Agriculture Green Development in China and the UK: common objectives and converging policy pathways

This paper has three aims. First, to examine how the negative environmental consequences of intensive agriculture have driven China and the UK to shift away from narrowly focused farm output policies and adopt more holistic green development pathways. Second, to explore the policy objectives they have in common. Third, to assess the numerous opportunities for joint research and knowledge sharing through the Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network and other existing institutional mechanisms. The intensification of agricultural production in the UK started several decades earlier than in China as did the negative environmental consequences of the farm practices. However, their strategies and policies for sustainable intensification and green development have much in common. These are set out in two main documents: the Chinese State Council guidelines for green agriculture and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 25 Year Environment Plan. There are substantial mutual advantages from greater collaboration on problem identification and monitoring; the development of appropriate technological and management responses and the formulation of sound policies. To achieve this potential, it is recommended that further thought be given to how best to bring together all of the key stakeholders along the whole food chai

Using long-term experiments at Rothamsted to address current agricultural and environmental issues

In the Broadbalk Experiment at Rothamsted winter wheat has been grown in monoculture since 1843; wheat in rotation and additional treatments have been introduced during the course of the experiment. Since 1968, when new crop varieties and fungicides were introduced, yields have averaged over 6 t ha‐1with either inorganic fertilizers or farmyard manure. With high‐yielding varieties of winter wheat on Boardbalk, or spring barley on the Hoosfield experiment, maximum yields are currently achieved with a combination of inorganic and organic inputs. The long‐term experiments have provided much information on the losses of nitrate and phosphate to water from different treatments and also on the impact of recent decreases of sulphur deposition on soil S dynamics and crop composition. Archived samples of soils and crops from the Park Grass Experiment (continuous cut pasture) and experiments in which arable land has reverted to forest have provided information on soil acidification. This has resulted mainly from acid deposition, previously SO2 but now dominated by oxides of nitrogen. Acidification has caused the mobilization of toxic metals including Al, Mn and Zn and their increased uptake in herbage. Archived samples have also made it possible to study the deposition and accumulation of metals and organic pollutants in soils and crops and the changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen content resulting from different management practices. Such data has been used to construct models of soil C and N dynamics. The on‐going sites provide experimental material for biological studies including fertilizer and management impacts on nitrous oxide fluxes and for testing hypotheses on soil biodiversity and quality

Response to ‘A well-established fact: Rapid mineralization of organic inputs is an important factor for soil carbon sequestration’ by Angers et al.

Letter to the edito

Soil carbon stocks at regional scales

None available (Preface)