Leonardo Coviello, Maria Nuzzaci, Patrizia Falabella, Carmen Scieuzo, Rosanna Salvia, Domenico Ronga, Antonella Vitti
{"title":"Innovative Use of Hermetia illucens Frass Extract as Priming to Promote Tomato and Wheat Growth and Protection","authors":"Leonardo Coviello, Maria Nuzzaci, Patrizia Falabella, Carmen Scieuzo, Rosanna Salvia, Domenico Ronga, Antonella Vitti","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70030","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Frass deriving from <i>Hermetia illucens</i> was explored as a new sustainable tool to induce biostimulation and/or antifungal activity in <i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> L. var <i>Cerasiforme</i> and <i>Triticum durum</i> Desf. var <i>Simeto</i> against the soil-borne pathogens <i>Fusarium</i> spp. Phytotoxicity and in vitro antagonism assessments (mycelial growth inhibition of about 40%) allowed to define the optimal dilution of 10% of pasteurised-frass extract (pFE) to employ for seed priming. Germination tests on water agar demonstrated the priming effectiveness for wheat, but not for tomato, as the analysed parameters were not positively affected. The pFE was used also in combination with the known biocontrol agent <i>Trichoderma harzianum</i> T22 (T22), demonstrating that they could work together to obtain a good growth promotion and protective effect in wheat. Indeed, the priming with pFE significantly reduced the disease incidence of almost 60% or 80%, compared to the infected control, if used alone or combined with T22, respectively. The ability of frass extract to control <i>F. sporotrichioides</i> in wheat was attributed to both enzymatic and non-enzymatic responses, due to observed differences in total phenolic content (TPC) and superoxide dismutase activity (SOD) in seedlings derived from treated seeds, compared to untreated control. Our findings highlight the great potential of <i>H. illucens</i> frass as a sustainable, green, and circular economy-based tool in agricultural systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70030","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142762308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kusumiyati Kusumiyati, Farhan Ahmad, Mochamad Arief Soleh, Muhammad Rabnawaz Khan
{"title":"Assessment of Physicochemical Properties and Consumer Preferences in Cherry Tomato Cultivars Observe under Growing Climates and Watering Regimens","authors":"Kusumiyati Kusumiyati, Farhan Ahmad, Mochamad Arief Soleh, Muhammad Rabnawaz Khan","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70015","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The physicochemical and antioxidant qualities of cherry tomatoes are getting more and more valued, and this has a significant effect on consumer choices and market dynamics. With irrigation schedules of 100%, 75%, and 50% field capacity, Ruby and Fortesa cultivars were grown in a greenhouse, rain shelter, and screen house climates in this experiment, which used a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) factorial technique. The chroma value, flavonoid content, phenolic content, vitamin C content, and antioxidant activity of cherry tomatoes are the main quality parameters investigated in this study, along with the effects of cultivars, growing climates, and watering regimens. According to the results, the cultivar significantly affected chroma value, with Fortesa showing the highest value. Cultivar and growing climate significantly affected flavonoid content, with Fortesa and rain shelter environments exhibiting the most significant values. Cultivar and growing climate significantly impacted vitamin C content; ruby and greenhouse conditions produced the maximum amounts. Across all parameters, there were significant variances in antioxidant activity; Ruby showed the maximum activity, and the rain shelter provided the ideal growing environment. The market analysis conducted for the study reveals that higher-quality cherry tomatoes are famous among upscale and health-conscious consumers due to their high flavonoid and phenolic content, brilliant chroma value, and considerable antioxidant activity. With the help of this research, targeted cultivation techniques and marketing strategies may be created to cater to specific consumer desires and maximize market positioning and profitability.</p>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70015","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142762532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicolò Iacuzzi, Teresa Tuttolomondo, Davide Farruggia, Noemi Tortorici, Federica Alaimo, Diana De Santis, Francesco Rossini, Giuseppe Di Miceli
{"title":"A Two-Year Evaluation of Biostimulant Effects on Yield and Quality Parameters of Tomato Landrace ‘Pizzutello Delle Valli Ericine’ Cultivated Without Irrigation","authors":"Nicolò Iacuzzi, Teresa Tuttolomondo, Davide Farruggia, Noemi Tortorici, Federica Alaimo, Diana De Santis, Francesco Rossini, Giuseppe Di Miceli","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70028","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The use of biostimulants in agriculture provides a sustainable and efficient technology to improve resource-use efficiency. Biostimulants may boost vegetative growth, enhancing plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress. The tomato (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> L.) is sensitive to drought stress, particularly during fruit setting and fruit development stages. In Italy, long-storage tomato genotypes characterised by drought resistance were selected. In this 2-year study, the foliar application of different biostimulants (betaine, seaweed extracts, vegetal protein hydrolysate and animal protein hydrolysate) was evaluated to determine effects on yield and quality of a local tomato landrace (Pizzutello) cultivated in Sicily without irrigation. The highest dry matter (9.9%) and solid soluble content (6.9° Brix) were observed in plants treated with betaine. Plants treated with <i>A. nodosum</i> or animal protein hydrolysate showed the highest potassium concentrations, whereas those supplied with vegetal protein hydrolysate had the highest calcium concentrations. Tomato treated with betaine were found to have the highest nitrate concentrations. The highest marketable yield (13.8 t ha<sup>−1</sup>) was recorded in plants treated with vegetal protein hydrolysate, with an increase of 17.4% compared to the control plants. The highest unmarketable yield was observed in control plants and in those treated with betaine (1.1 t ha<sup>-1</sup>). In conclusion, we can say that each biostimulant had a different effect on the different parameters analysed. Overall, the application of biostimulants has improved tomato growth, productivity and quality in limited water conditions. Our results highlight the potential of biostimulant applications to optimise both the yield and fruit quality of renowned local varieties. This study demonstrated the improvement in the agronomic performance of the Pizzutello tomato, which is particularly significant not only in response to the growing consumer demand for high-quality traditional tomatoes, but also for the enhancement of the technological traits valued by the food industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70028","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142762538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Aridity Structures the Microbial Potential for Carbon Cycling and Mediates the Impact of Mammal Bioturbation at the Continental Scale","authors":"Eleonora Egidi, Orsi Decker, Claudia Coleine, Davide Albanese, Heloise Gibb","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70025","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Introduction</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>In Australia, the historical loss of native digging mammals has profoundly changed ecosystems and their functioning. However, little is known about how the decline in digging mammal presence alters microbes and their functional potential and how aridity affects these relationships.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We used metagenomic sequencing to explore changes in genes encoding enzymes for carbon cycling (CAZymes) in five sites along a continent-wide aridity gradient, with and without digging mammals.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The diversity of CAZy genes was reduced with increases in aridity, which also affected their structure and reduced the abundance of genes involved in both plant (cellulose and starch) and microbial (glucans, peptidoglycan and chitin) biomass degradation. Conversely, digging mammals had a limited effect on the structure and diversity of CAZy genes, indicating an overall resistance of the microbial carbon cycling potential to mammal disturbance at the whole community level. However, when considering individual functional groups, digging activity increased the abundance of genes involved in microbial biomass decomposition (i.e., glucanases), while reducing the abundance of genes associated with recalcitrant plant biomass degradation (i.e., cellulases). Notably, these effects were observed only in the most arid sites and was mostly mediated by increases in SOM content linked to mammal activity.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Overall, our study shows that aridity shapes the diversity and structure of CAZy genes, while also modulating the effect of mammal bioturbation on the microbial potential for carbon cycling. This suggests that the loss of digging mammals throughout much of Australia's arid zone, in particular, is likely to have important repercussions on the microbial capacity to carry decomposition processes and the turnover of organic matter in soils.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70025","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142737494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jana Stewart, Nathali Machado de Lima, Richard Kingsford, Miriam Muñoz-Rojas
{"title":"Soil Bacterial Biodiversity in Drylands Is Dependent on Groundcover Under Increased Temperature","authors":"Jana Stewart, Nathali Machado de Lima, Richard Kingsford, Miriam Muñoz-Rojas","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70027","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Introduction</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Drylands are a major terrestrial biome, supporting much of the earth's population. Soil microbial communities maintain drylands’ ecosystem functions but are threatened by increasing temperature. Groundcover, such as vegetation or biocrust, drives the patchiness of drylands' soil microbial communities, reflected in fertile islands and rhizosphere soil microbial associations. Groundcover may shelter soil microbial communities from increasingly harsh temperatures under climate change, mitigating effects on microclimate, but few data on the microbial response exists. Understanding the fine-scale interactions between plants and soil is crucial to improving conservation and management of drylands under climate change.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We used open-top chambers to experimentally increase the temperature on five key groundcover species found in arid Australia, and are commonly present in drylands worldwide; bareground (controls), biocrust, perennial grass, <i>Maireana sp</i>. shrub, <i>Acacia aneura</i> trees, testing soil bacterial diversity and community composition response to the effects of increased temperatures.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We found that groundcover was a stronger driver of soil bacterial composition than increased temperature, but this response varied with groundcover type. Larger groundcover types (<i>Acacia</i> and <i>Maireana</i>) buffered the impact of heat stress on the soil bacterial community. Bacterial diversity and species richness declined with heat stress affecting the bacterial communities associated with perennial grass, <i>Maireana</i> and <i>Acacia</i>. We identified 16 bacterial phyla significantly associated with groundcover types in ambient treatment. But, under heat stress, only three phyla, Verrumicrobiota, Patescibacteria, and Abditibacteriota, had significantly different relative abundance under groundcovers, <i>Acacia</i> and <i>Maireana</i>, compared to bareground controls. The soil bacterial community associated with perennial grass was most affected by increased temperature.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusion</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Our findings suggest soil communities may become more homogeneous under climate change, with compositional change, rather than diversity, tracking soil response to heat stress.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70027","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142737412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Soil Health to Enhance Ecological Restoration and Conservation","authors":"Paola Raupp, Yolima Carrillo, Uffe N. Nielsen","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70022","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ecological restoration has gained increased attention to combat the global biodiversity and habitat loss driven by human activities and climate change. To address these impacts, restoration efforts apply interventions aimed at recovering native ecosystems on degraded lands. However, they tend to centre on vegetation-based interventions, with limited attention to aboveground and belowground linkages. Soil health, including its physicochemical, biological and functional attributes, is fundamental to ecosystem resilience and sustainability, provision of services, and human well-being. This synthesis explores how a deeper understanding of soil-vegetation interactions can support restoration and conservation efforts. We discuss how restoration interventions can be applied from early to later stages of restoration, future directions and novel approaches that target aboveground and belowground processes to promote soil health and successful plant community establishment. We propose that integrating practices that explicitly consider linkages among vegetation, soil properties and biota can lead to more effective restoration outcomes and the establishment of resilient, self-sustaining ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70022","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142692091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Innovative Regenerative Technologies for Enhancing Resilience in Salinity-Stressed Rice Fields Along the Indonesian Coast: Promoting Net-Zero Farming Practices to Adapt to Climate Change","authors":"Irwandhi Irwandhi, Fiqriah Hanum Khumairah, Emma Trinurani Sofyan, Ukit Ukit, Rievansyah Eka Satria, Annisya Salsabilla, Muhamad Sopyan Sauri, Tualar Simarmata","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70026","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Rice cultivation significantly contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly methane released from flooded paddy fields, exacerbating climate change. At the same time, rice farming is highly sensitive to climate conditions, with climate change introducing various abiotic stresses, notably salinity stress. This is especially critical in coastal regions like Indonesia, where rising sea levels and land degradation worsen the salinity challenge. This review systematically examines salinity stress in coastal rice cultivation, the impact of climate change on salinity dynamics and crop performance, and the potential of innovative regenerative technologies to enhance resilience and create low-salinity, net-zero agricultural systems. We conducted a systematic literature review following PRISMA guidelines, supplemented by a bibliometric analysis using Scopus, employing keywords such as “salinity stress”, “rice”, “agriculture”, “climate change” and “regenerative”. From an initial 2,191 articles, 18 were deemed eligible for further analysis. Findings indicate that increased soil salinity adversely affects rice production, yet innovative strategies such as rhizomicrobiome engineering, salt-tolerant rice varieties, regenerative soil amendments, irrigation management, agricultural practices offer viable solutions to mitigate salinity stress. Furthermore, adopting net-zero farming practices can help achieve carbon neutrality in agriculture while significantly reducing GHG emissions. This review highlights the need for a collaborative approach among scientists, farmers, and policymakers to scale these innovations, ensuring their implementation not only in Indonesia but also in other regions facing similar challenges, thereby promoting food security and environmental sustainability in the face of climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70026","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142692092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Irrigation and Water Management of Tomatoes–A Review","authors":"Olabisi Tolulope Somefun, Blessing Masasi, Anuoluwapo Omolola Adelabu","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70020","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Effective water management practices are essential for maximising tomato yield while mitigating the risks associated with climate change. The need for climate-smart irrigation management techniques in agriculture has increased to optimise water use efficiency and enhance crop productivity. Irrigation scheduling using precision agriculture technologies like soil moisture sensors is an effective and efficient water management strategy in crop production. This strategy helps growers apply the right amount of water at the right time to meet crop needs, thus reducing water wastage and increasing environmental sustainability. Combining soil moisture sensors and crop simulation models for real-time irrigation scheduling can enhance water use efficiency while reducing operations, energy costs, and labour in crop production. Therefore, this study provides a comprehensive review of the current efforts to improve irrigation management by integrating precision agriculture technologies such as soil moisture sensors, plant sensors, and crop models for irrigation scheduling in tomato production.</p>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70020","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142692093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ana Campos-Cáliz, Enrique Valencia, César Plaza, Gina Garland, Anna Edlinger, Chantal Herzog, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Samiran Banerjee, Matthias C. Rillig, Sara Hallin, Aurélien Saghaï, Fernando T. Maestre, David S. Pescador, Laurent Philippot, Ayme Spor, Sana Romdhane, Pablo García-Palacios
{"title":"The Positive Effects of Soil Organic Carbon on European Cereal Yields Level Off at 1.4%","authors":"Ana Campos-Cáliz, Enrique Valencia, César Plaza, Gina Garland, Anna Edlinger, Chantal Herzog, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Samiran Banerjee, Matthias C. Rillig, Sara Hallin, Aurélien Saghaï, Fernando T. Maestre, David S. Pescador, Laurent Philippot, Ayme Spor, Sana Romdhane, Pablo García-Palacios","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70017","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Introduction</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) in croplands is a natural climate mitigation effort that can also enhance crop yields. However, there is a lack of comprehensive field studies examining the impact of SOC on crop yields across wide climatic, soil, and farming gradients. Furthermore, it is largely unknown how water retention, soil microbial diversity, and nutrient availability modulate the SOC-crop yield relationship.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Materials and Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We conducted an observational study across 127 cereal fields along a 3000 km north-south gradient in Europe, measured topsoil (0–20 cm) organic C content, and collected data on climate, soil properties, crop yield and farming practices. Additionally, we explored the relationship between crop yield, particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) contents at three soil depths (0–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm) in a subset of sites.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Relative yield increases levelled off at 1.4% SOC, indicating an optimal SOC content for cereals along a European gradient. The quadratic relationship between SOC and cereal yield was conspicuous even after controlling for large differences in climate, soil and farming practices across countries. The relationship varied significantly across soil depths and C fractions. MAOC dominated the SOC pool, and was significantly related to relative yield up to an optimal level that varied with soil depth. Soil microbial diversity and nutrient availability emerged as main drivers of the SOC-yield relationship, while water retention did not exhibit a notable influence.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Our study demonstrates that SOC is as a key determinant of cereal yield along a European gradient, and identifying this threshold can inform soil management strategies for improved carbon capture based on initial SOC levels. Nevertheless, the complex SOC-yield relationship highlights the necessity for tailored soil management strategies that consider specific site conditions to optimize C storage and crop yield.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70017","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142664800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fifame Panine Yassegoungbe, Gaius Segbegnon Vihowanou, Tawakalitu Onanyemi, Mohamed Habibou Assouma, Eva Schlecht, Luc Hippolyte Dossa
{"title":"Enteric Methane Production, Yield, and Intensity in Smallholder Dairy Farming Systems in Peri-Urban Areas of Coastal West African Countries: Case Study of Benin","authors":"Fifame Panine Yassegoungbe, Gaius Segbegnon Vihowanou, Tawakalitu Onanyemi, Mohamed Habibou Assouma, Eva Schlecht, Luc Hippolyte Dossa","doi":"10.1002/sae2.70019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70019","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Enteric methane (eCH4) is a major environmental pollutant emitted by ruminants. To target mitigation measures, it is necessary to accurately estimate GHG emissions from livestock farming. Until now, milk-producing farms in the peri-urban areas of South Benin are pasture-based systems, and have been largely neglected by international research. Therefore, this study estimates eCH4 emissions from pasture-based peri-urban dairy farms across four different animal categories during dry and wet seasons. Six herds were selected for field measurements; one representative animal was selected per category from each herd and its body weight estimated. Subsequently, the selected animals were closely monitored on pasture for three consecutive days. Direct observation of their behavior and the hand-plucking method were used to mimic the animals' selective foraging and to sample parts of the different plant species consumed in proportion to their, to determine the quality of their daily diet. The nutrient content and digestibility of the collected feed samples were assessed using near-infrared spectroscopy. Additionally, 30 herds were monitored bi-monthly during a 12-month period to collect all input and output data, including milk yields. Annual enteric methane (eCH4) emissions per animal category were estimated using the IPCC Tier 2 method. Subsequently, the eCH4 intensities of lactating cows were calculated per kg of fat-protein corrected milk (FPCM). All statistical analyses were performed using R software. Overall, the average annual eCH4 production was 40.6 kg/head/year and the eCH4 yield was 20.3 g/kg of dry matter intake, with significant differences between seasons and no differences between animal categories. Regardless of season, older animals yielded higher eCH4 outputs. The average eCH4 production per kg of live weight was 0.48 g for both seasons. The overall eCH4 intensity (g CH4/kg FPCM) recorded during the wet season (74.3) was higher than that recorded during the dry season (70.5).</p>","PeriodicalId":100834,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment","volume":"3 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sae2.70019","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142664907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}