Farmer–herder conflicts and water governance in a semi-arid region of Africa
Sedentary farmers in the Volta Basin are endangering the activity of transhumant herders relying on grazing ranges between 9° and 11°N. Despite mutual benefits, farmers try to deny them access to water and thereby the possibility to graze their stock on crop residues. This new behaviour is changing the geographical distribution of traditional activities and risks endangering herding activity, a leading economic resource in these regions. Meeting livestock watering requirements is thus a matter of local conflict resolution and good governance. Countries should be encouraged to adopt legislation to maintain or even promote the mobility of herding activities.
Carbon sequestration : Science and practicality
Tropical grasslands are environmental resources that play a critical role in the water resources of large areas of the tropics, and offer other environmental benefits such as carbon offsets. Introduced pastures of African grasses on the eastern plains of Colombia accumulate large amounts of C in the soil. Net aerial primary productivity (NAPP) is 33.3–33.5 t DM/ ha/yr in well-managed pastures of introduced grasses without either an associated legume or N fertiliser. NPP below ground is only slightly less. Replacing lowly productive native pastures is a massive intervention and C accumulates because of the increase in NPP. This accumulation will continue until a new equilibrium is reached. In Africa, introducing a legume component is a possibility for increasing both production and C storage, but there are few examples. African grasses sown in Australia are generally different from those in South America and legume technology has received general adoption in Australia. In Brazil, the widespread pasture degradation can be reversed by a rotation of several crops followed by a pasture phase, with
Analysis of Macro and Micronutrients in Soils from Palestine Using Ion Exchange Membrane Technology
Ion Exchange membrane technology (IEM) is a method that allowed a single extraction process and a single subsequent measurement of different elements that are available in soil. The values of the available forms of the different macro- and micronutrients obtained by IEM extraction were compared with the values of the soluble form obtained by conventional extraction methods. In surface soil sample, the concentrations of available potassium, nitrate, phosphate, iron and boron were 37.7 mg kg–1, 17.5 mg kg–1, 3.6 mg kg–1, 171.0 μg kg–1, and 4.2 μg kg–1 respectively were greater than that of soluble forms of the same elements which were 7.0 mg kg–1, 9.2 mg kg–1, 0.4 mg kg–1, 109.0 μg kg–1, and 1.9 μg kg–1 respectively.