Agricultural Systems最新文献

{"title":"Assessing pollinator abundance and services to enhance agricultural sustainability and crop yield optimization in the Qilian Mountains","authors":"Haijiang Yang ,&nbsp;Xiaohua Gou ,&nbsp;Yibo Niu ,&nbsp;Wenwei Shi ,&nbsp;Xinyun Wang ,&nbsp;Yuxin Wei ,&nbsp;Tek Maraseni","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104109","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104109","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><p>Pollination services are critical to crop production and human livelihoods, linking natural ecosystems directly to agricultural production systems. However, pollination services and pollinators are under constant threat from land-use changes and various other environmental pressures.</p></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><p>In this study, employing a case study of the entire Qilian Mountains in northwest China, the distribution of nectar sources in different land use types in the study area was determined through field survey and literature.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Based on 1990–2020 land use data, crop yield data, crop prices, pollinating bee species and nectar plants data. We used the Gross Ecological Product (GEP) accounting and InVEST model of pollination services and assessed the status and trends of pollination services, the risks posed by land use changes and environmental pressures, and suggested potential solutions for mitigating identified risks.</p></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><p>The results of the study showed that (1) nectar sources and nesting areas' potential distribution closely correlates with land use types; (2) the Pollinator abundance index (PAI) is above 0.30, a high level, and the Pollination potential index (PPI) is between 0.15 and 0.30, a medium level, with both indices generally increasing over the past 40 years; (3) Human economic activities and land management policies had the most significant impact on pollination services, with 15.57 % and 14.02 %, respectively. Climate change (temperature, precipitation, extreme events) and invasive alien species had relatively minor impacts, accounting for 0.14 % and 0.15 %, respectively. (4) The Qilian Mountains will face a new risk, whether monoculture or the expansion of pollinator-dependent crops could lead to habitat homogenization issues, potentially affecting pollinator abundance and diversity.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>We recommend that future plans emphasize the provision of pollinator nesting resources along with floral resources, restoration of semi-natural and natural habitats adjacent to crops, adjustment of cropping patterns, and implementation of agricultural diversification, which will help to ensure pollinator diversity and sustainability of agroecosystem pollination services.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 104109"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142101141","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":"Optimal resource reallocation can achieve water conservation, emissions reduction, and improve irrigated agricultural systems","authors":"Simeng Cui ,&nbsp;Jan F. Adamowski ,&nbsp;Raffaele Albano ,&nbsp;Mengyang Wu ,&nbsp;Xinchun Cao","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104106","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104106","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;CONTEXT&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Crop production consumes large volumes of fresh water and is a key contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Increasing crop output to ensure adequate food supplies under water and land scarcity relies excessively on intensive agricultural inputs (e.g., fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural films), leading to irreparable environmental consequences (water scarcity and degradation and GHG emissions). Therefore, research on a nexus approach and resource optimization model were carried out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;OBJECTIVE&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;To fill the gap of objectives priority and optimal allocation of water resources at irrigation area scale, this study constructed a model to achieve optimal water conservation, GHG emissions reduction, and economic benefit improvement, covering the cumulative environmental burden of agricultural inputs, production processes, trade and consumption related to agricultural activities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;METHODS&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Based on a resource-environmental-economic framework, we took the blue water footprint (&lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;WF&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;blue&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt;) as a decision variable and developed an integrated water resource optimization model, which was solved by the non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II in Matlab. Minimizing crop water footprint (&lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;WF&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt;), minimizing crop carbon emissions (&lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;CE&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt;) and maximizing crop economic benefits (&lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;EB&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt;) were the objectives of the model, and blue water resource, food security, electric energy consumption and land security were the constraint conditions. In addition, three scenarios were tested based on the priority of the objective functions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Annually, &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;WF&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; was 1234.29 × 10&lt;sup&gt;6&lt;/sup&gt; m&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; and &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;CE&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; was 522.45 Gg CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; eq for food production in Lianshui Irrigation District from 2005 to 2019. Grain crops exhibited a greater &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;WF&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; and contributed significantly more to &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;CE&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; than oilseed crops. Virtual water and carbon flows increased with food transfer. By adjusting the &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;WF&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;blue&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; of crops compared to the baseline scenario (BS), the average &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;WF&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; decreased by 10.0 %, &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;CE&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; decreased by 4.0 %, and &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;EB&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; increased by 6.4 % under Scenario 2 (minimizing &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;WF&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mi&gt;crop&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;/msub&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; and maximizing &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;msub&gt;&lt;mi&gt;EB","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"221 ","pages":"Article 104106"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142101142","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":"A state-and-transition model framework to take stock of natural capital on farms","authors":"Frederick W. Rainsford ,&nbsp;Matthew Appleby ,&nbsp;Angela Hawdon ,&nbsp;Alex Maisey ,&nbsp;Rachel Lawrence ,&nbsp;Imogen Semmler ,&nbsp;Daniel O'Brien ,&nbsp;Sue Ogilvy ,&nbsp;James Q. Radford","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104104","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104104","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Context</h3><p>Natural capital accounting is an emerging approach to help address the challenge of preventing further biodiversity loss while sustainably providing resources for a growing human population. It requires an effective and robust framework for quantifying natural capital on farms. State and transition models (STMs) have been used extensively to describe the range of observable condition states for an ecosystem and the processes that maintain states or drive shifts between them. Current STM frameworks have limited capacity for use in modified landscapes and therefore are currently unsuitable for many applications of natural capital accounting.</p></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><p>We aimed to develop an extended STM framework, using ‘Eucalyptus woodlands of south-eastern Australia’ as an example, to categorise ecological condition states unambiguously in high-resolution across whole farms.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>We used synthesised current literature, consulted experts, and conducted field visits to develop and refine the STM.</p></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><p>We developed an STM that defines 35 condition states observable on farms in south-eastern Australia, ranging from ‘reference’ condition woodlands that have experienced minimal disturbance to highly modified derived grasslands and crops. The STM framework can be used to assign an ecological condition state to all areas on a farm.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>The STM described here marks a significant advancement in farmland ecology and natural resource management. Using this tool and adapting the states and thresholds to fit other vegetation types, all ecosystems on a farm can be categorized based on ecological condition, which can then be mapped across whole farms. Ecosystem state mapping can be used to guide restoration actions, management trade-offs and track changes in ecological condition over time. These maps can be used to quantify natural capital on farms to form the basis of natural capital accounts and infer ecosystem service provision. This framework will facilitate biodiversity credential certification and help enable farmers to access price premiums and restricted markets, and ultimately, will enhance biodiversity conservation in farmlands while also enabling appropriate decisions regarding continuing agronomic use.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 104104"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X24002543/pdfft?md5=467f10a3c98dde1dd7ed95a30b76206e&pid=1-s2.0-S0308521X24002543-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142097292","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":"Feasibility of machine learning-based rice yield prediction in India at the district level using climate reanalysis and remote sensing data","authors":"Djavan De Clercq,&nbsp;Adam Mahdi","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104099","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><p>Yield forecasting, the science of predicting agricultural productivity before the crop harvest occurs, helps a wide range of stakeholders make better decisions around agricultural planning.</p></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><p>This study aims to investigate whether machine learning-based yield prediction models can capably predict Kharif season rice yields at the district level in India several months before the rice harvest takes place.</p></div><div><h3>METHODOLOGY</h3><p>The methodology involved training 19 machine learning models such as CatBoost, LightGBM, Orthogonal Matching Pursuit, and Extremely Randomized Trees on 20 years of climate, satellite, and rice yield data across 247 of India's rice-producing districts. In addition to model-building, a dynamic dashboard was built understand how the reliability of rice yield predictions varies across district.</p></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><p>The results of the proof-of-concept machine learning pipeline demonstrated that rice yields can be predicted with a reasonable degree of accuracy, with out-of-sample R2, MAE, and MAPE performance of up to 0.82, 0.29, and 0.16 respectively. This performance outperformed test set performance reported in related literature on rice yield modelling in other contexts and countries. In addition, SHAP value analysis was conducted to infer both the importance and directional impact of the climate and remote sensing variables included in the model. Important features driving rice yields included temperature, soil water volume, and leaf area index. In particular, higher temperatures in August correlate with increased rice yields, particularly when the leaf area index in August is also high. Building on the results, a proof-of-concept dashboard was developed to allow users to easily explore which districts may experience a rise or fall in yield relative to the previous year. The dashboard show that the model may perform better in some regions than in others. For instance, the absolute percentage error for predicted versus actual yields ranged from an average of 7.1 % in districts in Uttarakhand to an average of 14.7 % in Uttar Pradesh.</p></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><p>This study underscores the potential for policymakers to consider scaling and operationalizing machine learning approaches to rice yield prediction in the context of agricultural early warning systems to deliver timely crop yield forecasts on a rolling basis throughout the season, thereby equipping agricultural decision-makers with the ability to make informed choices on irrigation scheduling, fertilizer application, and harvest planning to optimize crop output and resource use.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 104099"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142097363","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":"Climate change is expected to severely impact Protected Designation of Origin olive growing regions over the Iberian Peninsula","authors":"Inês Guise ,&nbsp;Bruno Silva ,&nbsp;Frederico Mestre ,&nbsp;José Muñoz-Rojas ,&nbsp;Maria F. Duarte ,&nbsp;José M. Herrera","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><p>The Iberian Peninsula is the world's largest olive (<em>Olea europaea</em> subsp. <em>europaea L.</em>) producing region due to its high environmental suitability for olive growing, consistently accounting for about half of the global share. Moreover, it includes a range of olive-producing regions with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), aimed to safeguard and promote the distinctive geographical status of agricultural products linked to unique environmental characteristics. Despite the olive industry's economic importance, the impact of climate change on the environmental suitability and the environmental distinctiveness of olive-producing regions is still far from being understood.</p></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><p>The objective of our work was twofold. First, to evaluate changes in the spatial distribution patterns of environmental suitability for olive growing both within and outside PDOs across the Iberian Peninsula under two climate change scenarios within a 2050 time horizon. Second, to evaluate the ability of PDOs to retain their distinctive environmental characteristics in response to new climate regimes.</p></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><p>The study area was framed using 1 × 1 km square plots. We used an Ecological Niche Modelling approach, firstly, to model the environmental correlates of environmental suitability for olive growing and, secondly, to forecast their relative change within and outside PDOs. The estimated change in environmental suitability for olive growing was calculated as the percentage variation between the present and each climate change scenario. Additionally, a Random Forests Modelling approach was employed, firstly, to model the environmental correlates of PDOs and, secondly, to evaluate their environmental distinctiveness based on the probability of belonging to a given PDO. The estimated change in environmental distinctiveness of PDOs was calculated as the percentage variation between present and future in the probability of belonging to the same PDO.</p></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><p>Our results suggest significant climate-driven range shifts of environmental suitability toward northern latitudes, leading to widespread reductions in southern latitudes both within and outside PDO olive-growing regions. Climate change will also severely affect the idiosyncratic environmental envelope of most PDOs, leading to the loss of their environmental distinctiveness.</p></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><p>Our study demonstrates that climate change's impact on olive growing in the Iberian Peninsula might be stronger than previously thought. We propose exploiting the existing genotypic and phenotypic diversity related to climate - or climate diversity - as a way to adapt <em>O. europaea</em> crops to shifting climates and, in turn, allow olive growers to continue to grow in their current location for many years to come.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 104108"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142097291","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":"Toward compatibility with national dairy production and climate goals through locally appropriate mitigation interventions in Kenya","authors":"Michael W. Graham ,&nbsp;Şeyda Özkan ,&nbsp;Claudia Arndt ,&nbsp;Ricardo González-Quintero ,&nbsp;Daniel Korir ,&nbsp;Lutz Merbold ,&nbsp;Anne Mottet ,&nbsp;Phyllis W. Ndung'u ,&nbsp;An Notenbaert ,&nbsp;Sonja M. Leitner","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104098","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104098","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><p>Livestock are an important component of livelihoods in smallholder dairy systems in Africa, but are characterized by low animal productivity and large environmental impacts per unit of animal product (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) intensities). Governments in African countries have set ambitious targets for dairy systems, but development of climate-smart strategies has been hindered by a scarcity of baseline data and local intervention trials.</p></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><p>We use a rich dataset from smallholder mixed dairy systems in Kenya to determine whether national climate and development goals for 2030 can be met using locally appropriate interventions. Interventions considered included improved herd management and feed interventions.</p></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><p>We conducted a yield gap analysis to determine the scope of the existing milk yield gaps, then evaluated the extent to which yield gaps could be closed using interventions in a second step. We outscaled our results to the national level to determine the potential impact of adopting our interventions on national dairy production and GHG emission goals using the FAO Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model – interactive (GLEAM-i) tool.</p></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><p>Our analysis showed that substantial yield gaps exist in Kenyan dairy systems (39 to 49% of attainable yields). These gaps could be closed by intervention packages but not by individual interventions alone. Our outscaled scenarios showed interventions can reduce milk GHG emission intensities (−6.5 to −27.4%), while absolute emissions would increase in most scenarios (−3.9 to +25.9%). To meet national milk production goals, we estimated that a large increase in animal numbers is needed by 2030 compared to 2010 (from ∼2.7 M to 4.5–7.1 M heads of cattle). However, most scenarios fell short of the emissions target (−4% to +48%) by 2030. It may be possible to narrowly meet Kenyan national milk production and GHG emission goals by 2030.</p></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><p>National goals for milk production and reducing GHG emissions were only marginally compatible in Kenya. Other sectors of the economy will need to reduce emissions to ensure that food and nutrition security objectives are not jeopardized. In order to achieve national milk goals, there will be need to be a consummate increase in animal numbers even with the adoption of multiple interventions. To meet Kenya's national emissions goals, widespread adoption of several locally appropriate interventions will be required. International support will be needed to meet Kenya's conditional Nationally Determined Contributions under the 2015 Paris Agreement, as well as food and nutrition security goals.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 104098"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142077494","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":"How does pesticide reduction affect labour time and profitability? A crop production case study","authors":"Manika Rödiger ,&nbsp;Alexander Zorn ,&nbsp;Michael Mielewczik ,&nbsp;Katja Heitkämper ,&nbsp;Andreas Roesch ,&nbsp;Nadja El Benni","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104101","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104101","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><p>National and international agendas are focusing on reducing pesticides due to their detrimental effects on flora, fauna, and human health, which has led to the introduction of agri-environmental programmes aimed at reducing the risk of pesticides. Pesticide reduction in agriculture can have an impact on labour time requirements and profitability.</p></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><p>We used winter wheat, sugar beet, and potatoes as examples to analyse the changes in profitability and working time requirements, including management tasks.</p></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><p>For the calculations, we used five different production schemes for each crop: reference; (A) reduction of herbicides; (B) reduction of growth regulators, fungicides, and insecticides; combination of schemes (A) and (B); and organic production. The working time requirements for fieldwork and farm management work were modelled for each scheme and crop. The respective partial costs and benefits of the schemes were calculated for each crop.</p></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><p>Based on the model assumptions, scheme (B) appears favourable in terms of working time requirements, and profitability of winter wheat and sugar beet. Scheme (A) offers synergies between the same parameters for potato production. Economic analysis shows that crop production with reduced pesticide use may even experience an increase in financial viability if the yield is not severely jeopardised, and farmers can be compensated through premiums and direct payments.</p></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><p>Our results can support policy-making, since the labour time requirement and profitability of pesticide-reduced crop production can affect the success of voluntary agri-environmental programmes for the reduction of the risks from pesticide use in agriculture.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 104101"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X24002518/pdfft?md5=877ef1d6f6641fcf33f26c7730e296c3&pid=1-s2.0-S0308521X24002518-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142044389","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":"Can citizen science in water-related nature-based solutions deliver transformative participation in agri-food systems? A review","authors":"Taha Loghmani-Khouzani ,&nbsp;Victoria Dany ,&nbsp;Nadine Seifert ,&nbsp;Kaveh Madani ,&nbsp;Edeltraud Guenther","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104052","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104052","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;CONTEXT&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Highly water-dependent agri-food systems are impacted by external shocks, revealing their vulnerabilities and stressing the need to transform them towards increased sustainability and resilience. Various disciplines and scholars highlight the role of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in addressing societal challenges while creating sustainable and resilient contexts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;OBJECTIVE&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;In steering transformative processes, participation is vital as a governance variable. However, motivating stakeholders' engagement with NbS uptake in decision-making requires evidence proving its potential to effectively address their direct and indirect environmental, societal, and economic concerns. This review systematically analyzed the potential of Citizen Science (CS) to overcome the barriers to NbS adoption and to drive stakeholders' attitudes towards sustainability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;METHODS&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Focused on water as an essential for the agri-food system, 46 articles were systematically analyzed to examine water-related NbS, locate relevant drivers and barriers of NbS and ecosystem services, including associated advantages and disadvantages.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;Current research focuses heavily on NbS that benefit people, often overlooking the broader environmental benefits. While a trend towards using NbS for extreme weather events is evident, other critical areas like irrigation, groundwater management, food security, and water sanitation (WASH) need more attention. These elements are vital for sustainable and resilient agri-food systems. The literature identifies three central challenges to implementing NbS: knowledge gaps, participation, and funding. Novel participatory research methods like CS could prove pivotal in addressing NbS adoption barriers. CS in NbS can enhance engagement through improved and informed stakeholder participation while ensuring cost-effective and transparent processes of monitoring and evaluating potential success. Although NbS are gaining traction, scopes and scales of implementation must be more inclusive of various stakeholders and ecological services for the broader environment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;SIGNIFICANCE&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;p&gt;CS in NbS can promote sustainable attitudes within the individuals of the society, and by design, NbS provides a sustainable context. Upon proper alignment, CS-NbS can increase the harmony between human and natural systems, shedding light on the Resource Nexus cycle and ultimately causing a visible change in behavior within the engaged stakeholder network. This approach values and amplifies notions of inclusiveness and the incorporation of local knowledge. Living labs and mixed-method research in CS-NbS can initiate inter and transdisciplinarity, collaborative learning, knowledge sharing, and enhanced participation in decision-making while unlocking the transformative capacities of NbS and strengthening the science-policy-society interface.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 104052"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X24002026/pdfft?md5=f293a9fcd773874ec94e9fb08808f3c7&pid=1-s2.0-S0308521X24002026-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142021053","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":"Developing sustainable dairy farms in the tropics: From policy to practice","authors":"Titis Apdini,&nbsp;Corina E. van Middelaar,&nbsp;Simon J. Oosting","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104097","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104097","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><p>Sustainable dairy production is included in the policy agenda of many countries in the tropics to address, among others, their commitment to the Paris Agreement. To the best of our knowledge, however, a study to assess the impact of the proposed interventions for sustainable dairy production is still lacking for most of those countries. Using policy goals as entry points to develop scenarios can provide insight into the impact of policy interventions on dairy farming practices.</p></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><p>This study aimed to evaluate the implication of interventions towards sustainable dairy development identified by the governments of Indonesia and Costa Rica.</p></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><p>Information about current farming practices (i.e. the baseline) were collected on 32 smallholder dairy farms in Indonesia and 24 dairy farms in Costa Rica. Scenarios were designed based on policy goals for dairy development and climate change mitigation in each country. The scenarios for Indonesia encompassed relocation of the dairy sector to Sumatra to allow coupling of livestock to land combined with a restriction on manure production to ensure all manure to be applied to grow forage, and a restriction on the amount of purchased feeds, at two levels: maximally 100% and 50% of the baseline. The scenarios for Costa Rica included a silvopastoral system and a reduction in the amount of purchased feeds, at two levels: 50% and 80% lower than the baseline. We estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at chain level and carbon (C) stocks at farm level.</p></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><p>The scenarios for Indonesia increased herd size and milk output by 240–360%, and GHG emissions per farm by 269–455%, while decreased GHG emissions per kg milk by 1–10%, compared to the baseline. C stocks per farm were higher in the scenarios than in the baseline, but compared to natural vegetation much more C is lost under the scenarios because more land is being used. The scenarios for Costa Rica reduced herd size and milk output by 5–25% and GHG emissions per farm by 17–35%, while GHG emissions per kg milk decreased by 10%, compared to the baseline. C stocks per farm were comparable.</p></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><p>To achieve the multiple policy goals for sustainable dairy development, the governments need to consider the trade-off between increasing milk production and reducing GHG emissions. In Indonesia, relocation of the dairy sector needs a strict policy to avoid the expansion of dairy farms into tropical forest land. Furthermore, the Costa Rican government needs to incentivise dairy farmers to implement a silvopastoral system to reduce GHG emissions and land use. This, however, will be at the expense of milk output.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 104097"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X24002476/pdfft?md5=05966fd344ee07b451f01a40710ce431&pid=1-s2.0-S0308521X24002476-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142040015","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":"Quantifying the adoption of conservation agriculture: Development and application of the Conservation Agriculture Appraisal Index","authors":"Laura I. Ruiz-Espinosa ,&nbsp;Nele Verhulst ,&nbsp;Floris van Ogtrop ,&nbsp;Rebecca Cross ,&nbsp;Bram Govaerts ,&nbsp;Harm van Rees ,&nbsp;Richard Trethowan","doi":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>CONTEXT</h3><p>Estimates of conservation agriculture (CA) adoption vary worldwide because of a lack of a standardized methodology to quantify the simultaneous utilization of its core principles of minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil organic cover and crop diversification. Comparisons of CA adoption among farms across regions requires estimation of the farm area and cropping season where CA principles are applied.</p></div><div><h3>OBJECTIVE</h3><p>To develop the Conservation Agriculture Appraisal Index (CAAI) as a standardized conceptual framework with defined thresholds that indicates the intensity and frequency of use of each CA core principle. CAAI was subsequently applied to quantify CA adoption on farms across four wheat (<em>triticum aestivum</em>) growing regions, both with and without livestock, including dryland and irrigated systems in Australia and Mexico, respectively.</p></div><div><h3>METHODS</h3><p>CAAI is a continuous scoring system that estimates the intensity and frequency of application of the core principles and their concurrent utilization to assess the extent of CA adoption. CAAI score is the sum of the scores of each core principle, accounting for the percentage of the farm area and cropping season where CA is applied. CAAI emerged from semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and farm visits that captured underlying patterns of CA use in regional-specific contexts.</p></div><div><h3>RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS</h3><p>CAAI assessed annual CA adoption on 100 farms in four wheat growing regions with different environments and farming systems. The adoption of CA was higher in Australia than Mexico, where partial adoption was more prevalent, especially for summer crops. ‘No adoption’ of CA occurred when one of the core principles consistently scored zero within a year.</p></div><div><h3>SIGNIFICANCE</h3><p>The CAAI can be used as a benchmarking research tool at the farm level to standardize units for comparisons and identify levels of CA adoption by farm area and cropping seasons between and across regions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7730,"journal":{"name":"Agricultural Systems","volume":"220 ","pages":"Article 104095"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X24002452/pdfft?md5=cf63f41e53bcc05dc452aa492c51f412&pid=1-s2.0-S0308521X24002452-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141994770","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}