Natural Resource Management

Long-term, sustainable agricultural development will depend on conservation-oriented natural resource management. These resources include land and soil, water, plants, and animals. Although the details of natural resource management (NRM) and their application to agricultural challenges may depend on science, it is also the case that economic and social policies have a large role in providing incentives as well as disincentives for managing natural resources in ways that are both sustainable and profitable.  Successful management also needs to be considered at multiple levels: from the human scale of the household and small farm to larger arenas such as watersheds. As evidenced in new approaches to climate change, there are aspects of natural resource management that need to be considered from a global perspective.

The incorporation of NRM into sustainable agriculture is clearly articulated in the definition developed by the Kellogg Foundation in 2003 that identifies key characteristics of sustainable agriculture, along with social and economic objectives. These included: integrating of natural biological cycles and controls; protecting and renewing soil fertility and the natural resource base; reducing the use of nonrenewable resources and purchased production inputs; and minimizing adverse impacts on health, safety, wildlife, water quality and the environment.

AquaFish, SANREM and Livestock-Climate Change Innovation Labs are three Innovation Labs that are directly linked to NRM principles in the context of agricultural development. AquaFish has studied water quality issues as part of its work on increasing fish production. SANREM has made conservation agriculture a target of its current research phase, and the Livestock-Climate Change Innovation Lab is engaged in both climate monitoring and adaptation measures. Other Innovation Labs are also engaged studying aspects of NRM in less direct but still important ways, such as the IPM Innovation Lab’s efforts to help reduce the use of pesticides through integrated pest management.

Resources

Behera, Sasmita

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Conference in Indonesia highlights how biodiversity plays key role in successful sustainable agriculture programs

The IPM CRSP conference in Indonesia featured in a Virginia Tech News story.

  • Date of Publication: 5/22/2013
  • Author(s): Melissa Smith
  • Type of Document: Newspaper Article

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Clements, Corinna

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  • Start Date: 2013/05/01
  • End Date: 2015/05/01
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  • Degree: BS

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SANREM: An innovation laboratory to improve food security, rural livelihoods and resource conservation globally through conservation agriculture

Powerpoint presentation. Description: The presentation covered the overall objectives and activities of the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborative Research Support Program (SANREM CRSP). SANREM’s […]

  • Date of Publication: 3/22/2013
  • Author(s): K.M. Moore
  • Type of Document: Media

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Comparative analysis of water quality in Litopenaeus vannamei ponds and nutritional quality of shrimp muscle

Abstract: From May to September in 2010, water quality parameters such as water temperature, total dissolved salt, dissolved oxygen, pH, transparency, nitrite nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate […]

  • Date of Publication: 3/14/2013
  • Author(s): Li Shi kai; Jiang Min; Dai Xi lin; Liu Liping; Hu Weiguo; James Diana
  • Type of Document: Scholarly Article

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Gautam, Sarita

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Dhakal, Suman

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Vaiknoras, Kate

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  • Start Date: 2013/01/01
  • End Date: 2013/07/14
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  • Degree: MS

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Do bacterial and fungal communities in soils of the Bolivian Altiplano change under shorter fallow periods?

Description: Leaving fields fallow can improve soil fertility, but there is limited information on the effect of fallowing on soil microbiology. This article presents a study […]

  • Date of Publication: 2013
  • Author(s): L. Gomez-Montano; A. Jumpponen; M.A. Gonzales; J. Cusicanqui; C. Valdivia; P.P. Motavalli; M. Herman; K.A. Garrett
  • Type of Document: Scholarly Article

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Positive impacts in soil and water conservation in an Andean region of South America: Case scenarios from a US Agency for International Development multidisciplinary cooperative project

Description: The Andean region of South America faces many challenges to increasing agricultural productivity: shrinking farm sizes, poor soils, erratic rainfall, and very high erosion rates. […]

  • Date of Publication: 2013
  • Author(s): C. Monar; A.K. Saavedra; L. Escudero; J.A. Delgado; J. Alwang; V. Barrera; R. Botello
  • Type of Document: Scholarly Article

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