Presents papers and abstracts on the management of vertisols in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world. Overviews the importance, distribution, agroclimatology and properties of vertisols and the Indian Vertisol technology experience. Reviews resource assessment and management and highlights inter-institutional modes of operation and networking concepts in Vertisol research and development.

Research carried out to evaluate management options and animal production potential of native and improved pastures in savanna regions of tropical America is reviewed, with emphasis on Colombia's Eastern Plains. In areas with limited infrastructure native grasses are the main forage resource and weight gains of cattle grazing these native pastures with burning and mineral supplementation vary from 70 to 90 kg/hd and from 15 to 20 kg/ha.

Mapaz helps policymakers and scientists target research and development or conservation activities in the Amazon by pulling together information on elements such as deforestation, biomass, species diversity, population, poverty and regional land use. Users can define their own geographic areas or select existing administrative boundaries to get spatial information for that area in the form of maps and tables. For example, MAPAZ calculates biomass,

Se discuten varios conceptos relativos al mejoramiento de leguminosas forrajeras y a su adaptacion a suelos acidos de baja fertilidad. Se observa que es raro que un ecotipo nativo selecionado ofrezca todas las caracteristicas requeridas para praderas de pastoreo. Los objetivos del mejoramiento deben ser muy especificos, lo cual se logra con una estrecha colaboracion entre los introduccionistas de plantas, agronomos especialistas en leguminosas y cientificos en la utilizacion de pasturas.

In the Brazilian savannas, or Cerrados the rapid advance in agriculture and cattle ranching is affecting soils through, for example, accelerated erosion and depletion of soil organic matter (SOM). Changes in soil microbial biomass are good indicators of changes in SOM. We therefore assessed the effects of agricultural and pastoral use of a clayey Oxisol in the Cerrados on soil microbial biomass, and evaluated the usefulness of this parameter in studying SOM dynamics in savanna ecosystems.

Long-term ecological effects of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops on nontarget pests have received limited attention, more so in diverse small holder based cropping systems of the developing world. Field trials conducted over 10 years in northern China show that mirid bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae) have progressively increased population sizes and acquired pest status in cotton and multiple other crops, in association with a regional increase in Bt cotton adoption.