining activity in the area has been a sporadic production of beryl, feldspar, and scrap mica from Precambrian pegmatites, and quarrying of dimension stone, limestone, and clay from sedimentary rocks. Most of the Ralston Buttes district consists of complexly folded Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks - gneiss, schist, quartzite, amphibolite, and granodiorite. Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks crop out in the northeastern part of the district. These rocks are cut by northwesterly-trending fault systems of Laramide age and by small bodies of intrusive rocks that are Tertiary in age. The typical uranium deposits in the district are hydrothermal veins occupying openings in Laramide fault breccias or related fractures that cut the Precambrian rocks. Pitchblende and lesser amounts of secondary uranium minerals are associated with sparse base-mental sulfides in a gangue of carbonate minerals, potash feldspar, and, more rarely, quartz. Less common types of deposits consist of pitchblende and secondary uranium minerals that occupy fractures cutting pegmatites and quartz veins. The uranium deposits are concentrated in two areas, the Ralston Creek area and the Golden Gate Canyon area. The deposits in the Ralston Creek area are located along the Rogers fault system, and the deposits in the Golden Gate Canyon area are along the Hurricane Hill fault system. Two geologic factors were important to the localization of the uranium deposits: (1) favorable structural environment and (2) favorable host rocks. The deposits in each of the two major areas are located where a northwesterly-trending Laramide fault system splits into a complex network of faults. Also, most of the deposits appear to be localized where the faults cut Precambrian rocks rich in hornblende, biotite, or garnet and biotite. The ore controls recognized in this relatively new uranium district may have wider application in areas of similar geology elsewhere in the Front Range.

Vegetation index-based crop coefficients to estimate evapotranspiration by remote sensing in agricultural and natural ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Glenn, E.P.; Neale, C. M. U.; Hunsaker, D.J.; Nagler, P.L.

2011-01-01

Crop coefficients were developed to determine crop water needs based on the evapotranspiration (ET) of a reference crop under a given set of meteorological conditions. Starting in the 1980s, crop coefficients developed through lysimeter studies or set by expert opinion began to be supplemented by remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI) that measured the actual status of the crop on a field-by-field basis. VIs measure the density of green foliage based on the reflectance of visible and near infrared (NIR) light from the canopy, and are highly correlated with plant physiological processes that depend on light absorption by a canopy such as ET and photosynthesis. Reflectance-based crop coefficients have now been developed for numerous individual crops, including corn, wheat, alfalfa, cotton, potato, sugar beet, vegetables, grapes and orchard crops. Other research has shown that VIs can be used to predict ET over fields of mixed crops, allowing them to be used to monitor ET over entire irrigation districts. VI-based crop coefficients can help reduce agricultural water use by matching irrigation rates to the actual water needs of a crop as it grows instead of to a modeled crop growing under optimal conditions. Recently, the concept has been applied to natural ecosystems at the local, regional and continental scales of measurement, using time-series satellite data from the MODIS sensors on the Terra satellite. VIs or other visible-NIR band algorithms are combined with meteorological data to predict ET in numerous biome types, from deserts, to arctic tundra, to tropical rainforests. These methods often closely match ET measured on the ground at the global FluxNet array of eddy covariance moisture and carbon flux towers. The primary advantage of VI methods for estimating ET is that transpiration is closely related to radiation absorbed by the plant canopy, which is closely related to VIs. The primary disadvantage is that they cannot capture stress effects or soil evaporation. Copyright ?? 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A double-hurdle model estimation of cocoa farmers' willingness to pay for crop insurance in Ghana.

PubMed

Okoffo, Elvis Dartey; Denkyirah, Elisha Kwaku; Adu, Derick Taylor; Fosu-Mensah, Benedicta Yayra

2016-01-01

Agriculture is an important sector in Ghana's economy, however, with high risk due to natural factors like climate change, pests and diseases and bush fires among others. Farmers in the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana which is known as one of the major cocoa producing regions, face these risks which sometimes results in crop failure. The need for farmers to therefore insure their farms against crop loss is crucial. Insurance has been a measure to guard against risk. The aim of this study was to assess cocoa farmers' willingness to access crop insurance, the factors affecting willingness to pay (WTP) for crop insurance scheme and insurance companies' willingness to provide crop insurance to cocoa farmers. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample 240 farmers from four communities in the Dormaa West District in Brong-Ahafo Region. The double-hurdle model shows that age, marital status and education significantly and positively influenced cocoa farmer's willingness to insure their farms whiles household size and cropped area negatively influenced farmers' willingness to insure their farms. Similarly, age, household size and cropped area significantly and positively influenced the premium cocoa farmers were willing to pay whiles marital status and cocoa income negatively influenced the premium farmers were willing to pay. The contingent valuation method shows that the maximum, minimum and average amounts cocoa farmers are willing to pay for crop insurance per production cost per acre was GH¢128.40, GH¢32.10 and GH¢49.32 respectively. Insurance companies do not have crop insurance policy but willing to provide crop insurance policy to cocoa farmers on a condition that farmers adopt modern cultivation practices to reduce the level of risk. The study recommends that cocoa farmers should be well educated on crop insurance and should be involved in planning the crop insurance scheme in order to conclude on the premium to be paid by them.

The assessment and the farmers' perceived ranking of feed resources and coping strategies with feed scarcity in smallholder dairy farming in selected district towns of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia.

PubMed

Duguma, Belay; Dermauw, Veronique; Janssens, Geert

2017-06-01

Inadequate quantity and quality of feed resources are major constraints limiting milk production and reproductive performance of dairy cattle in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess dairy cattle feed resources, feeding practices, the farmers' perceived ranking of feed resources, causes of feed shortage, and coping strategies to feed scarcity in smallholder dairy system in selected district towns of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. Data were obtained by interviewing 52 randomly selected smallholder dairy farmers using structured questionnaires and through direct observations. Results showed that 20 main feed types used by dairy farmers were identified and categorized into natural pastures, crop residues, green feeds, hay, agro-industrial by-products, concentrate mix, and non-conventional feeds. Overall, natural pasture (mean rank = 0.453), non-conventional feeds (0.307), cut green feeds (0.086), conserved hay (0.076), crop residues (0.049), and concentrate feeds (0.029) were ranked as the main feed resources in decreasing order of importance. Natural pasture grazing (92.2% of the respondents), hay (35.6%), and green feeds (29.4%) were the most important conventional basal feeds used. Wheat bran (11.7% of the respondents) followed by commercial concentrate mix (9.4%), Noug seedcake (8.3%), grain (7.8%), and molasses (6.1%) were the concentrate supplements used. Overall, bulule-flour mill leftovers (67.2% of the farmers), bean and pea hulls (57.2%) and atella-local brew by-product (37.2%), enset (Ensete ventricosum, 34.4%), and sugarcane top (32.2%) were the non-conventional feeds available and used during feed scarcity. Barley and teff (Eragrostis teff) straws and maize and sorghum stovers were the main crop residues used in the dry seasons. Overall, 73.9, 12.2, 12.2, and 1.7% of the respondents practiced free grazing, zero grazing, semi-zero, and a combination of zero- and free-grazing systems, respectively. Over 84% of the respondents in the dry season and 50% in the wet season reported experiencing a shortage of feeds. Poor feed availability (73.9% of the respondents) was reported as the main causes of feed shortage followed by shortage of pastureland (7.8%). Increased use of bulule (55.6% of the respondents), crop residues (16.1%), non-conventional feed resources (14.4%), conserved hay (11.1%), purchased green feeds and concentrates (1.1%), and reducing herd size (1.1%) were the farmers' adopted coping strategies to mitigate feed shortage. It is suggested that technical intervention to improve the quality and efficient utilization of the existing feed resources is crucial to enable sustainable feed supply and boost milk production. Technologies that are easy to adopt, feasible, and low cost are also needed to be developed in participatory manner.

Development of Farming Diversification with Implementation Plant Patterns as a Strategy of Economic Strengthening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anwar, S.; Setyohadi, D. P. S.; Utami, M. M. D.; Damanhuri; Hariono, B.

2018-01-01

Bojonegoro, Tulungagung, and Ponorogo districts are an agrarian area and become one of the leading food crops producers in East Java Province. Diversification of farming in this region is done by applying season-based cropping pattern, which is cultivating various commodities in rotation. Farmers need diversification programs wetland cannot provide an optimal contribution to the income of farmers caused because farmers are not able to cultivate high value-added commodities due to limited capital. This research is to identify the characteristics of farming and to analyse the farming system to know the pattern of planting suggestion and prospect. The research used descriptive method, profit farming analysis, and SWOT. The results showed that each region has a specific planting pattern with rice as the main commodity grown in the rainy season followed by crops and horticultural crops and a suggested planting pattern that needs to be implemented by farmers to increase their income. The prospect of diversification of farming development through the implementation of the proposed planting pattern is very suitable with the character of the region and the market demand.

Understanding Regional Effects on Climate Change and Multidisciplinary Approarch for Coping Strategies - Case Study at Rural Village in Sub-Saharan Africa -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshimura, M.; Yamashita, M.

2018-04-01

This paper describes on understanding the regional effects on global climate change and subsistence farmers' coping strategies through our field investigation and multidimensional data analysis from the resilience point of view. The major research question of this study is to understand what actions villagers took as the coping strategy against the heavy rainfall shock caused by climate change. Our research interest is how geospatial information technique can contribute to this research question. The study area is located in Sinazongwe district, Southern province of Zambia. As for the field investigation, we set the study sites A, B and C where are located in the lower terrace, middle escarpment and upper terrace, respectively. In the rainy season of 2007/2008, our study site had a heavy rainfall and many crop fields were damaged. In this crop year, the annual rainfalls in site A and C were 1442 mm/year and 1332 mm/year respectively. This is about two times different with the long term average of rainfall 694.9 mm/year in Sinazongwe district. It is confirmed that approximately 20 % of crop fields were damaged by heavy rainfall through our field investigation. It was so severe negative consequences for all of villages because about 80 % of whole damaged crop fields were maize fields. Maize is staple food in this region. Here, we have analysed and discussed how villagers cope from the serious damage of crops. The maize harvest varies every year depending on rainfall and topographic position. If a farmer possesses maize fields at various topographic positions, they can avoid severe negative consequences of climate variability such as drought or heavy rainfall. However, not all farmers have access to fields at various topographic positions. It is important to know where each household's characteristics when we consider their strategy of livelihood for climate variabilities. Through this study, we confirmed the way to strengthen resilience of subsistence farmers as follows: it is necessary to prepare variable crops and emergency food stock with not only diverse but also composite social institution. The resilient society seems to be the society with insurance such as adaptation ability against environmental shock caused by climate change. From the agricultural production point of view, both diversity and yield ability are also important.

Implications of Biofuel-Induced Land Use Change and Management on Irrigated Agriculture in the Texas High Plains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ale, S.; Chen, Y.; Rajan, N.

2016-12-01

Texas High Plains (THP) is one of the important cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) growing regions in the US. Agriculture in the THP faces several challenges from declining groundwater levels and deteriorating groundwater quality in the underlying Ogallala Aquifer, and recurring droughts and severe wind erosion. Groundwater conservation districts in the THP have started setting up limits on annual allowable groundwater pumping for irrigation. Introducing cover crops in to the cotton production systems in the THP and/or changing land use from cotton to perennial bioenergy crops could not only address the above challenges, but also assist in meeting the national biofuel target. The overall goal of this study is to assess the implications of biofuel-indced land use managemt (growing winter wheat as a cover crop along with cotton) and land use change (replacing cotton with Alamo switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and Miscanthus (Miscanthus giganteus)) on hydrology, water quality, wind erosion and biofuel production potential in the Double Mountain Fork Brazos watershed in the THP using the Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model. Results showed that, in comparison to the baseline (cotton monoculture) scenario, the average annual wind erosion reduced by 59% and 37% in irrigated and dryland areas, respectively, when winter wheat was grown as a cover crop along with cotton under the current 18-inch groundwater pumping restriction set up by the High Plains Water District. In addition, winter wheat produced about 2.6 and 2.0 Mg ha-1 of biomass for biofuel purposes under the irrigated and dryland conditions, respectively. Furthermore, the total nitrogen (TN) load and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching decreased by more than 43% and 73%, respectively, under the cover crop scenario. The land use change from cotton to switchgrass (in irrigated areas) and Miscanthus (in dryland areas) decreased the TN load, NO3-N leaching and wind erosion by more than 89% relative to the baseline. Under the restrictions on groundwater use, when compared to single harvest, multiple harvests of perennial bioenergy crops (two- and three-harvests in case of switchgrass and Miscanthus, respectively) were found to be better in terms of biomass production (> 20 Mg ha-1), and protection of groundwater and soil quality.

School Improvement Change Grant Community Survey, Final Report. A Report to Toluca Community Unit School District #2, El Paso Community Unit School District #375, Lowpoint-Washburn Community Unit School District #21, Minonk-Dana-Rutland Community Unit School District #108, and Roanoke-Benson Community Unit School District #60.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Connell, Patricia A.; And Others

This report presents the results of a collaborative study undertaken by five rural, unit school districts in Illinois to provide data to be used in planning for school improvement. Information was gathered from on-site visits by teams of constituents from other districts and through a survey of perceptions of local community persons regarding…

Cultivating the Cream of the Crop: A Case Study of Urban Teachers from an Alternative Teacher Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng, Jennifer; Thomas, Kelli

2007-01-01

Hard-to-staff urban school districts increasingly rely on teachers who are certified through alternative routes to staff their classrooms. Given the accelerated design of alternative certification as well as the unique nature of schools in urban contexts, the process by which these individuals become effective teachers is essential to understand.…

Estimating maize production in Kenya using NDVI: Some statistical considerations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lewis, J.E.; Rowland, James; Nadeau , A.

1998-01-01

A regression model approach using a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) has the potential for estimating crop production in East Africa. However, before production estimation can become a reality, the underlying model assumptions and statistical nature of the sample data (NDVI and crop production) must be examined rigorously. Annual maize production statistics from 1982-90 for 36 agricultural districts within Kenya were used as the dependent variable; median area NDVI (independent variable) values from each agricultural district and year were extracted from the annual maximum NDVI data set. The input data and the statistical association of NDVI with maize production for Kenya were tested systematically for the following items: (1) homogeneity of the data when pooling the sample, (2) gross data errors and influence points, (3) serial (time) correlation, (4) spatial autocorrelation and (5) stability of the regression coefficients. The results of using a simple regression model with NDVI as the only independent variable are encouraging (r 0.75, p 0.05) and illustrate that NDVI can be a responsive indicator of maize production, especially in areas of high NDVI spatial variability, which coincide with areas of production variability in Kenya.

Livestock feed resources utilization practices in Tanqua-Abergelle district of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia.

PubMed

Gebremariam, Tikabo; Belay, Shumuye

2016-08-01

A study was carried out with the objective to assess the utilization practices of local feed resources. It was implemented in Tanqua-Abergelle district of the Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia. Lemlem and Gera peasant associations (PAs) were selected purposively based on their potentiality in livestock resources and road access for household (HH) interview purpose. Likewise, Sheka-Tekli and Hadinet PAs were chosen for the purpose of focus group discussion (FGD). A total of 60 HHs (30 from each PA) were selected randomly for interview using semi-structured questionnaire. About 16 % of the respondents were female HHs. Two FGDs were held with key informants. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS (2013, version 21) statistical software procedures. The study area is characterized by mixed crop-livestock farming system with high interaction between crop and livestock. Livestock are the mainstay for the farm community with many benefits as sources of draught, meat, milk, income, and manures. Cattle are kept primarily for the purpose of draught power with meat and milk as secondary products, whereas shoats are kept mainly for cash income, manure, meat, and milk. The land holding size per HH was 1.44 ha while the herd size was 4.93 tropical livestock unit (TLU). Almost all the land holding (97 %) is allocated for crop cultivation with lesser for forage production (<1 %) indicating poor attention for fodder harvesting. The cattle herd is composed of local breeds (99 %) with less exotic/crossbred (1 %), indicating that the livestock rearing is practiced using local breed. Crop residues, natural pastures, stubble grazing, hay, and browsing are the main feed resources for animals. The availability and contribution of each feed vary with season and areas. Sorghum stover is the main feed source in the area and followed by maize stover, Eragrostis tef straw, and pulse straws. Crop residues are fed as basal diet with no or less supplementation using local concentrates like Attela and mill by-products. Industrial by-products are rarely used in the livestock feeding system for their high price and less availability. Likewise, improved forages are not widely utilized as feed sources.

Changing Pattern of Crop Fraction in Late Blight Induced Potato Crops in Potato Bowl of West Bengal by using Multi-temporal Time Series AWiFs Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakrabarty, Abhisek

2016-07-01

Crop fraction is the ratio of crop occupying a unit area in ground pixel, is very important for monitoring crop growth. One of the most important variables in crop growth monitoring is the fraction of available solar radiation intercepted by foliage. Late blight of potato (Solanum tuberosum), caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans, is considered to be the most destructive crop diseases of potato worldwide. Under favourable climatic conditions, and without intervention (i.e. fungicide sprays), the disease can destroy potato crop within few weeks. Therefore it is important to evaluate the crop fraction for monitoring the healthy and late blight affected potato crops. This study was conducted in potato bowl of West Bengal, which consists of districts of Hooghly, Howrah, Burdwan, Bankuara, and Paschim Medinipur. In this study different crop fraction estimation method like linear spectral un-mixing, Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) based DPM model (Zhang et al. 2013), Ratio vegetation index based DPM model, improved Pixel Dichotomy Model (Li et al. 2014) ware evaluated using multi-temporal IRS AWiFs data in two successive potato growing season of 2012-13 and 2013-14 over the study area and compared with measured crop fraction. The comparative study based on measured healthy and late blight affected potato crop fraction showed that improved Pixel Dichotomy Model maintain the high coefficient of determination (R2= 0.835) with low root mean square error (RMSE=0.21) whereas the correlation values of NDVI based DPM model and RVI based DPM model is 0.763 and 0.694 respectively. The changing pattern of crop fraction profile of late blight affected potato crop was studied in respect of healthy potato crop fraction which was extracted from the 269 GPS points of potato field. It showed that the healthy potato crop fraction profile maintained the normal phenological trend whereas the late blight affected potato crop fraction profile suddenly fallen after late blight disease affected in potato crops. Therefore, it can be concluded that based on the result of this study the improved Pixel Dichotomy Model is the most convenient method for crop fraction estimation for this region with satisfactory accuracy.

School District Revenues for Elementary and Secondary Education: 1997-98. Statistical Analysis Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Joel D.; Gregory, Barbra; Poirier, Jeffrey M.

This report is an annual collection of school district financial data. Specifically, this report presents analyses of school district revenues from the 1997-98 school year. The report is designed to address the following questions about the financing of public elementary and secondary education at the state and district levels: How much money per…

Operationalizing crop monitoring system for informed decision making related to food security in Nepal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qamer, F. M.; Shah, S. N. Pd.; Murthy, M. S. R.; Baidar, T.; Dhonju, K.; Hari, B. G.

2014-11-01

In Nepal, two thirds of the total population depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and more than one third of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the agriculture sector. However, effective agriculture production across the country remains a serious challenge due to various factors, such as a high degree of spatial and temporal climate variability, irrigated and rain-fed agriculture systems, farmers' fragile social and economic fabric, and unique mountain practices. ICIMOD through SERVIR-Himalaya initiative with collaboration of Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) is working on developing a comprehensive crop monitoring system which aims to provide timely information on crop growth and drought development conditions. This system analyzes historical climate and crop conditions patterns and compares this data with the current growing season to provide timely assessment of crop growth. Using remote sensing data for vegetation indices, temperature and rainfall, the system generated anomaly maps are inferred to predict the increase or shortfall in production. Comparisons can be made both spatially and in graphs and figures at district and Village Developmental Committee (VDC) levels. Timely information on possible anomaly in crop production is later used by the institutions like Ministry of Agricultural Development, Nepal and World Food Programme, Nepal to trigger appropriate management response. Future potential includes integrating data on agricultural inputs, socioeconomics, demographics, and transportation to holistically assess food security in the region served by SERVIR-Himalaya.

Comparisons of Student Achievement Levels by District Performance and Poverty. ACT Research Report Series 2016-11

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dougherty, Chrys; Shaw, Teresa

2016-01-01

This report looks at student achievement levels in Arkansas school districts disaggregated by district poverty and by the district's performance relative to other districts. We estimated district performance statistics by subject and grade level (4, 8, and 11-12) for longitudinal student cohorts, using statistical models that adjusted for district…

Budgeting of major nutrients and the mitigation options for nutrient mining in semi-arid tropical agro-ecosystem of Tamil Nadu, India using NUTMON model.

PubMed

Surendran, U; Rama Subramoniam, S; Raja, P; Kumar, V; Murugappan, V

2016-04-01

Mining of nutrients from soil is a major problem in developing countries causing soil degradation and threaten long-term food production. The present study attempts to apply NUTrient MONitoring (NUTMON) model for carrying out nutrient budgeting to assess the stocks and flows of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in defined geographical unit based on the inputs, viz., mineral fertilizers, manures, atmospheric deposition, and sedimentation, and outputs, viz., harvested crop produces, residues, leaching, denitrification, and erosion losses. The study area covers Coimbatore and Erode Districts, which are potential agricultural areas in western agro-ecological zone of Tamil Nadu, India. The calculated nutrient balances for both the districts at district scale, using NUTMON methodology, were negative for nitrogen (N -3.3 and -10.1 kg ha(-1)) and potassium (K -58.6 and -9.8 kg ha(-1)) and positive for phosphorus (P +14.5 and 20.5 kg ha(-1)). Soil nutrient pool has to adjust the negative balance of N and K; there will be an expected mining of nutrient from the soil reserve. A strategy was attempted for deriving the fertilizer recommendation using Decision Support System for Integrated Fertilizer Recommendation (DSSIFER) to offset the mining in selected farms. The results showed that when DSSIFER recommended fertilizers are applied to crops, the nutrient balance was positive. NUTMON-Toolbox with DSSIFER would serve the purpose on enhancing soil fertility, productivity, and sustainability. The management options to mitigate nutrient mining with an integrated system approach are also discussed.

Impact of pesticide use by smallholder farmers on water quality in the Wakiso District, Uganda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oltramare, Christelle; Weiss, Frederik T.; Atuhaire, Aggrey; Staudacher, Philipp; Niwagaba, Charles; Stamm, Christian

2017-04-01

As in many tropical countries, farmers of the Wakiso District rely on heavy use of pesticides to protect crops and animals. This may impair human and environmental health due to poor application techniques, misuse of pesticide bins or diffuse pesticide losses from the treated fields during intense tropical rainstorms. The extent of pollution in different environmental compartments however, are generally only poorly documented. The same holds true for quantitative data on the relevance of different transport pathways of pesticides into the environment. Part of the limited knowledge is caused by the demanding sampling and analytical techniques that are necessary to obtain robust data on the actual pollution status. Especially in surface waters, pesticide concentration may vary rapidly in time such that grab samples may yield a very incomplete picture. This incompleteness was often enhanced because of limited analytical windows that covered only a small fraction of the pesticides actually used. In this presentation, we describe an approach to overcome these limitations to a large extent by using three different passive sampling devices and two broad analytical techniques (GC-MS/MS, LC HR-MS) that allow the quantification of about 260 different pesticides. We will present how these approaches are implemented in the catchment area of the Wakiso District in Uganda. This area is intensively used by smallholder farmers who grow a large set of different crops. Diffuse losses are expected to occur mainly during the two rainy seasons (March to May and September to November). Accordingly, the study will focus on this situation.

Adaptation and diversity along an altitudinal gradient in Ethiopian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces revealed by molecular analysis

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Among the cereal crops, barley is the species with the greatest adaptability to a wide range of environments. To determine the level and structure of genetic diversity in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces from the central highlands of Ethiopia, we have examined the molecular variation at seven nuclear microsatellite loci. Results A total of 106 landrace populations were sampled in the two growing seasons (Meher and Belg; the long and short rainy seasons, respectively), across three districts (Ankober, Mojanawadera and Tarmaber), and within each district along an altitudinal gradient (from 1,798 to 3,324 m a.s.l). Overall, although significant, the divergence (e.g. FST) is very low between seasons and geographical districts, while it is high between different classes of altitude. Selection for adaptation to different altitudes appears to be the main factor that has determined the observed clinal variation, along with population-size effects. Conclusions Our data show that barley landraces from Ethiopia are constituted by highly variable local populations (farmer's fields) that have large within-population diversity. These landraces are also shown to be locally adapted, with the major driving force that has shaped their population structure being consistent with selection for adaptation along an altitudinal gradient. Overall, our study highlights the potential of such landraces as a source of useful alleles. Furthermore, these landraces also represent an ideal system to study the processes of adaptation and for the identification of genes and genomic regions that have adaptive roles in crop species. PMID:20565982

Design of an Agent-Based Model to Examine Population-Environment Interactions in Nang Rong District, Thailand.

PubMed

Walsh, Stephen J; Malanson, George P; Entwisle, Barbara; Rindfuss, Ronald R; Mucha, Peter J; Heumann, Benjamin W; McDaniel, Philip M; Frizzelle, Brian G; Verdery, Ashton M; Williams, Nathalie; Xiaozheng, Yao; Ding, Deng

2013-05-01

The design of an Agent-Based Model (ABM) is described that integrates Social and Land Use Modules to examine population-environment interactions in a former agricultural frontier in Northeastern Thailand. The ABM is used to assess household income and wealth derived from agricultural production of lowland, rain-fed paddy rice and upland field crops in Nang Rong District as well as remittances returned to the household from family migrants who are engaged in off-farm employment in urban destinations. The ABM is supported by a longitudinal social survey of nearly 10,000 households, a deep satellite image time-series of land use change trajectories, multi-thematic social and ecological data organized within a GIS, and a suite of software modules that integrate data derived from an agricultural cropping system model (DSSAT - Decision Support for Agrotechnology Transfer) and a land suitability model (MAXENT - Maximum Entropy), in addition to multi-dimensional demographic survey data of individuals and households. The primary modules of the ABM are the Initialization Module, Migration Module, Assets Module, Land Suitability Module, Crop Yield Module, Fertilizer Module, and the Land Use Change Decision Module. The architecture of the ABM is described relative to module function and connectivity through uni-directional or bi-directional links. In general, the Social Modules simulate changes in human population and social networks, as well as changes in population migration and household assets, whereas the Land Use Modules simulate changes in land use types, land suitability, and crop yields. We emphasize the description of the Land Use Modules - the algorithms and interactions between the modules are described relative to the project goals of assessing household income and wealth relative to shifts in land use patterns, household demographics, population migration, social networks, and agricultural activities that collectively occur within a marginalized environment that is subjected to a suite of endogenous and exogenous dynamics.

Design of an Agent-Based Model to Examine Population-Environment Interactions in Nang Rong District, Thailand

PubMed Central

Walsh, Stephen J.; Malanson, George P.; Entwisle, Barbara; Rindfuss, Ronald R.; Mucha, Peter J.; Heumann, Benjamin W.; McDaniel, Philip M.; Frizzelle, Brian G.; Verdery, Ashton M.; Williams, Nathalie; Xiaozheng, Yao; Ding, Deng

2013-01-01

The design of an Agent-Based Model (ABM) is described that integrates Social and Land Use Modules to examine population-environment interactions in a former agricultural frontier in Northeastern Thailand. The ABM is used to assess household income and wealth derived from agricultural production of lowland, rain-fed paddy rice and upland field crops in Nang Rong District as well as remittances returned to the household from family migrants who are engaged in off-farm employment in urban destinations. The ABM is supported by a longitudinal social survey of nearly 10,000 households, a deep satellite image time-series of land use change trajectories, multi-thematic social and ecological data organized within a GIS, and a suite of software modules that integrate data derived from an agricultural cropping system model (DSSAT – Decision Support for Agrotechnology Transfer) and a land suitability model (MAXENT – Maximum Entropy), in addition to multi-dimensional demographic survey data of individuals and households. The primary modules of the ABM are the Initialization Module, Migration Module, Assets Module, Land Suitability Module, Crop Yield Module, Fertilizer Module, and the Land Use Change Decision Module. The architecture of the ABM is described relative to module function and connectivity through uni-directional or bi-directional links. In general, the Social Modules simulate changes in human population and social networks, as well as changes in population migration and household assets, whereas the Land Use Modules simulate changes in land use types, land suitability, and crop yields. We emphasize the description of the Land Use Modules – the algorithms and interactions between the modules are described relative to the project goals of assessing household income and wealth relative to shifts in land use patterns, household demographics, population migration, social networks, and agricultural activities that collectively occur within a marginalized environment that is subjected to a suite of endogenous and exogenous dynamics. PMID:24277975

[Continuous remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil by co-cropping system enhanced with chelator].

PubMed

Wei, Ze-Bin; Guo, Xiao-Fang; Wu, Qi-Tang; Long, Xin-Xian

2014-11-01

In order to elucidate the continuous effectiveness of co-cropping system coupling with chelator enhancement in remediating heavy metal contaminated soils and its environmental risk towards underground water, soil lysimeter (0.9 m x 0.9 m x 0.9 m) experiments were conducted using a paddy soil affected by Pb and Zn mining in Lechang district of Guangdong Province, 7 successive crops were conducted for about 2.5 years. The treatments included mono-crop of Sedum alfredii Hance (Zn and Cd hyperaccumulator), mono-crop of corn (Zea mays, cv. Yunshi-5, a low-accumulating cultivar), co-crop of S. alfredii and corn, and co-crop + MC (Mixture of Chelators, comprised of citric acid, monosodium glutamate waste liquid, EDTA and KCI with molar ratio of 10: 1:2:3 at the concentration of 5 mmol x kg(-1) soil). The changes of heavy metal concentrations in plants, soil and underground water were monitored. Results showed that the co-cropping system was suitable only in spring-summer seasons and significantly increased Zn and Cd phytoextraction. In autumn-winter seasons, the growth of S. alfredii and its phytoextraction of Zn and Cd were reduced by co-cropping and MC application. In total, the mono-crops of S. alfredii recorded a highest phytoextraction of Zn and Cd. However, the greatest reduction of soil Zn, Cd and Pb was observed with the co-crop + MC treatment, the reduction rates were 28%, 50%, and 22%, respectively, relative to the initial soil metal content. The reduction of this treatment was mainly attributed to the downwards leaching of metals to the subsoil caused by MC application. The continuous monitoring of leachates during 2. 5 year's experiment also revealed that the addition of MC increased heavy metal concentrations in the leaching water, but they did not significantly exceed the III grade limits of the underground water standard of China.

Laurel wilt, caused by Raffaelea lauricola , is detected for the first time outside the southeastern United States

Treesearch

R. C. Ploetz; Y. Y. Thant; M. A. Hughes; T. J. Dreaden; J. L. Konkol; A. T. Kyaw; J. A. Smith; C. L. Harmon

2016-01-01

In October 2014, a survey for diseases and pests of an emerging fruit crop, avocado (Persea americana) (FAO 2000), was conducted in Southern Shan State of Myanmar (aka Burma). In the Tuanggyi District (1,400 m elevation, 20.5°N 97°E), monocultures of up to 20 ha were observed, whereas...

US Army Corps of Engineers Section 404: permitting of valley fills - red flag or red tape?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas R. Johnston, Jr.

2009-03-15

Since 2001 the US Army Corps of Engineers has been permitting most surface coal mines as Individual Permits rather than Nationwide Permits under the Section 404 program. This was shown in a survey by Skelly & Loy of permits published by Huntingdon Crops District and the state of Kentucky. Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP21) authorises the filling of waters of the United States associated with surface coal mining and reclamation operations already authorised or currently being processed as part of the integrated permit processing procedure. NWP21 has received much opposition and two noticeable court cases involving it, in West Virginia andmore » Kentucy, are briefly reported. The article first appeared in Skelly & Loy's newsletter, Portal to the mining industry, Vol II, Issue 1. 4 photos.« less

Comprehensive Profile of the San Antonio Indepentent School District 1983-1984.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

San Antonio Independent School District, TX.

This report presents statistical data about the San Antonio (Texas) Independent School District for the 1983-1984 school year. Trends for five or ten year groupings of past years are also presented. The report consolidates both district and individual school information from regular reports by the different district departments. The data is…

Development of a district information system for water management planning and strategic decision making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loukas, A.; Tzabiras, J.; Spiliotopoulos, M.; Kokkinos, K.; Fafoutis, C.; Mylopoulos, N.

2015-06-01

The overall objective of this work is the development of a District Information System (DIS) which could be used by stakeholders for the purposes of a district day-to-day water management as well as for planning and strategic decisionmaking. The DIS was developed from a GIS-based modeling approach, which integrates a generic crop model and a hydraulic model of the transport/distribution system, using land use maps generated by Landsat TM imagery. The main sub-objectives are: (i) the development of an operational algorithm to retrieve crop evapotranspiration from remote sensing data, (ii) the development of an information system with friendly user interface for the data base, the crop module and the hydraulic module and (iii) the analysis and validation of management scenarios from model simulations predicting the respective behavior. The Lake Karla watershed is used in this study, but the overall methodology could be used as a basis for future analysis elsewhere. Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) was used to derive monthly actual evapotranspiration (ET) values from Landsat TM imagery. Meteorological data from the archives of the Institute for Research and Technology, Thessaly (I.RE.TE.TH) has also been used. The methodology was developed using high quality Landsat TM images during 2007 growing season. Monthly ET values are used as an input to CROPWAT model. Outputs of CROPWAT model are then used as input for WEAP model. The developed scenario is based on the actual situation of the surface irrigation network of the Local Administration of Land Reclamation (LALR) of Pinios for the year of 2007. The DIS is calibrated with observed data of this year and the district parameterization is conducted based on the actual operation of the network. The operation of the surface irrigation network of Pinios LALR is simulated using Technologismiki Works, while the operation of closed pipe irrigation network of Lake Karla LALR is simulated using Watercad. Four alternative scenarios have been tested with the DIS: reduction of channel losses, alteration of irrigation methods, Introduction of greenhouse cultivation, and operation of the future Lake Karla network. The results of the simulation for the historical period indicate that the water pumped from Pinios LALR is not enough to serve irrigation requirements. The spatial and temporal variation of the unmet and unsatisfied water demand has been estimated. Simulation of the four alternative scenarios indicated that the alteration of irrigation methods scenario mainly increases the efficiency of the irrigation network.

Entomopathogenic potential of Trichoderma longibrachiatum and its comparative evaluation with malathion against the insect pest Leucinodes orbonalis.

PubMed

Ghosh, Swapan Kr; Pal, Sujoy

2016-01-01

The widespread use of chemical pesticides in agriculture has led to the pollution of environmental systems and has caused various health disorders in animals and humans. Biological pest control is one of the most environmentally friendly methods in modern agriscience. Such methods protect crops from pests and do not pollute the environment. A strain of Trichoderma longibrachiatum was isolated and identified from the soil environment of the North 24 Parganas District, eastern India. A spore suspension of this fungus was used to treat Leucinodes orbonalis, one of the major pests of brinjal (eggplant, Solanum melongena). In an in vitro system, fungal antagonism was determined by median lethal dose (LD50) and median lethal time (LT50) tests against insect larvae. The LD50 and LT50 of T. longibrachiatum were 2.87 × 10(7) spores ml(-1) and 11.7 days, respectively. T. longibrachiatum was formulated into a biopesticide, and its performance was evaluated in brinjal field trials in 2012 and 2013. In the field trials, brinjal treated with three spray applications of T. longibrachiatum (10(8) spores/ml) at 15-day intervals showed a 56.02 % higher crop yield than that of the control. This treatment showed similar efficacy to that of the pesticide malathion in the field trials. The results of this study indicate that this formulation may replace malathion to control the insect pest L. orbonalis in brinjal crops. This is the first report of the entomopathogenic property of T. longibrachiatum and its evaluation against an insect pest in field trials.

NAEP Reporting Practices: Investigating District-Level and Market-Basket Reporting. The Compass Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeVito, Pasquale J., Ed.; Koenig, Judith A., Ed.

A committee of the National Research Council studied the desirability, feasibility, and potential impact of two reporting practices for National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results: district-level reporting and market-basket reporting. NAEP's sponsors believe that reporting district-level NAEP results would support state and local…

Wet nitrogen deposition across the urban-intensive agricultural-rural transect of a small urban area in southwest China.

PubMed

Deng, Ouping; Zhang, Shirong; Deng, Liangji; Zhang, Chunlong; Fei, Jianbo

2018-03-01

Understanding of the spatial and temporal variation of the flux of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is essential for assessment of its impact on ecosystems. However, little attention has been paid to the variability of N deposition across urban-intensive agricultural-rural transects. A continuous 2-year observational study (from January 2015 to December 2016) was conducted to determine wet N deposition across the urban-intensive agricultural-rural transect of a small urban area in southwest China. Significantly spatial and temporal variations were found in the research area. Along the urban-intensive agricultural-rural transect, the TN and NH 4 + -N deposition first increased and then decreased, and the NO 3 - -N and dissolved organic N (DON) deposition decreased continuously. Wet N deposition was mainly affected by the districts of agro-facilities, roads and build up lands. Wet NH 4 + -N deposition had non-seasonal emission sources including industrial emissions and urban excretory wastes in urban districts and seasonal emission sources such as fertilizer and manure volatilization in the other districts. However, wet NO 3 - -N deposition had seasonal emission sources such as industrial emissions and fireworks in urban district and non-seasonal emission sources such as transportation in the other districts. Deposition of DON was likely to have had similar sources to NO 3 - -N deposition in rural district, and high-temperature-dependent sources in urban and intensive agricultural districts. Considering the annual wet TN deposition in the intensive agricultural district was about 11.1% of the annual N fertilizer input, N fertilizer rates of crops should be reduced in this region to avoid the excessive application, and the risk of N emissions to the environment.

Anchorage School District Profile of Performance, 1998-1999. Assessment and Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenton, Ray

The "Profile of Performance" is the Anchorage School District, Alaska, report card to the School Board and community on academic achievement. Part 1 of the report provides a summary of performance across the entire district on a variety of indicators of achievement. It includes an overview of district performance and an examination of…

Anchorage School District Profile of Performance 1996-97. Assessment and Evaluation Report #97-3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenton, Ray

This report focuses on student achievement across the Anchorage (Alaska) school district and within its individual programs. It does not include information on the social and physical wellness of the district's students. The first section of the report provides an overview of district performance on critical achievement indicators, and the second…

A Spatial Allocation Procedure to Downscale Regional Crop Production Estimates from an Integrated Assessment Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moulds, S.; Djordjevic, S.; Savic, D.

2017-12-01

The Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), an integrated assessment model, provides insight into the interactions and feedbacks between physical and human systems. The land system component of GCAM, which simulates land use activities and the production of major crops, produces output at the subregional level which must be spatially downscaled in order to use with gridded impact assessment models. However, existing downscaling routines typically consider cropland as a homogeneous class and do not provide information about land use intensity or specific management practices such as irrigation and multiple cropping. This paper presents a spatial allocation procedure to downscale crop production data from GCAM to a spatial grid, producing a time series of maps which show the spatial distribution of specific crops (e.g. rice, wheat, maize) at four input levels (subsistence, low input rainfed, high input rainfed and high input irrigated). The model algorithm is constrained by available cropland at each time point and therefore implicitly balances extensification and intensification processes in order to meet global food demand. It utilises a stochastic approach such that an increase in production of a particular crop is more likely to occur in grid cells with a high biophysical suitability and neighbourhood influence, while a fall in production will occur more often in cells with lower suitability. User-supplied rules define the order in which specific crops are downscaled as well as allowable transitions. A regional case study demonstrates the ability of the model to reproduce historical trends in India by comparing the model output with district-level agricultural inventory data. Lastly, the model is used to predict the spatial distribution of crops globally under various GCAM scenarios.

Survey of Crop Losses in Response to Phytoparasitic Nematodes in the United States for 1994

PubMed Central

Koenning, S. R.; Overstreet, C.; Noling, J. W.; Donald, P. A.; Becker, J. O.; Fortnum, B. A.

1999-01-01

Previous reports of crop losses to plant-parasitic nematodes have relied on published results of survey data based on certain commodities, including tobacco, peanuts, cotton, and soybean. Reports on crop-loss assessment by land-grant universities and many commodity groups generally are no longer available, with the exception of the University of Georgia, the Beltwide Cotton Conference, and selected groups concerned with soybean. The Society of Nematologists Extension Committee contacted extension personnel in 49 U.S. states for information on estimated crop losses caused by plant-parasitic nematodes in major crops for the year 1994. Included in this paper are survey results from 35 states on various crops including corn, cotton, soybean, peanut, wheat, rice, sugarcane, sorghum, tobacco, numerous vegetable crops, fruit and nut crops, and golf greens. The data are reported systematically by state and include the estimated loss, hectarage of production, source of information, nematode species or taxon when available, and crop value. The major genera of phytoparasitic nematodes reported to cause crop losses were Heterodera, Hoplolaimus, Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus, Rotylenchulus, and Xiphinema. PMID:19270925

Survey of crop losses in response to phytoparasitic nematodes in the United States for 1994.

PubMed

Koenning, S R; Overstreet, C; Noling, J W; Donald, P A; Becker, J O; Fortnum, B A

1999-12-01

Previous reports of crop losses to plant-parasitic nematodes have relied on published results of survey data based on certain commodities, including tobacco, peanuts, cotton, and soybean. Reports on crop-loss assessment by land-grant universities and many commodity groups generally are no longer available, with the exception of the University of Georgia, the Beltwide Cotton Conference, and selected groups concerned with soybean. The Society of Nematologists Extension Committee contacted extension personnel in 49 U.S. states for information on estimated crop losses caused by plant-parasitic nematodes in major crops for the year 1994. Included in this paper are survey results from 35 states on various crops including corn, cotton, soybean, peanut, wheat, rice, sugarcane, sorghum, tobacco, numerous vegetable crops, fruit and nut crops, and golf greens. The data are reported systematically by state and include the estimated loss, hectarage of production, source of information, nematode species or taxon when available, and crop value. The major genera of phytoparasitic nematodes reported to cause crop losses were Heterodera, Hoplolaimus, Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus, Rotylenchulus, and Xiphinema.

Effects of Hydrological Parameters on Palm Oil Fresh Fruit Bunch Yield)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nda, M.; Adnan, M. S.; Suhadak, M. A.; Zakaria, M. S.; Lopa, R. T.

2018-04-01

Climate change effects and variability have been studied by many researchers in diverse geophysical fields. Malaysia produces large volume of palm oil, the effects of climate change on hydrological parameters (rainfall and precipitation) could have adverse effects on palm oil fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production with implications at both local and international market. It is important to understand the effects of climate change on crop yield to adopt new cultivation techniques and guaranteeing food security globally. Based on this background, the paper’s objective is to investigate the effects of rainfall and temperature pattern on crop yield (FFB) within five years period (2013 - 2017) at Batu Pahat District. The Man - Kendall rank technique (trend test) and statistical analyses (correlation and regression) were applied to the dataset used for the study. The results reveal that there are variabilities in rainfall and temperature from one month to the other and the statistical analysis reveals that the hydrological parameters have an insignificant effect on crop yield.

Reading the water table: The interaction between literacy practices and groundwater management training in preparing farmers for climate change in South India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chavva, Konda Reddy; Smith, Cristine A.

2012-06-01

This article focuses on farmers' use of literacy for individual decision-making on crop-water management and crop choices and investigates how farmer participants perceive the usefulness of Farmer Water School (FWS) training. It draws upon a study conducted with farmers of Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, India. This study has demonstrated that literacy skills, while valued, are not a prerequisite for all farmers to improve their groundwater and crop management, as long as training includes (1) the presence of at least some literate farmers, (2) activities that involve learning by doing, and (3) learning in small mixed groups of literate and non-literate participants. The study outcomes are of increasing relevance in the context of climate change and variability, as small and marginal farmers constitute over 87 per cent of Indian farmers. Their inability to cope with consequences of climate change could adversely affect the food security in the country.

Crop area estimation using high and medium resolution satellite imagery in areas with complex topography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Husak, G.J.; Marshall, M. T.; Michaelsen, J.; Pedreros, Diego; Funk, Christopher C.; Galu, G.

2008-01-01

Reliable estimates of cropped area (CA) in developing countries with chronic food shortages are essential for emergency relief and the design of appropriate market-based food security programs. Satellite interpretation of CA is an effective alternative to extensive and costly field surveys, which fail to represent the spatial heterogeneity at the country-level. Bias-corrected, texture based classifications show little deviation from actual crop inventories, when estimates derived from aerial photographs or field measurements are used to remove systematic errors in medium resolution estimates. In this paper, we demonstrate a hybrid high-medium resolution technique for Central Ethiopia that combines spatially limited unbiased estimates from IKONOS images, with spatially extensive Landsat ETM+ interpretations, land-cover, and SRTM-based topography. Logistic regression is used to derive the probability of a location being crop. These individual points are then aggregated to produce regional estimates of CA. District-level analysis of Landsat based estimates showed CA totals which supported the estimates of the Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development. Continued work will evaluate the technique in other parts of Africa, while segmentation algorithms will be evaluated, in order to automate classification of medium resolution imagery for routine CA estimation in the future.

Crop area estimation using high and medium resolution satellite imagery in areas with complex topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Husak, G. J.; Marshall, M. T.; Michaelsen, J.; Pedreros, D.; Funk, C.; Galu, G.

2008-07-01

Reliable estimates of cropped area (CA) in developing countries with chronic food shortages are essential for emergency relief and the design of appropriate market-based food security programs. Satellite interpretation of CA is an effective alternative to extensive and costly field surveys, which fail to represent the spatial heterogeneity at the country-level. Bias-corrected, texture based classifications show little deviation from actual crop inventories, when estimates derived from aerial photographs or field measurements are used to remove systematic errors in medium resolution estimates. In this paper, we demonstrate a hybrid high-medium resolution technique for Central Ethiopia that combines spatially limited unbiased estimates from IKONOS images, with spatially extensive Landsat ETM+ interpretations, land-cover, and SRTM-based topography. Logistic regression is used to derive the probability of a location being crop. These individual points are then aggregated to produce regional estimates of CA. District-level analysis of Landsat based estimates showed CA totals which supported the estimates of the Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development. Continued work will evaluate the technique in other parts of Africa, while segmentation algorithms will be evaluated, in order to automate classification of medium resolution imagery for routine CA estimation in the future.

A Novel Framework for Identifying the Interactions between Biophysical and Social Components of an Agricultural System: A Guide for Improving Wheat Production in Haryana, NW India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coventry, D. R.; Poswal, R. S.; Yadav, Ashok; Zhou, Yi; Riar, Amritbir; Kumar, Anuj; Sharma, R. K.; Chhokar, R. S.; Gupta, R. K.; Mehta, A. K.; Chand, Ramesh; Denton, M. D.; Cummins, J. A.

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework with related analysis methodologies that identifies the influence of social environment on an established cropping system. Design/Methodology/Approach: A stratified survey including 103 villages and 823 farmers was conducted in all districts of Haryana (India). Firstly,…

Cultivation of Solanum tuberosum in a former mining district for a safe human consumption integrating simulated digestion.

PubMed

Sierra, María José; López-Nicolás, Rubén; González-Bermúdez, Carlos A; Frontela-Saseta, Carmen; Millán, Rocio

2017-12-01

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a global crop and by far the most important non-cereal crop in the world. Therefore, it is necessary to assure its safe consumption. This is especially relevant in the case of its cultivation in abandoned mining areas, where the population tends to return to agriculture. In the present work, the objective is to evaluate the contribution to the diet of nutrients and contaminants of potato grown in soils from the Almadén area (mining district) by studying the intestinal absorption (in vitro) of the tuber, taking into account the preparation methods for its consumption. The results of contaminant and nutrient contents show that the potato peel retains significantly more elements (mainly in the case of toxic elements) than the flesh. Furthermore, potato (peel and flesh) is a good source of iron. It is recommended to boil potatoes with the peel in order to minimize nutrient loss and, before consumption, peeling them to eliminate possible risks due to contaminants. In addition, to minimize the risk due of mercury and to improve the levels of calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium, it is recommended to add salt during the boiling process. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Evaluation of land suitability for shallot (A. ascalonicum L.) and orange (Orange sp.) at Harian District of Samosir Regency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bintang; Supriadi; Tampubolon, E.

2018-02-01

Evaluation of land suitability for shallot (Allium ascalonicum L.) and lemon (Citrus sp.) aimed to determine the level of suitability to the plants that would be cultivated at Harian District, Samosir Regency. Operation of soil type, altitude map and slope maps with scale of 1:50000 obtained nine Land Map Units namely LMU1 and 2 - Sampur Toba village; LMU3 - Janji Martahan village; LMU4 - Turpuk Limbong village; LMU5 - Sosor Dolok village; LMU6,7,8 and 9 in Partungkox Na Ginjang village. Land suitability assessment criteria based on Bogor Soil Research Center Staff 1983 and the limit method by Djaenuddin 2011. The results showed that shallot crop, there is only on LMU 2 (Sampur Toba) that has barier that can be overcome, such as actual class S3 (n, r); S2 (eh) had an inhibiting factor pH and slope that can be managed with liming and terracing. Orange crop on LMU 1 can be overcome by giving organic material; it might be overcome with terracing on LMU 3; and managed by liming and terracing on LMU 8. On the other LMU (4, 5, 6, 7, 9) are not suggested for orange cultivation.

Anchorage School District Profile of Performance, 1999-2000. Part 1 District Overview. Assessment and Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anchorage School District, AK.

This profile is the report card of the Anchorage, Alaska, School District on the academic achievement of Anchorage students. Part 1 provides a summary of performance across the entire district on a variety of important indicators of success. Part 2, published separately, profiles each of the district's schools. Part 1 contains an overview of the…

Standards-Based Assessment, Grading, and Reporting in Classrooms: Can District Training and Support Change Teacher Practice?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMunn, Nancy; Schenck, Patricia; McColskey, Wendy

Whether school district support and training in standards-based assessment, grading, and reporting in classrooms can change teacher practice in these areas was studied in a Florida school district. This district, Bay District Schools of Panama City, has been working with the SERVE Regional Educational Laboratory on a project that involves teachers…

Analytical results for minicipal biosolids samples from a monitoring program near Deer Trail, Colorado (U.S.A.) 2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crock, J.G.; Smith, D.B.; Yager, T.J.B.; Berry, C.J.; Adams, M.G.

2011-01-01

Since late 1993, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District of Denver (Metro District), a large wastewater treatment plant in Denver, Colo., has applied Grade I, Class B biosolids to about 52,000 acres of nonirrigated farmland and rangeland near Deer Trail, Colo., U.S.A. In cooperation with the Metro District in 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began monitoring groundwater at part of this site. In 1999, the USGS began a more comprehensive monitoring study of the entire site to address stakeholder concerns about the potential chemical effects of biosolids applications to water, soil, and vegetation. This more comprehensive monitoring program was recently extended through the end of 2010 and is now completed. Monitoring components of the more comprehensive study include biosolids collected at the wastewater treatment plant, soil, crops, dust, alluvial and bedrock groundwater, and stream-bed sediment. Streams at the site are dry most of the year, so samples of stream-bed sediment deposited after rain were used to indicate surface-water runoff effects. This report summarizes analytical results for the biosolids samples collected at the Metro District wastewater treatment plant in Denver and analyzed for 2010. In general, the objective of each component of the study was to determine whether concentrations of nine trace elements ("priority analytes") (1) were higher than regulatory limits, (2) were increasing with time, or (3) were significantly higher in biosolids-applied areas than in a similar farmed area where biosolids were not applied (background). Previous analytical results indicate that the elemental composition of biosolids from the Denver plant was consistent during 1999-2009, and this consistency continues with the samples for 2010. Total concentrations of regulated trace elements remain consistently lower than the regulatory limits for the entire monitoring period. Concentrations of none of the priority analytes appear to have increased during the 12 years of this study.

Long-term trends in field level irrigation water demand in Mahanadi delta districts - a hydrological modeling approach for coping with climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raju Pokkuluri, Venkat; Rao, Diwakar Parsi Guru; Hazra, Sugata; Srikant Kulkarni, Sunil

2017-04-01

India uses its 85 percent of available water resources for irrigation making it the country with largest net irrigated area in the world. With one of the largest delta plains, sustaining the needs of irrigation supplies is critical for food security and coping with challenges of climate change. The extensive development of upstream river basins/catchments is posing serious challenge and constrains to the water availability to delta regions, which depend on the controlled/regulated flows from the upstream catchments. The irrigation water demands vary due to changes in agricultural practices, cropping pattern and changing climate conditions. Estimation of realistic irrigation water demand and its trend over time is critical for meeting the supplementary water needs of productive agricultural lands in delta plains and there by coping the challenges of extensive upstream river basin development and climate change. The present study carried out in delta districts of Mahanadi river in Odisha State of India, wherein the long-term trends in field level irrigation water requirements were estimated, both on spatial & temporal scales, using hydrological modeling framework. This study attempts to estimate field level irrigation water requirements through simulation of soil water balance during the crop growing season through process based hydrological modeling framework. The soil water balance computations were carried out using FAO-56 framework, by modifying the crop coefficient (Kc) proportional to the water stress coefficient (Ks), which is a function of root zone depletion of water. Daily meteorological data, spatial cropping pattern, terrain are incorporated in the soil water balance simulation in the model. The irrigation water demand is derived considering the exclusion of soil water stress for each model time step. The field level irrigation water requirement at 8 day interval had been estimated for the each Rabi season (post-monsoon) spanning over 1986 to 2015. The results indicate that irrigation water requirements show spatial and temporal changes and tend to deviate from notional/envisaged demands. Validation of estimated irrigation demand is attempted through correlation of gap in supply and demand with the trends in crop water stress and crop production during the study years. Crop water Stress Index (CWSI), which is the ratio of deficit of actual evapotranspiration (AET) from the potential evapotranspiration (PET) and is derived from MODIS Evapotranspiration data. Agricultural production data is used from State/Central government statistics. The attempted methodology provides opportunities to estimate future irrigation water demand under projected climate change scenarios and for planning for basin level water resources development sustaining the delta agriculture, which are projected to be more vulnerable to climate change.

Impact assessment and recommendation of alternative conjunctive water use strategies for salt affected agricultural lands through a field scale decision support system - a case study.

PubMed

Kaur, Ravinder; Paul, Madhumita; Malik, Rashmi

2007-06-01

Conjunctive use of saline/non-saline irrigation waters is generally aimed at minimizing yield losses and enhancing flexibility of cropping, without much alteration in farming operations. Recommendation of location-specific suitable conjunctive water use plans requires assessment of their long-term impacts on soil salinization/sodification and crop yield reductions. This is conventionally achieved through long-term field experiments. However such impact evaluations are site specific, expensive and time consuming. Appropriate decision support systems (DSS) can be time-efficient and cost-effective means for such long-term impact evaluations. This study demonstrates the application of one such (indigenously developed) DSS for recommending best conjunctive water use plans for a, rice-wheat growing, salt affected farmer's field in Gurgaon district of Haryana (India). Before application, the DSS was extensively validated on several farmers and controlled experimental fields in Gurgaon and Karnal districts of Haryana (India). Validation of DSS showed its potential to give realistic estimates of root zone soil salinity (with R = 0.76-0.94; AMRE = 0.03-0.06; RMSPD = 0.51-0.90); sodicity (with R = 0.99; AMRE = 0.02; RMSPD = 0.84) and relative crop yield reductions (AMRE = 0.24), under existing (local) resource management practices. Long term (10 years) root zone salt build ups and associated rice/wheat crop yield reductions, in a salt affected farmer's field, under varied conjunctive water use scenarios were evaluated with the validated DSS. It was observed that long-term applications of canal (CW) and tube well (TW) waters in a cycle and in 1:1 mixed mode, during Kharif season, predicted higher average root zone salt reductions (2-9%) and lower rice crop yield reductions (4-5%) than the existing practice of 3-CW, 3-TW, 3-CW. Besides this, long-term application of 75% CW mixed with 25% TW, during Rabi season, predicted about 17% lower average root-zone salt reductions than the cyclic applications of (1-CW, 1-TW, 2-CW) and (2-CW, 1-TW, 1-CW, i.e., existing irrigation strategy). However, average wheat crop yield reductions (16-17%) simulated under all these strategies were almost at par. In general, cyclic-conjunctive water use strategies emerged as better options than the blending modes. These results were in complete confirmation with actual long-term conjunctive water use experiments on similar soils. It was thus observed that such pre-validated tools could be efficient means for designing, local resource and target crop yield-specific, appropriate conjunctive water use plans for irrigated agricultural lands.

Use of Data to Support Teaching and Learning: A Case Study of Two School Districts. ACT Research Report Series, 2015 (1)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dougherty, Chrys

2015-01-01

This report summarizes how school and district leaders and academic coaches in two Texas school districts used assessment and other types of data to assess the quality of teaching and learning, to coach and supervise teachers, and to guide management decisions. The report also describes how district and school leaders supported teachers' use of…

A District Level Planning Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McHenry, W. E.; Achilles, C. M.

This report examines school district planning models in South Carolina. It focuses on three questions: (1) Of those school districts conducting some type of systematic planning, how many are producing strategic plans? Long-range plans? Accountability reports? (2) In those same districts, how many are preparing adequate program-management…

Dissemination of sustainable irrigation strategies for almond and olive orchards via a participatory approach. Project LIFE+IRRIMAN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia-Vila, Margarita; Gamero-Ojeda, Pablo; Ascension Carmona, Maria; Berlanga, Jose; Fereres, Elias

2017-04-01

Dissemination of sustainable irrigation strategies for almond and olive orchards via a participatory approach. Project LIFE+IRRIMAN Spain is the world's first and third largest producer of olive oil and almond, respectively. Despite huge efforts in the last years by the production sector towards intensification, cultural issues relative to the traditional rain-fed crop management know how, prevent farmers from adoption of sustainable irrigation management practices. Consequently, even though there has been progress in irrigation management research for these two crops, adoption of modern irrigation techniques by farmers has been slow. Sustainable irrigation strategies for olive and almond orchards are being designed, implemented, validated and disseminated under the framework of the LIFE+ IRRIMAN project, through a participatory approach. The implementation of the LIFE+ IRRIMAN innovative and demonstrative actions has been carried out in an irrigation district of Southern Spain (Genil-Cabra Irrigation Scheme, Andalusia). The approach designed has four phases: i) design and implementation of sustainable irrigation strategies in demonstration farms; ii) dissemination of best irrigation practices which were tested in the initial year throughout the irrigation scheme by the irrigation advisory service; iii) assessment of degree of adoption and re-design of the dissemination strategies; and, iv) based on the results obtained, elaboration of sustainable irrigation guidelines for knowledge transfer in the district at regional and national levels to promote changes in irrigation practices. Participatory approaches have proven to be effective tools for successful irrigation strategies design and diffusion, especially in traditional rain fed crops such as olive and almond trees in the Mediterranean countries. Acknowledgements This work has been funded by the European Union LIFE+ project IRRIMAN (LIFE13 ENV/ES/000539).

Report on 1960 forest tree seed crop in New England

Treesearch

Thomas W. McConkey

1961-01-01

The 1960 forest tree seed crop in New England was generally a medium one, according to reports received from observers in five of the six states. The crop was fairly uniform throughout the region; there were only few reports of marked differences between different sections. On the whole, the crop was somewhat better than that in 1959, and very much better for some...

San Jose/Evergreen Community College District: Governing Board's Strategic Master Plan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

San Jose/Evergreen Community Coll. District, San Jose, CA.

This report presents San Jose/Evergreen Community College District Governing Board's Strategic Master Plan. This report summarizes the district's mission statement, goal statements, and board priorities. The San Jose/Evergreen Community College District is committed to providing open access and opportunity for success to its multi-ethnic…

Cotton genetic resources and crop vulnerability

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A report on the genetic vulnerability of cotton was provided to the National Genetic Resources Advisory Council. The report discussed crop vulnerabilities associated with emerging diseases, emerging pests, and a narrowing genetic base. To address these crop vulnerabilities, the report discussed the ...

District Composite Report: Tensas Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the "District Composite Report" enables…

District Composite Report: Madison Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

In the District Composite Report for Madison Parish, up to six years of data is presented. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy makers to anticipate changes in educational…

Towards a Quantitative Use of Satellite Remote Sensing in Crop Growth Models for Large Scale Agricultural Production Estimate (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Defourny, P.

2013-12-01

The development of better agricultural monitoring capabilities is clearly considered as a critical step for strengthening food production information and market transparency thanks to timely information about crop status, crop area and yield forecasts. The documentation of global production will contribute to tackle price volatility by allowing local, national and international operators to make decisions and anticipate market trends with reduced uncertainty. Several operational agricultural monitoring systems are currently operating at national and international scales. Most are based on the methods derived from the pioneering experiences completed some decades ago, and use remote sensing to qualitatively compare one year to the others to estimate the risks of deviation from a normal year. The GEO Agricultural Monitoring Community of Practice described the current monitoring capabilities at the national and global levels. An overall diagram summarized the diverse relationships between satellite EO and agriculture information. There is now a large gap between the current operational large scale systems and the scientific state of the art in crop remote sensing, probably because the latter mainly focused on local studies. The poor availability of suitable in-situ and satellite data over extended areas hampers large scale demonstrations preventing the much needed up scaling research effort. For the cropland extent, this paper reports a recent research achievement using the full ENVISAT MERIS 300 m archive in the context of the ESA Climate Change Initiative. A flexible combination of classification methods depending to the region of the world allows mapping the land cover as well as the global croplands at 300 m for the period 2008 2012. This wall to wall product is then compared with regards to the FP 7-Geoland 2 results obtained using as Landsat-based sampling strategy over the IGADD countries. On the other hand, the vegetation indices and the biophysical variables such the Green Area Index (GAI), fAPAR and fcover usually retrieved from MODIS, MERIS, SPOT-Vegetation described the quality of the green vegetation development. The GLOBAM (Belgium) and EU FP-7 MOCCCASIN projects (Russia) improved the standard products and were demonstrated over large scale. The GAI retrieved from MODIS time series using a purity index criterion depicted successfully the inter-annual variability. Furthermore, the quantitative assimilation of these GAI time series into a crop growth model improved the yield estimate over years. These results showed that the GAI assimilation works best at the district or provincial level. In the context of the GEO Ag., the Joint Experiment of Crop Assessment and Monitoring (JECAM) was designed to enable the global agricultural monitoring community to compare such methods and results over a variety of regional cropping systems. For a network of test sites around the world, satellite and field measurements are currently collected and will be made available for collaborative effort. This experiment should facilitate international standards for data products and reporting, eventually supporting the development of a global system of systems for agricultural crop assessment and monitoring.

Report on 1959 forest tree seed crop in New England

Treesearch

Thomas W. McConkey

1960-01-01

The 1959 forest tree seed crop is generally light, according to observers. It is better than the 1957 crop, but only in few places is it comparable with last year's production. The better crops were reported in the northwestern Massachusetts-southwestern Vermont area and in the eastern Maine area.

Crop diversity loss as primary cause of grey partridge and common pheasant decline in Lower Saxony, Germany.

PubMed

Ronnenberg, Katrin; Strauß, Egbert; Siebert, Ursula

2016-09-09

The grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) are galliform birds typical of arable lands in Central Europe and exhibit a partly dramatic negative population trend. In order to understand general habitat preferences we modelled grey partridge and common pheasant densities over the entire range of Lower Saxony. Spatially explicit developments in bird densities were modelled using spatially explicit trends of crop cultivation. Pheasant and grey partridge densities counted annually by over 8000 hunting district holders over 10 years in a range of 3.7 Mio ha constitute a unique dataset (wildlife survey of Lower Saxony). Data on main landscape groups, functional groups of agricultural crops (consisting of 9.5 million fields compiled by the Integrated Administration and Control System) and landscape features were aggregated to 420 municipalities. To model linear 8 or 10 year population trends (for common pheasant and grey partridge respectively) we use rho correlation coefficients of densities, but also rho coefficients of agricultural crops. All models confirm a dramatic decline in population densities. The habitat model for the grey partridge shows avoidance of municipalities with a high proportion of woodland and water areas, but a preference for areas with a high proportion of winter grains and high crop diversity. The trend model confirms these findings with a linear positive effect of diversity on grey partridge population development. Similarly, the pheasant avoids wooded areas but showed some preference for municipalities with open water. The effect of maize was found to be positive at medium densities, but negative at very high proportions. Winter grains, landscape features and high crop diversity are favorable. The positive effect of winter grains and higher crop diversity is also supported by the trend model. The results show the strong importance of diverse crop cultivation. Most incentives favor the cultivation of specific crops, which results in large areas of monocultures. The results confirm the importance of sustainable agricultural policies.

A Report Card on District Achievement: How Low-Income, African-American, and Latino Students Fare in California School Districts. K-12 Policy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuart, Lindsey; Hahnel, Carrie

2011-01-01

In this report, The Education Trust-West grades the 146 largest unified school districts in California on four key indicators of student performance to see how well they are serving their African-American, Latino, and low-income students. While most districts in California earn Cs and Ds on these indicators, some districts prove that more is…

EO based Agro-ecosystem approach for climate change adaptation in enhancing the crop production efficiency in the Indo-gangetic plains of India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, Suraj

This study develops a spatial mapping of agro-ecological zones based on earth observation model using MODIS regional dataset as a tool to guide key areas of cropping system and targeting to climate change strategies. This tool applies to the Indo-gangetic Plains of north India to target the domains of bio-physical characteristics and socio-economics with respect to changing climate in the region. It derive on secondary data for spatially-explicit variables at the state/district level, which serve as indicators of climate variability based on sustainable livelihood approach, natural, social and human. The study details the methodology used and generates the spatial climate risk maps for composite indicators of livelihood and vulnerability index in the region.

Reading a District Budget: Reporter Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNeil, Michele

2013-01-01

Every school budget tells a story--about a district's spending plan, its priorities, goals, and financial health. The challenge is to wade through the jargon and numbers to unlock that story. Although budgets can vary significantly from district to district, and state to state, this primer seeks to introduce reporters to the fundamental components…

Perspectives of Key Central Office Staff and School Principals Regarding Resource Allocation Policies and Procedures. A Report Prepared for Los Angeles Unified School District. SSFR Research Report #02 (LAUSD)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chambers, Jay G.; Jubb, Steve; Manship, Karen; Rosas, Rigo; Brown, James R.

2010-01-01

This report summarizes the perspectives and attitudes of a selected set of district and school site administrators whom the authors interviewed in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) during the fall and winter of the 2009-2010 school year. The authors carried out interviews with selected district administrators and a series of focus groups…

Modeling and assessing field irrigation water use in a canal system of Hetao, upper Yellow River basin: Application to maize, sunflower and watermelon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Dongyang; Xu, Xu; Hao, Yuanyuan; Huang, Guanhua

2016-01-01

Water saving in irrigation is a key issue in the upper Yellow River basin. Excessive irrigation leads to water waste, water table rising and increased salinity. Land fragmentation associated with a large dispersion of crops adds to the agro-hydrological complexity of the irrigation system. The model HYDRUS-1D, coupled with the FAO-56 dual crop coefficient approach (dualKc), was applied to simulate the water and salt movement processes. Field experiments were conducted for maize, sunflower and watermelon crops in the command area of a typical irrigation canal system in Hetao Irrigation District during 2012 and 2013. The model was calibrated and validated in three crop fields using two-year experimental data. Simulations of soil moisture, salinity concentration and crop yield fitted well with the observations. The irrigation water use was then evaluated and results showed that large amounts of irrigation water percolated due to over-irrigation but their reuse through capillary rise was also quite large. That reuse was facilitated by the dispersion of crops throughout largely fragmented field, thus with fields reusing water percolated from nearby areas due to the rapid lateral migration of groundwater. Beneficial water use could be improved when taking this aspect into account, which was not considered in previous researches. The non-beneficial evaporation and salt accumulation into the root zone were found to significantly increase during non-growth periods due to the shallow water tables. It could be concluded that when applying water saving measures, close attention should be paid to cropping pattern distribution and groundwater control in association with irrigation scheduling and technique improvement.

Assessing the Application of a Geographic Presence-Only Model for Land Suitability Mapping

PubMed Central

Heumann, Benjamin W.; Walsh, Stephen J.; McDaniel, Phillip M.

2011-01-01

Recent advances in ecological modeling have focused on novel methods for characterizing the environment that use presence-only data and machine-learning algorithms to predict the likelihood of species occurrence. These novel methods may have great potential for land suitability applications in the developing world where detailed land cover information is often unavailable or incomplete. This paper assesses the adaptation and application of the presence-only geographic species distribution model, MaxEnt, for agricultural crop suitability mapping in a rural Thailand where lowland paddy rice and upland field crops predominant. To assess this modeling approach, three independent crop presence datasets were used including a social-demographic survey of farm households, a remote sensing classification of land use/land cover, and ground control points, used for geodetic and thematic reference that vary in their geographic distribution and sample size. Disparate environmental data were integrated to characterize environmental settings across Nang Rong District, a region of approximately 1,300 sq. km in size. Results indicate that the MaxEnt model is capable of modeling crop suitability for upland and lowland crops, including rice varieties, although model results varied between datasets due to the high sensitivity of the model to the distribution of observed crop locations in geographic and environmental space. Accuracy assessments indicate that model outcomes were influenced by the sample size and the distribution of sample points in geographic and environmental space. The need for further research into accuracy assessments of presence-only models lacking true absence data is discussed. We conclude that the Maxent model can provide good estimates of crop suitability, but many areas need to be carefully scrutinized including geographic distribution of input data and assessment methods to ensure realistic modeling results. PMID:21860606

Avian influenza, domestic ducks and rice agriculture in Thailand

PubMed Central

Gilbert, Marius; Xiao, Xiangming; Chaitaweesub, Prasit; Kalpravidh, Wantanee; Premashthira, Sith; Boles, Stephen; Slingenbergh, Jan

2008-01-01

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) caused by H5N1 viruses has become a global scale problem which first emerged in southern China and from there spread to other countries in Southeast and East Asia, where it was first confirmed in end 2003. In previous work, geospatial analyses demonstrated that free grazing ducks played critical role in the epidemiology of the disease in Thailand in the winter 2004/2005, both in terms of HPAI emergence and spread. This study explored the geographic association between free grazing duck census counts and current statistics on the spatial distribution of rice crops in Thailand, in particular the crop calendar of rice production. The analysis was carried out using both district level rice statistics and rice distribution data predicted with the aid of remote sensing, using a rice-detection algorithm. The results indicated a strong association between the number of free grazing ducks and the number of months during which second-crop rice harvest takes place, as well as with the rice crop intensity as predicted by remote sensing. These results confirmed that free grazing duck husbandry was strongly driven by agricultural land use and rice crop intensity, and that this later variable can be readily predicted using remote sensing. Analysis of rice cropping patterns may provide an indication of the location of populations of free grazing ducks in other countries with similar mixed duck and rice production systems and less detailed duck census data. Apart from free ranging ducks and rice cropping, the role of hydrology and seasonality of wetlands and water bodies in the HPAI risk analysis is also discussed in relation to the presumed dry season aggregation of wild waterfowl and aquatic poultry offering much scope for virus transmission. PMID:18418464

Oregon School and District Report Card Policy and Technical Manual

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oregon Department of Education, 2012

2012-01-01

The school and district report cards were created by the 1999 Oregon Legislature. The legislation requires that the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) produce and issue a report card to all public schools and districts in the state. The report cards are designed to: (1) Communicate the many good things occurring in Oregon's public schools; (2)…

29 CFR 1602.43 - Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...' failure to file report. Any school system or district failing or refusing to file report EEO-5 when... 29 Labor 4 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report. 1602.43 Section 1602.43 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL...

29 CFR 1602.43 - Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...' failure to file report. Any school system or district failing or refusing to file report EEO-5 when... 29 Labor 4 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report. 1602.43 Section 1602.43 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL...

29 CFR 1602.43 - Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...' failure to file report. Any school system or district failing or refusing to file report EEO-5 when... 29 Labor 4 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report. 1602.43 Section 1602.43 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL...

29 CFR 1602.43 - Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...' failure to file report. Any school system or district failing or refusing to file report EEO-5 when... 29 Labor 4 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report. 1602.43 Section 1602.43 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL...

29 CFR 1602.43 - Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...' failure to file report. Any school system or district failing or refusing to file report EEO-5 when... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commission's remedy for school systems' or districts' failure to file report. 1602.43 Section 1602.43 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL...

District Composite Report: City of Monroe, 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: St. Tammany Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: Franklin Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: Lincoln Parish, 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: City of Bogalusa, 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: Natchitoches Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: Cameron Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

In the District Composite Report, up to six years of data is presented. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy makers to anticipate changes in educational outcomes, not just…

District Composite Report: Bienville Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: Sabine Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: St. James Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: Jefferson Davis Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: Caddo Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: East Carroll Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: St. John the Baptist Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: West Feliciana Parish, 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: Jackson Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: St. Charles Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the "District Composite Report" enables…

District Composite Report: Pointe Coupee Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: St. Landry Parish, 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: Plaquemines Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous yearswhere available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy makers…

District Composite Report: Orleans Parish, 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: Livingston Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: Tangipahoa Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous yearswhere available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy makers…

District Composite Report: Red River Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: Morehouse Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: Grant Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

District Composite Report: St. Bernard Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year?s data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policy…

District Composite Report: Concordia Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables policymakers…

District Composite Report: East Feliciana Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Loiuisiana's District Composite Reports. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the District Composite Report enables…

1993-1994 Final technical report for establishing the SECME Model in the District of Columbia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vickers, R.G.

1995-12-31

This is the final report for a program to establish the SECME Model in the District of Columbia. This program has seen the development of a partnership between the District of Columbia Public Schools, the University of the District of Columbia, the Department of Energy, and SECME. This partnership has demonstrated positive achievement in mathematics and science education and learning in students within the District of Columbia.

The Effects of Temperature and Precipitation on the Yield of Zea Mays L. I the Southeastern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stooksbury, David Emory

Three families of straightforward maize (Zea mays L.) yield/climate models using monthly temperature and precipitation terms are produced. One family of models uses USDA's Crop Reporting Districts (CRD) as its scale of aggregation. The other two families of models use three different district aggregates based on climate or yield patterns. The climate and yield districts are determined by using a two-stage cluster analysis. The CRD-based family of models perform as well as the climate and yield based models. All models explain between 80% and 90% of the variance in maize yield. The most important climate term affecting maize yield in the South is the daily maximum temperature at pollination time. The higher the maximum temperature, the lower the yield. Above normal minimum temperature during pollination increases yield in the Middle South. Weather that favors early planting and rapid vegetative growth increases yield. Ideal maize yield weather includes a dry period during planting followed by a warm period during vegetative growth. Moisture variables are important only during the planting and harvest periods when above normal precipitation delays field work and thereby reduces yield. The model results indicate that the dire predictions about the fate of Southern agriculture in a trace gas warmed world may not be true. This is due to the overwhelming influence of the daily maximum temperature on yield. An optimum aggregate for climate impact studies was not found. I postulate that this is due to the dynamic nature of the American maize production system. For most climate impact studies on a dynamic agricultural system, there does not need to be a concern about the model aggregation.

Water development for phosphate mining in a karst setting in Florida—a complex environmental problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamoreaux, P. E.

1989-09-01

The State of Florida, U.S.A., passed legislation in the early 1970s and developed regulations applied to large withdrawals of groundwater. These regulations require strict adherence to defining the impact on surface water, shallow Surficial Aquifers, and the deeper aquifers within the Floridan Aquifer System. These regulations require the development of a Regional Impact Statement and a Consumptive Use Permit. To meet these requirements it is necessary to perform surface- and groundwater studies, extensive pumping tests and the collection of detailed monitoring and water quality data. These permits fall under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Environmental Regulations and are administrated under Regional Water Management districts, such as the Southwest Florida Management District. These regional district offices have a regulatory hearing board, hold public hearings that are properly advertized, and have support staffs of geologists, engineers, chemists, and biologists. The Florida Code involved required that, “The water crop, in the absence of data to the contrary, is 1,000 gallons per day per acre.” A “5—3—1 Criteria” also applies that requires that a determination be made to show that there will not be more than a 5 foot average decline in water level in the Floridan Aquifer at the boundary of a property to be developed, not more than a 3-foot decline in the Surficial Aquifer at the boundary, and no more than a 1-foot decline in the nearest water body (pond, lake, etc.). In addition, surface-water flow in streams of the area must not be decreased more than 5 percent unless a variance to the rule is obtained. The hydrogeological work required to meet these regulations is described in the following report.

Host susceptibility of citrus cultivars to Queensland fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae).

PubMed

Lloyd, A C; Hamacek, E L; Smith, D; Kopittke, R A; Gu, H

2013-04-01

Citrus crops are considered to be relatively poor hosts for Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt), as for other tephritid species. Australian citrus growers and crop consultants have reported observable differences in susceptibility of different citrus cultivars under commercial growing conditions. In this study we conducted laboratory tests and field surveys to determine susceptibility to B. tryoni of six citrus cultivars [(Eureka lemon (Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck); Navel and Valencia oranges (C. sinensis (L.) Osbeck); and Imperial, Ellendale, and Murcott mandarins (C. reticulata Blanco). The host susceptibility of these citrus cultivars was quantified by a Host Susceptibility Index, which is defined as the number of adult flies produced per gram of fruit infested at a calculated rate of one egg per gram of fruit. The HSI was ranked as Murcott (0.083) > Imperial (0.052) > Navel (0.026) - Ellendale (0.020) > Valencia (0.008) > Eureka (yellow) (0.002) > Eureka (green) (0). Results of the laboratory study were in agreement with the level of field infestation in the four citrus cultivars (Eureka lemon, Imperial, Ellendale, and Murcott mandarins) that were surveyed from commercial orchards under baiting treatments against fruit flies in the Central Burnett district of Queensland. Field surveys of citrus hosts from the habitats not subject to fruit fly management showed that the numbers of fruit flies produced per gram of fruit were much lower, compared with the more susceptible noncitrus hosts, such as guava (Psidium guajava L.), cherry guava (P. littorale Raddi), mulberry (Morus nigra L.), loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl.), and pear (Pyrus communis L.). Therefore, the major citrus crops commercially cultivated in Australia have a relatively low susceptibility to B. tryoni, with Eureka lemons being a particularly poor host for this tephritid fruit fly.

Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Summary Report--Trenton, New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Lesley; Applewhite-Coney, Erain

2005-01-01

Trenton is one of 31 urban school districts in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. As an Abbott district, Trenton receives funding to equalize its per student general education budget with the most successful suburban districts in the state. Through a series of indicators, the Trenton Abbott Indicators Report presents the status of educational…

Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Summary Report-- Newark, New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Lesley; Applewhite-Coney, Erain

2005-01-01

Newark is one of 31 urban school districts in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. As an Abbott district, Newark receives funding to equalize its per student general education budget with the most successful suburban districts in the state. Through a series of indicators, the Newark Abbott Indicators Report presents the status of educational…

Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Summary Report--Camden, New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Lesley; Applewhite-Coney, Erain

2005-01-01

Camden is one of 31 urban school districts in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. As an Abbott district, Camden receives funding to equalize its per student general education budget with the most successful suburban districts in the state. Through a series of indicators, the Camden Abbott Indicators Report presents the status of educational…

Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Technical Report--Camden, New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Lesley; Applewhite-Coney, Erain

2005-01-01

Camden is one of 31 urban school districts in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. As an Abbott district, Camden receives funding to equalize its per student general education budget with the most successful suburban districts in the state. Through a series of indicators, the Camden Abbott Indicators Report presents the status of educational…

Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Technical Report--Trenton, New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Lesley; Applewhite-Coney, Erain

2005-01-01

Trenton is one of 31 urban school districts in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. As an Abbott district, Trenton receives funding to equalize its per student general education budget with the most successful suburban districts in the state. Through a series of indicators, the Trenton Abbott Indicators Report presents the status of educational…

Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Technical Report-- Newark, New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Lesley; Applewhite-Coney, Erain

2005-01-01

Newark is one of 31 urban school districts in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. As an Abbott district, Newark receives funding to equalize its per student general education budget with the most successful suburban districts in the state. Through a series of indicators, the Newark Abbott Indicators Report presents the status of educational…

Climatic Extremes and Food Grain Production in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

A, A.; Mishra, V.

2015-12-01

Climate change is likely to affect food and water security in India. India has witnessed tremendous growth in its food production after the green revolution. However, during the recent decades the food grain yields were significantly affected by the extreme climate and weather events. Air temperature and associated extreme events (number of hot days and hot nights, heat waves) increased significantly during the last 50 years in the majority of India. More remarkably, a substantial increase in mean and extreme temperatures was observed during the winter season in India. On the other hand, India witnessed extreme flood and drought events that have become frequent during the past few decades. Extreme rainfall during the non-monsoon season adversely affected the food grain yields and results in tremendous losses in several parts of the country. Here we evaluate the changes in hydroclimatic extremes and its linkage with the food grain production in India. We use observed food grain yield data for the period of 1980-2012 at district level. We understand the linkages between food grain yield and crop phenology obtained from the high resolution leaf area index and NDVI datasets from satellites. We used long-term observed data of daily precipitation and maximum and minimum temperatures to evaluate changes in the extreme events. We use statistical models to develop relationships between crop yields, mean and extreme temperatures for various crops to understand the sensitivity of these crops towards changing climatic conditions. We find that some of the major crop types and predominant crop growing areas have shown a significant sensitivity towards changes in extreme climatic conditions in India.

Relationship between drought severity and observed regional yields in the Czech Republic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hlavinka, Petr; Semerádová, Daniela; Balek, Jan; Možný, Martin; Žalud, Zdeněk; Trnka, Miroslav

2015-04-01

Although the Czech Republic is not generally characterized as a drought prone region within European context, drought occurs and is one of the most important climatic extremes in terms of economic damages. Crop production is highly sensitive to soil water availability and the rainfed agriculture almost dominantly prevails in the Czech Republic. Generally we can observe trends towards drier conditions with more often and more severe drought episodes. Based on this, the impact analyzes are very important. The relationship between drought episodes (with various timing and severity) and observed decrease of yields at district level (NUTS4) during the period from 2000 to 2014 was analyzed within submitted study. The observed yields of spring barley, winter wheat and oilseed winter rape from 14 districts were used (210 seasons are included). All districts are positioned within southeastern part of the Czech Republic and represent various agro-climatic conditions. The regressions between various drought indicators (as independent variables) and yields (dependent variable) were established. For this purpose the several drought indicators in monthly time step were derived as spatial average for arable land (each district separately). The difference between precipitation and reference evapotranspiration (ET0), average soil moisture content available for crops up to 40 cm and 100 cm depth, percent of time with soil moisture below 50 % and below 30 % of available soil moisture up to 100 cm depth were used. For reference evapotranspiration (ET0) and soil water estimates SoilClim model was used. This software is the main module used within Drought monitoring system in the Czech Republic (www.intersucho.cz). Within this study SoilClim was used in resolution 500 x 500 meters within grids of arable land. The soil water holding capacity as well as vegetation development was considered. By this way the yield losses due to various drought intensity was identified and compared. In case of extremely dry years (e.g. 2000, 2012, …) yields declines (often devastating) were mostly explained by water balance. Moreover the differences among regions were analyzed in high detail. Based on achieved results could be concluded that SoilClim software is proper tool for quantification of drought impact within yields. The difference between precipitation and ET0 (from April to June) was identified as reasonably robust indicator but also soil water holding capacity consideration is very important. This study was funded by project "Building up a multidisciplinary scientific team focused on drought" No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0248, project supported by Czech National Agency of Agricultural Research No. QJ1310123 "Crop modelling as a tool for increasing the production potential and food security of the Czech Republic under Climate Change".

Identification and molecular characterization of a new recombinant begomovirus and associated betasatellite DNA infecting Capsicum annuum in India.

PubMed

Bhatt, Bhavin S; Chahwala, Fenisha D; Rathod, Sangeeta; Singh, Achuit K

2016-05-01

Capsicum annuum (Chilli) is a perennial herbaceous plant that is cultivated as an annual crop throughout the world, including India. Chilli leaf curl disease (ChiLCD) is a major biotic constraint, causing major losses in chilli production. During 2014, leaf samples of chilli plants displaying leaf curl disease were collected from the Ahmedabad district of Gujarat, India. These samples were used to isolate, clone and sequence viral genomic DNA and an associated betasatellite DNA molecule. Sequence analysis showed 90.4 % nucleotide sequence identity to the previously reported chilli leaf curl virus-[India:Guntur:2009] (ChiLCV-[IN:Gun:09]. As per ICTV nomenclature rules, ChiLCV-Ahm represents a new species of begomovirus, and we therefore propose the name chilli leaf curl Ahmedabad virus-[India:Ahmedabad:2014] (ChiLCAV-[IN:Ahm:14]). The associated betasatellite DNA showed a maximum of 93.5 % nucleotide sequence identity to a previously reported tomato leaf curl Bangladesh betasatellite and may be named tomato leaf curl Bangladesh betasatellite-[India:Ahmedabad:Chilli:2014].

Report on 1958 forest tree seed crop in New England

Treesearch

A.C. Hart

1959-01-01

Forest tree seed crops in 1958 were considerably better than those in 1957, according to observers. However, heavy and medium seed crops of some species were spotty in occurrence. Late spring frosts were probably responsible for poor or failing crops of some species in Vermont, New Hampshire, and northwestern Connecticut. Cone weevils were reported damaging the white...

[Health status and living conditions in medical district of Sandnes during the period 1866-1900].

PubMed

Helgaland, T; Rosvold, E O

1999-12-10

The municipality of Sandnes became a separate medical district in 1866. The district physicians' reports give us an insight into health and living conditions in this district in the last half of the 19th century. This paper is based on a study of all statistical data and physicians' comments concerning the Sandnes district for the 1866-1900 period. The incidence of various diseases is estimated. Mental illness seems to have been more frequent in Sandness than in the rest of the county. In the physicians' reports, this was explained by the dominance of religious Puritanism in the district. The incidence of other disease, such as typhoid fever, tuberculosis and scarlet fever, did not differ essentially between Sandnes and the county as a whole. The living conditions in the district were rather good during the whole period, though the physicians' reports provide interesting insight in changes from one year to another.

State and district policy influences on district-wide elementary and middle school physical education practices.

PubMed

Chriqui, Jamie F; Eyler, Amy; Carnoske, Cheryl; Slater, Sandy

2013-01-01

To examine the influence of state laws and district policies on district-wide elementary school and middle school practices related to physical education (PE) time and the percentage of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time during PE. Multivariate, cross-sectional analysis of state laws, district wellness and PE policies, and district PE practices for school year 2010-2011 controlling for district-level urbanicity, region, size, race/ethnicity of students, and socioeconomic status and clustered on state. One hundred ninety-five public school districts located in 42 states. District-level PE coordinators for the included districts who responded to an online survey. Minutes and days of PE per week and percent time spent in MVPA during PE time. District PE coordinators reported significantly less PE time than national standards-82.9 and 189.6 minutes at the elementary school and middle school levels, respectively. Physical education was provided an average of 2.5 and 3.7 days per week, respectively; and the percentage of MVPA time in PE was 64.4% and 65.7%, respectively. At the elementary school level, districts in either states with laws governing PE time or in a state and district with a law/policy reported significantly more days of PE (0.63 and 0.67 additional days, respectively), and districts in states with PE time laws reported 18 more minutes of PE per week. At the middle school level, state laws were associated with 0.73 more days of PE per week. Neither state laws nor district policies were positively associated with percent MVPA time in PE. State laws and district policies can influence district-level PE practices-particularly those governing the frequency and duration of PE-although opportunities exist to strengthen PE-related laws, policies, and practices.

The comprehensive community-based traffic safety program : phase I, problem identification for District 2 and District 7.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1986-01-01

This report contains the initial Problem Identification for the Comprehensive Community-Based Traffic Safety Program (CCBP). Two DMV districts, District 2 and District 7, have been selected as the pilot areas for the CCBP, and because both districts ...

The interrelationship of households economics activities of upland rice farmers in rain-fed farming in Ponjong Sub-district, Gunungkidul District, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rini, W. D. E.; Harisudin, M.; Supriyadi; Rahayu, E. S.

2018-03-01

Gunungkidul is one of the regencies at Yogyakarta, Indonesia which is 90% occupied by dry land, and thus vulnerable to climate change impact. Since dryland relies on water only from rain to meet crop water requirement, part of land management is rainfed. This condition encourages farmers to make the right decision regarding their additional income to meet household needs. Under the limited land resources, farmers decided to plant upland rice once or twice a year. The aim of the study is to analyze the interrelationship of households economics activities of upland rice farmers in rain-fed farming based on production, labor allocation, and consumption. The research method is descriptive analysis, with research site Ponjong sub-district, determined by the purposive method. Sampling method using proportional random sampling. Economics model was determined by using simultaneous equation model, with 2 SLS estimation method. The results showed that the household economics model of upland rice farmers in the rainfed land can be explained by using farmers household model and there is a linkage between production, labor allocation, and consumption.

Shrimp farming practices in the puttallam district of sri lanka: implications for disease control, industry sustainability, and rural development.

PubMed

Munasinghe, M Nalaka; Stephen, Craig; Abeynayake, Preeni; Abeygunawardena, Indra S

2010-08-12

Shrimp farming has great potential to diversify and secure income in rural Sri Lanka, but production has significantly declined in recent years due to civil conflicts, some unsustainable practices and devastating outbreaks of disease. We examined management practices affecting disease prevention and control in the Puttalam district to identify extension services outputs that could support sustainable development of Sri Lankan shrimp farming. A survey on 621 shrimp farms (603 operational and 18 nonoperational) was conducted within the Puttalam district over 42 weeks comprising a series of three-day field visits from August 2008 to October 2009, covering two consecutive shrimp crops. Fundamental deficits in disease control, management, and biosecurity practices were found. Farmers had knowledge of biosecurity but the lack of financial resources was a major impediment to improved disease control. Smallholder farmers were disproportionately constrained in their ability to enact basic biosecurity practices due to their economic status. Basic breaches in biosecurity will keep disease as the rate limiting step in this industry. Plans to support this industry must recognize the socioeconomic reality of rural Sri Lankan aquaculture.

Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Summary Report--Union City, New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Lesley; Applewhite-Coney, Erain

2005-01-01

Union City is one of 31 urban school districts in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. As an Abbott district, Union City receives funding to equalize its per student general education budget with the most successful suburban districts in the state. Through a series of indicators, the Union City Abbott Indicators Report presents the status of…

Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Technical Report: Union City, New Jersey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Applewhite-Coney, Erain; Hirsch, Lesley

2005-01-01

Union City is one of 31 urban school districts in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. As an Abbott district, Union City receives funding to equalize its per student general education budget with the most successful suburban districts in the state. Through a series of indicators, the Union City Abbott Indicators Report presents the status of…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

Automated high resolution mapping of coffee in Rwanda using an expert Bayesian network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukashema, A.; Veldkamp, A.; Vrieling, A.

2014-12-01

African highland agro-ecosystems are dominated by small-scale agricultural fields that often contain a mix of annual and perennial crops. This makes such systems difficult to map by remote sensing. We developed an expert Bayesian network model to extract the small-scale coffee fields of Rwanda from very high resolution data. The model was subsequently applied to aerial orthophotos covering more than 99% of Rwanda and on one QuickBird image for the remaining part. The method consists of a stepwise adjustment of pixel probabilities, which incorporates expert knowledge on size of coffee trees and fields, and on their location. The initial naive Bayesian network, which is a spectral-based classification, yielded a coffee map with an overall accuracy of around 50%. This confirms that standard spectral variables alone cannot accurately identify coffee fields from high resolution images. The combination of spectral and ancillary data (DEM and a forest map) allowed mapping of coffee fields and associated uncertainties with an overall accuracy of 87%. Aggregated to district units, the mapped coffee areas demonstrated a high correlation with the coffee areas reported in the detailed national coffee census of 2009 (R2 = 0.92). Unlike the census data our map provides high spatial resolution of coffee area patterns of Rwanda. The proposed method has potential for mapping other perennial small scale cropping systems in the East African Highlands and elsewhere.

Malaria in tree crop plantations in south-eastern and western provinces of Thailand.

PubMed

Singhasivanon, P; Thimasarn, K; Yimsamran, S; Linthicum, K; Nualchawee, K; Dawreang, D; Kongrod, S; Premmanisakul, N; Maneeboonyang, W; Salazar, N

1999-09-01

During the past three decades almost half of the existing natural tropical forests in Thailand were destroyed and replaced by cash crops, rubber, coffee, fruit orchards (durian, rambutan, mangosteen) and other commercial plantations. In order to determine the proportion of malaria cases contracted from such commercial plantations, an epidemiological study was conducted between June 1996 to May 1997 in two districts, one in Pong Nam Ron, located in a south-eastern province near the Cambodian border and another in Sai Yok, in a western province along the Myanmar border. Data were collected by passive case detection from patients attending the existing malaria clinics and active case detection by monthly malariometric survey in selected villages. All malaria cases were thoroughly investigated and classified according to exposure to different ecotypes prior to onset of malaria symptoms in the preceding two weeks. Malaria cases acquired from commercial plantations accounted for 35.2% and 11.2% in Pong Nam Ron and in Sai Yok districts respectively. In such plantations, most of the malaria cases were contracted from fruit orchards and to a lesser extent from rubber and teak plantations. From this study it is evident that commercial plantations provide a significant site of malaria transmission in addition to the forest and foothills areas in Southeast Asia where efficient vectors such as An. dirus and An. minimus are prevalent and have adapted to such changed ecosystems.

The assessment of spatial distribution of soil salinity risk using neural network.

PubMed

Akramkhanov, Akmal; Vlek, Paul L G

2012-04-01

Soil salinity in the Aral Sea Basin is one of the major limiting factors of sustainable crop production. Leaching of the salts before planting season is usually a prerequisite for crop establishment and predetermined water amounts are applied uniformly to fields often without discerning salinity levels. The use of predetermined water amounts for leaching perhaps partly emanate from the inability of conventional soil salinity surveys (based on collection of soil samples, laboratory analyses) to generate timely and high-resolution salinity maps. This paper has an objective to estimate the spatial distribution of soil salinity based on readily or cheaply obtainable environmental parameters (terrain indices, remote sensing data, distance to drains, and long-term groundwater observation data) using a neural network model. The farm-scale (∼15 km(2)) results were used to upscale soil salinity to a district area (∼300 km(2)). The use of environmental attributes and soil salinity relationships to upscale the spatial distribution of soil salinity from farm to district scale resulted in the estimation of essentially similar average soil salinity values (estimated 0.94 vs. 1.04 dS m(-1)). Visual comparison of the maps suggests that the estimated map had soil salinity that was uniform in distribution. The upscaling proved to be satisfactory; depending on critical salinity threshold values, around 70-90% of locations were correctly estimated.

Economic risk assessment of drought impacts on irrigated agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez-Nicolas, A.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Macian-Sorribes, H.

2017-07-01

In this paper we present an innovative framework for an economic risk analysis of drought impacts on irrigated agriculture. It consists on the integration of three components: stochastic time series modelling for prediction of inflows and future reservoir storages at the beginning of the irrigation season; statistical regression for the evaluation of water deliveries based on projected inflows and storages; and econometric modelling for economic assessment of the production value of agriculture based on irrigation water deliveries and crop prices. Therefore, the effect of the price volatility can be isolated from the losses due to water scarcity in the assessment of the drought impacts. Monte Carlo simulations are applied to generate probability functions of inflows, which are translated into probabilities of storages, deliveries, and finally, production value of agriculture. The framework also allows the assessment of the value of mitigation measures as reduction of economic losses during droughts. The approach was applied to the Jucar river basin, a complex system affected by multiannual severe droughts, with irrigated agriculture as the main consumptive demand. Probability distributions of deliveries and production value were obtained for each irrigation season. In the majority of the irrigation districts, drought causes a significant economic impact. The increase of crop prices can partially offset the losses from the reduction of production due to water scarcity in some districts. Emergency wells contribute to mitigating the droughts' impacts on the Jucar river system.

The benefit of using additional hydrological information from earth observations and reanalysis data on water allocation decisions in irrigation districts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaune, Alexander; López, Patricia; Werner, Micha; de Fraiture, Charlotte

2017-04-01

Hydrological information on water availability and demand is vital for sound water allocation decisions in irrigation districts, particularly in times of water scarcity. However, sub-optimal water allocation decisions are often taken with incomplete hydrological information, which may lead to agricultural production loss. In this study we evaluate the benefit of additional hydrological information from earth observations and reanalysis data in supporting decisions in irrigation districts. Current water allocation decisions were emulated through heuristic operational rules for water scarce and water abundant conditions in the selected irrigation districts. The Dynamic Water Balance Model based on the Budyko framework was forced with precipitation datasets from interpolated ground measurements, remote sensing and reanalysis data, to determine the water availability for irrigation. Irrigation demands were estimated based on estimates of potential evapotranspiration and coefficient for crops grown, adjusted with the interpolated precipitation data. Decisions made using both current and additional hydrological information were evaluated through the rate at which sub-optimal decisions were made. The decisions made using an amended set of decision rules that benefit from additional information on demand in the districts were also evaluated. Results show that sub-optimal decisions can be reduced in the planning phase through improved estimates of water availability. Where there are reliable observations of water availability through gauging stations, the benefit of the improved precipitation data is found in the improved estimates of demand, equally leading to a reduction of sub-optimal decisions.

Report on forest tree seed crop in New England in 1957

Treesearch

A. C. Hart

1958-01-01

Forest tree seed crops were generally poor in 1957 throughout New England, according to reports by observers. Late spring frosts and below-normal precipitation were probably responsible for poor or failing crops of some species.

School Technology: Five School Districts' Experiences in Funding Technology Programs. Report to Congressional Requesters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. Health, Education, and Human Services Div.

This document contains a letter to members of the United States Senate reporting the information gathered from a study of five school districts' experiences funding technology programs. Appendices, which comprise the majority of the document, include the project scope and evaluation, and the reports from each school district. The five school…

Race to the Top. District of Columbia Report. Year 1: School Year 2010-2011. [State-Specific Summary Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2012

2012-01-01

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of the District of Columbia's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) manages the District of Columbia…

Private Management of Public Schools: Early Experiences in Four School Districts. Report to Congressional Committees.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. Health, Education, and Human Services Div.

School districts nationwide are experimenting with a range of reform options, one of which is private management of public schools. This General Accounting Office (GAO) report describes the early experiences of four school districts that contracted with private companies for management of their public schools. Specifically, the report describes:…

The Fact Book: Report for the Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers, 2014

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florida Department of Education, 2014

2014-01-01

The principal purpose of the report for the "Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers" is to provide timely, accurate, and comparative information about the Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers System. This report is intended for use by people who are interested in data relevant to education in the School…

The Fact Book: Report for the Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers, 2013

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florida Department of Education, 2013

2013-01-01

The principal purpose of the report for the "Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers" is to provide timely, accurate, and comparative information about the Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers System. This report is intended for use by people who are interested in data relevant to education in the School…

The Fact Book: Report for the Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers, 2015

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Florida Department of Education, 2015

2015-01-01

The principal purpose of the report for the "Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers" is to provide timely, accurate, and comparative information about the Florida School District Adult and Technical Centers System. This report is intended for use by people who are interested in data relevant to education in the School…

Results 1993. Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program. District Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oklahoma State Dept. of Education, Oklahoma City. Office of Accountability.

This report is a graphic presentation of teacher and student information, revenue and expenditure data, test results, and other student outcomes for each public school district. The indicators in the district report reflect the increased student enrollment (594,326) and staff (38,290) in 1993, as well as the new cost accounting system used by the…

Impacts of soil and groundwater salinization on tree crop performance in post-tsunami Aceh Barat, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marohn, C.; Distel, A.; Dercon, G.; Wahyunto; Tomlinson, R.; Noordwijk, M. v.; Cadisch, G.

2012-09-01

The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 had far reaching consequences for agriculture in Aceh province, Indonesia, and particularly in Aceh Barat district, 150 km from the seaquake epicentre. In this study, the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of soil and groundwater salinity and their impact on tree crops were monitored in Aceh Barat from 2006 to 2008. On 48 sampling points along ten transects, covering 40 km of coastline, soil and groundwater salinity were measured and related to mortality and yield depression of the locally most important tree crops. Given a yearly rainfall of over 3000 mm, initial groundwater salinity declined rapidly from over 10 to less than 2 mS cm-1 within two years. On the other hand, seasonal dynamics of the groundwater table in combination with intrusion of saline water into the groundwater body led to recurring elevated salinity, sufficient to affect crops. Tree mortality and yield depression in the flooded area varied considerably between tree species. Damage to coconut (65% trees damaged) was related to tsunami run-up height, while rubber (50% trees damaged) was mainly affected by groundwater salinity. Coconut yields (-35% in average) were constrained by groundwater Ca2+ and Mg2+, while rubber yields (-65% on average) were related to groundwater chloride, pH and soil sodium. These findings have implications on planting deep-rooted tree crops as growth will be constrained by ongoing oscillations of the groundwater table and salinity.

Challenge and Opportunity: The Impact of Charter Schools on School Districts. A Report of the National Study of Charter Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ericson, John; Silverman, Debra; Berman, Paul; Nelson, Beryl; Solomon, Debra

This report examines the operational and educational changes that school administrators attribute to charter schools. It is part of the U.S. Department of Education's 4-year study to document and analyze the charter-school movement. The study asked two questions: What changes have districts made in district operations and district education that…

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) Program: Year One Evaluation Report. Policy Evaluation Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Springer, Matthew G.; Lewis, Jessica L.; Podgursky, Michael J.; Ehlert, Mark W.; Taylor, Lori L.; Lopez, Omar S.; Ghosh-Dastidar, Bonnie; Peng, Art

2010-01-01

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) is a state-funded program in Texas that provides grants to districts for the implementation of locally-designed performance pay plans. All districts in the state are eligible to receive grants, but participation is voluntary. As D.A.T.E. continues in its second year of operation with approximately…

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) Program: Final Evaluation Report. Policy Evaluation Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Springer, Matthew G.; Lewis, Jessica L.; Ehlert, Mark W.; Podgursky, Michael J.; Crader, Gary D.; Taylor, Lori L.; Gronberg, Timothy J.; Jansen, Dennis W.; Lopez, Omar S.; Stuit, David A.

2010-01-01

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) is a state-funded program in Texas that provides grants to districts for the implementation of locally-designed incentive pay plans. All districts in the state are eligible to receive grants, but participation is voluntary. D.A.T.E. incentive pay plans were first implemented in Texas districts…

Sustainability of irrigated crops under future climate: the interplay of irrigation strategies and cultivar responses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Lorenzi, F.; Bonfante, A.; Alfieri, S.; Patanè, C.; Basile, A.; Di Tommasi, P.; Monaco, E.; Menenti, M.

2012-04-01

Climate evolution will cause significant changes in the quality and availability of water resources, affecting many sectors including food production, where available water resources for irrigation play a crucial role. Strategies focused on managing and conserving water are one way to deal with the impact; moreover concurring adaptation measurements will be needed to cope with the foreseen decline of water resource. This work deals with i) the impacts of climate change on water requirements of an horticultural crop, determined in an irrigated district in Southern Italy, ii) the possible irrigation scheduling options and their sustainability in the future, iii) the adaptation measurements that can be undertaken to protect production, relying on intra-specific biodiversity of agricultural crops. Two climate scenarios were considered: present climate (1961-90) and future climate (2021-2050), the former from climatic statistics, and the latter from statistical downscaling of general circulation models (AOGCM). Climatic data set consists of daily time series of maximum and minimum temperature, and rainfall on a grid with spatial resolution of 35 km. The analysis of climate scenarios showed that significant increases in summer maximum daily temperature could be expected in 2021-2050 period. Soil water regime was determined by means of a mechanistic model (SWAP) of water flow in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. Twenty? soil units were identified in the district (in Sele Plain, Campania Region) and simulations were performed accounting for hydro-pedological properties of different soil units. Parameters of a generic tomato crop, in a rotation typical of the area, were used in simulations. Soil water balance was simulated in the present and future climate, both with optimal water availability and under constrains that irrigation schemes will pose. Indicators of soil water availability were calculated, in terms of soil water or evapotranspiration deficit. For several tomato cultivars, quantitative yield response functions to water availability were determined through the re-analysis of experimental data, derived from scientific literature. Variety-specific threshold values of yield reduction in dependence of soil water and evapotranspiration deficit were determined. The spatial pattern of soil water availability indicators was calculated., for present and future climate scenarios and for different irrigation scheduling options. Cultivars' threshold values were matched with indicators' values in all soil units. The future adaptability of the crop in the area is thus evaluated, and adaptation options that exploit the intra-specific biodiversity of the crop are indicated. The work was carried out within the Italian national project AGROSCENARI funded by the Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forest Policies (MIPAAF, D.M. 8608/7303/2008) Keywords: climate change, tomato, deficit irrigation, biodiversity

Providing Mailing Cost Reimbursements: The Effect on Reporting Timeliness of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Virginia.

PubMed

Vasiliu, Oana E; Stover, Jeffrey A; Mays, Marissa J E; Bissette, Jennifer M; Dolan, Carrie B; Sirbu, Corina M

2009-01-01

We investigated the effect of providing mailing cost reimbursements to local health departments on the timeliness of the reporting of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Virginia. The Division of Disease Prevention, Virginia Department of Health, provided mailing cost reimbursements to 31 Virginia health districts from October 2002 to December 2004. The difference (in days) between the diagnosis date (or date the STD paperwork was initiated) and the date the case/STD report was entered into the STD surveillance database was used in a negative binomial regression model against time (as divided into three periods-before, during, and after reimbursement) to estimate the effect of providing mailing cost reimbursements on reporting timeliness. We observed significant decreases in the number of days between diagnosis and reporting of a case, which were sustained after the reimbursement period ended, in 25 of the 31 health districts included in the analysis. We observed a significant initial decrease (during the reimbursement period) followed by a significant increase in the after-reimbursement phase in one health district. Two health districts had a significant initial decrease, while one health district had a significant decrease in reporting timeliness in the period after reimbursement. Two health districts showed no significant changes in the number of days to report to the central office. Providing reimbursements for mailing costs was statistically associated with improved STD reporting timeliness in almost all of Virginia's health districts. Sustained improvement after the reimbursement period ended is likely indicative of improved local health department reporting habits.

Seed crops of forest trees in the pine region of California

Treesearch

H.A Fowells; G.H. Schubert

1956-01-01

To provide a better basis for silvicultural practices in the pine region of California, we are reporting the results of 28 years of study of seed crops. The study covered the development of cones, periodicity of cone crops, types of trees bearing cones, climatic and biotic factors affecting cone crops, and the dispersal of seed. The findings reported here should help...

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. School District of Philadelphia. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. San Diego Unified School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

Community and Staff Surveys Conducted for the Sacramento City Unified School District. Summary Report [and] Appendices.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franz, Jennifer D.

Community and staff surveys, conducted in 1982, were commissioned by the Sacramento City (CA) Unified School District Board of Education as part of a project designed by the District's five high school principals. This report is limited to a presentation of the survey results. A subsequent report to be developed will present conclusions and any…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2011 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Austin Independent School District. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

This one-page report presents overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, scores at selected percentiles, average scores for district and large cities, results for student groups (school race, gender, and eligibility for National School Lunch Program) in 2011, and score gaps for student groups. In 2011, the average…

Characterization of scientific studies usually cited as evidence of adverse effects of GM food/feed.

PubMed

Sánchez, Miguel A; Parrott, Wayne A

2017-10-01

GM crops are the most studied crops in history. Approximately 5% of the safety studies on them show adverse effects that are a cause for concern and tend to be featured in media reports. Although these reports are based on just a handful of GM events, they are used to cast doubt on all GM crops. Furthermore, they tend to come from just a few laboratories and are published in less important journals. Importantly, a close examination of these reports invariably shows methodological flaws that invalidate any conclusions of adverse effects. Twenty years after commercial cultivation of GM crops began, a bona fide report of an adverse health effect due to a commercialized modification in a crop has yet to be reported. © 2017 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Education Service Districts in Oregon. A Progress Report to the 61st Legislative Assembly, as Required by Chapter 445, Oregon Laws 1979, House Bill 2393, ORS 334.175 Sec. 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oregon State Dept. of Education, Salem.

Through a wide variety of programs and services, Oregon's 25 educational service districts (ESDs) link the state Department of Education with local school districts while helping districts provide a cost-effective education and fostering equal educational opportunity statewide. This report lists the general ESD programs and services required by…

Pests, diseases and crop protection practices in the smallholder sweetpotato production system of the highlands of Papua New Guinea

PubMed Central

Liu, Jian; Johnson, Anne C.; Woruba, Deane N.; Kirchhof, Gunnar; Fujinuma, Ryosuke; Sirabis, William; Jeffery, Yapo; Akkinapally, Ramakrishna

2016-01-01

Sweetpotato (Ipomea batatans) is a food crop of global significance. The storage roots and foliage of crop are attacked by a wide range of pests and diseases. Whilst these are generally well controlled in developed countries using approaches such as clean planting material and monitoring with pheromone traps to guide insecticide use, research into methods suitable for developing countries has lagged. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), sweetpotato is grown extensively as a subsistence crop and commercial production as a cash crop is developing. We report results from a survey of 33 smallholder producers located in the Highlands of PNG where the crop is of particular importance. Surveys of interviewees’ crops showed high levels of pest and disease impact to foliage, stems and storage roots, especially in crops that were several years old. Weevils (Curculionidae) were reportedly the most damaging pests and scab (caused by the fungus Elisnoe batatus) the most damaging disease. Most producers reported root damage from the former and foliar damage from the latter but the general level of knowledge of pest and disease types was low. Despite the apparency of pest and disease signs and symptoms and recognition of their importance by farmers, a large majority of producers reported practiced no active pest or disease management. This was despite low numbers of farmers reporting use of traditional cultural practices including phytosanitary measures and insecticidal plants that had the scope for far wider use. Only one respondent reported use of insecticide though pesticides were available in nearby cities. This low level of pest and disease management in most cases, likely due to paucity in biological and technical knowledge among growers, hampers efforts to establish food security and constrains the development of sweetpotato as a cash crop. PMID:27957387

Pests, diseases and crop protection practices in the smallholder sweetpotato production system of the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

PubMed

Gurr, Geoff M; Liu, Jian; Johnson, Anne C; Woruba, Deane N; Kirchhof, Gunnar; Fujinuma, Ryosuke; Sirabis, William; Jeffery, Yapo; Akkinapally, Ramakrishna

2016-01-01

Sweetpotato ( Ipomea batatans ) is a food crop of global significance. The storage roots and foliage of crop are attacked by a wide range of pests and diseases. Whilst these are generally well controlled in developed countries using approaches such as clean planting material and monitoring with pheromone traps to guide insecticide use, research into methods suitable for developing countries has lagged. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), sweetpotato is grown extensively as a subsistence crop and commercial production as a cash crop is developing. We report results from a survey of 33 smallholder producers located in the Highlands of PNG where the crop is of particular importance. Surveys of interviewees' crops showed high levels of pest and disease impact to foliage, stems and storage roots, especially in crops that were several years old. Weevils (Curculionidae) were reportedly the most damaging pests and scab (caused by the fungus Elisnoe batatus ) the most damaging disease. Most producers reported root damage from the former and foliar damage from the latter but the general level of knowledge of pest and disease types was low. Despite the apparency of pest and disease signs and symptoms and recognition of their importance by farmers, a large majority of producers reported practiced no active pest or disease management. This was despite low numbers of farmers reporting use of traditional cultural practices including phytosanitary measures and insecticidal plants that had the scope for far wider use. Only one respondent reported use of insecticide though pesticides were available in nearby cities. This low level of pest and disease management in most cases, likely due to paucity in biological and technical knowledge among growers, hampers efforts to establish food security and constrains the development of sweetpotato as a cash crop.

Catchment Area Treatment (CAT) Plan and Crop Area Optimization for Integrated Management in a Water Resource Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaiswal, R. K.; Thomas, T.; Galkate, R. V.; Ghosh, N. C.; Singh, S.

2013-09-01

A scientifically developed catchment area treatment (CAT) plan and optimized pattern of crop areas may be the key for sustainable development of water resource, profitability in agriculture and improvement of overall economy in drought affected Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh (India). In this study, an attempt has been made to develop a CAT plan using spatial variation of geology, geomorphology, soil, drainage, land use in geographical information system for selection of soil and water conservation measures and crop area optimization using linear programming for maximization of return considering water availability, area affinity, fertilizers, social and market constraints in Benisagar reservoir project of Chhatarpur district (M.P.). The scientifically developed CAT plan based on overlaying of spatial information consists of 58 mechanical measure (49 boulder bunds, 1 check dam, 7 cully plug and 1 percolation tank), 2.60 km2 land for agro forestry, 2.08 km2 land for afforestation in Benisagar dam and 67 mechanical measures (45 boulder bunds and 22 gully plugs), 7.79 km2 land for agro forestry, 5.24 km2 land for afforestation in Beniganj weir catchment with various agronomic measures for agriculture areas. The linear programming has been used for optimization of crop areas in Benisagar command for sustainable development considering various scenarios of water availability, efficiencies, affinity and fertilizers availability in the command. Considering present supply condition of water, fertilizers, area affinity and making command self sufficient in most of crops, the net benefit can be increase to Rs. 1.93 crores from 41.70 km2 irrigable area in Benisagar command by optimizing cropping pattern and reducing losses during conveyance and application of water.

Buckeye Union High School District. Report of Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arizona State Univ., Tempe. Bureau of Educational Research and Services.

Embracing 4 Arizona elementary school districts (Arlington, Buckeye, Liberty, and Palo Verde) visited by consultants for evaluative purposes, this report presents information about and recommendations for the elementary schools in the Buckeye Union High School District. Summaries on the educational programs (language arts, social studies,…

Effects of dynamic agricultural decision making in an ecohydrological model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reichenau, T. G.; Krimly, T.; Schneider, K.

2012-04-01

Due to various interdependencies between the cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen, and energy the impacts of climate change on ecohydrological systems can only be investigated in an integrative way. Furthermore, the human intervention in the environmental processes makes the system even more complex. On the one hand human impact affects natural systems. On the other hand the changing natural systems have a feedback on human decision making. One of the most important examples for this kind of interaction can be found in the agricultural sector. Management dates (planting, fertilization, harvesting) are chosen based on meteorological conditions and yield expectations. A faster development of crops under a warmer climate causes shorter cropping seasons. The choice of crops depends on their profitability, which is mainly determined by market prizes, the agro-political framework, and the (climate dependent) crop yield. This study investigates these relations for the district Günzburg located in the Upper Danube catchment in southern Germany. The modeling system DANUBIA was used to perform dynamically coupled simulations of plant growth, surface and soil hydrological processes, soil nitrogen transformations, and agricultural decision making. The agro-economic model simulates decisions on management dates (based on meteorological conditions and the crops' development state), on fertilization intensities (based on yield expectations), and on choice of crops (based on profitability). The environmental models included in DANUBIA are to a great extent process based to enable its use in a climate change scenario context. Scenario model runs until 2058 were performed using an IPCC A1B forcing. In consecutive runs, dynamic crop management, dynamic crop selection, and a changing agro-political framework were activated. Effects of these model features on hydrological and ecological variables were analyzed separately by comparing the results to a model run with constant crop distribution and constant management. Results show that the influence of the modeled dynamic management adaptation on variables like transpiration, carbon uptake, or nitrate leaching from the vadose zone is stronger than the influence of a dynamic choice of crops. Climate change was found to have a stronger impact on this modeled choice of crops than the agro-political framework. These results suggest that scenario studies in areas with a large share of arable land should take into account management adaptations to changing climate.

Title III Project in Outdoor and Conservation Education; School Districts, Town of North Hempstead. Project Summary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmierer, Hy

The document contains Part II, Narrative Report for End of Budget Period, and Part III, End of Year Evaluation Report, for the school districts of North Hempstead, New York. During the period from September of 1968 to September of 1969, under funds from Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the North Hempstead districts began…

Faculty Compensation Report, 1973-1974.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuyahoga Community Coll., Cleveland, OH.

The results of a survey made of faculty compensation and instructional load policy in junior colleges are presented. A total of 34 community-junior college districts were sent a questionnaire, to which 22 district offices, representing 47 colleges, and 1 college not representing a district replied. Institutions were asked to report the number of…

Districts' Efficiency Evaluated in Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samuels, Christina A.

2011-01-01

A report from a progressive think tank measuring the "educational productivity" of more than 9,000 school districts around the country says that districts getting the most for their money tend to spend more on teachers and less on administration, partner with their communities to save money, and have school boards willing to make…

The CAI/Cooperative Learning Project. First Year Evaluation Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beyer, Francine S.

This report presents a first year evaluation of the Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)/ Cooperative Learning Project, a 3-year collaborative effort by two Pennsylvania school districts--the Pittston Area School District and the Hatboro-Horsham School District--and Research for Better Schools (RBS). The project proposed to integrate advanced…

Water-resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Utah, October 1, 1993, to September 30, 1994

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hardy, Ellen E.; Dragos, Stefanie L.

1996-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from October 1, 1993, to September 30, 1994. The water-resources program in Utah during this period consisted of 21 projects; a discussion of each project is presented in the main body of this report.The following sections outline the origin of the U.S. Geological Survey, the basic mission of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, office addresses of the Utah District, the distribution of District funding in terms of source of funds and type of activity funded, and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from October 1993 to September 1994.

An Analysis of a High Performing School District's Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corum, Kenneth D.; Schuetz, Todd B.

2012-01-01

This report describes a problem based learning project focusing on the cultural elements of a high performing school district. Current literature on school district culture provides numerous cultural elements that are present in high performing school districts. With the current climate in education placing pressure on school districts to perform…

East Europe Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-06-19

deputy chairman. 74. Vidin Electoral District. Kiril Dimitrov Zarev, BCP Central Committee secretary. 75. Vidin Electoral District. Georgi Vulkanov...Blagoevgrad. 4. Simitli Electoral District. Boris Dimitrov Karanfilov, BCP Central Committee member, deputy minister of national defense. 5. Strumyan...Electoral District. Emiliya Mircheva Kostova, chairman okrug BZNS management. 6. Sandanski Electoral District. Lalyu Ivanov Dimitrov , BCP Central

Systematic Research and Evaluation in a Rural Pennsylvania School District.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leopold, Greg; And Others

This report summarizes the evaluation of a rural school district in Pennsylvania and offers recommendations reflecting the district's goals for school improvement and construction. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to identify curricular needs of the district and individual schools; review and assess district facilities with respect…

Water-resources activities in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, July 1, 1987 to September 30, 1988

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dragos, Stefanie L.; Gates, Joseph S.

1989-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from July 1, 1987, to September 30, 1988. The program in Utah during this period consisted of 29 projects; a discussion of each project is given in the main body of the report. Short descriptions are given at the end of the report for three projects proposed to be started on or after October 1, 1988. The following sections outline the basic mission and program of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, the distribution of District funding in terms of source of funds and type of activity funded, and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from July 1987 to September 1988.

Water-resources activities in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey: July 1, 1986, to June 30, 1987

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dragos, Stefanie L.

1988-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from July 1, 1986 to June 30, 1987. The program in Utah during this period consisted of 24 projects; a discussion of each project is given in the main body of the report. Short descriptions are given at the end of the report for six projects proposed to be started on or after July 1987. The following sections outline the basic mission and program of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, the distribution of District funding in terms of source of funds and type of activity funded, and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from July 1986 to June 1987.

Water-resources activities in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, July 1, 1985, to June 30, 1986

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gates, Joseph S.; Dragos, Stefanie L.

1987-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from July 1, 1985 to June 30, 1986. The program in Utah during this period consisted of 22 projects, and a discussion of each project is given in the main body of the report. Short descriptions are given at the end of the report for six proposed projects to be started on or after July 1986. The following sections outline the basic mission and program of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, the distribution of District funding in terms of source of funds and type of activity funded, and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from July 1985 to June 1986.

The Prevalence of Stress-Related Disorders in BC School Districts. BCTF Research Report: Part of the BCTF Information Handbook. Section XII. 2009-WLC-01

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naylor, Charlie; Vint, Amber

2009-01-01

This paper presents British Columbia Teachers' Federation's (BCTF) research report that has produced tables which allow the BCTF and its locals to consider the prevalence of Salary Indemnity Plan (SIP) claims by school district. While the data shown in this report indicate high prevalence of stress in some school districts, they actually…

Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 2005-06. Statistical Analysis Report. NCES 2008-339

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garofano, Anthony; Sable, Jennifer

2008-01-01

This report describes the characteristics of the 100 largest public elementary and secondary school districts in the United States and its jurisdictions. These districts are defined as the 100 largest according to the size of their student population. The information in this report was provided by state education agency officials to the National…

Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 2008-09. Statistical Analysis Report. NCES 2011-301

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sable, Jennifer; Plotts, Chris; Mitchell, Lindsey

2010-01-01

This report describes the characteristics of the 100 largest public elementary and secondary school districts in the United States and its jurisdictions. These districts are defined as the 100 largest according to the size of their student population. The information in this report was provided by state education agency officials to the National…

Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 2007-08. Statistical Analysis Report. NCES 2010-349

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plotts, Chris; Sable, Jennifer

2010-01-01

This report describes the characteristics of the 100 largest public elementary and secondary school districts in the United States and its jurisdictions. These districts are defined as the 100 largest according to the size of their student population. The information in this report was provided by state education agency officials to the National…

The copper-cobalt deposits of the Quartzburg district, Grant County, Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vhay, John Stewart

1960-01-01

The copper- and cobalt-bearing veins of part of the Quartzburg district are in fracture zones trending about N. 70 degrees E. in folded Permian (?) metavolcanic rocks on the southwest side of a quartz diorite stock. Along many of the veins fine-grained tourmaline and quartz have replaced the country rock. The primary ore minerals are chalcopyrite, glaucodot, safflorite, and cobaltite. The copper- and cobalt-rich parts of the deposits appear to be in separate ore shoots. Gold content is generally higher in the cobalt-bearing parts of the veins than in the copper-rich parts. The Standard mine has developed part of one vein zone. Several other vein zones that crop out may contain as much copper as the Standard vein zone. Further bulldozing and diamond drilling on the surface, and more geologic mapping, sampling, and diamond drilling underground are suggested as means to explore for more ore deposits.

Assessing the Impacts of Decadal Socio-Agro-Hydro Climatic Variations on Agricultural Vulnerability over India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohanty, M. P.; Sharma, T.; Ghosh, S.; Karmakar, S.

2017-12-01

Among both rice and wheat producing countries, India holds one of the major global shares in terms of production. However, with rising population, economic variability, and increasing food demand, it has become indispensable to strategically assess the food security of the nation, particularly under changing climatic conditions. This can be achieved by improving knowledge on the impacts of climate change on crop growth and yield through understanding the current status of agricultural vulnerability and quantifying its decadal changes. The present research focuses on assessing the observed decadal changes in agricultural vulnerability over India, at a district-scale. In the study, the deliberation of multiple climatic, hydrologic, agricultural indicators will majorly facilitate evaluating their direct/indirect influence on the crop production. In addition, a set of socio-economic indicators will also be considered to understand the attribution of these factors on the change in agricultural vulnerability. Here, these indicators will be integrated into a multivariate data envelopment analysis (DEA) framework to derive relative efficiency of each unit or district in crop production, which will be further transformed into a well-grounded agricultural vulnerability map. It has become essential to understand the influence of these indicators on agriculture, given that the extended periods of excessive/no rainfall or high/low temperature can alter the water cycle and hence cause stress on the agroecosystem. Likewise, change in the population density, main and marginal cultivators, main and marginal agriculture labours, improvement in management practices, or increase in power supply for agricultural use, can directly affect the food security of the region. Hence, this study will undoubtedly assist the decision-makers/strategists by highlighting the agriculturally vulnerable regions over India. Consequently, it will reassure the farmers to define bottom-up approaches in terms of different management practices, to cope with the adverse climatic impacts.

Application of a partitioning procedure based on Rao quadratic entropy index to characterize the temporal evolution of in situ varietal and genetic diversity of bread wheat in France over the period 1981-2006.

PubMed

Perronne, Rémi; Goldringer, Isabelle

2018-04-01

We present and highlight a partitioning procedure based on the Rao quadratic entropy index to assess temporal in situ inter-annual varietal and genetic changes of crop diversity. For decades, Western-European agroecosystems have undergone profound changes, among which a reduction of crop genetic diversity. These changes have been highlighted in numerous studies, but no unified partitioning procedure has been proposed to compute the inter-annual variability in both varietal and genetic diversity. To fill this gap, we tested, adjusted and applied a partitioning procedure based on the Rao quadratic entropy index that made possible to describe the different components of crop diversity as well as to account for the relative acreages of varieties. To emphasize the relevance of this procedure, we relied on a case study focusing on the temporal evolution of bread wheat diversity in France over the period 1981-2006 at both national and district scales. At the national scale, we highlighted a decrease of the weighted genetic replacement indicating that varieties sown in the most recent years were more genetically similar than older ones. At the district scale, we highlighted sudden changes in weighted genetic replacement in some agricultural regions that could be due to fast shifts of successive leading varieties over time. Other regions presented a relatively continuous increase of genetic similarity over time, potentially due to the coexistence of a larger number of co-leading varieties that got closer genetically. Based on the partitioning procedure, we argue that a tendency of in situ genetic homogenization could be compared to some of its potential causes, such as a decrease in the speed of replacement or an increase in between-variety genetic similarity over time.

75 FR 24967 - Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-06

...Section 206 of the ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3204) requires the Commission to report biennially to the Congress by September 30 of each reporting year on the economic impact of the Act on U.S. industries and U.S. consumers, as well as on the effectiveness of the Act in promoting drug related crop eradication and crop substitution efforts by beneficiary countries. The Commission prepares these reports under investigation No. 332-352, Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication.

77 FR 28620 - Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-15

...Section 206 of the ATPA (19 U.S.C. 3204) requires the Commission to report biennially to the Congress by September 30 of each reporting year on the economic impact of the Act on U.S. industries and U.S. consumers, as well as on the effectiveness of the Act in promoting drug related crop eradication and crop substitution efforts by beneficiary countries. The Commission prepares these reports under investigation No. 332-352, Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Andean Drug Crop Eradication.

Quantifying long-term responses of crop yield and nitrate leaching in an intensive farmland using agro-eco-environmental model.

PubMed

Sun, Mei; Huo, Zailin; Zheng, Yanxia; Dai, Xiaoqin; Feng, Shaoyuan; Mao, Xiaomin

2018-02-01

Quantitatively ascertaining and analyzing long-term responses of crop yield and nitrate leaching on varying irrigation and fertilization treatments are focal points for guaranteeing crop yield and reducing nitrogen loss. The calibrated agricultural-hydrological RZWQM2 model was used to explore the long-term (2003-2013) transport processes of water and nitrogen and the nitrate leaching amount into groundwater in summer maize and winter wheat rotation field in typical intensive plant area in the North China Plain, Daxing district of Beijing. Simulation results showed that application rates of irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer have couple effects on crop yields and nitrogen leaching of root zone. When both the irrigation and fertilizer for summer maize and winter wheat were 400mm and 400kgNha -1 , respectively, nitrate leaching into groundwater accounted for 47.9% of application amount of nitrogen fertilizer. When application amount of irrigation is 200mm and fertilization is 200kgNha -1 , NUPE (nitrogen uptake efficiency), NUE (nitrogen use efficiency), NPFP (nitrogen partial factor productivity), and W pi (irrigation water productive efficiency) were in general higher than that under other irrigation and fertilization condition (irrigation from 104-400mm, fertilizer 104-400kgNha -1 ). Irrigation bigger than 200mm could shorten the response time of nitrate leaching in deeper soil layer in different irrigation treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using Bayesian methods to predict climate impacts on groundwater availability and agricultural production in Punjab, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, T. A.; Devineni, N.; Lall, U.

2015-12-01

Lasting success of the Green Revolution in Punjab, India relies on continued availability of local water resources. Supplying primarily rice and wheat for the rest of India, Punjab supports crop irrigation with a canal system and groundwater, which is vastly over-exploited. The detailed data required to physically model future impacts on water supplies agricultural production is not readily available for this region, therefore we use Bayesian methods to estimate hydrologic properties and irrigation requirements for an under-constrained mass balance model. Using measured values of historical precipitation, total canal water delivery, crop yield, and water table elevation, we present a method using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm to solve for a distribution of values for each unknown parameter in a conceptual mass balance model. Due to heterogeneity across the state, and the resolution of input data, we estimate model parameters at the district-scale using spatial pooling. The resulting model is used to predict the impact of precipitation change scenarios on groundwater availability under multiple cropping options. Predicted groundwater declines vary across the state, suggesting that crop selection and water management strategies should be determined at a local scale. This computational method can be applied in data-scarce regions across the world, where water resource management is required to resolve competition between food security and available resources in a changing climate.

Effects of urban sprawl on arthropod communities in peri-urban farmed landscape in Shenbei New District, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China.

PubMed

Bian, Zhen-Xing; Wang, Shuai; Wang, Qiu-Bing; Yu, Miao; Qian, Feng-Kui

2018-01-08

Peri-urban farmland provides a diversity of ecological services. However, it is experiencing increasing pressures from urban sprawl. While the effects of land use associated with farming on arthropod assemblages has received increasing attention, most of this research has been conducted by comparing conventional and organic cropping systems. The present study identifies the effects of urban sprawl and the role of non-cropped habitat in defining arthropod diversity in peri-urban farmed landscapes. Multi-scale arthropod data from 30 sampling plots were used with linear-mixed models to elucidate the effects of distance from urban areas (0-13 km; 13-25 km and >25 km, zones I, II, and III, respectively) on arthropods. Results showed that urban sprawl, disturbed farm landscapes, and disturbance in non-cropped habitats had negative effects on arthropods, the latter requiring arthropods to re-establish annually from surrounding landscapes via dispersal. While arthropod species richness showed no obvious changes, arthropod abundance was lowest in zone II. Generally, patch density (PD), Shannon diversity index (SHDI), and aggregate index (AI) of non-cropped habitat were major drivers of changes in arthropod populations. This study contributes to identifying the effects of urban sprawl on arthropod diversity and documenting the multiple functions of farm landscapes in peri-urban regions.

Environmental Kuznets Curve Analysis of the Economic Development and Nonpoint Source Pollution in the Ningxia Yellow River Irrigation Districts in China

PubMed Central

Mao, Chunlan; Zhai, Ningning; Yang, Jingchao; Feng, Yongzhong; Cao, Yanchun; Han, Xinhui; Ren, Guangxin; Yang, Gaihe; Meng, Qing-xiang

2013-01-01

This study applies the environmental Kuznets curve to test the relationship between the regional economic growth and the different types of agricultural nonpoint source pollution loads in the Ningxia Yellow River irrigation area by using the Johnes export coefficient method. Results show that the pollution load generated by crop cultivation and livestock-breeding industries in the Ningxia Yellow River irrigation area shows an inverted U-shaped feature; however, this feature is absent in living-sewage pollution load. Crop pollution has shown a decreasing trend since 1997 because of the increased per capita income of farmers. Livestock-breeding pollution load reached its turning point when the per capita income of farmers reached 8386.74 RMB. Therefore, an increase in the per capita income of farmers corresponds to an increase in the livestock-breeding pollution load in the Ningxia Yellow River irrigation area. PMID:24171160

Environmental Kuznets curve analysis of the economic development and nonpoint source pollution in the Ningxia Yellow River irrigation districts in China.

PubMed

Mao, Chunlan; Zhai, Ningning; Yang, Jingchao; Feng, Yongzhong; Cao, Yanchun; Han, Xinhui; Ren, Guangxin; Yang, Gaihe; Meng, Qing-xiang

2013-01-01

This study applies the environmental Kuznets curve to test the relationship between the regional economic growth and the different types of agricultural nonpoint source pollution loads in the Ningxia Yellow River irrigation area by using the Johnes export coefficient method. Results show that the pollution load generated by crop cultivation and livestock-breeding industries in the Ningxia Yellow River irrigation area shows an inverted U-shaped feature; however, this feature is absent in living-sewage pollution load. Crop pollution has shown a decreasing trend since 1997 because of the increased per capita income of farmers. Livestock-breeding pollution load reached its turning point when the per capita income of farmers reached 8386.74 RMB. Therefore, an increase in the per capita income of farmers corresponds to an increase in the livestock-breeding pollution load in the Ningxia Yellow River irrigation area.

Scenario planning for water resource management in semi arid zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Rajiv; Kumar, Gaurav

2018-06-01

Scenario planning for water resource management in semi arid zone is performed using systems Input-Output approach of time domain analysis. This approach derived the future weights of input variables of the hydrological system from their precedent weights. Input variables considered here are precipitation, evaporation, population and crop irrigation. Ingles & De Souza's method and Thornthwaite model have been used to estimate runoff and evaporation respectively. Difference between precipitation inflow and the sum of runoff and evaporation has been approximated as groundwater recharge. Population and crop irrigation derived the total water demand. Compensation of total water demand by groundwater recharge has been analyzed. Further compensation has been evaluated by proposing efficient methods of water conservation. The best measure to be adopted for water conservation is suggested based on the cost benefit analysis. A case study for nine villages in Chirawa region of district Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan (India) validates the model.

Study on ground water characteristics and the effects of discharged effluents from textile units at Karur District.

PubMed

Kannan, V; Ramesh, R; Sasikumar, C

2005-04-01

A study was made on the physico-chemical characteristics of water samples mixed with effluent discharged from textile industries at Chellandipalayam (Site--I), Senaparatti (Site--II) and Pasupathipalayam (Sites--III and IV) revealed the elevated levels of Ca, Mg, Na, Cr, K, Ni, Cu, Zn, CO3, SO4, NO3 and Cl- . The concentrations of these ions exceeded the limit prescribed by ISI. The increase in the concentrations of ions was revealed by higher values of electrical conductivity (EC). Water at these sites was found to be hard, brackish and unsuitable for drinking purpose. In all these sites, the seed germination of rice alone was significantly affected among the other crops tested. Irrigation of crops with ground water notably lowered the quantity of reserve food in rice, wheat (starch), and sugarcane (sugar), indicating the interference of their metabolic pathway by polluted ground water.

Yield Mapping for Different Crops in Sudano-Sahelian Smallholder Farming Systems: Results Based on Metric Worldview and Decametric SPOT-5 Take5 Time Series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blaes, X.; Lambert, M.-J.; Chome, G.; Traore, P. S.; de By, R. A.; Defourny, P.

2016-08-01

Efficient yield mapping in Sudano-Sahelian Africa, characterized by a very heterogeneous landscape, is crucial to help ensure food security and decrease smallholder farmers' vulnerability. Thanks to an unprecedented in-situ data and HR and VHR remote sensing time series collected in the Koutiala district (in south-eastern Mali), the yield and some key factors of yield estimation were estimated. A crop-specific biomass map was derived with a mean absolute error of 20% using metric WorldView and 25% using decametric SPOT-5 TAKE5 image time series. The very high intra- and inter-field heterogeneity was captured efficiently. The presence of trees in the fields led to a general overestimation of yields, while the mixed pixels at the field borders introduced noise in the biomass predictions.

A Multilevel, Statewide Investigation of School District Anti-Bullying Policy Quality and Student Bullying Involvement.

PubMed

Gower, Amy L; Cousin, Molly; Borowsky, Iris W

2017-03-01

Although nearly all states in the United States require school districts to adopt anti-bullying policies, little research examines the effect of these policies on student bullying and health. Using a statewide sample, we investigated associations between the quality of school district anti-bullying policies and student bullying involvement and adjustment. School district anti-bullying policies (N = 208) were coded for their quality based on established criteria. District-level data were combined with student reports of bullying involvement, emotional distress, and school connectedness from a state surveillance survey of 6th, 9th, and 12th grade students (N = 93,437). Results indicated that policy quality was positively related to bullying victimization. Furthermore, students reporting frequent perpetration/victimization who also attended districts with high-quality policies reported more emotional distress and less school connectedness compared with students attending districts with low quality policies. Although statistically significant, the magnitude of these associations was small. Having a high-quality school district anti-bullying policy is not sufficient to reduce bullying and protect bullying-involved young people. Future studies examining policy implementation will inform best practices in bullying prevention. © 2017, American School Health Association.

Examination of Resource Allocation in Education: Connecting Spending to Student Performance. Research Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pan, Diane; Rudo, Zena H.; Schneider, Cynthia L.; Smith-Hansen, Lotte

This document reports on a study on the relationship between resources and student performance. The study examined district-level patterns of resource allocation, district and school resource practices implemented to improve student performance, and barriers and challenges to efficient resource allocation faced by districts and schools. The study…

School Performance Review: Port Arthur Independent School District. A Report from the Texas Performance Review.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharp, John

This report provides a performance review of a Texas school district. For the review, investigators interviewed district employees, school-board members, students, parents, business leaders, and representatives from community organizations. The review team also held public forums, conducted focus-group sessions and personal interviews, surveyed…

Build Bridge Believe: Houston Independent School District 2012-2013 Annual Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houston Independent School District, 2013

2013-01-01

This report provides standard facts and figures about the Houston Independent School District's (HISD) finances, student populations, achievements, and more. HISD has humanized that data, as well, with vignettes and profiles that typify the remarkable programs and individuals in the district. One of the three drivers to achieve the vision of…

Humans as Sensors: Assessing the Information Value of Qualitative Farmer's Crop Condition Surveys for Crop Yield Monitoring and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beguería, S.

2017-12-01

While large efforts are devoted to developing crop status monitoring and yield forecasting systems trough the use of Earth observation data (mostly remotely sensed satellite imagery) and observational and modeled weather data, here we focus on the information value of qualitative data on crop status from direct observations made by humans. This kind of data has a high value as it reflects the expert opinion of individuals directly involved in the development of the crop. However, they have issues that prevent their direct use in crop monitoring and yield forecasting systems, such as their non-spatially explicit nature, or most importantly their qualitative nature. Indeed, while the human brain is good at categorizing the status of physical systems in terms of qualitative scales (`very good', `good', `fair', etcetera), it has difficulties in quantifying it in physical units. This has prevented the incorporation of this kind of data into systems that make extensive use of numerical information. Here we show an example of using qualitative crop condition data to estimate yields of the most important crops in the US early in the season. We use USDA weekly crop condition reports, which are based on a sample of thousands of reporters including mostly farmers and people in direct contact with them. These reporters provide subjective evaluations of crop conditions, in a scale including five levels ranging from `very poor' to `excellent'. The USDA report indicates, for each state, the proportion of reporters fort each condition level. We show how is it possible to model the underlying non-observed quantitative variable that reflects the crop status on each state, and how this model is consistent across states and years. Furthermore, we show how this information can be used to monitor the status of the crops and to produce yield forecasts early in the season. Finally, we discuss approaches for blending this information source with other, more classical earth data sources such as remote sensing or weather data, in the context of hierarchical regression models.

Analysis of Superintendent Longevity in Large School Districts: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mouton, Nikki Golar

2013-01-01

School district leadership matters, as evidenced by a meta-analysis of 27 reports and 1,210 districts conducted by Waters and Marzano (2006) which highlights a statistically significant correlation between district leadership and student achievement. Because this relationship is significant, it is important for school districts to have effective…

Water-resources activities in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, October 1, 1989, to September 30, 1990

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gates, Joseph S.; Dragos, Stefanie L.

1991-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from October 1, 1989, to September 30, 1990. The program in Utah during this period consisted of 25 projects; a discussion of each project is given in the body of the report.The following sections outline the basic mission and program of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, the distribution of District funding in terms of source of funds and type of activity funded, and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from October 1989 to September 1990.

Water-resources activities in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, October 1, 1988, to September 30, 1989

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gates, Joseph S.; Dragos, Stefanie L.

1990-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from October 1, 1988, to September 30, 1989. The program in Utah during this period consisted of 21 projects; a discussion of each project is given in the main body of the report. The following sections outline the basic mission and program of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, the distribution of District funding in terms of source of funds and type of activity funded, and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from October 1988 to September 1989.

A Research Report of Small/Rural School Districts in New Mexico Compared to School Districts of Similiar Size Nationwide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barker, Bruce O.; Muse, Ivan D.

A 1982-83 survey produced data used to compare 17 small/rural K-12 New Mexico school districts (900 students or fewer) with 642 similar districts nationwide. Of New Mexico's 88 school districts, 43 were identified as qualifying (48.9%, enrolling 16,648 students), for comparison to 4,125 similar districts nationwide. A questionnaire mailed to…

Relevance of Indian Summer Monsoon and its Tropical Indo-Pacific Climate Drivers for the Kharif Crop Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amat, Hemadri Bhusan; Karumuri, Ashok

2017-12-01

While the Indian agriculture has earlier been dependent on the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR), a multifold increase in irrigation and storage facilities raise a question whether the ISMR is still as relevant. We revisit this question using the latest observational climate datasets as well as the crop production data and find that the ISMR is still relevant for the Kharif crop production (KCP). In addition, in the recent changes in the tropical Indo-Pacific driver evolutions and frequency, particularly more frequent occurrence of the ENSO Modokis in place of the canonical ENSOs, we carry out a correlation analysis to estimate the impact of the various Indo-Pacific climate drivers on the rainfall of individual Indian states for the period 1998-2013, for which crop production data for the most productive Indian states, namely West Bengal, Odisha, United Andhra Pradesh (UAP), Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are available. The results suggest that the KCP of the respective states are significantly correlated with the summer monsoon rainfall at the 95-99% confidence levels. Importantly, we find that the NINO 3.4 and ENSO Modoki indices have a statistically significant correlation with the KCP of most of the Indian states, particularly in states such as UAP and Karnataka, through induction of anomalous local convergence/divergence, well beyond the equatorial Indian Ocean. The KCP of districts in UAP also has a significant response to all the climate drivers, having implication for prediction of local crop yield.

2001 District 4 HOV report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-02-01

The ANNUAL HOVL REPORT is prepared by the Office of Highway Operations in : District 4 of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). This report : contains information concerning the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on : the San Franci...

A National Crop Progress Monitoring and Decision Support System Based on NASA Earth Science Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di, L.; Yang, Z.

2009-12-01

Timely and accurate information on weekly crop progress and development is essential to a dynamic agricultural industry in the U. S. and the world. By law, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) is responsible for monitoring and assessing U.S. agricultural production. Currently NASS compiles and issues weekly state and national crop progress and development reports based on reports from knowledgeable state and county agricultural officials and farmers. Such survey-based reports are subjectively estimated for an entire county, lack spatial coverage, and are labor intensive. There has been limited use of remote sensing data to assess crop conditions. NASS produces weekly 1-km resolution un-calibrated AVHRR-based NDVI static images to represent national vegetation conditions but there is no quantitative crop progress information. This presentation discusses the early result for developing a National Crop Progress Monitoring and Decision Support System. The system will overcome the shortcomings of the existing systems by integrating NASA satellite and model-based land surface and weather products, NASS’ wealth of internal crop progress and condition data and Cropland Data Layers (CDL), and the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Common Land Units (CLU). The system, using service-oriented architecture and web service technologies, will automatically produce and disseminate quantitative national crop progress maps and associated decision support data at 250-m resolution, as well as summary reports to support NASS and worldwide users in their decision-making. It will provide overall and specific crop progress for individual crops from the state level down to CLU field level to meet different users’ needs on all known croplands. This will greatly enhance the effectiveness and accuracy of the NASS aggregated crop condition data and charts of and provides objective and scientific evidence and guidance for the adjustment of NASS survey data. This presentation will discuss the architecture, Earth observation data, and the crop progress model used in the decision support system.

Radioactivity in food crops

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Drury, J.S.; Baldauf, M.F.; Daniel, E.W.

Published levels of radioactivity in food crops from 21 countries and 4 island chains of Oceania are listed. The tabulation includes more than 3000 examples of 100 different crops. Data are arranged alphabetically by food crop and geographical origin. The sampling date, nuclide measured, mean radioactivity, range of radioactivities, sample basis, number of samples analyzed, and bibliographic citation are given for each entry, when available. Analyses were reported most frequently for /sup 137/Cs, /sup 40/K, /sup 90/Sr, /sup 226/Ra, /sup 228/Ra, plutonium, uranium, total alpha, and total beta, but a few authors also reported data for /sup 241/Am, /sup 7/Be,more » /sup 60/Co, /sup 55/Fe, /sup 3/H, /sup 131/I, /sup 54/Mn, /sup 95/Nb, /sup 210/Pb, /sup 210/Po, /sup 106/Ru, /sup 125/Sb, /sup 228/Th, /sup 232/Th, and /sup 95/Zr. Based on the reported data it appears that radioactivity from alpha emitters in food crops is usually low, on the order of 0.1 Bq.g/sup -1/ (wet weight) or less. Reported values of beta radiation in a given crop generally appear to be several orders of magnitude greater than those of alpha emitters. The most striking aspect of the data is the great range of radioactivity reported for a given nuclide in similar food crops with different geographical origins.« less

Assessing patterns of human-wildlife conflicts and compensation around a Central Indian protected area.

PubMed

Karanth, Krithi K; Gopalaswamy, Arjun M; DeFries, Ruth; Ballal, Natasha

2012-01-01

Mitigating crop and livestock loss to wildlife and improving compensation distribution are important for conservation efforts in landscapes where people and wildlife co-occur outside protected areas. The lack of rigorously collected spatial data poses a challenge to management efforts to minimize loss and mitigate conflicts. We surveyed 735 households from 347 villages in a 5154 km(2) area surrounding Kanha Tiger Reserve in India. We modeled self-reported household crop and livestock loss as a function of agricultural, demographic and environmental factors, and mitigation measures. We also modeled self-reported compensation received by households as a function of demographic factors, conflict type, reporting to authorities, and wildlife species involved. Seventy-three percent of households reported crop loss and 33% livestock loss in the previous year, but less than 8% reported human injury or death. Crop loss was associated with greater number of cropping months per year and proximity to the park. Livestock loss was associated with grazing animals inside the park and proximity to the park. Among mitigation measures only use of protective physical structures were associated with reduced livestock loss. Compensation distribution was more likely for tiger related incidents, and households reporting loss and located in the buffer. Average estimated probability of crop loss was 0.93 and livestock loss was 0.60 for surveyed households. Estimated crop and livestock loss and compensation distribution were higher for households located inside the buffer. Our approach modeled conflict data to aid managers in identifying potential conflict hotspots, influential factors, and spatially maps risk probability of crop and livestock loss. This approach could help focus allocation of conservation efforts and funds directed at conflict prevention and mitigation where high densities of people and wildlife co-occur.

Assessing Patterns of Human-Wildlife Conflicts and Compensation around a Central Indian Protected Area

PubMed Central

Karanth, Krithi K.; Gopalaswamy, Arjun M.; DeFries, Ruth; Ballal, Natasha

2012-01-01

Mitigating crop and livestock loss to wildlife and improving compensation distribution are important for conservation efforts in landscapes where people and wildlife co-occur outside protected areas. The lack of rigorously collected spatial data poses a challenge to management efforts to minimize loss and mitigate conflicts. We surveyed 735 households from 347 villages in a 5154 km2 area surrounding Kanha Tiger Reserve in India. We modeled self-reported household crop and livestock loss as a function of agricultural, demographic and environmental factors, and mitigation measures. We also modeled self-reported compensation received by households as a function of demographic factors, conflict type, reporting to authorities, and wildlife species involved. Seventy-three percent of households reported crop loss and 33% livestock loss in the previous year, but less than 8% reported human injury or death. Crop loss was associated with greater number of cropping months per year and proximity to the park. Livestock loss was associated with grazing animals inside the park and proximity to the park. Among mitigation measures only use of protective physical structures were associated with reduced livestock loss. Compensation distribution was more likely for tiger related incidents, and households reporting loss and located in the buffer. Average estimated probability of crop loss was 0.93 and livestock loss was 0.60 for surveyed households. Estimated crop and livestock loss and compensation distribution were higher for households located inside the buffer. Our approach modeled conflict data to aid managers in identifying potential conflict hotspots, influential factors, and spatially maps risk probability of crop and livestock loss. This approach could help focus allocation of conservation efforts and funds directed at conflict prevention and mitigation where high densities of people and wildlife co-occur. PMID:23227173

Mycotoxin contamination of home-grown maize in rural northern South Africa (Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces).

PubMed

Mngqawa, P; Shephard, G S; Green, I R; Ngobeni, S H; de Rijk, T C; Katerere, D R

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess mycotoxin contamination of crops grown by rural subsistence farmers over two seasons (2011 and 2012) in two districts, Vhembe District Municipality (VDM, Limpopo Province) and Gert Sibande District Municiality (GSDM, Mpumalanga Province), in northern South Africa and to evaluate its impact on farmers' productivity and human and animal health. A total of 114 maize samples were collected from 39 households over the two seasons and were analysed using a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry mycotoxins method. Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) occurrence ranged from 1 to 133 µg kg(-1) in VDM while AFB1 levels in GSDM were less than 1.0 µg kg(-1) in all maize samples. Fumonisin B1 levels ranged from 12 to 8514 µg kg(-1) (VDM) and 11-18924 µg kg(-1) (GSDM) in 92% and 47% positive samples, respectively, over both seasons. Natural occurrence and contamination with both fumonisins and aflatoxins in stored home-grown maize from VDM was significantly (p < 0.0001) higher than from GSDM over both seasons.

Shrimp Farming Practices in the Puttallam District of Sri Lanka: Implications for Disease Control, Industry Sustainability, and Rural Development

PubMed Central

Munasinghe, M. Nalaka; Stephen, Craig; Abeynayake, Preeni; Abeygunawardena, Indra S.

2010-01-01

Shrimp farming has great potential to diversify and secure income in rural Sri Lanka, but production has significantly declined in recent years due to civil conflicts, some unsustainable practices and devastating outbreaks of disease. We examined management practices affecting disease prevention and control in the Puttalam district to identify extension services outputs that could support sustainable development of Sri Lankan shrimp farming. A survey on 621 shrimp farms (603 operational and 18 nonoperational) was conducted within the Puttalam district over 42 weeks comprising a series of three-day field visits from August 2008 to October 2009, covering two consecutive shrimp crops. Fundamental deficits in disease control, management, and biosecurity practices were found. Farmers had knowledge of biosecurity but the lack of financial resources was a major impediment to improved disease control. Smallholder farmers were disproportionately constrained in their ability to enact basic biosecurity practices due to their economic status. Basic breaches in biosecurity will keep disease as the rate limiting step in this industry. Plans to support this industry must recognize the socioeconomic reality of rural Sri Lankan aquaculture. PMID:20847956

Case-control study of lung cancer among sugar cane farmers in India

PubMed Central

Amre, D. K.; Infante-Rivard, C.; Dufresne, A.; Durgawale, P. M.; Ernst, P.

1999-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the risk of lung cancer among sugar cane farmers and sugar mill workers. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted based in six hospitals in the predominantly sugar cane farming districts of the province of Maharashtra in India. Newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed cases were identified from these hospitals between May 1996 and April 1998. Other cancers were chosen as controls and matched to cases by age, sex, district of residence, and timing of diagnosis. RESULTS: Adjusting for confounders, an increased risk of lung cancer was found for workers ever employed on a sugar cane farm (odds ratio (OR) 1.92, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.08 to 3.40). Increased risks were found for work involving preparation of the farm (OR 1.81, 95% CI 0.99 to 3.27) and burning of the farm after harvesting (OR 1.82, 95% CI 0.99 to 3.34). Non-significant increases in risks were found for harvesting the crop (OR 1.41, 95% CI 0.70 to 2.90) and processing the cane in the mills (OR 1.70, 95% CI 0.20 to 12.60). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to fibres of biogenic amorphous silica (BAS) formed from silica absorbed from the soil and deposited in the leaves of the sugar cane crop or crystalline silica formed as a result of conversion of BAS to cristobalite at high temperatures may account for the increased risks of lung cancer among sugar cane farmers.   PMID:10492653

Statistical analysis of corn yields responding to climate variability at various spatio-temporal resolutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, H.; Lin, T.

2017-12-01

Rain-fed corn production systems are subject to sub-seasonal variations of precipitation and temperature during the growing season. As each growth phase has varied inherent physiological process, plants necessitate different optimal environmental conditions during each phase. However, this temporal heterogeneity towards climate variability alongside the lifecycle of crops is often simplified and fixed as constant responses in large scale statistical modeling analysis. To capture the time-variant growing requirements in large scale statistical analysis, we develop and compare statistical models at various spatial and temporal resolutions to quantify the relationship between corn yield and weather factors for 12 corn belt states from 1981 to 2016. The study compares three spatial resolutions (county, agricultural district, and state scale) and three temporal resolutions (crop growth phase, monthly, and growing season) to characterize the effects of spatial and temporal variability. Our results show that the agricultural district model together with growth phase resolution can explain 52% variations of corn yield caused by temperature and precipitation variability. It provides a practical model structure balancing the overfitting problem in county specific model and weak explanation power in state specific model. In US corn belt, precipitation has positive impact on corn yield in growing season except for vegetative stage while extreme heat attains highest sensitivity from silking to dough phase. The results show the northern counties in corn belt area are less interfered by extreme heat but are more vulnerable to water deficiency.

Improving irrigation management in L'Horta Nord (Valencia, Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pascual-Seva, Nuria; San Bautista, Alberto; López-Galarza, Salvador; Maroto, Jose Vicente; Pascual, Bernardo

2014-05-01

L'Horta Nord is an important irrigation district in Valencia (Spain), especially for vegetable crops. The traditional cropping pattern in the region consists of a rotation of chufa with crops such as potato, onion, lettuce, escarole and red cabbage, being all these crops furrow irrigated. Currently, the quality of the water used is acceptable, water is not expensive and there are no limitations on supply. Consequently, growers are not aware of the volumes of water used, application efficiencies, nor water productivity for any of the crops cited. The European Framework Directive 2000/60, based on the precautionary principle, considers preventive action for measures to be taken; moreover, drought periods are becoming more frequent and extended, and water is being diverted to other uses. Thus, water use is an issue to improve. In this sense, the current situation of the irrigation in the area is analysed using chufa (Cyperus esculentus L. var. sativus Boeck.) as representative of the crops, since most of the crops in the area have shallow root systems, as chufa, which are irrigated in similar patterns. In order to analyse the irrigation performance of the traditional chufa crop as well as to achieve more sustainable results, different studies have been carried out, during the last decade. Efforts have been directed to increase water productivity, increasing yield and minimising the volumes of water applied. Different planting configurations and different irrigation thresholds, not only in furrow irrigation but also in drip irrigation, are examples of how the irrigation performance could be improved. Herein is presented a two-year study, comparing, in both furrow and drip irrigation, two irrigation schedules based on the volumetric soil water content, which was continuously monitored using capacitance sensors. Yield was significantly affected by the growing season, the irrigation system and by the irrigation schedule, and by the second order interactions of the irrigation system with the other studied variables. Greater yields (p≤0.01) were obtained in the first growing season, drip irrigation and maintaining a higher soil moisture level. When considering the irrigation water use efficiency, the irrigation system showed significant differences (p≤0.01) with greater efficiencies for drip irrigation. Considering the homogeneity of the plots in the area and the similarities of the irrigation managements of chufa with the other crops, the results could be extended to most of the plots and crops in the area.

Effects of heavy metal pollution in the Pilcomayo river system Bolivia, on resident human populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudson-Edwards, K. A.; Miller, J. R.; Presto, D.; Lechler, P. J.; Macklin, M. G.; Miners, J. S.; Turner, J. N.

2003-05-01

The Pilcomayo river in Bolivia drains the Potosi mining district and flows downstream, exposing indigenous populations, who rely on the river for drinking water, irrigation and fish, to elevated levels of toxic metals. A preliminary analysis of agricultural soil and crops from four riverside Pilcomayo communities has shown that many agricultural fields are contaminated with heavy metals (Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, Zn) and arsenic(As) However, concentrations of these elements in most crops are within guideline values. Concentrations of metals and As in samples of drinking water are, for the most part, lower than concentrations in Pilcomayo river water taken at the respective communities, and the drinking water concentrations are within guideline values. Exceptions are Sb and As concentrations in two of the communities. In irrigation waters, Zn and Pb exceed recommended guideline values in two of the communities, and may lead to highZn and Pb values in some crops and soils. The work carried out to date suggests that the strategies used by these communities appear to considerably reduce their risks to exposure. Work is ongoing to develop more complex and effective strategies based on further geochemical analyses and social science surveys.

Analysis of Subak Landuse Change Due to Tourism Accomodation Development in North Kuta Sub-district, Badung Regency, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanya, I.; Dibia, I. N.; Diara, I. W.; Suarjaya, D. G.

2017-12-01

Subak is a traditional irrigation management system in Bali which governs the distribution of irrigation water into rice fields. The problems that occur in Subak in North Kuta Subdistrict is the high landuse change of rice field due to the rapid development of tourism and in the Region Spatial Plan is mostly designated as land for non agriculture. The aim of the research is to find out the Subak landuse change into tourism accommodation during the last five years, as well as knowing the area of Subak which located in the area of agricultural lands food crops related to landuse planning regulation of Badung Regency.The research methods included analysis of satellite imagery, literature studies, field survey, analysis of Subak landuse change, analysis of the subak in the area of the agricultural land food crop. Subak landuse change into non rice fields in the North of Kuta as uch as 538.88 ha during the last five years. The change of rice fields into tourist accommodation as much as 92 accommodation. Subak which is within the area of farmland of food crops 548.35 ha and outside the area of farmland 459.04ha.

Transfer of (40)K, (238)U, (210)Pb, and (210)Po from soil to plant in various locations in south of Syria.

PubMed

Al-Masri, M S; Al-Akel, B; Nashawani, A; Amin, Y; Khalifa, K H; Al-Ain, F

2008-02-01

Transfer factors of (40)K, (238)U, (210)Pb, and (210)Po from soil to some agriculture crops in various locations in south of Syria (Dara'a and Assuwaydaa districts) have been determined. Soil and vegetable crops (green pepper, cucumber, tomato, and eggplant), legumes crops (lentil, chickpea, and broad bean), fruit trees (apple, grape, and olives) and cereals (barley and wheat) were collected and analyzed for (238)U, (210)Pb, and (210)Po. The results have shown that higher transfer factors (calculated as Bqkg(-1) dry wt. plant material per Bqkg(-1) dry wt. soil) for (210)Po, (210)Pb and (238)U were observed in vegetable leaves than fruits and cereals leaves; the highest values of transfer factor (TF) for (238)U were found to be 0.1 for straw of chickpea. Transfer factors for (210)Po varied between 2.8x10(-2) and 2 in fruits of eggplant and grain of barley, respectively. In addition, several parameters affecting transfer factors of the radionuclides were evaluated. The results can be considered as base values for TF of natural radionuclides in the region.

Reforming Districts: How Districts Support School Reform. A Research Report. Document R-03-6

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLaughlin, Milbrey; Talbert, Joan

2003-01-01

School districts have participated in multiple rounds of education reform activity in the past few decades, yet few have made headway on system-wide school improvement. This paper addresses the questions of whether districts matter for school reform progress and what successful "reforming" districts do to achieve system change and to…

Equity for Rural School Districts: The Final Report of the Countryside Council's School Finance Task Force.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiener, Steve

Soaring values of agricultural land have created inequities in funding between urban and rural school districts in Minnesota. The state's Foundation Aid to school districts is formulated so that districts of high property valuation receive less Foundation Aid than those districts with low property valuation. In recent years inflation has had…

Contracted versus District-Operated Pupil Transportation Programs: An Analysis of Cost and Program Differences. Report 96-04.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Idaho State Legislature, Boise. Office of Performance Evaluation.

In June 1995, the Idaho Joint Legislative Oversight Committee directed the Office of Performance Evaluations to conduct an evaluation of school district pupil transportation. This report, the last in a series of four, examines the apparent cost difference between district-operated transportation programs and those that are contracted to…

Evaluation Report of the Harlandale Independent School District's Bilingual Education Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Helene W.

The 1973 report evaluates the Bilingual Education Program of Harlandale Independent School District. The bilingual program is designed for Spanish speaking pupils in grades K-5 (1,517 children in 8 of the district's 15 elementary schools) who have limited English-speaking ability. The 1972-73 project involved (1) development and revision of…

San Diego Community College District Degree and Certificate Report, 2002 Awards.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

San Diego Community Coll. District, CA. Research and Planning.

This report provides a descriptive analysis of the degree and certificate programs in the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD). In 2002, nearly 4,000 associate degrees were awarded by the three community colleges in the district. The associate degree program has a 60-unit requirement and includes both the associate in arts and the…

Organizational Alternatives for Small Rural Schools. Final Report to the Legislature of the State of New York.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monk, David H.; Haller, Emil J.

This report provides an overview of a two-year study which analyzed reorganization/consolidation of small rural school districts, studied alternatives of inter-district resource sharing and new instructional technologies, and developed recommendations for changes in state laws/procedures. Researchers studied 11 small rural school districts in New…

Ohio School & District Results, 2013-2014

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Richard A.

2014-01-01

The 2014 Ohio School Report Card grades schools on more measures, offering Ohioans an even clearer picture of how well their schools and districts are doing. With its new data, this year's report card shows parents where their schools need to improve. It includes grades of A through F for up to nine measures, depending on the school or district.…

District of Columbia Early Care and Education Strategic Plan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

District of Columbia Univ., Washington, DC. Center for Applied Research and Urban Policy.

This report details the early care and education strategic plan for the District of Columbia. Following an executive summary, the report provides the rationale for developing an early care and education strategic plan and describes the process used to develop the plan. The top 10 early care and education issues in the district are then delineated…

Review of Prior Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Retrofit Evaluation: A Report to Snohomish Public Utilities District

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Price, Phillip N.

2014-11-01

Snohomish County Public Utilities District (the District or Snohomish PUD) provides electricity to about 325,000 customers in Snohomish County, Washington. The District has an incentive programs to encourage commercial customers to improve energy efficiency: the District partially reimburses the cost of approved retrofits if they provide a level of energy performance improvement that is specified by contract. In 2013 the District contracted with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to provide a third-party review of the Monitoring and Verification (M&V) practices the District uses to evaluate whether companies are meeting their contractual obligations. This work helps LBNL understand the challenges faced bymore » real-world practitioners of M&V of energy savings, and builds on a body of related work such as Price et al. (2013). The District selected a typical project for which they had already performed an evaluation. The present report includes the District's original evaluation as well as LBNL's review of their approach. The review is based on the document itself; on investigation of the load data and outdoor air temperature data from the building evaluated in the document; and on phone discussions with Bill Harris of the Snohomish County Public Utilities District. We will call the building studied in the document the subject building, the original Snohomish PUD report will be referred to as the Evaluation, and this discussion by LBNL is called the Review.« less

Agroecology and healthy food systems in semi-humid tropical Africa: Participatory research with vulnerable farming households in Malawi.

PubMed

Nyantakyi-Frimpong, Hanson; Kangmennaang, Joseph; Bezner Kerr, Rachel; Luginaah, Isaac; Dakishoni, Laifolo; Lupafya, Esther; Shumba, Lizzie; Katundu, Mangani

2017-11-01

This paper assesses the relationship between agroecology, food security, and human health. Specifically, we ask if agroecology can lead to improved food security and human health among vulnerable smallholder farmers in semi-humid tropical Africa. The empirical evidence comes from a cross-sectional household survey (n=1000) in two districts in Malawi, a small country in semi-humid, tropical Africa. The survey consisted of 571 agroecology-adoption and 429 non-agroecology-adoption households. Ordered logistics regression and average treatment effects models were used to determine the effect of agroecology adoption on self-reported health. Our results show that agroecology-adoption households (OR=1.37, p=0.05) were more likely to report optimal health status, and the average treatment effect shows that adopters were 12% more likely to be in optimal health. Furthermore, being moderately food insecure (OR=0.59, p=0.05) and severely food insecure (OR=0.89, p=0.10) were associated with less likelihood of reporting optimal health status. The paper concludes that with the adoption of agroecology in the semi-humid tropics, it is possible for households to diversify their crops and diets, a condition that has strong implications for improved food security, good nutrition and human health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of scanner data for crop inventories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horvath, R. (Principal Investigator); Cicone, R. C.; Kauth, R. J.; Malila, W. A.; Pont, W.; Thelen, B.; Sellman, A.

1981-01-01

Accomplishments for a machine-oriented small grains labeler T&E, and for Argentina ground data collection are reported. Features of the small grains labeler include temporal-spectral profiles, which characterize continuous patterns of crop spectral development, and crop calendar shift estimation, which adjusts for planting date differences of fields within a crop type. Corn and soybean classification technology development for area estimation for foreign commodity production forecasting is reported. Presentations supporting quarterly project management reviews and a quarterly technical interchange meeting are also included.

The evaluation of the climate change effects on maize and fennel cultivation by means of an hydrological physically based model: the case study of an irrigated district of southern Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonfante, A.; Alfieri, M. S.; Basile, A.; De Lorenzi, F.; Fiorentino, N.; Menenti, M.

2012-04-01

The effect of climate change on irrigated agricultural systems will be different from area to area depending on some factors as: (i) water availability, (ii) crop water demand (iii) soil hydrological behavior and (iv) irrigation management strategy. The adaptation of irrigated crop systems to future climate change can be supported by physically based model which simulate the water and heat fluxes in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system. The aim of this work is to evaluate the effects of climate change on the heat and water balance of a maize-fennel rotation. This was applied to a on-demand irrigation district of Southern Italy ("Destra Sele", Campania Region, 22.645 ha). Two climate scenarios were considered, current climate (1961-1990) and future climate (2021-2050), the latter constructed by applying statistical downscaling to GCMs scenarios. For each climate scenario the soil moisture regime of the selected study area was calculated by means of a simulation model of the soil-water-atmosphere system (SWAP). Synthetic indicators of the soil water regimes (e.g., crop water stress index - CWSI, available water content) have been calculated and impacts evaluated taking into account the yield response functions to water availability of different cultivars. Different irrigation delivering strategies were also simulated. The hydrological model SWAP was applied to the representative soils of the whole area (20 soil units) for which the soil hydraulic properties were derived by means of pedo-transfer function (HYPRES) tested and validated on the typical soils in the study area. Upper boundary conditions were derived from two climate scenarios, i.e. current and future. Unit gradient in soil water potential was set as lower boundary condition. Crop-specific input data and model parameters were derived from field experiments, in the same area, where the SWAP model was calibrated and validated. The results obtained have shown a significant increase of CWSI in the future climate scenario, and some spatial patterns strongly influenced by the soils characteristics. Adaptability of different maize cultivars has been evaluated. The work was carried out within the Italian national project AGROSCENARI funded by the Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forest Policies (MIPAAF, D.M. 8608/7303/2008) Keywords: Plant Adaptative capacity, SWAP, Climate changes, Maize, Fennel

Impacts of peatland restoration on dissolved carbon loss from eroded upland peatlands in the UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, M.; Stimson, A.; Allott, T. E. H. A.; Holland, N.

2012-04-01

Upland blanket peatlands in the UK are severely degraded by extensive gully erosion. Large areas have experienced complete vegetation loss. In the last decade landscape scale approaches to the restoration of eroded and bare peat have been developed in the Peak District National Park in northern England. Bare peat is re-vegetated with a nurse crop of grasses established by the aerial application of lime, seed, and fertiliser. The approach has successfully re-vegetated large areas of eroded bog a nd has been shown to dramatically reduce particulate carbon losses in runoff. The impacts of the treatment on water quality and dissolved carbon loss have not previously been fully assessed. This paper reports results from a small catchment study assessing the impacts of restoration practice in the Peak District. Data from five small catchments are presented one re-vegetated, one intact and three eroded/bare catchments. Bi-weekly water samples have been taken from the catchments between January 2011 and February 2012 and during July 2012 two of the bare sites were treated with lime, seed, and fertiliser. The data show that there are significant spikes in nutrient flux post treatment and marked effects on dissolved carbon which include initial spikes in in DOC concentration but longer term reductions in DOC concentration. Monitoring is ongoing at these sites but the evidence to date points to at least a short term benefit in DOC flux reduction from this form of peatland restoration.

Water-resources activities in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, October 1, 1990, to September 30, 1991

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gates, Joseph S.; Hardy, Ellen E.

1992-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from October 1, 1990, to September 30, 1991. The program in Utah during this period consisted of 23 projects; a discussion of each project is given in the main body of this report.The following sections outline the origin of the U.S. Geological Survey, the basic mission of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, the distribution of District funding in terms of source of funds and type of activity funded, and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from October 1990 to September 1991.

Water-resources activities in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, October 1, 1991, to September 30, 1992

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hardy, Ellen E.; Gates, Joseph S.

1993-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from October 1, 1991, to September 30, 1992. The program in Utah during this period consisted of 20 projects; a discussion of each project is presented in the main body of this report.The following sections outline the origin of the U.S. Geological Survey, the basic mission of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, the distribution of District funding in terms of source of funds and type of activity funded, and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from October 1991 to September 1992.

Monitoring Crop Phenology and Growth Stages from Space: Opportunities and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, F.; Anderson, M. C.; Mladenova, I. E.; Kustas, W. P.; Alfieri, J. G.

2014-12-01

Crop growth stages in concert with weather and soil moisture conditions can have a significant impact on crop yields. In the U.S., crop growth stages and conditions are reported by farmers at the county level. These reports are somewhat subjective and fluctuate between different reporters, locations and times. Remote sensing data provide an alternative approach to monitoring crop growth over large areas in a more consistent and quantitative way. In the recent years, remote sensing data have been used to detect vegetation phenology at 1-km spatial resolution globally. However, agricultural applications at field scale require finer spatial resolution remote sensing data. Landsat (30-m) data have been successfully used for agricultural applications. There are many medium resolution sensors available today or in near future. These include Landsat, SPOT, RapidEye, ASTER and future Sentinel-2 etc. Approaches have been developed in the past several years to integrate remote sensing data from different sensors which may have different sensor characteristics, and spatial and temporal resolutions. This allows us opportunities today to map crop growth stages and conditions using dense time-series remote sensing at field scales. However, remotely sensed phenology (or phenological metrics) is normally derived based on the mathematical functions of the time-series data. The phenological metrics are determined by either identifying inflection (curvature) points or some pre-defined thresholds in the remote sensing phenology algorithms. Furthermore, physiological crop growth stages may not be directly correlated to the remotely sensed phenology. The relationship between remotely sensed phenology and crop growth stages is likely to vary for specific crop types and varieties, growing stages, conditions and even locations. In this presentation, we will examine the relationship between remotely sensed phenology and crop growth stages using in-situ measurements from Fluxnet sites and crop progress reports from USDA NASS. We will present remote sensing approaches and focus on: 1) integrating multiple sources of remote sensing data; and 2) extracting crop phenology at field scales. An example in the U.S. Corn Belt area will be presented and analyzed. Future directions for mapping crop growth stages will be discussed.

2017 State Policy Review: School and District Leadership. Special Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Deven

2017-01-01

This special report provides context and examples of new legislation impacting preparation, certification, induction, professional development, evaluation and compensation for leaders of schools and districts.

Application of municipal biosolids to dry-land wheat fields - A monitoring program near Deer Trail, Colorado (USA). A presentation for an international conference: "The Future of Agriculture: Science, Stewardship, and Sustainability", August 7-9, 2006, Sacramento, CA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crock, James G.; Smith, David B.; Yager, Tracy J.B.

2006-01-01

Since late 1993, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District of Denver (Metro District), a large wastewater treatment plant in Denver, Colorado, has applied Grade I, Class B biosolids to about 52,000 acres of non-irrigated farmland and rangeland near Deer Trail, Colorado. In cooperation with the Metro District in 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began monitoring ground water at part of this site. In 1999, the USGS began a more comprehensive study of the entire site to address stakeholder concerns about the chemical effects of biosolids applications. This more comprehensive monitoring program has recently been extended through 2010. Monitoring components of the more comprehensive study included biosolids collected at the wastewater treatment plant, soil, crops, dust, alluvial and bedrock ground water, and stream bed sediment. Streams at the site are dry most of the year, so samples of stream bed sediment deposited after rain were used to indicate surface-water effects. This presentation will only address biosolids, soil, and crops. More information about these and the other monitoring components are presented in the literature (e.g., Yager and others, 2004a, b, c, d) and at the USGS Web site for the Deer Trail area studies at http://co.water.usgs.gov/projects/CO406/CO406.html. Priority parameters identified by the stakeholders for all monitoring components, included the total concentrations of nine trace elements (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc), plutonium isotopes, and gross alpha and beta activity, regulated by Colorado for biosolids to be used as an agricultural soil amendment. Nitrogen and chromium also were priority parameters for ground water and sediment components. In general, the objective of each component of the study was to determine whether concentrations of priority parameters (1) were higher than regulatory limits, (2) were increasing with time, or (3) were significantly higher in biosolids-applied areas than in a similar farmed area where biosolids were not applied. Where sufficient samples could be collected, statistical methods were used to evaluate effects. Rigorous quality assurance was included in all aspects of the study. The roles of hydrology and geology also were considered in the design, data collection, and interpretation phases of the study. Study results indicate that the chemistry of the biosolids from the Denver plant was consistent during 1999-2005, and total concentrations of regulated trace elements were consistently lower than the regulatory limits. Plutonium isotopes were not detected in the biosolids. Leach tests using deionized water to simulate natural precipitation indicate arsenic, molybdenum, and nickel were the most soluble priority parameters in the biosolids. Study results show no significant difference in concentrations of priority parameters between biosolids-applied soils and unamended soils where no biosolids were applied. However, biosolids were applied only twice during 1999-2003. The next soil sampling is not scheduled until 2010. To date concentrations of most of the priority parameters were not much greater in the biosolids than in natural soil from the sites. Therefore, many more biosolids applications would need to occur before biosolids effects on the soil priority constituents can be quantified. Leach tests using deionized water to simulate precipitation indicate that molybdenum and selenium were the priority parameters that were most soluble in both biosolids-applied soil and natural or unamended soil. Study results do not indicate significant differences in concentrations of priority parameters between crops grown in biosolids-applied areas and crops grown where no biosolids were applied. However, crops were grown only twice during 1999-2003, so only two crop samples could be collected. The wheat-grain elemental data collected during 1999-2003 for both biosolids-applied areas and unamended areas are similar

Effects of Weather on Caloric and Nutritive Intake in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Babiarz, K.; Goldhaber-Fiebert, J.; Lobell, D. B.

2012-12-01

Many studies have investigated effects of weather on production of key food crops, largely motivated by a desire to anticipate impacts of climate change. However, health outcomes are most directly affected by food consumption, not production. Consumption changes will not necessarily follow production changes, primarily because people can adjust their diets away from foods that are most negatively affected. To more directly evaluate the effects of weather on nutrition, we analyzed reported household expenditure and consumption data from 20 rounds of the National Sample Survey (NSS) of India along with aggregated weather data of the two main agricultural seasons, kharif and rabi. Per capita intake of calories, protein, fats, and micronutrients were calculated from reported data at the household level, and then aggregated to district level for comparison with weather data. Regression analysis revealed significant negative effects of increased temperatures on calorie consumption in rural areas, with lower sensitivities in urban areas. We also found a higher sensitivity of protein and fat consumption to weather than for calories, which likely reflects the ability of households to switch to cheaper sources of calories in lean times. The results of this analysis will be useful for assessing the overall health burdens associated with climate change in India.

GASB's New Standard on Reporting Entity for School Districts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harmer, W. Gary

1991-01-01

Explains the impact on school district financial reporting of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 14, "The Financial Reporting Entity." One of Statement 14's objectives is for financial report users to be able to distinguish between the primary government and its component units. (MLF)

Spatial cluster analysis of human cases of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever reported in Pakistan.

PubMed

Abbas, Tariq; Younus, Muhammad; Muhammad, Sayyad Aun

2015-01-01

Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne viral zoonotic disease that has been reported in almost all geographic regions in Pakistan. The aim of this study was to identify spatial clusters of human cases of CCHF reported in country. Kulldorff's spatial scan statisitc, Anselin's Local Moran's I and Getis Ord Gi* tests were applied on data (i.e. number of laboratory confirmed cases reported from each district during year 2013). The analyses revealed a large multi-district cluster of high CCHF incidence in the uplands of Balochistan province near it border with Afghanistan. The cluster comprised the following districts: Qilla Abdullah; Qilla Saifullah; Loralai, Quetta, Sibi, Chagai, and Mastung. Another cluster was detected in Punjab and included Rawalpindi district and a part of Islamabad. We provide empirical evidence of spatial clustering of human CCHF cases in the country. The districts in the clusters should be given priority in surveillance, control programs, and further research.

School District Effects and Efficiency. Special Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swanson, Austin D.; Engert, Frank

This paper describes efforts to develop indices of student achievement, school district effort, and school district efficiency. The challenge was to develop measures that are simple to understand, yet allow comparison among districts that are not distorted by socioeconomic differences. Measures were developed for average student achievement,…

Comparing State and District Test Results to National Norms: Interpretations of Scoring "Above the National Average."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linn, Robert L.; And Others

Norm-referenced test results reported by states and school districts and factors related to those scores were studied through mail and telephone surveys of 35 states and a nationally representative sample of 153 school districts to determine the degree to which "above average" results were being reported. Part of the stimulus for this…

Job Sharing in the Schools: A Study of Nine Bay Area Districts. A Preliminary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New Ways to Work, Palo Alto, CA.

Under job sharing, two people share responsibility for one full-time position. Each person has a permanent, part-time job with salary and fringe benefits prorated according to hours worked. Job sharing has been available in some Bay Area school districts for the last four years. For this preliminary report, nine districts--Alum rock, Fremont,…

Improving Ethnic Balance and Intergroup Relations; An Advisory Report to the Board of Education, Corona Unified School Districts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento. Bureau of Intergroup Relations.

This report contains the findings of a field study of the ethnic and racial composition and intergroup relations in the schools in the Corona Unified School District, California. These findings are information on (1) the district's approaches to desegregation and its policy on intergroup relations, (2) students' achievement differences, (3)…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Dallas Public Schools. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Dallas Public Schools. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Dallas Public Schools. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Dallas Public Schools. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Relationship between Components of the Ohio Local School District Report Card and the Outcome of a School Tax Levy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wheatley, Vicki Ann

2012-01-01

The relationship between components of the local school district report card, school district typology, and the outcome of public school tax levy requests were examined in this study. A correlation research design was used to measure the relationship between the independent variables (performance index, average yearly progress, value added,…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Albuquerque Public Schools. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Mathematics 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Albuquerque Public Schools. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Albuquerque Public Schools. Grade 4, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

The Nation's Report Card Reading 2013 Trial Urban District Snapshot Report. Albuquerque Public Schools. Grade 8, Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2013

2013-01-01

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. NAEP TUDA results in mathematics…

Auditing the Immunization Data Quality from Routine Reports in Shangyu District, East China

PubMed Central

Hu, Yu; Zhang, Xinpei; Li, Qian; Chen, Yaping

2016-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the immunization data quality in Shangyu District, East China. Methods: An audit for immunization data for the year 2014 was conducted in 20 vaccination clinics of Shangyu District. The consistency of immunization data was estimated by verification factors (VFs), which was the proportion of vaccine doses reported as being administered that could be verified by written documentation at vaccination clinics. The quality of monitoring systems was evaluated using the quality index (QI). Results: The VFs of 20 vaccine doses ranged from 0.94 to 1.04 at the district level. The VFs for the 20 vaccination clinics ranged from 0.57 to 1.07. The VFs for Shangyu District was 0.98. The mean of total QI score of the 20 vaccination clinics was 80.32%. A significant correlation between the VFs of the 3rd dose of the diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis combined vaccine (DTP) and QI scores was observed at the vaccination clinic level. Conclusions: Deficiencies in data consistency and immunization reporting practice in Shangyu District were observed. Targeted measures are suggested to improve the quality of the immunization reporting system in vaccination clinics with poor data consistency. PMID:27869729

Auditing the Immunization Data Quality from Routine Reports in Shangyu District, East China.

PubMed

Hu, Yu; Zhang, Xinpei; Li, Qian; Chen, Yaping

2016-11-18

Objective: To evaluate the immunization data quality in Shangyu District, East China. Methods: An audit for immunization data for the year 2014 was conducted in 20 vaccination clinics of Shangyu District. The consistency of immunization data was estimated by verification factors (VFs), which was the proportion of vaccine doses reported as being administered that could be verified by written documentation at vaccination clinics. The quality of monitoring systems was evaluated using the quality index (QI). Results: The VFs of 20 vaccine doses ranged from 0.94 to 1.04 at the district level. The VFs for the 20 vaccination clinics ranged from 0.57 to 1.07. The VFs for Shangyu District was 0.98. The mean of total QI score of the 20 vaccination clinics was 80.32%. A significant correlation between the VFs of the 3rd dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis combined vaccine (DTP) and QI scores was observed at the vaccination clinic level. Conclusions: Deficiencies in data consistency and immunization reporting practice in Shangyu District were observed. Targeted measures are suggested to improve the quality of the immunization reporting system in vaccination clinics with poor data consistency.

7 CFR 1944.541 - Reporting requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...) PROGRAM REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) HOUSING Technical and Supervisory Assistance Grants § 1944.541 Reporting... District Director to determine satisfactory progress. The District Director will work with the grantee to... five working days of receipt. (1) If the reports indicate satisfactory progress, the State Director...

Compatible poliomyelitis cases in India during 2000.

PubMed Central

Kohler, Kathryn A.; Hlady, W. Gary; Banerjee, Kaushik; Gupta, Dhananjoy; Francis, Paul; Durrani, Sunita; Zuber, Patrick L. F.; Sutter, Roland W.

2003-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of compatible poliomyelitis cases and to assess the programmatic implications of clusters of such cases in India. METHODS: We described the characteristics of compatible poliomyelitis cases, identified clusters of compatible cases (two or more in the same district or neighbouring districts within two months), and examined their relationship to wild poliovirus cases. FINDINGS: There were 362 compatible cases in 2000. The incidence of compatible cases was higher in districts with laboratory-confirmed poliomyelitis cases than in districts without laboratory-confirmed cases. Of 580 districts, 96 reported one compatible case and 72 reported two or more compatible cases. Among these 168 districts with at least one compatible case, 123 had internal or cross- border clusters of compatible cases. In 27 districts with clusters of compatible cases, no wild poliovirus was isolated either in the same district or in neighbouring districts. Three of these 27 districts presented laboratory-confirmed poliomyelitis cases during 2001. CONCLUSION: Most clusters of compatible cases occurred in districts identified as areas with continuing wild poliovirus transmission and where mopping-up vaccination campaigns were carried out. As certification nears, areas with compatible poliomyelitis cases should be investigated and deficiencies in surveillance should be corrected in order to ensure that certification is justified. PMID:12640469

Wisconsin K-12 Career Education Consortium. Final Project Performance Report. Volume I of Two Volumes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin State Dept. of Public Instruction, Madison.

To demonstrate career education methods and procedures, seven Wisconsin school districts were chosen to participate in an incremental improvement project. Project activities were conducted district-wide and by individual districts. District-wide dissemination activities involved promoting demonstration packets and assessment/evaluation (AE)…

Kentucky's Program for Educationally Deficient School Districts: A Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fry, Patricia; And Others

The development and implementation of Kentucky's Program for Educationally Deficient School Districts is examined in this case study. Implemented in 1987, the program required districts to meet certain performance, planning, and reporting criteria. Districts failing to comply could be placed in categories of noncompliance. Data were derived from…

Investigations using data from LANDSAT-2. [earth resources program maps forecasting

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hossain, A. (Principal Investigator)

1976-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT imageries have given positive indication of new land formation in the Bay of Bengal. A map of the bay region showing depth of new formations south of Patherghata test site was prepared. Winter crop estimation of the Sylhet-Mymensingh districts was made. This estimate shows an agreement of about 93% with 1973 data of the Agriculture Department. A preliminary land use map of the Sylhet-Mymensingh area using LANDSAT imageries in conjunction with aerial photographs and ground survey was also prepared.

32 CFR 644.118 - Awards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... form constitute the entire report. Where the case was tried by a Commission, copies of the... District Engineer's report. The District must insure that our right to object is extended if the situation...

32 CFR 644.118 - Awards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... form constitute the entire report. Where the case was tried by a Commission, copies of the... District Engineer's report. The District must insure that our right to object is extended if the situation...

32 CFR 644.118 - Awards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... form constitute the entire report. Where the case was tried by a Commission, copies of the... District Engineer's report. The District must insure that our right to object is extended if the situation...

Water-resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Utah, October 1, 1994, to September 30, 1995

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hardy, Ellen E.; Dragos, Stefanie L.

1996-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources studies in Utah done by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Utah District, from October 1,1994, to September 30, 1995. The waterresources program in Utah during this period consisted of 23 projects; a discussion of each project is presented in the main body of this report.The following sections outline the origin of the U.S. Geological Survey, the basic mission of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, office addresses of the Utah District, the distribution of program funding as source of funds and type of activity funded in Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 1995 (October 1, 1994, to September 30,1995), and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from October 1994 to September 1995.

Water-resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Utah, October 1, 1995, to September 30, 1996

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hardy, Ellen E.; Dragos, Stefanie L.

1997-01-01

This report contains summaries of the progress of water-resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Water Resources Division, Utah District, from October 1, 1995, to September 30, 1996. The waterresources program in Utah during this period consisted of 22 projects; a discussion of each project is presented in the main body of this report.The following sections outline the origin of the USGS, the mission of the Water Resources Division, the organizational structure of the Utah District, office addresses of the Utah District, the distribution of program funding as source of funds and type of activity funded in Federal Fiscal Year 1996 (FY96) (October 1, 1995, to September 30, 1996), and the agencies with which the District cooperates. The last part of the introduction is a list of reports produced by the District from October 1995 to September 1996.

Utilities Expense Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Deborah P.

2001-01-01

Examines how deregulation has affected school district utility costs. Offers ideas that can help school districts save money and energy. Provides several examples of state-wide initiatives intended to help school districts control utility costs. (GR)

Analytical results for municipal biosolids samples from a monitoring program near Deer Trail, Colorado (U.S.A.), 2009

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crock, J.G.; Smith, D.B.; Yager, T.J.B.; Berry, C.J.; Adams, M.G.

2010-01-01

Since late 1993, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District of Denver, a large wastewater treatment plant in Denver, Colo., has applied Grade I, Class B biosolids to about 52,000 acres of nonirrigated farmland and rangeland near Deer Trail, Colo., U.S.A. In cooperation with the Metro District in 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey began monitoring groundwater at part of this site. In 1999, the Survey began a more comprehensive monitoring study of the entire site to address stakeholder concerns about the potential chemical effects of biosolids applications to water, soil, and vegetation. This more comprehensive monitoring program has recently been extended through the end of 2010. Monitoring components of the more comprehensive study include biosolids collected at the wastewater treatment plant, soil, crops, dust, alluvial and bedrock groundwater, and stream-bed sediment. Streams at the site are dry most of the year, so samples of stream-bed sediment deposited after rain were used to indicate surface-water effects. This report presents analytical results for the biosolids samples collected at the Metro District wastewater treatment plant in Denver and analyzed for 2009. In general, the objective of each component of the study was to determine whether concentrations of nine trace elements ('priority analytes') (1) were higher than regulatory limits, (2) were increasing with time, or (3) were significantly higher in biosolids-applied areas than in a similar farmed area where biosolids were not applied. Previous analytical results indicate that the elemental composition of biosolids from the Denver plant was consistent during 1999-2008, and this consistency continues with the samples for 2009. Total concentrations of regulated trace elements remain consistently lower than the regulatory limits for the entire monitoring period. Concentrations of none of the priority analytes appear to have increased during the 11 years of this study.

20 CFR 658.601 - State agency responsibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... Cost Accounting Reports shall be compared to planned levels. Variances between achievement and plan... district office, a report describing local office performance within the area or district jurisdiction... System (ESARS) tables and Cost Accounting Reports shall be compared to planned levels. Variances between...

20 CFR 658.601 - State agency responsibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... Cost Accounting Reports shall be compared to planned levels. Variances between achievement and plan... district office, a report describing local office performance within the area or district jurisdiction... System (ESARS) tables and Cost Accounting Reports shall be compared to planned levels. Variances between...

20 CFR 658.601 - State agency responsibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... Cost Accounting Reports shall be compared to planned levels. Variances between achievement and plan... district office, a report describing local office performance within the area or district jurisdiction... System (ESARS) tables and Cost Accounting Reports shall be compared to planned levels. Variances between...

Detecting crop yield reduction due to irrigation-induced soil salinization in South-West Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Argaman, E.; Beets, W.; Croes, J.; Keesstra, S.; Verzandvoort, S.; Zeiliguer, A.

2012-04-01

The South-European part of the Russian Federation has experienced serious land degradation in the form of soil salinization since the 1960s. This land degradation was caused by intensive, large-scale irrigation on reclaimed land in combination with the salt-rich nature of the substrate. Alkaline soil salinity is believed to be an important factor decreasing crop yield in this area. A large research effort has been directed to the effects of soil salinity on crops, there is a need for simple, easily determinable indicators of crop health and soil salinity in irrigated systems, that can help to detect crop water stress in an early stage. The objectives of this research were to study the effects of soil salinity and vegetation water stress on the performance of alfalfa crop yield and physiological crop properties, and to study the possibility to measure soil salinity and alkalinity and the crop water stress index at plot level using a thermal gun and a regular digital camera. The study area was located in Saratov District, in the South-West part of Russia. Variables on the surface energy balance, crop properties, soil properties and visible reflectance were measured on plots with alfalfa cultures in two fields with and without signs of alkaline soil salinity, and with and without irrigation in July 2009. The research showed no clear adverse effects of soil salinity and soil alkalinity on crop yield and physiological crop properties. Soil salinity, as reflected by the electric conductivity, positively affected the root biomass of alfalfa in the range of 0.15 to 1.52 dS/m . This was a result of EC levels being below the documented threshold to negatively affect Alfalfa, as would be the case in truly saline soils. The soil pH also showed a positive correlation with root biomass within the range of pH 6.2 and 8.5 . From the literature these pH values are generally believed to be too high to exhibit a positive relationship with root biomass. No relationship was found between EC and pH on the one hand , and soil moisture content on the other. However, soil moisture content in the topsoil appeared to have a major influence on the crop water stress index, which on its turn affected the leaf area index, the fresh biomass and the mean plant height. The crop leaf color as detected by a regular digital camera appeared to be correlated with pH and EC properties of the soil. The visible light band ratios red/green and blue/green correlated well with the crop water stress index. More research is necessary to prove if this relation is applicable in different environments, and for different crops. A confirmation of these findings would offer scope to increase the spatial support of this technique using satellite images.

What Do School Report Cards Really Tell Us? (An Analysis of the Relationships among Factors Commonly Reported in School District Report Cards).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bobbett, Gordon C.; And Others

The relationships among factors reported on school district (SD) report cards were studied for 121 Tennessee SDs. The report cards provided data on student outcomes (achievement test scores) and SD characteristics. Relationships were studied through linear regression, Pearson product moment correlation, and Guttman's partial correlation. Six…

The Impact of the GE Foundation "Developing Futures"™ in Education Program on Mathematics Performance Trends in Four Districts. Research Report # RR-74

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sirinides, Philip; Supovitz, Jonathan; Tognatta, Namrata; May, Henry

2013-01-01

Beginning in 2005, the GE Foundation initiated a commitment of expertise and financial resources to a set of urban school districts to improve public education and enhance student achievement in mathematics and science. This report analyzes the impacts of the GE Foundation commitment to the partner districts by examining trends in student…

School District Officials Face Problems in Dealing with Asbestos in Their Schools. Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on HUD--Independent Agencies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

General Accounting Office, Washington, DC.

To determine how school districts are handling the problems of asbestos in their schools, the General Accounting Office (GAO) conducted interviews and asked standarized questions of officials at 6 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional offices, 12 state offices, and 36 school districts in 12 states. This report presents information on the…

Potential Development Essential Oil Production of Central Java, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alighiri, D.; Eden, W. T.; Supardi, K. I.; Masturi; Purwinarko, A.

2017-04-01

Indonesia is the source of raw essential oil in the world. Essential oils are used in various types of industries such as food and beverage, flavour, fragrance, perfumery, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. However, the development of Indonesian essential oil industry has not been encouraging for the production of essential oils, further it is unable to meet global demand. Besides that, the quality of volatile oil resulted cannot meet the international market standards. Based on the facts, the potential of Indonesian essential oils needs to be developed to provide added value, through increased production, improved quality and product diversification. One part of Indonesia having abundant of raw essential oil source is Central Java. Central Java has the quite large potential production of essential oils. Some essential oils produced from refining industry owned by the government, private and community sectors include cananga oils (Boyolali district), clove oils (Semarang district), patchouli oils (Brebes district, Pemalang district, and Klaten district). The main problem in the development of plants industries that producing essential oil in Central Java is low crops production, farming properties, quality of essential oils are diverse, providing poor-quality products and volatile oil price fluctuations. Marketing constraints of Central Java essential oils are quite complex supply chain. In general, marketing constraints of essential oils due to three factors, namely the low quality due to type of essential oil business that generally shaped small businesses with different capital and technology, domestic marketing is still a buyer-market (price determined by the buyer) because of weak bargaining position processors businessman, and prices fluctuate (domestic and foreign) due to uncontrolled domestic production and inter-country competition among manufacturers.

Soil Moisture as an Estimator for Crop Yield in Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peichl, Michael; Meyer, Volker; Samaniego, Luis; Thober, Stephan

2015-04-01

Annual crop yield depends on various factors such as soil properties, management decisions, and meteorological conditions. Unfavorable weather conditions, e.g. droughts, have the potential to drastically diminish crop yield in rain-fed agriculture. For example, the drought in 2003 caused direct losses of 1.5 billion EUR only in Germany. Predicting crop yields allows to mitigate negative effects of weather extremes which are assumed to occur more often in the future due to climate change. A standard approach in economics is to predict the impact of climate change on agriculture as a function of temperature and precipitation. This approach has been developed further using concepts like growing degree days. Other econometric models use nonlinear functions of heat or vapor pressure deficit. However, none of these approaches uses soil moisture to predict crop yield. We hypothesize that soil moisture is a better indicator to explain stress on plant growth than estimations based on precipitation and temperature. This is the case because the latter variables do not explicitly account for the available water content in the root zone, which is the primary source of water supply for plant growth. In this study, a reduced form panel approach is applied to estimate a multivariate econometric production function for the years 1999 to 2010. Annual crop yield data of various crops on the administrative district level serve as depending variables. The explanatory variable of major interest is the Soil Moisture Index (SMI), which quantifies anomalies in root zone soil moisture. The SMI is computed by the mesoscale Hydrological Model (mHM, www.ufz.de/mhm). The index represents the monthly soil water quantile at a 4 km2 grid resolution covering entire Germany. A reduced model approach is suitable because the SMI is the result of a stochastic weather process and therefore can be considered exogenous. For the ease of interpretation a linear functionality is preferred. Meteorological, phenological, geological, agronomic, and socio-economic variables are also considered to extend the model in order to reveal the proper causal relation. First results show that dry as well as wet extremes of SMI have a negative impact on crop yield for winter wheat. This indicates that soil moisture has at least a limiting affect on crop production.

RF-CLASS: A Remote-sensing-based Interoperable Web service system for Flood Crop Loss Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di, L.; Yu, G.; Kang, L.

2014-12-01

Flood is one of the worst natural disasters in the world. Flooding often causes significant crop loss over large agricultural areas in the United States. Two USDA agencies, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA), make decisions on flood statistics, crop insurance policy, and recovery management by collecting, analyzing, reporting, and utilizing flooded crop acreage and crop loss information. NASS has the mandate to report crop loss after all flood events. RMA manages crop insurance policy and uses crop loss information to guide the creation of the crop insurance policy and the aftermath compensation. Many studies have been conducted in the recent years on monitoring floods and assessing the crop loss due to floods with remote sensing and geographic information technologies. The Remote-sensing-based Flood Crop Loss Assessment Service System (RF-CLASS), being developed with NASA and USDA support, aims to significantly improve the post-flood agricultural decision-making supports in USDA by integrating and advancing the recently developed technologies. RF-CLASS will operationally provide information to support USDA decision making activities on collecting and archiving flood acreage and duration, recording annual crop loss due to flood, assessing the crop insurance rating areas, investigating crop policy compliance, and spot checking of crop loss claims. This presentation will discuss the remote sensing and GIS based methods for deriving the needed information to support the decision making, the RF-CLASS cybersystem architecture, the standards and interoperability arrangements in the system, and the current and planned capabilities of the system.

Effectiveness Of Miraba an Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation Measures On Reducing Runoff And Soil Loss In Arable Land Of Western Usambara Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Msita, H. B.; Kimaro, D. N.; Mtakwa, P. W.; Msanya, B. M.; Dondyene, S.; Poesen, J.; Deckers, J.

2012-04-01

Soil erosion by water is rampant mainly in mountainous areas of Tanzania leading to environmental hazards, low land productivity, low income and increased poverty. Despite the severity of the soil erosion problem, there is not much quantitative data on the erosion effects and effectiveness of indigenous soil and water conservation (SWC) measures. The consequence is that indigenous knowledge in SWC planning is ignored. The on-farm field experiment was conducted for three years in Migambo village, Lushoto district in Tanzania, to determine the effectiveness of improved Miraba (IM) an indigenous soil erosion control measure on reducing runoff and soil loss. Management practices were tested viz: control that is without any soil conservation measure (C), Miraba alone (M), Miraba with farmyard manure and mulching (MFM) replicated three times in CRD setting. Maize (Zea mays) and beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) were used as test crops, due to their importance as food crops and the high erosion rates on fields with these crops. The crops were planted in rotation, maize and beans in short and long rains respectively. Gerlach troughs and runoff plots were used to evaluate the physical effectiveness. Results show significant effects of IM against control on crop yields, soil loss, surface runoff and moisture retention. MFM is the most effective measure in reducing soil and water losses followed by MF and M. The results further showed that these management practices can be implemented to reduce soil erosion and nutrient losses in the study area and areas with similar ecological setting. To facilitate adoption of these practices further research works is recommended for identifying economically feasible indigenous SWC measures under different biophysical and socio-economic conditions.

Declining groundwater level caused by irrigation to row crops in the Lower Mississippi River Basin, Current Situation and Trends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, G.; Gao, F.; Ouyang, Y.

2017-12-01

The Mississippi River is North America's largest river and the second largest watershed in the world. It flows over 3,700 km through America's heartland to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 3 million hectares in the Lower Mississippi River Basin represent irrigated cropland and 90 percent of those lands currently rely on the groundwater supply. The primary crops grown in this region are soybean, corn, cotton, and rice. Increased water withdrawals for irrigating those crops and stagnant recharging jeopardize the long-term availability of the aquifer and place irrigation agriculture in the region on an unsustainable path. The objectives of this study were to: 1) analyze the current groundwater level in the Lower Mississippi River Basin based on the water table depth observed by Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management District from 2000 and 2016; 2) determine trends of change in groundwater level under conventional and groundwater saving irrigation management practices (ET or soil moisture based full irrigation scheduling using all groundwater or different percentages of ground and surface water). The coupled SWAT and MODFLOW model was applied to investigate the trends. Observed results showed that the groundwater level has declined from 33 to 26 m at an annual decrease rate of 0.4 m in the past 17 years. Simulated results revealed that the groundwater storage was decreased by 26 cm/month due to irrigation in crop season. It is promising that the groundwater storage was increased by 23 cm/month, sometimes even 60 cm/month in crop off-growing season because of recharge from rainfall. Our results suggest that alternative ET or soil moisture based groundwater saving irrigation scheduling with conjunctive use of surface water is a sustainable practice for irrigated agriculture in in the Lower Mississippi River Basin.

The consequences of land-cover changes on soil erosion distribution in Slovakia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cebecauer, Tomáš; Hofierka, Jaroslav

2008-06-01

Soil erosion is a complex process determined by mutual interaction of numerous factors. The aim of erosion research at regional scales is a general evaluation of the landscape susceptibility to soil erosion by water, taking into account the main factors influencing this process. One of the key factors influencing the susceptibility of a region to soil erosion is land cover. Natural as well as human-induced changes of landscape may result in both the diminishment and acceleration of soil erosion. Recent studies of land-cover changes indicate that during the last decade more than 4.11% of Slovak territory has changed. The objective of this study is to assess the influence of land-cover and crop rotation changes over the 1990-2000 period on the intensity and spatial pattern of soil erosion in Slovakia. The assessment is based on principles defined in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) modified for application at regional scale and the use of the CORINE land cover (CLC) databases for 1990 and 2000. The C factor for arable land has been refined using statistical data on the mean crop rotation and the acreage of particular agricultural crops in the districts of Slovakia. The L factor has been calculated using sample areas with parcels identified by LANDSAT TM data. The results indicate that the land-cover and crop rotation changes had a significant influence on soil erosion pattern predominately in the hilly and mountainous parts of Slovakia. The pattern of soil erosion changes exhibits high spatial variation with overall slightly decreased soil erosion risks. These changes are associated with ongoing land ownership changes, changing structure of crops, deforestation and afforestation.

Projected Irrigation Requirement Under Climate Change in Korean Peninsula by Apply Global Hydrologic Model to Local Scale.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, B.; Lee, D. K.

2016-12-01

Understanding spatial distribution of irrigation requirement is critically important for agricultural water management. However, many studies considering future agricultural water management in Korea assessed irrigation requirement on watershed or administrative district scale, but have not accounted the spatial distribution. Lumped hydrologic model has typically used in Korea for simulating watershed scale irrigation requirement, while distribution hydrologic model can simulate the spatial distribution grid by grid. To overcome this shortcoming, here we applied a grid base global hydrologic model (H08) into local scale to estimate spatial distribution under future irrigation requirement of Korean Peninsula. Korea is one of the world's most densely populated countries, with also high produce and demand of rice which requires higher soil moisture than other crops. Although, most of the precipitation concentrate in particular season and disagree with crop growth season. This precipitation character makes management of agricultural water which is approximately 60% of total water usage critical issue in Korea. Furthermore, under future climate change, the precipitation predicted to be more concentrated and necessary need change of future water management plan. In order to apply global hydrological model into local scale, we selected appropriate major crops under social and local climate condition in Korea to estimate cropping area and yield, and revised the cropping area map more accurately. As a result, future irrigation requirement estimation varies under each projection, however, slightly decreased in most case. The simulation reveals, evapotranspiration increase slightly while effective precipitation also increase to balance the irrigation requirement. This finding suggest practical guideline to decision makers for further agricultural water management plan including future development of water supply plan to resolve water scarcity.

Crop damage and livestock depredation by wildlife: a case study from Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, India.

PubMed

Rao, K S; Maikhuri, R K; Nautiyal, S; Saxena, K G

2002-11-01

The success of conserving biological resources in any Biosphere Reserve or protected area depends on the extent of support and positive attitudes and perceptions of local people have towards such establishments. Ignoring the dependence of the local people for their subsistence needs on resources of such areas leads to conflicts between protected area managers and the local inhabitants. Crop yield losses and livestock depredation were serious problems observed in most buffer zone villages of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. In the present study 10 villages situated in the buffer zone of Nanada Devi Biosphere Reserve (1612 km2 area) in Chamoli district of Uttaranchal, India were studied during 1996-97 using a questionnaire survey of each household (419 = households; 2253 = total population in 1991; 273 ha = cultivated area). Estimates of crop yield losses were made using paired plots technique in four representative villages for each crop species. The magnitude of crop yield losses varied significantly with the distance of agricultural field from forest boundary. The total crop yield losses were high for wheat and potato in all the villages. The spatial distribution of total crop yield losses in any village indicated that they were highest in the area near to forest and least in the area near to village for all crops. Losses from areas near to forest contributed to more than 50% of total losses for each crop in all villages. However, in Lata, Peng and Tolma villages, the losses are high for kidney bean and chemmi (local variety of kidney bean) which varied between 18.5% to 30% of total losses in those villages. Potato alone represents 43.6% of total crop yield loss due to wildlife in Dronagiri village in monetary terms. Among the crops, the monetary value of yield losses are least for amaranth and highest for kidney bean. The projected total value of crop yield losses due to wildlife damage for buffer zone villages located in Garhwal Himalaya is about Rs. 538,620 (US$ 15,389). Besides food grains, horticultural crops i.e. apple, also suffered maximum damage. Major wildlife agents responsible for crop damage were wild boar, bear, porcupine, monkey, musk deer and partridge (chokor). Monkey and wild boar alone accounted for about 50% to 60% of total crop damage in the study villages. Goat and sheep are the major livestock killed by leopard. The total value of livestock losses at prevailing market rates is about Rs. 1,024,520 (US$ 29,272) in the study villages. Due to existing conservation policies and laxity in implementation of preventive measures, the problems for local inhabitants are increasing. Potential solutions discussed emphasize the need to undertake suitable and appropriate protective measures to minimize the crop losses. Change in cropping and crop composition, particularly cultivation of medicinal plants (high value low volume crops), were also suggested. Besides, fair and quick disbursement of compensation for crop loss and livestock killing need to be adopted. Local people of the buffer zone area already have a negative attitude towards park/reserve establishment due to socio-political changes inducing major economic losses and this attitude may lead to clashes and confrontations if proper ameliorative measures are not taken immediately.

Effects of landuse change on the hydrologic regime of the Mae Chaem river basin, NW Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thanapakpawin, P.; Richey, J.; Thomas, D.; Rodda, S.; Campbell, B.; Logsdon, M.

2007-02-01

SummaryConflicts between upland shifting cultivation, upland commercial crops, and lowland irrigated agriculture cause water resource tension in the Mae Chaem watershed in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In this paper, we assess hydrologic regimes of the Mae Chaem River with landuse change. Three plausible future forest-to-crop expansion scenarios and a scenario of crop-to-forest reversal were developed based on the landcover transition from 1989 to 2000, with emphasis on influences of elevation bands and irrigation diversion. Basin hydrologic responses were simulated using the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM). Meteorological data from six weather stations inside and adjacent to the Mae Chaem watershed during the period 1993-2000 were the climate inputs. Computed stream flow was compared to observed discharge at Ban Mae Mu gauge on Mae Mu river, Ban Mae Suk gauge on Mae Suk river, and at Kaeng Ob Luang, located downstream from the district town in Mae Chaem. With current assumptions, expansion of highland crop fields led to slightly higher regulated annual and wet-season water yields compared to similar expansion in the lowland-midland zone. Actual downstream water availability was sensitive to irrigation diversion. This modeling approach can be a useful tool for water allocation for small watersheds undergoing rapid commercialization, because it alerts land managers to the potential range of water supply in wet and dry seasons, and provides information on spatial distribution of basin hydrologic components.

Maricopa County Community College District: Fall 2015 Developmental Education Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maricopa Community Colleges, 2016

2016-01-01

This report presents the results of the Fall 2015 Developmental Education Report for the Maricopa County Community College District. Section 1 of the report provides numbers of students enrolled in one or more developmental courses in the Fall 2015 Term. Section 2 Deals with placement. The placement and performance sections of this report…

District Composite Report: Terrebonne Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. This report is specific to Terrebonne Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal…

National Television News in Seven Rural Districts. Report 96-2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasstrom, Roy; Gierok, Anne

The implementation, delivery, and impact on students of news programs delivered to schools by Channel One and CNN-Newsroom were examined in seven rural districts in Wisconsin. Investigation covered three districts using CNN and four districts using Channel One within a three-county area. Involved administrators, teachers, and students responded to…

Decision Points and Considerations for Identifying Rural Districts That Have Closed Student Achievement Gaps. REL 2016-130

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Culbertson, Michael J.; Billig, Shelley H.

2016-01-01

Rural districts have long faced challenges in closing achievement gaps between subgroups of students. This brief report describes key decision points and considerations for decision-makers interested in identifying rural districts that have closed academic achievement gaps. Examining practices in these districts may suggest activities associated…

Do Schools in Rural and Nonrural Districts Allocate Resources Differently? An Analysis of Spending and Staffing Patterns in the West Region States. Summary. Issues & Answers. REL 2011-No. 099

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levin, Jesse; Manship, Karen; Chambers, Jay; Johnson, Jerry; Blankenship, Charles

2011-01-01

This report presents the first detailed comparison of resource allocation between rural and nonrural districts in the West Region. Three regional characteristics often associated with rural districts were chosen for the analysis: district enrollment, student population density within a district (students per square mile), and drive time from the…

Feasibility of geothermal space/water heating for Mammoth Lakes Village, California. Final report, September 1976--September 1977

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sims, A.V.; Racine, W.C.

1977-12-01

Results of a study to determine the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of geothermal district heating for Mammoth Lakes Village, California are reported. The geothermal district heating system selected is technically feasible and will use existing technology in its design and operation. District heating can provide space and water heating energy for typical customers at lower cost than alternative sources of energy. If the district heating system is investor owned, lower costs are realized after five to six years of operation, and if owned by a nonprofit organization, after zero to three years. District heating offers lower costs than alternativesmore » much sooner in time if co-generation and/or DOE participation in system construction are included in the analysis. During a preliminary environmental assessment, no potential adverse environmental impacts could be identified of sufficient consequence to preclude the construction and operation of the proposed district heating system. A follow-on program aimed at implementing district heating in Mammoth is outlined.« less

Supporting local farming communities and crop production resilience to climate change through giant reed (Arundo donax L.) cultivation: An Italian case study.

PubMed

Bonfante, A; Impagliazzo, A; Fiorentino, N; Langella, G; Mori, M; Fagnano, M

2017-12-01

Bioenergy crops are well known for their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the soil carbon stock. Although such crops are often held to be in competition with food crops and thus raise the question of current and future food security, at the same time mitigation measures are required to tackle climate change and sustain local farming communities and crop production. However, in some cases the actions envisaged for specific pedo-climatic conditions are not always economically sustainable by farmers. In this frame, energy crops with high environmental adaptability and yields, such as giant reed (Arundo donax L.), may represent an opportunity to improve farm incomes, making marginal areas not suitable for food production once again productive. In so doing, three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations would be met, namely SDG 2 on food security and sustainable agriculture, SDG 7 on reliable, sustainable and modern energy, and SDG 13 on action to combat climate change and its impacts. In this work, the response of giant reed in the marginal areas of an agricultural district of southern Italy (Destra Sele) and expected farm incomes under climate change (2021-2050) are evaluated. The normalized water productivity index of giant reed was determined (WP; 30.1gm -2 ) by means of a SWAP agro-hydrological model, calibrated and validated on two years of a long-term field experiment. The model was used to estimate giant reed response (biomass yield) in marginal areas under climate change, and economic evaluation was performed to determine expected farm incomes (woodchips and chopped forage). The results show that woodchip production represents the most profitable option for farmers, yielding a gross margin 50% lower than ordinary high-input maize cultivation across the study area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

GASB's New Financial Reporting Model: Implementation Project for School Districts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bean, David; Glick, Paul

1999-01-01

In June 1999, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued its statement on the structure of the basic financial reporting model for state and local governments. Explains the new financial reporting model and reviews the implementation issues that school districts will need to address. (MLF)

Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) Fuel Cell Transit Buses : Third Evaluation Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-07-04

This report describes operations at Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) for three prototype fuel cell buses and six diesel buses operating from the same location. This is the third evaluation report for this site, and it describes new ...

Policy and procedures for the management and archival storage of data collected for hydrologic investigations, U.S. Geological Survey, Indiana District

USGS Publications Warehouse

Martin, Jeffrey D.; Cohen, David A.

1993-01-01

This report describes the policy and procedures used by the Indiana District of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, to manage and store data collected during hydrologic investigations. It is the policy of the Indiana District that data collected to meet the objectives of projects for hydrologic investigations be documented, organized, and archieved in a manner that (1) facilitates retrieval, evaluation, and use by other District personnel, and (2) enables verifi- cation of data contained in all reports and computer data bases.

Hydrogeology of a Biosolids-Application Site Near Deer Trail, Colorado, 1993-99

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yager, Tracy J.B.; Arnold, L. Rick

2003-01-01

This report presents hydrogeology data and interpretations resulting from two studies related to biosolids applications at the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District property near Deer Trail, Colorado, done by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District: (1) a 1993-99 study of hydrology and water quality for the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District central property and (2) a 1999 study of regional bedrock-aquifer structure and local ground-water recharge. Biosolids were applied as a fertilizer during late 1993 through 1999. The 1993 Metro Wastewater Reclamation District property boundary constitutes the study area, but hydrogeologic structure maps for a much larger area are included in the report. The study area is located on the eastern margin of the Denver Basin, a bowl-shaped sequence of sedimentary rocks. The uppermost bedrock formations in the vicinity of the study area consist of the Pierre Shale, the Fox Hills Sandstone, and the Laramie Formation, parts of which comprise the Laramie-Fox Hills hydrostratigraphic unit and thus, where saturated, the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer. In the vicinity of the study area, the Laramie-Fox Hills hydrostratigraphic unit dips gently to the northwest, crops out, and is partially eroded. The Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer is either absent or not fully saturated within the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District properties, although this aquifer is the principal aquifer used for domestic supply in the vicinity of the study area. Yield was small from two deep monitoring wells in the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer within the study area. Depth to water in these wells was about 110 and 150 feet below land surface, and monthly water levels fluctuated 0.5 foot or less. Alluvial aquifers also are present in the unconsolidated sand and loess deposits in the valleys of the study area. Interactions of the deeper parts of the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer with shallow ground water in the study area include a general close hydraulic connection between alluvial and bedrock aquifers, recharge of the Cottonwood Creek and much of the Muddy Creek alluvial aquifers by the bedrock aquifer, and possible recharge of the bedrock aquifer by a Rattlesnake Creek tributary. Some areas of shallow ground water were recharged by infiltration from rain or ponds, but other areas likely were recharged by other ground water. Data for shallow ground water indicate that ground-water recharge takes less than a day at some sites to about 40 years at another site. Depth to shallow ground water in the study area ranged from about 2 feet to about 37 feet below land surface. Shallow ground-water levels likely were affected by evapotranspiration. Ground water is present in shallow parts of the bedrock aquifer or in alluvial aquifers in four drainage basins: Badger Creek, Cottonwood Creek, Muddy Creek, and Rattlesnake Creek. These drainage basins generally contained only ephemeral streams, which flow only after intense rain.

Improving Racial and Ethnic Distribution and Intergroup Relations; An Advisory Report to the Board of Education, Vallejo Unified School District.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gunsky, Frederic R.; And Others

As the result of field observation and a review of school data, this report presents the findings of a study of minority-group education and intergroup relations in the Vallejo Unified School District in California. It analyzes the racial and ethnic distribution o f students in the school district and describes the amount of equal educational…

Title I: Although Definitions of Administrative Expenditures Vary, Almost All School Districts Studied Spent Less Than 10 Percent on Administration. Report to Congressional Committees.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaul, Marnie S.

As mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the Government Accounting Office was charged with examining how school districts defined and spent Title I funds on administrative activities, and with reviewing Title I expenditures in at least six school districts. This document reports on how five studies defined Title I administrative…

Commission Review of a Proposal by the Santa Clarita Community College District To Establish the Canyon Country Educational Center. Commission Report 04-19

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2004

2004-01-01

In this report, the Commission considers a proposal by the Santa Clara Community College District to establish an educational center in the community of Canyon Country. The district was created in 1968 when the communities of Valencia, Newhall, Canyon Country, Agua Dulce, and Val Verde voted overwhelmingly for its establishment. It serves a…

An experimental case study to estimate Pre-harvest Wheat Acreage/Production in Hilly and Plain region of Uttarakhand state: Challenges and solutions of problems by using satellite data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uniyal, D.; Kimothi, M. M.; Bhagya, N.; Ram, R. D.; Patel, N. K.; Dhaundiya, V. K.

2014-11-01

Wheat is an economically important Rabi crop for the state, which is grown on around 26 % of total available agriculture area in the state. There is a variation in productivity of wheat crop in hilly and tarai region. The agricultural productivity is less in hilly region in comparison of tarai region due to terrace cultivation, traditional system of agriculture, small land holdings, variation in physiography, top soil erosion, lack of proper irrigation system etc. Pre-harvest acreage/yield/production estimation of major crops is being done with the help of conventional crop cutting method, which is biased, inaccurate and time consuming. Remote Sensing data with multi-temporal and multi-spectral capabilities has shown new dimension in crop discrimination analysis and acreage/yield/production estimation in recent years. In view of this, Uttarakhand Space Applications Centre (USAC), Dehradun with the collaboration of Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad and Uttarakhand State Agriculture Department, have developed different techniques for the discrimination of crops and estimation of pre-harvest wheat acreage/yield/production. In the 1st phase, five districts (Dehradun, Almora, Udham Singh Nagar, Pauri Garhwal and Haridwar) with distinct physiography i.e. hilly and plain regions, have been selected for testing and verification of techniques using IRS (Indian Remote Sensing Satellites), LISS-III, LISS-IV satellite data of Rabi season for the year 2008-09 and whole 13 districts of the Uttarakhand state from 2009-14 along with ground data were used for detailed analysis. Five methods have been developed i.e. NDVI (Normalized Differential Vegetation Index), Supervised classification, Spatial modeling, Masking out method and Programming on visual basics methods using multitemporal satellite data of Rabi season along with the collateral and ground data. These methods were used for wheat discriminations and preharvest acreage estimations and subsequently results were compared with Bureau of Estimation Statistics (BES). Out of these five different methods, wheat area that was estimated by spatial modeling and programming on visual basics has been found quite near to Bureau of Estimation Statistics (BES). But for hilly region, maximum fields were going in shadow region, so it was difficult to estimate accurate result, so frequency distribution curve method has been used and frequency range has been decided to discriminate wheat pixels from other pixels in hilly region, digitized those regions and result shows good result. For yield estimation, an algorithm has been developed by using soil characteristics i.e. texture, depth, drainage, temperature, rainfall and historical yield data. To get the production estimation, estimated yield multiplied by acreage of crop per hectare. Result shows deviation for acreage estimation from BES is around 3.28 %, 2.46 %, 3.45 %, 1.56 %, 1.2 % and 1.6 % (estimation not declared till now by state Agriculture dept. For the year 2013-14) estimation and deviation for production estimation is around 4.98 %, 3.66 % 3.21 % , 3.1 % NA and 2.9 % for the consecutive above mentioned years i.e. 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. The estimated data has been provided to State Agriculture department for their use. To forecast production before harvest facilitate the formulation of workable marketing strategies leading to better export/import of crop in the state, which will help to lead better economic condition of the state. Yield estimation would help agriculture department in assessment of productivity of land for specific crop. Pre-harvest wheat acreage/production estimation, is useful to facilitate the reliable and timely estimates and enable the administrators and planners to take strategic decisions on import-export policy matters and trade negotiations.

The economic costs of malaria in four Kenyan districts: do household costs differ by disease endemicity?

PubMed

Chuma, Jane; Okungu, Vincent; Molyneux, Catherine

2010-06-02

Malaria inflicts significant costs on households and on the economy of malaria endemic countries. There is also evidence that the economic burden is higher among the poorest in a population, and that cost burdens differ significantly between wet and dry seasons. What is not clear is whether, and how, the economic burden of malaria differs by disease endemicity. The need to account for geographical and epidemiological differences in the estimation of the social and economic burden of malaria is well recognized, but there is limited data, if any, to support this argument. This study sought to contribute towards filling this gap by comparing malaria cost burdens in four Kenyan districts of different endemicity. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted during the peak malaria transmission season in the poorest areas in four Kenyan districts with differing malaria transmission patterns (n = 179 households in Bondo; 205 Gucha; 184 Kwale; 141 Makueni). There were significant differences in duration of fever, perception of fever severity and cost burdens. Fever episodes among adults and children over five years in Gucha and Makueni districts (highland endemic and low acute transmission districts respectively) lasted significantly longer than episodes reported in Bondo and Kwale districts (high perennial transmission and seasonal, intense transmission, respectively). Perceptions of illness severity also differed between districts: fevers reported among older children and adults in Gucha and Makueni districts were reported as severe compared to those reported in the other districts. Indirect and total costs differed significantly between districts but differences in direct costs were not significant. Total household costs were highest in Makueni (US$ 19.6 per month) and lowest in Bondo (US$ 9.2 per month). Cost burdens are the product of complex relationships between social, economic and epidemiological factors. The cost data presented in this study reflect transmission patterns in the four districts, suggesting that a relationship between costs burdens and the nature of transmission might exist, and that the same warrants more attention from researchers and policy makers.

Biomass production of 12 winter cereal cover crop cultivars and their effect on subsequent no-till corn yield

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cover crops can improve the sustainability and resilience of corn and soybean production systems. However, there have been isolated reports of corn yield reductions following winter rye cover crops. Although there are many possible causes of corn yield reductions following winter cereal cover crops,...

Cover crop biomass production and water use in the Central Great Plains

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The water-limited environment of the semi-arid central Great Plains may not have potential to produce enough cover crop biomass to generate benefits associated with cover crop use in more humid regions. There have been reports that cover crops grown in mixtures produce more biomass with greater wate...

Commission Review of a Proposal by the State Center Community College District to Establish the Willow-International Community College Center: A Report to the Governor and Legislature in Response to a Request from the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Commission Report 03-05

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2003

2003-01-01

This report reviews a proposal by the State Center Community College District to establish a State-approved education center in the city of Fresno. The center would be named the Willow-International Community College Center, and it would replace an existing Clovis operational outreach center that is considered by the district to be insufficient…

JPRS Report, East Europe.

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-04-02

district executive committee; (70) Ilir Gori Dushi, prosecutor in Fier district; (71) Dhimiter Joti Dhamo, physician; (72) Shyqyri Dalip Rexhepi ...committee. Korce—(95) Vangjel Misto Cerava, mechanical engi- neer, first secretary of the district party committee; (96) Agim Faslli Shahinasi

The relationship between qualified personnel and self-reported implementation of recommended physical education practices and programs in U.S. schools.

PubMed

Davis, Kristen S; Burgeson, Charlene R; Brener, Nancy D; McManus, Tim; Wechsler, Howell

2005-06-01

The authors analyzed data from the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2000 to assess the associations between the presence of a district physical education coordinator and district-level physical education policies and practices recommended by federal government agencies and national organizations. The authors also examined the relationship between teacher qualifications and staff development related to physical education and self-reported implementation of recommended teachingpractices. District-level data were collected by self-administered mail questionnaires from a nationally representative sample of school districts. Classroom-level data were collected by computer-assisted personal interviews with teachers of randomly selected classes in elementary schools and randomly selected required physical education courses in middle/junior high and senior high schools. Nearly two thirds (62.2%) of districts had a physical education coordinator, and those were generally more likely than other districts to report having policies and practices that corresponded with national recommendations for high-quality physical education programs. More than two thirds of teachers (66.9%) met the criteria for teacher qualifications based on their education and certification. These teachers were more likely than others to report use of certain recommended physical education teaching practices. Teachers who participated in staff development also were more likely to use recommended teaching practices in their classrooms. Using a district physical education coordinator and teachers with appropriate qualifications as well as offering staff development opportunities on physical education may enhance school physical education programs.

Pediatric Epidemic of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium in the Area of L'Aquila, Italy, Four Years after a Catastrophic Earthquake.

PubMed

Nigro, Giovanni; Bottone, Gabriella; Maiorani, Daniela; Trombatore, Fabiana; Falasca, Silvana; Bruno, Gianfranco

2016-05-06

A Salmonella enterica epidemic occurred in children of the area of L'Aquila (Central Italy, Abruzzo region) between June 2013 and October 2014, four years after the catastrophic earthquake of 6 April 2009. Clinical and laboratory data were collected from hospitalized and ambulatory children. Routine investigations for Salmonella infection were carried out on numerous alimentary matrices of animal origin and sampling sources for drinking water of the L'Aquila district, including pickup points of the two main aqueducts. Salmonella infection occurred in 155 children (83 females: 53%), aged 1 to 15 years (mean 2.10). Of these, 44 children (28.4%) were hospitalized because of severe dehydration, electrolyte abnormalities, and fever resistant to oral antipyretic and antibiotic drugs. Three children (1.9%) were reinfected within four months after primary infection by the same Salmonella strain. Four children (2.6%), aged one to two years, were coinfected by rotavirus. A seven-year old child had a concomitant right hip joint arthritis. The isolated strains, as confirmed in about the half of cases or probable/possible in the remaining ones, were identified as S. enterica serovar Typhimurium [4,5:i:-], monophasic variant. Aterno river, bordering the L'Aquila district, was recognized as the main responsible source for the contamination of local crops and vegetables derived from polluted crops. The high rate of hospitalized children underlines the emergence of a highly pathogenic S. enterica strain probably subsequent to the contamination of the spring water sources after geological changes occurred during the catastrophic earthquake.

A study on sheep farming practices in relation to future production strategies in Bensa district of Southern Ethiopia.

PubMed

Kenfo, Hizkel; Mekasha, Yoseph; Tadesse, Yosef

2018-04-01

The study was carried out in Bensa district of Sidama zone, Southern Ethiopia. Agro-ecologically, the study sites were classified into highland and mid-altitude. The objective of the study was to identify sheep farming practices in relation to future production strategies in the study area. A total of 128 households from four kebeles (lower administrative structure) were selected purposively based on sheep population and production potential and accessibility. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaire, focus group discussions, and key informants. The result showed that most of the household heads were male (92.75%) and mixed crop-livestock system was the dominant production system. Among the livestock species, sheep accounted for the largest proportion across the two agro ecologies and the average sheep flock size/household was 4.6 ± 0.33 and 22 4.3 ± 0.213 in highland and in mid-altitude, respectively. The primary reason of keeping sheep was for cash income and saving across the two agro ecologies. The major feed resources for sheep during the wet and dry seasons were natural pasture and crop residues respectively across the two agro ecologies. Feed shortages, disease, parasite prevalence, and market were the major sheep production constraints in highland while feed shortage, genotype, disease, parasite prevalence, and market in mid-altitude. It can be concluded that for enhancing future production from sheep in the area, emphasis is to be given on feed availability, disease management, breeding policy, and marketing strategies.

Forest adjacent households' voices on their perceptions and adaptation strategies to climate change in Kilombero District, Tanzania.

PubMed

Balama, Chelestino; Augustino, Suzana; Eriksen, Siri; Makonda, Fortunatus B S

2016-01-01

Climate change is a global and local challenge to both sustainable livelihoods and economic development. Tanzania as other countries of the world has been affected. Several studies have been conducted on farmers' perceptions and adaptation to climate change in the country, but little attention has been devoted to forest adjacent households in humid areas. This study assessed this gap through assessing forest adjacent households' voices on perceptions and adaptation strategies to climate change in Kilombero District, Tanzania. Data collection involved key informant interviews, focus group discussions and household questionnaires. Results showed that the majority of households perceived changed climate in terms of temperature increase, unpredictable rainfall, frequent occurrence of floods, increased dry spells during rainy season coupled with decreased water sources and emergence of new pests and diseases. The perceived change in climate has impacted agriculture productivity as the main livelihood source. Different coping and adaptation strategies are employed. These are; crop diversification, changing cropping calendar, adopting modern farming technologies, and increasing reliance on non-timber forest products. These strategies were positively and significantly influenced by socio-economic factors including household size, residence period, land ownership and household income. The study concludes that, there are changes in climatic conditions; and to respond to these climatic changes, forest adjacent households have developed numerous coping and adaptation strategies, which were positively and significantly influenced by some socio-economic factors. The study calls for actual implementation of local climate change policies and strategies in order to enhance adaptive capacity at household level.

Geoinformation evaluation of soil resource potential for horticulture in Krasnodar region and the Republic of Adygea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savin, I. Yu.; Dragavtseva, I. A.; Mironenko, N. Ya.; Sergeeva, N. N.; Domozhirova, V. V.; Morenets, A. S.; Ovechkin, S. V.

2016-04-01

A geoinformation database for assessing soil resource potential for horticulture in Krasnodar region and Adygea has been developed. The results of geoinformation analysis indicate that only 55-60% of soils in these regions are suitable for growing horticultural crops without limitations; about 35-40% of the total soil area is unsuitable for horticultural purposes. For plum trees, the area of unsuitable soils is somewhat lower than for other horticultural crops. Geographically, the areas of soils suitable and unsuitable for horticulture are close to one another. The thickness of the loose earthy soil material, the gravel content, the degree of salinization, the soil texture, and the degree of soil hydromorphism are the major soil properties imposing considerable limitations for the development of fruit-growing industry in the studied regions. The highest portions of soils suitable for horticulture are found in Eiskii, Kushchevskii, Krylovskii, Shcherbinovskii, and Novokubanskii districts of Krasnodar region. The development of horticulture in Tuapsinskii, Slavyanskii, and Primorsko-Akhtarskii districts is limited because of the unsuitability of soils for this purpose. About 8% of the existing orchards are found on soils recognized as unsuitable for horticulture, and only about 20% of the existing orchards are found on soils suitable for fruit growing without limitations. About 70% of the existing fruit orchards are located on degraded soils or on soils with certain limitations for horticulture. The profitability of fruit orchards on such soils is lower than that of the orchards planted on soils without limitations for horticulture. This information is necessary for the adequate economic evaluation of the degree of soil degradation.

Local attitudes and perceptions toward crop-raiding by orangutans (Pongo abelii) and other nonhuman primates in northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

PubMed

Campbell-Smith, Gail; Simanjorang, Hubert V P; Leader-Williams, Nigel; Linkie, Matthew

2010-09-01

Human-wildlife conflicts, such as crop-raiding, increase as people expand their agricultural activities into wildlife habitats. Crop-raiding can reduce tolerance toward species that are already threatened, whereas potential dangers posed by conflicts with large-bodied species may also negatively influence local attitudes. Across Asia, wild pigs and primates, such as macaques, tend to be the most commonly reported crop raiders. To date, reports of crop-raiding incidents involving great apes have been less common, but incidents involving orangutans are increasingly emerging in Indonesia. To investigate the interplay of factors that might explain attitudes toward crop-raiding by orangutans (Pongo abelii), focal group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted among 822 farmers from 2 contrasting study areas in North Sumatra. The first study area of Batang Serangan is an agroforest system containing isolated orangutans that crop-raid. In contrast, the second area of Sidikalang comprises farmlands bordering extensive primary forest where orangutans are present but not reported to crop-raid. Farmers living in Batang Serangan thought that orangutans were dangerous, irrespective of earlier experience of crop-raiding. Farmers placed orangutans as the third most frequent and fourth most destructive crop pest, after Thomas' leaf monkey (Presbytis thomasi), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis). Although most (57%) farmers across both study areas were not scared of wildlife species, more than a quarter (28%) of the farmers' feared orangutans. Farmers in Batang Serangan were generally more tolerant toward crop-raiding orangutans, if they did not perceive them to present a physical threat. Most (67%) Batang Serangan farmers said that the local Forestry Department staff should handle crop-raiding orangutans, and most (81%) said that these officials did not care about such problems. Our results suggest that efforts to mitigate human-orangutan conflict may not, per se, change negative perceptions of those who live with the species, because these perceptions are often driven by fear. 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A GIS based district information system for water resources management and planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tzabiras, John; Spiliotopoulos, Marios; Kokkinos, Kostantinos; Fafoutis, Chrysostomos; Sidiropoulos, Pantelis; Vasiliades, Lampros; Loukas, Athanasios; Mylopoulos, Nikitas

2014-05-01

In many watersheds of the Mediterranean Countries, water resources are presently fully or overcommitted. Irrigators are the largest consumers of fresh water in Mediterranean Countries using up to 80% of all allocated water in some regions. Administrative efforts should be directed towards an integrated policy of water allocation which accounts for the characteristics and specificity of each farm, requiring the availability of data bases and management tools (decision support systems) specifically designed to fulfil the objectives of maximizing water use efficiency. The overall objective of this program was the development of a District Information System (DIS) which could be used by stakeholders at purposes of irrigation district day-to-day management as well as for planning and strategic decision-making. The DIS was developed from a GIS-based modelling approach which integrates a generic crop model, a hydraulic module for the water transfer/distribution system and uses remote sensing information. The main sub-objectives were: (i) the development of an operational algorithm to retrieve crop evapotranspiration from remote sensing data, (ii) the development of an information system with friendly user interface for the data base, the crop module and the hydraulic module and (iii) the analysis and validation of management scenarios from model simulations predicting the respective behaviour. Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) was used to derive monthly actual evapotranspiration (ET) values from Landsat TM imagery. Meteorological data from the archive of the Institute for Research and Technology, Thessaly (I.RE.TE.TH) have also been used. The methodology was developed using high quality Landsat TM images during 2007 growing season. Monthly ET values are then used as an input to CROPWAT model. Outputs of CROPWAT model are then used as input for the hydraylic module consisted of TECHNOLOGISMIKI, WATERCAD and WEAP model. Hence, a reference scenario was developed based on the actual situation of the surface irrigation network of the Local Administration of Land Reclamation (LALR) of Pinios river in Greece (Pinios LALR) for the year 2007. The system was calibrated with observed data of that year and the district parameterization was conducted based on the actual operation of the network. Hydraulic model output showed that the water pumped from Pinios LALR is not enough to serve irrigation requirements. Furthermore, the water evaluation and planning model (WEAP) respectively projects the same output since water demand is not covered. Four alternative scenarios were developed to be studied with the DIS: (a) Reduction of channel losses, (b) Alteration of irrigation methods (c) Introduction of greenhouse cultivation and (d) Operation of the future Lake Karla network, this network is designed to fulfil the irrigation needs of agricultural land around the reconstructed Lake Karla reservoir and the water is pumped from the Lake Karla reservoir and is being distributed through a low pressured piped network. The results showed that the water demand variants according to the scenario in study. Simulation of the four alternative scenarios indicated that the alteration of irrigation methods scenario mainly increases the efficiency of the irrigation network.

Race to the Top. District of Columbia Report. Year 4: School Year 2013-2014. [State-Specific Summary Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2015

2015-01-01

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of the District of Columbia's annual Race to the Top implementation. The Year 4 report for Phase 2 grantees highlights successes and accomplishments, identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2013 through September 2014. Given that…

District Composite Report: Winn Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. This report is specific to Winn Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the…

District Composite Report: West Baton Rouge Parish. 2002-2003.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. This report is specific to West Baton Rouge Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating…

District Composite Report: Ascension Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. This report is specific to Ascension Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data…

District Composite Report: St. Helena Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. This report is specific to Helena Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in…

District Composite Report: Richland Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in the District Composite Report. This report is specific to Richland Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data in the…

District Composite Report: Lafayette Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. This report is specific to Lafayette Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data…

District Composite Report: Rapides Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. This report is specific to Rapides Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data…

District Composite Report: Vermilion Parish. 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louisiana State Department of Education, 2004

2004-01-01

Up to six years of data (the current year and the five previous years where available) are presented in Louisiana's District Composite Reports. This report is specific to Vermilion Parish. Each year, this report is updated by adding the most current year's data and deleting the data that are more than six years old. Incorporating longitudinal data…

Financial Reporting Practices in Illinois Public Community Colleges.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skeadas, Gus J.

1986-01-01

Describes a study of the extent to which the audit reports of the 38 Illinois community college districts fulfill 30 financial reporting requirements specified by industry audit guides, state board requirements, and College and University Business Administration standards. Identifies the percentage of districts not complying with each requirement…

PCB Content of Sediments Collected at Manistique Harbor, Michigan

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

2013 10:19 PM Page 23 of 35 Date Reported: 1/24/2013 Original WO#: 1211282RTI Laboratories - DATES REPORT Leachate Date USACE- Detroit District...REPORT Leachate Date USACE- Detroit District Manistique Harbor 0004 Client: Project: Sample ID Test NameMatrixCollection DateClient Sample ID Analysis

An Analysis of Staff Development Programs and Their Costs in Three Urban School Districts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Donald R.; Hyde, Arthur A.

This report analyzes teacher staff development programs and their costs in three large urban school districts, and discusses research and policy implications of the research results. The districts were selected through a survey of school districts serving the 75 largest U.S. cities, and were chosen because of their respectively high, medium, and…

Cerritos Community College: Improvements Needed in Aspects of Operating the District and Its Auxiliary Organization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Office of the Auditor General, Sacramento.

This audit report discusses the operation of the Enterprise Fund by Cerritos Community College District in California. In addition, the Cerritos College Foundation's conflict of interest policies, its relationship with the district, and its award of contracts for services was reviewed. It was found that the district needed improvement in its…

Foothill-De Anza Community College District, 2005: Planning for the New Millennium. Educational Master Plan, Spring 1999.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foothill-De Anza Community Coll. District, Los Altos Hills, CA.

This document presents Foothill-De Anza Community College District's educational master plan. This report begins with the district's mission statement and is divided into five parts. "Preface: The Last Decade" looks at what occurred at Foothill-De Anza Community College District from 1988-98. "Plan Overview" outlines the…

How Within-District Spending Inequities Help Some Schools to Fail

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roza, Marguerite; Hill, Paul Thomas

2004-01-01

School district budgets typically hide as much as they reveal. Superintendents are finding this as they discover huge deficits that nobody saw coming. District budgets are opaque by design, and they often mask important facts about resource allocation within a district, as well as about total spending. This paper reports the results of an original…

Elementary and Secondary Education: Flexibility Initiatives Do Not Address Districts' Key Concerns about Federal Requirements. Report to Congressional Requesters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. Health, Education, and Human Services Div.

The Government Accounting Office (GAO) was asked to: (1) describe major federal requirements that affect school districts; (2) identify key issues school districts face in implementing these requirements; and (3) analyze the impact of the Department of Education's flexibility initiatives on school districts' ability to address these implementation…

The Nation's Report Card: Mathematics 2011. Trial Urban District Assessment Results at Grades 4 and 8. NCES 2012-452

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Education Statistics, 2011

2011-01-01

Representative samples of fourth- and eighth-grade public school students from 21 urban districts participated in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. Eighteen of the districts participating in the 2011 NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) participated in earlier assessment years, while three districts…

Local Trustee Education Programs in California Community Colleges. Results of a Survey.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Cindra

This document reports the results of a survey conducted in the summer of 1998. Community college districts in California was surveyed on their practices regarding local board education and development programs. Approximately 80% of the districts, or 57 districts, responded. The study found that less than one-third of the districts had a written…

Global Agriculture Yields and Conflict under Future Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rising, J.; Cane, M. A.

2013-12-01

Aspects of climate have been shown to correlate significantly with conflict. We investigate a possible pathway for these effects through changes in agriculture yields, as predicted by field crop models (FAO's AquaCrop and DSSAT). Using satellite and station weather data, and surveyed data for soil and management, we simulate major crop yields across all countries between 1961 and 2008, and compare these to FAO and USDA reported yields. Correlations vary by country and by crop, from approximately .8 to -.5. Some of this range in crop model performance is explained by crop varieties, data quality, and other natural, economic, and political features. We also quantify the ability of AquaCrop and DSSAT to simulate yields under past cycles of ENSO as a proxy for their performance under changes in climate. We then describe two statistical models which relate crop yields to conflict events from the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict dataset. The first relates several preceding years of predicted yields of the major grain in each country to any conflict involving that country. The second uses the GREG ethnic group maps to identify differences in predicted yields between neighboring regions. By using variation in predicted yields to explain conflict, rather than actual yields, we can identify the exogenous effects of weather on conflict. Finally, we apply precipitation and temperature time-series under IPCC's A1B scenario to the statistical models. This allows us to estimate the scale of the impact of future yields on future conflict. Centroids of the major growing regions for each country's primary crop, based on USDA FAS consumption. Correlations between simulated yields and reported yields, for AquaCrop and DSSAT, under the assumption that no irrigation, fertilization, or pest control is used. Reported yields are the average of FAO yields and USDA FAS yields, where both are available.

75 FR 11557 - Meeting of the California Desert District Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-11

... updates by Council members and reports from the BLM District Manager and five field office managers...) 697-5220. Dated: March 3, 2010. Jack L. Hamby, Acting District Manager. [FR Doc. 2010-5365 Filed 3-10...

The CSAICLAWPS project: a multi-scalar, multi-data source approach to providing climate services for both modelling of climate change impacts on crop yields and development of community-level adaptive capacity for sustainable food security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forsythe, N. D.; Fowler, H. J.

2017-12-01

The "Climate-smart agriculture implementation through community-focused pursuit of land and water productivity in South Asia" (CSAICLAWPS) project is a research initiative funded by the (UK) Royal Society through its Challenge Grants programme which is part of the broader UK Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). CSAICLAWPS has three objectives: a) development of "added-value" - bias assessed, statistically down-scaled - climate projections for selected case study sites across South Asia; b) investigation of crop failure modes under both present (observed) and future (projected) conditions; and c) facilitation of developing local adaptive capacity and resilience through stakeholder engagement. At AGU we will be presenting both next steps and progress to date toward these three objectives: [A] We have carried out bias assessments of a substantial multi-model RCM ensemble (MME) from the CORDEX South Asia (CORDEXdomain for case studies in three countries - Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka - and (stochastically) produced synthetic time-series for these sites from local observations using a Python-based implementation of the principles underlying the Climate Research Unit Weather Generator (CRU-WG) in order to enable probabilistic simulation of current crop yields. [B] We have characterised present response of local crop yields to climate variability in key case study sites using AquaCrop simulations parameterised based on input (agronomic practices, soil conditions, etc) from smallholder farmers. [C] We have implemented community-based hydro-climatological monitoring in several case study "revenue villages" (panchayats) in the Nainital District of Uttarakhand. The purpose of this is not only to increase availability of meteorological data, but also has the aspiration of, over time, leading to enhanced quantitative awareness of present climate variability and potential future conditions (as projected by RCMs). Next steps in our work will include: 1) future crop yield simulations driven by "perturbation" of synthetic time-series using "change factors from the CORDEX-SA MME; 2) stakeholder dialogues critically evaluating potential strategies at the grassroots (implementation) level to mitigate impacts of climate variability and change on crop yields.

Analysis on the distribution characteristics and sources of soil heavy metals in suburban farmland in Xiangtan City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yong; Sun, Xinxin

2018-01-01

The rapid development of the economy will inevitably have an impact on the farmland soil environment. The content of heavy metal is increasing day by day, and the heavy metal can enter people's body through different channels and endanger people's health. Based on agricultural land and crop types in accordance with the regional land use classification, using the method of the Single Factor Index and Comprehensive Pollution Index, the pollution status of heavy metals in farmland soil in the suburbs of Xiangtan city was studied and evaluated. At the same time, we use SPSS software to analyze the four heavy metal elements (Cu, Zn, As and Pb) and analyze their possible sources. The results showed that the farmland soils in Erhuan Road and Zhubu Port were polluted, and the farmland soil in Shuangma (an old industrial district) was not polluted; for different crop lands, orchards and vegetable lands were not contaminated, but rape and rice lands were contaminated. Pearson correlation analysis showed that Cu, As and Pb might come from the same pollution source, while Zn might come from other sources. Waste water from a chemical plant, crop types, automobile exhaust and other human factors may be important sources of soil pollution in agricultural fields.

Using remote sensing satellite data and artificial neural network for prediction of potato yield in Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akhand, Kawsar; Nizamuddin, Mohammad; Roytman, Leonid; Kogan, Felix

2016-09-01

Potato is one of the staple foods and cash crops in Bangladesh. It is widely cultivated in all of the districts and ranks second after rice in production. Bangladesh is the fourth largest potato producer in Asia and is among the world's top 15 potato producing countries. The weather condition for potato cultivation is favorable during the sowing, growing and harvesting period. It is a winter crop and is cultivated during the period of November to March. Bangladesh is mainly an agricultural based country with respect to agriculture's contribution to GDP, employment and consumption. Potato is a prominent crop in consideration of production, its internal demand and economic value. Bangladesh has a big economic activities related to potato cultivation and marketing, especially the economic relations among farmers, traders, stockers and cold storage owners. Potato yield prediction before harvest is an important issue for the Government and the stakeholders in managing and controlling the potato market. Advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) based satellite data product vegetation health indices VCI (vegetation condition index) and TCI (temperature condition index) are used as predictors for early prediction. Artificial neural network (ANN) is used to develop a prediction model. The simulated result from this model is encouraging and the error of prediction is less than 10%.

What lies behind crop decisions?Coming to terms with revealing farmers' preferences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomez, C.; Gutierrez, C.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; López Nicolás, A.

2016-12-01

The paper offers a fully-fledged applied revealed preference methodology to screen and represent farmers' choices as the solution of an optimal program involving trade-offs among the alternative welfare outcomes of crop decisions such as profits, income security and management easiness. The recursive two-stage method is proposed as an alternative to cope with the methodological problems inherent to common practice positive mathematical program methodologies (PMP). Differently from PMP, in the model proposed in this paper, the non-linear costs that are required for both calibration and smooth adjustment are not at odds with the assumptions of linear Leontief technologies and fixed crop prices and input costs. The method frees the model from ad-hoc assumptions about costs and then recovers the potential of economic analysis as a means to understand the rationale behind observed and forecasted farmers' decisions and then to enhance the potential of the model to support policy making in relevant domains such as agricultural policy, water management, risk management and climate change adaptation. After the introduction, where the methodological drawbacks and challenges are set up, section two presents the theoretical model, section three develops its empirical application and presents its implementation to a Spanish irrigation district and finally section four concludes and makes suggestions for further research.

Quality-Assurance/Quality-Control Manual for Collection and Analysis of Water-Quality Data in the Ohio District, US Geological Survey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Francy, D.S.; Jones, A.L.; Myers, Donna N.; Rowe, G.L.; Eberle, Michael; Sarver, K.M.

1998-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Water Resources Division (WRD), requires that quality-assurance/quality-control (QA/QC) activities be included in any sampling and analysis program. Operational QA/QC procedures address local needs while incorporating national policies. Therefore, specific technical policies were established for all activities associated with water-quality project being done by the Ohio District. The policies described in this report provide Ohio District personnel, cooperating agencies, and others with a reference manual on QA/QC procedures that are followed in collecitng and analyzing water-quality samples and reporting water-quality information in the Ohio District. The project chief, project support staff, District Water-Quality Specialist, and District Laboratory Coordinator are all involved in planning and implementing QA/QC activities at the district level. The District Chief and other district-level managers provide oversight, and the Regional Water-Quality Specialist, Office of Water Quality (USGS headquarters), and the Branch of Quality Systems within the Office of Water Quality create national QA/QC polices and provide assistance to District personnel. In the literature, the quality of all measurement data is expressed in terms of precision, variability, bias, accuracy, completeness, representativeness, and comparability. In the Ohio District, bias and variability will be used to describe quality-control data generated from samples in the field and laboratory. Each project chief must plan for implementation and financing of QA/QC activities necessary to achieve data-quality objectives. At least 15 percent of the total project effort must be directed toward QA/QC activities. Of this total, 5-10 percent will be used for collection and analysis of quality-control samples. This is an absolute minimum, and more may be required based on project objectives. Proper techniques must be followed in the collection and processing of surface-water, ground-water, biological, precipitation, bed-sediment, bedload, suspended-sediment, and solid-phase samples. These techniques are briefly described in this report and are extensively documented. The reference documents listed in this report will be kept by the District librarian and District Water-Quality Specialist and updated regularly so that they are available to all District staff. Proper handling and documentation before, during, and after field activities are essential to ensure the integrity of the sample and to correct erroneous reporting of data results. Field sites are to be properly identified and entered into the data base before field data-collection activities begin. During field activities, field notes are to be completed and sample bottles appropriately labeled a nd stored. After field activities, all paperwork is to be completed promptly and samples transferred to the laboratory within allowable holding times. All equipment used by District personnel for the collection and processing of water-quality samples is to be properly operated, maintained, and calibrated by project personnel. This includes equipment for onsite measurement of water-quality characteristics (temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, acidity, and turbidity) and equipment and instruments used for biological sampling. The District Water-Quality Specialist and District Laboratory Coordinator are responsible for preventive maintenance and calibration of equipment in the Ohio District laboratory. The USGS National Water Quality Laboratory in Arvada, Colo., is the primary source of analytical services for most project work done by the Ohio District. Analyses done at the Ohio District laboratory are usually those that must be completed within a few hours of sample collection. Contract laboratories or other USGS laboratories are sometimes used instead of the NWQL or the Ohio District laboratory. When a contract laboratory is used, the projec

Environmental flows for rivers and economic compensation for irrigators.

PubMed

Sisto, Nicholas P

2009-02-01

Securing flows for environmental purposes from an already fully utilized river is an impossible task--unless users are either coerced into freeing up water, or offered incentives to do so. One sensible strategy for motivating users to liberate volumes is to offer them economic compensation. The right amount for that compensation then becomes a key environmental management issue. This paper analyses a proposal to restore and maintain ecosystems on a stretch of the Río Conchos in northern Mexico, downstream from a large irrigation district that consumes nearly all local flows. We present here estimates of environmental flow requirements for these ecosystems and compute compensation figures for irrigators. These figures are derived from crop-specific irrigation water productivities we statistically estimate from a large set of historical production and irrigation data obtained from the district. This work has general implications for river ecosystem management in water-stressed basins, particularly in terms of the design of fair and effective water sharing mechanisms.

Soil salinization in the agricultural lands of Rhodope District, northeastern Greece.

PubMed

Pisinaras, V; Tsihrintzis, V A; Petalas, C; Ouzounis, K

2010-07-01

The objective of this study was to identify seasonal and spatial trends and soil salinization patterns in a part of Rhodope District irrigated land, northeastern Greece, located east of Vistonis Lagoon. The study area is irrigated from a coastal aquifer, where salt water intrusion occurs because of extensive groundwater withdrawals. Fourteen monitoring sites were established in harvest fields in the study area, where soil samples were collected. Electrical conductivity (ECe), pH, and ion concentrations were determined in the saturated paste extract of the soil samples in the laboratory using standard methods. A clear tendency was observed for ECe to increase from April to September, i.e., within the irrigation period, indicating the effect of saline groundwater to soil. In the last years, the change from moderately sensitive (e.g., corn) to moderately tolerant crops (e.g., cotton) in the south part of the study area indicates the impacts of soil salinity. The study proposes management methods to alleviate this problem.

Leadership for Student Learning: Restructuring School District Leadership. School Leadership for the 21st Century Initiative: A Report of the Task Force on School District Leadership.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Institute for Educational Leadership, Washington, DC.

This report displays the themes and concerns that worried a cross-section of carefully selected educators and leaders in government, business, and civic groups. While failing to agree completely on the nature of the problems or their solutions, Task Force members were in accord on two conclusions: that district leaders must focus on the goal of…

Climate Change Impacts on Rice Farming Systems in Northwestern Sri Lanka. Chapter 10

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zubair, Lareef; Nissanka, Sarath P.; Weerakoon, W. M. W.; Herath, Dumindu I.; Karunaratne, Asha S; Prabodha, A. S. M.; Agalawatte, M. B.; Herath, Rasnayaka; Yahiya, S. Zeenas; Punyawardhene, B. V. R.;

Changes in field workability and drought risk from projected climate change drive spatially variable risks in Illinois cropping systems.

PubMed

Tomasek, Bradley J; Williams, Martin M; Davis, Adam S

2017-01-01

As weather patterns become more volatile and extreme, risks introduced by weather variability will become more critical to agricultural production. The availability of days suitable for field work is driven by soil temperature and moisture, both of which may be altered by climate change. We projected changes in Illinois season length, spring field workability, and summer drought risk under three different emissions scenarios (B1, A1B, and A2) down to the crop district scale. Across all scenarios, thermal time units increased in parallel with a longer frost-free season. An increase in late March and Early April field workability was consistent across scenarios, but a decline in overall April through May workable days was observed for many cases. In addition, summer drought metrics were projected to increase for most scenarios. These results highlight how the spatial and temporal variability in climate change may present unique challenges to mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Cover crop biomass production and water use in the central great plains under varying water availability

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The water-limited environment of the semi-arid central Great Plains may not have potential to produce enough cover crop biomass to generate benefits associated with cover crop use in more humid regions. There have been reports that cover crops grown in mixtures produce more biomass with greater wate...

Geology and uranium deposits of the Cochetopa and Marshall Pass districts, Saguache and Gunnison counties, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Olson, Jerry C.

1988-01-01

The Cochetopa and Marshall Pass uranium districts are in Saguache and Gunnison Counties, south-central Colorado. Geologic mapping of both districts has shown that their structural history and geologic relationships have a bearing on the distribution and origin of their uranium deposits. In both districts, the principal uranium deposits are situated at the intersection of major faults with Tertiary erosion surfaces. These surfaces were buried by early Tertiary siliceous tuffs-- a likely source of the uranium. That uranium deposits are related to such unconformities in various parts of the world has been suggested by many other authors. The purpose of this study is to understand the geology of the two districts and to define a genetic model for uranium deposits that may be useful in the discovery and evaluation of uranium deposits in these and other similar geologic settings. The Cochetopa and Marshall Pass uranium districts produced nearly 1,200 metric tons of uranium oxide from 1956 to 1963. Several workings at the Los Ochos mine in the Cochetopa district, and the Pitch mine in the Marshall Pass district, accounted for about 97 percent of this production, but numerous other occurrences of uranium are known in the two districts. As a result of exploration of the Pitch deposit in the 1970's, a large open-pit mining operation began in 1978. Proterozoic rocks in both districts comprise metavolcanic, metasedimentary, and igneous units. Granitic rocks, predominantly quartz monzonitic in composition, occupy large areas. In the northwestern part of the Cochetopa district, metavolcanic and related metasedimentary rocks are of low grade (lower amphibolite facies). In the Marshall Pass district, layered metamorphic rocks are predominantly metasedimentary and are of higher (sillimanite subfacies) grade than the Cochetopa rocks. Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Marshall Pass district range from Late Cambrian to Pennsylvanian in age and are 700 m thick. The Paleozoic rocks include, from oldest to youngest, the Sawatch Quartzite, Manitou Dolomite, Harding Quartzite, Fremont Dolomite, Parting Formation and Dyer Dolomite of the Chaffee Group, Leadville Dolomite, and Belden Formation. In the Cochetopa district, Paleozoic rocks are absent. Mesozoic sedimentary rocks overlie the Precambrian rocks in the Cochetopa district and comprise the Junction Creek Sandstone, Morrison Formation, Dakota Sandstone, and Mancos Shale. In the Marshall Pass district, Mesozoic rocks are absent and were presumably removed by pre-Tertiary erosion. Tertiary volcanic rocks were deposited on an irregular surface of unconformity; they blanketed both districts but have been eroded, away from much of the area. They include silicic ash flows as well as andesitic lava flows and breccias. In the Marshall Pass district, a 20to 20D-m thickness of waterlaid tuff of early Tertiary age indicates the former presence of a lake over much of the district. In the Cochetopa district, faults have a predominantly east-west trend, and the major Los Ochos fault shows displacement during Laramide time. In the Marshall Pass district, the Chester fault is a major north-trending reverse fault along which Proterozoic rocks have been thrust westward over Paleozoic and Proterozoic rocks. Displacement on the Chester fault was almost entirely of Laramide age. Both faults and old erosion surfaces or unconformities are important in the origin of uranium deposits because of their influence on the movement and localization of ore-forming solutions. In the Cochetopa district, all the known uranium occurrences crop out within 100 m of the inferred position of the unconformity surface beneath the Tertiary volcanic rocks. Much of the district was part of the drainage of an ancestral Cochetopa Creek. The principal uranium deposit, at the Los Ochos mine, is localized along the Los Ochos fault and is near the bottom of the paleovalley where the paleovalley crosses the fault. This

District of Columbia Public Schools: Student Enrollment Count Remains Vulnerable to Errors. Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. House of Representatives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. Health, Education, and Human Services Div.

The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is one of the largest public school districts in the United States. Since 1989-90, there have been questions about several aspects of DCPS's enrollment-count process. A valid enrollment-count process and an accurate count are critical to DCPS's district- and school-level planning, staffing, funding,…

76 FR 13430 - Meeting of the California Desert District Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-11

... members and reports from the BLM District Manager and five field office managers. In addition, the agenda...: March 2, 2011. Jack L. Hamby, Associate District Manager. [FR Doc. 2011-5456 Filed 3-10-11; 8:45 am...

An Archeological Survey Along the Eastern Floodplain of the Lower Illinois River: Cultural Resource Survey of Selected Portions of the Meredosia and Meredosia Lake Drainage and Levee Districts, Scott, Cass and Morgan Counties, Illinois. St. Louis District Cultural Resource Management Report Number 19

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-03-01

COUNTIES , ILLINOIS CONTRACT NO. DACW4382.D.0083 edited by DTIC Harold Hassen S ELECTE FEB 0 3 1992N CONTRIBUTIONS BY HAROLD HASSEN, ERICH SCHROEDER...SELECTED PORTIONS OF THE MEREDOSIA AND MEREDOSIA LAKE DRAINAGE AND LEVEE DISTRICTS, SCOTT, CASS, AND MORGAN COUNTIES ,,; PERFORMING ORG. REPORT N-.MBER...River: Cultural Resource Survey of Selected Portions of the Meredosia and Meredosia Lake Drainage and Levee Districts, Scott, Cass and Morgan Counties

Home-Town Values and High Accountability: A Texas Recipe for Districtwide Success in an Urban School District

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skrla, Linda; McKenzie, Kathryn Bell; Scheurich, James Joseph; Dickerson, Kimberly L.

2011-01-01

This article reports the findings from a case study of urban school district effectiveness taken from a larger, multistate study. The case study district, Galena Park Independent School District in Galena Park, Texas, was chosen for inclusion in the study based on quantitative analysis of student achievement data in Texas. An education production…

A Cooperative Program Between a City School District and a Suburban School District. Interim Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rochester City School District, NY.

An urban-suburban interdistrict program is described in which efforts were made to correct racial imbalance in both districts. In 1965 free transportation was provided for 25 first grade children who were sent voluntarily from a Rochester, N.Y. public school to six schools in the West Irondequoit district. This longitudinal metropolitan approach…

2012-13 Operating Grants: Too Little to Offset District Budget Shortfalls. BCTF Research Report. Section V. 2012-EF-01

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Margaret

2012-01-01

The BC Ministry of Education announcement about 2012-13 operating grants estimates includes "new" funding to districts of $11.2 million for vulnerable students, $10.7 million for districts to implement elements of the Education Plan, and $21.8 million to address "districts' differing geographic circumstances." This makes for a…

Educational Technology in Public School Districts: Fall 2008. First Look. NCES 2010-003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gray, Lucinda; Lewis, Laurie

2009-01-01

This report provides national data on the availability and use of educational technology in public school districts during fall 2008. The data are the results of a national district-level survey that is one of a set that includes district, school, and teacher surveys on educational technology. Every year between 1994 and 2005 (with the exception…

Within-District Resource Allocation and the Marginal Costs of Providing Equal Educational Opportunity: Evidence from Texas and Ohio

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Bruce D.

2009-01-01

This study explores within-district fiscal resource allocation across elementary schools in Texas and Ohio large city school districts and in their surrounding metropolitan areas. Specifically, I ask whether districts widely reported as achieving greater resource equity through adoption of Weighted Student Funding (WSF) have in fact done so. I…

Mississippi School Districts: Factors in the Disestablishment of Dual Systems. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, James M.

This research is basically a search for a model to explain why some districts achieved a higher degree of desegregation than others in their efforts to disestablish the dual system. The population studied consists of all of the school districts in Mississippi, and the unit of analysis was the local school district. Three types of variables were…

REPORT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, SAUSALITO SCHOOL DISTRICT, ON ETHNIC PROBLEMS IN THE SAUSALITO SCHOOL DISTRICT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.

RACIAL IMBALANCE IN THE SAUSALITO SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS LEGAL SOCIAL, ETHICAL, AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS. THE SCHOOL POPULATION COMES FROM THREE MAJOR COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE DISTRICT. THE SCHOOLS MUST COPE WITH THE DISCONTINUITY OF A PUPIL ENROLLMENT PATTERN CAUSED BY THE CONSTANT TURNOVER OF PERSONNEL AT THE MILITARY INSTALLATIONS IN THE AREA.…

Race to the Top. District of Columbia Report. Year 3: School Year 2012-2013. [State-Specific Summary Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2014

2014-01-01

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of the District of Columbia's annual Race to the Top implementation. The Year 3 report for Phase 1 and 2 grantees highlights successes and accomplishments, identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2012 through September 2013. In…