Metals pollution in El Limón lagoon, Chiapas, Mexico

MARIA TERESA LEAL ASCENCIO SAUL MIRANDA ALONSO Elena María Otazo Sanchez Francisco Prieto García (2009, [Artículo])

La laguna El Limón, en el municipio de Reforma, Chiapas, México, ha presentado mortandad masiva de peces, lo que llevó a realizar un estudio más profundo que determinara el grado de contaminación de la laguna, así como las causas posibles de los eventos. Los resultados muestran que en los sedimentos de la laguna las concentraciones promedio de Zn, Ni, Cr, Cd y Cu rebasan los límites recomendados en Canadá y Estados Unidos para evitar la aparición de efectos biológicos nocivos en especies acuáticas. Es de especial mención la acumulación de Zn, que presenta una concentración máxima de 1360 mg/kg, presumiblemente asociada al uso de este metal como catalizador en una planta procesadora de gas. Si bien las descargas industriales que vierten a la laguna cumplen con los estándares establecidos en México para metales, esto no ha sido suficiente para evitar su acumulación en los sedimentos, lo cual demuestra que las normas existentes para las descargas de aguas residual industrial deben aumentar sus restricciones y tomar en cuenta el tipo de cuerpo receptor al que vierten. En el caso del uso de agua residual o contaminada para riego, la acumulación puede darse en los suelos agrícolas, pasando eventualmente a los cultivos, lo que tampoco es deseable.

Lagunas Contaminación del agua Metales Zinc INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA

La construcción del sujeto leproso

Yaminel Bernal Astorga (2008, [Tesis de doctorado])

La lepra es una enfermedad que hasta el día de hoy continúa entre nosotros, irrumpe en la vida de las personas transformando su existencia de manera significativa, pues en cada una ellas delinean marcas que trascienden en el cuerpo, en las relaciones, en lo que hacen y en lo que piensan. Pero, sobre todo, cuando los individuos son identificados como “enfermos de lepra”, de entrada, quedan sujetos a los significados que anteceden a este padecimiento y que, generalmente, están vinculados con las expresiones de horror y miedo debido a la deformidad, la putrefacción, la discapacidad y el contagio que puede causar. De este modo, formular que el “enfermo de lepra” es objeto del dolor, las transformaciones en el cuerpo, los señalamientos, las exclusiones… son percepciones que, prácticamente, pueden vislumbrarse de antemano. Sin embargo, me interesa ir más allá de lo que hasta ahora se tiene por sentado en relación con el “enfermo de lepra”, e incluso la forma en la que puede ser problematizado.

Lepra Piel -- Enfermedades CIENCIAS SOCIALES SOCIOLOGÍA PROBLEMAS SOCIALES ENFERMEDAD ENFERMEDAD

Hacia Sistemas Sustentables Agrícola Ganaderos en el Altiplano Sur de Bolivia 2022

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura Ravi Gopal Singh (2022, [Libro])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA GANADERÍA AGRICULTURA DE CONSERVACIÓN CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO LLUVIA SUELO FERTILIDAD DEL SUELO SEQUÍA

Estimating lime requirements for tropical soils: Model comparison and development

Fernando Aramburu Merlos João Vasco Silva Frédéric Baudron Robert Hijmans (2023, [Artículo])

Acid tropical soils may become more productive when treated with agricultural lime, but optimal lime rates have yet to be determined in many tropical regions. In these regions, lime rates can be estimated with lime requirement models based on widely available soil data. We reviewed seven of these models and introduced a new model (LiTAS). We evaluated the models’ ability to predict the amount of lime needed to reach a target change in soil chemical properties with data from four soil incubation studies covering 31 soil types. Two foundational models, one targeting acidity saturation and the other targeting base saturation, were more accurate than the five models that were derived from them, while the LiTAS model was the most accurate. The models were used to estimate lime requirements for 303 African soil samples. We found large differences in the estimated lime rates depending on the target soil chemical property of the model. Therefore, an important first step in formulating liming recommendations is to clearly identify the soil property of interest and the target value that needs to be reached. While the LiTAS model can be useful for strategic research, more information on acidity-related problems other than aluminum toxicity is needed to comprehensively assess the benefits of liming.

Exchangeable Acidity Aluminum Saturation Calcium Carbonate Equivalent CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CHEMICOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES LIMES TROPICAL ZONES ACID SOILS ALUMINIUM BASE SATURATION CALCIUM CARBONATE

Diversifying with grain legumes amplifies carbon in management-sensitive soil organic carbon pools on smallholder farms

Regis Chikowo Sieglinde Snapp (2023, [Artículo])

Crop diversification with grain legumes has been advocated as a means to increase agroecological resilience, diversify livelihoods, boost household nutrition, and enhance soil health and fertility in cereal-based cropping systems in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a primary indicator of soil health and there is limited data regarding SOC pools and grain legume diversification on smallholder farms where soils are often marginal. In Malawi, a range of legume diversification options are under investigation, including rotations and a doubled-up legume rotation (DLR) system in which two compatible legumes are intercropped and then rotated with a cereal. The impact of the DLR system on SOC has not yet been determined, and there is a lack of evidence regarding SOC status over a gradient of simple to complex grain legume diversified systems. We address this knowledge gap by evaluating these systems in comparison to continuous sole maize (Zea mays L.) at three on-farm trial sites in central Malawi. After six years of trial establishment, we measured SOC in bulk soils and aggregate fractions and in faster cycling SOC pools that respond more rapidly to management practices, including water extractable organic carbon (WEOC), particulate organic matter carbon (POM-C), potentially mineralizable carbon (C), and macroaggregate C. Cropping treatment differences were not seen in bulk SOC or total N, but they were apparent in SOC pools with a shorter turnover time. The DLR system of intercropped pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) rotated with maize had higher WEOC, POM-C, potentially mineralizable C, macroaggregate and microaggregate C values than continuous maize. Of the single legume rotations, the pigeonpea-maize rotation had more mineralizable C and microaggregate C compared to continuous maize, while the groundnut-maize rotation had similar C values to the maize system. Overall, this study shows the potential for crop rotations diversified with grain legumes to enhance C in management sensitive SOC pools, and it is one of the first reports to show this effect on smallholder farm sites.

Crop Diversification Water Extractable Organic Carbon CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA DIVERSIFICATION LEGUMES PARTICULATE ORGANIC MATTER SOIL ORGANIC CARBON

Calidad del agua de un lago urbano en la Ciudad de México (2015-abril 2017)

Ana Cecilia Tomasini Ortiz MERCEDES ESPERANZA RAMIREZ CAMPEROS Lina Cardoso (2017, [Memoria de congreso])

El lago urbano estudiado, está situado al oeste de la Ciudad de México. La problemática de la eutrofización del lago se agudizó y el lago presentó algunas características del estado de hipertrofía por su someridad y circulación limitada, falta de estratificación, regímenes de nutrientes y oxígeno no balanceado y productividad muy alta, tomando como parámetro concentraciones de Clorofila a. Por tal motivo, después de haber monitoreado el lago durante 2015 y hasta marzo de 2015, se adaptó una planta piloto de coagulación-floculación alimentada con agua del mismo lago para el retiro de algas.

Lagos Zonas urbanas Eutroficación Calidad del agua INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA

Manejo de pasturas para la crianza de llamas

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura Ravi Gopal Singh (2022, [Libro])

Pasturas CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURA DE CONSERVACIÓN GANADERÍA ARBUSTOS LEGUMINOSAS FORRAJES PASTOREO SUELO CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE ANIMAL HUSBANDRY SHRUBS LEGUMES FORAGE GRAZING SOIL CLIMATE CHANGE LLAMAS AGACHO

Economic valuation of climate induced losses to aquaculture for evaluating climate information services in Bangladesh

Peerzadi Rumana Hossain T.S Amjath-Babu Timothy Joseph Krupnik (2023, [Artículo])

Very little research has focused on climate impacts on aquaculture and the potential of climate information services (CIS) for aquaculture to support sustainable development goals 2030 (SDGs)1. This study represents an effort to bridge this gap by conducting a first ex-ante economic evaluation of CIS for aquaculture in Bangladesh by semi-automating the extraction of data on climate-induced fish losses during 2011 to 2021 from popular online newspaper articles and corroborating them with available government and satellite datasets. During this period, Bangladesh faced an estimated loss of around 140 million USD for hatcheries, open water fish and shrimp. When validated with a year of country-wide official data on climate-induced economic losses to aquaculture, the damage reported from these media sources is approximately 10 percent of actual losses. Given this rule of thumb, the potential economic value of aquacultural CIS could be up to USD14 million a year, if 10 percent of the damage can be offset by appropriate services through a range of multi-sector efforts to establish and extend these services to farmers at scale.

Climate Information Services Newspaper Scraping CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA LOSSES AQUACULTURE CLIMATE SERVICES SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Mapping crop and livestock value chain actors in Mbire and Murehwa districts in Zimbabwe

Hambulo Ngoma Moti Jaleta Frédéric Baudron (2023, [Documento de trabajo])

We conducted a preliminary value chain actors mapping for major crops grown and livestock kept by smallholder farmers in Mbire and Murehwa districts of Zimbabwe. Accordingly, in this report we mapped value chain actors for 11 crops and livestock commodities: namely, sorghum, cotton, sesame, maize, groundnut, sweet-potato, vegetables (tomato and onion), cattle, goats, poultry, and honey/beekeeping. Except sesame from Mbire, most of the crop and livestock commodities are channeled to the main markets in Harare and Marondera for Murehwa. Sesame is smuggled to Mozambique and the market is mainly dependent on middlemen. The Grain Market Board (GMB) is the major actor in sorghum and maize marketing in both districts. Groundnut is sold to both rural and urban consumers after processing it to peanut butter locally within the production zones. Goats and cattle are mostly supplied to the Harare market by middlemen collecting these livestock from village markets and moving door-to-door to buy enough quantity to transport to Harare. Honey production and marketing is still at its initial stage through the support of HELP from Germany and the Zimbabwe Apiculture Trust projects. Long dry season is a challenge in honey production. The Pfumvudza program supported by the Presidential free input scheme helped in introducing and scaling conservation agriculture practices in Zimbabwe. Though there is strong integration of crop-livestock systems at both districts, the level of manure use is gradually decreasing because farmers receive chemical fertilizer support from the Pfumvudza program and applying manure to crop fields is labor-intensive. The input supply system is more competitive in Murehwa district where there are quite several input suppliers in town. The possible interventions that favor agroecological transitions are: (1) honey processing plants and supply of beehives to potential areas, (2) encouraging manure use in crop production, possibly linking it to the basins preparation requirement to be eligible for the presidential input subsidy scheme, (3) support the organic vegetable production initiatives and explore market segments in Harare paying premium prices for certified organic products, (4) Expedite payment systems in sorghum and maize marketing with GMB, and (5) sesame production with agroecologically friendly agronomy and improve markets.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA VALUE CHAINS CROPS LIVESTOCK SMALLHOLDERS SUPPLY CHAINS

Alternative cropping and feeding options to enhance sustainability of mixed crop-livestock farms in Bangladesh

Timothy Joseph Krupnik Jeroen Groot (2024, [Artículo])

We investigated alternative cropping and feeding options for large (>10 cows), medium (5–10 cows) and small (≤4 cows) mixed crop – livestock farm types, to enhance economic and environmental performance in Jhenaidha and Meherpur districts – locations with increasing dairy production – in south western Bangladesh. Following focus group discussions with farmers on constraints and opportunities, we collected baseline data from one representative farm from each farm size class per district (six in total) to parameterize the whole-farm model FarmDESIGN. The six modelled farms were subjected to Pareto-based multi-objective (differential evolution algorithm) optimization to generate alternative dairy farm and fodder configurations. The objectives were to maximize farm profit, soil organic matter balance, and feed self-reliance, in addition to minimizing feed costs and soil nitrogen losses as indicators of sustainability. The cropped areas of the six baseline farms ranged from 0.6 to 4.0 ha and milk production per cow was between 1,640 and 3,560 kg year−1. Feed self-reliance was low (17%–57%) and soil N losses were high (74–342 kg ha−1 year−1). Subsequent trade-off analysis showed that increasing profit and soil organic matter balance was associated with higher risks of N losses. However, we found opportunities to improve economic and environmental performance simultaneously. Feed self-reliance could be increased by intensifying cropping and substituting fallow periods with appropriate fodder crops. For the farm type with the largest opportunity space and room to manoeuvre, we identified four strategies. Three strategies could be economically and environmentally benign, showing different opportunities for farm development with locally available resources.

Ruminant Feed Pareto-Based Optimization Farm Bioeconomic Model CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA RUMINANT FEEDING BIOECONOMIC MODELS MIXED CROPPING FARMS LIVESTOCK