Drought stress and sub-optimal soil fertility management are major constraints to crop production in general and to cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in particular in the rain-fed cropping systems in West Africa. Cassava is an important source of calories for millions of smallholder households in sub-Sahara Africa. The prime aim of this research w...
Jatropha curcas L. is a biofuel crop that has not lived up to expectations due to a combination of hype and disappointment and biophysical factors. This PhD thesis is based on the plant production component of the JARAK programme which aimed to bridge the gap between truth and fiction. This study reviewed the jatropha hype and disappointment and fu...
Potato has multiple benefits and thus can play a vital role in ensuring food security in Ethiopia. However, for diverse reasons, its productivity is low. The farming systems in Ethiopia in which potato is grown, are predominantly mixed farming systems.
Most of the research in Ethiopia is focused on crop-specific constraints and thus there is limite...
The world population is anticipated to be around 9.1 billion in 2050 and the challenge is how to feed this huge number of people without affecting natural ecosystems. Different approaches have been proposed and closing the ‘yield gap’ on currently available agricultural lands is one of them. The concept of ‘yield gap’ is based on production ecologi...
Growing awareness of widespread hunger and poverty in many countries in the SSA is spurring a focus on productivity increase in smallholder farming systems. The rationale is that with current production systems many SSA countries are not keeping pace with population growth and changing of peoples’ lifestyles. To respond to this challenge the Govern...
The aim of this thesis was to improve understanding of the role of organic inputs and soil organic matter (SOM) for crop production in contemporary arable farming in Europe. For this purpose, long-term experiments were analysed on the additional yield effect of organic inputs and savings in mineral fertiliser. In addition, a farm survey was conduct...
Biorefinery of rubber tree side streams could add economic value and income for farmers, who already grow the trees for latex production. The objective of this research was to design a process for the recovery of proteinaceous fractions from rubber tree. The aimed applications were expected to be suitable for local use, particularly in Indonesia, b...
In 2012 two open microalgae ponds (one indoor and one outdoor, both 250 m2) were built at the ACRRES pilot site in Lelystad. Both ponds are connected to an anaerobic digester and utilise excess heat and flue gas (CO2) from the Combined Heat and Power unit (CHP). In this report the results of the algae production monitoring and the additional experi...
Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture and TNO conducted a study on the application of Fibre Bragg optic sensors to measure temperature and relative humidity in greenhouses at high spatial density. Sensors, incorporated in an experimental enclosure, were evaluated under practical conditions in a greenhouse at Bleiswijk (NL). Their performance appear...
The Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia is a closed basin for which claims on land and water have strongly increased over the past decade resulting in over-exploitation of the resources. A clear symptom is the declining trend in the water level of the terminal Lake Abyata. The actual productivity of most cereals in the CRV is less than 2 t ha-1 a...
