Agronomy for Sustainable Development最新文献

{"title":"A new Rothamsted long-term field experiment for the twenty-first century: principles and practice","authors":"Xiaoxi Li,&nbsp;Jonathan Storkey,&nbsp;Andrew Mead,&nbsp;Ian Shield,&nbsp;Ian Clark,&nbsp;Richard Ostler,&nbsp;Beth Roberts,&nbsp;Achim Dobermann","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00914-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00914-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Agriculture faces potentially competing societal demands to produce food, fiber and fuel while reducing negative environmental impacts and delivering regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services. This necessitates a new generation of long-term agricultural field experiments designed to study the behavior of contrasting cropping systems in terms of multiple outcomes. We document the principles and practices of a new long-term experiment of this type at Rothamsted, established at two contrasting sites in 2017 and 2018, and report initial yield data at the crop and system level. The objective of the Large-Scale Rotation Experiment was to establish gradients of system properties and outcomes to improve our fundamental understanding of UK cropping systems. It is composed of four management factors—phased rotations, cultivation (conventional vs reduced tillage), nutrition (additional organic amendment vs standard mineral fertilization) and crop protection (conventional vs smart crop protection). These factors were combined in a balanced design resulting in 24 emergent cropping systems at each site and can be analyzed at the level of the system or component management factors. We observed interactions between management factors and with the environment on crop yields, justifying the systems level, multi-site approach. Reduced tillage resulted in lower wheat yields but the effect varied with rotation, previous-crop and site. Organic amendments significantly increased spring barley yield by 8% on average though the effect again varied with site. The plowed cropping systems tended to produce higher caloric yield overall than systems under reduced tillage. Additional response variables are being monitored to study synergies and trade-offs with outcomes other than yield at the cropping system level. The experiment has been established as a long-term resource for inter-disciplinary research. By documenting the design process, we aim to facilitate the adoption of similar approaches to system-scale agricultural experimentation to inform the transition to more sustainable cropping systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00914-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10112177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of extreme events on land-use-related decisions of farmers in Eastern Austria: the role of learning","authors":"Claudine Egger,&nbsp;Andreas Mayer,&nbsp;Bastian Bertsch-Hörmann,&nbsp;Christoph Plutzar,&nbsp;Stefan Schindler,&nbsp;Peter Tramberend,&nbsp;Helmut Haberl,&nbsp;Veronika Gaube","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00890-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00890-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>European farm households will face increasingly challenging conditions in the coming decades due to climate change, as the frequency and severity of extreme weather events rise. This study assesses the complex interrelations between external framework conditions such as climate change or adjustments in the agricultural price and subsidy schemes with farmers’ decision-making. As social aspects remain understudied drivers for agricultural decisions, we also consider value-based characteristics of farmers as internal factors relevant for decision-making. We integrate individual learning as response to extreme weather events into an agent-based model that simulates farmers’ decision-making. We applied the model to a region in Eastern Austria that already experiences water scarcity and increasing drought risk from climate change and simulated three future scenarios to compare the effects of changes in socio-economic and climatic conditions. In a cross-comparison, we then investigated how farmers can navigate these changes through individual adaptation. The agricultural trajectories project a decline of active farms between −27 and −37% accompanied by a reduction of agricultural area between −20 and −30% until 2053. The results show that regardless of the scenario conditions, adaptation through learning moderates the decline in the number of active farms and farmland compared to scenarios without adaptive learning. However, adaptation increases the workload of farmers. This highlights the need for labor support for farms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00890-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9861837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term trends in yield variance of temperate managed grassland","authors":"Janna Macholdt,&nbsp;Steffen Hadasch,&nbsp;Andrew Macdonald,&nbsp;Sarah Perryman,&nbsp;Hans-Peter Piepho,&nbsp;Tony Scott,&nbsp;Merete Elisabeth Styczen,&nbsp;Jonathan Storkey","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00885-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00885-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The management of climate-resilient grassland systems is important for stable livestock fodder production. In the face of climate change, maintaining productivity while minimizing yield variance of grassland systems is increasingly challenging. To achieve climate-resilient and stable productivity of grasslands, a better understanding of the climatic drivers of long-term trends in yield variance and its dependence on agronomic inputs is required. Based on the Park Grass Experiment at Rothamsted (UK), we report for the first time the long-term trends in yield variance of grassland (1965–2018) in plots given different fertilizer and lime applications, with contrasting productivity and plant species diversity. We implemented a statistical model that allowed yield variance to be determined independently of yield level. Environmental abiotic covariates were included in a novel criss-cross regression approach to determine climatic drivers of yield variance and its dependence on agronomic management. Our findings highlight that sufficient liming and moderate fertilization can reduce yield variance while maintaining productivity and limiting loss of plant species diversity. Plots receiving the highest rate of nitrogen fertilizer or farmyard manure had the highest yield but were also more responsive to environmental variability and had less plant species diversity. We identified the days of water stress from March to October and temperature from July to August as the two main climatic drivers, explaining approximately one-third of the observed yield variance. These drivers helped explain consistent unimodal trends in yield variance—with a peak in approximately 1995, after which variance declined. Here, for the first time, we provide a novel statistical framework and a unique long-term dataset for understanding the trends in yield variance of managed grassland. The application of the criss-cross regression approach in other long-term agro-ecological trials could help identify climatic drivers of production risk and to derive agronomic strategies for improving the climate resilience of cropping systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00885-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9770364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Natural farming improves crop yield in SE India when compared to conventional or organic systems by enhancing soil quality","authors":"Sarah Duddigan,&nbsp;Liz J. Shaw,&nbsp;Tom Sizmur,&nbsp;Dharmendar Gogu,&nbsp;Zakir Hussain,&nbsp;Kiranmai Jirra,&nbsp;Hamika Kaliki,&nbsp;Rahul Sanka,&nbsp;Mohammad Sohail,&nbsp;Reshma Soma,&nbsp;Vijay Thallam,&nbsp;Haripriya Vattikuti,&nbsp;Chris D. Collins","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00884-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00884-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a grassroot agrarian movement and a state backed extension in Andhra Pradesh, and has been claimed to potentially meet the twin goals of global food security and environmental conservation. However, there is a lack of statistically evaluated data to support assertions of yield benefits of ZBNF compared to organic or conventional alternatives, or to mechanistically account for them. In order to fill this gap, controlled field experiments were established in twenty-eight farms across six districts, spanning over 800 km, over three cropping seasons. In these experiments, we compared ZBNF (no synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, home-made inputs comprising <i>desi</i> cow dung and urine with mulch) to conventional (synthetic fertilisers and pesticides) and organic (no synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, no mulch, purchased organic inputs, e.g. farmyard manure and vermicompost) treatments, all with no tillage. Comparisons were made in terms of yield, soil pH, temperature, moisture content, nutrient content and earthworm abundance. Our data shows that yield was significantly higher in the ZBNF treatment (<i>z</i> score = 0.58 ± 0.08), than the organic (<i>z</i>= −0.34 ± 0.06) or conventional (−0.24 ± 0.07) treatment when all farm experiments were analysed together. However, the efficacy of the ZBNF treatment was context specific and varied according to district and the crop in question. The ZBNF yield benefit is likely attributed to mulching, generating a cooler soil, with a higher moisture content and a larger earthworm population. There were no significant differences between ZBNF and the conventional treatment in the majority of nutrients. This is a particularly important observation, as intensive use of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers comes with a number of associated risks to farmers’ finances, human health, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution. However, long-term field and landscape scale trials are needed to corroborate these initial observations.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00884-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9199961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regional estimates of nitrogen budgets for agricultural systems in the East African Community over the last five decades","authors":"Barthelemy Harerimana,&nbsp;Minghua Zhou,&nbsp;Bo Zhu,&nbsp;Peng Xu","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00881-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00881-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The great challenge of reducing soil nutrient depletion and assuring agricultural system productivity in low-income countries caused by limited synthetic fertilizer use necessitates local and cost-effective nutrient sources. We estimated the changes of the nitrogen budget of agricultural systems in the East African Community from 1961 to 2018 to address the challenges of insufficient nitrogen inputs and serious soil nitrogen depletion in agricultural systems of the East African Community region. Results showed that total nitrogen input increased from 12.5 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 1960s to 21.8 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 2000s and 27 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 2010s. Total nitrogen crop uptake increased from 12.8 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 1960s to 18.2 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 2000s and 21.8 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 2010s. Soil nitrogen stock increased from -2.0 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 1960s to -0.5 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 2000s and 0.3 kg N ha^-1yr^-1 in the 2010s. Our results allow us to substantiate for the first time that soil nitrogen depletion decreases with increasing input of nitrogen in agricultural systems of the East African Community region. This suggests that increases in nitrogen inputs through biological nitrogen fixation and animal manure are the critical nitrogen management practices to curb soil nitrogen depletion and sustain agricultural production systems in the East African Community region in order to meet food demand for a growing population.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00881-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9103178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Current controversies on mechanisms controlling soil carbon storage: implications for interactions with practitioners and policy-makers. A review","authors":"Delphine Derrien,&nbsp;Pierre Barré,&nbsp;Isabelle Basile-Doelsch,&nbsp;Lauric Cécillon,&nbsp;Abad Chabbi,&nbsp;Alexandra Crème,&nbsp;Sébastien Fontaine,&nbsp;Ludovic Henneron,&nbsp;Noémie Janot,&nbsp;Gwenaëlle Lashermes,&nbsp;Katell Quénéa,&nbsp;Frédéric Rees,&nbsp;Marie-France Dignac","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00876-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00876-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>There is currently an intense debate about the potential for additional organic carbon storage in soil, the strategies by which it may be accomplished and what the actual benefits might be for agriculture and the climate. Controversy forms an essential part of the scientific process, but on the topic of soil carbon storage, it may confuse the agricultural community and the general public and may delay actions to fight climate change. In an attempt to shed light on this topic, the originality of this article lies in its intention to provide a balanced description of contradictory scientific opinions on soil carbon storage and to examine how the scientific community can support decision-making despite the controversy. In the first part, we review and attempt to reconcile conflicting views on the mechanisms controlling organic carbon dynamics in soil. We discuss the divergent opinions about chemical recalcitrance, the microbial or plant origin of persistent soil organic matter, the contribution of particulate organic matter to additional organic carbon storage in soil, and the spatial and energetic inaccessibility of soil organic matter to decomposers. In the second part, we examine the advantages and limitations of big data management and modeling, which are essential tools to link the latest scientific theories with the actions taken by stakeholders. Finally, we show how the analysis and discussion of controversies can guide scientists in supporting stakeholders for the design of (i) appropriate trade-offs for biomass use in agriculture and forestry and (ii) climate-smart management practices, keeping in mind their still unresolved effects on soil carbon storage.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00876-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10816785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological quality as a coffee quality enhancer. A review","authors":"Vania Torrez,&nbsp;Camila Benavides-Frias,&nbsp;Johanna Jacobi,&nbsp;Chinwe Ifejika Speranza","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00874-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00874-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As both coffee quality and sustainability become increasingly important, there is growing interest in understanding how ecological quality affects coffee quality. Here we analyze, for the first time, the state of evidence that ecological quality, in terms of biodiversity and ecosystem functions, impacts the quality of <i>Coffea arabica</i> and <i>C. canephora</i>, based on 78 studies. The following ecosystem functions were included: pollination; weed, disease, and pest control; water and soil fertility regulation. Biodiversity was described by the presence, percentage, and diversity of shade trees. Coffee quality was described by the green bean physical characteristics, biochemical compounds, and organoleptic characteristics. The presence and diversity of shade trees positively impacted bean size and weight and reduced the percentage of rejected beans, but these observations were not consistent over different altitudes. In fact, little is known about the diversity of shade trees and their influence on biochemical compounds. All biochemical compounds varied with the presence of shade, percentage of shade, and elevation. Coffee beans from more diverse tree shade plantations obtained higher scores for final total organoleptic quality than simplified tree shade and unshaded plantations. Decreasing ecological quality diminished ecosystem functions such as pollination, which in turn negatively affected bean quality. Shade affected pests and diseases in different ways, but weeds were reduced. High soil quality positively affected coffee quality. Shade improved the water use efficiency, such that coffee plants were not water stressed and coffee quality was improved. While knowledge on the influence of shade trees on overall coffee quality remains scarce, there is evidence that agroecosystem simplification is negatively correlated with coffee quality. Given global concerns about biodiversity and habitat loss, we recommend that the overall definition of coffee quality include measures of ecological quality, although these aspects are not always detectable in certain coffee quality characteristics or the final cup.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00874-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10812890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Food production and resource use of urban farms and gardens: a five-country study","authors":"Erica Dorr,&nbsp;Jason K. Hawes,&nbsp;Benjamin Goldstein,&nbsp;Agnès Fargue-Lelièvre,&nbsp;Runrid Fox-Kämper,&nbsp;Kathrin Specht,&nbsp;Konstancja Fedeńczak,&nbsp;Silvio Caputo,&nbsp;Nevin Cohen,&nbsp;Lidia Poniży,&nbsp;Victoria Schoen,&nbsp;Tomasz Górecki,&nbsp;Joshua P. Newell,&nbsp;Liliane Jean-Soro,&nbsp;Baptiste Grard","doi":"10.1007/s13593-022-00859-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-022-00859-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>There is a lack of data on resources used and food produced at urban farms. This hampers attempts to quantify the environmental impacts of urban agriculture or craft policies for sustainable food production in cities. To address this gap, we used a citizen science approach to collect data from 72 urban agriculture sites, representing three types of spaces (urban farms, collective gardens, individual gardens), in five countries (France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, and United States). We answered three key questions about urban agriculture with this unprecedented dataset: (1) What are its land, water, nutrient, and energy demands? (2) How productive is it relative to conventional agriculture and across types of farms? and (3) What are its contributions to local biodiversity? We found that participant farms used dozens of inputs, most of which were organic (e.g., manure for fertilizers). Farms required on average 71.6 L of irrigation water, 5.5 L of compost, and 0.53 m² of land per kilogram of harvested food. Irrigation was lower in individual gardens and higher in sites using drip irrigation. While extremely variable, yields at well-managed urban farms can exceed those of conventional counterparts. Although farm type did not predict yield, our cluster analysis demonstrated that individually managed leisure gardens had lower yields than other farms and gardens. Farms in our sample contributed significantly to local biodiversity, with an average of 20 different crops per farm not including ornamental plants. Aside from clarifying important trends in resource use at urban farms using a robust and open dataset, this study also raises numerous questions about how crop selection and growing practices influence the environmental impacts of growing food in cities. We conclude with a research agenda to tackle these and other pressing questions on resource use at urban farms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-022-00859-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10812889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling adaptation of sorghum in Ethiopia with APSIM—opportunities with G×E×M","authors":"Alemu Tirfessa,&nbsp;Fikadu Getachew,&nbsp;Greg McLean,&nbsp;Erik van Oosterom,&nbsp;David Jordan,&nbsp;Graeme Hammer","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00869-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00869-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Sorghum is an important food and feed crop in the dry lowland areas of Ethiopia. Farmers grow both early-sown long-duration landraces and late-sown short-duration improved varieties. Because timing and intensity of drought stress can vary in space and time, an understanding of major traits (G), environments (E), management (M), and their interactions (G×E×M) is needed to optimize grain and forage yield given the limited available resources. Crop simulation modeling can provide insights into these complex G×E×M interactions and be used to identify possible avenues for adaptation to prevalent drought patterns in Ethiopia. In a previous study predictive phenology models were developed for a range of Ethiopian germplasm. In this study, the aims were to (1) further parameterize and validate the APSIM-sorghum model for crop growth and yield of Ethiopian germplasm, and (2) quantify by simulation the productivity-risk trade-offs associated with early vs late sowing strategies in the dry lowlands of Ethiopia. Field experiments involving Ethiopian germplasm with contrasting phenology and height were conducted under well-watered (Melkassa) and water-limited (Miesso) conditions and crop development, growth and yield measured. Soil characterization and weather records at the experimental sites, combined with model parameterization, enabled testing of the APSIM-sorghum model, which showed good correspondence between simulated and observed data. The simulated productivity for the Ethiopian dry lowlands environments showed trade-offs between biomass and grain yield for early and late sowing strategies. The late sowing strategy tended to produce less biomass except in poor seasons, whereas it tended to produce greater grain yield except in very good seasons. This study exemplified the systems approach to identifying traits and management options needed to quantify the production-risk trade-offs associated with crop adaptation in the Ethiopian dry lowlands and further exemplifies the general robustness of the sorghum model in APSIM for this task.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00869-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10871191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An approach for comparing agricultural development to societal visions","authors":"Julian Helfenstein,&nbsp;Vasco Diogo,&nbsp;Matthias Bürgi,&nbsp;Peter H. Verburg,&nbsp;Beatrice Schüpbach,&nbsp;Erich Szerencsits,&nbsp;Franziska Mohr,&nbsp;Michael Siegrist,&nbsp;Rebecca Swart,&nbsp;Felix Herzog","doi":"10.1007/s13593-021-00739-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-021-00739-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>There is broad agreement that agriculture has to become more sustainable in order to provide enough affordable, healthy food at minimal environmental and social costs. But what is “more sustainable”? More often than not, different stakeholders have opposing opinions on what a more sustainable future should look like. This normative dimension is rarely explicitly addressed in sustainability assessments. In this study, we present an approach to assess the sustainability of agricultural development that explicitly accounts for the normative dimension by comparing observed development with various societal visions. We illustrate the approach by analyzing farm- and landscape-scale development as well as sustainability outcomes in a Swiss case study landscape. Observed changes were juxtaposed with desired changes by Avenir Suisse, a liberal think tank representing free-market interests; the Swiss Farmers Association, representing a conservative force; and Landwirtschaft mit Zukunft, an exponent of the Swiss agroecological movement. Overall, the observed developments aligned most closely with desired developments of the liberal think-tank (72%). Farmer interviews revealed that in the case study area farms increased in size (+ 57%) and became more specialized and more productive (+ 223%) over the past 20 years. In addition, interpretation of aerial photographs indicated that farming became more rationalized at the landscape level, with increasing field sizes (+ 34%) and removal of solitary field trees (− 18%). The case study example highlights the varying degrees to which current developments in agriculture align with societal visions. By using societal visions as benchmarks to track the progress of agricultural development, while explicitly addressing their narratives and respective systems of values and norms, this approach offers opportunities to inform also the wider public on the extent to which current developments are consistent with different visions. This could help identify mismatches between desired and actual development and pave the way for designing new policies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2022-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-021-00739-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10580006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}