Mid-season drainage involves the removal of surface flood water from the rice crop for about seven days towards the end of tillering. It involves ridge and furrow cultivation technology, where some moisture still exists in the soil even after the toe furrow is drained. Mid-season drainage reduces methane emissions of paddy fields, with reductions ranging from 7 to 95%.
Organic fertilizer is applied to the fields to enhance productivity by increasing the level of organic matter in the soil (humus), which stimulates soil biological activity and improves soil structure, water infiltration and retention, and nutrient storage. The most commonly used organic fertilizers include compost using straw pen manure with litter or household waste.
Strip tillage is a cropping system for maize which reduces the reworking of the soil to the stripes, in which the seeds are planted. Strip tillage is a mixture between no tillage and conventional agriculture. Instead of ploughing and harrowing, a special rotary tiller including a grubber is used; it is used to avoid soil erosion or for economic reasons. The reworking of the soil, manuring, seeding and applying of herbicides can be done at once.
Maintenance of continuous soil cover; alternating crops and cover crops as a practice to improve soil quality and reduce diffuse agricultural water pollution. Continuous cover cropping has been promoted as an agro-environmental measure to extend sustainable land management and reduce diffuse water pollution. The type of crop species depends on the crop succession. Compared with systems that do not use cover crops, continuous soil cover provides long-term agronomical and environmental benefits due to a reduction of negative impacts on agro-ecosystems.
Leaving crop residues on the soil surface and subsequent planting through the mulch. The mulch layer has several important functions: it helps to increase and maintain water stored in the soil, reduces soil erosion, contributes to improve soil fertility and it efficiently controls weeds by hindering their growth and preventing weeds from producing seeds.
Mulching involves spreading waste crop after harvesting. Covering the soil with mulch protects it against wind and water erosion and provides nutrients which have a positive effect on yields and food security. Mulching also helps to improve the infiltration of water and reduce the evaporation of moisture from the soil.
Integrated production and pest management (IPPM) curbs environmental degradation caused by current farming practices (intensive and extensive), reducing the negative impact of pesticides on the environment and on human health. IPPM works with all available techniques for combatting pests, while eliminating or keeping pesticide use at economically justified levels.
Use of biological agents (various types of symbiotic mycorrhizae fungi) as plant salt tolerance facilitators and soil amendments. The technology is applied as an effective agronomic measure to increase plant salt tolerance, reduce soil-borne diseases that affect plant roots, and increase of water and nutrient absorption.
Using environmentally friendly phyto-pesticides, made from natural plant extracts to help combat pests and diseases. Plant extracts include potatoes, onions or tomato stalks, garlic, pepper, dandelion, common wormwood and thorn apple extracts.
Ecological engineering is aimed primarily at the regulation of pest species, through the provision of habitats for their natural enemies, thereby increasing biodiversity. Other ecosystem services, such as pollination and cultural services, may simultaneously be enhanced by using the same measures.
Trees are planted at strategic locations; indigenous trees – “wildlings", which are considered endangered species, were preserved. Trees serve as shelter/habitat for wildlife species such as birds and can absorb carbon from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trees also provide an aesthetic value as well as temporary shade for workers.
Rockwall terracing refers to the piling of stones or rocks along contour lines to reduce soil erosion in hilly areas. Terraces are built to reduce soil erosion and ease land preparation through the removal of naturally-present rocks in the cultivated area. It also contributes to the partial arrangement and diversification of land use. The technology is a traditional practice in the Philippines.
Tree planting and establishment of grass strips along the river to stabilize steep slopes. The vegetation prevents surface water and eroded soil flowing from the agricultural fields directly into the river. Surface water flow from runoff during heavy storms is slowed down and infiltration on soils covered by grass and trees is increased. Therefore, sediments and chemicals used on the field are retained in the riparian soils and do not pollute the river.
The purpose is to deal with the regular floods, which are a natural event and happen regularly. Trees are planted in lower catchment areas to stabilize the riverbank, ensure water quality in the river by retaining sediments from nearby fields, and to trap agricultural chemicals. The technology can be considered a revegetation measure and can be applied to several land use types.
Perennial grasses in orchards and vineyards between rows to provide permanent soil cover. Green cover comprises naturally-occurring, or sown, perennial grasses which form the permanent soil cover. It is an effective practice to provide a natural supply of mineral elements to the soil surface, while the stabilisation of root system improves the soil physical properties. The permanent soil cover prevents water erosion and limits the leaching of nutrients and pesticides.
A spiral tube water pump is a method of pumping water by using an undershot water wheel which has a scoop connected to a spiral tube. Spiral water pumps can carry water from the river to fields that are up to 30 meters higher than the river without the use of electricity or fuel. The pumps provide irrigation water from rivers to crop fields at a higher level.
A Californian network is a micro-irrigation system developed in California and was adapted to work with Malian irrigation systems. It uses a pump unit that feeds in water from a river or borehole. The technical objective is to use water more efficiently and increase yields.
Protection and reforestation of degraded arid lands in central and southern Tunisia using native tree species able to tolerate extreme droughts and persist on the edge of the Sahara desert.
Afforestation activities, led by the government, after a fire that resulted in the loss of 33’000 ha of forests, strong erosion processes and hindered vegetation regrowth. A machine was used to open a planting hole and cover it again, which loosened the soil. Seedlings of Pinus Halepensis were planted manually and arranged linearly. The afforested area covered around 100 ha (not continuously), while other forest areas grew naturally.
The main purposes of thinning dense pine forests are the prevention of fires by reducing the fuel load and its continuity, and to improve pine regeneration by eliminating the competition between different species. As a result, the quality of the plants is improved and the amount of dead or sick plants is reduced, which is essential to ensure a healthy forest. This also leads to a higher resistance to pests which in turn again decreases the risk of fire.
Firebreaks act as a barrier to stop or slow the progress of fires and allow firefighters to better position themselves to operate. Gaps of vegetation of about 5 to 7 meters are created at a distance of every 50 to 75 meters along the contour line of the forested areas.
Assisted cork oak regeneration by acorn seeding and seedling plantation from a plant nursery, involving careful husbandry and protection from grazing. Good quality acorns and seedlings are required and seedlings should come from the same region where they are planted and be certified by the authorities. Small, woody plants are cleared and the soil is prepared by deep ploughing to loosen the topsoil and allow easier root growth.
Tree plantations using fast-growing and native species are established in combination with hillside terracing to protect upper catchment areas. The afforested areas are closed for any use until the trees reach maturity, after which user rights were given to communities allowing cut-and-carry of grass and cutting of trees with government permission.
The aim of this technology is to restore degraded forests by planting seedlings in moisture-accumulating trenches that increase the survival rate of plants in non-irrigated lands. Rainwater is collected in artificial trenches on hill and mountain slopes to accumulate water in the soil around the roots of trees planted at the bottom of the trenches. Native tree species are used, but non-native species can also be planted.
