The fate of rice crop residues and context-dependent greenhouse gas emissions: Model-based insights from Eastern India

Sonam Sherpa virender kumar Andrew Mcdonald (2024, [Artículo])

Crop residue burning is a common practice in many parts of the world that causes air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regenerative practices that return residues to the soil offer a ‘no burn’ pathway for addressing air pollution while building soil organic carbon (SOC). Nevertheless, GHG emissions in rice-based agricultural systems are complex and difficult to anticipate, particularly in production contexts with highly variable hydrologic conditions. Here we predict long-term net GHG fluxes for four rice residue management strategies in the context of rice-wheat cropping systems in Eastern India: burning, soil incorporation, livestock fodder, and biochar. Estimations were based on a combination of Tier 1, 2, and 3 modelling approaches, including 100-year DNDC simulations across three representative soil hydrologic categories (i.e., dry, median, and wet). Overall, residue burning resulted in total direct GHG fluxes of 2.5, 6.1, and 8.7 Mg CO2-e in the dry, median, and wet hydrologic categories, respectively. Relative to emissions from burning (positive values indicate an increase) for the same dry to wet hydrologic categories, soil incorporation resulted in a −0.2, 1.8, or 3.1 Mg CO2-e change in emissions whereas use of residues for livestock fodder increased emissions by 2.0, 2.1, or 2.3 Mg CO2-e. Biochar reduced emissions relative to burning by 2.9 Mg CO2-e in all hydrologic categories. This study showed that the production environment has a controlling effect on methane and, therefore, net GHG balance. For example, wetter sites had 2.8–4.0 times greater CH4 emissions, on average, than dry sites when rice residues were returned to the soil. To effectively mitigate burning without undermining climate change mitigation goals, our results suggest that geographically-target approaches should be used in the rice-based systems of Eastern India to incentivize the adoption of regenerative ‘no burn’ residue management practices.

Soil Carbon Rice Residue Burning Life Cycle Assessment CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SOIL CARBON RICE LIFE CYCLE GREENHOUSE GASES CLIMATE CHANGE

Radiative transfer model inversion using high-resolution hyperspectral airborne imagery – Retrieving maize LAI to access biomass and grain yield

Ahmed Kayad Francelino Rodrigues Marco Sozzi Francesco Pirotti Francesco Marinello Urs Schulthess Bruno Gerard Marie Weiss (2022, [Artículo])

PROSAIL Vegetation Indices Field Variability Digital Farming CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA PRECISION AGRICULTURE MAIZE GRAIN YIELD BIOMASS VEGETATION VEGETATION INDEX

Trade-off in the design of sustainable cropping systems at a regional level: A case study on the North China plain

Jeroen Groot XiaoLin Yang (2022, [Artículo])

Holistic Analysis Model-Based Analysis CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CROP ROTATION FOOD SECURITY WATER USE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ECONOMIC VIABILITY

Agricultural lime value chain efficiency for reducing soil acidity in Ethiopia

Moti Jaleta (2023, [Artículo])

Soil acidity is challenging agricultural production in Ethiopia. Above 43% of the farmland is under soil acidity problem and it leads to low crop yields and production losses. Ag-lime is widely considered as an effective remedy for amending soil acidity. This study assesses the current structure of ag-lime value chain and its functionality focusing on central parts of Ethiopia where lime is produced and channeled to acidity affected areas. The study uses Ethiopia as a case study and applies qualitative methods such as key informant interviews and focus group discussions to collect data from different actors in the ag-lime value chain. Key findings indicate that both public and private ag-lime producing factories are operating below their capacity. Due to limited enabling environments, the engagement of private sector in ag-lime value chain is minimal. In addition, farmers have a good awareness of soil acidity problem on their farms, and its causes and mitigation strategies in all regions. However, the adoption of ag-lime by smallholders was minimal. Overall, the current structure of the ag-lime value chain appears fragmented and needs improvement. Addressing soil acidity challenge through efficient ag-lime value chain could narrow lime supply-demand mismatches and increase widespread adoption by farmers to enhance crop productivity and food security in acidity-prone areas of the country.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA LIMES PRODUCTION COSTS VALUE CHAINS SOIL PH

El impacto de la violencia en los flujos migratorios procedentes de Guatemala

Thania Berenice Hernández Alarcón (2021, [Tesis de maestría])

Con este trabajo buscamos entender cómo la violencia en el lugar de origen de una persona puede motivar su decisión de migrar. La aproximación teórica al fenómeno de la migración sugiere que la provisión relativa de bienes públicos es un factor en el análisis costo beneficio mediante el cual el agente evalúa la rentabilidad de la migración. Desde esta perspectiva, la búsqueda de beneficios pecuniarios, como un mayor salario, es compatible con la búsqueda de beneficios no pecuniarios, como mayores niveles de seguridad. Nos interesamos por evaluar lo anterior para el caso de Guatemala. Sirviéndonos de la variación trimestral de trecientos veintinueve municipios en una ventana de once años buscamos evidencia de que la tasa de migración de personas de origen guatemalteco que buscan empleo en México o Estados Unidos se correlaciona de manera positiva con la tasa de homicidios en sus municipios de origen. Nuestros resultados sugieren que esto se cumple y que aumentos en los niveles de violencia homicida pueden propiciar desplazamientos laborales.

Guatemala -- Emigration and immigration -- Effect of violence on -- Econometric models United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Econometric models. CIENCIAS SOCIALES CIENCIAS SOCIALES

Waterhole detection using a vegetation index in desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis cremnobates) habitat

Jonathan Gabriel Escobar Flores (2019, [Artículo])

In arid ecosystems, desert bighorn sheep are dependent on natural waterholes, particularly in summer when forage is scarce and environmental temperatures are high. To detect waterholes in Sierra Santa Isabel, which is the largest area of desert bighorn sheep habitat in the state of Baja California, Mexico, we used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) from Sentinel-2 satellite images. Waterhole detection was based on the premise that sites with greater water availability, where NDVI was higher, can be identified by their density of vegetation greenness. For the detected waterholes, we estimated the escape terrain (presence of cliffs or steep, rocky slopes) around each by the vector ruggedness measure to determine their potential use by desert bighorn sheep based on the animals’ presence as documented by camera traps. We detected 14 waterholes with the NDVI of which 11 were known by land owners and 3 were unrecorded. Desert bighorn were not detected in waterholes with high values of escape terrain, i.e., flat areas. Waterhole detection by NDVI is a simple method, and with the assistance and knowledge of the inhabitants of the Sierra, it was possible to confirm the presence each waterhole in the field. © 2019 Escobar-Flores et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Article, bighorn sheep, environmental aspects and related phenomena, environmental parameters, habitat, Mexico, nonhuman, normalized difference vegetation index, normalized difference water index, water availability, waterhole, animal, bighorn sheep, CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS AGRARIAS CIENCIA FORESTAL CIENCIA FORESTAL

Modeling spatiotemporal patterns of land use/land cover change in Central Malawi using a neural network model

Leah Mungai Joseph Messina Leo Zulu Jiaguo Qi Sieglinde Snapp (2022, [Artículo])

Multilayer Perceptrons CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGRICULTURE LAND USE POPULATION SATELLITE IMAGERY TEXTURE LAND COVER NEURAL NETWORKS REMOTE SENSING

Voice communication module for automotive instrument panel indicators based on virtual assistant open-source solution - Mycroft AI

Módulo de comunicación de voz para indicadores de un panel de instrumentos automotriz basado en la solución de asistente virtual de código abierto - Mycroft AI

Ricardo Hernández Mejía FRANCISCO JAVIER IBARRA VILLEGAS CAIN PEREZ WENCES (2023, [Artículo])

This work was originated from the increasing interest in several industries to implement voice based virtual assistant solutions powered by the Natural Language Processing field of study. This work is focused on the automotive industry Human Machine Interface related products, specifically the Instrument Panel. Nowadays people are constantly using virtual assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, Cortana or Siri on their electronic devices. Furthermore, 31% of cars have a built-in virtual assistant, for example Ford uses Alexa, Merced­es-Benz and Hyundai use Google Assistant, BMW and Nissan use Cortana, GM uses IBM Watson, Honda uses Hana and Toyota uses YUI. Apart from the proprietary solutions described earlier, there are also contemporary open-source generic solutions available on the market, such as Mycroft AI which stands out from other technologies due to ready to deploy, well documented, simple installation on a Linux PC or RPI SoC, and simple execution. This paper presents a way to use Mycroft AI as an alternative to add artificial intelligence-based voice assistance to applications in the automotive domain. The voice communication module presented here drives notifications related to three different entities: seat belt, fuel level and battery level, all of them are telltales present in any automotive Instrument Panel. Since the Mycroft AI design approach is based on Human Centered Design (HCD), the voice communication module presented here provides real user experience (UX) based design. As a conclusion, Mycroft AI demonstrates great potential as an alternative to add voice assistance to automotive industry Human Machine Interface related products. About future work, due to the fact that Mycroft AI is based on Python, there are many possibilities for connecting and expanding the voice communication module by using countless Python libraries in order to import and process any type of information, in any format or source, for example the information from communication technologies like CAN, LIN, Ethernet, MOST, GPS or any other device or technology in order to create comprehensive automotive solutions.

Este trabajo se originó del creciente interés por parte de diferentes industrias para implementar soluciones de asistente virtual basado en voz impulsadas por el campo de estudio del Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural. Este trabajo está enfocado en los productos relacionados a la Interfaz Humano Máquina de la industria automotriz, específicamente el Panel de Instrumentos. Hoy en día las personas usan constantemente asistentes virtuales como Google Assistant, Alexa, Cortana o Siri en sus dispositivos electrónicos. Más aún, 31% de los autos tienen un asistente virtual integrado, por ejemplo, Ford usa Alexa, Mercedes-Benz y Hyundai usan Google Assistant, BMW y Nissan usan Cortana, GM usa IBM Watson, Honda usa Hana y Toyota usa YUI. Aparte de las soluciones de marca registrada descritas anteriormente, también hay soluciones genéricas de código abierto contemporáneas disponibles en el mercado, tales como Mycroft AI que se hace notar por sobre otras tecnologías por características como listo para usar, bien documentada, instalación simple en una PC Linux o RPI SoC, y una ejecución simple. Este artículo presenta una manera de usar Mycroft AI como una alternativa para agregar inteligencia artificial basada en asistencia de voz a aplicaciones en el dominio automotriz. El módulo de comunicación de voz presentado aquí maneja notificaciones relacionadas a tres diferentes entidades: cinturón de seguridad, nivel de gasolina y nivel de batería, todos ellos son indicadores virtuales presentes en cualquier Panel de Instrumentos Automotriz. Dado que el enfoque de diseño de Mycroft AI se basa en Diseño Centrado en el Human (HCD), el módulo de comunicación por voz presentado aquí provee un diseño basado en experiencia de usuario (UX) real. Como conclusión, Mycroft AI demuestra gran potencial como una alternativa para agregar asistencia de voz a los productos relacionados a Interfaz Humano Máquina de la industria automotriz. Acerca del trabajo a futuro, debido al hecho que Mycroft AI está basado en Python, existen muchas posibilidades para conectar y expandir el módulo de comunicación por voz a través del uso de innumerables bibliotecas de Python para importar y procesar cualquier tipo de información, en cualquier formato o fuente, por ejemplo la información proveniente de tecnologías de comunicación tales como CAN, LIN, Ethernet, MOST, GPS o cualquier otro dispositivo o tecnología para crear soluciones automotrices integrales.

Authorship acknowledgment. Ricardo Hernández Mejía: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Research, Resources, Original draft, Visualization, Project administration. Francisco Javier Ibarra Villegas: Review and Editing, Supervision, Project Administration. Cain Pérez Wences: Review and Editing.

Acknowledgment. To Posgrado CIATEQ A.C. due to the institutional support and guidance received to conclude this work in a professional and successful way. To Continental Automotive Occidente due to the sponsorship provided to perform the master’s degree along with Posgrado CIATEQ A.C. which made possible this work. To Dr. Francisco Javier Ibarra Villegas due to their guidance and support on the process to shape and concrete this work.

Instrument panel Virtual assistant Voice communication module Mycroft AI Human centered design User experience Panel de instrumentos Asistente virtual Módulo de comunicación por voz Diseño centrado en el humano Experiencia de usuario INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS TECNOLÓGICAS OTRAS ESPECIALIDADES TECNOLÓGICAS OTRAS OTRAS

The input reduction principle of agroecology is wrong when it comes to mineral fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa

Gatien Falconnier Marc Corbeels Frédéric Baudron Antoine Couëdel leonard rusinamhodzi bernard vanlauwe Ken Giller (2023, [Artículo])

Can farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) boost crop yields and improve food availability without using more mineral fertilizer? This question has been at the center of lively debates among the civil society, policy-makers, and in academic editorials. Proponents of the “yes” answer have put forward the “input reduction” principle of agroecology, i.e. by relying on agrobiodiversity, recycling and better efficiency, agroecological practices such as the use of legumes and manure can increase crop productivity without the need for more mineral fertilizer. We reviewed decades of scientific literature on nutrient balances in SSA, biological nitrogen fixation of tropical legumes, manure production and use in smallholder farming systems, and the environmental impact of mineral fertilizer. Our analyses show that more mineral fertilizer is needed in SSA for five reasons: (i) the starting point in SSA is that agricultural production is “agroecological” by default, that is, very low mineral fertilizer use, widespread mixed crop-livestock systems and large crop diversity including legumes, but leading to poor soil fertility as a result of widespread soil nutrient mining, (ii) the nitrogen needs of crops cannot be adequately met solely through biological nitrogen fixation by legumes and recycling of animal manure, (iii) other nutrients like phosphorus and potassium need to be replaced continuously, (iv) mineral fertilizers, if used appropriately, cause little harm to the environment, and (v) reducing the use of mineral fertilizers would hamper productivity gains and contribute indirectly to agricultural expansion and to deforestation. Yet, the agroecological principles directly related to soil fertility—recycling, efficiency, diversity—remain key in improving soil health and nutrient-use efficiency, and are critical to sustaining crop productivity in the long run. We argue for a nuanced position that acknowledges the critical need for more mineral fertilizers in SSA, in combination with the use of agroecological practices and adequate policy support.

Manure Crop Yields Smallholder Farming Systems Environmental Hazards CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA BIOLOGICAL NITROGEN FIXATION LEGUMES NUTRIENT BALANCE SOIL FERTILITY AGROECOLOGY YIELD INCREASES LITERATURE REVIEWS

Climate robust soil fertility management by smallholders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

Tek Sapkota (2023, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SOIL FERTILITY SMALLHOLDERS FERTILIZERS NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT