ABSTRACTAgroforestry practices improve soil health which in turn improves crop nutrient concentrations and quality. This study examined how the agroforestry tree Gliricidia sepium intercropped with soybean, groundnuts, or maize affects crop nutrient compositions. The study was conducted in five Zambian chiefdoms for three crop-growing seasons (2019–2022) on 13 farmer-led demonstration trial sites. Seven treatments were tested that included maize, soybean, and groundnut plots with and without Gliricidia interventions. Grain samples were analyzed for crop nutrient contents using standard laboratory methods. Results showed that the treatments significantly (P < 0.05) improved maize nutritional properties except for crude fiber, total carbohydrate, and metabolizable energy. G. sepium intercropping with maize and soybean decreased the antinutritional contents and displayed better functional qualities. All elemental mineral components (except potassium, calcium, and sodium) were higher in the Gliricidia + maize intercrop than in the control treatment. The Gliricidia+soybean intercrop had lower mean mineral concentrations than the control (soybean only) except for Mg, Cu, and Zn. The Giliricidia+groundnut intercrop significantly increased groundnut mineral components except for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Iron. It can be concluded that G. sepium intercropped with maize, soybean, and groundnuts significantly improved the crops’ nutritional quality.KEYWORDS: AgroforestryZambiaGliricidia sepiumlegumesnutritional qualitymineral AcknowledgmentsThe authors acknowledge the financial support from NORAD/Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway, and the support of all farmers participating in the study.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data supporting this study’s findings are openly available at https://doi.org/10.25502/0fa9-dm27/d.Supplemental dataSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2254711.Additional informationFundingThis project has received funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) under Saksnr: 1800165-18.
{"title":"Assessing the impact of <i>Gliricidia</i> agroforestry-based interventions on crop nutritional, antinutritional, functional, and mineral compositions in eastern Province, Zambia","authors":"Emmanuel Oladeji Alamu, Njoloma Joyce, Akello Juliet, Ngumayo Joel, Ray Chazangwe, Mehreteab Tesfai, Chikoye David, Nyoka Isaac, Dale Lewis, Nagothu Udaya Sekhar","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2254711","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2254711","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTAgroforestry practices improve soil health which in turn improves crop nutrient concentrations and quality. This study examined how the agroforestry tree Gliricidia sepium intercropped with soybean, groundnuts, or maize affects crop nutrient compositions. The study was conducted in five Zambian chiefdoms for three crop-growing seasons (2019–2022) on 13 farmer-led demonstration trial sites. Seven treatments were tested that included maize, soybean, and groundnut plots with and without Gliricidia interventions. Grain samples were analyzed for crop nutrient contents using standard laboratory methods. Results showed that the treatments significantly (P < 0.05) improved maize nutritional properties except for crude fiber, total carbohydrate, and metabolizable energy. G. sepium intercropping with maize and soybean decreased the antinutritional contents and displayed better functional qualities. All elemental mineral components (except potassium, calcium, and sodium) were higher in the Gliricidia + maize intercrop than in the control treatment. The Gliricidia+soybean intercrop had lower mean mineral concentrations than the control (soybean only) except for Mg, Cu, and Zn. The Giliricidia+groundnut intercrop significantly increased groundnut mineral components except for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Iron. It can be concluded that G. sepium intercropped with maize, soybean, and groundnuts significantly improved the crops’ nutritional quality.KEYWORDS: AgroforestryZambiaGliricidia sepiumlegumesnutritional qualitymineral AcknowledgmentsThe authors acknowledge the financial support from NORAD/Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway, and the support of all farmers participating in the study.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data supporting this study’s findings are openly available at https://doi.org/10.25502/0fa9-dm27/d.Supplemental dataSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2254711.Additional informationFundingThis project has received funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) under Saksnr: 1800165-18.","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"71 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136072334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2023.2251430
Suveera Gill, Ramanjit Kaur Johal
ABSTRACT The study aims to ascertain farmers’ practices, challenges faced, and suggestions for scaling up crop diversification and sustainable agriculture in Punjab, India’s Granary. The results highlight that both organic and conventional farmers are grappling with similar challenges. However, a higher proportion of organic farmers cited difficulty in marketing, high labor requirement, low yield and low income as major challenges. Farmers offered several suggestions for scaling up production, resource access, and marketing facilitation. Valuable insights are offered into how ingenious low-cost solutions can alleviate resource-constrained conditions and state policymaking geared to create an enabling environment while engaging with farmers and stakeholders.
{"title":"Resurrecting sustainable farming in India’s Granary: current practices, challenges and solutions","authors":"Suveera Gill, Ramanjit Kaur Johal","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2251430","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2251430","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The study aims to ascertain farmers’ practices, challenges faced, and suggestions for scaling up crop diversification and sustainable agriculture in Punjab, India’s Granary. The results highlight that both organic and conventional farmers are grappling with similar challenges. However, a higher proportion of organic farmers cited difficulty in marketing, high labor requirement, low yield and low income as major challenges. Farmers offered several suggestions for scaling up production, resource access, and marketing facilitation. Valuable insights are offered into how ingenious low-cost solutions can alleviate resource-constrained conditions and state policymaking geared to create an enabling environment while engaging with farmers and stakeholders.","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"187 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41283964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-28DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2023.2253186
C. Francis, S. Gliessman
ABSTRACT Agroecologists understand that farming and food systems are more complex than the aggregation of their components. This realization drives our choices of learning strategies and activities that will prepare students for complexity and uncertainty. Our quest for a just, sustainable, and nutritious food system adequate to equitably serve everyone on the planet today and into the future is an enormous challenge. An undertaking of this magnitude will be met only with major adjustments informed by thoughtful teaching and practicing problem solving skills through a new educational lens. The principles of agroecology help us focus this lens on the wicked problems of today and the future, and prepare students for navigating uncharted territory. The dimensions of such education are broad, transdisciplinary, and long term. In this commentary, we explore agroecology as an emerging platform to understand the holistic nature of systems, to navigate the complications of unpredictable change, and to deal with how we can frame relevant questions for ourselves and our students in a rapidly changing biological and social environment.
{"title":"Teaching agroecology: preparing students for navigating uncharted territory","authors":"C. Francis, S. Gliessman","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2253186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2253186","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Agroecologists understand that farming and food systems are more complex than the aggregation of their components. This realization drives our choices of learning strategies and activities that will prepare students for complexity and uncertainty. Our quest for a just, sustainable, and nutritious food system adequate to equitably serve everyone on the planet today and into the future is an enormous challenge. An undertaking of this magnitude will be met only with major adjustments informed by thoughtful teaching and practicing problem solving skills through a new educational lens. The principles of agroecology help us focus this lens on the wicked problems of today and the future, and prepare students for navigating uncharted territory. The dimensions of such education are broad, transdisciplinary, and long term. In this commentary, we explore agroecology as an emerging platform to understand the holistic nature of systems, to navigate the complications of unpredictable change, and to deal with how we can frame relevant questions for ourselves and our students in a rapidly changing biological and social environment.","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45225478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-22DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2023.2248917
J. Cruz, R. Hewitt, V. Hernández-Jiménez
ABSTRACT Public procurement can help drive a transition to a more sustainable food system based on local agroecological production. In countries with large public education systems, school and university canteen services can play a significant role by virtue of their enormous centralized purchasing power. In this study, we investigate the potential and feasibility of implementing an enduring transformation to a sustainable food procurement model in public higher education institutions based on agroecological principles for the case of Spain. To address our research questions, we employed participatory workshops and a questionnaire survey (1,058 respondents) to analyze perceptions and priorities around sustainable food practices on campus of the university community across three Spanish public universities. Workshop participants proposed and prioritized interventions aimed at improving the sustainability of on-campus food services. Some recommendations for action for policy makers are detailed in the Discussion section, as key actors in this process. Pathways toward a future transition to more sustainable practices included the importance of food services to the university community, the high level of understanding of food system impacts and demand for change from consumers on university campuses, the universities’ commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the potential of university networks as a powerful agent of social change and social innovation.
{"title":"Can public food procurement drive agroecological transitions? Pathways and barriers to sustainable food procurement in higher education institutions in Spain","authors":"J. Cruz, R. Hewitt, V. Hernández-Jiménez","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2248917","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2248917","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Public procurement can help drive a transition to a more sustainable food system based on local agroecological production. In countries with large public education systems, school and university canteen services can play a significant role by virtue of their enormous centralized purchasing power. In this study, we investigate the potential and feasibility of implementing an enduring transformation to a sustainable food procurement model in public higher education institutions based on agroecological principles for the case of Spain. To address our research questions, we employed participatory workshops and a questionnaire survey (1,058 respondents) to analyze perceptions and priorities around sustainable food practices on campus of the university community across three Spanish public universities. Workshop participants proposed and prioritized interventions aimed at improving the sustainability of on-campus food services. Some recommendations for action for policy makers are detailed in the Discussion section, as key actors in this process. Pathways toward a future transition to more sustainable practices included the importance of food services to the university community, the high level of understanding of food system impacts and demand for change from consumers on university campuses, the universities’ commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the potential of university networks as a powerful agent of social change and social innovation.","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43372763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-16DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2023.2246417
Sofía Lugo-Castilla, S. Negrete‐Yankelevich, M. Benítez, L. Porter-Bolland
ABSTRACT Seed exchanges that smallholder households perform form networks that are central to in situ agrobiodiversity conservation. Sociodemographic factors such as market accessibility and household assets could be shaping the structure of these networks and impacting diversity, however formal evidence is scarce. Through surveys in nine rural communities in the Cofre de Perote highland region in Mexico, we modeled seed exchange networks for native maize and conducted a social network analysis followed by statistical modeling. Results show that access to urban centers is negatively related to the robustness of community networks. Within communities, households with bigger plots, more time producing, sufficient maize for self-consumption, and fewer members were able to save seeds for the next cropping season and were more likely to donate seeds. Additionally, households that exchanged more produced more maize morphotypes. We conclude that the maize seed networks under study are serving as seed reservoirs for families in case of scarcity, thus contributing to food security. They are also important for in situ agrobiodiversity conservation of six maize morphotypes. However, it is necessary to promote seed exchanges between households of communities with more access to urban centers, to strengthen networks, and preserve their maize diversity and seed scarcity-dampening function. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
{"title":"Seed exchange networks as important processes for maize diversity conservation and seed access in a highland region of Mexico","authors":"Sofía Lugo-Castilla, S. Negrete‐Yankelevich, M. Benítez, L. Porter-Bolland","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2246417","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2246417","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Seed exchanges that smallholder households perform form networks that are central to in situ agrobiodiversity conservation. Sociodemographic factors such as market accessibility and household assets could be shaping the structure of these networks and impacting diversity, however formal evidence is scarce. Through surveys in nine rural communities in the Cofre de Perote highland region in Mexico, we modeled seed exchange networks for native maize and conducted a social network analysis followed by statistical modeling. Results show that access to urban centers is negatively related to the robustness of community networks. Within communities, households with bigger plots, more time producing, sufficient maize for self-consumption, and fewer members were able to save seeds for the next cropping season and were more likely to donate seeds. Additionally, households that exchanged more produced more maize morphotypes. We conclude that the maize seed networks under study are serving as seed reservoirs for families in case of scarcity, thus contributing to food security. They are also important for in situ agrobiodiversity conservation of six maize morphotypes. However, it is necessary to promote seed exchanges between households of communities with more access to urban centers, to strengthen networks, and preserve their maize diversity and seed scarcity-dampening function. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42254282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-16DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2023.2246395
S. Penvern, C. Lamine, F. Derbez, G. Ollivier, L. Renier, R. Roche, M. Tuscano
ABSTRACT Agroecology is increasingly recognized as a relevant framework for envisioning the transition of agriculture and food systems, but is often tackled in a dualistic perspective opposing strong or radical visions of agroecology to weak or incremental ones. This article is based on a collective, reflexive and comparative analysis of eight research projects dealing with agroecological transitions at the scale of farming systems and agrifood systems. Each project brought together a diversity of actors having different visions of ecologization. The aim of this article is to describe how and with what benefits this diversity of visions was addressed in the projects. We show that taking into account the diversity of visions is necessary for understanding agroecological transitions, and that beyond this, sharing this diversity among the concerned actors is necessary for accompanying them in an inclusive way and, under certain conditions, enrich transition pathways. We also show the need to adopt analytical approaches to characterize the visions along with participatory action-research approaches allowing to share them and support transitions. Finally, the collective and reflexive process we carried out for this article also enabled the researchers to situate their projects and themselves with regard to their role in the agro-ecological transitions.
{"title":"Addressing the diversity of visions of ecologization in research and in support to agroecological transitions","authors":"S. Penvern, C. Lamine, F. Derbez, G. Ollivier, L. Renier, R. Roche, M. Tuscano","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2246395","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2246395","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Agroecology is increasingly recognized as a relevant framework for envisioning the transition of agriculture and food systems, but is often tackled in a dualistic perspective opposing strong or radical visions of agroecology to weak or incremental ones. This article is based on a collective, reflexive and comparative analysis of eight research projects dealing with agroecological transitions at the scale of farming systems and agrifood systems. Each project brought together a diversity of actors having different visions of ecologization. The aim of this article is to describe how and with what benefits this diversity of visions was addressed in the projects. We show that taking into account the diversity of visions is necessary for understanding agroecological transitions, and that beyond this, sharing this diversity among the concerned actors is necessary for accompanying them in an inclusive way and, under certain conditions, enrich transition pathways. We also show the need to adopt analytical approaches to characterize the visions along with participatory action-research approaches allowing to share them and support transitions. Finally, the collective and reflexive process we carried out for this article also enabled the researchers to situate their projects and themselves with regard to their role in the agro-ecological transitions.","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"47 1","pages":"1403 - 1427"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48227564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-09DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2023.2217095
Daniel López-García, María Carrascosa-García
ABSTRACT The efforts of agroecology-oriented farmers and peasants’ organizations have been studied in depth in relation to their political expression, but less so with regard to the forms they adopt to strengthen the socio-economic viability of small- and medium-sized farms within sustainable food systems. Whilst farmers’ self-organization represents a core process in the development of Agroecology-based Local Agri-food Systems (ALAS), the development of collective, economic structures among agroecology-oriented farmers’ is still weak. In an attempt to understand why and how agroecology-oriented farmers are constructing their own position within ALAS, and the challenges they are facing in this sense, we conducted a qualitative study on the self-organizational processes and structures of five Agroecology-Oriented Farmers’ Groups in Spain. Based on 27 interviews and six online, participatory workshops, our results reveal different reasons for joining and setting up farmers’ groups as non-mixed collective spaces, with instrumental and social factors constituting the principal motivations. Politics and advocacy aroused controversy and were only observed in the biggest, most powerful and well-structured organizations. The main challenges identified refer to the precariousness and isolation of farmers, as well as of the different local groups. The weakness of the Agroecology-Oriented Farmers’ Groups highlights the need for further action-oriented research and accompaniment
{"title":"Agroecology-oriented farmers’ groups. A missing level in the construction of agroecology-based local agri-food systems?","authors":"Daniel López-García, María Carrascosa-García","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2217095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2217095","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The efforts of agroecology-oriented farmers and peasants’ organizations have been studied in depth in relation to their political expression, but less so with regard to the forms they adopt to strengthen the socio-economic viability of small- and medium-sized farms within sustainable food systems. Whilst farmers’ self-organization represents a core process in the development of Agroecology-based Local Agri-food Systems (ALAS), the development of collective, economic structures among agroecology-oriented farmers’ is still weak. In an attempt to understand why and how agroecology-oriented farmers are constructing their own position within ALAS, and the challenges they are facing in this sense, we conducted a qualitative study on the self-organizational processes and structures of five Agroecology-Oriented Farmers’ Groups in Spain. Based on 27 interviews and six online, participatory workshops, our results reveal different reasons for joining and setting up farmers’ groups as non-mixed collective spaces, with instrumental and social factors constituting the principal motivations. Politics and advocacy aroused controversy and were only observed in the biggest, most powerful and well-structured organizations. The main challenges identified refer to the precariousness and isolation of farmers, as well as of the different local groups. The weakness of the Agroecology-Oriented Farmers’ Groups highlights the need for further action-oriented research and accompaniment","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"47 1","pages":"996 - 1022"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43457395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-04DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2023.2238438
Pavlo Ardanov, A. Piorr, A. Doernberg, S. Brodt, Jennifer B. Lauruol, Iryna Kazakova, V. Movchan, L. Garibaldi
ABSTRACT Models of species composition in diversified cropping systems utilize mostly functional trait-based or observation-based approaches. We argue that a combination of these two approaches makes polyculture design tools more robust. We assessed quantity, quality, and complementarity of information from multiple sources for designing diversified cropping systems with vegetables and spice crops for cold temperate climate. Trait and observational data were integrated from: (i) two grower-oriented and one academic crop database, (ii) a survey of farmers practicing community-supported agriculture, and (iii) a systematic literature review on the use of spice crops in vegetable farming. Survey results reveal that the farmers were capable of achieving medium to good levels of their main goals, but failed to reach desired multifunctionality with their polycultures, which can be potentially improved with computational tools. None of the analyzed data sources provided a comprehensive dataset for all target crops and functional traits. However, source combination allowed for design from known crop companions (farmers survey and grower-oriented databases), to addressing specific pest problems (literature review), and increasing functional complementarity and facilitation by trait matching (academic and grower-oriented trait databases). Integrating information from different sources increased the number of crop combination options but also planning and management complexity. GRAPHIC ABSTRACT Combination of functional trait-based and observation-based approaches within a polyculture design tool.
{"title":"Combination of observational and functional trait-based approaches in developing a polyculture design tool","authors":"Pavlo Ardanov, A. Piorr, A. Doernberg, S. Brodt, Jennifer B. Lauruol, Iryna Kazakova, V. Movchan, L. Garibaldi","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2238438","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2238438","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Models of species composition in diversified cropping systems utilize mostly functional trait-based or observation-based approaches. We argue that a combination of these two approaches makes polyculture design tools more robust. We assessed quantity, quality, and complementarity of information from multiple sources for designing diversified cropping systems with vegetables and spice crops for cold temperate climate. Trait and observational data were integrated from: (i) two grower-oriented and one academic crop database, (ii) a survey of farmers practicing community-supported agriculture, and (iii) a systematic literature review on the use of spice crops in vegetable farming. Survey results reveal that the farmers were capable of achieving medium to good levels of their main goals, but failed to reach desired multifunctionality with their polycultures, which can be potentially improved with computational tools. None of the analyzed data sources provided a comprehensive dataset for all target crops and functional traits. However, source combination allowed for design from known crop companions (farmers survey and grower-oriented databases), to addressing specific pest problems (literature review), and increasing functional complementarity and facilitation by trait matching (academic and grower-oriented trait databases). Integrating information from different sources increased the number of crop combination options but also planning and management complexity. GRAPHIC ABSTRACT Combination of functional trait-based and observation-based approaches within a polyculture design tool.","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"47 1","pages":"1293 - 1318"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44356235","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-26DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2023.2239724
E. del‐Val, S. Philpott, Azucena Lucatero, Robyn Fowler, Sanya Cowal, Jenn-Hung Hsu
ABSTRACT Maize is the most important staple crop in the world; 1.15 billion tons were produced in 2019. Insect herbivores cause significant damage for maize production, and as a result, global pesticide use has increased over the last 20 years causing severe environmental degradation and negative impacts on human health. Today, there is a trend toward including more sustainable management practices that are less harmful to biodiversity and human health. One such a practice is the use of natural enemies to regulate pest populations using conservation biocontrol or introduction of biocontrol agents. These practices have been in place for several decades in different cultivation systems and regions throughout the world, however; information about the effects of more sustainable management practices on maize production is scarce. We conducted an expert assessment to evaluate whether there are any general trends or consensus about the importance of biocontrol for maize production globally. We compiled information from 70 experts from 28 different countries using an online survey. Of those surveyed, 91% of experts agreed that biocontrol was important for maize production regardless the type of maize they study, the final harvest destination or crop use, or management regime. Using the information obtained, we identify several opportunities for engaging with farmers in order to use biocontrol as a tool toward agricultural sustainability. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
{"title":"The importance of insect pest biocontrol for maize production: an expert survey","authors":"E. del‐Val, S. Philpott, Azucena Lucatero, Robyn Fowler, Sanya Cowal, Jenn-Hung Hsu","doi":"10.1080/21683565.2023.2239724","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2239724","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Maize is the most important staple crop in the world; 1.15 billion tons were produced in 2019. Insect herbivores cause significant damage for maize production, and as a result, global pesticide use has increased over the last 20 years causing severe environmental degradation and negative impacts on human health. Today, there is a trend toward including more sustainable management practices that are less harmful to biodiversity and human health. One such a practice is the use of natural enemies to regulate pest populations using conservation biocontrol or introduction of biocontrol agents. These practices have been in place for several decades in different cultivation systems and regions throughout the world, however; information about the effects of more sustainable management practices on maize production is scarce. We conducted an expert assessment to evaluate whether there are any general trends or consensus about the importance of biocontrol for maize production globally. We compiled information from 70 experts from 28 different countries using an online survey. Of those surveyed, 91% of experts agreed that biocontrol was important for maize production regardless the type of maize they study, the final harvest destination or crop use, or management regime. Using the information obtained, we identify several opportunities for engaging with farmers in order to use biocontrol as a tool toward agricultural sustainability. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT","PeriodicalId":48958,"journal":{"name":"Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"47 1","pages":"1271 - 1292"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45545304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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