Indicators in the study sites

Table of Contents

1. Compilers and contributors
2. Introduction
3. Climate indicators
4. Water indicators
5. Soil indicators
6. Vegetation indicators
7. Water runoff indicators
8. Forest fires indicators
9. Agriculture indicators
10. Cultivation indicators
    1. Tillage operations
    2. Frequency of tillage
    3. Tillage depth
    4. Tillage direction
    5. Mechanization index
11. Animal husbandry indicators
12. Land management indicators
13. Land use indicators
14. Water use indicators
15. Tourism indicators
16. Human characteristics indicators
17. Institutional indicators
18. Conclusions
19. References

Mechanization index

It is defined as the motor vehicles, machinery used by the agricultural holding expressed in terms of horsepower (HP) per hectare of the Utilized Agricultural Area. The indicator gives a measure of how agricultural activities contribute to physical soil degradation. According to the Eurostat Glossary the following categories of machineries are distinguished: (a) Four-wheeled tractors, track-laying tractors, tool carriers, (b) Cultivators, hoeing machines, rotary hoes, motor mowers, (c) combine harvesters, and (d) other fully mechanized harvesters (Fig. 63). Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) is the sum of Arable Land, kitchen gardens, permanent pasture and meadow, permanent crops (Eurostat). For calculation of mechanization index the ratio of the total horsepower (HP) of each tractor, cultivator, and piece of machinery has been divided by the hectares of UAA.

Fig. 63. Machinery used for calculation of mechanization index of a farm

Data for mechanization index of the study field sites have been collected for limited number of study sites (4 study sites), corresponding to 262 field sites (Table 8). As Fig. 64 shows, the prevailing class of mechanization index of the study field sites was low, covering 56.5% of the total fields, corresponding to the study sites of Loess Plateau-China, and Boteti Area-Botswana. The next important class of mechanization index was low, covering 32.4% of the study field sites. Such mechanization index has been defined in the study sites of Konya Karapinar plain-Turkey, and Boteti Area-Botswana. Finally, high mechanization index has been defined in 11.1% of the study field sites, corresponding to some study sites of Rendina Basin Basilicata-Italy, and Loess Plateau-China.

Fig. 64. Distribution of mechanization index defined in the study field sites