The biology of Stylosanthes and its importance in West Africa and Latin America; The screening and evaluation of Stylosanthes germplasm; The dynamics, nutrient requirements, pests and diseases of Stylosanthes species; Stylosanthes-based pastures for livestock production; The integration of Stylosanthes into cropping systems; Seed production of Stylosanthes.
Initial screening methods; Herbaceous legumes and grasses; Small-plot observation trial; Small-plot management trial; Fodder trees; Initial screening trial; Small-plot management trial; Schemes for further evaluation; Small-plot grazing trial; Trial establishment; Cut-and-carry trial; Trial establishment; Seed multiplication trial; Evaluation of mixtures of accessions; Grass-legume; Legume-legume; Fodder trees-herbaceous mixtures; On-farm trials; Planning and evaluation strategy; Selecting appropriate trials for farming systems and agro-ecological zones; Introduction of animals; Experimental design and analysis; Selection of appropriate experimental design; Analysis of data; Comparison between sites; Grouping of similar accessions; Managing data collected from trials; Analysis of trial designs in this manual; Methods for scarification; Methods for inoculation of legumes; Formats for results; Rainfall for Kurmin Biri, 1991; Plot layout for standard evaluation procedure; Plot layout for small-plot management trial-shrubs.
Description of the technology; Methods for estimating social returns; Data and sources; Adoption rates and patterns; Application of the economic surphus model to estimate impact.
The second edition of this book, first published in 1991 and intended for students and researchers, contains revised and updated material on the theory and practice of nitrogen fixation in tropical cropping systems. There are 15 chapters in 3 parts. Part I, Introduction, contains 5 chapters on tropical environments (climate, soils and cropping systems), nitrogen fixing organisms, the process of nitrogen fixation, assessment of the role of nitrogen fixation, and cycling of nitrogen in tropical cropping systems. Part II, Tropical crops and cropping systems, comprises 7 chapters on freeliving, root-associated and endophytic nitrogen fixing bacteria of cereal crops and grasses, cyanobacteria and Azolla as green manure for wetland rice, grain legumes, legumes as green manures and cover crops, forage legumes, understorey legumes and shade trees in plantation crops, and nitrogen fixing trees in agroforestry. Part III, optimizing nitrogen fixation, includes 3 chapters on environmental constraints, approaches to enhancement, and future impacts on nitrogen fixation in tropical agriculture. A list of common names and subject index are included.
In livestock management, the production of forage plants is undoubtedly the most efficient way to produce products of animal origin with quality and economic viability. We hope that the readers of the book "New Perspectives in Forage Crops" will have a good reading and appreciate the information provided on forage production, since the book draws on the expertise of different specialists of the area, who discuss the following aspects: fertilization, semiarid region production, forage species selection, nitrogen fixation, grasses, legumes, cacti, drought, etc. The authors of the book are of different nationalities and provide important information and diverse perspectives on the subject of forage farming.
By the turn of the twenty-first century, there lies a possible threat due to atmospheric pollution, change in global climate, depletion of aquifers, per capita shrinking of cropland, collapsing ecosystems. For an evergreen agriculture, agro forestry and livestock production through scientific management possibly deserves a trial with hitherto adopted policy, skewed for crop production.
