Advances in poultry nutrition

This collection provides a comprehensive overview of the range of research on recent advances in poultry nutrition, focussing primarily on broilers for meat production. The book also reviews the development of novel feed sources and their role in optimising gut function in poultry.

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Soil erosion by water processes and prediction technology

Soil erosion by water is a natural phenomenon that occurs on upland areas when soil is detached from a surface by impacting raindrops or by flowing water that exerts shear forces. This chapter will describe and discuss various soil erosion by water processes, particularly at agricultural field sc...

Developments in the use of enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizers

To sustainably feed a growing population, we need to increase the efficiency of nitrogen (N) fertilizers while reducing their negative impacts on the environment. Enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) show promise in reducing the loss of reactive N (Nr: all species of N except N2) to the environ...

Advances in proximal instrumental techniques for measuring gully and rill erosion of agricultural soils

Ephemeral gully and rill erosion have significant effects on agricultural land around the world. The characterization and quantification of these phenomena require us to determine their geometry and evolution, through either 3D or 2D approaches. 3D techniques are able to cover large areas at the ...

Developing plant-based insect biocontrol agents

Botanical pesticides and specifically essential oils have gained popularity as novel, safe pesticides to replace the traditional synthetic products. They are well known to act throughout different modes-of-action against insects causing different neurotoxic effects ranging from repellency to toxi...

Neonatal piglet nutritional supplementation to increase growth and survival: a review

Survivability of piglets during the neonatal period has been decreasing as genetic selection for highly prolific animals continues across the swine industry. Piglets considered medium weight at birth (1.0-1.3kg) provide the greatest opportunity to improve survival. Colostrum consumption by the ne...

Nutrient requirements of broilers: an overview of factors affecting feed formulation

The information available on the nutrient requirements of broilers to maximize production or economics returns, is abundant but the data are often inconsistent because of factors such as the methodology used to estimate bird requirements and the differences in the nutritional value attributed to ...

The economics of nitrogen in farming systems and beyond

Nitrogen fertilizer is a key factor determining the physical and economic productivity of agriculture. Decisions about nitrogen involve various economic considerations, at the farm, regional or national level. Beyond the farm level, the economics of nitrogen are important in designing policies to...

Assessing the benefits of temperate agroforestry in enhancing carbon sequestration

Implementation of tree-based land management strategies, such as agroforestry, can provide greater benefits for mitigating climate change through increased carbon sequestration in soils and plant biomass. However, the carbon sequestration benefits of temperate agroforestry practices at the system...

Fulfilling the promise of sustainability certification: reflections from the rainforest alliance

Since the emergence of voluntary sustainability standards in the 1990s, certification has gone mainstream, boosting traceability, providing a platform for diverse stakeholders to collaborate, accelerating corporate due diligence policies and driving many on-farm improvements such as higher crop y...

Genetic engineering of insects to inhibit insect pest reproduction

This chapter reviews key few methods of genetic biocontrol focusing on those systems that have been developed for crop insect pests. These include “sterile release systems” where e.g. sterilized males produce sperm which carries dominant lethal mutations that result in their offspring failing to ...

Ensuring pig feed safety

This chapter covers the safety of feed for pigs. Reducing the risk of biological hazards in feed manufacturing facilities is an important part of the complete biosecurity plan for livestock producers. Research in the past several years has demonstrated the ability of pathogens to survive in feed ...

Organic dairy farming in europe: building on the past to develop the future

The founding principles of organic farming (health, ecology, fairness and care) guide the overall ethos of organic farming in an ever-changing environment. Using these principles, this introductory chapter discusses the key environmental, welfare, economic and other challenges facing contemporary...

Developments in proximal sensors to detect crop nitrogen status

Improving nitrogen use efficiency is a key objective in crop production. The development of proximal sensors represents a significant stet forward in achieving this objective. This chapter describes: i) the principles of proximal sensing, ii) proximal sensor types and iii) applications for crop n...

Sustainability standards and certification for agriculture: an overview

The number of sustainability standards and certifications applied in agricultural supply chains has grown considerably in the past decade, creating confusion for consumers and challenges for producers, particularly small-scale producers in developing countries. This chapter provides an overview o...

Soil health and ecological restoration

Soil health is central for provisioning and supporting ecosystem services for both agriculture and restored natural lands. Agricultural systems create different challenges for soil health that can degrade land and require implementation of restoration strategies. It is important that restoration ...

The role of digital technologies in achieving sustainable agriculture

This chapter follows the role of digital technologies in achieving sustainable agriculture. The authors first track the evolution of agriculture from its inception to the digital age, then discuss efficiency indicators in agriculture and the need to overcome inefficiency in agricultural productio...

Key issues in incorporating proximal and remote sensor data into farm decision-making

This chapter presents five study cases on the application of smart technologies in farming and forestry systems. The first of these study cases presents the results of a long-term study to calibrate a Grassmaster II capacitance probe to estimate pasture productivity in the Mediterranean Montado e...

Developments in application technologies for biocontrol agents for pest control

This chapter considers the challenges associated with the use of biocontrol agents in foliar spray applications, including the equipment, spray parameters, formulation and their impact on treatment efficacy. It discusses the various factors that affect effective foliar treatment and provides exam...

Developing good agricultural practices (gap) across global agri-food supply chains: challenges and opportunities

Good agricultural practices (GAP) define the practices at the farm level that can be adopted to assure safe and healthy food is produced profitably with appropriate standards in terms of animal welfare, worker welfare and environmental protection. This chapter describes GAP, notions of good farmi...

Agri-food supply chains in the united states

With a focus on the USA, this chapter traces the development of the country’s agri-food supply chain, which has experienced significant consolidation across all echelons. Types of agri-food supply chains are discussed, highlighting local agri-food supply chains which have become more prevalent re...

Crop physiological responses to irrigation and regulatory mechanisms

Irrigated croplands are especially productive but increasing costs of irrigation infrastructure, and political pressures on abstraction, requires enhanced irrigation efficiency. Farmers may be risk-averse to growing with less irrigation, requiring that the irrigation science community develop tec...

Using macroalgae/seaweed and microalgae in poultry feed

This chapter describes the main nutritional characteristics of algae and the current knowledge on their effects in poultry production with consideration to their impacts on animal health, growth performance, and product quality (eggs and meat). The chemical and nutritional value of algae is explo...

Using data mining techniques for decision support in agriculture: support vector machines

This chapter introduces data mining in agriculture, focusing on support vector machines (SVM). SVM employs optimal hyperplanes in high-dimensional space for linear classification, aiming to find the maximum-margin hyperplane, crucial for accurate classification. The SVM model, a non-probabilistic...

Developments in peptide-based biocontrol agents to manage insect pests

Chemical insecticides are beset by the twin problems of regulatory pressure and insect resistance. New mode-of-action Plant Protection Products (PPPs) will play a vital role in securing food for the future due to existing and emerging pest and disease pressures and will be directed against a wide...

Advances in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in promoting crop resilience to drought stress

Agricultural productivity varies frequently as a result of environmental changes. Abiotic stresses, such as nutrient deficiencies, drought, salinity, flooding, high temperature, heavy metal toxicities, and oxidative stress, cause irretrievable damage, resulting in plant growth and yield loss. The...

Improving herd health management and disease prevention in organic dairy cattle farming

This chapter focuses on supporting animal health and welfare at herd level and giving more emphasis to preventative animal health and welfare planning (AHWP) with less reliance on antibiotics. It outlines some of the major challenges currently facing improvements to dairy cow health and welfare a...

Managing the impacts of climate change, droughts and water scarcity on agriculture

This chapter discusses the challenges of managing climate change, droughts, and water scarcity in the context of agricultural food crop production. We highlight the various strategies that can be implemented to address these challenges, including adaptation, mitigation, water management, governme...

Developing nutritional guidelines for pigs

Pig feeding and nutrition is a crucial aspect of pig farming, as it directly impacts growth, health, and productivity from birth to market weight. In this chapter the authors consider the key factors in the setting of nutritional guidelines, such as breed and genetic traits affecting nutrient and...

Advances in mass breeding/rearing techniques for yellow mealworms as a protein source

In recent years, the yellow mealworm has undergone a significant transformation, from a global pest species to a prominent insect species for feed and food purposes. However, farming mealworms is still a relatively new business venture, offering ample opportunities for optimization and innovation...

State of the art in agri-food supply chain infrastructure design

Globalization, urbanization, and advances in the agricultural industry have put agri-food supply chain management (AFSCM), including agri-food chains and their associated organizations, on the agenda today. The main purpose of this study is to present the current developments in the literature by...

Use of protein from yellow mealworms in poultry feed

The purpose of this chapter is to appraise the current work done on the use of the yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) as an alternative and sustainable protein source in poultry diets. The incorporation of insects in animal diets is regarded as an interesting topic in animal nutrition. Their popu...

Using gene silencing (rna interference) techniques to produce safe insecticidal compounds

RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural defense mechanism in organisms that detects and neutralizes foreign genetic materials, particularly viral RNA. This process involves the creation of single-stranded micro RNAs that target and inhibit complementary messenger RNA (mRNA), thus halting gene expres...

Characterizing soil nitrogen availability to improve nitrogen fertilizer recommendations

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is one of the most common field production inputs in agriculture. It is necessary to achieve high productivity but threatens ecosystem integrity as it is readily transported to water bodies and emitted to the atmosphere. This chapter reviews a series of studies conducted b...

Understanding how land-use management affects soil microbiomes

The soil microbiome is essential for ecosystem health, supporting functions like nutrient cycling and decomposition. However, human-induced land-use changes, such as deforestation and intensive agriculture, disrupt this delicate balance, impacting microbial diversity and functionality. These alte...

Biodiversity and nature credit markets: opportunities and challenges for landowners and land managers

This chapter provides an overview of some of the nature markets and finance mechanisms, which may provide farmers and land managers with opportunities to integrate farming for nature into their businesses, generating new revenue streams, and also offering opportunities to draw private finance int...

Stick your wellies on: messy development and co-design processes with england’s new environmental land management (elm) policy

Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, new Agricultural and Environmental Acts were passed providing legal frameworks for new policy actions in these areas. This chapter focuses specifically on the ongoing development of England’s new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. Th...

Advances in understanding actinobacteria in soil

The improved detection methods have led to a better understanding of the diversity and ecological functions of Actinobacteria. This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive review of recent findings on soil Actinobacteria, with a focus on their classification, genetics/characteristics, what we kno...

Precimed: development of a decision support system (dss) for precision irrigation in mediterranean agriculture

Agriculture is one of the most dynamic and productive sectors in the Mediterranean region, but it is also the most vulnerable to water scarcity. Currently, it is facing certain challenges, which compromise the sustainability and environmental impact of our food production system. In response, and...

Understanding the use of vision and olfaction by thrips and other small flying insects to enhance biological control

Biological control is important for the management of small insect pests such as thrips, aphids, psyllids and whiteflies, and options to enhance the effectiveness of the natural enemies of these pests are urgently needed. Stimuli associated with host plant finding, mostly vision and olfaction, pr...

Molecular interventions for improving crop nitrogen use efficiency: trends, opportunities and challenges in rice

Crop improvement for nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) has been complicated by too many definitions for NUE, different forms of N inputs and different harvested outputs, apart from the large number of genes and processes involved. The recent characterization of the NUE phenotype in rice and the a...

Service crops as a source of nitrogen in temperate europe

Service crops (SCs) are widely used in low input systems as a source for nitrogen (N), and in intensive cropping systems for reducing N leaching by taking up residual soil N after the harvest of the main crop. This chapter discusses benefits of SCs, which are defined here as crops grown for provi...

Integration of organic dairy cows into a whole farm context

Integration within natural cycles and between farmed enterprises are routes through which we can develop organic dairy farming into an ecologically principled form of food production with animal and human welfare benefits. Integration requires relationships of varying degrees of synergy and compl...

Lessons from reforestation of agricultural landscapes in south-eastern australia

Extensive areas spanning billions of hectares within the world’s arable landscapes are heavily degraded, have suffered losses of biodiversity, and require major restoration efforts. Indeed, the United Nations declared 2021-2030 to be the decade of restoration. The restoration challenges facing so...

Understanding and improving global agri-food supply chains in an interconnected world: a systems approach

Agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) are complex, interconnected networks that span the world, yet they are highly influenced by regional contexts, as the chapters from this book have illustrated. From large-scale farming in countries like the United States to small and medium-sized farmers in Latin A...