Agronomy for Sustainable Development最新文献

Green manure is widely employed to substitute chemical N fertilizer. However, the potential of further alleviating N₂O emission when combined with efficient management technologies has not been fully explored. To reduce this research gap, a 2-year field experiment was conducted in northwestern China. The aim was to investigate the impact of zeolite application on N₂O emission in the maize-common vetch intercropping system under 30% N reduction, as well as the possible mechanisms. The experiment included two cropping systems, namely monoculture maize and maize-common vetch intercropping, along with three amendment practices, namely conventional N, 70% conventional N, and zeolite application under 70% conventional N. Compared with monoculture maize under conventional N, maize-green manure intercropping combined with zeolite application under 70% chemical N achieved comparable yields. Simultaneously, this practice reduced cumulative N₂O and yield-scaled N₂O emissions by 36.9% and 39.2%, respectively. This reduction can be attributed to a decrease in soil ammonium-N by 20.9%–57.7%, nitrate-N by 47.7%–51.3%, nitrate reductase activities by 25.3%–34.4% and N₂O-producer (i.e., nirS and nirK) abundance by 17.3%–79.4% in denitrification, and an increase in the N₂O-reducer (i.e., nosZ) abundance by 40.0%–103.4%. Compared with 100% N input, 70% chemical N treatment reduced ammonium-N by 22.3%–41.0%, nitrate-N by 25.4%–41.0%, and N₂O-producer abundance by 17.1%–35.0% in denitrification. Zeolite application reduced denitrifying enzyme activities by 8.2%–12.9%, N₂O-producer abundance by 42.5%–56.4%, but increased N₂O-reducer abundance by 13.3%–23.3% in denitrification. PLS-PM analysis showed that N₂O emission mitigation was mainly related to reduced soil ammonium-N and nitrate-N, decreased N₂O-producer abundance, and increased N₂O-reducer abundance in denitrification. These findings provide new insights into the fact that intercropping green manure combined with zeolite application effectively mitigates N₂O emission by regulating mineral N, N-cycling enzymes, and denitrifier abundances while maintaining maize yield after cutting 30% N input.

Peanut is a crucial cash crop across numerous West African countries, especially in Senegal, where small-scale family farms frequently rotate it with millet. Despite significant research on yield enhancement, the drivers behind farmers’ choices have been largely ignored. Recognizing that effective agricultural recommendations must be tailored to the specific context of individual farms, this study aimed for the first time, to understand the decision-making of peanut farmers in a typical rainfed region of the central-western Senegalese peanut basin. We surveyed 46 farmers, gathering data on their resources, perceptions, peanut area allocation, and management practices, as well as socio-economic outcomes. High-peanut farmers, with an average of 28% of their cultivated area allocated to peanut, had more resources than low-peanut farmers, which allocated only 3%. The former enhanced their peanut management by employing farm-saved seeds, hiring labor, and utilizing both manure and synthetic fertilizers. Their average peanut unshelled grain yield (625 kg ha⁻¹) was the highest, although largely under the achievable yield. Their return on investment, which included the value of their own consumption, was also the highest (974%). Medium-peanut farmers presented intermediate characteristics. A widespread high level of self-consumption and investment in watermelon as a new cash crop suggested weak market opportunities for peanut. Low-peanut farmers identified lack of equipment and finance as major constraints, while high-peanut farmers cited lack of finance and quality seeds. All categories recognized peanut’s ecological advantages. These results highlight that limited peanut cultivation and unsustainable practices do not stem from farmers lacking technical knowledge or undervaluing peanut advantages but rather from the socio-economic constraints they face. Solutions for high-peanut farmers may not suit or be adopted by low-peanut farmers. Addressing this disparity requires multi-faceted research and innovations targeting both external and internal farm constraints, shifting from mere inputs provision to co-designing innovations directly with farmers.

Cereal/legume intercropping is gaining attention due to its potential contribution to achieving sustainable intensification of forage production. Productivity and quality of cereal/legume fodder mixtures are expected to vary among species combinations. However, for intercropping with different species combinations, the impacts of management practices on productivity and fodder quality have remained largely unexplored. We report a meta-analysis (with 467 data records from 49 publications) to evaluate options for improving forage yield and quality (%crude protein) in cereal/legume fodder mixtures through management (e.g., varying crop density and species combination). Our findings indicate how much forage mixture gains in yield or quality varied among 16 species combinations with ≥ 8 records. The net effect ratio for dry matter yield of barley/vetch (1.18±0.061), maize/cowpea (1.33±0.160), maize/soybean (1.66±0.188), and triticale/pea (1.41±0.139) intercrops was positive (> 1). The net effect ratio for % crude protein of barley/faba bean (0.87±0.025) and triticale/pea (0.85±0.026) intercrops was negative (< 1). In addition, intercropping design (replacement (relative density = 1)/additive (1 < relative density ≤ 2)) influences the size of effects without affecting their direction. Oat/pea intercropping in an additive design had a higher net effect ratio for %crude protein than that with a replacement design. Both maize/cowpea and sorghum/cowpea intercrops with additive designs had positive net effect ratios for dry matter yield, while those with a replacement design had net effect ratios similar to one. Here, we report a quantitative review demonstrating for the first time how yield and quality performance of cereal/legume intercropping for fodder production differs between species combinations and how management practices influence the size of the effect. Our findings support the design of intercropping systems for specific agro-ecological settings and production aims of target animal farming systems, thereby contributing to the forage production literature.

Service plants are primarily used in agroecosystems to provide ecosystem services that are not directly marketable. They are a promising option to promote biological pest regulation. Past studies have demonstrated their usefulness for regulating one pest category (either pathogens/parasites, herbivores or weeds). However, a multi-pest view of the role of service plants, including the potential disservices (negative impacts) that they may generate, is lacking. Such an overview is essential to meet the challenge of agroecology. This paper aims to fill this gap. Here, a trait-based approach was used to provide an overview of the potentialities of service plants, (inserted either in intercropping, in rotation with the crops, or in field edges) for regulating multiple pests, while limiting disservices. For that purpose, we first laid the foundation of a conceptual framework by synthesizing the mechanisms and service plant traits involved in the regulation of each pest category and in the mitigation of each disservice. On this basis, we analyzed (1) the compatibility in the regulation of the different pests by service plants, and (2) the compatibility between multi-pest regulation vs disservice mitigation. Our main conclusions are: (1) Despite knowledge gaps, there is good potential of service plants for multi-pest regulation; (2) The challenge lies at least as much to mitigate disservices that service plants may cause as to promote multi-pest regulation; (3) The level of incompatibility between promoting multi-pest regulation vs mitigating disservices varies with the mode of insertion of service plants, increasing with interactions with crop plants. This review shows how a trait-based approach can be used to synthesize knowledge from different disciplines and provides a tool for cross-disciplinary dialogue. It identifies priority research actions that are needed to increase synergy, genericity and adaptation of service plants to local conditions, and provides foundations for the design of service-plant based agroecosystems.

A relevant pathway to meet future food production targets involves closing existing yield gaps, i.e., the difference between yields in researcher-managed trials and smallholder fields, through the adoption of technology. However, despite the availability of more productive and sustainable technologies, adoption remains low, and yield gaps persist. Understanding why smallholders fail to achieve high yields and how their productivity can be improved is crucial. To answer these issues, the soybean cropping system of Northeast China was selected as a case study. This is the first time that a generalizable framework that integrates crop modelling, long-term experimental data, statistics, and field surveys is proposed to map soybean yield gaps under various spatial scales (commercial farms, county, prefecture, and surveyed smallholders) and explain underlying causes. Pathways to bridge yield gaps are discussed. Compared with yield of researcher-managed experimental plots, soybean yields decreased from the farm to the county and again to the prefecture levels. At farm level, the yield gap was 0.34 t/ha, at county level 1.03 t/ha, and at prefecture level 1.17 t/ha. In the same order, a technical efficiency index decreased from 0.91 to 0.64. Poor agronomic management contributed to 73–86% of yield gap, followed by climate (26–13%) and soil constraints (less than 1%). Survey data showed that ridge planting pattern, the use of single compound fertilizers, and variety selection were the most important manageable variables affecting smallholder soybean yield. Using large-ridge cultivation and a rational application of fertilizers were critical for smallholders to achieve high yields. These findings suggest that bridging yield gaps in smallholder farming in the Northeast China remain a significant opportunity to improve food production. This study provides detailed information for closing yield gaps in smallholder fields. The framework is also applicable in other regions dominated by smallholder agriculture to develop sustainable intensification of production.

Permaculture, often described as a grassroots movement, philosophy, or set of progressive agricultural practices, is considered to have significant potential to revitalize degraded land, improve the robustness of ecosystems, reduce energy consumption, and lower operating costs while effectively sequestering carbon. Despite its growing international popularity and practical benefits, the term permaculture remains notably isolated from mainstream scientific discourse, limiting its broader integration and impact. Literature reviews on this versatile set of agricultural practices are uncommon, and this isolation from established scientific literature significantly hampers the potential of permaculture to influence and transform contemporary agricultural systems toward enhanced sustainability. Addressing this gap, this study compiles the most comprehensive collection of white and gray literature related to permaculture to date, analyzing 975 publications across four languages—English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French—through bibliometric analysis, qualitative content analysis, H-index, and citation counts. The findings reveal that permaculture retains a dynamic presence within academic discussions, being increasingly associated with critical concepts such as design, agriculture, and ecology. Notably, the use of permaculture in peer-reviewed technical publications has surged, particularly in recent study periods, marking a significant shift towards recognizing its value in mainstream scientific literature. This review aims to:

1. 1.

   Gather white and gray literature related to the term permaculture across four languages.

2. 2.

   Identify terms most commonly associated with permaculture using computational tools.

3. 3.

   Describe the evolution of the term permaculture over time.

4. 4.

   Examine whether the term permaculture is predominantly associated with philosophical or scientific perspectives in peer-reviewed literature.

5. 5.

   Assess the increasing recognition of permaculture as a topic of interest in English peer-reviewed literature.

Yields in organic farming have been stagnating, widening the gap with conventional systems. Thus, there is the need to reconsider traditional organic crop rotations and adopt innovative strategies that will maximize nutrient supply, weed suppression, and reduce disease risks. Overwintering legume cover crops offer potential solutions, but their role in nutrient cycling, weed management and pathogen dynamics needs to be clarified. In two multi-factorial field trials, we examined organic farming systems using no-till or minimal tillage with a 2-year rotation of winter-hardy legumes as cover crops, maize and a wheat/pea mixture. The risks of soil-borne pathogens and their transmission to subsequent crops were also assessed. The effects of the following factors were investigated: (a) cover crop type: winter vetch and crimson clover, (b) date of cover crop kill, (c) sowing technique: no-till or shallow tillage, and (d) use of cover crop biomass: green manure or mulch vs. harvest. The strong weed suppression of legumes allowed for herbicide-free implementation of minimum tillage and no-tillage systems, while their substantial nitrogen contributions supported the high maize yields. It was also possible to harvest the cover crop biomass before maize sowing instead of using it as mulch or green manure, without significantly affecting maize yields. Infestations with seed and root rot pathogens were generally low, and there was no risk of pathogen accumulation or transfer to subsequent crops. To our knowledge, this is the first systemic assessment of agronomic and phytopathological aspects in a rotation involving winter-hardy legumes, maize and a wheat/pea mixture under differential tillage practices. Taken together, our results demonstrate that, with proper management, legume-intensive rotations can maximize agronomic benefits, minimize phytopathological risks, and enhance productivity and sustainability in both organic and conventional farming, while contributing to a reduction of yield gap between systems.

Agroecology is increasingly proposed in literature as a possible solution to mitigate the impact of anthropic agricultural activity on the environment, even though in Europe its potential is still not entirely clear. Many principles of agroecology have been put forward to bridge the gap between theory and real farming practices; however, its practical applicability remains complex. To quantify the potential of agroecology, it is necessary to find effective indicators, especially when assessing the management of grassland-based farming systems. Here, we reviewed the literature to take stock of the indicators used to characterize agroecology in grassland-based farming systems and at farm level, with the aim to evaluate how the different agroecological principles are addressed and to define multidisciplinary indicators to implement in real farming conditions. The two sets of principles used were addressed through a varying number of indicators, ranging from 7 to 33 and 7 to 58 indicators, respectively. The major findings of this review were the following: (i) principles of agroecology are useful to drive an assessment, particularly addressing different levels of analysis and sustainability dimensions; (ii) a single indicator can cover multiple principles and one principle can span multiple dimensions; (iii) economy and biodiversity categories are addressed through a limited number of indicators, while farming practices (including pasture management) and input categories offer multiple possibilities and lack consensus on the indicators used; (iv) animal health and socio-economic aspects are well targeted but underapplied in Europe. In order to assess the level of agroecology of a given grassland-based farming system, we propose indicators to be tested on-farm in order to understand their effectiveness and possible synergies at system level in real farming conditions.