Articles

Estimation of carbon sequestration in vineyards in the island of Crete, Greece

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Climate change consists of a serious global environmental problem and many efforts are focused on its mitigation either by reducing the anthropogenic carbon emissions or by absorbing atmospheric carbon. Agricultural crops usually absorb carbon via photosynthesis acting as carbon sinks. Viticulture is well developed in Crete, Greece since ancient times and the island nowadays produces several well-known grapes and wines. The carbon uptake in Cretan vineyards in Crete has been evaluated. The carbon sequestration rate in vineyards from existing studies in several countries has been used for the evaluation. These studies indicate that carbon uptake in vineyards varies in a wide range of values at 69 – 900 g C m-2 yr-1.  The total surface area of vineyards in Crete is 22,184 ha while their annual carbon sequestration has been estimated at 55,460 t C corresponding at an annual carbon sequestration per capita 0.36 t CO2. Although our results should be considered as indicative, they show that carbon sequestration in Cretan vineyards is not negligible and it should be considered in policy development regarding decarbonization in the island. Our results could be useful to policy makers and to stakeholders of the viticulture industry in the island.

Analysis of The Equivalent Land Use (ELU) in the Milpa System Intercalated with Fruit Trees (MIAF) in Axochio, Veracruz

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The Intercropped Maize and Fruit Tree System (MIAF) represents an agroecological alternative aimed at improving the productivity, sustainability, and resilience of tropical agroecosystems in the face of the limitations of traditional monocultures. In this context, Land Use Equivalent (LUE) is a fundamental indicator for evaluating the productive efficiency of diversified systems. The objective of this research was to evaluate the Land Use Equivalent in the MIAF system established in Axochio, Veracruz, in order to determine its efficiency compared to monocultures. The research was conducted during the years 2024, 2025, and 2026 at the MIAF-INIFAP Module in Axochio, San Andrés Tuxtla, Veracruz. The evaluated system consisted of 16 species, including fruit trees and annual crops. To determine the LUE, the yields obtained in association within the MIAF system and the national yields for monoculture reported by SIAP and SIACON were used. The results showed high productive diversity, highlighting species such as sapodilla, Persian lime, starfruit, and maize. The total land use efficiency (LUE) obtained was 4.83, a value greater than one, indicating that the integrated agroforestry system (MIAF) uses land more efficiently than monocultures. The largest contributions to the UET came from maize and starfruit. It is concluded that the MIAF system promotes ecological complementarity among species, optimizes resource use, and constitutes a viable strategy for strengthening sustainability and food security in tropical regions.

Water Quality and Microbial analysis of water collected from the ponds nearby a Cement Plant through WQI and PCA

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The present paper aims to analyze the water quality from the samples collected from the periphery of one of the cement plants located in Bhilai. Three different samples were collected in the summer season, covering the area around the cement plant considered. The samples were characterized by means of physicochemical parameters such as pH, TDS (mg/L), Turbidity (NTU), Total alkalinity (mg/L), Chloride (mg/L), Total hardness (mg/L), Fluoride (mg/L), and Nitrate (mg/L).  The Water Quality Index (WQI) for the 03 samples collected was done and was found to be 166.264, 22.207, and 46.997, respectively. The dependency of WQI on various physicochemical parameters, along with the interdependency between the individual parameters, was analyzed using the loading plot obtained using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). It could be noticed that pH and fluoride contribute more to WQI in comparison to the other parameters included in this study. Z-score variance was also plotted to analyze the comparative stretching of the values of various individual parameters recorded. In addition, microbiological analysis was conducted using serial dilution, culturing, Gram staining, and biochemical testing. The presence of Bacillus spp, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp, Micrococcus spp, Pseudomonas spp., and Staphylococcus aureus was detected, indicating microbial contamination and possible health risks.