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Agricultural Biodiversity
Agricultural biodiversity or agrobiodiversity is a subset of general biodiversity pertaining to agriculture. It can be defined as "the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels that sustain the ecosystem structures, functions and processes in and around production systems, and that provide food and non-food agricultural products.” It is managed by farmers, pastoralists, fishers and forest dwellers, agrobiodiversity provides stability, adaptability and resilience and constitutes a key element of the livelihood strategies of rural communities throughout the world. Agrobiodiversity is central to sustainable food systems and sustainable diets. The use of agricultural biodiversity can contribute to food security, nutrition security, and livelihood security, and it is critical for climate adaptation and climate mitigation. Etymology It is not clear when exactly the term agrobiodiversity was coined nor by whom. The 1990 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GEM Corn
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity and notoriety are other characteristics that lend value to gemstones. Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire. Characteristics and classification The traditional classification in the West, which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smallholding
A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology, involvement of family in labor and economic impact. Smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent, smallholdings may not be self-sufficient, but may be valued for the rural lifestyle. As the sustainable food and local food movements grow in affluent countries, some of these smallholdings are gaining increased economic viability. There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farms in developing countries of the world alone, supporting almost two billion people. Small-scale agriculture is often in tension with industrial agriculture, which finds efficiencies by increasing outputs, monoculture, consolidating land under big agricu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Pest Control (4600356785)
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also involves an active human management role. It can be an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) programs. There are three basic strategies for biological pest control: classical (importation), where a natural enemy of a pest is introduced in the hope of achieving control; inductive (augmentation), in which a large population of natural enemies are administered for quick pest control; and inoculative (conservation), in which measures are taken to maintain natural enemies through regular reestablishment. Natural enemies of insect pests, also known as biological control agents, include predators, parasitoids, pathogens, and competitors. Biological control agents of plant diseases are most often referred to as antagonists. Biologic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil Biology
Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil-litter interface. These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles (such as snakes), and species of burrowing mammals like gophers, moles and prairie dogs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics. The decomposition of organic matter by soil organisms has an immense influence on soil fertility, plant growth, soil structure, and carbon storage. As a relatively new science, much remains unknown about soil biology and its effect on soil ecosystems. Overview The soil is home to a large proportion of the world's biodiversity. The links between soil organisms and soil functions are complex. The interconnectedn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the major pollinators of most plants, and insect pollinators include all families of bees and most families of aculeate wasps; ants; many families of flies; many lepidopterans (both butterflies and moths); and many families of beetles. Vertebrates, mainly bats and birds, but also some non-bat mammals (monkeys, lemurs, possums, rodents) and some lizards pollinate certain plants. Among the pollinating birds are hummingbirds, honeyeaters and sunbirds with long beaks; they pollinate a number of deep-throated flowers. Humans may also carry out artificial pollination. A pollinator is different from a pollenizer, a plant that is a source of pollen for the pollination process. Background Plants fall into pollination syndromes that reflect the type o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crop Wild Relative
A crop wild relative (CWR) is a wild plant closely related to a domesticated plant. It may be a wild ancestor of the domesticated (cultivated) plant or another closely related taxon. Overview The wild relatives of crop plants constitute an increasingly important resource for improving agricultural production and for maintaining sustainable agro-ecosystems. Their natural selection in the wild accumulates a rich set of useful traits that can be introduced into crop plants by crossing. With the advent of anthropogenic climate change and greater ecosystem instability CWRs are likely to prove a critical resource in ensuring food security for the new millennium. It was Nikolai Vavilov, the Russian botanist who first realized the importance of crop wild relatives in the early 20th century. Genetic material from CWRs has been utilized by humans for thousands of years to improve the quality and yield of crops. Farmers have used traditional breeding methods for millennia, wild maize ('' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wild Onion Blossoms (Allium)
Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 American film from the 2012 book * ''Wild'' (2016 film), a 2016 German film * ''The Wild'', a 2006 Disney 3D animation film * ''Wild'' (TV series), a 2006 American documentary television series * The Wilds (TV series), a 2020 fictional television series Literature * '' Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail'' a 2012 non-fiction book by Cheryl Strayed * ''Wild, An elemental Journey'', a 2006 autobiographical book by Jay Griffiths * ''The Wild'' (novel), a 1991 novel by Whitley Strieber * ''The Wild'', a science fiction novel by David Zindell * ''The Wilds'', a 1998 limited-edition horror novel by Richard Laymon Music * ''Wild'' (band), a five-piece classical female group Albums and EPs * ''Wild'' (EP), 2015 * ''Wild'', a 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neglected And Underutilized Crop
Neglected and underutilized crops are terms used to describe domesticated plant species used in previous centuries for food, fibre, fodder, oil or medicinal properties, but which have in recent times, been reduced in importance and value for various reasons. Other terminologies used to describe these crops include traditional, local, alternative, minor, orphan, abandoned, lost, niche, underused or underdeveloped; and in recent trends, are often referred to as forgotten or smart foods. Reduction in use is partially due to supply or consumption constraints, poor shelf life, unrecognized nutritional value, poor consumer awareness, and its reputational perception as famine food ("poor people's food"), which in part, is due to the modernization of agricultural practices. Some crops were so severely neglected that genetic erosion of their genepool resulted in them becoming regarded as lost crops. As the demand for plant and crop attributes changes (reappraisal or discovery of nutrition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dietary Diversity
Dietary diversity is the variety or the number of different food groups people eat over the time given. Many researchers might use the word ' dietary diversity' and ‘dietary variety’ interchangeably. However, some researchers differentiate the definition between 2 words that dietary diversity has defined as the difference of food groups while dietary variety has focused on the actual food items people intake. Dietary diversity is related to nutrient intakes and is also an indicator of dietary quality. Moreover, dietary diversity associated with health outcomes such as being overweight or an increased mortality .Dietary diversity is influenced by various determinants such as physical and mental health, economic status, or food environment. References Eating behaviors of humans {{Health-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Food Biodiversity
Food biodiversity is defined as "the diversity of plants, animals and other organisms used for food, covering the genetic resources within species, between species and provided by ecosystems." Food biodiversity can be considered from two main perspectives: production and consumption. From a consumption perspective, food biodiversity describes the diversity of foods in human diets and their contribution to dietary diversity, cultural identity and good nutrition. Production of food biodiversity looks at the thousands of food products, such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, meat and condiments sourced from agriculture and from the wild (e.g. forests, uncultivated fields, water bodies). Food biodiversity covers the diversity ''between species,'' for example different animal and crop species, including those considered neglected and underutilized species. Food biodiversity also comprises the diversity ''within species,'' for example different varieties of fruit and vegetables, or different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. These ecosystems, functioning in healthy relationships, offer such things as natural pollination of crops, clean air, extreme weather mitigation, and human mental and physical well-being. Collectively, these benefits are becoming known as ecosystem services, and are often integral to the provision of food, the provisioning of clean drinking water, the decomposition of wastes, and the resilience and productivity of food ecosystems. While scientists and environmentalists have discussed ecosystem services implicitly for decades, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) in the early 2000s popularized this concept. There, ecosystem services are grouped into four broad categories: ''provisioning'', such as the production of food and water; ''regul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agroecosystem
Agroecosystems are the ecosystems supporting the food production systems in our farms and gardens. As the name implies, at the core of an agroecosystem lies the human activity of agriculture. As such they are the basic unit of study in Agroecology, and Regenerative Agriculture using ecological approaches. Like other ecosystems, agroecosystems form partially closed systems in which animals, plants, microbes, and other living organisms and their environment are interdependent and regularly interact. They are somewhat arbitrarily defined as a spatially and functionally coherent unit of agricultural activity.Agro-ecosystem Health Project. 1996. Agroecosystem health. University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada. An agroecosystem can be seen as not restricted to the immediate site of agricultural activity (e.g. the farm). That is, it includes the region that is impacted by this activity, usually by changes to the complexity of species assemblages and energy flows, as well as to the net nutri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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