Agronomy for Sustainable Development最新文献

The growth and urbanization of the world’s population necessitate re-evaluating how cities procure food. Urban food systems rely on industrialized agriculture and extended supply chains which generate significant environmental impacts. Controlled-environment agriculture within cities is argued to improve urban food system sustainability and resilience by shortening supply chains and producing food efficiently indoors. However, its performance across diverse regions and energy grid mixes remains unclear, given variability in carbon intensity and sourcing strategies throughout the year. This limits the ability to generalize findings and optimize urban controlled-environment systems for environmental benefits. To address this gap, this study examines the environmental impacts of controlled-environment lettuce farming in Canadian cities. Results show that this farming provides environmental benefits, such as reduced (or comparable) water and land use relative to conventional agriculture. Climate change impacts, however, vary from 0.8 to 25 times those of conventional lettuce due to high energy demands. In carbon-intensive grids, such as Alberta, emissions per kilogram of lettuce exceed those of conventional agriculture. In contrast, provinces with low-carbon energy grids, like Quebec, have climate change impacts that are comparable to market-average lettuce or much lower than Canadian greenhouses. This study highlights the interplay between environmental performance, energy sources, and geography, offering insight into where and under what conditions controlled-environment agriculture can be low-carbon. Because of the high energy intensity of controlled-environment production in cold climates, deployment should be prioritized in cities with low-carbon grids or developed alongside nearby renewable sources to realize its potential to supply local produce and contribute to low-carbon urban food systems.

To address sustainability challenges in the North-Western Indo-Gangetic Plains (NW-IGP), conservation agriculture and diversification from rice to maize have been promoted. However, nitrogen (N) management under conservation agriculture remains largely similar to conventional practices, resulting in limited improvements in nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) and often yielding results comparable to conventional tillage. This study explores alternative N management strategies for conservation agriculture that sustain maize yields, improve soil quality, reduce N losses, and increase net returns. A 40-year simulation using the DSSAT-CERES-Maize model was conducted to evaluate long-term impacts. The field experiment compared surface residue-retained zero tillage and residue-incorporated conventional tillage with three beneath-the-surface-placed (point/band) N application rates (100, 125, and 150 kg ha⁻¹) and respective controls (0 kg N ha⁻¹), alongside a no-residue farmers' practice with surface-broadcasted 150 kg N ha⁻¹. The model effectively captured the dynamics of key growth and harvest parameters, including phenology, biomass, and was applied to assess the long-term sustainability of these practices. Results revealed that zero tillage (5416 kg ha⁻¹) outperformed conventional tillage and farmers' practice, with 6.6% and 28% higher grain yields over 40 years and demonstrated greater resilience during drought and high-rainfall years. Zero tillage with 125 kg N yielded nearly the same as 150 kg, indicating N input can be reduced by 25 kg ha⁻¹ (~17%) without yield loss. After 40 years, soil organic carbon in the top 20 cm increased to 0.77% in zero tillage, compared to 0.59% in conventional tillage and 0.43% in farmers’ practice. Economically, 125 kg N ha⁻¹ under zero tillage yielded returns comparable to 150 kg N ha⁻¹ under current and reduced fertilizer subsidy conditions, and outperformed under no-subsidy conditions. Thus, reducing the recommended N dose from 150 to 125 kg ha⁻¹ under zero tillage sustained maize yields and returns while enhancing soil carbon and NUE in the NW-IGP.

The development of agroecology requires an ambitious, multi-level transformation of knowledge and innovation systems. The literature shows that intermediary actors and organizations play an important role in this transformation. In our article, we introduce the idea that agricultural research experiment stations can be considered as innovation intermediaries to foster agroecological transitions. Previous studies have shown how agricultural experiments are transformed by their inclusion in a multi-actor process, but they do not adequately explain how they contribute to the transition of agri-food systems. Our analysis focuses on nine case studies of on-station system experiments by France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment. These on-station system experiments have the specificity to be managed by researchers interacting with non-academic stakeholders from their local areas. We have called these Open on-Station System Experiments. We documented them over five years, during which we collected information and data through observation, participation, eliciting activity, and cross-case analysis. We show how OSEs fulfil five knowledge and innovation intermediation functions that contribute, in practice, to the transition of agri-food systems: problem solving; production of transition visions through the design and experimentation of breakthrough agroecological innovations; production of operational and scientific knowledge responding to different users’ requirements; by generating operational and scientific knowledge based on Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable data; participation in networking between stakeholders and interactional learning about transition using experiments as boundary objects. Based on these findings, we show for the first time the conditions under which agricultural research experiment stations can fulfill the functions of innovation intermediaries and thus contribute to fostering agroecological transitions.

Maize (Zea mays L.), despite being an important cereal crop, faces up to 30% yield loss due to climate-induced hazards such as heat and drought. Various adaptation options have been suggested to mitigate climate risks, however their effectiveness often varies across agroclimatic zones due to diverse climates and soils, a largely understudied aspect, making adoption decisions challenging. This is the first study to analyze the linkage between regional climatic hazards and potential adaptation strategies, evaluating their suitability across diverse agroecological zones, soils and seasons in South Asia. Additionally, we strengthen our work by using local literature from South Asia to introduce granularity and enhance the contextual relevance of our findings. A meta-analysis involving subgroup analysis and meta-regression was conducted to capture the influence of agroclimatic zones, soil textures, and seasonal weather on yield benefits. Among 1114 observations reviewed for meta-analysis, 62% reported a positive yield response. Among several options analyzed, in-situ moisture conservation, nutrient management and zero tillage showed mean yield benefits of 6.8%, 6.2% and 4.3%, respectively, over conventional practices across South Asia. Nutrient management and zero tillage resulted in yield benefits of 8.44% and 9.75% in the central-western zone, respectively and 7.73% yield benefit with nutrient management in the north-eastern plan zone. The seasonal analysis revealed a significant mean effect size of in-situ moisture conservation (45.6%) and nutrient management (10.92%) in the dry season. Fine-textured soils had a significant positive impact of adaptation options in both wet and dry seasons, while coarse-textured soils had a notable positive effect only in dry season. Performance of adaptation options was strongly influenced by rainfall and temperature, underscoring the need for region-specific technologies. Our findings improve the understanding of the suitability and effectiveness of adaptation options across different regions, thereby enabling policymakers and practitioners to select appropriate adaptation options for greater benefits.

The livestock farming sector is under pressure to transition towards sustainable systems that meet the expectations of both farmers and society. Such transitions require design approaches that combine inputs from science and stakeholders. Step-by-step design approaches to conceive and pilot farming system experiments are considered promising to produce knowledge that is useful for the transition to new systems. However, involving stakeholders in the design process of experiments raises a number of questions about the conditions required for fruitful collaboration. Collaborative processes and the contributions of participants to them often remain vague. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze a co-design process of a dairy cattle farming system experiment conducted on a research station in France. Its novelty lies in its focus on participants’ activities and contributions throughout this process rather than on the outcome of the experiment. Seventeen interactions between dairy cattle farmers, local actors in the dairy sector, and scientists of the public sector contributing to the design process were analyzed. The results showed that interaction formats strongly affected participation rates, but also the frequency of co-design activities. Moreover, the participants contributed through collaborative design activities which touched not only the farming system, but also the experimental methods used and the way of collectively working together. In addition, they often carried out more collaborative design activities than were asked of them and redirected conception levels as targeted by the farm experiment leaders on different occasions. Lastly, weak explicit connections between co-design interactions and practices implemented in the experiment were observed. These results allow us to question how to steer collective design processes, identify challenges, and share lessons learnt for future co-design initiatives.

Cacao production is facing challenges of low productivity due to low soil fertility and climate change. Agroforestry and organic farming are potential sustainable and climate-resilient alternatives, but they are often associated with lower yields compared to monocultures and conventional farming. Despite their potential, empirical data on the long-term productivity of cacao cultivated in complex agroforestry systems and under organic management remains limited. Expanding this evidence base is essential to inform the development of agricultural practices and policies that advance environmental sustainability and food security. To fill this gap, we present 15 years (2008–2022) of data on cacao production and associated crops of a unique long-term trial comparing five cacao cropping systems in Bolivia: organically and conventionally managed monocultures, diverse agroforestry systems under organic and conventional management, and successional agroforestry systems without external inputs. We collected data on yields along with detailed information on the design and agronomic management from the beginning of the trial. All systems achieved competitive cacao yields in the mature phase. Organic and conventional systems had similar cacao yields, while agroforestry systems reached 56% of monoculture yields. Total system yields of the agroforestry systems were up to 6.9 times higher than monocultures. In the successional agroforestry, 22 crops were harvested, with short life cycle crops contributing to one-third of total production. This study shows that staple food crops and fruit trees as well as high-value crops (coffee, ginger, curcuma) can be successfully combined with cacao, and that agroforestry designs can be adapted over time by adding or eliminating crops to meet new goals or market opportunities. Extensive research has highlighted the positive contributions of agroforestry and organic farming to the delivery of ecosystem services. This study provides empirical evidence that it is possible to design and implement systems that reconcile environmental sustainability with productive performance.

Land preparation practices for rice planting or sowing rely on endogenous knowledge and are compromised by climate change in the mangrove swamp rice farming in Guinea-Bissau. Interventions to adapt to changing conditions were guided by formal knowledge from completely different rice systems. These interventions did not resonate with farmers’ knowledge nor contribute much to the sustainability and resilience of mangrove swamp rice farming. To design improved land preparation strategies under changing conditions, we need to understand farmers’ knowledge and analyze the impact of plowing strategies on rice productivity. In this study, we used a mixed-methods approach, combining direct and participant observations, informal conversations, key-informant interviews, transect walks along the toposequences, and on-farm field trials conducted and managed by southern Guinea-Bissau farmers over three consecutive years. We documented, for the first time, farmers’ knowledge and practices related to their plowing strategies and co-analyzed with them the outcome of these strategies on mangrove swamp rice productivity. Our results illustrate the diversity of farmers’ practices and agroecological conditions in their mangrove swamp rice fields. This study explains how farmers take advantage of their knowledge to secure harvests under time constraints and scarce economic and labor resources for plowing in times of climate change and socio-economic transformations. We documented for the first time that under farmers’ selected agroecological conditions, unplowed plots gave similar and sometimes even significantly higher yields than plowed ones. Although plowing has many advantages, regularly skipping plowing in specific plots allows farmers to plant or sow earlier, reducing labor pressure at the peak of transplanting. By applying the concept of farming as performance, this study sheds light on both farmers’ knowledge of the diversity and complexity of the farming system and the plowing strategies developed to face growing problems and needs in mangrove swamp rice cultivation in Guinea-Bissau.

Changes in farming systems worldwide, such as automation, mechanization, and agroecological transitions, raise issues related to work in agriculture. Several scientific communities have explored dimensions of work in agriculture, including labor productivity, employment, occupational health, and skills. However, this topic has been little explored in systemic agronomy, where work is understood as the interaction between workers and activities within cropping or farming systems. Work is commonly measured with economic indicators (time, cost, and productivity) that do not provide sufficient information for agronomists aiming to support farmers through the production of actionable knowledge. A better understanding of the different dimensions of work (such as organization, duration, and working conditions) and their repercussions on the management of technical systems (cropping system, farming system) is needed to support farmers’ decision making. With the aim to propose a framework that agronomists can apply to analyze work in agriculture, this article reviews existing approaches from agronomy, livestock farming system research, and economic and social sciences. The proposed framework connects technical systems (cropping and farming systems) with the humans doing the work (farm managers, farm workers). It emphasizes the link between workers and the tasks they perform, which in turn shape a larger technical system and its features, on which agronomists aim at acting. It seeks to integrate multiple dimensions and scales, and to broaden the focus away from farm managers to include all types of farm workers. This framework can be used to identify further research areas on the topic of work in agriculture, with the examples of automation and motorization, as well as agroecological transitions. It can also provide guidance for agronomic diagnoses, design processes, or evaluations. A clear positioning on the topic of work in systemic agronomy is crucial to support farmers as they navigate through major system transitions.

The low usage of grain legumes in European cropping systems is often attributed to yield gaps due to limiting pedoclimatic conditions, sub-optimal management practices, and farmers’ limited experience and knowledge in growing these crops. The relative contributions of these factors to current grain legume yield gaps at European scale and, in particular, the difference between yields achieved by experienced farmers and those achieved by novices remain unknown. We therefore explored the relationship between yields and these different factors, to identify areas where farmers require more support to close the yield gaps in grain legume production. To this purpose, we conducted a large-scale online farmer survey in nine European countries with a focus on soybean and faba bean. For both crops, classification and regression tree analysis identified country of production as the primary explanatory variable of yield variation and confirmed the hypothesis that greater experience and knowledge is associated with higher yields. However, the effect of several factors differed between the crops, showing the need for legume-specific strategies. Experience and knowledge were particularly important for soybean, although also relevant for faba bean in low-yielding environments. Other important factors identified to determine yield for soybean included farm specialization, agroclimatic zone, the number of years growing grain legumes and the size of farmland, while for faba bean these important factors were pest management and perceived soil fertility. Farmers highlighted drought, weed infestation, and soil characteristics as having critical impacts on yields for both crops, as well as inoculation and irrigation for soybean. Both soybean and faba bean growers emphasized the need for more information on plant protection and cultivar selection. The results indicate the potential to increase legume yields by supporting farmers in the first years of growing grain legumes, especially for crops that have a shorter history in Europe such as soybean.

Truffles are highly valued edible fungi belonging to the genus Tuber which grow wild in symbiotic association with the roots of many perennial plants. Due to their high market value and the decline in wild harvests, the cultivation of several truffle species has expanded and progressed in recent decades, not only within their natural distribution areas but also in other countries. However, the advancement of truffle cultivation has been hampered by knowledge gaps in their biology and by the scarce information on their cultural requirements, resulting in highly heterogeneous productive results in different orchards. To fill the knowledge gap about agronomic practices in truffle cultivation, we reviewed the available experimental studies using a systematic approach. We created a comprehensive dataset of scientifically tested practices, which comprised 43 publications on five truffle species across four different continents, although most studies focus on Tuber melanosporum Vittad. in southwestern Europe. We reviewed the existing information on ten practices applied during the pre-productive stage of truffle cultivation and ten practices applied during the productive stage. In the pre-productive stage, experimental data are more abundant on weed and soil management, highlighting the role of these practices in promoting vegetative growth of the host tree and the fungus. In the productive stage, most studies focus on soil moisture management and show its key role in securing yields of T. melanosporum, although also suggesting long-term risks of sustained intensive irrigation regimes. This review provides guidance to growers in selecting the most effective practices for successful truffle cultivation under diverse environmental conditions in which truffles are cultivated, while pointing out the existing knowledge gaps in pruning and tillage, despite their being widespread practices in both cultivation stages.