Modeling and analyzing the agroecological performance of farms with ECOPATH

Intensive and integrated resource management, where field crops, vegetables, trees, livestock and fish production are combined through efficient reuse of wastes, residues, by-products and external inputs, offers a potential avenue towards a productive and ecologically balanced agriculture. The ECOPATH model software provides important insights into the structure and function of global aquatic ecosystems. The application of the same concept and approach to terrestrial-based culture systems exemplifies a tool which has the potential to improve communication and productivity within research while addressing the issue of sustainable natural resources management.Farming systems, Agricultural ecology, Resource management, Mathemathical models, Monitoring, Modelling

Rice‐animal co‐culture systems benefit global sustainable intensification

Producing more food with less pollution and greenhouse gas emissions is a grand challenge for the 21st century. Strategies to successfully promote win-win outcomes for both food security and environmental health are not easy to identify. Here we comprehensively assess an ecological rice-animal co-culture system (RAC) (e.g., rice-fish, rice-duck, and rice-crayfish) through a global meta-analysis and identify the potential benefits of global promotion. Compared to traditional monoculture of rice or animal production, the RAC can not only reduce the demand for agricultural land areas, but also increase rice yields (+4%) as well as nitrogen use efficiency of rice (+6%). At the same time, RAC reduces nitrogen losses (−16% runoff and −13% leaching) and methane emissions (−11%), except for rice-fish coculture systems, which are likely to increase methane emissions (+29%). Furthermore, RAC increases the net income of farmers through reducing cost of fertilizer and pesticide input and achieving higher outputs with more marketable products. According to the development stage of different countries, promotion of RAC will thus realize multiple benefits and aid sustainable intensification

Complex agro-ecosystems for food security in a changing climate

Attempts to increase food crop yields by intensifying agricultural systems using high inputs of nonrenewable resources and chemicals frequently lead to de-gradation of natural resources, whereas most technological innovations are not accessible for smallholders that represent the majority of farmers world wide. Alternatively, cocultures consisting of assemblages of plant and animal species can support ecological processes of nutrient cycling and pest control, which may lead to increasing yields and declining susceptibility to extreme weather conditions with increasing complexity of the systems. Here we show that enhancing the complexity of a rice production system by adding combinations of compost, azolla, ducks, and fish resulted in strongly increased grain yields and revenues in a season with extremely adverse weather conditions on East Java, Indonesia. We found that azolla, duck, and fish increased plant nutrient content, tillering and leaf area expansion, and strongly reduced the density of six different pests. In the most complex system comprising all components the highest grain yield was obtained. The net revenues of this system from sales of rice grain, fish, and ducks, after correction for extra costs, were 114% higher than rice cultivation with only compost as fertilizer. These results provide more insight in the agro-ecological processes and demonstrate how complex agricultural systems can contribute to food security in a changing climate. If smallholders can be trained to manage these systems and are supported for initial investments by credits, their livelihoods can be improved while producing in an ecologically benign way

Research and education for the development of integrated crop-livestock-fish farming systems in the tropics.

There is a vast potential for Asia's numerous and needy small-scale farmers to enjoy the benefits of integration of aquaculture into farming systems. This publication attempts to create a framework for an interdisciplinary approach to research and education in integrated farming - a fusion of agriculture and aquaculture sciences.Integrated farming, Research, Education, Tropics, Farm Management,

Research and education for the development of integrated crop-livestock-fish farming systems in the tropics

There is a vast potential for Asia's numerous and needy small-scale farmers to enjoy the benefits of integration of aquaculture into farming systems. This publication attempts to create a framework for an interdisciplinary approach to research and education in integrated farming - a fusion of agriculture and aquaculture sciences.Integrated farming, Research, Education, Tropics

Fed Up: Now's the Time to Invest in Agro-Ecology

As trends in investment in agriculture in poorer countries edge up, the combined effects of climate change, energy scarcity and water paucity now demand that we radically rethink our agricultural systems.Business as usual will not do. An unprecedented combination of pressures is emerging to threatenthe health of existing social and ecological systems. Population and income growth, urbanization,changing consumption patterns, stagnant yields, demand for land, feed, and biofuels, and theimpact of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds.The combined effects of climate change, land degradation, cropland losses, water scarcity and species infestations may cause projected yields to be 5-25% short of demand by 2050, and 600 million additional people could be affected by malnutrition as a direct result of climate change by 2080.The current food system is failing to feed the world adequately, and widespread poverty and inequality mean that many are too poor to access the food that is available. Despite there being enough food for everyone, an estimated 925 million people are hungry and another billion suffer from 'hidden hunger' and micro-nutrient deficiency, while 1.5 billion people are overweight and obese, and a third of all food for human consumption is lost, spoiled, or wasted.Productivity gains from the Green Revolution have not always been sustainable over time and often came at a high social and environmental cost, including the depletion of soils, pollution of groundwater, biodiversity loss, high household debts, and increased inequality among farmers.With case study evidences from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Pakistan, and citing global studies and surveys, this report argues that agro-ecology -- or ecological agriculture -- offers tools that can help the poorest communities to develop new, affordable, dynamic, low-carbon and locally-adaptable models of agricultural development to meet these multiple challenges. Recent research shows that agro-ecology is highly productive and holds great promise for the roughly 500 million food-insecure households around the world.Agro-ecology is the application of ecological science to the study, design, and management of sustainable agriculture, and it is based on practices such as recycling biomass, improving soils through green manures, mulches and bio-fertilisers, minimising water, nutrient and solar radiationlosses, intercropping, mixed farming with a variety of crops and farm animals, and minimising the use of chemical fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides

Management of Paddy Soil towards Low Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sustainable Rice Production in the Changing Climatic Conditions

Climate change is a vital environmental issue for the twenty-first century, which may significantly affect rice productivity and accelerate greenhouse gas emissions from paddy ecosystem, which is of great environmental concern which is of great environmental concern. Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are the most important greenhouse gases due to their radiative effects as well as global warming potentials (GWPs). CH4 and N2O gases are simultaneously emitted from rice fields to the atmosphere due to their favorable production, consumption, and transport systems. The intensive rice farming system has been creating excessive pressure on rice fields to produce more rice for the expanding world population, thereby deteriorating soil fertility status and rice paddy ecosystem balance by stimulating more CO2, CH4, and N2O fluxes to the atmosphere. The extreme climatic variables such as high light intensity, high water vapor or relative humidity, high temperature, and drought stress may badly suppress beneficial microbial activity, soil nutrients, and water availability to rice plant; eventually, rice yield may be decreased drastically, and simultaneously, greenhouse gas emissions could be increased significantly. In this situation, conservation tillage, water saving irrigation technique such as alternate wetting and drying, soil amendments with biochar, vermicompost, azolla-cyanobacterial mixture, recommended silicate slag, and phospho-gypsum with minimum NPKSZn fertilizer (IPNS) should be introduced to the field level farmers for sustainable rice production and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions

Increasing the Growth and Production of Irrigated Rice Through the Integrated Application of Rice–Duck–Azolla

The application of integrated agriculture is an effort to reduce dependence up on agrochemicals and increase the absorption of nutrients, especially nitrogen, to increase plant growth and production. Azolla is an algae that can provide nitrogen for rice, while ducks can increase the availability of N, P, and K, as well as the efficiency of nitrogen use. This research aimed to evaluate the role of ducks and Azolla in increasing the growth and production of rice plants. This research was conducted from October 2018 to February 2019 using an experimental method with a nonfactorial randomized block design. The combinations of nitrogen fertilizers, Azolla, and ducks (K) were as follows: K1 = 115 kg N ha−1, without ducks, without Azolla; K2 = 86 kg N ha−1, without ducks, 1,000 kg Azolla ha−1; K3 = 86 kg N ha−1, 3,000 ducks ha−1, 1,000 kg Azolla ha−1; K4 = 58 kg N ha−1, 3,000 ducks ha−1, 1,000 kg Azolla ha−1; K5 = 29 kg N ha−1, 3,000 ducks ha−1, 1,000 kg Azolla ha−1; and K6 = without N fertilizer, 3,000 ducks ha−1, 1,000 kg Azolla ha−1. The results showed that the application of 58 kg N ha−1, 3,000 ducks ha−1, and 1,000 kg Azolla ha−1 (K4) was able to decrease the N fertilizer application by 50% and increase the rice growth and yield by 12.17% and 20.32%, respectively. Therefore, the integrated application of rice–duck–Azolla would support sustainable agriculture

A model for the future: Ecosystem services provided by the aquaculture activities of Veta la Palma, Southern Spain

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. The lack of space and opportunity for development has been identified as key reasons behind the stagnation of the European aquaculture industry. With the historical loss and degradation of current European wetlands there is an opportunity for harnessing the commercial investment of the aquaculture industry in construction of dual purpose wetlands that incorporate both conservation and extensive aquaculture activities. These wetlands can be used to expand the area available to suitable aquaculture into ecologically sensitive areas, such as Natura 2000 sites. Veta la Palma (VLP) situated in the Doñana Natural Park (and a Natura 2000 site) is an example of such an aquaculture development and a possible model for future opportunities. In the current study some of the important ecosystem services that are provided by VLP are assessed. The provisioning services of VLP were the economic rationale for the investment and more than 820tonnesyr-1 of fish and shrimp is produced, through a mixture of semi-extensive and extensive aquaculture. The regulating services include nutrient absorption, and the flow of river water through VLP and high primary production results in the absorption of 377tonnes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen yr-1, and 516tonnes of Cyr-1. Supporting services include the provision of habitat for more than 94 bird and 21 fish species. The primary production that supports the birds, extensive and semi-extensive aquaculture production was also estimated to be 167,000tonnes, 50,000tonnes and 133,000tonnesyr-1, respectively. The losses to birds are substantial and these estimates indicate that almost half of the primary production supports the wetland birds which directly consume 249tonnes of fish and 2578tonnes of invertebrates per annum. However it is the ecological credentials of the farm that enable premium prices and hence ensure the economic viability of the farm. The study demonstrates the possibility of using aquaculture to mitigate the historical loss of wetlands, provide significant ecosystem services and contribute to achievement of the European environmental legislative goals, and furthers the opportunity for the expansion of aquaculture into sensitive but impacted habitats.Peer Reviewe