Agronomic Characterisation of Sewage Sludge: Residual Effects

The progressive implementation of the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC is increasing the quantities of sewage sludge requiring disposal. Agronomic use of sewage sludge should be based on crop fertiliser requirements and heavy metals content. Sewage sludge fertiliser potential depends on the stabilisation treatments of sewage sludge: composting, anaerobic digestion, aerobic digestion or pelleting (EPA, 1994). The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the fertiliser effectiveness and residual effects of three types of sewage sludge treated in three different ways

Pasture Production After Sewage Sludge and Liming Application on Highlands in North West Spain

In recent years, a sewage sludge surplus has been created in the EU countries, due to the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/CEE. Therefore, it is necessary to find adequate disposal for these residues in accordance with EU policy. Organic matter and nutrient sewage sludge contain principally N, indicating that it could be used as fertiliser. The main risk of this residue is its heavy metal content, whose solubility is usually increased as soil pH declines. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of liming and sewage sludge application on pasture production in a silvopastoral system located on acid soi

Seasonal Variation of Crude Protein Content of Different Herbaceous, Shrub and Tree Species

Silvopastoralism is a sustainable way of land management that reduces fire risk due to the reduction of fuel under trees when plants are used as animal food. This is particularly important in areas like Galicia that have 16% of the fired area of Europe. Silvopastoral systems can contribute to environment conservation and provide feed for autochthonous breeds more adapted to mountain conditions, enhancing biodiversity conservation. In formation on seasonal changes in crude protein content of spontaneous species will indicate better management of pasture resources in mountain areas

Effect of Tree Species and Density on Pasture Production in Galicia, Spain

Galicia produces 50% of the forest products of Spain. Livestock production earns 62% of the income of the agrarian sector in Galicia. Afforestation has been very important in the last decade to such an extent that the area of forest and woodlands now covers 62% of Galicia. It is necessary to increase the rate of return on investments in planted forests in order to avoid rural depopulation through improvement of rural development and welfare. This paper reports on the effect of combining pastures with trees

Shading Effect on Production and Protein Concentration of \u3cem\u3eDactylis Glomerata\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eAgrostis Tenuis\u3c/em\u3e

Silvopastoral systems make compatible livestock and timber production and provide important advantages from economic and ecological points of view (Sibbald, 1996). Around one million ha of new afforested areas promoted by the EU Common Agricultural Policy have been established in the last decade, that can be used as potential silvopastoral system areas. Pasture production is usually reduced in dense stands as trees grow up due to the light interception by the tree crown, but the radiation reaching the soil will depend on the tree type and this will affect herbaceous species composition and development. The aim of this work was to evaluate the shading effect (0 and 50 % of light interception) on pasture production and composition of monocultures of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L. var. Artabro) and bent grass (Agrostis tenuis Sibth. cv Highland) in simulated conditions

Silvopastoral Systems: Analyses of an Alternative to Open Swards

Silvopasture is a sustainable land use management practiced in most continents in the world including parts of southern Europe, but is not broadly used in northern and western Europe. The importance of this practice has been recognised and the last draft of the EU regulation by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/capreform/rurdevprop_en.pdf) includes specifically funding for establishment of agroforestry practices in Europe. This paper discusses the advantages of managing semi intensive grassland within a silvopastoral system from an ecological, productive and social point of view in the south, south-central and western countries of Europe

Modeling Pinus radiata D. Don growth and pasture production under different land uses and climate scenarios

Yield-SAFE is a biophysical model to predict long-term production according to light and water availability in agricultural, forest, and agroforestry systems. The Yield-SAFE model should be calibrated and validated for the highest number of tree species and crops to be used as a management tool that takes into account climate change. This study aimed to calibrate and validate the Yield-SAFE model for Pinus radiata D. Don and sown pasture (Dactylis glomerata L.) to estimate the production in (1) forest systems, (2) agricultural systems, and (3) silvopastoral systems established in Galicia (NW Spain) under different conditions of climate: (i) reference “current” climate from 1961 to 1990, (ii) climate from 2021 to 2050, and (iii) climate from 2051 to 2080. The Yield-SAFE model can now be used to assess the long-term productivity of P. radiata D. Don and D. glomerata L. under different land uses and climate conditions. The Yield-SAFE model simulated similar tree and pasture growth in all scenarios of climate because the inter-annual variation of climate was small. However, tree growth estimated with the Yield-SAFE model was higher in the silvopastoral systems than in the forest systems, indicating that land use had more impact on land productivity than climate. Therefore, in regions such as Galicia, the Yield-SAFE model could be used as a tool to support the land use change in an agroforestry context, whilst also including climate scenarios which is considered a valuable solution to mitigate the effect of climate change

Understanding agroforestry practices in Europe through landscape features policy promotion

Agroforestry understood as the combination of a woody component (forest tree, shrub, fruit tree) with an agricultural use of the understory is not clearly identified as such by the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Despite the protection and promotion of the woody component in different parts of the CAP political text, the identification of agroforestry is not clear, although it can be recognised in the description of some landscape features, such as isolated trees and different types of hedgerows. Moreover, it is important to identify the extent of such woody components promoted by the CAP in agricultural lands to validate the impact of current and future measures. This paper aims at the characterisation of the current extent of landscape features all over Europe by analysing the Rural Development Program (RDP) measures within the CAP 2007–2013 and 2014–2020 that promote said features in Europe to increase the ecosystem service delivery. Isolated trees and hedgerows are protected unsatisfactorily through the Cross-compliance and Greening of CAP Pillar I. In contrast, Agri-environment measures associated to Pillar II are used in most European countries to protect both isolated trees and hedgerows and to promote them as boundary elements. The promotion of hedgerows and isolated trees mainly related to silvoarable and silvopastoral agroforestry practices is aimed at the promotion of the ecosystem services (such as water protection and biodiversity) and improvement in resilience (such as adaptation to climate change) they provide; therefore, the agroforestry environment benefits are indeed recognised. Landscape features comprising woody perennials should be associated with agroforestry when present in arable and permanent grasslands

AGFORWARD Third Periodic Report: July 2016 to December 2017

Project context The European Union has targets to improve the competitiveness of European agriculture and forestry, whilst improving the environment and the quality of rural life. At the same time there is a need to improve our resilience to climate change and to enhance biodiversity. During the twentieth century, large productivity advances were made by managing agriculture and forestry as separate practices, but often at a high environmental cost. In order to address landscape-scale issues such as biodiversity and water quality, we argue that farmers and society will benefit from considering landuse as a continuum including both agriculture and trees, and that there are significant opportunities for European farmers and society to benefit from a closer integration of trees with agriculture. Agroforestry is the practice of deliberately integrating woody vegetation (trees or shrubs) with crop and/or animal systems to benefit from the resulting ecological and economic interactions.AGFORWARD (Grant Agreement N° 613520) is co-funded by the European Commission, Directorate General for Research & Innovation, within the 7th Framework Programme of RTD. The views and opinions expressed in this report are purely those of the writers and may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commissio