Agroforestry

Introduction to Agroforestry

Agroforestry systems include both traditional and modern land-use systems where trees are managed together with crops and/or animal production systems in agricultural settings. They are dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management systems that diversify and sustain production in order to increase social, economic and environmental benefits for land users at all scales. It is the land use management of trees and shrubs grown around crops and pastureland. Agroforestry is said to be environmentally sustainable as it utilize fully the land used for agriculture productivity. It is the combination of agriculture which is the cultivation of animal, plants, fungi, and other life form for foods, fibre, fuel, biochemical, medicinal and other products used to sustain and enhance human life and forestry which is the management and repairing of forest with associated resources for human benefits. Agroforestry intervation's because of their ability to provide economic and environmental benefits,are considered to be the best measures in making communities to adapt and become resilient to the impact of climate to change. Agroforestry is playing a significant role in the adaptation climate change because it improves microclimate, protect the soil loss, improve soil fertility,reduce carbon emmission and increase carbon sequestration. A number of agroforestry systems have the potential to sequester carbon. With adequate management of tree under agroforestry system a significant fraction of the atmospheric C could be captured and stored in plant.

Practice of Agroforestry

Agroforestry system used is classified into a few category which is Structural basis, functional basis, socioeconomic basis, and ecological basis

Structural basis refer to the composition of spatial and temporal arrangment of the system. Combination of forest tree with crop plant changes the horizontal and vertical arrangement of environment and often relate to the increase in diversity of animals or plants in the habitat, agroforestry can be successfully applied while maintaing the wildlife. Functional basis refer to the function of woody component. The presence of forest trees function to provide shelter for small plants which is the farm plant through windbreak and prevent soil erosion. This not only helps in protecting the cultured plant but also protect the environment habitat providing a 2 way benefits. Socioeconomic basis refer to the purpose of agroforestry in an environment can can either be subsistence, commercial, or intermediate. Agroforestry may be promoted into many other role in the society such as a platform for social forestry and improve the community access to resources as community forestry. Ecological basis is the suitability of agroforestry in the environment. Some farm plant has different habitat and its growth solely depend on the environment it lives in so agroforestry had taken account aspect such as tropical, temperate and arid environments in term of ecological and biological condition of the area in choosing the suitable forest trees and farm plant.

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Benefits of Agroforestry

Agroforestry provides a different land use option, compared with traditional arable and forestry systems. It makes use of the complementarity between trees and crops, so that the available resources can be more effectively exploited. It is a practice that respects the environment and has an obvious landscape benefit. Efficient, modern versions of agroforestry have been developed, that are adapted to the constraints imposed by mechanisation. The agroforestry plot remains productive for the farmer and generates continuous revenue, which is not the case when arable land is exclusively reforested. Agroforestry allows for the diversification of farm activity and makes better use of environmental resources. Agroforestry has interesting advantages from three different perspectives.

From the arable perspective

1. Diversification of the activities of arable farmers, with the building-up of an inheritance of valuable trees, without disrupting the revenue from those plots which have been planted.
2. Intercrop and animals(livestock) is protected by trees such as windbreak effect, shelter from the sun, rain, wind, soil is prevented from being corroded, and stimulating microfauna and microflora.
3. Tree helps in recover the loss nutrients. Nutrients is not loss from leaching and drainage with the presence of deep roots of trees planted in surrounding with the farm plants in fact, the trees enrich the soil organic matter with its tree litter of dead roots of the trees.
4. Possibility of combining the interest of the owner (for an inheritance of wood) and the farm (for access to cultivated land). Possible remuneration for the arable farmer for looking after the trees

 From the forestry perspective

1. Acceleration of the diameter growth of the trees by wide spacing. By cutting down some trees of no commercial value and make space for farm plant, allows space for trees to grow steadily.
2. Quality of wood produced is improved and useful in the industry. Such happening occur because of the less competition between its own so trees growth is optimum.
3. Guaranteed follow-up and tree care due to the arable intercropping activity. In particular, protection against the risk of fire in susceptible areas, with pastoralism or with intercrops like vine or winter cereals.
4. Agroforestry plantations on arable land allow the development of a quality wood resource that complements, rather than competes with, the products from traditionally exploited forests. It is especially important to produce wood that can substitute for tropical sawlogs, which will soon decline in availability and quality. The areas concerned will remain small in terms of their absolute value. Tree species that are little used in forestry, but are of high value, could be grown in agroforestry systems

From the environmental perspective

1. Improvement to the development of natural resources: the total wood and arable production from an agroforestry plot is greater than the separate production obtained by an arable-forest separate cropping pattern on the same area of land. This effect results from the stimulation of complementarity between trees and crops on agroforestry plots. Thus, weeds are replaced by harvested crops or pasture; maintenance is less costly and environmental resources are better used. The used of pesticide which pollute the environment can be avoided.
2. Better control of cultivated areas of land: by substituting for arable plots, the agroforestry plots contributes to diminishing the cultivated area of land. The intensification of environmental resource use by agroforestry systems is not resulting in more crop products.
3. Creation of original landscapes that are attractive, open and favour recreational activities. Agroforestry plots have a truly innovative landscaping potential, and would improve the public image of farmers to society. This will be particularly the case in very sparsely wooded areas, where plots are developed by planting arable land, and in very heavily wooded areas, where plots are developed by thinning the existing forest.
4. Counteract the greenhouse effect: constitution of an effective system for carbon sequestration, by combining the maintenance of the stock of organic material in the soil (the case especially with meadows), and the superimposition of a net fixing wooded layer.
5. Protection of soil and water, in particular in sensitive areas.
6. Improvement of biodiversity. Agroforestry favours the habitat of the. With integrated protection of crops by their association with trees, hyperparasite stimulate the (parasites of parasites) population of crops, is a promising way forwards.

Integrated beef cattle farming in rubber and oil palm plantations

Introduction

The new millennium will witness the inevitable increased urbanization of Southeast Asia, a steady rise in standards of living as a consequence of economic development and a rapid increase in population. Despite the recent economic downturn of the Southeast Asia countries, the projected trends in the per capita consumption of livestock products will be significantly increased over the years. In the past, total meat consumption per capita increased from 9.4 in 1961 to 21.0 kg year^-1 in 1995 with pigs and poultry being the major meat sources (FAO 1999). This increase in demand for livestock products has exacerbated competition for agricultural land and labour between animal and crop production. As livestock density increases particularly in areas of intensive cropping systems, it is only a matter of time before the issues of land constraint for future livestock production and environmental sustainability will need to be addressed rationally.

Traditionally, cropping agriculture in Southeast Asia is already intensive. Plantation agriculture is the only sector that has the potential for maximization of land use and promotion of agricultural diversity and sustainability using environmentally friendly cultural practices. It is for these reasons that integration of livestock within the agriculture cropping industry in Southeast Asia has received renewed emphasis in the new millennium

Constraints in improvement and utilization of forage supply in the plantation environment

Environmental factors

The environmental factors affecting forage supply are fairly universal among the three plantation crops in Southeast Asia.

Generally, the light environment in tree crop plantations is highly variable and dynamic and is largely determined by the age of tree crops, planting density and pattern. The light environment can be almost as high as full daylight at planting and down to as low as less than 10% of full daylight when the tree crop canopy closes. The natural ground vegetation normally declines with decreasing light and increasing age of the main crops.

Natural forages

Luxuriant undergrowth or ground vegetation forms a free source of nutritious feed for ruminant production. The plantation ground vegetation was estimated to comprise 83% of the total forage resource available in Malaysia (Devendra 1981).  Survey and sampling on utilization of the ground vegetation in rubber and oil palm indicated that 60 -70% of the vegetation could be utilized for ruminant production.  The ground vegetation normally comprises grasses, broad-leaved weeds, ferns and others.  The most obvious species are Paspalum conjugatum, Axonopus compressus, Mikania cordata, Imperata cylindrica,Cyrtococcum oxyphyllum, Nephrolepis bisserata, Eupatorium odoratum, Gleihenia linearis and many others (Wan Mohamed 1977, Chen and Bong 1984, Chee et al. 1997).  Not all species are suitable for grazing and selective weeding of non-palatable ones may be necessary. Similar broadly adapted forage species are also found in other countries of Southeast Asia with the exception of a few site specific species.

Forage production from a number of existing species could amount to 2,000-3,000 kg DM/ha or higher during the first three years of tree crop planting (Chen et al. 1978, Chen and Shamsudin 1991, Pillai and Seeveneserajah 1988).  Soon after that it declines sharply when reaching the 6^th to 7^th year of planting and levels off at 400-800kg DM/ha until approximately the 20^th year.  A substantial percentage (7% to 28%) of the species present is not palatable to animals (Dahlan 1989).

Improvement of forage supply with shade tolerant species

The search for shade tolerant forages was then   undertaken   in   the   hope     of identification of shade tolerant species for an ecosystem that could prolong their dry matter production and utilization.  Results of pot trials and field studies using artificial screens and the natural canopy of plantation trees on both grasses and legumes indicated that the majority of the improved forage grasses behaved like sun plants with linear relationships to sunlight level in terms of dry matter production.

All these studies indicated that exotic species were not high yielders in shade.  The indigenous grasses like Axonopus compressus and Paspalum conjugatum performed well and were tolerant under reduced light while legumes such as Desmodium ovalifolium, Calopogonium ceruleum and Calopogonium mucunoides persisted well (Wong et al. 1985). Research findings also illustrated the importance of appropriate forage management to ensure good persistence and productivity of shade forages (Wong et al. 1985). The goal of achieving productive and shade tolerant forages remains as elusive as at the commencement of the R & D programs in the seventies. Thus, alternative tree crop planting for livestock production has been advocated (Abd. Samat and Shelton 1995, Chen and Dahlan 1995, Abdullah and Mohd. Sukri 1997).

While R & D supports the benefits of changing tree crop planting patterns and density, the adoption of such recommendations remains to be seen. Unless the commodity prices decline to a low level, the alternatives may not be well received. Recently, the crude palm oil price has declined considerably, but the uptake of the integration technology is yet to be determined. Nevertheless, some plantation owners are adopting the technology through various incentives provided by the Government.

Challenging issues

With the current low prices in copra and coconut oil, monocropping of plantation crops is regarded as being no longer an economic proposition. Similarly, world palm oil price has been declining recently. Unless return to farm labour from monocropping can be sustained or increased, the livestock and plantation crop integration as a commercial venture will remain a competitive strategy to be adopted for high productivity of crops and maximization of land use. It is hoped that both the crop and animal integration in plantations will in future become a common reality and widely practiced in Southeast Asia.  However, several major issues have to be resolved:

(a)  Crop damage

The perpetual concern of planters over soil compaction has been overrated.  Field data from continuous stocking rate trials and mob-grazing systems indicated the lack of significant differences between the grazed and ungrazed oil palm paddock on yield of rubber and oil palm. If soil compaction is a major factor, depression of crop yield should be evident.

Research carried out in a commercial project rearing cattle under oil palm indicated higher FFB in the grazed field than that of the ungrazed.  A depression of FFB production was evident in high stocking rate under continuous grazing.  This was due to inadequate forage supply and subsequent damage to young fronds.

Over the years, R & D has helped to dispel these negative notions of integration.  Many of the constraints posed by the planters are over-exaggerated and can be avoided through proper management of animals if the concept of environmentally sustainable agriculture for the new millennium is accepted. Where there is adequate forage in the field, animals do little damage to the tree crops.  It is under high stocking rates and insufficient forage that the damage to tree bark and fronds will result.

 (b)  Feed availability and quality

On the contrary, results indicate that grazing animals have greater access to a diversity of plant species under rubber and oil palm.  The grazing animal performed better with higher liveweight gains. The slightly lower temperature in plantations is a plus factor in the overall growth performance of ruminants especially for breeds with some exotic blood.  Changes in botanical composition can be drastic under declining light intensity, stocking rate, species adaptability, palatability and plantation management.

Many studies have been undertaken to demonstrate that improvement of natural pastures through introduction of improved forage species can significantly increase daily weight gain of animals. Leguminous cover crops usually planted in mixtures of Centrosema pubescens, Pueraria phaseoloides, Calopogonium mucunoides and Calopogonium caeruleum are promoted for integration (Moog et al. 1989). However, these species are generally non-sustainable and declined from 50% in total composition to zero in 20 months when grazed by sheep under  3-year old rubber (Chong et al. 1991). Only the less palatable species such as C. caeruleum increased from 42 to 100% within the same period. The dominance of C. caeruleum is a great asset to plantation management but the increasing density of non-palatable woody shrubs and obnoxious weeds in plantations posed more problems.  Thus, a special program of selective weeding once in two or three years, depending on the situation, is needed.  The combination of animal grazing with judicious use of herbicides in the management of forages is preferred (Rosli and Mohd Nasir 1997).

Nonetheless, the problems associated with limited feed availability in mature plantations pose other opportunities for research into various feed options for ruminants. Recognizing these constraints in plantations, alternatives must be sourced such as the use of agricultural by-products from the mature plantation as in the discarded oil palm fronds, thinning of the existing stands to allow more light penetration or adopt new planting patterns like the recommended double hedgerow avenues. Only time will determine which will be widely adopted.

(c)  Animal nutrition

Another issue is the nutritional aspect. Undeniably, some of the understorey forages are high in nutritive value. Selective grazing will often result in good growth performance. But to manage forages in plantations where excessive growth of the understorey is under control, hard grazing is often needed. This often leads to the overall lower nutritive quality of the species. Wong and Chin (1998) reported that the forage quality can only meet the nutrient requirement of beef cattle for a liveweight gain of about 250 g/head/day. The question of grazing using improved breeds remains questionable unless special provision is made in the feeding program.

Experience in Malaysia indicated the tendency of plantation managers to favour exotic breeds or crossbreeds for integration programs for reasons of bigger and heavier size of these animals as well as their higher prolificacy. Sourcing of feed supplements or concentrates can be another barrier to overcome in integration projects in terms of land, labour and cost (see FAO, 1999).

(d)  Availability of cheap animals

The low base ruminant population in these countries is yet another issue. Adequate livestock numbers are a vital prerequisite for the development of improved animal production systems. In the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, there is a serious constraint of inadequate animal numbers. Hence, large numbers have to be imported mainly from Australia for fattening, at the expense of foreign exchange reserves. In Thailand, there appears to be significant cattle importation from neighbouring countries while in the Philippines, the large ranches that formerly supplied smallholders with breeding and fattening stock have been broken up as a consequence of land reform programs.  It is not surprising that the implementation of some integrated tree crop-livestock projects was affected by the availability of feeder cattle in Malaysia. This shortage can lead to higher costs for animals and these indirectly increased development costs of projects and can also affect the participation of small farmers.

(e)  Lack of capital

A lack of venture capital is a major constraint for ruminant production as such integration projects/operations have a long gestation period for income to be generated. This is more so for big plantations where the number of animals involved would be high.

(f)  Adapted animal breeds

Apart   from   the   low   population  base, animal production is also constrained by feed-related factors and diseases. There is the tendency of importing exotic breeds to replace if not complement the inadequate supply of feeder cattle. There is thus a conflict of utilizing the natural resources to meet the high nutrient demands of these exotic breeds. Hence, the importance of using adapted breeds in integration becomes strikingly important. It is suggested that the full genetic potential of the indigenous breeds, which are better adapted to the local environment and which have been limited in production potential by limited feed intake, be assessed realistically.  A good illustration is that of Malaysia trying to use exotic sheep for integration projects. The lack of adaptation and the high incidence of diseases in sheep can put a strain on the overall animal husbandry. Crucial is the need to match nutrient availability with the nutrient requirement of the animal species if the venture is successful.

 (g)  Economic aspects

Besides R & D being carried out on research stations, application of the integration technology in plantations has also been undertaken.  The economic projection for sheep integration in plantations was fairly pessimistic based on the existing databases in 1989 (Pillai and Seeveneserajah 1988, Eddie Chiew and Zainal Abidin 1989). However, a successfully implemented cattle-oil palm project in RISDA Espek at Terengganu Tengah proved that livestock could be used not only to control weeds and save 20 to 50% weeding costs, but could also be managed as an enterprise for revenue generation (Harun and Chen 1995). A return of 35% was recorded.

There was increased FFB yield of oil palm (20.99 t/ha/yr) as compared with that of non-grazing (17.98 tons/ha/yr).  The plantation management has strongly recommended Kedah-Kelantan integration with the plantation crop for extensive production systems. 

The ESPEK Plantation Management is now confident of the present package of technology in livestock-tree cropping systems.  The cattle component complements the oil palm production by controlling weeds and reducing weeding cost as well as generating extra income to the plantation.

(h) Extension constraints and technology adoption

The perceived detrimental effects of livestock on plantation crops have been over-exaggerated.  MARDI experience has shown that there are many benefits rather than the negative aspects of integration. The same can be said of the rubber and coconut plantations. Any organized and well managed plantations of any crops are always quite reluctant to accept this concept of integration.  About one third of all the estates in the country are involved in some kind of integration activities. Ariffin (2000) indicated that the current arrangement of promotions and incentives is not sufficient to encourage the greater uptake of crop-livestock integration at the estate level.

Many estate managers realize the potential of the integration system in terms of maximization of land utilization, reduced weeding costs and for additional income, but the low adoption of the system was due to inherent problems associated with the introduction of cattle into estates.

Other findings suggest that the added responsibility was not commensurate with incentives and compensations; the skill and management expertise were still lacking, compounded by the existence of disease and health problems,   prevalent animal theft and other social problems. Approximately 75% of all estates shared the view that greater involvement of estates could only take off vigorously if crop-livestock integration is considered to be a national project and all the necessary supports are put into place.

Fisheries

Fisheries

Fisheries can be divided into two term where it is done through capture of wild fish or culturing fishes by aquafarming. In this topic we are going to discuss about fisheries in aquafarming, fishes is reared and harvested when matured to be commercialise to market. The increase of food demand worldwide had cause overfishing in the ocean which will eventually cause the extinction of fish species so the idea of culturing fishes is done to sustain life and fulfil the requirement of food in the world. With fishery aquafarming, many types of fish can be cultured and marketed for their high value and low cost to sustain the culture process.

Aquaculture

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic plant and animal which involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Mariculture is also included in aquaculture it refers to aquaculture practice in marine environments and in underwater habitat. It is necessary to improve nutrition and food security and to supply growing global demand for seafood, which can’t be met by wild fisheries. There many ways aquatic species can be cultured and below are some of the methods used in culturing different types of fishes.

Open-net pen systems

The system is cultured in the natural habitat of the fishes and is usually used offshore in coastal areas or in freshwater lakes, open-net pens or ‘cages’ are considered a high-risk aquaculture method as they allow for free and unregulated exchange between the farm and the surrounding environment. Farmed salmon are one of the example that can be farmed in this manner. Open net pens system have low cost in sustaining the farm needs as it does not require any management in the water system. Disadvantages of this system is that there is a free exchange of high concentrations of waste, chemicals, parasites and disease that could cause. Possibility is high for the farmed fish to escape and they also attract predators, such as marine mammals, that can get tangled and drown in fish farm nets. It is not a recommended aquaculture method to sustain life as it disturb the aquatic life found in the cultured area and also brings danger to the cultured fish.

Closed Systems

Closed systems or ‘closed containment’ is the improved aquaculture method of open-net system where the farming methods use a barrier to control the exchange between farms and the natural environment. This significantly reduces pollution, fish escapes, negative wildlife interactions, and parasite and disease transfer from farms to marine and freshwater ecosystems.

Raceways

Flowing water is diverted from natural streams or a well. Raceways are typically used for raising rainbow trout. To be considered a low-risk method, waste must be treated and fish escapes prevented.

Recirculation systems

 Known as RAS, the water in these systems is treated and re-circulated to be reused. Most used method in aquaculture and almost any type of finfish can be raised in recirculating systems. Common species farmed in this manner include Arctic char, striped bass, barramundi, sturgeon, and increasingly salmon. This system does not mix with natural water sources, which is able to prevent problems and risk such as mitigates pollution, parasite transfer, fishes escape or being targeted by predator. This is the most efficient method as compared to other aquaculture method with optimum yield and low cost however the starting of the cost is quite expensive but maintenance cost is reliably cheap. 

Suspended-aquaculture

Farmers grow shellfish on beaches or suspend them in water by ropes, plastic trays or mesh bags. The shellfish farmed using these methods are filter feeders and require only clean water to thrive. Oysters, mussels and clams are cultured using suspension systems. Shellfish farming using this method is often ‘low risk’ if the farmed species is native to the area and if the farm has sufficient flow to prevent waste accumulation.

Aquatic plants

Cultivating emergent aquatic

plants in floating containers.

Algaculture the culture of microalgae referred to as phytoplankton, microphytes, or planktonic algae constitute the majority of cultivated algae. Seaweed farming is known as macroalgae have many commercial and industrial uses, but due to their size and specific requirements, they are not easily cultivated on a large scale and are most often taken in the wild. Culturing of aquatic plant require a lot of consideration into the environment suitability for the plant. Growing algae needs water, carbon dioxide, minerals and light are the main important factor and other factor such as temperature, light and mixing, odor and oxygen, and nutrients.

Fish

The farming of fish is the most common form of aquaculture. It involves raising fish commercially in tanks, ponds, or ocean enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases juvenile fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species' natural numbers is generally referred to as a fish hatchery. Worldwide, the most important fish species used in fish farming are, in order, carp, salmon, tilapia and catfish.

In the Mediterranean, young bluefin tuna are netted at sea and towed slowly towards the shore. They are then interned in offshore pens where they are further grown for the market. In 2009, researchers in Australia managed for the first time to coax tuna (Southern bluefin) to breed in landlocked tanks.

A similar process is used in the salmon farming section of this industry; juveniles are taken from hatcheries and a variety of methods are used to aid them in their maturation. For example, as stated above, one of the most important fish species in the industry, the salmon, can be grown using a cage system. This is done by having netted cages, preferably in open water that has a strong flow, and feeding the salmon a special food mixture that will aid in their growth. This process allows for year-round growth of the fish, and thus a higher harvest during the correct seasons.

Crustaceans

Crustacean are aquatic animal with shells like crabs, crayfish, prawn, and shrimp. Shrimp farming has been group into 2 category, marine shrimp farming and freshwater prawn farming. Shrimp farming has changed from its traditional, small-scale form in Southeast Asia into a global industry. Technological advances have led to ever higher densities with broodstock is shipped worldwide. Virtually all farmed shrimp are penaeids from the family Penaeidae, and just two species of shrimp, the Pacific white shrimp and the giant tiger prawn, account for about 80% of all farmed shrimp.

Freshwater prawn farming shares many characteristics with, including many problems with, marine shrimp farming. Unique problems are introduced by the developmental life cycle of the main species, the giant river prawn.

Molluscs

Abalone farm

Aquaculture shellfish include various oyster, mussel and clam species. These bivalves are filter and/or deposit feeders, which rely on ambient primary production rather than inputs of fish or other feed. As such shellfish aquaculture is generally perceived as benign or even beneficial. Depending on the species and local conditions, bivalve molluscs are either grown on the beach, on longlines, or suspended from rafts and harvested by hand or by dredging. Over-fishing and poaching have reduced wild populations to the extent that farmed abalone now supplies most abalone meat. 

SLASH AND BURN FARMING IS A BAD FARMING PRACTICE

WHAT IS SLASH AND BURN FARMING?

Slash and burn farming is a form of shifting agriculture where the natural vegetation is cut down and burned as a method of clearing the land for cultivation, and then, when the plot becomes infertile, the farmer moves to a new fresh plot and does the same again.  This process is repeated over and over.

Negative Aspects of Slash and Burn

Many critics claim that slash and burn agriculture contributes to a number of reoccurring problems specific to the environment. They include:

• Deforestation: When practiced by large populations, or when fields are not given sufficient time for vegetation to grow back, there is a temporary or permanent loss of forest cover.
• Erosion: When fields are slashed, burned, and cultivated next to each other in rapid succession, roots and temporary water storages are lost and unable to prevent nutrients from leaving the area permanently.
• Nutrient Loss: For the same reasons, fields may gradually lose the fertility they once had. The result may be desertification, a situation in which land is infertile and unable to support growth of any kind.
• Biodiversity Loss: When plots of land area cleared, the various plants and animals that lived there are swept away. If a particular area is the only one that holds a particular species, slashing and burning could result in extinction for that species. Because slash and burn agriculture is often practiced in tropical regions where biodiversity is extremely high, endangerment and extinction may be magnified.

The negative aspects above are interconnected, and when one happens, typically another happens also. These issues may come about because of irresponsible practices of slash and burn agriculture by a large amount of people. Knowledge of the ecosystem of the area and agricultural skills could prove very helpful in the safe, sustainable use of slash and burn agriculture.

Sustainable Agriculture

What Is Sustainable Agriculture?

Sustainable agriculture is the production of food, materials, or animals using farming techniques that preserve the environment for future use. With the population of the Earth growing explosively and the available resources being rapidly consumed, it has become imperative for farmers to consider the practices of sustainable agriculture. Without consideration for the future of the environment, the world could very soon enter a food crisis.

What Are the Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture?

Sustainable agriculture seeks to eliminate all of the aforementioned problems. Pesticides, fertilizers, and artificial growth hormones are eliminated entirely from agricultural production. Therefore, the food produced has no risk of harming the consumer and does not contribute to any chemicals in the water or air supply.

Further, whereas the typical farm is a single crop farm, sustainable agriculture often raises more than one crop or product on a single farm. This allows crop rotation to take place, wherein one crop can renew the nutrients that another has taken up in the previous season. Also, livestock on the farm can be used to naturally fertilize the soil. This method of rotation ensures the health of the environment each year for further use. Non-sustainable farming, on the other hand, simply uses the land until it has nothing left to give.

Water is also managed sustainably, with research being done to ensure that water is not being used faster than it is renewed at the source. This often means fewer farming plots in an area or simply a highly-efficient water system such as drip irrigation. Sustainable farmers plant only those types of plants that naturally thrive in their area’s climate so that the crops are more likely to thrive from what the earth can produce rather than what a farmer can provide the crop.

Finally, animals are allowed to live outside and are fed by the land they graze upon. They are allowed to build healthy muscles through exercise and do not accumulate any genetically modified substances or growth hormones in their systems. This ensures their natural growth, leading to meat that is safe for humans to consume.

Palm oil plantation in Malaysia

Palm oil plantation in Malaysia

Introduction of oil palm plant and palm oil

Many people understand that oil palm produces the common vegetable oil used in our daily products but few ask about where the oil is derived from. Palm oil ( dendê oil, from Portuguese) is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp of the fruits bear by the oil palm tree. Yes oil palm and palm oil is a different thing, oil palm is the plant itself and palm oil is the vegetable oil it produces. Oil palm tree took around 30 months to grow from a baby plant to adult and starts to bear fruits afterwards, the lifespan of an oil palm tree is estimated to be able to live for 20 to 30 years and remain productive.  The oil palm tree are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil since palm oil contains more saturated fats than oils made from canola, corn, linseed, soybeans, safflower, and sunflowers, it can withstand extreme deep-frying heat and resists oxidation. It also contains no trans-fat. Many country in the world begins to largely commercialize oil palm plantation mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia because of the advantage of the palm oil it produces.

History of palm oil plantation in Malaysia.

Oil palm species Elaeis guineensis was first introduced into Malaysia as an ornamental plant in the 1870s. Since 1960s, Malaysia had started to widely commercialize the palm oil plantation and rapid increase of area used for palm oil plantation to replace rubber plantation as the market price for rubber is declining further. In 1985, the total area planted for palm oil is 1.5 million hectares which then increased to 4.85 million hectares of palm oil plantation in 2007. As of 2011, the total planted area increased to 4.971 million hectares. Malaysia was known to be the 2^nd largest palm oil producer in the world after Indonesia. Currently Malaysia uses oil palm tree of tenera hybrid which gives better yield yearly as compare to the previous species. The advantage of using Tenera hybrid was the fruits of oil palm can be fully utilize with reduce wastage thus is more environmentally friendly

Malaysia government had plan to make palm oil plantation the country main source of income and to replace the rubber plantation production. In the 1960s, a  land settlement scheme plan is introduced for planting oil palm in smallholder( small farmland for own uses) to eradicate the poverty for smallholder farmers. Palm oil fetch a high price in the market and are encourage by the government to help increase in the land used for palm oil plantation.  Nowadays Malaysia palm oil plantation are largely based on estate area and smallholder

The palm fruit is about the size of a small plum and borne in large bunches. The cross-sectional area of the fruits of oil palm showing the mesocarp and the kernel. Mesocarp produces the palm oil while the kernel is of no value. However with nowadays technology, the kernel is utilize and process into livestock feeds so that there is no wastage produced.

Sperm Cryopreservation of Some Freshwater Fish Species in Malaysia

Sperm Cryopreservation of Some Freshwater Fish Species in Malaysia 

Ex Situ Conservation Methods

Ex-situ conservation is the preservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats.  This involves conservation of genetic resources, as well as wild and cultivated or species, and draws on a diverse body of techniques and facilities.  Gene banks, e.g. seed banks, sperm and ova banks. 

Cryopreservation of fish semen and considering Malaysia has a rich fish fauna with many of them unique to this tropical region, cryopreservation of fish gametes will require detailed study to create new protocol for each fish species intended for semen cryopreservation. To date in Malaysia semen cryopreservation has only been reported for several freshwater fish species, namely Probarbus jullieni, Tor tambroides, T. deuronensis, Hemibagrus nemurus, Pangasius nasutus, Hypsibarbus wetmorei, Barbonymus gonionotus and Clarias gariepinus. It has been demonstrated that semen cryoperservation plays an important role for the genetic conservation of these fish species. 

Cryopreservation technology for fish semen is still not well explored in Malaysia and can be considered as new if compared to the domesticated terrestrial livestocks. Henceforth, this has opened up a new field to be explored with potential applications in aquaculture and in the conservation of the national fisheries genetic resources. Cryopreserved semen could facilitate artificial fertilization especially when mature male fishes are not available or unable to provide viable semen during certain periods of the breeding season. Semen cryopreservation may also be useful for fertilization to produce hybrids of various fish species. It also helps in reducing the cost and labor of maintaining broodstocks under in situ condition. In line with the mission of Department of Fisheries (DOF) Malaysia to develop and manage the national fisheries sector in a sustainable manner, the gene bank of freshwater fishes in the form of semen cryobank of Fisheries Research Institute at Glami Lemi was established in 2008. The establishment of the semen cryobank research has achieved the aim of the DOF towards establishing a national semen cryobank (gene bank) in Malaysia for conserving the genetic materials of the threatened or endangered indigenous freshwater fish species and also for those indigenous species which has potential for aquaculture.

An overview of the current status of semen cryopreservation of Malaysian freshwater fishes is presented in this chapter. The role of semen cryobank is also discussed. Obviously, semen cryopreservation offers potential applications in ex situ conservation and sustainable management of the fisheries genetic resources in Malaysia, especially for those species with rare, vulnerable, threatened or endangered status, those protandry species with sexchanging characteristic over their life time, and also the potential candidates and genetic improved strains for aquaculture development. The successes in semen cryopreservation are very much relied on factors such as having ample knowledge on the biology and reproductive biology of the particular species of interest, trained personnels in various aspects such as gamete cryopreservation, breeding methods, broodstock management and husbandry and larva rearing and nursing of the targeted species.

Summarize the agricultural problem in Peru

Summarize the agricultural problem in Peru

There is a change in climate at commonwealth of Yacus which causes a problem in their agricultural activities. Peru are very dependently on water resources to continue their agricultural activities, now with the lack of water resources the villager had to delay their time of planting potatoes which was previously planted from September and October which was then postpone to November and December. Besides the problem of water irrigation, Peru also faces the problem of humidity. Due to potatoes are suitable only to grow in humid zone the villager had to plant at a higher altitude up to 13,000 and 14,000 feet as the soil erosion below is strong. Their problem is at lower altitude, there isn’t much humidity and organic material to hold onto the little rain that falls. With the hope of breaking soil at higher altitude for potatoes plantation however they are not sure of the type of soil, climate and pasture are really suitable for their potatoes plantation so as to prevent any lost of their variety of potatoes.

In Peru, there is no proper guidance given to the villager for agriculture activities which has cause an unnecessary use of chemical and fertiliser for the crop. The seeds for crop production is not suitable for the soil in Peru so they are in search of new seeds for agriculture production. The people also faces problem of selling their products, the organic grown crop without any use of chemical and insecticides are rejected by buyer at the market because of the different appearance compare to products which uses fertiliser as it looks more reliable by most buyer. In the central sierra, most of the land are dry. They don’t have any infrastructure for irrigation of water at Mantaro Valley.

Discuss how to solve the problem

Firstly, Peru have water resource problem which can be solve by having a better water irrigation system as it is important for agricultural activities. The villager can begin by storing a large amount of water supply when water is available specially kept for agricultural uses as they mention water supply are scarce for agriculture activities. Second problem was humidity due to the increase in the temperature, humidity at lower altitude was lower. Besides planting the potatoes at higher altitude which can be a risk as the soil and environment condition was unknown, the villagers can opt for a greenhouse built for potatoes plantation. Greenhouse are able to control the environment of the surrounding inside whichever condition are suitable for the people in Peru to plant their potatoes and greenhouse also have an advantage where it is able to produce the environment for the climate of 4 seasons. With the use of greenhouse, plantation for potaotes will not be delayed and can be planted throughout the year. Third problem was that the Peru people does not have any understanding about farming and agricultural education plus they didn’t realize that their soil was actually fertile and does not require any fertiliser at all. They should look for the help from government to govern the farmer and done a proper examination on the ground soil at Peru. The farmer should be educated about importance of agriculture and the side effect of using too much fertiliser. Farmers should also get new types of seeds with GMOs that have better traits and gives higher yield for agriculture, which where they will be selling at the market. They should promote their healthy products to buyers so that they know how their products were grown as compared to those uses fertiliser and insecticides. The problem with irrigation of water can be solve by seeking help from the government of Peru about the problem lack of water irrigation for agricultural purpose.

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