Soil and crop sensing is a fundamental component and the first important step in precision agriculture. Unless the level of soil and crop variability is known, appropriate management decisions cannot be made and implemented. In the last few decades, various ground-based sensors have been developed to measure spatial variability in soil properties and nutrients, crop growth and yield, and pest conditions. Remote sensing as an important data collection tool has been increasingly used to map soil and crop growth variability as spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions of image data have improved significantly in recent years. While identifying spatial variability of soil and crop growth within fields is an important first step towards precision management, using that variability to formulate variable rate application plans of farming inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides is another essential step in precision agriculture.The purpose of this book is to present the historical, current and future developments of soil and crop sensing technologies with fundamentals and practical examples. The first chapter gives an overview of soil and crop sensing technologies for precision crop production. The next six chapters provide details on theories, methods, practical applications, as well as challenges and future research needs for all aspects of soil and crop sensing. The last two chapters show how soil and crop sensing technologies can be used for plant phenotyping and precision fertilization. The chapters are written by some of the world’s leading experts who have contributed significantly to the developments of precision agriculture technologies, especially in the area of soil and crop sensing. They use their knowledge, experiences, and successful stories to present informative and up-to-date information on relevant topics. Therefore, this book is an invaluable addition to the literature and can be used as a reference by scientists, engineers, practitioners, and college students for the dissemination and advancement of precision agriculture technologies for practical applications.

1876-1891 include reports on the internal commerce of the United States, referred to in letters of transmittal as "the volume on commerce and navigation."

This paper compares the empowerment impacts of the UN Joint Program for Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment (JP RWEE) in Ethiopia, Niger, Nepal, and Kyrgyzstan using the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI). We assess the extent of empowerment and gender parity, and decompose the sources of disempowerment, separately for men and women and for beneficiary and control groups. We then estimate program impacts on A-WEAI and its component indicators and assess whether estimated impacts are consistent with the activities implemented by the program. We interpret the quantitative results in the light of the qualitative studies undertaken as part of the impact evaluation. Despite the diversity in country and cultural contexts, in all four countries, women are more disempowered than men, although large proportions of men are themselves disempowered. Excessive workload is the most common major contributor to disempowerment, and so is lack of group membership. The program had positive impacts on aggregate empowerment measures for program participants in Niger, Nepal, and Kyrgyzstan. Nevertheless, gender parity improved only in Nepal. The group-based approach was a clear contributor to women’s empowerment in Ethiopia, Nepal, and Kyrgyzstan. In Kyrgyzstan, the GALS/BALI approach contributed to impacts across almost all indicators of empowerment. The positive impact of GALS and GALS/BALI on men and women alike in Kyrgyzstan is consistent with emerging evidence that involving both men and women in gender transformative approaches, rather than focusing on women alone, may be key to effective and sustainable programs. Although impacts on time use were insignificant in the quantitative study, the qualitative work pointed out negative impacts, emphasizing the unintended consequences of increased workload for women who participate in livelihood interventions.