Shashini Lansakara, Ranil Rajapaksha, Ruwan Chamara, Ramya M. Fonseka, Lalith M. Rankoth, Lalith Suriyagoda
{"title":"The Owita agroecosystem: a promising traditional land management system for sustainable farming in Sri Lanka","authors":"Shashini Lansakara, Ranil Rajapaksha, Ruwan Chamara, Ramya M. Fonseka, Lalith M. Rankoth, Lalith Suriyagoda","doi":"10.1007/s10457-024-01024-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The <i>Owita</i> agroecosystem is a unique peri-urban land-use system. Typically it is a narrow strip of land with vegetation located between lowland paddy fields and the uplands of the Wet zone in Sri Lanka. Despite its potential to develop as a sustainable agricultural ecosystem, it has largely been ignored, underutilized and lesser-known. The main objective of this study was to assess the present status of <i>Owita</i> agro-ecosystem, with a focus on its plant species diversity, socio-economic aspects and ecosystem services. The study identified and evaluated thirty-five <i>Owita</i> systems located in the Wet zone of Sri Lanka through conducting vegetation and socio-economic surveys. The study reported a total of 115 plant species belonging to 49 families and 99 genera, of which, the family Fabaceae was found to be the most dominant, with a total of 11 species. Field observations and farmer feedback revealed that <i>Owita</i> provides numerous environmental benefits in the peri-urban landscape, including flood control, biodiversity conservation, and temperature regulation in the surrounding areas. Apart from the ecosystem services, <i>Owita</i> opens up new business ventures for subsistence farmers in peri-urban areas, and products from the system possess high demand due to their freshness and minimal usage of agrochemicals. Although the traditional <i>Owita</i> agro-ecosystem is primarily an annual-based cropping system, findings of the present study indicate that, it has been gradually transformed into a perennial tree-based agroforestry-type cropping system where plant species are spatially arranged in three vertical layers. Thus, the <i>Owita</i> system can be considered as a promising and sustainable agroecosystem that provides numerous benefits to the subsistent farmers in peri-urban environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":7610,"journal":{"name":"Agroforestry Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Agroforestry Systems","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-024-01024-4","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AGRONOMY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The Owita agroecosystem is a unique peri-urban land-use system. Typically it is a narrow strip of land with vegetation located between lowland paddy fields and the uplands of the Wet zone in Sri Lanka. Despite its potential to develop as a sustainable agricultural ecosystem, it has largely been ignored, underutilized and lesser-known. The main objective of this study was to assess the present status of Owita agro-ecosystem, with a focus on its plant species diversity, socio-economic aspects and ecosystem services. The study identified and evaluated thirty-five Owita systems located in the Wet zone of Sri Lanka through conducting vegetation and socio-economic surveys. The study reported a total of 115 plant species belonging to 49 families and 99 genera, of which, the family Fabaceae was found to be the most dominant, with a total of 11 species. Field observations and farmer feedback revealed that Owita provides numerous environmental benefits in the peri-urban landscape, including flood control, biodiversity conservation, and temperature regulation in the surrounding areas. Apart from the ecosystem services, Owita opens up new business ventures for subsistence farmers in peri-urban areas, and products from the system possess high demand due to their freshness and minimal usage of agrochemicals. Although the traditional Owita agro-ecosystem is primarily an annual-based cropping system, findings of the present study indicate that, it has been gradually transformed into a perennial tree-based agroforestry-type cropping system where plant species are spatially arranged in three vertical layers. Thus, the Owita system can be considered as a promising and sustainable agroecosystem that provides numerous benefits to the subsistent farmers in peri-urban environments.
期刊介绍:
Agroforestry Systems is an international scientific journal that publishes results of novel, high impact original research, critical reviews and short communications on any aspect of agroforestry. The journal particularly encourages contributions that demonstrate the role of agroforestry in providing commodity as well non-commodity benefits such as ecosystem services. Papers dealing with both biophysical and socioeconomic aspects are welcome. These include results of investigations of a fundamental or applied nature dealing with integrated systems involving trees and crops and/or livestock. Manuscripts that are purely descriptive in nature or confirmatory in nature of well-established findings, and with limited international scope are discouraged. To be acceptable for publication, the information presented must be relevant to a context wider than the specific location where the study was undertaken, and provide new insight or make a significant contribution to the agroforestry knowledge base