Sustainable Agricultural Technology- 可持续农业技术
This volume provides knowledge for produce compost, and the advantage of applying compost in semi-dried area. New financial concepts, such as microfinance that applied in Uganda, and the idea of paying farmers for watershed services, inspire us improving rural economy from different aspects. The Chinese experience of Heifer project in Gangou Village of Shangrila county is presented for improving farmers' livelihood.
Table of contents:
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2 - 4written by Alfred LakwoThe rural poor have no easy access to loans an grants from commercial banks or financial structures, because they lack collateral and modern business plans. But there is a lot of capital in rural areas that could be used to invest in farming. This is a case study of microfinance from Uganda.
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5 - 6written by Julio TresierraFrom farmers to hydroelectric power stations, the number of downstream water users is large and diverse. But the quantity and quality of the water they receive depends on what is done upstream. Upland communities can now get compensation for their role, following business agreements from which everybody benefits.
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7 - 9written by Paul W. UngerZero tillage (or no-till, no-tillage, slot planting, ecofallow, sod planting, chemical fallow, or direct drilling) is a system of farming that uses herbicides or manual methods to control weeds and maintains crop residues on the soil surface.
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10 - 12Passion Fruit (Passionfora edulis f. flavicarpa Deg)is also known as egg fruit, Brazilian nuts or vine peach. Passion fruit contains rich aromatic substances and is one of the most fragrant fruits. Therefore Passion fruit is praised as king of juice.
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13 - 14written by Nadarajah SriskandarajahHawkesbury College has pioneered in changing formal agricultural education to meet the needs of sustainable development. Nadarajah Sriskandarajah outlines their learning approach based on joint research and action by university students and agricultural producers.
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15 - 17Many family farmers hope their products can have a better price in the market after they have their production process certified. Research on several case studies shows that learning processes comprise part of the certification system. It helps farmers gain better profit by means of applying sustainable development methods.
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18 - 20Compost is a kind of low-cost fertilizer that makes use of organic material such as crops residues and livestock manure. Labour hours are the most intensive input in the composting process. This article illustrates the principles and techniques for composting.
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21 - 21The Sahara Area confronts desertification in which soil erosion is one of the big problems. The use of chemical fertilizer is a cause. Application of compost brings essential nutrients to the soil and improves the soil quality, especially the moisture retained in the soil. Compost is easily absorbed by plants thus is suited particularly to intensive cultivation of vegetables.
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22 - 23written by Kees StigterTo be in line with traditional tropical knowledge, a mulch can be best defined very broadly as a shallow layer that appears at the soil/air interface with properties that differ from the original soil surface layer.
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24 - 32Heifer International Projects have been applied in China for 25 years since 1985. 120 Heifer International projects have applied in 117 counties/districts among 16 provinces, municipilities and autonomous regions. This benefits 70,100 farmers, including Han, Yi, Miao, Wa, Tibetan, Lahu, Hani and other ethnic groups, distributing 4.7 million poultry. This article takes Gangou project as a case study, analyzising the implementation process and result by means of sustainable livelihood frammework, and provides experience and recommendation for NGOs.

