Agriculture

Rice straw as a growth substrate for soilless sod production not only avoids the damage to farmland soil deterioration but also solves the difficulty in disposing of a large amount of agricultural straw waste. This study was designed to explore the feasibility of using rice straw as a soilless sod production for seashore paspalum. The results showed that both fermented rice straw and raw rice straw significantly promoted the creeping growth and tillering of seashore paspalum, shortening the sod production period, when compared to the conventional soil sod. Rice straw sod significantly reduced sod weight to 50% and 52% of the soil sod, but increased sod strength to avoid tear damage in handling and transportation. Rice straw sod had 2 d longer shelf life than the soil sod, with slower decline of sod quality and maintained higher root and leaf emergence vigor during the sod storage. After sod installation, rice straw sod showed higher numbers of root and leaf emergence, and higher green leaves, stolons, new roots, aboveground and underground biomass, but lower thatch biomass, compared to the soil sod. Our results demonstrated that using rice straw as a growth substrate to produce soilless sod is feasible and significantly better than conventional soil sod production.

Modern agriculture faces increasing pressure to maintain productivity while reducing soil degradation, chemical inputs, and ecological footprint, making biologically based soil-improvement strategies highly relevant. This study examined whether microbial inoculation, combined with conservation tillage practices (loosening and no-tillage), can enhance soil physical quality during pea (Pisum sativum) cultivation in an agroecological market garden in Hungary. A 2 × 2 factorial field experiment was established, testing tillage (loosening vs. no-tillage) and microbial inoculation (with vs. without) in a randomized design with three replications per treatment (12 plots total). A single microbial application was performed prior to planting using a consortium of Rhizobium spp., Ensifer spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Bacillus spp. The research focused on (I) soil penetration resistance, (II) soil moisture dynamics, and (III) infiltration capacity, with most parameters measured before and after planting. Microbial inoculation significantly reduced penetration resistance under both tillage systems and influenced soil moisture behavior, indicating improved soil structure and water retention. Infiltration rate did not change significantly within the study period. Overall, the results demonstrate that microbial amendments can rapidly improve key soil physical properties, offering a practical, nature-based strategy for resilient, low-input farming systems.

This research aimed to investigate livestock owners’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical livestock vaccination program in southern Ethiopia. We used both primary and secondary data. The former data were collected from 377 livestock farmers. We used descriptive statistics and a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model to analyze the data. The double-bounded contingent valuation format was used within a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model to identify factors influencing WTP for livestock vaccination. It was found that the average WTP for sheep and goat vaccination was 0.38 USD (United States of America dollar) yearly, while for cattle and oxen vaccination, it was 0.64. Factors such as the household head’s education, sex, and age; annual income; total livestock holdings; and farm size affected farmers’ WTP for sheep and goat vaccination in both initial and follow-up scenarios. Market access, farm experience, and access to credit also influenced WTP for cattle and oxen vaccination across both bid values. We suggest that improving socioeconomic factors, such as household well-being and access to credit services, is vital because these elements directly influence a household’s capacity to invest in livestock health and productivity. Establishing clear vaccination rates, with vaccine costs aligned to the average household income, is recommended.