Agricultural Systems最新文献

{"title":"Comprehensive assessment of the agronomic, environmental and economic benefits of localized fertilizer placement in China's intensive cereal production systems","authors":"Solomon Yokamo ,&nbsp;Bin Wang ,&nbsp;Muhammad Ishfaq ,&nbsp;Weiwei Huan ,&nbsp;Muhammad Irfan ,&nbsp;Yiliu Wang ,&nbsp;Jackson Nkoh Nkoh ,&nbsp;Dianjun Lu ,&nbsp;Xiaoqin Chen ,&nbsp;Huoyan Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104372","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104372","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>The current ‘high input-high output’ nutrient management model based on homogeneous spread across the soil surface remains a key challenge in China's farming systems, resulting in diminished fertilizer use efficiency and increased environmental pollution. Localized placement of fertilizers (LPF) in the root zones of the crop has been proposed as a viable and practical approach to improve crop yield and ecological quality.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>In this study, the impact of LPF on cereal productivity (wheat, rice, and maize), cumulative emissions of ammonia (NH₃) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), and economic benefits was evaluated, and the influence of management, climate and soil factors on response ratio was elucidated.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A meta-analysis approach was adopted (encompassing 85 field studies published between 2002 and 2023), and a random effects model was employed to assess the impact of LPF under various site-specific covariates. Furthermore, the findings of the meta-analysis were corroborated by field experiments across different provinces of China.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>The meta-analysis revealed that LPF significantly improved the yields of the selected crops (13.62 %) and nitrogen recovery efficiency (REN) (33.09 %), while simultaneously reducing N₂O (17.37 %) and NH₃ emissions (60.14 %) compared to conventional surface application of fertilizers (CSA). Higher grain yield and REN were achieved at an optimal fertilization depth (FD) of 5–15 cm, while greater reductions in gaseous emissions were observed at depths exceeding 15 cm. Field validation experiments showed that the localized application of N without topdressing increased the yields of maize (6.21 %), rice (34.63 %) and wheat (2.92 %) and the net economic benefits (26.01 %) compared to CSA. Thus, LPF could be an important fertilizer management strategy to address the trifecta of food security, environmental quality, and economic gains.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>Our results provide novel insights and technical support in determining optimal FD and identifying several site-specific covariates affecting the efficacy of LPF. It suggests avenues for further action research and collaborations among agricultural scientists and product designers on the development of farmer-friendly fertilizer applicators and appropriate fertilizer products.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104372"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144071209","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":"Contrasting narratives of change? Recent approaches in seed system development","authors":"Fleur Kilwinger ,&nbsp;Conny Almekinders ,&nbsp;Ynte van Dam","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104395","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104395","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>This study critically examines the narratives driving seed system development within two large-scale research programs: Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) Africa and the NL-CGIAR Research Program. Seeds hold the potential to make significant contributions to strengthen the resilience of farming systems, mitigate and adapt to climate change, provide nutritious diets, and reduce poverty, making the seed system development a central aspect of agricultural development. However, the pursuit of this multitude of goals often involves trade-offs, leading to different approaches to seed system development.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>We question the extent to which the environmental and participation agendas have actually changed framings and priorities, or to what extent the neoliberal discourse still dominates this field.</div></div><div><h3>METHOD</h3><div>We start our analysis by identifying ‘memes’—the basic units of meaning in stories, narratives, and discourses—based on their recurrence in discussions during the concluding conferences of both research programs. We identified seven key pairs of, seemingly contrasting, memes central to seed system development. Through further analysis of written synthesis documents we describe how these memes are given meaning within stories and how they are woven together in a narrative. We integrate these narratives with insights from relevant literature, drawing connections between the identified memes and the larger discourse on seed system development.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</h3><div>At each pair of memes, our findings show that there is agreement on overarching objectives, while differences arise regarding the problems and solutions. However, when closely examining the meaning of key memes, we find that these narratives are locked in the neoliberal discourse. These finding suggest that, despite the apparent diversity of narratives, the participation and environmental agendas are often leveraged to optimize and reinforce the neoliberal discourse rather than to foster narratives embedded in alternative discourses.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>Our findings provide a critical reflection on seed system transformation and contribute to the wider debate of sustainable and inclusive agricultural development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104395"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144071210","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":"Adaptability of environmental costs in agricultural systems: Evaluation of costs associated with nutrient management and comprehensive performance of different agricultural practices","authors":"Yunjie Shi ,&nbsp;Hengpeng Li ,&nbsp;Askar Akida ,&nbsp;Jianwei Geng ,&nbsp;Yuyang Shao","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104388","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104388","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Environmental damage due to agricultural production has raised global concern. In practice, environmental costs (EC) serve as a bridge between economic and environmental measures of agricultural production. However, existing research on quantifying EC is inadequate resulting in trouble for stakeholders to evaluate the economic value of environmental damages accurately and reliably.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>This work aimed to design an evaluation framework with agricultural system adaptability for evaluating the EC of different agricultural practices (APs) while conferring their adaptability in agricultural systems and analyzing their impact on the performance of APs.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We designed an EC evaluation framework and calculated the EC of different APs using the pollution restoration cost method. Economic cost and benefit data were gathered through questionnaires and participatory rural appraisals. A cost-benefit analysis was then conducted to evaluate the economic performance of different APs and to examine the impact of EC on the economy.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSION</h3><div>The results showed that among the 10 APs in Liyang, the EC of specialized APs (tea, shrimp, etc., 10,000 to 17,000 CNY ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) were significantly larger than those of the traditional APs (rice/wheat, etc., 900 to 8000 CNY ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). When EC was not considered, the cash income of different APs were shown as tea &gt; shrimp &gt; rice/shrimp &gt; rice/rapeseed &gt; rice/wheat &gt; rice/green manure &gt; rice &gt; rapeseed &gt; chestnut &gt; wheat. After incorporating the EC, the EC of the tea and shrimp weakened their advantages in terms of returns. Therefore, the role of EC in agronomic decision-making cannot be ignored.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>This work provided a reference method for quantifying EC in agricultural systems. The evaluation of EC provided a scientific basis for policymakers to formulate environmental policies and for agricultural operators to formulate agricultural development strategies. It will contribute to striking a balance between economic interests and environmental protection, and will advance the rational quantification of ecological compensation in agricultural systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104388"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144069000","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":"Effect of abiotic stresses on Brassica rapa production in Korea: Learning from history to better prepare for the future impacts of climate change","authors":"Noh-Hyun Lee ,&nbsp;Wonjae Jeong ,&nbsp;Jin-Yong Jung ,&nbsp;Juhyeong Han ,&nbsp;Minju Baek ,&nbsp;Min Son ,&nbsp;Jeong-Hyeon Byeon ,&nbsp;Eun-Taek Hwang ,&nbsp;Kwang-Hyung Kim","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104374","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104374","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div><em>Brassica rapa</em>, known as Kimchi cabbage, is an important cash crop in South Korea. However, climate change has inflicted major abiotic stresses on cabbage production, resulting in physiological effects that often decrease yield and quality. To overcome these challenges, the effects of individual stresses on cabbage production must be investigated through simulation modeling and other approaches.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>In this study, we aim to clarify the historical and future patterns of abiotic stress to assess its effects on cabbage production in Korea.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>To this end, different stress index models were adopted and compared to estimate the occurrence patterns of each abiotic stress and assess their impacts on cabbage production.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>Our machine-learning modeling analyses revealed that approximately 62 % of the variation in historical cabbage productivity can be attributed to individual abiotic stresses. The relative impact of each stress on productivity has not changed significantly over the past 40 years (1981–2020), with slight increasing or decreasing trends in major stresses. Among the abiotic stresses, the low-temperature injury and wetness stress have largely affected the cabbage productivity by 2020, followed by drought, high-temperature injury (HTI), and frost stresses. Projections based on future climate change scenarios suggest a substantial increase in HTI stress, surpassing the levels observed over the past 40 years, while other stressors are expected to either persist at similar levels, or decrease or increase slightly.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>This study underscores the increasing need to effectively manage these stressors, particularly those that have a greater impact on productivity and are projected to exceed their historical ranges, in order to ensure the successful future production of cabbage in Korea.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104374"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143948044","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":"Situated analysis of food supply, land-use dynamics, and feed-food competition at organic farms with dairy cattle","authors":"K.B. Eriksson,&nbsp;N. Brichet,&nbsp;L.R. Nielsen","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104389","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104389","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>The increasing competition for land calls for new perspectives on land-use efficiency. Prioritisation must be discussed, as scientists and policymakers focus on food security with reduced environmental harm. Some farms with dairy cattle may not be resource-inefficient when compared to plant-based production, as generally believed, if the farm purpose and type(s) of land used are considered.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>This study aims to provide nuanced and often ignored perspectives on agricultural land-use efficiency and the ways this is assessed, through situated analysis of organic farms with dairy cattle. It considers landscape characteristics, farm designs, land uses, food outputs, weather conditions, and farmer considerations and motivations, to produce context-dependent land-use insights.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>Using detailed data from four organic case-farms, we quantified the total land use and food output at the farm gate and estimated the land-based feed-food competition through a land-use ratio (LUR). The LUR was used to compare current animal-based or mixed production outputs to potential plant-based food outputs from the same area, while maintaining an organic perspective. The quantitative results were qualified by insights from farmers and observations from multiple farm visits. The characteristics of the analysed farms were A) dairy production on marginal soils, B) regenerative grass-based dairy production, C) feed-no-food mixed livestock-crop system, and D) high-yielding dairy farm with crop production.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>The results showed how a feed-no-food mixed livestock-crop production (C) or dairy production primarily supported by land unsuited for food crop cultivation (A) can be as or more land-use efficient and have lower feed-food competition than a high yielding dairy production (D). The conclusions on efficiency were strongly influenced by the measuring unit, underlying assumptions on what constitutes a healthy agro-ecosystem as well as the fluctuations between years. Most important for the conclusion was the characteristics of the used land, the share of land use assessed suitable for cultivation, and the assumed yields for the estimated alternative pure plant-sourced food productions. Through the situated and mixed method perspectives, we furthermore showed how other relations such as flows of nutrients, nature-care, landscape development and farmers' considerations are relevant.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>Combining quantitative estimations with qualitative knowledge about farmers and their landscapes bring relations that are often ignored from similar studies into the analyses and provides a nuanced basis for discussion of the relevance of dairy cattle in future food production systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104389"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937002","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":"Is one year enough? A commentary on field experiment duration in agricultural research","authors":"Davey L. Jones,&nbsp;Emily C. Cooledge,&nbsp;David R. Chadwick","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104393","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104393","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>While multi-year field experiments remain a cornerstone of agricultural research, their requirement warrants critical examination.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This perspective analyses the scientific rationale behind multi-year experiment expectations and proposes a framework for determining appropriate experimental duration based on research objectives, mechanistic understanding and environmental dependencies.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>Field experiments offer distinct advantages over laboratory studies by capturing environmental complexity, including weather variations, soil biological dynamics, pest pressures, and the effects across spatial scales. Multi-year experiments enhance research robustness through increased reliability, better understanding of treatment effects under varying conditions, and greater statistical power. However, significant limitations include increased costs and resource demands, which can create barriers particularly for researchers in low- and middle-income countries, early career researchers, and those working on time-sensitive agricultural issues. We argue that certain research contexts (some of which are the same for short-term mesocosm and incubation scale experiments), such as mechanistic studies with clear process understanding, innovative technology validation, or time-sensitive investigations (including double and triple cropping systems), should warrant acceptance of single-year experiments when accompanied by robust supporting evidence and comprehensive metadata.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>A more flexible and nuanced approach to determining study duration could better serve agricultural science advancement while maintaining research rigour, especially for studies combining detailed mechanistic investigations with field validation, that could, and should, be systematically integrated into future meta-analyses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104393"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937004","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":"Assessment of climate resilience index: Insight from Murrah buffalo-based livestock production system of Western India","authors":"Ruchi Singh ,&nbsp;Sanjit Maiti ,&nbsp;Sanchita Garai ,&nbsp;Mukesh Bhakat ,&nbsp;Sujeet Kumar Jha ,&nbsp;Anil Kumar Dixit ,&nbsp;Anjali Aggarwal","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104390","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104390","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>India is largest milk producer in the world. The buffalo (<em>Bubalus bubalis</em>), particularly the <em>Murrah</em> breed is the major contributor to the total milk production of India. But this breed is highly susceptible to climate-change induced heat stress due to their physiological characteristics. Therefore, livelihoods depend on the Murrah based livestock production system is highly vulnerable even in its breeding tract i.e. Haryana, a state of western India. Hence, a system-based analysis provides an essential guide to policymakers and other stakeholders to understand the system comprehensively and develop targeted climate actions to enhance its resilience, contributing to India's position as a global leader in milk production.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>The present study used a system-based strategic approach to apprise climate resilience of the Murrah Buffalo-based Livestock Production System (MBLPS) and to identify critical indicators of this system functions under changing environmental conditions.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A sample of 320 farmers involved in the Murrah buffalo-based livestock production system and its connected components were selected from the breed's breeding tracts in central Haryana. Resilience capacity, described as its three dimensions, i.e., absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacity, was represented by eleven indicators and 37 sub-indicators. In addition, the climate resilience index (CRI) of MBLPS in their breeding tract was developed. The household resilience determinants and indicators were identified by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and multiple regression analysis.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusion</h3><div>The findings indicate that mean resilience index score of absorptive capacity (0.60) was most significant contributing component of the resilience, followed by adaptive capacity (0.38) and transformative capacity (0.31) mean resilience score. A large portion of the farmers i.e. 43.31 % had medium level of resilience capacity. It was also found that indicators like information about climate change, health, social contact, and the availability of essential services were significantly contributing towards resilience of the Murrah Buffalo-based Livestock Production System.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>Since Murrah buffalo rearers were having moderate resilience and particularly lack of strong transformative abilities, plans for climate adaptation should be explicitly developed with their long-term goals in mind, emphasizing strengthening their transformative capacity. This plan for climate adaptation should be tailored to the aspirations of Murrah buffalo rearers to continue to be the largest contributor to the milk production of India. This might involve promoting sustainable practices, diversifying income groups, improving access to markets and resources, and knowledge sharing within the community.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104390"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937003","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":"Navigating challenges in native plant-based food value chains within the global food system: A systematic literature review","authors":"Mokaddes Ahmed Dipu ,&nbsp;Julia Checco ,&nbsp;Luke Williams ,&nbsp;Yasmina Sultanbawa ,&nbsp;Natalie A. Jones ,&nbsp;Ammar Abdul Aziz","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>While there are thousands of native food plants worldwide, only four major crops account for 50 % of global primary crop production. This trend underscores a troubling erosion of agricultural diversity and the systematic sidelining of native plant foods, which have nourished communities for millennia. Connecting these underutilized native foods to global food systems presents a critical opportunity to enhance food security, economic resilience, nutritional diversity, environmental sustainability, and cultural preservation while supporting Indigenous knowledge systems and food sovereignty. However, this connection faces significant challenges, including the small-scale nature of native plant food production systems, demand vulnerabilities, persistent social stigma, and inefficiencies in production and distribution.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>We focused on examining the challenges and opportunities within native plant-based food value chains (NPFVC), spanning production to consumption, as a critical step towards mainstream connection.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>We conducted a systematic literature review of 40 global studies, selected using the PRISMA workflow, and analyzed the data through thematic analysis.</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>The findings highlight that native plant-based food production systems are typically localized and deeply tied to Indigenous communities, yet the cultural contributions of these communities are often undervalued. A lack of support services, collaboration, and trust within the value chain undermines opportunities such as resilient production systems with low costs, livelihood benefits for communities, increased consumer demand, and willingness to pay premiums. Interventions in the areas of capacity building, industry collaboration, awareness initiatives, and support systems may help capitalize on climate-smart native plants and their low-input sustainable production systems.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>The study provides valuable insights into the native food system for chain actors, policymakers, and practitioners. It also contributes to broader discussions on food security, environmental sustainability, Indigenous contributions, and cultural preservation, emphasizing the integration of these critical elements into future global food system policies and practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104373"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928591","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":"Effects of irrigation and biochar management strategies on the multifunctionality of maize field ecosystem in the arid region of Northwest China","authors":"Yang Chen ,&nbsp;Xuyu Feng ,&nbsp;Yuanzhi Shi ,&nbsp;Zunqiu Xu ,&nbsp;Xinmei Hao ,&nbsp;Ling Tong ,&nbsp;Sufen Wang ,&nbsp;Risheng Ding","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104369","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104369","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><div>Deficit irrigation, brackish water irrigation, and biochar application are widely regarded as crucial technologies for conserving freshwater resources and protecting ecological environment in arid irrigation regions. However, the effects of existing management strategies on agroecosystem multifunctionality and their trade-offs remain insufficiently explored.</div></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><div>This study investigated the impacts of varying moisture, salinity, and biochar conditions on agroecosystem functions, services, and their interrelationships. It further explored potential trade-off mechanisms, providing a scientific basis for sustainable agroecosystem development.</div></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><div>A two-year field experiment was conducted in the arid region of Northwest China from 2020 to 2021. The experiment included eight treatments, which were designed as a factorial combination of three factors: two irrigation levels (full irrigation: W1; deficit irrigation: W2 = 1/2 W1), two water salinity levels (fresh water: S0 = 0.71 g L⁻¹; brackish water: S1 = 4 g L⁻¹), and two biochar application rates (B0: 0 t ha⁻¹; B1: 60 t ha⁻¹).</div></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><div>Compared to full irrigation treatments, although deficit irrigation significantly enhanced regulating service, it substantially reduced provisioning and economy services, thereby decreasing average multiple agroecosystem services by 28%. Full irrigation with brackish water alleviated the adverse effects of drought on provisioning and economy services, but it generally reduced the supporting, regulating, provisioning, and economy services, ultimately reducing multiple agroecosystem services compared to full irrigation with fresh water. Biochar application significantly enhanced regulating service while also providing certain benefits to supporting and provisioning services, but it significantly reduced economy services, finally leading to an increase of 3%–11% in multiple ecosystem services under appropriate water and salt conditions (W1S0, W1S1 and W2S0). Biochar application decreased the degree of trade-offs among services in most cases under full irrigation with both fresh and brackish water, indicating that biochar provided an ecological agriculture pattern by balancing productivity and environmental sustainability under well-watered conditions.</div></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><div>This study demonstrates that biochar application can enhance multiple agroecosystem services and reduce most of trade-offs among multiple services, which is crucial for sustainable agricultural development under special water and salt treatments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104369"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928590","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":"Integrating crop models and machine learning for projecting climate change impacts on crops in data-limited environments","authors":"Seyyedmajid Alimagham ,&nbsp;Marloes P. van Loon ,&nbsp;Julian Ramirez-Villegas ,&nbsp;Herman N.C. Berghuijs ,&nbsp;Todd S. Rosenstock ,&nbsp;Martin K. van Ittersum","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104367","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104367","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><div>Accurately projecting crop yields under climate change is essential for understanding potential impacts and planning of agricultural adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Crop growth models and machine learning (ML) are often used, but their effectiveness is limited by data availability, precision, and geographic coverage in SSA.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study aimed to integrate ML with a process-based crop model to produce geographically continuous gridded crop yield projections while reducing uncertainties associated with standalone ML or crop growth models. As a case study, we implemented it to project the climate change impact on water-limited potential yield of maize across SSA.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We developed an integrated system that combines ML with eco-physiological processes to estimate sowing dates and thermal times, ensuring that crop phenology is accounted for, thus improving potential rainfed yield simulations under varying environmental conditions. Random Forest and crop model-based algorithms are integrated in three steps: (i) RF1, a Random Forest model integrated with a sowing algorithm, designed to estimate the sowing window and sowing date; (ii) RF2, a Random Forest model combined with a crop model algorithm to estimate cumulative thermal time during the growing season, used to determine the timing of phenological stages; and (iii) RF3, another Random Forest model, trained based on eco-physiological principles applied in phases (i) and (ii), employed to simulate water-limited potential yield. The outcomes of the different steps of the framework under historical conditions were tested against reported data across SSA.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>For maize and historical climatic conditions, the framework delivers yields which differ less than 20 % of those simulated with a crop model with high-quality inputs, in 95 % of the cases. Our approach thus shows value for generating crop yield projections in data-scarce regions under historical climate, and under future climatic conditions which already feature today somewhere in SSA and for which the framework has been trained.</div></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><div>Our approach can also be applied to other major food crops in SSA, under both current and climate change conditions. It allows testing the effect of adaptation of crop cultivars in terms of maturity group. Thus, it can be used for different crops and with far less data requirements compared to process-based crop models. It has the potential for significant applications in assessing climate change impacts, guiding adaptation strategies, and supporting crop breeding programmes and policymaking efforts in SSA.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"228 ","pages":"Article 104367"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928589","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}