This Master’s Thesis establishes what motivates a group of Mississippi farmers to participate in sustainable agriculture instead of industrial agriculture. A database of sustainable farmers was constructed in collaboration with the Gaining Ground Sustainability Institute of Mississippi. This research project used social network analysis with 28 farmers and participant observation and semi-structured interviewing with a purposively selected sample of 14 farmers. This project also explores the sustainable agricultural practices of participants. A map of the social network of sustainable agriculturalists in Mississippi is presented and shows that some farmers are well connected, some moderately connected, and others are isolated. As well, grounded qualitative analysis of interviews identified 4 primary motivations among participants: economic, health, self-sufficiency and anti-government. Overall this project found that motivations are numerous, social networks are weak but growing, and diverse demographics are turning to a sustainable model for agriculture in Mississippi.

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京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第24775号 / 経博第670号 / 新制||経||303(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 久野 秀二, 教授 田中 彰, 准教授 WANG Tao / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

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The Corral de Piedra community is located in Chiquimula, Guatemala. The main agricultural activities are corn and bean production, small-scale gardens, and small animal production, such as poultry and pigs. The crop areas are predominantly located on lands with slopes between 12 and 55%, presenting low fertility conditions and poor moisture retention capabilities. In addition, local crop varieties have low productivity potentials and the winter season is characterized by poorly distributed and erratic periods of rain. The Benson Institute introduced a technology transfer model to increase and diversify agricultural production, while preserving current natural resources. An integral part of this model included educating the community on nutrition and health topics. The school was considered to be the most appropriate place to introduce training and education in agriculture among students and community leaders, thus contributing to community development.

Microbial-root associations are important to help plants cope with abiotic and biotic stressors. Managing these interactions offers an opportunity for improving the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production. By characterizing the bacterial and archaeal community (via 16S rRNA sequencing) associated with the bulk and rhizosphere soil of sixteen strawberry cultivars in two controlled field studies, we explored the relationships between the soil microbiome and plant resistance to two soilborne fungal pathogens of strawberry (Verticillium dahliae and Macrophomina phaseolina). Overall, the plants had a distinctive rhizosphere microbiome relative to the bulk soil, with higher abundances of known beneficial bacteria such as Pseudomonads and Rhizobium. Plant genotype, biomass, leaf nutrient content and mortality were influenced differently by the rhizosphere microbiome in each of the two trials. In the V. dahliae trial, the rhizosphere microbiome was associated with plant biomass and leaf nutrient content and only indirectly to the disease resistance. In the M. phaseolina trial, the rhizosphere microbiome was associated to plant biomass, but not nutrient content; furthermore, resistant cultivars had larger abundances of Pseudomonas and Arthrobacter in their rhizosphere relative to susceptible cultivars. The mechanisms involved in these beneficial plant-microbial interactions and their plasticity in different environments should be studied further for the design of low-input disease management strategies.

This study compares the energy utilization of two systems for producing cattle of desirable slaughter weight and grade from weanlings. Both systems produce beef cattle as a primary output; various types of baled hay are produced as a secondary output. One system uses generally accepted, "best management practices" while the other uses experimental, sustainable agriculture techniques. Since the adoption of new practices in agriculture often hinges on economics, an economic comparison is also presented. Beef produced in the sustainable system required 32% less energy per kilogram than that produced in the conventional system. However, baled alfalfa produced in the sustainable system required 8% more energy per kilogram than the alfalfa grown in the conventional system. When all types of hay were considered, the sustainable system used 7% more energy to produce one kilogram of baled hay. To compare the energetics of the two systems on a whole farm basis, the amount of energy required to produce one dollar of return was calculated. The sustainable system required 12.4 megajoules to produce one dollar of return, while the conventional system required 17.1 megajoules to produce the same return. Although economic returns on beef and alfalfa production were comparable in the two systems studied, the conventional system showed greater returns on the whole farm, due to a greater export of baled hay. / Master of Science

京都大学 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(農学) / 乙第13507号 / 論農博第2905号 / 新制||農||1095(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R4||N5407(農学部図書室) / (主査)准教授 沈 金虎, 教授 浅見 淳之, 教授 栗山 浩一 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

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