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Field trials were conducted in 2010/11, 2012 and 2013 at the Royal Agricultural University’s Soil Association certified organic Harnhill Manor Farm, Gloucestershire, UK (NGR SP 075 006), to investigate suitable cultivation techniques and legume cover crops for winter and spring wheat production. Cultivation treatments included conventional tillage (CT), low residue non-inversion tillage (LRNiT) and high residue non-inversion tillage (HRNiT) as main plots while undersowing white clover (WC), black medic (BM) or no undersowing (Nus) as subplots. Wheat establishment, growth, grain yield and weeds infestation were assessed to determine the feasibility of these husbandry techniques. For winter wheat in 2010/11, LRNiT seems to be an acceptable alternative for CT. However, for spring wheat in 2012 and 2013, CT seems to be more reliable management option. The performance of undersown legumes was highly weather reliant and inconsistent in the seasons studied. Plant establishment and the succeeding yield parameters were positively related to grain yield. CT had significantly higher plant establishment than LRNiT or HRNiT in each season. For winter wheat, the competition and compensation on shoot density among CT and LRNiT did potentially outweighed cultivation-induced effects on plant establishment. This condition resulted in statistically equivalent crop growth and yields with LRNiT to that of CT. In contrast, for spring wheat in 2012 and 2013, CT that had significantly higher plant establishment also resulted in better crop growth and greater grain yields than other cultivation treatments. In all seasons, HRNiT had significantly lower plant establishment and also reduced grain yields, compared with LRNiT or CT. More soil cultivation also significantly reduced total weeds than less tilled soil such as HRNiT. On the basis of weed species, significantly higher broadleaf weeds were present under CT and significantly higher grass weeds were present under HRNiT. Out of three investigated years, legume cover crops effects were clearly observed only in 2012 with spring wheat. More vigorous growth of WC showed a significantly inverse relationship with broadleaf weeds and total weeds, compared with slow growing BM. This situation, resulted in non-significant yield components or grain yield reduction, compared with non-undersown spring wheat. In this context, white clover seems to be more suitable legume cover crop than black medic.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / In this mini-thesis I explore the key characteristics of the farming household and the livelihood strategies they employ with particular reference to their farming systems. The study sought to determined the contribution made by agriculture to the total household income, as a means to justify for promoting booth subsistence and smallholder production as a policy direction. I established that rural households who are former labour tenants engage in both on and off farm income generating activities as a response to capital and labour accessibility. A fairly moderate contribution was made from cash cropping; however, I argue that the value could be much higher if considering high proportion of produce is for home consumption. There is a pattern where subsistence production intensifies to smallholder production with accessibility to water, high potential land and markets. I also found cattle herd sizes to be highly variable amongst households and goat production being correlated with a pattern of feminisation in agriculture. I give evidence that calls into doubt common claims of land degradation and instead call for more clearly defined communal range land management research. I then argue that farming systems are driven and adapted to farmer‟s non-static objectives and subsequent opportunistic strategies employed. This mini thesis concludes that with realistic comprehensive support to small scale agriculture there is potential for petty commodity production which will stimulate rural economies.

No abstract provided / Dissertation (M Inst Agrar (Pasture Science))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Plant Production and Soil Science / unrestricted

Amaranthus is among the nutritious indigenous plant species that are gathered from the wild in the Eastern Cape to prepare a traditional meal known as ‘imifino’ or ‘isigwampa’ to supplement the necessary proteins, vitamins and minerals which are poor in maizebased meals. Amaranthus species are adapted to wild conditions unsuitable for exotic vegetables and could be cultivated but information on its fertility requirements, as sole or intercrop, is the key for its domestication and production as a leafy vegetable, particularly where manure is used. Two dry-land and one glasshouse experiments were conducted to study the effects of sheep kraal manure application rate, intercropping with maize and soil type on growth, fresh and dry matter yields, nutrient uptake and grain yield of a local Amaranthus accession that grows wild in the Eastern Cape. Sheep kraal manure rates ranging from 0 to 10 t ha-1 and an NPK {2:3:4(30) + 0.5% Zn} fertilizer as a positive control, applied at rates recommended for spinach, were tested. In the Gqumahashe experiment, where Amaranthus was grown as a sole crop, low manure rates (≤ 2.5 t ha-1) resulted in plant heights and fresh matter yields which were comparable to those in the unfertilized control, whereas higher rates (5 and 10 t ha-1) and recommended NPK fertilizer had higher levels both at 30 and 60 days after transplanting (DAT) at p < 0.05. At 30 DAT, manure application rates of ≥ 2.5 t ha-1 and the NPK fertilizer treatment, produced greater shoot dry-matter yields (29.35, 30.75 and 37.68 g plant-1) than the unfertilized control (17.11 g plant-1) at p < 0.05. Uptake of N and P in the leaves increased with increase in manure application rate with N uptake reaching a maximum (308 mg plant-1) at a manure rate of 2.5 t ha-1 which corresponded with the maximum dry matter yield. There was no effect of manure rate or fertilizer on residual soil N and Ca, whereas P, K, Mg and Zn increased. In a pot experiment with soils from Ntselamanzi and Gqumahashe Villages, manure rates ≥ 2.5 t ha-1 resulted in plant heights and fresh matter yield that compared well with the NPK fertilizer treatment in the Gqumahashe soil whereas only the 10 t ha-1 manure treatment was comparable to the NPK fertilizer treatment in the Ntselamanzi soil. Only treatments with ≥ 5 t ha-1 manure had stem girth (1.00 and 1.07 cm) that compared well to NPK fertilizer (1.03 cm) in the Ntselamanzi soil whereas in the Gqumahashe soil, all manure levels compared well to NPK fertilizer (1.02 cm). However, no significant difference was observed in plant height and stem girth and fresh matter due to soil type. In both soils, the 1.3-10 t ha-1 manure treatments had dry leaf weight comparable to plants fertilized with NPK fertilizer (3.72 g plant-1 for the Ntselamanzi soil and 3.65 g plant-1 for the Gqumahashe soil) and were bigger than the unfertilized control (2.2 g plant-1 for the Ntselamanzi soil and 1.38 g plant-1 for the Gqumahashe soil) at p < 0.05. Uptake of N, P and K increased as result of manure application but nonetheless, it was less when compared to plants fertilized with NPK fertilizer in both soils. In a field intercropping experiment carried out at Ntselamanzi, growth and yield of sole and intercropped Amaranthus plants grown with manure improved when compared to the unfertilized control and compared well to NPK fertilizer. At 30 days after transplanting (DAT), both sole and intercropped plants grown with ≥ 2.5 t ha-1 manure had fresh and dry matter yield comparable to plants fertilized with NPK fertilizer. At 60 DAT, intercropped plants grown with all manure levels had bigger fresh matter yield when compared to unfertilized control (836.0 g plant-1) whereas for sole cropped plants only those grown with ≥ 2.5 t ha-1 compared to NPK fertilizer (1467.7 g plant-1) at p < 0.05. Uptake of N, P, K, Ca and Mg increased with increase in manure application in both sole and intercropped Amaranthus. Whereas Amaranthus did not suffer from the competition in the intercrop, maize biomass and grain yield were severely reduced with the effects being evident after 60 DAT. Based on results of this study, it is therefore suggested that, if Amaranthus is to be intercropped with maize under dry land conditions of the Central Region of the Eastern Cape, sheep manure should at least be applied at rate of ≥ 2.5 t ha-1 and Amaranthus be harvested at 30 DAT.

Rural farmers in developing countries lack knowledge, access to educational resources, and capacity to stay informed of and implement current farming and health practices. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of an educational program on the utilization of native plants in farming and health practices among rural farmers in Ghana. The research objectives were to describe the population, assess farmers’ knowledge of farming and health practices, describe participants’ current and planned behavior, and observe the implementation of the practices taught. Results indicated participants’ knowledge of farming and health practices increased after the workshops. Results also indicated participants of both workshops intended to use all of the practices more often in their farming practices. Future research should include focus group interviews with farmers to gain a deeper understanding of the issues farmers are facing. Future trainings should incorporate experiential learning opportunities for farmers.

Tobacco plays a very significant role in Malawi’s economy by being the largest foreign exchange earner for the economy. The Integrated Production System was implemented in 2012 to promote contract production and also improve quality of tobacco which would therefore fetch higher prices for farmers. Contract farming has been believed to be potentially beneficial, but many farmers still choose not to produce under contract. This study examines factors that influence farmers’ tobacco contracting decisions. 300 farmers were interviewed for the study using a structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed with logit model using SAS software. Expected auction market price, expected fertilizer cost for contract tobacco production, and the number of years farmers have grown tobacco are negatively related to producers’ adoption of contract production. Expected contract market prices, expected non-contract fertilizer cost, loan expectations, number of years farmer has previously contracted and offarm income are positively related to contract adoption .

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Many occupations require workers to perform repetitive tasks such as lifting and bending that put significant strain on their bodies resulting in high levels of injury. Exoskeletons are one method of being able to decrease the forces on a worker while still allowing them to move. In this research, I propose a novel exoskeleton design that integrates the design process with an ethical understanding of how technology is used in society and a potential plan for an interdisciplinary approach to better adoption of this type of assistive technology. The exoskeleton is based around a novel differential that allows the exoskeleton legs to articulate during ambulatory motion while providing automatic lifting engagement by linking the force-generating mechanisms in each leg. Using a differential also allows the integration of a custom support level that can be changed during the design to better fit the varying motions found in different professions such as farming and manufacturing. Testing for this design was performed by using farming-related tasks in a laboratory to understand the level of support provided by the exoskeleton. Results show the exoskeleton provides significant support for these tasks. This validation helps build trust in the technology before it is tested on actual farmers in real-world situations and helps minimize ethical concerns regarding potential exoskeleton use. I also discuss the ethical concerns and how they can be mitigated during the design and implementation phases to ensure workers are protected and improve overall buy-in to exoskeleton technology in the workplace. / Doctor of Philosophy / Many jobs require workers to perform tasks that put their bodies at risk of injuries such as repetitive lifting and bending. Exoskeletons, devices you can wear on your body to help you lift, are one solution to help workers do their jobs better and with less risk of getting injured. In this research I propose a new type of exoskeleton that supports the back; designed, built, and tested it; and present much additional discussion about how people think and feel about exoskeletons and how society can ethically use them. The exoskeleton uses a new system that connects both legs to make it easier to go from walking to lifting, making it feel more natural and requiring less input from the user. With this design, we can also customize the lifting help for different jobs by switching out a component on the exoskeleton. This makes the exoskeleton customizable for the types of movement in different jobs like farming and manufacturing. Several farming tasks were then tested in a laboratory setting with the exoskeleton and showed it decreases the energy needed for the different tasks. Doing this testing also helps build trust with communities who might want to use the exoskeleton but are skeptical of new technology. Taking this approach and making the design adjustable is one step to helping to make this technology ethical when it is adopted by individuals or companies. Ethical considerations for exoskeletons are also new and not well discussed so I provide a framework to help make ethical decisions for adopting exoskeletons.