Month: April 2022

The government’s prioritization of the sub-tropical fruit and nut sectors and the promotion of small-scale farmer integration in HVC markets raise concerns for sustainability and require investigation into whether farmers can sustain these HVC systems over time. There is a need for farmers to invest in various land use and management aspects that will affect the long-term sustainability of the farming systems .The study examines the land resource used under different commodities i.e. ,HVCs in the Vhembe district of Limpopo and how the land characteristics are driving the sustainable production of these commodities under different landownership and management systems. In order to achieve the overarching goal of sustainability that will ensure long term food security in the country there is need to explore what land characteristics will support production. The two farming systems in the study i.e. , small-scale and large-scale are recognised as systems due to the multi-variable nature of the processes within the farms and the non-linear interconnectedness that exists between them.

The four drivers of production i.e. , land, labour,capital and enterprise drive the two farming systems and the pathway of agricultural enterprise i.e. , production, management, marketing and value adding for each of the systems which have the potential to produce the same outcome indifferent ways. Future scenarios for sustainable agriculture within the different commodities must consider how production can be sustained under the two main farming systems.The land resource and its use are arguably one of the most important drivers of sustainable agriculture as they highlight numerous environmental interactions that can either be detrimental or beneficial to the sustainability of farming systems .Land is a highly politicized issue in the South African context due to historical allocation of land based on race by the previous government prior to democracy in 1994. There is a need for an emphasis on scale in the analysis of these two main South African farming systems in order to accurately investigate what land variables will drive sustainable agriculture in the country. Land characteristics namely,vertical farming racks farm size and ownership, topography, soil type and fertility, threats and hazards, water sources and irrigation, and the impact of climatic and its variability on the farming systems have been selected and are analysed between the two farm sizes and within three different commodities.

These land characteristics are further analysed alongside two production characteristics, i.e., income and yield in order to determine to what extent they can drive sustainability. The study took place in the Vhembe district which is the northern most district municipality of the Limpopo Province in South Africa . It shares borders with Zimbabwe and Botswana in the north-east and Mozambique in the south-east through the Kruger National Park . The Vhembe district is one of five district municipalities in the Limpopo Province. It has an area of 2,140,708hectares of which 247,757 hectares is arable land. The Vhembe district is comprised of four local municipalities: Thulamela, Mutale , Musina and Makhado. The South African governance structure regards the composition of local municipalities as towns and their surrounding rural areas . The main towns within the district are Thohoyandou, Malamulele,Musina and Makhado respectively for the four municipalities Thulamela,Mutale , Musina and Makhado.The district covers a geographical location that is largely rural . According to agriculture is the key contributor to employment and livelihoods in the district. Seventy percent of the farming activities in the district are attributed to smallholder agriculture and the remaining 30% is commercial agriculture . According to the Vhembe District Municipality’s Local Economic Development Strategy in 2019the district produces 4.4% of South Africa’s total agricultural output, 8.4% of the country’s sub-tropical fruits and 6.3% of its citrus. The district is situated in a semi-arid area, is frequently affected by dry spells that often develop into drought with severe water shortages from May to August .c

In terms of performance, the prototype developed in this study achieved mean field capacity, field efficiency and planting depth of 0.151 ha/h, 87% and 4.34cm, respectively. In comparison, corresponding figures for were 0.12 ha/h,71% and 4.94 cm, respectively. The planting depth achieved is within the acceptable range recommended for optimum germination of maize and there commended range for soil depth over seed in relation to seed size . Since a uniform planting depth is necessary for better crop stands , the planting unith as the potential to help small-scale farmers to achieve better crop production.The mean effective field capacity of the planting unit was found to be 0.151 ha/hindicating that it takes a farmer slightly over six hours to plant a hectare of land which is more effective than planting with hoes and other ox-drawn planters.One of the common problems associated with traditional methods of seed sowing is the high seed rate.

Results obtained indicate that the average seed rate achieved by the developed planting unit ranged between 30 kg/ha and 42 kg/ha with an average of35 kg/ha. The relatively higher seed rate may be attributed to the fact that the unit discharges 2 3 seed per seed cell. Available literature indicates that seeding rates for manually operated maize planters may vary considerably. For example, reported a seed rate of 43.2 kg/ha during their experiments on a manually operated maize seeding attachment for an animal drawn cultivator while reported a seed rate of 35 kg/ha from a study on modification and development of a two-row maize planter. These two studies show that the planter seed rate is within the range of what other researchers have achieved with two rows maize planters.reported that seeding maize at below optimum rates increases risk of not attaining maximum yield potential for a given environment while seeding maize at populations above the optimal,grow lights increases risk of encountering stress atcritical growth stages and suffering yield reductions.Analysis of seed damage by the planter indicated that the percentage of damaged seed ranged between 3% and 5% with an average of 4%, which is relatively high but comparable to results by other researchers including and .

Analysis of differences in seed damage by the two seed metering devices using one-way ANOVA showed statically significant differences with the right hand seed metering device damaging more seed than that on the left hand side . The relatively high seed damage may be attributed to flaws in the fabrication of the metering devices; for example,attributed high percentage of damaged seeds to inadequate clearance in the seed metering device. According to , seed damage increased with increasing metering device speed and this was attributed to shearing and jumping of seeds against the wall of the hopper at high speeds and the magnitude of damage depended on the strength of the seeds. However, the effect of speed on seed damage was not investigated in this study.In relation to seed spacing, the planter achieved an average seed spacing of 31cm, which is slightly higher than the design seed spacing of the planting unit which was set 30 cm as recommended for maize by agronomists. Additional tests done in relation to seed spacing were the average seed missing index ,multiple index and quality of feed index.

The results for those tests were as follows: 3% average seed missing index, 0% seed multiple index, 4% quality of feeding index which indicates that the planter has 97% precision in terms of seed spacing. This result is similar to , who found average field seed planting space by flute metering unit for maize as 34 cm compared to the theoretical value of 32 cm. This result could be due to the seeds metering device housing and seed tube which are the major source of inaccuracy in seed spacing. The cultivating unit was tested in the field at an average operating speed of 3.5km/h. Results indicated that the cultivator mean working width was 43 cm, the mean weeding depth was 3.5 cm while the cultivator mean weeding efficiency was 79.1%. These results are comparable to those obtained by other researchers who did similar work but in different environments and contexts such as .

A total of 56 household interviews were completed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data collected through the wide spectrum of methods and instruments discussed above were analyzed using a wide range of techniques. These included post-interview brainstorming and collation of notes , and quantitative analysis of rank/score data and scale data collected using pre-designed tables and semi-structured questionnaires.Trading is most common in Kazungula District, which is not surprising being a border town next to the country’s tourist capital, Livingstone. Because of the nature of the terrain and inadequate land in Sinazongwe, many communities have resorted to fishing considering the fact that there are no restrictions involved as to what time of the year fishing is allowed or who should/shouldn’t fish.

This is unlike in Namwala, where the main rivers such as Namwala and Kafue are only open for fishing over the period March through to November.Table 2 presents the proportions of the interviewed focus groups that ranked each activity among the top three most important activities at the time of the survey and 10 years before,disaggregated by district and food security category. Table 2 also confirms the importance of crop agriculture and livestock in the study area with 81 percent and 53 percent of all the focus groups ranking them among the top three,flood and drain tray respectively.As expected, the relative importance of these two activities is higher as we go higher on the food security scale—towards the food secure stratum. More than 90 percent of the food secure, for example, ranked field crop production among the top three most important livelihood activities. The relatively lower weight placed on agriculture and livestock by the food insecure and extremely food insecure groups means that these groups place relatively higher weight on other activities. Gardening, for example, seems to be a significant preoccupation of the food insecure segments of the society, ranked highly by at least 58 percent of the groups.

Piece work and trading are also quite important among these groups with about half the interviewed FI and EFI focus groups ranking them in the top three.Compared to agriculture-based activities, piece work and trading are often regarded inferior and adopted as means for coping with harsh realities of food insecurity. Thus, the waning importance of field crops and livestock and growing importance of piece work over the 10 years prior to the survey suggest an increase in levels of vulnerability. The importance of livestock as a source of livelihood went down by 21 percent while gardening increased by as much as 29 percent between 1996 and 2006. However, the fact that crops and livestock are important sources of livelihood shows that agriculture is key in these communities. While crops of various types are very important in day to day life during normal years, livestock have from time to time played the role of a life saver during bad seasons. Field crops and livestock are the two most important sources of income, together representing almost half of the income earned by rural households. These results are consistent with , who found that field crops generated most of the livelihood incomes across social groups in West Africa.

When animal products and services are considered, the contribution of the two sources to income extends to about 60 percent. While field crop production received a higher score as a livelihood activity in a more general sense than did livestock rearing, livestock and their products represent a much more important source of income. When only live animals and meat sales are considered, livestock generate 26 percent of all income earned by the households, compared to field crops’ 21 percent. When animal products are taken into account, the contribution of livestock swells to 39 percent, which is almost double the contribution of field crops. The dominance of livestock as an income earner holds both in the total sample as well as among most individual food security sub-samples. This is consistent with the national picture in which livestock is argued to contribute at least 50 percent of agricultural gross domestic product.Generally, small scale farmers grow most of their field crops for consumption and only sell a few when need arises. On the contrary, livestock is rarely eaten but rather sold to solve household problems.In a non-hotspot district, one was considered wealthy depending on the number of cattle one owned. Cattle are sold for other various purposes such as building a house, dowry payments, and settling conflicts and exchanged for other assets including vehicles.

In other words, pesticides are an economical, effective and labour saving pest management method that are widely applied in most fields of agricultural production.However, an excess use and misuse of pesticides in agricultural production often lead to severe impacts on human health and the environment . Farmers, the direct users, are easily exposed to pesticides. Exposure to pesticides is generally through contact with the skin, ingestion,or inhalation .Pesticide risks are considered as the potential for a pesticide to cause harm as determined by environmental conditions and preventive actions . Pesticide risks to farmers are the risks that often occur during the time they are spraying pesticides and working on the fields .defines pesticide risk as the result of a toxic hazard and exposure to that hazard.

Therefore, pesticide risk reduction will be achieved by reducing toxichazard and/or reducing exposure.Reduction of toxic hazard is attained by choosing less hazardous products, and reduction of exposure is obtained by using less pesticides, rolling bench better spraying methods, and more complete protective equipment.Gia Lam district, Hanoi city is a delta district with fertile soil, favourable natural conditions with a humid monsoon climate suitable for intensive cultivation of wet rice, vegetables, fruit trees and short-term cash crops; in which, the vegetable production area accounts for about 28.57% of the total agricultural land area of the district . Vegetable production in the district not only meets the needs of the people in the area but also is an important supply for the needs of the people of Hanoi city.The use of pesticide products to increase efficiency in vegetable production in Gia Lam district is, therefore, an inevitable need, however, the risks of pesticides in recent years for vegetable farmers have been almost negligible here. Hence,this study focused on investigating the current farmers’ reduction practice of pesticide risks in vegetable production in Gia Lam district, Hanoi city, thereby proposing more solutions to further enhance pesticide risk reduction in the near future.

The study was carried out in Gia Lam district, Hanoi city, Vietnam. The district is located on the East of the city in the Red River Delta, one of the two important delt as which produce the majority of agricultural products of the country. GiaLam district had a total of 5503.22 ha of agricultural land, accounting for 47.15%of the natural area of the whole district; of which land for annual crops was4294.1 ha , whilst the land for perennial crops made up only 12.06%, equivalent to 663.7 hectares and aquaculturel and was only 301 ha. These figures suggest that agriculture plays an important role in the production of the district and the farmers’ income is mainly from annual crop production.Among 20 communes and 2 towns of Gia Lam district, Van Duc and Dang Xa communes were chosen for this study because they were the two communes with the largest areas of vegetable production in the district,with 221 ha and 130 ha over a total of 740 ha of the district vegetable growing area in the 2020 winter crop. These locations were also representative for areas with highly intensified farming where pesticides application were considerably significant and safe production were dominant. Farmers in Van Duc and Dang Xa communes were growing different vegetables, such as cabbages, Chinese cabbage, broccoli, bitter gourd, cove beans, bokchoy, and mustard greens, etc. Among which, many were granted the 3 or 4 star OCOP certificates of Hanoi city. For the purpose of this study, secondary data were collected from books, newspapers,magazines, scientific works, theses, scientific articles related to risks and solutions to reduce pesticide risks around the worlds as well as in Vietnam; and periodic reports and annual summary reports of relevant governmental agencies,especially Gia Lam District People’s Committee, Plantation and Plant Protection  Station, Economic Departments, and Statistics Department.

Primary data used in the study was collected through direct surveys of 60 vegetable farmers in Van Duc and Dang Xa communes, Gia Lam district using structured questionnaires and direct interviews with state managers related to plant protection in the district using semi-structured questionnaires. The surveys were conducted from March to May 2021. Regarding the gender of the household heads, most of the household heads of the interviewed farming households were male. Out of a total of 60 interviewed households, 37 heads of households were male , 23 heads of households were female . In Van Duc commune, the households with a male head of household accounted for 66.67%, while the ones with a female head of household accounted for only 33.33%.

In addition, the facility layer shares data and information with information system layer and the control layer.Control Layer: This layer provides modules for command transmission and remote control, including data collector, PLC ,DCS , FCS , remote controller,etc. The Control Layer is connected to the perception layer and the facility layer through LAN, Ethernet, WIFI and other networking methods.Perceptual Layer: This layer provides all kinds of hardware facilities perceiving data sources of RFID, vehicles, sensors, lab equipment and gateways. This layer provides the sensing and access to multi-source devices and interconnects with the Control Layer. The intensive and intelligent pig-raising model is gradually emerging. The intelligent pig farming fully applies information and telecommunication technology,artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things into pig production management for improving farming efficiency and reducing farming costs. Although the traditional pig industry has entered the on-stock stage, there are still many pain points in the industrial supply chain.

Based on a review of existing reports on modern pig research and practice, this paper defines an Industrial Internet-based Platform for Massive Pig Farming through integrating advanced artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, industrial Internet.We analyzed the requirements for the IIP4MPF in detail with a case study, and designed and practiced the IIP4MPF system using software engineering methods. Reconciling food security with conserving biodiversity is of utmost importance, mobile vertical grow tables but a difficult task. Two opposing strategies have emerged in the ecological and agriculturalist literature to address this challenge: Land Sparing and Land Sharing .Land Sparing Hypothesis is based on the idea that greater yields driven by technological land intensification could provide more food and still spare natural areas from being converted to agriculture.On the other hand, Land Sharing Hypothesis is underpinned by the evidences that non-intensive agricultural, biodiversity-friendly, and ecosystem-preserving agricultural systems should be pursued to balance conservation with environmentally and socially sound agriculture. LSH has proven effective for cases such as shade cocoa , shade coffee , home gardens and organic farming.

Given a fixed production target that can be meet by farming expansion or yield increase via agricultural intensification,LSP proponents posit that high-input systems decrease the need for farmland enlargement , leaving more space for biodiversity protection. As gross yield is considered the major bottleneck for food security by this framework, LSP defenders suggest that agriculture intensification can reconcile food and farming. Additionally, LSP proponents assume that most species follow a concave adjustment, declining steeply with the increasing of agriculture intensification and intermediate levels of intensification have relatively low conservation potential .On the contrary to LSP, LSH proponents see agriculture intensification as one of the major causes of water and air pollution, as well as depletion of ecosystems services from local to global scales. For example,pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers are amongst the greatest cause of water contamination. Critiques on LSP concern the fact that there is a positive effect of yield increase on farmland expansion ; the dynamic relationship among production and economic aspects ; the high productivity of some non-intensive methods; the fact that significant biodiversity can be held in intermediate intensive systems; and the importance of social aspects that affects food security beyond gross yield .

In this light, non-intensive agricultural systems benefit ecosystems services, such as carbon storage, pollination and pest control. Furthermore, non-intensive methods such as agroforestry systems maybe more adapted to climatic change than mono-specific plantations .The LSP-LSH debate has been very prominent in literature with nearly 829 papers published up to January2016, as shown by an exploratory search in Science Direct . Despite of the flourishing of the LSP-LSH debate, there also has been a call for moving beyond the sharing vs. sparing divide. Some authors point out the need to go over the dichotomy highlighting that land sharing and sparing approaches are not mutually exclusive. In a recent review Kremen supports that the dichotomy of the land-sparing vs. land-sharing frameworks limits the realm of possibilities to only two, largely undesirable, options for conservation. Further more, many questions are still to be addressed in the sparing and sharing debate. Among of them are comprehension of the complex relationship among agriculture intensification, land use and ecological responses. One of the few studies to address such issue was carried by Green in which the authors take some assumptions that were latter subjected to critiques .

Improving soil environment by controlling the organic matter level and nutrient ratio in the soil is important for soil micro organisms.In our previous study, we developed a soil fertility index, SOFIX, for the evaluation of soil fertility . Analysis of the SOFIX data from several agricultural fields clearly showed that the number and activities of microorganisms can be significantly enhanced by controlling total carbon and total nitrogen contents, and carbon-to-nitrogen ratios at ≥25,000 mg/kg, ≥2500mg/kg, and 10 – 25, respectively. However, the relationship between microbial activities and plant growth remains unknown. The objective of this study was to determine suitable soil conditions for improving the yield and quality of to matounder an organic farming system by enhancing the number and activities of soil microorganisms. Tomatoes were harvested once the fruits turned light red.

In all years, harvesting began at the end of June and lasted until the beginning of August. On the last day, all remaining fruits were also picked for weighing. The quality of tomato was also analyzed in the three organic fields in 2015 and compared with the yield . Lycopene and glutamicacid contents in Fields H and I were significantly higher than those in Field H . In contrast,no significant differences in antioxidant content, polygalacturonase activity,and sugar content were observed among the three fields, but the acid content in Field G was slightly lower than in Field I. Therefore, the soil conditions of Fields H and I would improve both yield and quality in tomato cultivation.Bacterial biomass and nutrient circulation activities were examined in the three organic fields of 2015 . The bacterial biomass in the fields ranged from 9.0 × 108 to 1.4 × 109 cells/g-soil. No relationship between bacterial biomass and tomato yield was observed, but the N and P circulation activities were significantly higher in Fields H and It han those in Field G.

The results suggest that high levels of N and P circulation activities in soil contributes for the enhancement of tomato yield and quality. Recent reports show that only 1% of agricultural fields in the world are cultivated under an organic farming system . This is typically because the yields under organic farming are unstable or because a successful organic cultivation requires several years of experience. In the current study, we investigated the suitable soil conditions for tomato cultivation under an organic farming system.Soil microorganisms play several beneficial roles in cultivated land such as decomposition of organic materials, nitrification, and P mineralization. Therefore,microorganisms are important parameters for soil fertility. In our previous study, we showed that TC, TN, and C/N ratio are closely related to the bacterial biomass and nutrient cycling activities in soil Enhancement of microorganisms and their activities are more important under organic systems than under conventional systems, because microorganisms help to supply nutrients to plants by decomposing the added organic materials. Properly controlled TC, TN and C/N ratios result in a high level bacterial biomass and enhanced N and Pcirculation activities.

Generally, the yields under organic systems are either unstable or lower compared to those in the conventional systems. Nitrogen availability is the most important in limiting yield of tomato under organic farming systems . A previous study demonstrated that high level of tomato yields under organic farming systems than that under conventional systems was associated to the high nitrogen mineralization rate and higher microbial diversity in soils under organic systems.In this study, we found that properly controlled TC, TN, and C/N ratio and high levels of N circulation activity and P circulation activity resulted into higher tomato yield in the organic fields compared to the chemically fertilized fields. Therefore, enhancement of the number and activities of microorganisms by maintenance of the soil condition seem necessary for achieving high yield of tomato from organic farming systems.Organic crop products are typically considered to be of high quality.In general, quality and quantity are oppositely related in crop products obtained under conventional farming systems . In this study, lycopene, glutamic acid,and acid contents in tomato fruit seemed to be enhanced in the high-yielding organic fields. Lycopene is a major antioxidant component , and glutamic acid, sugar, and acidity are the major taste indicators in tomato . Enhancement of sugar and organic acid contents in organically produced tomatoes have also been reported previously . Therefore, appropriate soil conditions in organic systems not only enhance the yield of tomato but also can improve the quality.A suitable organic soil condition of tomato would be also effective for other vegetable fruits. In this point, the amount of TN and the balance of C/N in soil are most important, because higher C/N ratio inhibits reproduction and enhances vegetative growth . However, crop production could be increased only after the organic soil enhances activities of microorganisms maintaining appropriate nutrients for plants.

The instruments encompass abroad spectrum of questions pertinent to production practices, social demographics,individual attitude, beliefs, perceptions, as well as the characteristics of farms. The organic production in the survey may take the form of the USDA certified, certification exempt, or transitioning farms. The interview were conducted by trained personnel following the well-established procedures, which insures the veracity of data collected. However, it is also in evidence that some self-selection biases occurred due to the fact that the higher level of education were associated with organic producers and they were inclined to finish the survey retained in the sample, which make the organic operations in the sample high than the overall percentage in Georgia farms in 2012 Census of Agriculture.The defect may constrain the effort to reach a general extrapolation beyond the survey data.

In Table 1, the variables covered in the survey and the corresponding preliminary statistics were reported to provide a profile of small farmers in the Southern region of states. We approached farmers’ choice of organic farming and potential factors of influence with the help of the logit regression model. After comparative study on the logit, the probit, and the linear probability models, being alike in ways in analyzing categorical data , we first exclude the linear probability model for its bias and inefficiency. The logit and probit models are arguably equivalent, only many investigators prefer the former for easy interpretation of parameters. For the sake of comparability, we used the logit model hereof. Since rich documents related to the logit model are readily available in the literature, the authors just present a model brief in the context of this investigation, rather than a thoroughgoing model discussion in the coming section. As usual, the most challenging part of modelling is associated with model selection among many alternatives.

In this study, we adopted the approach of Purposeful Selection of Variables , which usually retains important confounding variables and result potentially in a slightly richer model. We beganour model fitting by a univariate analysis of all variable relevant. Any variable with a significant univariate test at 0.25 level was selected as a candidate for the multivariate analysis. In an iterative process, covariates are removed from the model if they are non-significant and not a confounder. Significance is evaluated at the 0.1 level and confounding as a change in any remaining parameter estimate greater than 15% as compared to the full model. A change in a parameter estimate above the 15% indicates that the excluded variable was important in the sense of providing a needed adjustment for one or more of the variables remaining in the model. At the end of this iterative process of deleting, refitting,and verifying, the model contains significant covariates and confounders. Then,we took into account of any variable not selected for the original multivariate model and added them back one at a time, with all significant covariates and confounders retained earlier. In such a way, other variables which, by themselves,were not significantly related to the outcome but became an important contributor in the presence of other variables will be included in the final model.

The marketing channel is identified as a key factor on farmers’ conversion decision.We were attentive to the long list of marketing channels, including farmers market, roadside stands, directly to consumers, wholesale markets, processors, restaurants, food stores, and schools. The access to farmers market was retained in the model as a significant factor. Producers who sell on farmers market had a26% increment of probability in converting to organic farming in comparison with those with no access. Similarly, the accessibility reduced the likelihood of farmers remaining in conventional farming by 19.6%. The impact is the largest among all influential variables, which implies the vital role of the farmers market for organic products. Farmers market could relate organic products to other value-added attributes such as freshness and locally produced, which enable an easy claim on premium price. In addition, farmers market tends to tolerate the unstable and inconsistent supply in both quantity and quality of organic products.The absences of other market channels in the model may not necessarily mean they are less importance, rather it likely reflected a reality that they were perceived by organic farmers as inaccessible or less accessible at the time of our survey. Finding reliable buyers was identified as a major barrier from a long list of potential ones including price premium, distance to organic markets, handling costs, and competition with non-organic products, and access to capital through lenders. The result seemed contradict the claim on a great demand for organic products. The solution to the puzzle is that existence of a great demand for organic products showed an unbalanced spatial structure and could not be extrapolated into areas not adjacent to metropolis.

Furthermore, the study tried to indicate which vegetables accumulated the most nutrients. results demonstrate that organically grown vegetables generally contain a significantly higher level of macro elements compared to the ones grown in a conventional way. It is commonly known that fertilizers, whether the mineral or organic ones importantly affect the content of elements in the soil as well as in plant tissues. Other very important factors are the physicochemical characteristics of the soil and the climate conditions.The content of Ca in the soil depends primarily on the type of bedrock from which it originated and on the degree of weathering processes. In Poland, the content of Ca in the top layers of the mineral soil ranges from 1000 to 34,300mg∙kg−1 . Our results revealed a much lower concentration of Ca in the soil cultivated in a conventional way, compared to the organic one. This might be due to the regular compost application.

Stępień and A damiak in their 5-year field study investigated the influence of the different type of fertilizers on the chemical properties of the soil. Their results clearly demonstrated that long-term compost application increases the content of Ca compared to another type of fertilizers. Plants usually contain quite a high amount of Ca, on average 5000 – 30,000 mg∙kg−1. The main reason for the high content of this element in the plant tissues is the elevated concentration of Ca in the soil solution. However, the uptake of Ca by the plant is usually slower than the uptake of other elements . The biological factors affecting the Ca intake are primarily the species and variety of the plant, root and rhizosphere structure,plant transpiration, my corrhiza activity, and the effect of phytohormones .In our study, a significantly higher concentration of Ca was found in organic celery, potato, and parsley root. This is in agreement with the results of the meta-analysis conducted by Williams. In 21 out of 47 studies, it was found that a higher content of Ca was reported in the organically grown vegetables; in20, the amount was similar between the two growing systems; in 6 only, a higher content was recorded in conventional plants.

Similarly, Warman and Havard in their 3-year study found an increased amount of Ca in organic carrot compared to conventional one.The average concentration of Mg in arable soils of Poland is 770 mg∙kg−1.However, this value is much higher in western Poland were both farms are located and it reaches up to 980 mg∙kg−1 . Soils of both organic and conventional farms evaluated in this study revealed Mg concentrations below average,which is 503 mg∙kg−1 and 668 mg∙kg−1, respectively. Generally, the lighter the soil, the less Mg it contains. That could explain lower concentration of this element in the organic soil compared to the conventional one. On the other hand, the soil of the conventional farm was represented mainly by podsols made of clay loam.Therefore, the soil physicochemical characteristics might be one of the reasons.Mg is very mobile; therefore, the majority of this element is often moved to deeper parts of the soil profile, particularly in the case of light sandy soils .

Considering the importance of this element in the plant growth it can be suspected that a significant dose of fertilizers containing Mg was applied in the conventional farm which would contribute to higher levels of it. The concentration of Mg in plant tissues varies between 3000 and 10,000 mg∙kg−1 and it depends on the plant species, its age, organ and plant demand for Mg. Generally,higher concentrations of this element are observed in the aboveground parts of the plant compared to the roots . It agrees with our results where the Mgcon centration in parsley leaves was found to be higher than in the root and generally the highest among all analyzed plants. Although the concentration of Mg was higher in the conventionally cultivated soil, plant tissue analysis demonstrated a higher Mg content in all organically grown vegetables compared to conventional ones.

It is consistent with several other studies where a superior concentration of Mg in organically grown vegetables was reported.Stępień and Adamiak  reported that on average N concentration in the soils cultivated in different ways vary between 800 and 1000 mg∙kg−1. The same authors demonstrated that among different types of fertilizers, organic ones increased the content of N in the most significant way. In our study, the organically cultivated soil was characterized by an increased concentration of N and it was over two times higher than in conventionally treated soil . We hypothesize that the main reason for high N content is the frequent application of compost and cow manure in the organically managed farm. Nitrogen is considered to be one of the most important nutrients for the plant growth and development, primarily because it is essential in protein synthesis and it builds nucleic acids.

The study identifies the best practices not only in economic terms but also from a climate change perspective. However, organic rice farming is found to be more respectful of the environment, albeit at the expense of lower yields in the short term. Nevertheless, these practices ensure higher financial profits, even in the short term.It seems that decision-making based exclusively on traditional accounting information,and/or on data on the environmental performance of the specific agricultural productive stage tends to hide environmental degradation. Therefore,further research is needed, along with practical improvements in sustainability accounting, to provide essential guidelines for the better administration of natural resources.The remainder of this article is organised as follows. Section 2 discusses the advances made in the accounting of the environmental impact of farming. Section3 explains the methodology adopted. Section 4 presents the results and a discussion of these findings and, finally, section 5 offers some concluding remarks,while identifying some of the limitations of the study and avenues for further research.

Over recent decades, input-intensive agricultural technologies have brought about significant changes in agricultural production, especially, for cereal crops.The increasing use of genetically modified seeds, irrigation, chemical fertilisers,pesticides and mechanisation have, in some cases, resulted in higher yields. However, they have also resulted in undesirable anthropogenic causes of climate change with increased greenhouse gas emissions due to a growing dependence on scarce fossil fuels . Studies of the industrialisation of farming have provided evidence that certain practices mean the misuse of common resources. Agriculture’s vast energy consumption is today estimated at an annual 11 exajoules , and this amount is set to rise with expanding populations and the mechanisation of farming .Additionally, modern agricultural practices are having other environmental impacts, including, the degradation of soil and water quality, and the loss of biodiversity,wildlife habitats and landscapes . The heavy dependence of farming on chemical pesticides and fertilisers has increased in recent years and today they pose a serious threat to human health and the environment. However, despite the investment in pesticides, pests are calculated to destroy 50% of treated crops worldwide. Yet, at the same time, millions of humans suffer the effects of pesticide poisonings each year.

The overuse of chemical pesticides,combined with mono cropping, is also the cause of the loss of biodiversity ,while the overuse of fertilisers is one of the main causes of water pollutant runoff and leaching .In conventional farming, the increase in required inputs results not only in unwanted environmental degradation but also in an undesired rise in operating costs. Thus, the average net income per farm has declined and the average debt per farm has increased in the long term . As a result, a call has been made to shift the goal from maximising productivity to optimising agricultural production while upholding environmental and social justice .The need to reduce the GHG emissions from agriculture has highlighted the urgency of shifting to non-fossil fuels. Here, each new scenario requires a specific accounting measure and a method for predicting natural resource usemaximization. Accounting for natural resources in this way should provide an efficient system for monitoring, controlling and mitigating irresponsible be haviour, thus making it possible to achieve the aforementioned goals of maximization. The environmental and social elements involved in economic activities can be addressed through sustainability accounting, a school of practice that provides tools for performance measurement and reporting when considering such matters as carbon reduction and water shortages or surpluses attributable to climate change .

Research carried out to date monitoring the impact of agriculture on climate change has, in some instances, compared the productivity and environmental impact of different styles of farming, but it does not quantify differences in economic performance  . Thus, various studies specifically analyse the differences in productivity of conventional and organic farming   and although they take into account the environmental dimension, their focus is very much on technical efficiency. Clearly, the limitation is that technical efficiency is ultimately measured in terms of the yields, inputs and prices explicitly recorded in a farm’s accounts, and as such needs to be economic-centred. The research conducted to date tends merely to consider the minimisation of current expenses but it fails to take externalities into account.The solution proposed from within the academic world for revealing and “internalizing”farming externalities is that of placing a monetary value on them  .This paper contributes to the analysis of how climate change externalities might be accounted for by presenting a microeconomic perspective for rice production and the measurement of the environmental impact of farming practices conventional and organic. The economic performance indicators used here include yields per hectare in kilograms, sales revenues, and income both before and after wages. These indicators have previously been considered as being representative of economic performance.