Agronomy for Sustainable Development最新文献

{"title":"Agroforestry supports high bird diversity in European farmland","authors":"Manon Edo,&nbsp;Martin H. Entling,&nbsp;Verena Rösch","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00936-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00936-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Intensification and homogenization of agricultural landscapes have led to a strong decline in European farmland birds. Agroforestry systems, which were widespread in the past, are regaining attention as they could return structural heterogeneity to agricultural landscapes. However, few studies focus on the effects of such systems on biodiversity and especially bird diversity. We hypothesized that agroforestry systems host a higher alpha and beta diversity of birds compared to open agriculture as well as distinct bird communities. Moreover, we expected that bird communities in temperate Europe and the Mediterranean are differently affected by agroforestry systems. In this study, we assessed breeding bird diversity via audio recordings in nineteen mature agroforestry plots, comprising both silvoarable and silvopastoral systems distributed across seven countries in temperate and Mediterranean Europe. For comparison, bird diversity was also assessed in nearby open agricultural land, forests, and orchards. Bird species richness in agroforestry was more than doubled compared to open agricultural land and similar to the diversity found in forests and orchards. Community composition and within-habitat beta diversity differed between the habitat types and between European regions. While temperate agroforestry systems hosted generalist and woody habitat species, bird communities in Mediterranean agroforestry were composed of species from both open and woody habitats. Beta diversity was significantly higher in agroforestry than in open agriculture in temperate systems but not in the Mediterranean. Our study demonstrates that agroforestry systems represent a valuable habitat for breeding birds in European agricultural landscapes. A wider adoption of these systems could thus contribute to halting and reversing the decline in bird diversity, especially in temperate agricultural landscapes. </p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00936-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138822347","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":"DEXi-Dairy: an ex post multicriteria tool to assess the sustainability of dairy production systems in various European regions","authors":"Aurelie Wilfart,&nbsp;Vincent Baillet,&nbsp;Lorraine Balaine,&nbsp;Xabier Díaz de Otálora,&nbsp;Federico Dragoni,&nbsp;Dominika Joanna Krol,&nbsp;Joanna Frątczak-Müller,&nbsp;Anna Rychła,&nbsp;Divina Gracia P. Rodriguez,&nbsp;James Breen,&nbsp;Vasileios Anestis,&nbsp;Cathal Buckley,&nbsp;Habtamu Alem,&nbsp;Wilfried Winiwarter,&nbsp;Nouraya Akkal-Corfini,&nbsp;Barbara Amon","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00935-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00935-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Growing awareness of global challenges and increasing pressures on the farming sector, including the urgent requirement to rapidly cut greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, emphasize the need for sustainable production, which is particularly relevant for dairy production systems. Comparing dairy production systems across the three sustainability dimensions is a considerable challenge, notably due to the heterogeneity of production conditions in Europe. To overcome this, we developed an ex post multicriteria assessment tool that adopts a holistic approach across the three sustainability dimensions. This tool is based on the DEXi framework, which associates a hierarchical decision model with an expert perspective and follows a tree shaped structure; thus, we called it the DEXi-Dairy tool. For each dimension of sustainability, qualitative attributes were defined and organized in themes, sub-themes, and indicators. Their choice was guided by three objectives: (i) better describe main challenges faced by European dairy production systems, (ii) point out synergies and trade-offs across sustainability dimensions, and (iii) contribute to the identification of GHG mitigation strategies at the farm level. Qualitative scales for each theme, sub-theme, and indicator were defined together with weighting factors used to aggregate each level of the tree. Based on selected indicators, a list of farm data requirements was developed to populate the sustainability tree. The model was then tested on seven case study farms distributed across Europe. DEXi-Dairy presents a qualitative method that allows for the comparison of different inputs and the evaluation of the three sustainability dimensions in an integrated manner. By assessing synergies and trade-offs across sustainability dimensions, DEXi-Dairy is able to reflect the heterogeneity of dairy production systems. Results indicate that, while trade-offs occasionally exist among respective selected sub-themes, certain farming systems tend to achieve a higher sustainability score than others and hence could serve as benchmarks for further analyses.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00935-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138582632","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":"Pesticide-free arable cropping systems: performances, learnings, and technical lock-ins from a French long-term field trial","authors":"Caroline Colnenne-David,&nbsp;Marie-Hélène Jeuffroy,&nbsp;Gilles Grandeau,&nbsp;Thierry Doré","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00931-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00931-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>To ensure regular and high yields, current agriculture is based on intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, which are detrimental to the environment and human health. Moreover, as pest resistance to pesticides increases, and more and more pesticides are taken off the market, national and European policies are becoming powerful drivers to deliver pesticide-free farming systems. Whereas numerous studies have compared organic versus conventional systems, our study assessed, for the first time, the performances of a pesticide-free arable cropping system (No-Pesticide), using synthetic fertilizers, specifically designed to produce high yields and meet environmental goals. This system was compared with an input-based cropping system designed with the same environmental targets (PHEP: productive with high environmental performances) in an 11-year field trial in France (Paris Basin). Banning pesticides did not result in a significant average yield gap (in GJ.ha⁻¹.year⁻¹ or in kg N.ha⁻¹.year⁻¹) calculated over the crop sequence. Yet, some crops’ yields significantly decreased, due either to pest damages, or to limited nitrogen nutrition. In the No-Pesticide system, the mycotoxin content of cereal grains was lower than the regulatory threshold, and the average wheat protein content was higher than the required standard for baking. Indirect energy consumption, total greenhouse gas emissions, number of technical operations, nitrogen fertilizer amounts, and treatment frequency indexes were significantly lower compared to the PHEP system. Conversely, results showed significantly higher direct energy consumption, direct greenhouse gas emissions, and number of work hours for weed control. We identify highly effective agricultural strategies to avoid pesticide use (e.g., widely diverse and long crop sequence; introduction of hemp) and pinpoint several technical lock-ins hampering steady production in pesticide-free systems. We argue that more experiments should be undertaken to deliver technical knowledge for managing major or orphan species within pesticide-free systems, and to provide supplementary results, including economic and social performances.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00931-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138449707","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":"People’s appreciation of colorful field margins in intensively used arable landscapes and the conservation of plants and invertebrates","authors":"G. R. de Snoo,&nbsp;J. van Dijk,&nbsp;W. Vletter,&nbsp;C. J. M. Musters","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00933-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00933-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Sown field margins can improve the conservation of biodiversity in rural areas and can contribute to the aesthetics of rural landscapes, thereby potentially increasing public support for agri-environmental measures. However, these two functions do not necessarily coincide. This raises the question whether field margins that are appreciated for their contribution to landscape aesthetics also deliver on the conservation of biodiversity. We conducted choice experiments with different groups of citizens and collected biodiversity data in the Netherlands, to investigate if the number of colors and vegetation cover in field margins increased respondents’ appreciation for them, and how these visual cues correlated with taxonomic diversity and abundance of plants and invertebrates in those field margins. Using manipulated photos, we also assessed whether the presence of colorful field margins in a range of different rural landscapes increased respondents’ appreciation of those landscapes. Respondents preferred colorful margins with high vegetation cover and showed a preference for green rural landscapes with colorful field margins. The presence of colorful field margins increased landscape aesthetics most in the least appreciated landscapes. The number of colors correlated positively with the diversity of sown and spontaneous plant species, and overall invertebrate abundance and abundance of predatory invertebrates, but was not related to invertebrate diversity. Our results show for the first time that colorful field margins support both public appreciation and diversity of plants and abundance of ground-dwelling invertebrates, with potential advantages to farmers in terms of natural pest control, at least in intensively used agricultural landscapes. However, management practices to maintain a high number of colors over time may be detrimental for invertebrate diversity. To optimize the different functions, we recommend that field margin layouts should consist of a perennial part that is allowed to develop over time, in combination with a part that is managed for its colorfulness.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138442632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pathways and determinants of changing nutrient management in lowland rice-based systems of Southeast Asia","authors":"Mathias Becker,&nbsp;Richelyn Clavero,&nbsp;Zar Ni Maung,&nbsp;Ohnmar Min Khin,&nbsp;Sichantha Kong,&nbsp;Punlork Men,&nbsp;Manuel José C. Regalado,&nbsp;Sophoanrith Ro,&nbsp;Kyaw Kyaw Win,&nbsp;Shyam Pariyar","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00932-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00932-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Production increases in lowland rice-based systems of Southeast Asia will not be possible without the addition of nutrients. Recent productivity gains were largely based on increasing the use efficiency of the applied nutrients through integrated and site-specific approaches. The adoption of such strategies has evolved differentially in the various country. We need to understand such recent trends, their driving forces, and their effectiveness to harness or leverage them for regional food security and sustainable development. To gain this understanding, we analyzed changes in fertility-related agronomic practices in six representative rice-based production systems of Southeast Asia (three favorable and three marginal sites). We implemented a diachronic survey (comparing the years 2000 and 2018) combined with field sampling and measurements in 1024 rice-producing households and, where applicable, in both dry and wet seasons (3638 complete data sets). We observed that soil fertility management followed similar trends across sites. However, the timing and the extent of changes were location specific, and differed primarily by the favorability/marginality of the site, and farmers’ capability to adopt technological innovations. The irrigated rice double cropping benefitted most from recent technology innovations (hybrid seeds, farm machinery), accelerating the adoption of improved fertility management practices to an aggregated level of up to 75% (mean across the six soil fertility-related management practices) at favorable sites. Most prominent were multiple splitting of mineral N and the application of mineral fertilizers other than N (P, K, Zn). At marginal sites, aggregate changes toward intensification were rather low with 35–55%, and farmers tended to intensify the non-rice component in the system by applying mineral fertilizers and organic amendments to dry season upland crops. A balanced use of nutrients will require the targeting of options to specific extrapolation domains (social-ecological target environments) based on site attributes and farmers’ resource endowment.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00932-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138431632","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":"Crop residue return achieves environmental mitigation and enhances grain yield: a global meta-analysis","authors":"Ji Liu,&nbsp;Linchuan Fang,&nbsp;Tianyi Qiu,&nbsp;Ji Chen,&nbsp;Hai Wang,&nbsp;Muxing Liu,&nbsp;Jun Yi,&nbsp;Hailin Zhang,&nbsp;Cong Wang,&nbsp;Jordi Sardans,&nbsp;Li Chen,&nbsp;Min Huang,&nbsp;Josep Penuelas","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00928-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00928-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Inorganic fertilizers are widely used to provide crops with significant amounts of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), but can exacerbate soil carbon (C) limitation and acidification. Crop residues with distinct ecological stoichiometry from inorganic fertilizers can help balance soil ecological stoichiometry and thus increase soil organic matter accumulation. The combined use of inorganic fertilizers and crop residues is expected to alleviate the metabolic limitations of organisms and enhance soil C, N, and P sequestration, hence increasing grain yields. However, the effects of this practice on soil C, N, and P stocks and grain yield remain unclear. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of 806 paired data to investigate the impact of crop residue return combined with inorganic fertilizer on soil and grain yield across different land uses (paddy, upland, paddy-upland rotation) and soil profiles (0–60 cm). Our findings indicate that crop residue return significantly enhances soil C (8–13%) stocks across all soil layers, particularly in the topsoil (0–20 cm). Soil N (9%) and P (5%) stocks also increase significantly in the topsoil. In uplands, crop residue return can mitigate soil acidification and increase grain yield (by 7%). Moreover, the soil C and N stocks increase depending on the initial soil pH, C and N levels, and C:N ratio. In contrast, the soil P stock increase depends on rainfall, while the grain yield increase is closely linked to the soil texture and fertilizer rate. Our study highlights that crop residue return can increase topsoil C, N, and P stocks, which can benefit crop growth and environmental mitigation efforts. Furthermore, this practice can increase C stocks in deeper soil horizons (below 20 cm), providing a long-term solution to mitigate climate change.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138138533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interactions between animal enterprises and marketing strategies shape organic multispecies farming systems","authors":"Marc Benoit,&nbsp;Guillaume Martin,&nbsp;Lucille Steinmetz,&nbsp;Dephne Ulukan,&nbsp;Gun Bernes,&nbsp;Christopher Brock,&nbsp;Anne De La Foye,&nbsp;Myriam Grillot,&nbsp;Marie-Angelina Magne,&nbsp;Tabea Meischner,&nbsp;Marie Moerman,&nbsp;Leonardo Monteiro,&nbsp;Bernadette Oehen,&nbsp;David Parsons,&nbsp;Riccardo Primi,&nbsp;Lisa Schanz,&nbsp;Christoph Winckler,&nbsp;Bertrand Dumont","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00930-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00930-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>One of the key ways to improve the sustainability of agricultural systems is through diversification, taking advantage of synergies between farm enterprises. Among diversified systems, multispecies livestock farms with at least two animal enterprises have rarely been studied. We explored 95 organic farms from six countries, accounting for the proportion of animal enterprises, sales management, workforce size, and work organization. The study reveals various types of interactions between animal enterprises. Complementarities were observed between ruminant and monogastric enterprises, particularly fertilizer transfer from monogastric manure to grasslands. Milk production was often associated with on-farm processing and short distribution channels, which enhanced farm viability and reduced its dependency on herd productivity. Eleven out of the 95 farms combined above-average production efficiency, on-farm processing, and the majority of sales in short distribution channels. Their labor productivity converged toward 22 livestock units per annual work unit, regardless of the number of workers. Combining farm structure; livestock production efficiency; social elements, such as the workforce; and sales management led us to distinguish four types of farms: (i) small and very autonomous grassland farms with on-farm processing and short distribution channels; (ii) dairy farms associated with a high-density pig or poultry enterprise, whose feed purchase contributes to high rates of cattle feeding self-sufficiency and stocking rate; (iii) large farms with an extensive, grassland beef enterprise associated with either sheep or monogastrics; and (iv) dairy sheep associated with goat or beef cattle on rangelands, with high added-value products enhancing salaries. This study highlights for the first time the diversity of organic multispecies livestock farms and how consistent patterns of interactions among farm structure, livestock management, sales management, and workforce management shape them. The results are a preliminary basis for designing policy interventions aiming to scale up organic farming and value social assets of diversified and small farms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00930-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"92158491","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":"Key drivers of phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) in a dryland cropping system","authors":"Bianca Tara Das,&nbsp;Susanne Schmidt,&nbsp;Matthew Tom Harrison,&nbsp;Ian Hunt,&nbsp;Jody Scott Biggs,&nbsp;Neil Ian Huth","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00929-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00929-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Increasing phosphorus (P) fertiliser use efficiency (PUE) is essential for addressing global nutrition security, food production costs, and environmental pollution. However, a myriad of soil × climate × crop × management interactions control PUE and adaptive tools are needed to put this complexity into context at the field scale. We conducted a Morris global sensitivity analysis on an evaluated agricultural system model (APSIM) across 132 years of climate data to identify important drivers of PUE in a subtropical dryland cropping system. We selected soil, crop, and management parameters to understand their influence on yield, biomass, and grain P export as measures of PUE in a subtropical wheat crop. We then examined three P fertility scenarios ranging from low to high (10, 40, 70 mg available P kg⁻¹ at 0–10 cm, with subsoils to 180 cm at 9–10 mg available P kg⁻¹) resulting in 1,782,000 simulations. In scenarios with medium or high P fertility and higher in-crop rainfall (&gt; 200 mm), nitrogen (N) fertiliser was the most important driver for increasing yield and associated PUE. At low P fertility and lower in-crop rainfall (&lt; 200 mm), P fertiliser and P sorption isotherm parameters were the most important drivers. This highlighted potential constraints to PUE analysis in the region if rainfall data is not available, and to modelling activities if P isotherm data is not available. Our study is the first to use a Morris global sensitivity analysis method for defining the influence of N and P fertiliser, and in-crop rainfall, as short-term (year–year) drivers of PUE. This method may be adapted to investigate emerging challenges in increasing PUE in other agricultural systems, but future research should include interactions with deep P banding, the effects of climate change, and demonstrate drivers over the longer-term (5–10 years).</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"92158490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the energy trap of industrial agriculture in North America and Europe: 82 balances from 1830 to 2012","authors":"Enric Tello,&nbsp;Vera Sacristán,&nbsp;José R. Olarieta,&nbsp;Claudio Cattaneo,&nbsp;Joan Marull,&nbsp;Manel Pons,&nbsp;Simone Gingrich,&nbsp;Fridolin Krausmann,&nbsp;Elena Galán,&nbsp;Inés Marco,&nbsp;Roc Padró,&nbsp;Gloria I. Guzmán,&nbsp;Manuel González de Molina,&nbsp;Geoff Cunfer,&nbsp;Andrew Watson,&nbsp;Joshua MacFadyen,&nbsp;Eva Fraňková,&nbsp;Eduardo Aguilera,&nbsp;Juan Infante-Amate,&nbsp;Alexander Urrego-Mesa,&nbsp;David Soto,&nbsp;Lluis Parcerisas,&nbsp;Jérôme Dupras,&nbsp;Lucía Díez-Sanjuán,&nbsp;Jonathan Caravaca,&nbsp;Laura Gómez,&nbsp;Onofre Fullana,&nbsp;Ivan Murray,&nbsp;Gabriel Jover,&nbsp;Xavier Cussó,&nbsp;Ramon Garrabou","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00925-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00925-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Early energy analyses of agriculture revealed that behind higher labor and land productivity of industrial farming, there was a decrease in energy returns on energy (EROI) invested, in comparison to more traditional organic agricultural systems. Studies on recent trends show that efficiency gains in production and use of inputs have again somewhat improved energy returns. However, most of these agricultural energy studies have focused only on external inputs at the crop level, concealing the important role of internal biomass flows that livestock and forestry recirculate within agroecosystems. Here, we synthesize the results of 82 farm systems in North America and Europe from 1830 to 2012 that for the first time show the changing energy profiles of agroecosystems, including livestock and forestry, with a multi-EROI approach that accounts for the energy returns on external inputs, on internal biomass reuses, and on all inputs invested. With this historical circular bioeconomic approach, we found a general trend towards much lower external returns, little or no increases in internal returns, and almost no improvement in total returns. This “energy trap” was driven by shifts towards a growing dependence of crop production on fossil-fueled external inputs, much more intensive livestock production based on feed grains, less forestry, and a structural disintegration of agroecosystem components by increasingly linear industrial farm managements. We conclude that overcoming the energy trap requires nature-based solutions to reduce current dependence on fossil-fueled external industrial inputs and increase the circularity and complexity of agroecosystems to provide healthier diets with less animal products.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00925-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71516740","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":"Improvement of nutritional quality of food crops with fertilizer: a global meta-analysis","authors":"Muhammad Ishfaq,&nbsp;Yongqi Wang,&nbsp;Jiuliang Xu,&nbsp;Mahmood Ul Hassan,&nbsp;Hao Yuan,&nbsp;Lianlian Liu,&nbsp;Boyi He,&nbsp;Irsa Ejaz,&nbsp;Philip J. White,&nbsp;Ismail Cakmak,&nbsp;Wei-Shan Chen,&nbsp;Jiechen Wu,&nbsp;Wopke van der Werf,&nbsp;Chunjian Li,&nbsp;Fusuo Zhang,&nbsp;Xuexian Li","doi":"10.1007/s13593-023-00923-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13593-023-00923-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Providing the world’s population with sufficient and nutritious food through sustainable food systems is a major challenge of the twenty-first century. Fertilizer use is a major driver of crop yield, but a comprehensive synthesis of the effect of fertilizer on the nutritional quality of food crops is lacking. Here we performed a comprehensive global meta-analysis using 7859 data pairs from 551 field experiment-based articles published between 1972 and 2022, assessing the contribution of fertilization with a wide set of plant nutrients to the nutritional quality of food crops (i.e., fruits, vegetables, cereals, pulses/oil crops, and sugar crops). On average, fertilizer application improved crop yield by 30.9% (CI: 28.2–33.7%) and nutritional quality (referring to all nutritionally relevant components assessed; carbohydrates, proteins, oil, vitamin C, representative mineral nutrients, and total soluble solids) by 11.9% (CI: 10.7–12.1%). The improvements were largely nutrient- and crop species dependent, with vegetables being the most responsive. Potassium, magnesium, and micronutrients played important roles in promoting crop nutritional quality, whereas the combined application of inorganic and organic source(s) had the greatest impact on quality. Desirable climatic conditions and soil properties (i.e., silt loam, soil organic matter 2.5–5.0%, and pH 4.5–8.5) supported further enhancements. Considering cross-continent responsiveness, the increase in the nutritional quality of food crops with fertilizer application was greatest in Africa. In a nutshell, our findings pave the way towards a quantitative understanding of nutrient management programs and responsible plant nutrition solutions that foster the sustainable production of nutritious and healthy food crops for human consumption.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7721,"journal":{"name":"Agronomy for Sustainable Development","volume":"43 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13593-023-00923-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71524386","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}