Changing weather patterns, the declining social fabric of rural communities, and economic uncertainty increasingly pose challenges to Vermont communities. The socially and environmentally embedded production practices within sustainable agriculture present a potential solution to these problems. In order to make the most of the potential benefits of these practices society must maximize their adoption. This requires an understanding of both farmer adoption of these practices and consumer perceptions of the resulting food products. This thesis contributes two original articles on sustainable agriculture through the analysis of factors driving both farmer adoption and consumer perceptions of products and practices often thought of as sustainable. The first article seeks to understand farmer adoption of climate change best management practices (CCBMPs). Farmer perceptions of risk and profitability of best management practices (BMPs) are key determinants of adoption, which traditional incentive programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) attempt to address by providing financial and technical support. To ensure appropriate price points are offered through these programs, regional price structures must be based upon locally established costs. Thus, this article focuses on the economic cost of implementing and maintaining CCBMPs for twelve diverse farms in Vermont. Specifically, three CCBMPs for Vermont are examined: cover cropping, management intensive rotational grazing (MIRG), and riparian buffer strips. Results of a yearlong farmer based data collection process indicate that the average cost for cover cropping is $129.24/acre, for MIRG is $79.82/acre, and for a tree based riparian buffer strip is $807.33/acre. We conclude that existing incentive payments for cover cropping and MIRG are below costs, likely resulting in under-adoption. The second article reports on a study which seeks to understand the factors influencing Vermont consumer perceptions of raw milk safety. While this article makes no assertion regarding the sustainability of raw milk, an association is established between the motivations for raw milk consumption and sustainable agriculture support. Vermonterâ??s appear to be continuing the trend of consuming raw milk at an increasing rate despite continued declarations from local and national public health officials that raw milk is too microbiologically dangerous to justify its consumption. Thus this study was designed to increase understanding of the factors driving consumer perceptions of raw milk safety. A conceptual model was developed to establish potential factors and related questions were incorporated into the 2014 Vermonter Poll. Resulting data were analyzed using a Probit regression analysis. We conclude that observable factors have the greatest influence on perceptions of raw milk safety. Specifically, perceived health benefits, presence of children in the household, and taste all influence perceptions of raw milk safety.

Compost can suppress soilborne plant pathogens that cause significant damage on globally important food crops. However, reports of plant pathogen suppression are inconsistent likely because there are no established standards for feedstock material, application rate, and maturity age upon application. Excellent results can be achieved in greenhouse trials, but field applications are much less reliable. Disease suppression occurs through the activity of biocontrol organisms (direct antagonism), and general microbial competition. Biocontrol species are hypothesized to colonize the pile during the curing phase, but single species may not be as important as microbial consortia. Substrate composition during maturation may give rise to a suppressive microbial community. More research is needed to understand the relationships between feedstock, maturity, and production process on compost microbial ecology. The thesis had two main objectives: 1) identify biological indicators in compost that could (a) characterize maturity, process, and feedstock, and (b) predict disease suppression against R. solani, and 2) identify bacterial and fungal community composition and/or structure that is associated with suppression of soilborne disease. Rhizoctonia solani is a facultative saprophytic fungus and soilborne plant pathogen that attacks many globally important food crops and turfgrass. Prior research suggests that managing carbon quality and compost maturity will alter relative competition between biological control microbes and the R. solani pathogen. The pathogen is responsible for economic losses to organic vegetable production in Vermont and there are no available methods to manage the disease that meet organic certification. R. solani on radish was chosen as a model system given its global importance, competitiveness affected by carbon quality, and lack of disease management options for organic production. Compost samples were most abundant in the bacterial phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, and known biocontrol species were not detected in abundance. Compost samples did not differ significantly in fungal community composition, suggesting a dominance effect from the native soil fungal community. Overall, anaerobic digestate and vermicompost were most suppressive against R. solani. Thermophilic composts were not very suppressive overall, though a specially made hardwood bark compost was comparable to the suppressiveness of vermicompost application. Ecoenzyme analysis was able to integrate information on environmental substrate composition, microbial nutrient acquisition, and microbial community metabolism, offering the best view of current ecological conditions in compost. Ecoenzyme analysis showed that the most suppressive composts, anaerobic digestate and vermicompost, were most nutrient limited. All compost samples were severely nitrogen (N) limited, and anaerobic digestate and vermicompost were severely limited in both N and phosphorus (P). The additional P limitation may support non-pathogenic species to outcompete R. solani. The key to disease suppression may lie in matching up the ecology of the plant pathogen with the ecology of biocontrol, which may be engineered in compost.

L'agriculture doit évoluer vers une activité plus respectueuse de l'environnement tout en étant économiquement viable. Ce type d'agriculture, dite durable, requiert de nouveaux savoirs et savoir-faire. Or, nous montrons que la gestion des connaissances n’est pas suffisante en agriculture durable. Pour y remédier, nous proposons de développer un système informatisé de gestion des connaissances en agriculture. Nous l’appelons KOFIS. Nous faisons l’hypothèse que les méthodes de gestion de connaissances dans le monde industriel sont transposables en agriculture pour construire KOFIS. Notre travail parcourt les étapes qui suivent. Nous faisons un état de l’art sur la gestion des connaissances et sur son lien avec l’innovation. Nous discutons des acteurs potentiels de KOFIS et de leurs rôles respectifs. Puis, nous travaillons sur le patrimoine des connaissances en agriculture durable, sur la sélection des connaissances critiques ainsi que sur leur représentation dans l’outil. Les principales caractéristiques de l’architecture informatique de KOFIS sont décrites. In fine, le contenu de KOFIS est dynamique. Il capitalise de la connaissance et propose une démarche pour innover. KOFIS est un système socio-technique intégrant de nombreux acteurs, reposant sur un corpus de connaissances en partie codifié et sur des échanges informels organisés. Il permet une évolution partagée des connaissances du domaine. / Agriculture must evolve into a more environmentally-friendly approach, while remaining economically viable and socially interesting, which is necessary so that the process can be pursued in the long term, i.e that the process is sustainable. This type of agriculture is said to be sustainable. Sustainable agriculture has a systemic logic and therefore requires new types of knowledge and know-how. We show that knowledge is insufficiently managed in sustainable agriculture. We thus propose implement a knowledge management computing tool, which we called KOFIS. We make the assumption that the methods of management of knowledge in the industrial world are applied in agriculture to construct KOFIS. Our work followed the stages which follow. We make a state of the art on knowledge management and its bond with the innovating designs. After having presented some general information on knowledge, its typology and its cycle of management, we will move on its patrimonial management, then we will finish on the knowledge management for the innovative design. We discuss the potential actors of KOFIS and their possible implications. We deal with its contents, selection and form. At last, the main computing features of KOFIS are shown. The contents of KOFIS are dynamic. It capitalizes knowledge and also proposes a step to innovate. KOFIS is a sociotechnical system integrating numerous actors, based on a partially codified knowledge corpus and organized informal exchanges, generating a shared evolution of the domain knowledge.

International Relations Masters Research Thesis, 2015 University of Witwatersrand / The G8 New Alliance on Food Security and Nutrition (NAFN) is a new, under-researched and rapidly spreading partnership initiative. As the latest attempt to target hunger in Africa by developed countries, it deserves a certain level of scrutiny to decipher the intended development trajectory for African food systems and the possible implications for smallholder farmers, since these smallholders produce more than ninety percent of the continent’s food supply. Food sovereignty provides the ideal lens through which to analyse the New Alliance, being a political economy critique of agro-industrial food systems, as well as a constitutive approach to rights and the building of a grassroots movement and alternative. This research seeks to ascertain how the New Alliance may globalise African agriculture and undermine food sovereignty. An exploratory research design was used, first historicising African globalised agriculture, then decoding the main objectives of the New Alliance, and finally using the African Food Sovereignty Alliance as a case study to critique its translation into African countries’ commitments. The first few predictions of the hypothesis were strongly validated with findings that the New Alliance will result in large-scale investment of land, the commercialisation of the seed industry and an increased use of agro-chemicals and GMOs, increased foreign investment, and monopolisation of agribusiness by MNCs. To a lesser degree, the prediction that it would decrease barriers to trade and increase imports and exports was confirmed; however, there was little evidence that it intends to cut domestic support measures like some previous development programmes. The New Alliance is beyond reform, built on flawed neoliberal assumptions about development. This and further research could contribute to a movement to abolish the New Alliance before it induces negative long term effects, and to warn off other African countries contemplating this initiative.

Gold tailings contained in Tailing Storage Facilities (TSFs) contain pyrite which on exposure to air and water becomes a source of acid mine drainage (AMD). AMD has high salinity, elevated levels of heavy metals and low pH, which presents serious threats to surface and groundwater systems. These characteristics in tailings present a hostile environment for plant establishment and growth (Witkowski and Weiersbye 1998a). Therefore, it was hypothesized that organic mulch sourced from sewage sludge and water hyacinth could improve tailings fertility on TSFs in the Highveld gold mines of South Africa. The aim of this study was to develop a greenhouse study to understand how four indigenous plants (Asparagus laricinus Burch. (Asparagaceae), Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees. (Poaceae), Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf (Poaceae) and Sutherlandia frutescens (L.) R.Br. (Fabaceae) naturally colonizing the Highveld gold TSFs would survive, grow and accumulate metals from tailings amended using different percentages of water hyacinth and/or sewage sludge, and the susceptibility of the amended tailings to metal leaching. Tailings amended with WH: SS-1.0% proved to be the overall best amendment from the 19 treatments based on the variable tested (e.g. plant growth, plant metal uptake and metal leaching). Amending gold tailings with water hyacinth and/or sewage sludge improved seedling survival, plant survival and growth as compared to non-amended tailings. Tailings amended with dry water hyacinth (WH) created the most favourable plant growing conditions especially at 0.5% of amendment, while those amended only with sewage sludge (SS) presented the most challenging plant growth conditions for all four study species. Amending tailings with water hyacinth and/or sewage sludge showed no significant difference in tailings fertility. However, C (%) and total N decrease significantly after plant growth in all treatments. Hyparrhenia plants grown in tailings amended with WH: SS-1.0% accumulated significantly higher concentrations of Al, Cr, Ni and Zn, while those growing in tailings amended with WH-0.5% accumulated significantly lower concentration of Al, Co, Cr, Fe and Zn as compared to other treatments. Tailings amended with WH-1.0% leached significantly higher concentrations of Mn, while those amended with WH: SS-0.5% and WL-2.0% leached significantly higher concentrations of S as compared to other treatments. All four species accumulated significantly higher concentrations of Al, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe and Ni in the roots than the shoots, except for A. laricinus which accumulated significantly higher concentrations of S, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni and Zn in the shoots than the roots. Sutherlandia frutescens retained all the elements tested in its root biomass. Future field studies in the use of water hyacinth and sewage sludge as organic tailings amendments will be required to get a better understanding of these two potential tailings amendment treatment.

In “Letters from the Inside,” Stephanie Anderson presents a vision for sustainable, regenerative agriculture from the perspective of someone born and raised on a conventional cattle ranch. From Florida to New Mexico to the Dakotas, she traces the stories of farmers and ranchers who are already creating such an agriculture. She argues that producers, in tandem with consumers and government, hold the power to change what is currently an environmentally and socially destructive food system. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

A erosão hídrica é a principal causa de degradação do solo em ambientes tropicais e subtropicais úmidos e a perda da camada superficial do solo é o maior desafio para sustentabilidade da agricultura no mundo. Ela afeta a qualidade e o volume dos corpos d\'água e diminuí a qualidade dos solos. Apesar disso, o mercado não é capaz de corrigir estes problemas em razão da sua característica de bens públicos (não-exclusividade e não-rivalidade). Assim, o controle da erosão agrícola gera um serviço benéfico para toda a sociedade, mas os seus custos são exclusivamente dos agricultores. Pagamentos por Serviços Ambientais - PSA são mecanismos de compensações em que os beneficiados pelos serviços pagam os seus provedores. PSA são mecanismos promissores para o financiamento da proteção ambiental e podem complementar as atuais regulações. Entretanto, a literatura atual ainda é limitada em termos de quantificação dos serviços gerados, da sua demanda e sua viabilidade econômica. Este estudo analisa a viabilidade econômica de esquemas de PSA para o controle da poluição hídrica advinda da agricultura no Brasil. O objetivo específico do estudo é estimar ofertas de Serviços Ambientais - SA de conservação do solo. As ofertas de SA foram estimadas para áreas de cana-de-açúcar (na Bacia do Rio Corumbataí) e horticultura (na Sub-Bacia Cabeceiras do Tietê) utilizando uma metodologia de dados mínimos. As ofertas foram estimadas para diferentes práticas agrícolas, permitindo a comparação da eficiência das diferentes práticas na produção do SA. No caso da cana, a implantação e manutenção de florestas nas APPs mostrou-se a prática mais eficiente. Gastos de R$150,00/ha/ano com esta prática conservam cerca de 140.000 Mg de solo, enquanto o mesmo gasto aplicado na prática de não utilização das APPs conserva 70.000 Mg. Os resultados indicam que existe potencial para aplicação do modelo como forma de integrar as políticas públicas agrícolas com as ambientais. O estudo mostra que a adoção de práticas com maior produção de SA depende de incentivos. Nas condições atuais elas não são atrativas na medida em que geram menores retornos aos agricultores. Os incentivos podem ser através de subsídios das práticas adequadas, estímulo à demanda de produtos ambientalmente amigáveis ou pagamentos diretos pelos SA produzidos. / Water erosion is the main cause of soil degradation in tropical and sub-tropical environments and top soil loss is the biggest challenge for sustainable agriculture in the world. It affects water quality and quantity, and decreases soil quality. Despite this, the market is not able to solve these problems because of their public good characteristics (non-rivalness and non-excludability). Agricultural pollution control by farmers is a service society free rides because only farmers pay its costs. Payments for Environmental Services - PES schemes are flexible mechanisms in which providers of these services get paid by their users. PES schemes are considered to be promising mechanisms for financing environmental protection and restoration as well as for complementing and enforcing regulations. However, most of the on-going schemes don\'t use studies to quantify the services produced, to analyze the demand for them, or to check the schemes\' economic viability. This study analyses the economic viability of PES schemes in order to control the agricultural pollution of water resources in Brazil. The specific objective is to estimate the Environmental Services - ES of conservation soil supplies. These supplies were estimated for sugar cane (Corumbataí Watershed) and horticulture areas (Tietê Cabeceiras Subwatershed), using a minimum-data model. The supplies were calculated for different practices, so it is possible to compare the different practices\' efficiency to produce ES. For the sugar cane area it is more efficient to plant trees in the riparian buffer zones. Paying 150 reais per ha per year produces 140.000 Mg of conserved soil through tree planting, while with the same amount, the exclusion of the riparian zones from cultivation produces approximately 70.000 Mg. The results show this model can be applied as a way of integrating agricultural and environmental public policies. It was concluded that incentives are necessary to make the farmers adopt the practices that produce ES, because they are not economically feasible under current market conditions. The incentives could be either subsidies for these practices, fostering the demand for environmental friendly products, or direct payments for the ES produced.

Para alimentar a população mundial crescente é necessário um aumento sustentável na produtividade agrícola. Nesse sentido, Rizobactérias Promotoras de Crescimento de Plantas (RPCPs) têm sido continuamente buscadas para formulações inoculantes por sua capacidade de incremento na produção vegetal aliado ao seu potencial de redução e/ou substituição do uso de fertilizantes minerais, insumos que causam grandes impactos ambientais, na saúde humana e econômicos. A RPCP Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9, um representante da biodiversidade amazônica brasileira, é uma forte candidata a bionoculante por seu efeito benéfico, previamente descrito, em uma ampla gama de culturas, incluindo milho e soja. Essas duas culturas representam mais de 80% da área cultivada com grãos no Brasil, de forma que incrementos relativamente modestos de crescimento e produtividade poderiam gerar ganhos significativos. Membros do gênero Bacillus apresentam vantagem em formulações inoculantes, principalmente devido a sua capacidade de formação de esporos resistentes ao calor e dissecação. Seus modos de ação são diversos, tornando o entendimento da sua interação com plantas bastante desafiador. Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 apresentou, dentre os mecanismos envolvidos na promoção de crescimento vegetal, a produção de Ácido Indol Acético (AIA) e sideróforos, solubilização de fosfato e fixação biológica de nitrogênio, in vitro. No presente trabalho, foi buscado um entendimento detalhado dos mecanismos de ação dessa rizobactéria, explorando desde seu genoma até seu desempenho em condições de campo. O draft genômico (genoma parcial) bacteriano foi obtido utilizando a tecnologia de sequenciamento Illumina, o qual possibilitou a detecção de genes envolvidos nos mecanismos potencialmente relacionados ao efeito benéfico dessa bactéria, que vão desde sua formação de esporos, atração por exsudatos radiculares, motilidade e competição na rizosfera até mecanismos de solubilização de fosfato, produção de sideróforos, entre outros. As informações obtidas permitem uma exploração genética desses mecanismos, fornecendo uma oportunidade de maximizar essa interação e, futuramente, favorecer os benefícios em campo. Adicionalmente, foi demonstrado o potencial de quimiotaxia (atração) de RZ2MS9 em direção a raízes de milho. Um estudo filogenético dessa RPCP, utilizando um método de tipagem com o gene pycA (piruvato carboxilase), mostrou que o Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 apresentou-se distante do clado altamente monomórfico de B. anthracis, patógeno humano, e se afiliou a um grupo composto por linhagens de B. thuringiensis (Bt) comercializadas como produtos biopesticidas há mais de 60 anos, o que sugere a potencial possibilidade de seu uso seguro no campo. Sabe-se que a maioria, se não todas, atividades fisiológicas das plantas é regulada por fitormônios como a auxina AIA, os quais podem ser sintetizados também por RPCPs. Com mais detalhamento, os genes envolvidos nas vias biossintéticas desse fitormônio foram detectados no draft genômico de RZ2MS9, indicando que sua produção ocorre através da via IPA (Indol-3-Piruvato). Além disso, plantas de tomate anão Micro-Tom (MT) e seu mutante Δdgt, defectivo na sensibilidade a auxinas, foram utilizadas para caracterizar especificamente o efeito do AIA produzido por Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 na promoção de crescimento vegetal. A aplicação de RZ2MS9 causou inibição no crescimento de raízes primárias, aumento no comprimento de raízes laterais e na área superficial total de raízes de plantas MT, efeitos característicos daqueles proporcionados por auxinas. Esse incremento radicular refletiu, ainda, em aumento da biomassa da parte aérea de plantas MT. Os mesmos efeitos não foram observados em plantas Δdgt, insensíveis a auxinas, indicando que a elicitação de promoção de crescimento em MT por RZ2MS9 ocorre por meio desses fitormônios. Finalmente, foi demonstrado o efeito sobre o desenvolvimento e produtividade de milho e soja da aplicação de Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 em condições de campo, sendo comparado com o desempenho de bioinoculantes comerciais. No milho, o efeito da inoculação bacteriana foi, ainda, associado à adubação nitrogenada para verificar a possibilidade de redução desses insumos. Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 apresentou efeitos significativos sobre o desenvolvimento tanto da soja (comparáveis aos efeitos de rizóbios) quanto do milho, os quais, porém, não refletiram em aumento significativo de produtividade em ambas as culturas. No entanto, o potencial dessa rizobactéria é bastante claro pois, com um custo de produção inferior a R$1,00 por hectare, sua inoculação causou incremento de 16 sacas de milho por hectare com redução de 30% na adubação nitrogenada, assim como um incremento de 11 sacas de soja por hectare, ambos comparados ao controle não inoculado. Os resultados apresentados no presente trabalho vão, portanto, de encontro à grande expectativa na obtenção de linhagens microbianas promissoras visando sistemas agrícolas mais sustentáveis. / To feed the growing global population, a sustainable increase of agricultural production and crop yield is required. In this sense, Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been continuously sought to inoculant formulation due to their capacity to increase plant yield along with their potential to reduce and/or replace the use of mineral fertilizers, inputs that cause serious impacts on environment, human health and economy. The PGPR Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9, a representative of the Brazilian Amazonian biodiversity, is a great candidate to bioinoculant because of its beneficial effect on a broad range of crops, including maize and soybean. These two crops represent more than 80% of the area planted with grains in Brazil, so relatively modest growth and yield increases could generate significant gains. Bacillus spp. have advantage in inoculant formulations, mainly due to their ability to form heat- and dissecation-resistant spores. Their modes of action are diverse, making the understanding of its interaction with plants quite challenging. Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 displays, between the mechanisms involved in plant growth, Indole Acetic Acid (IAA) and siderophore production, phosphate solubilization and biological nitrogen fixation, in vitro. In the present work, we seek a detailed understanding of this rhizobacterium mechanisms of action, exploring from its genome to its performance in field conditions. The bacterial draft genome was obtained using Illumina sequencing technology, making possible the detection of genes involved in mechanisms potentially related to the beneficial effect of this bacterium, and range from its spore formation, attraction by root exudates, motility and competition in the rhizosphere to mechanisms of phosphate solubilization, siderophore production, among others. The information obtained allow a genetic exploration of these mechanisms, providing an opportunity to maximize this interaction and, in the future, favor benefits in field. Additionally, it was demonstrated the chemotaxis (attraction) potential of RZ2MS9 towards maize roots. A phylogenetic study of this PGPR, using a typing method with the pycA (pyruvate carboxylase) gene, showed that Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 was distant from the highly monomorphic clade of B. anthracis, a human pathogen, and affiliated with B. thuringiensis (Bt) strains marketed as biopesticides for more than 60 years, suggesting the potential possibility of its safe use in the field. It is known that most, if not all, physiological activities of plants are regulated by phytormones such as the auxin IAA, which can also be synthesized by PGPRs. With more detail, genes involved in biosynthetic pathways of this phytormone were detected in the RZ2MS9 draft genome, indicating that its production occurs via the IPA (indole-3-pyruvate) pathway. In addition, plants of the dwarf tomato Micro-Tom (MT) and its mutant Δdgt, impaired in auxin sensibility, were used to specifically characterize the effects of IAA produced by Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 in the plant growth promotion. The inoculation of RZ2MS9 caused inhibition in the primary roots growth, increase in lateral roots length and in roots total surface area of MT plants, characteristic effects of those provided by auxins. This root growth also reflected in an increase of MT plants shoot biomass. The same effects were not observed in Δdgt plants, insensitive to auxins, suggesting that the elicitation of growth promotion in MT by RZ2MS9 occurs through these phytormones. Finally, we demonstrated the effect of inoculation with Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 on maize and soybean development and productivity under field conditions, being compared with the performance of commercial bioinoculants. In maize, the effect of bacterial inoculation was also associated with nitrogen fertilization to verify the possibility of reducing these inputs. Bacillus sp. RZ2MS9 showed significant effects on the development of both soybean (comparable to the effects of rhizobia) and maize, which, however, did not reflect a significant increase in productivity in both crops. However, the potential of this rhizobacterium is very clear because, with a cost of production of less than R$1.00 per hectare, its inoculation caused an increase of 16 sacks of maize per hectare with a 30% reduction in nitrogen fertilization, as well as an increase of 11 sacks of soybean per hectare, both compared to uninoculated control. The results presented in this study meet the great expectation of obtaining promising microbial strains aiming at more sustainable agricultural systems.

Over the past decade '"Sustainable Development" (SD) has emerged as the latest development catchphrase. A wide range of nongovernmental as well as governmental organizations have embraced it as the new paradigm of development. A review of the literature that has sprung up around the concept of SD indicates, however, a lack of consistency in its interpretation. More important, while the all-encompassing nature of the concept gives it political strength, its current formulation by the mainstream of SD thinking contains significant weaknesses. These include an incomplete perception of the problems of poverty and environmental degradation, and confusion about the role of economic growth and about the concept of sustainability. The purpose of this study was to identify common elements in a political economy of the environment, relating environmental change to the dynamics of ideology and policy, and at different levels of political complexity. The intention was to provide a structural analysis of the environment in which the development process illuminates environmental change at both a philosophical and material level. The problem in achieving SD was related to the overriding structures of the international economic system, which have arisen out of the exploitation of environmental resources, and which frequently operate as constraints on the achievement of long-term sustainable practices. Insufficient accounting of ecological aspects of economic growth and development has resulted from intellectual traditions, where solutions are formulated, point in different directions. Conclusions are drawn that SD involves trade-offs between biological, economic and social systems and is found in the interactive zone between these systems. There are a number of international factors that may be necessary, but insufficient, conditions for SD on a national level, including peace, debt reduction, and more propitious terms of trade. There was seen dilemmas relating to SD, including the role of growth as the unquestioned objective of economic policy.

Traditional agricultural practices often result in gaseous losses of nitrous oxide (N2O), ammonia (NH3), and carbon dioxide (CO2), representing a net loss of nutrients from agricultural soils, which negatively impacts crop yield and requires farmers to increase nutrient inputs. By adopting best management practices (BMPs; i.e., no-tillage, cover crops, sub-surface manure application, and proper manure application timing), there is great potential to reduce these losses. Because N2O and CO2 are also greenhouse gases (GHGs), climate change mitigation via BMP adoption and emissions reductions would be an important co-benefit. However, adopting a no-tillage and cover cropping system has had setbacks within the Northeast, primarily due to concerns regarding manure nitrogen (N) losses in no-tillage systems as well as uncertainty surrounding the benefits of cover crops. This thesis used two field-trials located in Alburgh, Vermont to assess differences in (i) GHG emissions from agricultural soils, (ii) nitrate and ammonium retention, (iii) corn yield and protein content, and (iv) N uptake and retention via cover crop scavenging under a combination of different BMPs. Chapter 1 evaluates the effects of different reduced-tillage practices and manure application methods (i.e., vertical-tillage, no-tillage, manure injection, and broadcast manure application) on reducing N2O and CO2 emissions, retaining inorganic N, and improving crop yields. Greenhouse gas measurements were collected every other week for the growing season of 2015-2017 via static chamber method using a photoacoustic gas analyzer. Results from this study showed that tillage regimes and manure application method did not interact to affect any of the three research objectives, although differences between individual BMPs were observed. Notably, vertical tillage enhanced CO2 emissions relative to no-tillage, demonstrating the role of soil disturbance and aeration on aerobic microbial C transformations. Manure injection was found to significantly enhance both N2O and CO2 emission relative to broadcast application, likely due to the formation of anerobic micro-zones created from liquid manure injection. However, plots that received manure injection retained greater concentrations of soil nitrate, a vital nutrient for quality crop production, thereby highlighting a major tradeoff between gaseous N losses and N retention with manure injection. Chapter 2 evaluates the effects of tillage practices and timing of manure application to increase N retention with the use of cover crops in order to mitigate GHG emissions, enhance soil nitrate and ammonium retention, and improve cropping system N uptake. Treatments at this field trial consisted of a combination of the presence or absence of cover crops, no-tillage or conventional-tillage, and spring or fall manure application. Greenhouse gas emissions were measured every other week via static chamber method using a gas chromatograph for the growing season of 2018. Results from this study showed that the presence of cover crops enhanced both N2O and CO2 emissions relative to fallow land, irrespective of tillage regime and manure application season, likely as a result of greater N and carbon substrates entering the soil upon cover crop decomposition. Due to enhanced N2O emissions with cover crops, cover crops did not retain significantly greater inorganic N in the system upon termination.