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Systematic design and evaluation of crop rotations enhancing soil conservation, soil fertility and farm income: A case study for vegetable farms in South Uruguay
Abstract
Rapid changes in the social and economic environment in which agriculture is developing, together with the deterioration of the natural resource base threatens sustainability of farm systems in many areas of the world. For vegetable farms in South Uruguay, survival in the long term depends upon the development of production systems able to reduce soil erosion, maintain or improve physical and biological soil fertility, and increase farmer’s income to socially acceptable levels. We propose a model-based explorative land use study to support the re-orientation of vegetable production systems in South Uruguay. In this paper we present a new method to quantitatively integrate agricultural, environmental and socio-economic aspects of agricultural land use based on explicit design objectives. We describe the method followed to design and evaluate a wide variety of land use activities for Canelón Grande (South Uruguay) and we illustrate the usefulness of this approach in an ex-ante evaluation of new farming systems using data from 25 farms in this region. Land use activities resulted from systematic combination of crops and inter-crop activities into crop rotations, different crop management techniques (i.e., mechanisation, irrigation and crop protection) and animal production. We identified and quantified all possible rotations and estimated inputs and outputs at crop rotation scale, explicitly considering interactions among crops. Relevant inputs and outputs (i.e., soil erosion, balance of soil organic matter and nutrients, environmental impact of pesticides, labour and machinery requirements, and economic performance) of each land use activity were quantified using different quantitative methods and following the target-oriented approach. By applying the methodology presented in this paper we were able to design and evaluate 336,128 land use activities suitable for the different soil types in Canelón Grande and for farms with different availability of resources, i.e., land, labour, soil quality, capital and water for irrigation. After theoretical evaluation, a large subset of these land use activities showed promise for reducing soil erosion, maintaining soil organic matter content of the soil and increasing farmer’s income, allowing improvement of current farming systems in the region and providing a widely diverse set of strategic options for farmers in the region to choose from. This method can be used as a stand-alone tool to explore options at the field and farm scale or to generate input for optimisation models to explore options at the farm or regional scale.
... The agronomic, economic, and environmental performance of the generated rotations can be assessed ex-ante in an empirical way. For example, the ROTAT model was used to design rotations that enhance farm income and soil organic matter accumulation while lowering soil erosion for the vegetable-pasture farms in Uruguay (Dogliotti et al., 2004(Dogliotti et al., , 2014. Bachinger and Zander (2007) developed the ROTOR model to generate desirable rotations for organic farming systems in terms of operating profits, soil N balance, and weed infestation risks. ...
... However, rotation generator models are likely to produce large sets of feasible alternatives, which may overwhelm stakeholders and complicate decision-making, particularly when there are trade-offs among assessment indicators. Previous studies with rotation generator models often resort to thresholds for certain indicators to identify rotations for adoption (Dogliotti et al., 2004;Bachinger and Zander et al., 2007), but these threshold values are often arbitrarily defined and may not be available for all indicators. Furthermore, trade-offs among some indicators are overlooked in these studies. ...
... Following the rules would prevent abiotic and biotic stresses leading to substantial yield loss and it would also avoid long fallow periods between two successive crops for a rotation. Rotational constraints in this study were looser than those in other studies (Dogliotti et al., 2004;Reckling et al., 2016). For instance, maize and wheat were allowed to be planted every year and continuous cultivation of cotton was accepted, to reflect existing farmer practices because these crops have limited susceptibility to stresses induced by high-frequency cropping at current input levels according to local observations. ...
... For instance, the wheat is produced in a three-year cycle with yearly harvesting of two crops in Egypt [4]. Crop rotation improves the soil properties and the organic matter; hence, it increases the crop yields and maintains the soil fertility [5]. Also, it regulates the required water for irrigation, minimizes the usage of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, and reduces agricultural pests and diseases. ...
... • The same crop cannot be planted yearly in the same land to sustain soil fertility [5], and its repetition relies on crop frequency. The cropping frequency is defined as the time needed to return the same crop to a particular plot during the rotation cycle. ...
... Constraint (6) guarantees enough time before replanting the crops in the same plot, while constraint (7) defines the occurrence of each crop based on the crop's frequency. Constraint (7) adequately describes the crops' frequencies when the rotation cycle does not exceed the crops' frequency reciprocal [5]. Constraint (8) introduces the annual plot status (Y ikt ) and its interrelation with the binary decision variable X ijk . ...
The tactical, technical, and economic considerations are critical factors in evaluating crop rotation decisions in any agricultural system. This system suffers from uncertainties that are amplified during the multi-period rotation planning. This study considers the crop rotation problem with water supply/demand and net return uncertainties, which vary within the allowable rotation cycle. Robust optimization is the most relevant tool for elaborating uncertainty in different parameters related to agricultural activities. It makes the formulated model numerically tractable, primarily when implemented in complex agricultural problems. The main objectives of this work include deciding the optimal cropping plans, achieving a reasonable income for the farmer, and taking water uncertainties into account on a tactical basis. All the mentioned goals are integrated while respecting the agronomic constraints and satisfying specific demand. A powerful feature of robust optimization is its robustness level adjustment for the solution against uncertainty sets. In this situation, the relationships between optimal values, the budget of uncertainty, and the perturbation values were outlined with insights towards tradeoff decisions. The proposed model compares the performance at each perturbation level with insights toward proper managerial decisions.
... To estimate attainable and sustainable farm performance, we explored alternative farm system configurations following the approach proposed by Dogliotti et al. (2004Dogliotti et al. ( , 2005. The time horizon of the study was 1 to 5 years, implying that all options explored were available for implementation in the short term. ...
... We used the ROTAT model to generate agronomically feasible crop rotations (Dogliotti et al., 2004). In line with the time horizon of the study, the selection of candidate crops for rotation design included the crops already grown in the region, which guaranteed that farmers would have the experience and skills to grow them in the short term (Table 2). ...
... For each crop production activity, we estimated crop yields, irrigation water requirements, soil organic matter balance, amount and distribution of labour over the year, costs of inputs and machinery, gross margin, estimated erosion and nitrogen surplus (Dogliotti et al., 2004). ...
In Uruguay sustainability of family farm systems is threatened by soil degradation, low yields and excessive workloads resulting in low labour productivity, low family income and high erosion rates. The productive and environmental performances of most Uruguayan family farms are well below levels achievable with current resource availability. This paper aims to show the productive and environmental improvements simultaneously possible by addressing resource management and organization of the farm system as a whole. We report results from two learning cycles on 4 case study farms and address their interdependence. The first cycle involved on-farm re-design in a co-innovation process that led to significant improvements in the performance of the case study farms. The insights gained during co-innovation work were used to parameterize a bio-economic whole-farm model to explore the space for further performance improvement and to inform future co-innovation processes. The two learning cycles characterized three farm performance levels: the initial farm performance (IniFP), representing the state of the farm at the start of co-innovation, the improved farm performance (ImpFP) at the end of co-innovation, and the attainable farm performance (AttFP) estimated with the FarmImages model. Difference between ImpFP and AttFP represent the sustainability gap. After three years of co-innovation, family income on the four farms improved by 16 to 350%, while labour productivity increased by 11% to 214%. Model explorations showed that significant further improvement in socio-economic results was possible while maintaining soil erosion under the tolerance level. The strategies identified differed among the four farms depending on their resource endowment and the technologies available, confirming the need for a systemic perspective and tailor-made solutions. We show how an inclusive whole-farm approach comprising co-innovation and model-based explorations contributes to connecting scientific insights with practical contextualization to close sustainability gaps on family farms.
... Para los sistemas de pequeños productores hortícolas, las principales interrogantes agroecológicas de la comunidad científica se basan en la búsqueda de estrategias para mejorar conjuntamente la sustentabilidad económica y ambiental de los predios (por ej. Dogliotti et al. 2004, Dogliotti et al. 2014. Muchos de estos trabajos combinan la utilización de modelos de simulación junto con técnicas de co-innovación para el re-diseño del sistema productivo a nivel predial, en búsqueda de estrategias 'ganar-ganar' que simultáneamente eleven la producción y los indicadores ambientales o de sustentabilidad. ...
... Muchos de estos trabajos combinan la utilización de modelos de simulación junto con técnicas de co-innovación para el re-diseño del sistema productivo a nivel predial, en búsqueda de estrategias 'ganar-ganar' que simultáneamente eleven la producción y los indicadores ambientales o de sustentabilidad. Los modelos de simulación utilizados en estos trabajos permiten explorar una gran cantidad de alternativas para localizar aquellas que resulten más satisfactorias en términos productivos y ambientales (Dogliotti et al. 2004). Como resultado de este enfoque, las medidas de mejora no son generalizables sino específicas para cada predio hortícola en particular, dentro de las cuáles es frecuente encontrar: planificación predial, incorporación de cultivos resistentes o tolerantes a enfermedades, rotación de cultivos, implementación de labranza reducida, incorporación de abonos verdes, aplicación de enmiendas orgánicas, incorporación de una fase de pradera en la rotación, e incluso el aumento de la superficie de cultivos bajo cubierta (Berrueta et al. 2020, Dogliotti et al. 2014, Colgano et al. 2021. ...
Documento técnico para el fomento de la producción con bases agroecológicas (en línea con los 10 elementos de la agroecología). El documento incluye las siguientes partes:
- RESUMEN EJECUTIVO
- MARCO CONCEPTUAL Y OPERATIVO
- MARCO INSTITUCIONAL Y GOBERNANZA
- APORTES DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN CIENTÍFICA URUGUAYA A LA TRANSICIÓN ECOLÓGICA
- INSTRUMENTOS PARA TRANSICIONES DEL SISTEMA AGROALIMENTARIO Y PROMOCIÓN DE LA AGROECOLÓGICA
... Current methods and modelling tools meant to facilitate the design of cropping and farming systems primarily address the knowledge-intensive process of selecting crops, devising rotations, and assigning land area to meet various objectives (see e.g. Dogliotti et al., 2004;Castellazzi et al., 2008;Groot et al., 2012;Martin et al., 2013;Naudin et al., 2015;Falconnier et al., 2017;Tariq et al., 2019). How to include the spatial aspects (e.g. ...
... During temporal evaluation of the generated crop rotations, the effect of succeeding crops is currently taken into account in a binary manner resulting in inclusion or exclusion of subsequent crops. Dogliotti et al. (2004) already proposed an approach in which the yield of a crop was calculated based on its regional maximum attainable yield and factors that corrected for negative impacts from water limitation and soilborne pests and diseases. This approach is currently being incorporated into ROTAT+ (Groot, personal communication). ...
CONTEXT
Crop diversification has been proposed as a promising strategy for transitioning towards sustainable agricultural systems by leveraging biological processes and controls present in naturally biodiverse ecosystems. Strip cropping, a form of intercropping where two or more crops are grown adjacent to one another in long and narrow multi-row strips, has been shown to deliver a greater range of ecosystem services compared to sole crop references due to increased interspecific crop interactions, spatio-temporal niche differentiation, and higher in-field habitat diversity. The possibility to adjust the strip width to the working width of farmers' existing machines gives strip cropping of cash crops an important implementation advantage over other intercropping practices. Systematic exploration and evaluation of spatial plans for strip cropping systems, however, is constrained by the lack of spatially-explicit design approaches.
OBJECTIVE
Here we present a framework to support systematic exploration of spatio-temporal strip cropping configurations for a given farm context and set of objectives.
METHODS
The framework comprises six steps: 1) Diagnosis of the current farm situation; 2) Specification of strip cropping system attributes; 3) Temporal strip cropping planning; 4) Spatio-temporal strip cropping planning; 5) Spatio-temporal strip cropping configuration assessment; 6) Strip cropping configuration selection and visualization. We combine two software applications: ROTAT to generate crop rotations and the novel RotaStrip to systematically explore spatio-temporal configurations based on the rotations generated by ROTAT. We illustrate the framework with a case study from the Netherlands using gross margin, habitat score, and spatial crop compatibility score as indicators.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
150 crop rotations were generated. When 6 additional crops were included this was increased to 51,371, and the maximum values of the three indicator scores were also improved. Using the thirteen candidate crops to generate spatio-temporal configurations, we identified 16 Pareto-optimal and 78 anti-optimal configurations, from which the highest and lowest performing configurations were selected. The two contrasting configurations scored 7254 and 6658 €.ha⁻¹.yr⁻¹ for gross margin, 0.88 and 0.75 for habitat score, and 98 and− 58 for crop compatibility score, respectively, illustrating the value of consideration of the spatial aspects. Bridging the current knowledge gaps regarding what constitute good crop combinations, and strengthening the evidence underpinning the evaluation of ecosystem service delivery on the basis of spatial configuration, would further improve the quality of the generated strip cropping plans.
SIGNIFICANCE
The framework presented and illustrated in this study provides a basis for systematic spatio-temporal strip cropping systems design and implementation.
... Hierarchical multi-attribute models are a type of decision model used in DSSs that decompose the problem into smaller and less complex subproblems and represent it by a hierarchy of attributes and utility or aggregation functions. Such decision models are especially useful in solving complex decision problems [4][5][6][7]. DEX [8] is a qualitative hierarchical multi-attribute method whose models are characterized by using qualitative (symbolic) attributes and decision rules. ...
... However, the brute-force approach that evaluates all possible alternatives is computationally demanding and not reasonable for Hierarchical multi-attribute models are a type of decision model used in DSSs that decompose the problem into smaller and less complex subproblems and represent it by a hierarchy of attributes and utility or aggregation functions. Such decision models are especially useful in solving complex decision problems [4][5][6][7]. DEX [8] is a qualitative hierarchical multi-attribute method whose models are characterized by using qualitative (symbolic) attributes and decision rules. ...
Multi-attribute decision analysis is an approach to decision support in which decision alternatives are evaluated by multi-criteria models. An advanced feature of decision support models is the possibility to search for new alternatives that satisfy certain conditions. This task is important for practical decision support; however, the related work on generating alternatives for qualitative multi-attribute decision models is quite scarce. In this paper, we introduce Bayesian Alternative Generator for Decision Support Models (BAG-DSM), a method to address the problem of generating alternatives. More specifically, given a multi-attribute hierarchical model and an alternative representing the initial state, the goal is to generate alternatives that demand the least change in the provided alternative to obtain a desirable outcome. The brute force approach has exponential time complexity and has prohibitively long execution times, even for moderately sized models. BAG-DSM avoids these problems by using a Bayesian optimization approach adapted to qualitative DEX models. BAG-DSM was extensively evaluated and compared to a baseline method on 43 different DEX decision models with varying complexity, e.g., different depth and attribute importance. The comparison was performed with respect to: the time to obtain the first appropriate alternative, the number of generated alternatives, and the number of attribute changes required to reach the generated alternatives. BAG-DSM outperforms the baseline in all of the experiments by a large margin. Additionally, the evaluation confirms BAG-DSM’s suitability for the task, i.e., on average, it generates at least one appropriate alternative within two seconds. The relation between the depth of the multi-attribute hierarchical models—a parameter that increases the search space exponentially—and the time to obtaining the first appropriate alternative was linear and not exponential, by which BAG-DSM’s scalability is empirically confirmed.
... -Computer models can simulate a very high number of cropping systems and explore a wide diversity of soils and climates (Dogliotti et al., 2004;Loyce et al., 2002). But they have two shortcomings. ...
... This was indeed the weakest point of the interdisciplinary process conducted in this work. The potential of model-based prototyping to elaborate a theoretical prototype adapted to a target set of constraints has been demonstrated by Dogliotti et al. (2004). The lack of such a model revealed the need to develop a conceptual model of the cropping system as a tool to facilitate the elaboration and the adjustment of the prototype. ...
... The use of salt tolerant plants to cope with soil and water salinity is an effective and low-cost phytoremediation strategy to improve production in salt-affected lands, due to the capacity of many halophyte species to accumulate salt in their tissues (Liang and Shi, 2021;Nanhapo et al., 2017;. A growing body of research is dealing with the use of halophytic plants to remove salts from the soil in intercropping or sequential cropping systems (Ben Hamed et al., 2021;Maitra et al., 2021), while including a cash crop or a forage species to ensure economic sustainability (Dogliotti et al., 2004). The use of halophytes in intercropping has been successfully implemented to improve the growth and yield of plants of agronomic interest. ...
... Overall, research has indicated that this method increases agricultural yields (Talgre et al. 2009, Ndayegamiye et al. 2015Hayat and Ali 2010). It also prevents soil erosion and promotes soil fertility (Dogliotti, 2004). Crop rotation also helps build microhabitats that allow various communities with distinct biological roles to coexist while also fostering a healthy, disease-resistant soil. ...
... Overall, research has indicated that this method increases agricultural yields (Talgre et al. 2009, Ndayegamiye et al. 2015Hayat and Ali 2010). It also prevents soil erosion and promotes soil fertility (Dogliotti, 2004). Crop rotation also helps build microhabitats that allow various communities with distinct biological roles to coexist while also fostering a healthy, disease-resistant soil. ...
Soil fertility management has two requirements: establishing and maintaining the soil pH and essential plant nutrient elemental content within their desired ranges for that soil type and crop or cropping sequence, with its associated cultural management practices. It is obvious that none of the soil fertility management systems will meet all these requirements. However, there are basic principles that do apply, requiring moderate modification to suit the specifications of soil type, crop species, and climatic/weather characteristics. Management requirements for achieving a moderate yield and average product quality, require fewer inputs and skill requirements than those required for achieving maximum yield and highest product quality, the latter not allowing for errors in procedural practices. For most cropping situations, the maximum biological yield potential based on the combination of soil and plant parameters is unknown. It is also not possible to advance quickly from a moderate soil fertility/plant nutrition status to one that results in high yield or quality product achievement. Those management practices applied to one set of soil, plant, or climatic conditions are not applicable to all ranges of conditions. Hence, this chapter tends to discuss the problems of soil fertility and productivity, nutrients and mining and imbalance, and inadequate plant nutrients supply in Nigeria’s agriculture, as well as the problems affecting the use of chemical fertilizers, the types, and role of organic sources of plant nutrients. Finally, a case will be made for integrated nutrient supply that combines chemical fertilizers with biological and organic sources.
... Other scholars have focused on crop production systems to support managers to handle information regarding production costs, availability of land and water, and uncertain labor supply. The creation and evaluation of feasible crop rotations on a vegetable farm was implemented using linear programming and network flows [51,52]. Lao et al. (2010) [53] developed an integrative food handling system and a warehouse system. ...
The specific attributes of agrifood supply chains, along with their importance for the economy and society, have led to an increased interest in the parameters that enhance their effectiveness. Recently, numerous digital tools aimed at improving supply chain effectiveness have been developed. The majority of existing research focuses on optimizing individual processes rather than the overall growth of a food supply chain. This study aims to identify the stages of the information systems planning (ISP) process that affect the success of developing a strategic decision support system (DSS) for improving the decision-making process in the agrifood supply chains. Data were collected from 66 IT executives from Greek small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agrifood sector and analyzed using regression analysis. The results revealed that situation analysis is the only stage of ISP that predicts ISP success. These findings can assist managers in appreciating the critical role of ISP for improving the performance of agrifood supply chain operations. Implementing the most appropriate information systems (IS) and digital tools results in increased competitive advantage, cost savings, and increased customer value.
... For instance, we interviewed a wider range of stakeholders (e.g., marketing firms, inter-branch organization), with a focus on the coordination at STAFS level rather than the technical implementation of the farming practices and their outcomes. When the multi-criteria assessment of cropping systems is a welldeveloped approach (Dogliotti et al., 2004;Ravier et al., 2015;Salembier et al., 2016), the evaluation of coupled innovations remains an avenue for future research as their complexity (multi-actor, multi-level interactions) makes it difficult to evaluate them effectively. In our study, only a qualitative evaluation by innovation's stakeholders could be attempted and was undermined by the lack of data and hindsight of the interviewees. ...
CONTEXT
High pesticide use causes environmental and human health hazards. Yet, the change to alternative crop protection practices faces a web of interacting barriers that results in a sociotechnical lock-in. Designing “coupled innovation” has been proposed by agricultural scientists to overcome the barriers that prevent change in practices. Coupled innovations consist of developing jointly innovations both at the farm and the agrifood system level to overcome the lock-in.
OBJECTIVE
In this study, we aim at characterizing how existing coupled innovations foster the implementation of agroecological crop protection in French vegetable systems.
METHODS
‘Tracking down coupled innovation’ method consisted of six steps: (i) identification of the existing coupled innovations in vegetable systems across France; (ii) interview of their stakeholders; (iii) identification, based on the interviews and an analytical framework, of the sociotechnical levers involved in the coupled innovations and the functions the levers perform to foster agroecological crop protection; (iv) characterization of the conditions for the coupled innovation implementation based on 20 categorical variables; (v) typology of the innovations based on the lever functions they performed, using a multiple correspondence analysis followed by hierarchical cluster analysis on principal components; (vi) comprehensive analysis of one typical innovation per cluster, to understand in-depth how it was implemented.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
We identified 40 coupled innovations, 17 sociotechnical lever functions and 5 consistent clusters of coupled innovations each implementing a specific combination of lever functions. The five clusters consist of: (1) co-developing and diffusing new inputs and related knowledge through specific knowledge infrastructure, (2) facilitating farmers' peer-exchange of knowledge, (3) (re)structuring the food value chain to support the implementation of agroecological crop protection, (4) pooling material and cognitive resources and (5) renting or exchanging fields to support crop diversification. Key conditions for innovation success were the support of intermediaries, a shared vision and trust between stakeholders, their active involvement, and a limited physical distance between them. The comprehensive analysis of the typical innovations illustrated, for each cluster, the complex relation between the sociotechnical levers, the functions they perform, the network involved, the ACP practices implemented and the conditions for successful implementation.
SIGNIFICANCE
Tracking down coupled innovation produced knowledge that can support the coupled innovation design in other contexts, hence the sustainability transition of the agrifood systems. It can complement the study of innovative farmers' practices with capitalizing knowledge on the means to overcome barriers to the implementation of these practices.
... For instance, including legume species in the rotation permits the fixation of atmospheric N 2 and makes available a source of facilely absorbable N for the next planting season. Soil conservation and protection can be optimized by introducing cover crops which also improves the carbon content in the soil; decreased leaching, via the immobilization of N predominantly on freely drained, lighter lands; and promotes land steadiness (Dogliotti et al. 2004;Guzmán et al. 2019). Richardson et al. (2009) showed that about 40% of the assimilated microbial C occurs at root systems. ...
The ever-growing planet population will reach 10 billion in 2050 according to estimates. The current agricultural and food system demonstrates every day a little more its inability to feed this population adequately. More than 10.7% of the current world population suffers from chronic undernourishment. The soaring world population has resulted in multiple environmental damages: the destruction of forests, overconsumption of water reserves, extensive use of pollutants, soil degradation, etc. However, a majority (72%) of the worldwide food is cultivated and gathered by 2.5 million smallholder producers on small family farms (<1 ha). Agroecology offers concrete solutions to climate breakdown and contributes to the preservation of natural resources essential for sustainable agricultural production. The soil support for agriculture can be well managed by adopting cultivation techniques, associated with plant cover of the soil (green manures, alley or mixed cropping with agroforestry species) and vigorous biological activity, by limiting
or eliminating chemical fertilizer use, prioritizing local inputs and recycling of farm by-products (manure, compost, bio-char, crop waste, household waste), maintaining inherent fertility of soil, conserving soil biodiversity, and enhancing
plant nutrient availability.
... One well-known example is nitrogen restoration operated by leguminous plants grown in succession of cereals or other crops (Stagnari et al., 2017). Of course, rotation should also be economically sustainable, so the plant species used for the sequential cropping are usually chosen among the cash crops or the forage species, to ensure a constant income over time (Dogliotti et al., 2004). ...
The loss of agro-biodiversity, climate changes and food insecurity are major challenges in the Mediterranean countries with potentially multidimensional consequences. With respect to salinity, approximately 18 million ha, corresponding to 25 % of total irrigated land in the Mediterranean area, are salt affected. Intensive cropping and the excessive use of expensive inputs such as water and fertilizers aggravate this situation. Understanding how we could improve crop productivity in salinized environments is therefore critical to face these challenges. Our comprehension of fundamental physiological mechanisms in plant salt stress adaptation has greatly advanced over the last decades. However, many of these mechanisms have been linked to salt tolerance in simplified experimental systems whereas they have been rarely functionally proven in real agricultural contexts. The sustainability of farming systems in salt affected Mediterranean soils can be effectively achieved by the use of salt-tolerant halophyte plants even more effective through the use of intercropping, crop rotation and aquaponics.. Moreover, if these halophyte plants are removed from the soil to grow other species, pressure on generating salt-tolerant crop plants would be reduced and much healthier crop plants would be cultivated in less stressed saline soils. This paper will focus on the sustainable practices based on the cultivation of halophytes in saline soils by highlighting some experimental activities carried out at laboratory and field levels in the last few years.
... PM can be subdivided in soil management (SM), crop management (CM) and land use activities (LU). Disaggregation of LU shows that these in turn consist of the cultivation of a crop, cover crop or fallow period on a certain field at a moment in time t in a given sequence of activities (adapted from Dogliotti et al., 2004 andRabbinge, 1997). Within LU, two key concepts are the crop rotation and cropping plan. ...
Soil quality is an important determinant of agricultural productivity, farm resilience and environmental quality. Despite its importance, the incorporation of sustainable soil management in economic models is lacking. This study approaches farmers as decision makers on soil management. Sustainable soil management may be an investment that goes at the expense of short-term returns but increases future soil quality. Hence, the key problem is economic: establishing long-term sustainable soil management at a minimized loss of income. In this study, we define the Economic Value of Land (EVL) as the cumulative returns of a piece of land over a period in time. Maximum long-term EVL is obtained if a soil’s potential is maximally utilized in a sustainable way. From this follows that the Economic Value of Sustainable soil Management (EVSM) is defined as the difference between a sustainable and unsustainable EVL. To acquire a fundamental understanding of EVSM, agronomic and technical factors must be integrated with economics. Production management, the complete set of physical and non-physical inputs is the primary determinant of future soil quality and hence EVL. Maximizing EVL first requires a fundamental understanding of soil quality management: What are the properties of soil quality and how are these influenced by crop production? Subsequently, production management has to be organized in such a way EVL is maximized. This study provides an overview of soil quality management and crop production management linked to economics. The framework provides a qualitative blueprint for bio-economic modelling and a basis for policies to enhance sustainable soil management.
... This implies a description and formalisation of the logic that farmers apply in arranging crops in space and time. Economic models used to develop or optimise locally suited crop rotations at farm and landscape scales capture the underlying decisions related to agronomic criteria, local environmental conditions, economic considerations and agricultural policies (Maxime et al., 1995;Rounsevell et al., 2003;Dogliotti et al., 2004;Schönhart et al., 2011;Dury et al., 2012). These economic models mainly apply linear programming and evolutionary optimisation algorithms to mechanistically determine optimal rotational schemes subject to a set of resource constraints and considerations of profitability, predictability and suitability (Dury et al., 2012). ...
CONTEXT
Crop rotations considerably affect the hydrological regime of river basins used for agricultural production and are key for sustainable land and water management. However, eco-hydrological modelling usually neglects crop rotations.
OBJECTIVE
In this paper, we present a Crop Generator to reproduce the stochastic characteristics of crop rotations at regional scale.
METHODS
The Crop Generator emulates farmers’ decision making on crop rotation planning. We combined the Crop Generator with the eco-hydrological Soil and Water Integrated Model to show the hydrological relevance of considering crop rotations in a study region in central Europe including the Elbe River basin.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
A spatial validation showed that the Crop Generator reproduced the given cropping patterns well. Higher daily discharge, runoff and groundwater seepage and lower evapotranspiration were simulated based on crop rotations compared with a simplified representation of cropping patterns. The Crop Generator is a solution to simulate more realistic cropping patterns in large-scale eco-hydrological modelling. It closes the gap between aggregated agricultural statistics and the requirement of representing crop rotations in a realistic way in eco-hydrological modelling.
SIGNIFICANCE
The Crop Generator enables smart projections of future adjustments in crop rotations in view of climate and socio-economic changes as a basis for improving eco-hydrological projections and designing more sustainable agricultural systems.
... (ii) Ils forment des « boîtes noires » peu accessibles aux acteurs, qui peuvent ainsi douter voire rejeter les résultats par manque de compréhension de ce qui les a produits (Duru et al. 2015b;Martin 2015). (iii) Les prototypes issus de ces modèles (Dogliotti et al. 2004;Dogliotti et al. 2005) tendent à être éloignés de la situation réelle des acteurs cité par Le Gal et al. 2011). (iv) La modélisation implique une forte réduction de la complexité faute de parvenir à représenter finement les interactions complexes au sein du système (Martin 2015), qui sont pourtant clé pour la gestion de problème de durabilité (Prost et al. 2016). ...
Un changement rapide et d’ampleur vers des pratiques agricoles qui contribuent à la protection de l’environnement et la santé humaine est nécessaire. Dans de nombreux cas, ces pratiques alternatives existent, mais elles ne sont pas mises en œuvre du fait de contraintes au niveau de la parcelle, de l’exploitation, du territoire, de la filière et/ou à une échelle globale. Dans ma thèse, j’ai développé une méthodologie d’accompagnement du changement de pratiques prenant en compte les déterminants du choix des pratiques aux différentes échelles. J’ai appliqué cette méthodologie sur un cas d’étude précis : la gestion des bioagresseurs telluriques, en particulier des nématodes à galles, en maraîchage sous abris provençal. Les nématodes à galles causent des dommages importants sur les cultures maraîchères au niveau provençal (40% des exploitations touchées) et mondial. Leur gestion actuelle repose essentiellement sur l’usage de nématicides non sélectifs causant des dommages en matière environnementale et de santé humaine. Tout d’abord, j’ai réalisé une analyse sociotechnique montrant que le système agri-alimentaire maraîcher provençal était majoritairement verrouillé autour de l’utilisation des techniques « de désinfection radicale des sols », excluant ainsi la mise en œuvre de techniques alternatives agroécologiques. Ce verrouillage était constitué d’un ensemble de freins interconnectés qui ont entravé le changement de pratiques et auxquels prenait part une diversité de parties prenantes au niveau provençal et au-delà : les agriculteurs, l’amont et l’aval de la filière (consommateurs inclus), la R&D et les acteurs des politiques publiques. Suite à cette analyse, j’ai étudié des innovations couplées existantes facilitant la mise en œuvre d’une protection agroécologique des cultures dans les systèmes légumiers français. Cette « traque aux innovations » nous a permis d’identifier 5 types d’innovations couplées, et pour chaque type les combinaisons de leviers sociotechniques mobilisés et leurs conditions de mise en œuvre. En parallèle, j’ai mis au point un jeu sérieux me permettant de partager efficacement le résultat de l’analyse sociotechnique avec les parties prenantes du problème. Ce jeu sérieux m’a également permis de faciliter la gestion des connaissances et la créativité chez les parties prenantes et de favoriser leur collaboration, afin d’initier la conception de solutions innovantes adaptées au problème traité. Enfin, j’ai mobilisé les travaux précédents (analyse, traque et jeu) lors de 4 ateliers de coconception avec les parties prenantes. J’ai créé et mobilisé une diversité de dispositifs d’accompagnement dans ces ateliers. Ils ont permis de concevoir des solutions de plus en plus élaborées pour faciliter le changement de pratiques. Au total, nous avons collectivement conçu 50 solutions innovantes dont 41 innovations couplées, ouvrant ainsi l’espace des solutions possibles. Nous avons également évalué une partie des innovations couplées. En discussion, je pointe les pistes d’action et de recherche prometteuses pour faciliter l’implémentation de pratiques agroécologiques de gestion des bioagresseurs telluriques en maraîchage provençal sous abris. Je discute les évolutions possibles du dispositif méthodologique que j’ai développé au cours de ma thèse. Je propose ainsi d'améliorer son efficacité et de compléter le processus de conception en précisant les conditions de mise en œuvre des innovations conçues, en les évaluant et en les ancrant dans le système agri-alimentaire territorial. Enfin, je montre que ce travail contribue à établir des bases théoriques et méthodologiques à l’accompagnement du changement de pratiques par la reconception multi-échelle de systèmes agricoles. Les parties A « Problématique » et C « Discussion » de ma thèse sont rédigées en français. La partie B est constituée de trois articles et d’un chapitre de thèse rédigés en anglais.
... Combining these results allows one to examine the relation between land use dynamics and soil erosion. Such information may form the basis for formulation and analysis of new land use scenarios for soil conservation, for instance, decreasing agricultural land use, redistribution of land use based on pedological information, slope, and potential soil erosion (Stolte et al. 2005); designing new crop rotations, inter-crop activities, production techniques, and animal production activities (Dogliotti et al. 2004). Whether or not such alternatives are actually adopted depends on incentives, economically and/or environmentally driven. ...
... High rainfall and temperatures also result in increased pest and disease pressures. Crop rotation is an effective method to mitigate some of these problems, and is an important agricultural practice that provides many bio-based functions (Dogliotti et al. 2004;Kuepper & Gegner 2004;Carter et al. 2009). Perennial grasses, mainly bahiagrass Paspalum notatum Flügge (Poaceae), have been found to impart a number of advantages when used as a rotational crop, although historically they have been considered an invasive weed species (Marois et al. 2002;Katsvairo et al. 2006). ...
Plantings of perennial grasses have been shown to be an effective means to enhance soil qualities for organic production. Similarly, tillage methods can significantly impact production in organic crop production systems. We have previously examined direct effects of these practices on crop yields, profitability, and soil quality for rotations of organic vegetables in a 4-yr study in northern Florida, but less is known about the effects of these treatments on arthropods. We report here on experiments that used large fields of Argentine bahiagrass, Paspalum notatum Flügge (Poaceae) ‘Tifton 9,’ converted to seasonal vegetable rotations of oat/rye, bush beans, soybeans, and broccoli in a nested design using 4 levels (yr) of continuous bahiagrass production prior to vegetable rotations and 2 tillage methods (conventional and strip tillage). During the fourth yr of the study, we conducted pitfall trapping on a subset of plots involving all 8 treatments (4 bahiagrass treatments and 2 tillage treatments) to examine effects on epigeal arthropods. Over 10,000 organisms and 48 species were identified with 36 arthropod species comprising greater than 97% of the collected specimens. Fields with increasing yr in bahiagrass significantly increased the number of carabid beetles, whereas there was a decline in total herbivores. Tillage treatments impacted arthropod abundance with a noted decline in total carabids collected in strip tilled plots. Pest management implications of these treatments are discussed.
... On parle d'expérimentation « in silico ». Certains modèles permettent même la génération automatique et en grand nombre de combinaisons innovantes qui sont ensuite automatiquement évaluées et triés en fonction des objectifs recherchés (Loyce et al., 2002a ;2002b ;Dogliotti et al., 2004). ...
Diffusion du document : INRA Antilles-Guyane, Unité Agropédoclimatique de la zone Caraïbe, Domaine de Duclos, 97170, Petit-Bourg (Guadeloupe), France Diplôme : Dr. d'Université
... Crop rotation is defined as the cyclic pattern of planting different crops in the same plot. It increases the organic matter, nitrogen and soil properties, and hence it preserves the soil quality and increase yields [4]. It helps in regulating the irrigation water, reducing diseases and agricultural pests, as well as minimizing the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. ...
... Other researchers have paid attention to crop production systems to help decision makers to manage production costs, uncertain labor supply or limited availability of land and water. Linear programming and network flows, have been used to generate and assess feasible crop rotations on a vegetable farm (Detlefsen and Jensen, 2007;Dogliotti et al., 2004). Lao et al. (2010) presented an integrative food handling system and a warehouse system but they also focused on the technical aspects. ...
... However, most models developed to simulate farmers' decisions are adapted to specific purposes and locations. They are also often developed to handle a specific question related to environmental (Ekasingh et al., 2005;Aubry et al., 2006), socio-economic (Gravsholt Busck, 2003;Dogliotti et al., 2004), or climate change (Matthews et al., 1997;Butt et al., 2005) impacts on farm sustainability. They are usually not used for integrated issues such as policy assessment . ...
10. Congress of the European Society for Agronomy: Multi-functional Agriculture - Agriculture as a Resource for Energy and Environmental Preservation, 2008/09/15-19, Bologna (Italie)
... The population growth and the intensification of agriculture for South America (Argentina and Uruguay) aggravated the demands of food and soil production. The cropping area increase brought the challenges of sustainable land use and soil erosion (Dogliotti et al. 2004). Relevant research has pointed out that the continuous cropping and shallow tillage accelerated SOC decrease in South America Mollisols; fertilization measures mitigated the SOC depletion to a certain extent but did not prevent significant losses (De Moraes Sá et al. 2017). ...
Purpose
Mollisols are the most fertile, high-yielding soils in the world. During the past several decades, Mollisols have lost about 50% of their antecedent organic carbon (C) pool due to soil erosion, degradation, and other unsuitable human activities. Therefore, restoring soil organic C (SOC) to Mollisols via reasonable management is crucial to sustainable development and is important for environmental stability. However, the existing literature on SOC and soil quality has focused on one soil type or on a given region where Mollisols occur, and the degree of SOC depletion and stabilization in Mollisols have not been comprehensively evaluated. Overall, we propose to develop an optimum scheme for managing Mollisols, and we outline specific issues concerning SOC restoration and prevention of SOC depletion.
Materials and methods
In this review, we identify the uncertainties involved in analyses of SOC in Mollisols as related to management practices. According to the existing literature on SOC in Mollisols at the global scale, we analyzed the results of SOC depletion research to assess management practices and to estimate the C amount stabilized in Mollisols.
Results and discussion
The review shows that the SOC stocks in Mollisols in North America under cropped systems had 51 ± 4 (equiv. mass) Mg ha⁻¹ in the top 30 cm soil layer. The SOC contents in Northeast China decreased from 52 to 24 g kg⁻¹ (46%) after 150 years of cultivation management. All of the Mollisols regions in the world are facing the challenge of SOC loss, and this trend could have a negative influence on global climate change. Hence, it is very important to take proper measures to maintain and enhance organic C contents in Mollisols.
Conclusions
We concluded that reasonable management practices, including no-tillage, manure and compost fertilization, crop straw returning, and mulching cultivation, are the recommended technologies. The C restoration in Mollisols is a truly win-win strategy for ensuring the security of food and soil resources while effectively mitigating global climate change. Thus, more attention should be given to protective management and land use for its impacts on SOC dynamics and soil properties in Mollisols regions.
... The diversification of crops in contrast to mono-cropping (i.e. intensification) in the same piece of land aims to preserving the soil quality, by avoiding soil nutrient depletion, controlling of pests and diseases, and suppressing weeds Dogliotti et al. [2]. ...
This paper presents a new formulation and solution for the crop rotation planning problem. The proposed model is respecting both agronomic and economic constraints with an objective of maximizing the total net return accumulated at the end of the rotation cycle. The formulation of the model considers the feasible alternatives in developing the crop rotation plan. The main contribution of this new formulation, is the integration of crop sequences with spatial and temporal variations while accounting for the known operational constraints.
... Rapid socioeconomic changes and deterioration of natural resources threaten the sustain ability of crop production systems across the globe (Dogliotti, Rossing, & Van Ittersum, 2004). Cropland-use activities have great impact on the terrestrial surface (Foley et al., 2005(Foley et al., , 2011 through disturbance of natural habitat, nutrient cycling, water use, carbon sequestration, biodiversity loss, and emission of the greenhouse gases (Foley et al., 2005). ...
Planned crop rotation offers a pragmatic option to improve soil fertility, manage insect pests and diseases, and offset the emission of greenhouse gases. The inclusion of legume crops in crop rotations helps to reduce the use of external nitrogen inputs for legumes and other crops because legumes may fix the atmospheric nitrogen. This also helps to reduce the environmental pollution caused by volatilization and leaching of applied nitrogen. The inclusion of allelopathic crops in rotation may be useful to suppress noxious weeds due to release of the allelochemicals in the rhizosphere. The rotation of tap-rooted crops with shallow rooted crops may result in efficient and productive use of nutrient resources and conservation of soil moisture. Continuous monoculture systems may cause the loss of biodiversity. Land fallowing is an efficient agricultural management technique mostly practiced in arid regions to capture rainwater and store it in the soil profile for later use in crop production. During fallowing, tillage operations are practiced to enhance moisture conservation in the soil. Keeping soil fallow for a season or more restores soil fertility through nutrient deposits; increases organic matter, microbial carbon, and soil microbial diversity; and improves the soil’s physical properties, including aggregation stability and reduced soil compaction due to decreased traffic. In addition, fallowing of land provides biological means of pest (weeds and insects) control by disrupting the life cycle of pests and decreasing reliance on pesticides. Land fallowing can help offset the emission of greenhouse gases from agricultural fields by reducing traffic and increasing carbon sequestration within the soil. Summer fallowing may help to preserve moisture in diverse soil types in the rainfed regions of the world, although it may reduce the carbon sequestration potential of soils over the long term. Energy resources are decreasing, and the inclusion of energy crops in crop rotation may be highly beneficial. Many of the processes, factors, and mechanisms involved in crop rotation and land fallowing are poorly understood and require further investigation.
... ROTAT has been applied for crop rotation planning in two different case studies in the Netherlands in South Uruguay with small conventional vegetable farms. ROTAT combined evaluation tools focus on phytosanitary issues, soil erosion and the use of pesticides and the long term dynamics of soil organic matter (Dogliotti et al., 2004). ...
... There is little information on the environmental impacts of irrigation in extensive crops in Uruguay. Dogliotti et al. (2004) modeled the productivity and environmental performance of horticulture crop rotations with and without irrigation, focusing on soil erosion and soil organic matter, but their model was not used for extensive crops. Nonetheless, it is known that several water bodies in Uruguay show organic and toxic pollution associated with the accumulation of nonbiodegradable solid wastes (Mello de Carvalho, 2013). ...
... Soil water balance and water stress reduction factor. The model uses as soil water balance an adapted version of SUCROS2 (Dogliotti et al., 2004;van Laar et al., 1997 Kc is the crop coefficient. We used a value of 0.75 for extensively grazed pastures as suggested by Allen et al., (1998) Ks is the water stress reduction factor (0-1), estimated as follows: ...
The livestock industry faces the double challenge of coping with the increasing demand for animal protein and reducing its high load on the environment. On the one hand, livestock has been recognized for its contribution to the economy, providing 40% of global agricultural GDP, ensuring a living for farmers, maintaining rural heritage and traditional farming landscapes, providing draft power, fuel, and sources of nutrients, particularly proteins. On the other hand, the livestock industry emits 13-18% of global greenhouse gas emissions, occupies 33% of total arable land and is responsible for 8% of global water use.
South American Río de la Plata grasslands comprise more than 500,000 km2, including all of Uruguay, north-eastern Argentina and southern Brazil. These grasslands provide feed for 43 million heads of cattle and 14 million sheep. The biome is habitat of 4000 native plant species, 300 species of birds, 29 species of mammals, 49 species of reptiles and 35 species of amphibians. They store 5% of the total soil organic carbon stock of Latin America on 3% of the area, and they protect soils from erosion. Cropping areas and livestock herds have shifted spatially. Regions that used to integrate crop-livestock systems have specialized in cropping, decreasing stocks but increasing beef confined systems (feedlots). Regions with historical predominance of cattle due to low-potential productive have been increasing in stocking rates which could aggravate overgrazing problems. Land-use change very likely increased provisioning services while very likely decreased supporting and regulating services. Overgrazing regimes with low forage allowances were predominantly associated with negative effects on provisioning and supporting and regulating ecosystem services. The most documented impacts of land use-change and overgrazing include: reducing soil organic carbon stocks and the diversity of plants, birds and mammals, and increasing soil erosion.
In order to identify the diversity in farming systems, the first biome-wide beef farm typology of the Rio de la Plata grasslands was constructed. While seven farm types were identified, most of the farms belonged to the family farms, with cow-calf operations using native grasslands. We identified positive deviant farms, which performed excellently in economic and environmental terms when compared to the other farms in the region, and, more generally, to farms from OECD countries. These positive deviant farmers achieved 192 kg LW ha-1 yr-1 or 201 US$ ha-1 year-1 with negligible fossil energy consumption and phosphorus surplus, low carbon footprint (13 kg CO2 eq kg LW-1) and having over 95% of their land under native grassland. This means that the native grassland-based farming systems of the Río de la Plata grasslands region have the potential to produce high-quality beef with low use of inputs and preserve biodiversity, thus constituting one of the most sustainable livestock farming system models. However, the greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product may be high when compared to other forms of protein production as a consequence of the digestive system of the ruminant.
Droughts may affect grazing systems at multiple levels: they reduce plant growth and biomass production, decrease intake, weight, and reproductive performance of livestock, increase costs and reduce income for farmers, and affect rural communities and even countries’ economies. The relationship between management and resilience to drought at paddock and farm level was studied. At paddock level, higher herbage allowance increased the resistance of herbage accumulation rate and animal weight. A positive relationship was found between pre-drought herbage height and resistance of herbage accumulation to drought, which means that herbage height can be used as a guideline for grassland management. The sheep to cow ratio was negatively correlated with pregnancy rate of cows, a key variable defining meat production and farm income.
The economic and environmental issues with livestock production systems discussed above demand local actions by stakeholders. One such action is to actively work on the redesign of individual farms, to improve farmer livelihoods and ecosystem service provision. To aid this process we present and evaluate a dynamic whole-farm simulation model (PASpALuM). The model elucidates the relations between grazing management, productivity and environmental impact. The herbage dynamics module was evaluated against experimental data, showing acceptable simulation of the seasonal dynamics of herbage height and mass. A simulation exercise explored the effect of grazing management on enteric methane emissions and soil organic carbon from 2007 to 2009.
Maintaining this example of nature inclusive agriculture and improving it to the level of agriculture-inclusive nature, seems possible by changing grassland management strategies. Contributions to greenhouse gas emissions by livestock will remain, but this should be seen as the price to be paid for maintaining a unique and priceless biome that cannot be maintained in another way than through low-intensity grazing by ruminants. The contribution of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems on native grasslands is determined by the carrying capacity of the grasslands and will remain much lower per hectare than that of intensive pastures. Solutions for global meat production should be considered within social and ecological boundaries. Such quest is not advanced by unilateral reliance on one size fits all efficiency measures.
... Co-innovation promotes collaboration between researchers and stakeholders beyond an initial design phase to realize combined technological and institutional innovation in farming systems, sectors, territories and value chains (Botha et al., 2014. Research has been conducted on model-based tools and methods that can support co-design and coinnovation at the farm scale (see for example Dogliotti et al., 2004;Cerf et al., 2012;Dogliotti et al., 2014;Le Gal et al., 2011;Speelman et al., 2014) and at the scale of whole systems to foster sustainability transitions (Bos et al., 2009;Elzen and Bos, 2016). Other research has explored the operational challenges associated with participatory research, co-design and co-innovation (see for example Douthwaite and Gummert, 2010;Neef and Neubert, 2011;Sewell et al., 2014;Van Mierlo et al., 2013;Dolinska and D'Aquino, 2016;Botha et al., 2017;Turner et al., 2017), in particular how structural and institutional features of agricultural innovation systems may, or may not, support codesign and innovation processes (see for example Eastwood et al., 2012;Hermans et al., 2015;Schut et al., 2015;Turner et al., 2016), and how actors in agricultural innovation systems may be connected in co-design and innovation processes through innovation intermediaries and/or boundary objects (see for example Jakku and Thorburn, 2010;Klerkx et al., 2010;Tisenkopfs et al., 2015). ...
Research has identified an urgent need to renew agriculture's traditional design organization and foster more open, decentralized, contextualized and participatory approaches to design and innovation. While the concepts of co-design and co-innovation used in agriculture resemble features of open innovation, they may benefit from ‘inbound open innovation’ themselves through cross-fertilization with management studies, design science, science and technology studies, and organization studies. This special issue brings together different streams of research providing novel perspectives on co-design and co-innovation in agriculture, including methods, tools and organizations. It compares empirical experiences and theoretical advances to address a variety of issues (e.g., innovation ecosystems, collective design management, participatory design methods, affordances of system analysis tools and network leadership) that shed new light on co-design and co-innovation in support of sustainable agriculture and more broadly transitions towards a diversity of food systems and a circular bioeconomy. This introductory paper presents crosscutting insights and distills from these three directions for future research and practice in agricultural design and innovation: 1) Further opening design and innovation techniques and tools to better account for visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory expressions in evolving designs and what they afford users; 2) Further opening innovation networks in view of creating and stimulating integrative niches that can foster sustainability transitions, which also requires network managers instilling a reflexive stance of network members and broader awareness of power structures attached to organizational, sector and paradigmatic silos in agricultural systems; and 3) Further opening the range of innovation actors to include non-human actants to better account for the agency of the material and ecological.
... Operations Research models have proved their utility in supporting speciality crop growers and distributors business decisions. Dogliotti, Rossing, and Van Ittersum (2004) used linear programming to generate and assess feasible crop rotations on a vegetable farm with a territorial scope. Detlefsen and Jensen (2007) addressed the crop rotation problem by using network flows to take account of one or two precrops. ...
To support the short food supply chain development in cities, we propose a diverse vegetable farm design model to maximise the farm revenue in response to clients' daily demands in local fresh fruits and vegetables. The model supports decision in creating or adapting farms within or around cities with viable business models. To the best of our knowledge, our model is a first attempt to integrate strategic and tactical decisions on multi-techniques, multi-products and multi-clients production systems. Integrating strategic and tactical decisions, we obtain new solutions that could not be obtained by separating the two decision levels, due to product short-time perishability constraints: on-plot and cold-room storage, loss functions and price reduction. We define a specific formulation of the production methods in the model to consider both cultivation and harvest tasks that compete for limited and expensive labour resource. This paper presents the mixed integer linear programme we develop, as well as graphical and computational results. We have been able to find relevant solutions on a real farm case study that demonstrates the interest of using short time-paces for the strategic sizing of a farm growing fresh perishable products.
... Crop and cropping system simulation models [13] can be used to estimate these variables, but may not be available for every crop in a cropping system experiment. Alternatively, empirical experimental data describing crop productivity may be combined with components of simulation models [14]. Especially, high frequency non-destructive measurements offer the possibility to additionally include dynamic aspects of crop growth into the analysis. ...
Silage maize (Zea mays L.) is the dominating energy crop for biogas production due to its high biomass yield potential, but alternatives are currently being discussed to avoid environmental problems arising from maize grown continuously. This study evaluates the productivity and resource use efficiency of different bioenergy crops and cropping systems using experimental and simulation modelling derived data. The field experiment consisted of two years, two sites differing in soil texture and soil water availability, different cropping systems and increasing nitrogen (N) supply. Continuous (two years) perennial ryegrass and two crop rotations including winter cover crops (double cropping system) and combining C4 and C3 crops were compared with continuous maize (maize–maize). The productivity of the crops and cropping systems in terms of dry matter (DM) yield was analyzed with respect to the fraction of light interception and light use efficiency (LUE). In addition, water use and water use efficiency (WUE), N uptake, and N use efficiency (NUE) were quantified. DM yield of the double cropping system was similar to that of continuous maize, due to a prolonged leaf area duration, compensating for the intrinsic lower LUE of C3 crops. Perennial ryegrass was less productive than the other crops/cropping systems. Nitrogen uptake and consequently N demand of perennial ryegrass and the C3 crops of the crop rotations were higher than for maize–maize. Groundwater recharge was mainly site-dependent, but was at both sites higher for maize than for the crop rotations or the perennial ryegrass system. Our results indicate that, in terms of biomass productivity, optimized rotations are feasible alternatives to maize–maize, but trade-offs exist in terms of water and N use efficiency.
... Co-innovation promotes collaboration between researchers and stakeholders beyond an initial design phase to realize combined technological and institutional innovation in farming systems, sectors, territories and value chains (Botha et al., 2014. Research has been conducted on model-based tools and methods that can support co-design and coinnovation at the farm scale (see for example Dogliotti et al., 2004;Cerf et al., 2012;Dogliotti et al., 2014;Le Gal et al., 2011;Speelman et al., 2014) and at the scale of whole systems to foster sustainability transitions (Bos et al., 2009;Elzen and Bos, 2016). Other research has explored the operational challenges associated with participatory research, co-design and co-innovation (see for example Douthwaite and Gummert, 2010;Neef and Neubert, 2011;Sewell et al., 2014;Van Mierlo et al., 2013;Dolinska and D'Aquino, 2016;Botha et al., 2017;Turner et al., 2017), in particular how structural and institutional features of agricultural innovation systems may, or may not, support codesign and innovation processes (see for example Eastwood et al., 2012;Hermans et al., 2015;Schut et al., 2015;Turner et al., 2016), and how actors in agricultural innovation systems may be connected in co-design and innovation processes through innovation intermediaries and/or boundary objects (see for example Jakku and Thorburn, 2010;Klerkx et al., 2010;Tisenkopfs et al., 2015). ...
Research has identified an urgent need to renew agriculture's traditional design organization and foster more open, decentralized, contextualized and participatory approaches to design and innovation. While the concepts of co-design and co-innovation used in agriculture resemble features of open innovation, they may benefit from ‘inbound open innovation’ themselves through cross-fertilization with management studies, design science, science and technology studies, and organization studies. This special issue brings together different streams of research providing novel perspectives on co-design and co-innovation in agriculture, including methods, tools and organizations. It compares empirical experiences and theoretical advances to address a variety of issues (e.g., innovation ecosystems, collective design management, participatory design methods, affordances of system analysis tools and network leadership) that shed new light on co-design and co-innovation in support of sustainable agriculture and more broadly transitions towards a diversity of food systems and a circular bioeconomy. This introductory paper presents crosscutting insights and distills from these three directions for future research and practice in agricultural design and innovation: 1) Further opening design and innovation techniques and tools to better account for visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory expressions in evolving designs and what they afford users; 2) Further opening innovation networks in view of creating and stimulating integrative niches that can foster sustainability transitions, which also requires network managers instilling a reflexive stance of network members and broader awareness of power structures attached to organizational, sector and paradigmatic silos in agricultural systems; and 3) Further opening the range of innovation actors to include non-human actants to better account for the agency of the material and ecological.
... Pour chaque culture, les données sont les dates de semis et de récolte, les durées d'interculture, le délai minimum avant de recultiver une culture sur une parcelle, la durée maximale d'une rotation sur la ferme ou le nombre maximal de cultures dans une rotation. ROTAT a été principalement utilisé pour évaluer les impacts de différentes systèmes de production sur des critères environnementaux et économiques, notamment pour des fermes maraîchères d'Uruguay (Dogliotti et al., 2004). Dans le même esprit, Stockle et al. (2003) proposent le modèle bio-physique CropSyst pour simuler avec un pas de temps journalier les effets du climat, du sol et de la stratégie de gestion sur la productivité des systèmes de culture et sur l'environnement. ...
Pour accompagner le développement des fermes urbaines professionnelles et des circuits courts et de proximité dans les grandes métropoles, nous proposons des outils à base de programmes mathématiques d’aide à la conception de fermes maraîchères diversifiées ciblant les demandes de différents types de clients en fruits et légumes frais locaux. Les solutions techniques de culture en ville se développent rapidement, mais compte-tenu des contraintes fortes de la production agricole urbaine (foncier limité, coûts opérationnels élevés), la définition de modèles économiques viables pour des fermes pérennes est un vrai défi pour les maraîchers urbains. Trois modèles en programmation linéaire mixte sont présentés et confrontés aux résultats du terrain : un modèle de planification tactique des fermes maraîchères, un modèle de dimensionnement stratégique des fermes maraîchères et un modèle de sélection de la meilleure combinaison de clients. Des résultats numériques et les performances des modèles sont présentés à partir de cas concrets multi-produits, multi-techniqueset multi-périodes. Nos contributions résident dans la prise en compte de la périssabilité des produits frais dans le dimensionnement stratégique des systèmes de production, incluant le dimensionnement de la main d’oeuvre agricole.
... In our case, the environmental criterion could be evaluated with a relatively simple criterion (N leaching) because no pesticides are used and erosion is limited by plastic mulch on Reunion Island. But additional criteria should be taken into account to match with the conditions of production in other country with others issues; these include soil fertility and erosion (Dogliotti et al., 2004) and water exposure to pesticides (Tixier et al., 2008). ...
The pineapple Victoria (‘Queen’) is grown on Reunion Island under a large range of weather conditions where the elevation ranges from 50 to 900 m a.s.l. and annual temperatures ranges from 19 °C to 25 °C in both humid and dry areas, resulting in variable fruit size, fruit quality, selling prices of products and N leaching. Our objective was to use a crop model to improve pineapple management practices according to the diversity of conditions on Reunion Island. Farm surveys resulted in the definition of eleven criteria describing the diversity of pineapple practices to characterize pineapple farm-type: ridges, tillage, planting density, level of N fertilization and number of N application, harvest date, irrigation, farm diversification, elevation, weather and location. Three types were then identified: 1) pineapples with sugarcane the main crop located at low elevation; 2) pineapples only located at high elevation; 3) diversified farms including pineapples located at low elevation. The SIMPIÑA model was used to identify a set of best practices for each farm-type, based on fruit quality (TSS/TA), agronomic (yield), economic (income at selling), and environmental criteria (N leaching). Producing large fruits seems to be the condition to increase agronomic and economic criteria, regarless pineapple farm-type because prices of products is higher for large fruit on local market. As a result, promising management sequences selected with the model underestimated the importance of selling small fruits at local market. Overall, a decrease of level of N fertilization could reduce N leaching without reducing yield and fruit quality. This study demonstrates that multi-criteria crop simulation models used with an optimization approach provide a framework suitable for designing new management strategies of pineapple production, while taking the type of pineapple farms into account.
... The diversification of crop rotations provides multiple agroecosystem benefits. Improvement of soil condition remains a major service provided by crop rotational diversity, including positive impacts on soil fertility, optimisation of nutrient availability, increase in organic matter content, and improvements in soil structure and aggregate stability (Watson et al. 2002, Dogliotti et al. 2004). If leguminous plants are integrated into the rotation, either as a cash crop or cover crop, atmospheric nitrogen can be fixed, further benefitting soil fertility and providing an important source of nitrogen for subsequent crops. ...
... Estas actividades son descritas cuantitativamente en términos de rendimiento, margen bruto, costos de producción, uso de biocidas, uso de fertilizantes y requerimientos de mano de obra, entre otros. Por otro lado, Dogliotti (2004) generó coeficientes técnicos para más de 300,000 rotaciones para tres tipos de suelo en Uruguay, que incluyen 13 cultivos hortícolas, 4 actividades íntercultivo y diferentes técnicas de manejo, entre otras variantes. Una importante ventaja de estos generadores de coeficientes técnicos es que permiten la agregación de la información para diferentes escalas de análisis. ...
En la última década el concepto de sustentabilidad se ha establecido como un eje fundamental para el diseño y evaluación de sistemas de manejo de recursos naturales, desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías, e incluso de políticas públicas. El concepto sigue siendo sin embargo, extremadamente difícil de definir y poner en práctica de manera coherente. Cuando se profundiza en el tema y se trata de entender y analizar la sustentabilidad de los sistemas socio-ambientales, que son dinámicos y multi-agentes, afloran sus vicisitudes y retos desde el punto de vista conceptual y metodológico. El desarrollo de marcos de análisis y evaluación que permitan hacer operativo el concepto de sustentabilidad de manera coherente es así más necesario que nunca. Dentro del proyecto de “Evaluación de Sustentabilidad “MESMIS”, un esfuerzo interdisciplinario que comenzó hace diez años y reúne investigadores procedentes de varias instituciones de México, queremos aportar elementos para hacer frente a este reto.
Justamente este libro es el resultado de una intensa reflexión interna del grupo de trabajo. En efecto, después de haber publicado en 1999 el libro “Sustentabilidad y manejo de recursos naturales” con la descripción del Marco MESMIS, el grupo inició una etapa de intensa difusión de la metodología que aportó materiales muy valiosos, una rica experiencia y nuevas inquietudes teórica-prácticas. El libro que hoy ponemos a su consideración trata, por lo tanto, de dar respuesta a estos retos manifestados al interior del equipo. Uno de ésos tiene que ver con la necesidad de integrar todo el bagaje de experiencias y reflexiones del proyecto a lo largo de diez años, incorporando a su vez las nuevas ideas y propuestas que han resultado de la propia evolución de la literatura sobre el tema de sustentabilidad a nivel internacional. El otro fundamental es el poder profundizar sobre varios aspectos teóricos relacionadas con el componente social y con la naturaleza dinámica y multidimensional de la sustentabilidad. En este volumen se quiere dar también los elementos, a través de programas amistosos de simulación interactiva (incluidos en un CD adjunto), que ayuden a entender la naturaleza dinámica de los atributos de la sustentabilidad y la interdependencia entre ellos.
... Thus, there has been a lot of investigation conducted on such experiment of crop rotation [2]. On the other hand, even though such rotational benefits of rice were shown and explained [3], little interest has been paid to how to solve the problem of rotational benefits of rice in the large-area BRR by using observational studies based on remote sensing technology. In such large-area BRR, it is imperative to know whether the BRR cause the desired rotational benefits of rice. ...
In this study, the two different treatments are continuous rice and rice in rotation with bean, and the response is the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of rice or the rice yield. This study is to determine whether the rice in rotation with bean results in a significant effect—increasing the rice yield. In this completely randomized experiment, we randomly assigned 40 samples to the continuous rice and 40 samples to the rice in rotation with bean. Then the rice NDVIs of all 80 samples were computed. Because the statistical significance of the rice NDVI of the rotation treatment was observed in the experiment, we can be confident in the conclusion that it was the difference in treatments that resulted in the difference in the rice yield. That is, we can be confident that a cause-and-effect relationship between the rice in rotation with bean and the rice yield increase has been found.
... Models of soil preservation dealing with both ecological and economic objectives have already been developed, e.g., see Dogliotti, Rossing, and van Ittersum (2004) and Seppelt and Voinov (2002), for multiparcel management, and Memmah, Lescourret, Xin, and Lavigne (2015) for a review of different modeling approaches. Here, we apply tools developed in the framework of viability theory based on set valued analysis and mainly devoted to the control of dynamic systems with constraints. ...
Since the 1950s, intensive and specialized agricultural systems using a few select species and relying heavily on agrochemical inputs have enabled a huge increase in food production. However, in parallel, drawbacks appeared including biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emission, erosion, and water pollution. Today shifting farming systems to mitigate soil degradation trends is indispensable. Using viability theory, we propose a dynamic model of the sequence of agricultural productions and practices that can be implemented in the long term to restore soil quality while respecting a set of agronomic and economic constraints. The paths to soil restoration vary depending on agronomic and economic constraints, the time available for restoration, the initial soil conditions, and investment capacities. Economic valuation of the minimum cost of restoration shows that the agroecological transition may be costly and that farmers can have difficulty meeting the costs, thus raising the question of how the cost of agroecological transition is to be shared.
... The diversification of crop rotations provides multiple agroecosystem benefits. Improvement of soil condition remains a major service provided by crop rotational diversity, including positive impacts on soil fertility, optimisation of nutrient availability, increase in organic matter content, and improvements in soil structure and aggregate stability (Watson et al. 2002, Dogliotti et al. 2004). If leguminous plants are integrated into the rotation, either as a cash crop or cover crop, atmospheric nitrogen can be fixed, further benefitting soil fertility and providing an important source of nitrogen for subsequent crops. ...
... Thus, there has been a lot of investigation conducted on such experiment of crop rotation [2]. On the other hand, even though such rotational benefits of bean were shown and explained [3], little interest has been paid to how to solve the problem of rotational benefits of bean in the large-area RBR by using observational studies based on remote sensing technology. In such large-area RBR, it is imperative to know whether the RBR cause the desired rotational benefits of bean. ...
A large-scale rice-bean rotation experiment was examined to analyze the rotational effect of bean by using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of bean on satellite remote sensing image. The experiment was undertaken at Rudong County of China from 2009 to 2010. The difference between the bean NDVIs of bean-bean monoculture and rice-bean rotation was used to evaluate the rotational effect of bean. The results show that the NDVI of rice-bean rotation is obviously larger than one of bean-bean monoculture in such large-scale experiment. Thus, we have also found the compelling evidence that the bean yield of rice-bean rotation is greater than the bean yield of bean-bean monoculture.
... Since it is practically impossible to test all management options and crop rotations at the farm level, models are needed to design and evaluate rotations and estimate inputs and outputs of the system (Dogliotti et al. 2004). As reported by Nendel et al. (2013), most of the models applied to vegetables in rotations were not designed for specific conditions and peculiarities of vegetable production. ...
This book is a review of the recent literature on the key scientific and technical subjects of fertilization management in vegetable crops. In the last decades, research on fertilization management in vegetables was aimed at producing economical yields with reduced fertilizer inputs by the development and implementation of cropping systems, nutrient management approaches and crop varieties. Examples of the interventions in cropping systems included adequate crop rotations, inter-cropping, double cropping, and other strategies for a better soil organic matter management; nutrient management approaches included modelling, Decision Support Systems, crop nutritional status testing and precision agriculture technologies; amelioration of crop varieties has been directed toward higher nutrient/fertilizer use efficiency.
... These tools, based on multi-criteria decision-aid approach, can be used to qualitatively assess economic, social, and environmental sustainability of production systems at the field scale. They provide the opportunity to assess a high number of innovative options across a large range of situations (e.g., Bockstaller et al. 2009;Bohanec et al. 2008;Dogliotti et al. 2004;Sadok et al. 2009). However, they do not take into account direct and indirect effects of climate, pesticide, and soil characteristics and they do not allow the assessment of pesticide flows and concentrations in the environment (soil, water, and air). ...
STICS-MACRO is a process-based model simulating the fate of pesticides in the soil-plant system as a function of agricultural practices and pedoclimatic conditions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of crop management practices on water and pesticide flows in contrasted environmental conditions. We used the Morris screening sensitivity analysis method to identify the most influential cropping practices. Crop residues management and tillage practices were shown to have strong effects on water percolation and pesticide leaching. In particular, the amount of organic residues added to soil was found to be the most influential input. The presence of a mulch could increase soil water content so water percolation and pesticide leaching. Conventional tillage was also found to decrease pesticide leaching, compared to no-till, which is consistent with many field observations. The effects of the soil, crop and climate conditions tested in this work were less important than those of cropping practices. STICS-MACRO allows an ex ante evaluation of cropping systems and agricultural practices, and of the related pesticides environmental impacts.
... Since it is practically impossible to test all management options and crop rotations at the farm level, models are needed to design and evaluate rotations and estimate inputs and outputs of the system (Dogliotti et al. 2004). As reported by Nendel et al. (2013), most of the models applied to vegetables in rotations were not designed for specific conditions and peculiarities of vegetable production. ...
This paper reviews the recent literature on crop rotation as a tool to manage soil fertility specifically for vegetable production. All of the aspects dealing with soil fertility management, i.e. mineral and organic fertilisation, crop residue
s management, cover cropping and green manuring, and intercrop
ping, are examined in the frame of crop rotations in conventional and organic systems for both
specialised and non-specialised vegetable production. A focus is given on conservation tillage practices to manage green manures
and vegetable crop residues. The design and modelling of vegetable rotations are described under the viewpoint of increasing the nutrient use
efficiency and the self-sufficiency
of the system. Some long-term experiments including vegetables are
described which evaluate cumulated effects of rotations on soil fertility and vegetable production. It is concluded that only integrating all the available techniques of soil fertility management at a whole rotation scale it is possible to contribute to the productive, economic and environmental sustainability of the system. For example, little supplementation of mineral or fast-release organic fertilisers delivered with rational fertilisation techniques (e.g. starter, split, and localised fertilisation; fertigation) may help compensate the temporal and spatial lack of matching between nitrogen release from slow-release organic sources and crop nitrogen demand. This would help modulate nutrient supply in a more flexible way and improve crop nutrient uptake, so allowing more constant yields across years and limited risks of nutrient loss to the environment.
Industrial inputs have replaced crop rotations for fertility and pest management in input-intensive agriculture, resulting in a high number of crop sequence permutations and negative impacts on ecosystems and human health. Strengthening diversified and agronomically optimised crop sequences is critical to promoting sustainable practices. Comprehensive crop sequence diagnosis methods play an important role in evaluating and improving current crop sequence practices. However, recent literature has focused on annual crops, leading to biased results in crop sequence analysis for organic farming and livestock regions, where multiannual temporary fodder crops are a key aspect of crop sequences. This paper extends two methods of crop sequence analysis by including multiannual temporary fodder crops. By applying these generalised methods to a case study in the beef grassland regions of Belgium, using IACS crop data from 2015 to 2020, we reveal significant differences in the agronomic quality of the crop sequences across the territory and between organic and non-organic fields. In contrast to the existing literature, the inclusion of multiannual temporary fodder crops highlights the prevalence of high diversity and high agronomic quality sequences in livestock farming regions. Maize monoculture (of low agronomic quality), temporary grasslands (associated with high quality crop sequences) and organic certification are the main drivers of crop sequence quality in the regions studied.
Sustainability of most vegetable family farms in Southern Uruguay is threatened by low income and the deterioration of natural resources. This study quantified the effect of the inclusion of different alternatives of livestock production in the structure, and economic and environmental performance of different types of vegetable farms. Based on two farms as case studies, we conducted a model based exploratory study at farm scale. The results suggested that the inclusion of livestock production in vegetable family farms is a key factor in reducing erosion of the cultivated area. To reduce erosion, the model reduced the area of vegetables per farm, while expanding the area of forage production. As a consequence, family farm income (IF) was reduced between 12 % and 31 % depending on the case studied. However, we could design production systems with erosion lower than the tolerance limit for the soil type and higher IF, relative to the target, in both farms. From the livestock production alternatives evaluated, the most appropriate ones to include in vegetable production systems are fattening steers or heifers in cycles of 14 to 18 months, due to lower cost for restocking and less use of concentrates, reducing capital requirements and dependence on external inputs.
Dans le cadre du projet Seamless (System for Environmental and Agricultura- l Modelling Linking European Science and Society; Report n°4)
Les modèles d’agriculture basés sur un recours massif aux ressources non renouvelables et l’intensification des systèmes de production montrent, des limites susceptibles de remettre en cause l’objectif commun de développement durable. Pourtant ces modèles agricoles se développent dans la plaine du Saïs, notamment dans les exploitations agricoles familiales. Ils apparaissent par le développement de filières rémunératrices conduites intensivement à travers l’irrigation et un faible accompagnement technique. Cette dynamique a conduit à une surexploitation et une pollution des nappes souterraines et à la fluctuation des prix des produits agricoles. La durabilité des exploitations familiales, se trouve ainsi questionnée, d’autant que la politique agricole de l’Etat marocain encourage les agriculteurs à l’intensification. Ce questionnement général a été décliné en trois sous-questions de recherche, abordant chacune la durabilité des exploitations agricoles familiales sous un angle différent. Ces sous-questions ont été explorées sur un même échantillon de 40 exploitations, choisies pour leur diversité de système de production, en mobilisant différents outils d’analyses. La première sous-question analyse la durabilité des exploitations agricoles sous l’angle de leurs dynamiques d’évolution depuis 60 ans. Sept types de trajectoires d’évolution ont été identifiés en fonction de plusieurs moteurs internes et externes aux exploitations. Ces trajectoires ont débouché sur trois principaux types actuels d’exploitations se différenciant par leurs activités de production. T1 regroupe des exploitations proches du système traditionnel initial, sur des terres n’ayant pas d’accès à l’eau; T2 rassemble des exploitations ayant accès à l’irrigation et maintenant une diversité de productions; T3 rassemble des exploitations spécialisées. La deuxième sous-question cherche à évaluer la durabilité des exploitations agricoles familiales et à en formaliser les déterminants, en mobilisant un regard de chercheur. Cette analyse s’est basée sur une méthode d’évaluation de la durabilité (IDEA), adaptée au contexte du Saïs. La durabilité environnementale dépend de la diversification des activités et de l’autonomie de l’exploitation, la durabilité socio-territoriale est liée au degré d’engagement de l’agriculteur dans les dynamiques territoriales, et la durabilité économique est fonction du système de production et des facteurs structurels de l’exploitation. Cependant, la tendance générale montre un antagonisme entre durabilité environnementale et durabilité économique. La troisième sous-question explore les perceptions qu’ont les agriculteurs du concept de durabilité et la manière dont elles se traduisent dans leurs stratégies de gestion. Un premier groupe d’agriculteurs perçoit la durabilité à travers la combinaison entre rentabilité et maintien des ressources naturelles de l’exploitation. Ils mettent en œuvre une stratégie de sécurisation du revenu à l’aide de pratiques peu intensives. Un deuxième groupe lie la durabilité à la rentabilité et l’adaptation aux changements externes à l’exploitation. Ils appliquent une stratégie de valorisation de la flexibilité de l’exploitation pour saisir les opportunités du milieu. Enfin, un troisième groupe perçoit la durabilité à travers la réalisation d’un modèle agricole moderniste. Ils réalisent une stratégie entrepreneuriale par la maximisation de leur revenu. Cette étude montre à la fois des points de divergence et de convergence sur le concept de durabilité et sa mise en œuvre en agriculture, entre chercheurs et agriculteurs par exemple sur les pratiques de production ou l’accès aux ressources naturelles. Pour combler cet écart de perceptions entre les différentes parties prenantes, des mesures de régulation environnementale, de vulgarisation et d’accompagnement doivent être envisagées collectivement, par les agriculteurs, les autorités et la recherche.
The discussion between specialization and diversification of activities has been gaining ground in agricultural production, especially to define strategies for sustainable production in economic and environmental terms. For the Economic Theory, diversification strategies are especially justified by what is called "economy of scope". It is postulated the following hypothesis: that the adoption of animal and crop production systems in the same production unit (farm) generates significant economic gains and can also reduce the impact on the environment. This study proposed the use of the technique of Linear Programming to develop the planning of agricultural and livestock activities model, and to measure economic gains resulting from integration between different crops. The mathematical model was applied to one representative database of a real production unit, located in the city of Carmo do Parnaíba, state of Minas Gerais. The results indicated that the diversification of activities in the same farm not only generates significant economic gains as may be necessary for its economic viability condition. The results show a possibility of reducing total costs by 30%, comparing the scenario with lower intensity of diversification (fewer productive activities) with the higher intensity one (greater number of activities). The technical complementarities between the activities to be developed are configured as sources of economies of scope. The possibility of re-utilization of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium present in animal waste could rise by 167% between scenarios of lower diversification into higher; reuse of wash water from the milking room for fertigation could rise to 150%. In addition to economic gains, driving integrated systems brings benefits to the environment, especially the reuse of resources that, once discarded, would cause negative effects to the environment. The estimated volume of CO2-equivalent sequestered could increase 66% from the lower to the largest diversification scenario. The dilution of fixed costs of some production factors can contribute to the achievement of economies of scope, although it seems not to be the main source of such benefits, at least for production systems in which there is flexibility of relocation of such factors for the different activities, especially land and labor. Still, the percentage of land use would increase by 30.7 percentage points from the lower diversification scenario to the largest one. Regarding the work factor, this variation would be of 4.3 percentage points. The presence of transaction costs - represented in this research by the logistics costs of agricultural inputs supply - is another factor that contributes to the decision in favor of diversified production systems: the option for diversification leads to the reduction of transaction costs.
The first ever estimate of organic carbon (OC) stock in Indian soils was 24.3 Pg (1 Pg = 1015 g) based on 48 soil series taking into account of a few major soils. The present OC stock has been estimated as 63 Pg in the first 150 cm depth of soils. Soils with their geographical distribution through the country were used for computing soil organic carbon (SOC) stock in different depths in various physiographic regions. To sustain the quality and productivity of soils, the knowledge of OC in terms of its amount and quality in soils is essential. This has more relevance in soils of the tropical and subtropical parts of the globe, including the Indian sub-continent. SOC stock appears to be a single parameter that can help effectively in prioritizing the area for restoring soil health.
It is a necessity to have a successful method to separate, quantify and define the active and passive soil organic matter
pools for appropriate verification of models. In this study, the organic carbon content of long-term bare fallow soils was
used as an indicator of the size of the stable soil organic matter pool. Although soil texture and soil structure are widely
accepted as having an influence on the stable pool, most soil organic models neglect the relationship between soil structure
and carbon stabilization. Therefore, the aim of this presentation is to estimate the size of the stable carbon pool and to
relate it to soil texture and structure properties. It was calculated that over 50 yr, under bare fallow conditions, the relative
decrease in the amount of carbon (C) for the most stable pools ranged between 2 and 12%. In comparison, for the less stabilized
pools the relative decrease was calculated from 50 to 100%. This indicates that the organic carbon content of long-term bare
fallow soils should be very similar to the size of the most stable C pool. We also observed that the amounts of carbon associated
with primary particles
Quafitative and quantitative physical land evaluation methods were developed and linked with a geographical information system (GIS) to evaluate crop growth potential in the European Communities (EC). Evaluation methods comprised expert knowledge and crop growth modelling. The predicted crop growth potential is primarily meant for exploring land use options. In this paper, the wheat crop is used to illustrate the methodology. All potentially suited land units were identified first using computer-captured expert knowledge, followed by calculation of the potential and water-limited yields on these land units with a simulation model. Land unsuited for wheat-growing amounts to up to 55% of the EC area and is mainly concentrated in the Mediterranean countries. Without increasing the EC wheat area, the wheat production volume can still substantially increase by 65% under water-limited and 120% under potential production conditions. Results obtained were used to quantify the impact of set-aside of either highly productive land or marginal land on production reduction. In many EC regions marginal land used for wheat-growing produces at least 50% less than highly productive land. The production potential should be incorporated in set-aside measures to be imposed.
The difficulties in using complicated models of carbon mineralization and the poor performance of simple ones call for new models that are simple in use and robust in performance. We have developed a model for the mineralization of carbon from experimental data in which the organic matter is treated as a single component. The logarithm of the average relative mineralization rate, K, or rate constant, of a substrate considered as a whole was found to be linearly related to the logarithm of time, t, provided prevailing soil conditions remained unchanged. The equation is: logK = logR–S logt, or K = R t–S, in which R (dimension tS − 1) represents K at t = 1, and S (dimensionless, 1 ≥ S≥ 0) is a measure of the rate at which K decreases over time, also called the speed of ‘ageing’ of the substrate. The quantity of the remaining substrate, Yt, is calculated by Yt = Y0 exp(–Rt1 – S), where Y0 is the initial quantity of the substrate. The actual relative mineralization rate, k, at time t is proportional to K, according to k = (1 − S)K. The model was tested against an assembly of 136 sets of data collected from trials conducted in 14 countries all over the world. They cover materials ranging from glucose, cellulose and plant residues, to farmyard manure, peat and soil organic matter. The results lead to the conclusion that the model describes well the dynamics of organic matter in soil over time varying from months to tens of years, provided major environmental conditions remain unchanged. It can easily be applied in practice and is attractive because of its modest input requirements.
In previous simple models describing decomposition of organic matter, the rate of decomposition was usually assumed to be constant. Experimental evidence has shown this is not true. The objective of this study was therefore to find a relationship between decomposition rate and time. This resulted in an equation (Eqn 5), that can be used for many types of organic materials, provided their ‘apparent initial age’ is known. This age is related to the humification coefficient and varies from 1 year for green matter to 14 years for some peats. Formulas to calculate accumulation and decomposition of ‘young’ soil organic matter were also derived.
It was demonstrated that apparent differences in soil organic matter quality, found after 25 years of different fertilizing practices, were related to the proportion of young soil organic matter.
On the research-farm Logrden in south-west Sweden a farming system project is carried out according to the methodology for farming systems research elaborated by a European research network in an EU Concerted action. The main emphasis is on development of an Ecological Arable Farming System (EAFS) and of an Integrated Arable Farming System (IAFS). The design of the project does not give priority to comparisons between the different systems, but a Conventional Arable Farming System (CAFS) is also used in the project as a reference. The aim of the project is to achieve a long-term persistent, sustainable and productive food supply, in combination with a minimum of negative impacts on the abiotic environment. In the Ecological Arable Farming System (EAFS) there were lower yield levels than expected, probably mainly due to nitrogen deficiency during especially the early part of the growing season. The economic result in EAFS, as net surplus, was dramatically improved in 1995 compared to previous, years. This is due to the new situation when Sweden joined the EU, with high arable area payments, together with a large demand for ecological products on the market that gave higher prices of these products. In the Integrated Arable Farming System (IAFS) the total use of pesticides was reduced by 70% during 1995, but the use of herbicides was above the desired level of 50% compared with the Conventional Arable Farming System (CAFS). The average yields in IFAS were similar to those in the conventional system. Despite this, the economic result for IAFS was lower, the reason being higher machinery costs, extra costs for seeds for undersowing (white clover), and more expensive weed control in the undersown crops. Also the yields of triticale (not grown in the other systems) were low due to winter damage.
This paper reports part of a methodology for a model-based exploration of land use motivated by the lack of sustainability of small farming systems in southern Uruguay. Explorative land use studies aim to gain insight into future possibilities for agricultural development. They support strategic thinking during the design of new farming systems. The crop rotation plays a central role in a farming system and represents a logical starting point in the design process. The combination and sequence of crop species determine characteristics of farming systems such as crop yields, soil erosion, occurrence of soil-borne pests, diseases and weeds, and dynamics of nitrogen and labour. Here, we present a software tool called rotat, designed for generating crop rotations based on agronomic criteria in a transparent manner. The program combines crops from a predefined list to generate all possible rotations. The full factorial number of possible combinations of crops is limited by a number of filters controlled by the user. These filters are designed to eliminate crop successions which are agronomically unfeasible and for farm-specific reasons not practical or desirable. The filters represent expert knowledge in a quantitative and explicit way. The use of this computer program as a stand-alone tool in the process of designing crop rotations is illustrated with a published case study from an ecological pilot farm in Flevoland (The Netherlands). Using this software we were able to design 840 rotations based on the same crops and designing criteria that were used for the example farm. Many of these rotations might be interesting alternatives to the one actually implemented. Coupled with a sound procedure to evaluate the performance of such a large number of rotations ‘a priori’, rotat can reduce the risk of ignoring promising options and the arbitrariness present in previous studies dealing with design of rotations. The usefulness of rotat for designing production activities in explorative land use studies based on linear programming is discussed.
The Netherlands have to cope with old and some new polyphagous nematode problems. A nematode control strategy based on an
economically sound crop rotation scheme to diminish the use of nematicides is necessary. For the development of such a strategy.
knowledge about host suitability and damage relationships of the various crops and weeds has to be revised and adapted for
new varieties and new cultural practices. For this purpose information gathered during the 1950's and the 1960's has to be
revised. With respect to the new nematode problems such information has to be obtained. In this integrated pest management
strategy nematicides are only applied when necessary and serve in this as a complementary emergency tool. With such an approach
in The Netherlands the use of nematicides has already dropped markedly.
Current production systems for flower bulbs in the Netherlands employ considerable quantities of pesticides and nutrients per unit area. In 1993, an association of growers and environmentalists set out to design new farming systems that meet environmental objectives in addition to economic objectives. To support the design process, an explorative study was carried out to bring together the fragmented agronomic information and to assess agro-technical options for sustainable flower bulb production with a time horizon of 10 to 15 years. Crop and inter-crop management systems representing the agro-technical components of sustainability at the farm level, were generated with a computer model by systematically varying four system characteristics, three of which represented strategic and tactical aspects of crop protection. Subjective components, one economic and two environmental objectives and various socio-economic constraints, were identified in interaction with the stakeholders. Interactive multiple goal linear programming was used to optimize the objectives at the farm level and determine the exchange value of the economic objective in terms of the environmental objectives. Calculations were carried out for two reference farm types. The results revealed that the negative impact of environment-oriented production systems on farm gross margin is importantly mitigated by strategic choices at the farm level, such as renting land and allowing a soil health improving crop, even though of low gross margin, into the rotation. In contrast, the a priori attention of the growers was focused on improving tactical pest and nutrient management at the crop level, the effect of which on farm gross margin is constrained by the strategic choices. Sensitivity analyses highlighted the need for more insight into the ecology of soil-borne growth reducing factors and their effect on crop yield. The paper describes the approach used, reports results and discusses the usefulness of the approach for the stakeholders and for disciplinary crop protection research.
Prototypes of Integrated Farming Systems for arable farming are being developed in the Netherlands based on a coherent methodology elaborated in an European Union concerted action. The role of crop protection in Integrated systems is, additional to all other methods, to efficiently control the remaining harmful species, with minimal use of well selected pesticides. The overall aim of more sustainable farming systems is to reduce the exposure of the environment to pesticides in order to prevent short- and long term effects on all species over all the biosphere. An innovative approach to quantify this exposure of the environment to pesticides, based on molecular-chemical properties of the pesticides, is presented. The results of prototyping on an experimental farm in the Netherlands shows that not only drastic reductions in pesticide use are possible bot that subsequent careful selection of pesticides can also lead to minimal environmental impact.
This paper describes a formalized approach to identify and engineer future-oriented land use systems. Such land use systems can be used to explore options for strategic decision making with respect to land use policy and to do ex-ante assessment of land use alternatives to be further tested or developed in experimental settings. The so-called goal-oriented approach consists of three steps: (1) goal-oriented identification and design of land use systems; (2) quantification of biophysical production possibilities; and (3) defining the optimal mix of inputs, i.e. the production technique, required to realize production possibilities. The goal-oriented identification and design depends on the land-related objectives of a system under study, whereas plant, animal and environmental characteristics determine biophysical production possibilities. Characteristics of the production technique determine the realization of production possibilities. General guidelines are given to structure the specification and number of alternatives to be explored and to apply agro-ecological principles required for quantification of future-oriented land use systems. Concepts of the approach are illustrated with data from the northern Atlantic zone of Costa Rica and the Sudano–Sahelian zone of Mali. Finally, suggestions are given for the application of the approach at spatial and temporal scales exceeding the field level and time horizon of 1 year.
This paper describes two generic so-called technical coefficient generators, PASTOR (Pasture and Animal System Technical coefficient generatOR) and LUCTOR (Land Use Crop Technical coefficient generatOR), that quantify land use systems in terms of inputs and outputs based on the integration of systems-analytical knowledge, standard agronomic and animal husbandry data and expert knowledge. PASTOR quantifies livestock systems while LUCTOR is geared towards cropping systems. Main inputs quantified include costs, labour requirements, fertiliser use and application of crop protection agents. Outputs are production and a number of associated environmental indicators. Although both PASTOR and LUCTOR were developed to generate input data for land use models, they are also useful as stand-alone tools to explore the technical efficiency of land use systems, to perform cost-benefit analyses and to quantify the trade-off among socio-economic, agronomic and environmental indicators at the field level. PASTOR and LUCTOR are illustrated with data from the Northern Atlantic zone in Costa Rica. Tools such as PASTOR and LUCTOR integrate different types of knowledge, including non-documented knowledge from field experts and make that knowledge transparent and open to critical review and discussion by others.
Severe soil erosion and food security problems are the most important issues in the Loess Plateau of northern China, which are closely related to the over-cultivation and poor management of marginal land resources. Alleviation of these unsustainability problems requires, among many other things, alternative and innovative cropping systems. This paper describes the identification of such cropping systems and their quantitative evaluation. It uses an operationalized approach based on production ecological concepts, and the application of the simulation model EPIC for the case of Ansai County in the Loess Plateau. Based on four criteria, i.e. suitable land units, crop rotations, production situations, and agro-techniques for water and soil conservation, we identified 548 cropping systems. The yield potentials and efficiencies in terms of soil and nutrient conservation were quantitatively evaluated for each of the cropping systems. The results indicated that the low productivity, and serious soil and water losses in current cropping systems may be greatly alleviated by increasing nutrient inputs and use of soil conservation measures, such as growing crops in rotations with alfalfa, using crop residues as mulch, and furrow-ridging tillage. For most crops, the current yield may be at least doubled by good soil and crop management with appropriate inputs. The study suggests a range of crop rotations that satisfy food production, soil and water conservation and economic objectives to different extent. The results of this study can serve two purposes. First, they may help setting an agenda for empirical and experimental research aimed at the testing and improving of cropping systems, and second, the cropping systems can be input for an integrated land use study that weighs objectives at regional scale and reveals potential and strategic land use options.
This study examines the effects of State policies on farmers' incomes and natural resource conditions in central Honduras. We combined dynamic linear programming with a biophysical model and applied this bioeconomic model to a microwatershed where, in recent years, farmers have turned to intensive production of vegetables. We compared the outputs of different model scenarios with historical data over the last 20 years (1975–95). The main results of the simulations are: (1) the 1990 liberalization has had a beneficial impact on the incomes of small farmers who adopted a `vegetable pathway'; (2) the shift from extensive production to intensive vegetable production does not reduce erosion, as the greater opportunity cost of labor increased the cost of investing in land conservation; and (3) small farmers are more likely than ranchers to erode soils, because they are more likely to produce vegetables during the rainy season and usually cultivate steeper slopes. However, small farmers are more likely to invest in land conservation because soil depth becomes a limiting factor for production. ©
A methodical way of prototyping integrated and ecological arable farming systems (I/EAFS) in interaction with pilot farms is presented. It concerns a, comprehensive and consistent approach of 5 steps. Step 1 is establishing a hierarchy of objectives considering the shortcomings of current farming systems in the region. Step 2 is transforming the objectives in a set of multi-objective parameters, to quantify them and establishing a set of multi-objective farming methods to achieve them. Step 3 is designing a theoretical prototype by linking parameters to farming methods and designing the methods in this context until they are ready for initial testing. Step 4 is laying out the prototype on at least 10 pilot farms in appropriate variants and testing and improving the prototype (variants) until the objectives, as quantified in the set of parameters, have been achieved (after repeated layout). Step 5 is disseminating the prototype (variants) to other farms with gradual shift in supervision from researchers to extensionists. This methodical method is being elaborated and tested by a European network of more than 20 research teams, sponsored by the European Union (AIR-concerted action). The teams express their achievement in a consistent set of 6 parts of an identity card of their prototype. The 6 parts of the EAFS-prototype of the author's team are presented to illustrate the methodical approach. Part 6 presents the state the art. It shows that the desired results are progressively being achieved, which may be considered as the best proof of the effectiveness of prototyping.
Soil organic matter (SOM) has important chemical, physical and biological functions in the soil. It is difficult to predict the dynamics of SOM because it is very heterogenous and because its behaviour is affected by soil texture. In this study we used a new size and density fractionation to isolate SOM fractions that differ in stability and we estimated the amount of SOM that can be preserved in different soils. An investigation was carried out into (1) how fast size and density fractions of soil organic matter respond to changes in C input, (2) whether the capacity of soils to preserve C by its association with clay and silt particles is limited and related to soil texture and (3) whether the long term dynamics of soil C can be described with a simple model that makes the assumption that the net rate of decomposition of soil C does not simply depend on soil texture, but on the degree to which the protective capacity of the soil is already occupied. Light and intermediate fractions of the macroorganic matter (>150 μm) respond much faster to changes in C input than smaller size fractions. This shows that the light and intermediate macroorganic matter fractions can be used as early indicators of effects of soil management on changes in SOM. There was a close positive relationship between the proportion of particles
A manual for prototyping Integrated and Ecological Arable Farming Systems (I/EAFS) in interaction with pilot farms is presented. It concerns a comprehensive and consistent approach of 5 steps. Step 1 is establishing a hierarchy of objectives considering the shortcomings of current farming systems in the region. Step 2 is transforming the objectives in a set of multi-objective parameters, to quantify them and establishing a set of multi-objective farming methods to achieve them. Step 3 is designing a theoretical prototype by linking parameters to farming methods and designing the methods in this context until they are ready for initial testing. Step 4 is laying out the prototype on at least 10 pilot farms in appropriate variants and testing and improving the prototype (variants) until the objectives, as quantified in the set of parameters, have been achieved (after repeated layout). Step 5 is disseminating the prototype (variants) to other farms with gradual shift in supervision from researchers to extensionists. This 5 steps method of prototyping has been elaborated and tested by a European network of more than 20 research teams, sponsored by the European Union (AIR-concerted action). The teams express their achievements in a consistent set of 6 parts of an identity card of their prototype. The 6 parts of the EAFS-prototype of the author's team are presented to illustrate the method of prototyping. Part 6 presents the state of the art. It shows that the results desired have progressively been achieved, which may be considered as the best proof of the effectiveness of prototyping.
Definitions and concepts of production ecology are presented as a basis for development of alternative production technologies characterized by their input-output combinations. With these concepts the relative importance of several growth factors and inputs is investigated to explain actual yield levels and resource-use efficiencies. Differences between potential and actual levels are analyzed to open ways for improved production technologies. The basis of the analysis is knowledge of basic physical, chemical, physiological and ecological processes at soil, field and crop level. New production technologies and their input-output combinations can be used in studies aimed at the exploration of options for sustainable agricultural production systems and land use. The concepts allow a systematic analysis and quantification of input-output combinations and clearly discriminate between bio-physical possibilities and socio-economic constraints and objectives. They help in defining objectives and means for agricultural production and land use, and may be valuable as aids to communication between various disciplines involved in studying the possibility and feasibility of future production technologies and land use options. The concepts production level, physical environment, target-oriented approach, production technique, production activity, and production orientation are applied to identify new technologies and production systems at various levels of scale, each requiring different types of information. In this paper some examples of applications are given at field, farm and at regional level.
"Stellingen" inserted. Thesis (doctoral)--Landbouwuniversiteit te Wageningen, 1996. Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-157).
In the industrialized countries dramatic decreases in the number of people employed in agriculture have been made possible by a rise in soil and labour productivity. There is scope for these to improve further, particularly in developing countries. Potential yields are determined by the characteristics of the crop, local temperature and sunlight. Because the availability of nutrients and that of water are limiting for at least part of the growing season in most agricultural lands, attainable yields are lower than potential yields. Proper management of nutrient inputs, such that optimum use is made of each, can reduce this gap without causing negative environmental side-effects. Actual yields are lower than attainable yields because of growth-reducing factors, such as pests, diseases and weeds. For sustainable agriculture these should be controlled mainly by biological measures. There are many possibilities for this, thus biocides may be used as a last resort not as preventive insurance. Potential yields of rice and sugarcane can reach 30,000 kg ha-1 per year of consumable organic matter, sufficient to feed 120 people. Such yields cannot be achieved on all agricultural land, but it is estimated that world food production could support a population of 80 thousand million, if they were all vegetarian and required only 1500 m2 for non-food-related purposes. The green revolutions that occurred in the Western industrialized countries in the late 1940s and early 1950s and in Asia in the late 1960s and early 1970s need to be followed by a similar increase in agricultural productivity in Africa and West Asia to feed their rapidly growing populations. Better use of fertilizers and good water management require well-educated farmers with the financial means to implement long-term strategies. If these developments are managed properly, food production for the ever-increasing human population can be guaranteed and the burden on the environment and natural habitats reduced, enabling the development of sustainable agricultural systems.
The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) has explored possible future developments in rural land use within the European Community (EC) to support strategic policy making. Multiple goal linear programming (MGLP) was applied to evaluate different scenarios based on alternative policy views. For the MGLP-model, WRR needed information on agricultural production systems, specifically quantification of inputs like nutrients, water, pesticides, labour and machinery, and outputs like crop yields and environmental pollution. In this paper, the determination of inputs and outputs is described for a number of pre-defined cropping systems at regional level, using results of a land evaluation study for the EC. All cropping systems defined are based on the assumption that the best available production techniques are being used, taking into account that the explorations aim at possible agricultural developments in the next 25 years.
This paper describes a method of investigating development possibilities for a region under various constraints and demands. Use is made of an interactive multiple goal linear programming technique. The method is illustrated with an example from a semi-arid zone in the Mediterranean Basin. It is concluded that the method can help to decide on feasible development pathways within a wide range of technical and socio-economic scenarios, and so explore the ‘margins for policy’. It enables communication between politics, planning and research and can therefore serve as a tool for more efficient development planning.
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An alternative model for soil systematisation
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A methodical way of prototyping more sustainable farming systems in interaction with pilot farms
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A framework for the use of the universal soil loss equation in Uruguay
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Pasturas y producci on animal en areas de ganader ıa Operationalizing sustainability: exploring options for environmentally friendly flower bulb production systems
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Manual para el uso de la USLE en Uruguay. Serie: normas técnicas en conservación de suelos
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Using information on farming and farmers in a model-based exploration of horticultural production systems in the south of Uruguay
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Sistemas de cultivos para la producci on hort ıcola sostenible en la Regi on Sur
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