Life Sciences Commons^™

A Revised Land Ethic: Sustainable And Spiritual Agriculture, Brooke Maitlan Parrett

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper proposes a return to the land and reconnection of spiritual practices through ethical teachings. Such a land ethic would involve answering the woes of industrial agriculture and providing a framework for farmers, consumers, and policymakers based on sustainable and spiritual considerations of the land. I analyze the loss of spiritual literacy and traditional ecological knowledge in the United States and discuss the spiritual history of agriculture in order to analyze contemporary religious perspectives on farming and agricultural ethics and thereby develop my own recommendations. The land ethic I propose combines sustainability and spirituality to develop intrinsic respect for …

A Formative Assessment Of The Vulnerability Context Of Three Indigenous Communities In Rural Ecuador For Improved Intervention Design, Ivy Blackmore

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nearly 20 % of the current world population are small-scale producers living in rural areas who rely on agriculture and related activities to support their families (IFAD, 2016; World Bank, 2008). Despite the almost 76 billion USD of official development assistance committed to agriculture improvement projects and associated activities over the past decade, many of the intended beneficiaries remain poor and struggle to meet their basic needs. The lack of success in addressing rural poverty highlights the need for quality research focused on understanding what type of intervention/s could help rural communities sustainably improve their livelihood security.

The goal of …

Local Farmer Knowledge Of Adaptive Management On Diversified Vegetable And Berry Farms In The Northeastern Us, Alissa White

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Agricultural adaptation to climate change is notoriously context specific. Recently updated projections for the Northeastern US forecast increasingly severe and erratic precipitation events which pose significant risks to every sector of agricultural production in the region. Vegetable and berry farmers are among the most vulnerable to the risks of severe precipitation and drought due to the intensive soil and crop management strategies which characterize of this kind of production. To successfully adapt to a changing climate, these farmers need information which is tailored for the unique challenges of vegetable and berry production, framed at the level of climate impacts, and …

Mitigating Gaseous Nitrogen And Carbon Losses From Northeastern Agricultural Soils Via Alternative Soil Management Practices, Kyle Michael Dittmer

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Traditional agricultural practices often result in gaseous losses of nitrous oxide (N2O), ammonia (NH3), and carbon dioxide (CO2), representing a net loss of nutrients from agricultural soils, which negatively impacts crop yield and requires farmers to increase nutrient inputs. By adopting best management practices (BMPs; i.e., no-tillage, cover crops, sub-surface manure application, and proper manure application timing), there is great potential to reduce these losses. Because N2O and CO2 are also greenhouse gases (GHGs), climate change mitigation via BMP adoption and emissions reductions would be an important co-benefit. However, adopting a no-tillage and cover cropping system has had setbacks within …