Publication List
In the following you find the abstracts of all the speakers’ presentations that were held at the Young
Scientist Forum 2012 on June 21st in the order of presentation.
1.) Evaluation of green manure species adoption for soil fertility amelioration on irrigated field in
Ethiopia
Hailu Kendie Addis, Department of Water - Atmosphere - Environment, Institute of Hydraulics and
Rural Water Management, BOKU | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Over utilization of soil resources without organic input has been considered as a serious threats to
agricultural productivity and identified as a major causes of decreased in crop yields and nutrient
depletion. The adoption of green manures was conducted to identify and select best performing
species with the participation of the farmers. The study was carriedout from February to April 2010
in Ethiopia, Dembia woreda on farmers’ field, Fenche Zenon Plain (320000E, 1369000N at elevation
of 1800 meter) closer to Megech River and Leak Tana floodplain. Four new green manures to the
area namely Tephrosia candidia, Crotalaria grahamiana, Tithonia diversifolia, and Tephrosia vogelii
and one previously introduced legume (Lablab purpureus) were used for the study. Green manures
were sown randomly on 4*3 meter plots of farmer’s field and replicated three times. The spacing
between blocks was 2 m and between plots were 1 m interval. The farmers involved in this study
were formed from the communities closer to the irrigation site and previously formed as farmer
research and extension group and well trained about green manure. The most important farmers’
selection criteria that were used to prioritize among green manures were drought tolerance,
intercropping suitability, weed suppression, resistant to pest, animal palatability, decomposition rate
and adaptability. Tephrosia vogelii was found to be the overall most advantageous legume in the
irrigated field. In spite of, the opportunities that green manure has, the greatest challenge that
hinder the up scaling of this technology noted by the farmers were lack of seed, lack of market
structure, and lack of technical knowledge on management of green manures.
2.) Growing intercrops - a path for greening agriculture
Patrick Herz, Division of Agronomy, Department of Crop Sciences, , BOKU | University of Natural
Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Cereal-legume intercropping may provide advantages compared to monocultures, e.g. a more
efficient use of soil nitrogen because the legume saves the nitrogen content in the soil solution due
to its symbiotic fixation of atmospheric N2. Furthermore, a higher utilization of the photosynthetic
active light in intercropping may result in positive yield effects. A field experiment was conducted in
Raasdorf (Marchfeld) to assess wheat-pea intercrops (pure stands of wheat and pea and four
substitutive mixtures sown in autumn and in spring) regarding yield, yield structure, ground cover
and remaining soil mineral nitrogen. Wheat was the dominant partner in all intercrop mixtures
suppressing the pea. In the spring sown mixtures pea was slightly less suppressed than in the winter
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sown ones. The grain yield of wheat just slightly decreased with decreasing ratio in the intercrops
whereas the pea grain yield and pea yield structure components were stronger impaired in the
mixtures. Wheat could additionally increase the number of ears m-2 (compared to its share on the
sowing ratio), the thousand-seed weight and the harvest index in the mixtures whereas the yield
structure components of pea were generally negatively affected by intercropping. Soil mineral
nitrogen remained higher in the intercrops with higher pea share. All intercrops had a higher land use
efficiency than the monocrops (Land Equivalent Ratio > 1) and showed monetary advantages
compared to the monocrops (according to the Monetary Advantage Index). Sowing intercrops may
be a path for greening agriculture due to their ecological and economical benefits.
3.) Social learning plays key roles for soil conservation innovations: a case study in Ethiopia
Yinager Dessie, Centre for Development Research, BOKU | University of Natural Resources and Life
Sciences, Vienna
Previous studies on the causes of the low adoption of soil conservation measures in Ethiopia were
focusing on technological, economical, institutional, personal, and physical factors. In these studies,
the role social learning plays for adoption of soil conservation measures has been less emphasized or
seldom voiced. Thus, the influence of social learning on the adoption of soil conservation practices
has to be assessed in order to understand its roles and implications for policies. Using qualitative
research methods, the findings suggest that social learning creates opportunity for the development
of: positive interactions between actors, broader understanding on soil conservation, trust and
mutual understanding, and the creation of opportunity to apply indigenous and scientific knowledge.
The above mentioned outcomes facilitate the adoption of soil conservation measures. Thus, social
learning encourages adoption practices. Hence, Ethiopian soil conservation strategies should
put emphasis for social learning in order to create social capital elements needed for the adoption of
soil conservation measures.
4.) Greening agriculture as a challenge for landscape Architecture
Attila Toth, Master student of Landscape Architecture at Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra,
Action Austria-Slovakia research student at Institute for Landscape Architecture, BOKU | University of
Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
The role of landscape architecture and landscape planning within a greening agriculture must be
seen on two different levels and scales. On a wider scale there is a potential contribution of green
infrastructure and greenways network for greening agriculture. The regional and micro-regional
green infrastructure including multifunctional greenways systems enables a more effective
coexistence of nature protection and agricultural production. Network of greenways as an integral
linking element within the green infrastructure has to be understood as a special tool of
contemporary landscape planning to achieve a sustainable land use and a sustainable agriculture. On
the local level the agricultural landscape is a special type of community greenbelt system which
should become a more permeable physical and visual linking element between settlement and
landscape. To create or to strengthen this linkage is a very suitable tool the greenways system as a
landscape planning strategy. On local level there is a special issue in contemporary landscape
architecture called urban agriculture or urban farming. This approach is bringing agriculture into
urban context in special forms of urban green spaces like community gardens, roof gardens or urban
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farms. The urban farming is a multifunctional approach which provides an appropriate use of unused
urban spaces like brownfields or roofs; increases the ecological stability of cities, improves their
microclimate and improves the interaction between inhabitants within communities. All these
landscape planning and landscape architectural approaches have to be seen as a qualitative
contribution to the process of greening agriculture.
5.) Green agriculture and futures markets: An unnatural couple?
Stefan Amann, master student of Agricultural and Food Economics, BOKU | University of Natural
Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Georg Lehecka, doctoral student of Economics, BOKU | University of Natural Resources and Life
Sciences, Vienna
In recent years, a broad range of financial innovations have emerged which support a sustainable
economy. The financial sector provides necessary liquidity and offers various opportunities in order
to meet the financial needs of a green agriculture.
A particular financial need is price risk stabilisation on agricultural commodity markets. This is of
major concern for developing countries, as most of them are strongly dependent on trade with
agricultural commodities. Both food importing and exporting countries are affected from volatile
international prices. Consumers and farmers suffer from higher food price risks. Adequate risk
management strategies are required in order the ensure food security.
Using international commodity futures markets is one risk management approach. Trading in these
markets offers potential scope for producer and consumer countries to manage their risk by hedging
their crops or inventories against the risk of fluctuating prices.
However, there are widespread believes that speculation with agricultural commodities on the
futures market led to rising agricultural commodity spot prices. Therefore, we empirically analyse the
causal relationships between spot prices and agricultural commodity futures trading activities.
Theoretical linkages are discussed and relationships between spot prices and financial variables are
tested for Granger-causality.
Hardly any empirical evidence for causal relationships between changes in traded futures contracts
and changes in spot prices has been found. Thus, the lack of empirical findings casts considerable
doubt on the belief that speculation is a major driver of rising agricultural commodity prices.
Concluding, not making use of these risk management instruments might be disadvantageous.
6.) We change when we want to! Farmers’ decision-making needs to be respected when proposing
greener agriculture: cases from urban West Africa.
Lorenz Probst, Centre for Development Research, BOKU | University of Natural Resources and Life
Sciences, Vienna
In order to minimize economic risk, urban vegetable producers in West Africa rely on using, abusing
and misusing synthetic pesticides for plant protection. While this strategy and its constant adaptation
help to stabilize the farming system, negative impacts on farmer health, consumer health and the
environment make the situation socially and ecologically unsustainable. This calls for an innovation
towards healthier and more sustainable farming practices, which will benefit farmers, consumers and
the environment alike – an innovation towards greener agriculture.
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Facilitating such an innovation is an essentially modernist endeavour: “we” want “them” to change.
Unfortunately, such approaches have frequently failed in the past. Although the basic dilemma of
“us” defining a problem could not be solved, we took a slightly different approach by analysing
change processes from the farmers’ perspective: what do farmers change? How do farmers get the
information necessary for such change? What are the factors that drive or constrain change?
Drawing from interactions in Cotonou (Benin), Accra (Ghana) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), we
show that farmers’ decision-making was mainly influenced by: (i) their access to knowledge
(characterized by education, trust and external interaction); (ii) factors inherent to alternatives (such
as cost, tangibility of effect and low economic risk); (iii) reinforcing factors (such as demand and
policies); and (iv) mobility factors that enable farmers to move to a different regime (natural, social,
financial and physical capital).
We strongly believe that future interventions should acknowledge farmers as final decision makers
and take into account the mentioned factors when suggesting a change towards greener agriculture.
7.) Europe’s silent land grabbing in a greening agriculture scenario
Martin Bruckner, Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI)
Agriculture is facing multiple challenges that are threatening global food supplies, these include: an
increasing world population; changing eating habits (predominantly reflected in a rising demand for
meat); climate change impacts and expected diminished yields. Confronted with these threats,
countries and companies are increasingly moving abroad in search of arable land which has become
a finite natural resource facing increasing scarcity. This phenomenon, referred to as “land grabbing”,
has become a well-known and often-discussed issue. The debate, however, has not yet considered
the land appropriation taking place indirectly through global trade.
This study aims to provide a robust picture of the direct and indirect requirements for arable land to
satisfy the final demand for agricultural products in Europe, also referred to as the land footprint. By
considering virtual land embodied in trade, we examine the dimensions of silent land grabbing
occurring through global trade and determine its global distribution over countries and regions.
Finally, we study the possible changes in land demand in a greening agriculture scenario, assuming a
full conversion to organic agriculture by considering relative yield performance of organic and
conventional farming systems examined in recent meta-analyses by Seufert at al. 2012 and Badgley
et al. 2007.
The objectives of this research are to connect the debate on land grabbing to the issue of silent land
grabbing and to identify possible future trends of global land use and land grabbing in a greening
agriculture scenario.
8.) Income strategies of women in agriculture in North Nicaragua
Simone Peter, BOKU | University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
The study that will take place in January and February 2013 and is aimed at investigating the
different agricultural and non- agricultural income strategies women in the North of Nicaragua
choose to make a living. This analysis will serve as a basis for adapted sustainable intervention
strategies in the region.
Context
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The community Las Sabanas in the north of Nicaragua is facing several severe challenges as many
remote rural areas in Nicaragua. The main income source in the region is agriculture, but access to
markets is rather limited. As agriculture often isn´t sufficient to make a living migration to urban
areas or neighboring countries is common. Often it is the women that are left behind in charge of the
household and the land. As women headed households statistically are among the poorest
households in Nicaragua (FAO, 2007), it is the aim of the study to investigate the different ways how
women try to make a living and what are the barriers preventing them from improving their
situation. Existent evidence (Departir 2011) shows, that women in this community have tried to take
action in different ways. Rather than taking on the role of victims they are developing different
strategies to improve their income (animal breeding, agro- business, participation in water projects
…). The proposed interviews shall then be analyzed for different strategies to then define
intervention strategies that can help women to further develop their projects in a sustainable way.
FAO (2007 ): Situación de las Mujeres Rurales. Nicaragua
http://www.landcoalition.org/sites/default/files/legacy/legacypdf/08_FAO_SituacionMujeresRurales
NicaraguaFAO.pdf [Letzter Zugriff 27.02.12]
DEPARTIR 2011: Resultados del curso diagnostico 2011 de estudiantes de la UNA.
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