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Integrated agricultural systems: The 21st century nature-based solution for resolving the global FEEES challenges
... It can also refer to the practices of large-scale agriculture in which a single crop is grown over a wide area. The practice of monoculture can have a significant impact on biodiversity, as it often involves the removal of natural vegetation and the planting of large expanses of the same crop [14]. This cropping system can deplete soil nutrients, increase susceptibility to pests and diseases, and lead to a reliance on chemical inputs [22]. ...
... This practice can have negative environmental and agricultural consequences [14]. For large-scale banana farmers, intensive monoculture is easier to implement as it enables the use of machinery. ...
... The system of growing a single crop, such as bananas, repeatedly on the same piece of land was invented to increase food supply and to fight hunger. Unfortunately, its unintended consequences threaten greater global insecurity and exacerbate climate change [14]. ...
Sustainable agricultural practices need to be continuously sought after so that a greater number of producers can adopt them, taking into account, above all, the food security scenario, land use efficiency, and climate change. Intercropping—a cultivation system in which two or more species are grown in close proximity in the same field—is one strategy to increase diversity in the agroecosystem. However, for intercropping systems to be adopted, their productive and economic advantages over monoculture must be clearly demonstrated. Banana (Musa sp.) growers are interested in crop diversification as a potential strategy to increase production yields and, consequently, economic income. The management of banana crops can be facilitated by intercropping, as this system plays an important role in increasing biodiversity and reducing the need for weed control in the crop rows, promoting better land use efficiency. However, this system should be evaluated alongside other indicators. Banana intercropping has significant potential and many benefits, but success depends on the interaction between the component species, appropriate management practices, and favorable environmental conditions. This review aims to provide an overview of recent studies on banana intercropping systems, focusing on the contextualization of land use, monoculture and intercropping, and evaluating intercropping indicators, as well as the benefits, risks, and disadvantages discussed in the literature, and the main outcomes of banana-based intercropping systems. The main findings relate to the possibility of using intercrops with aromatic species and the preliminary reports on the contributions of intercrops to the suppression of Fusarium wilt disease.
... With agriculture and livestock expansion, concerns about the growing emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly CO 2 , from cultivation practices and soil management in production systems are intensifying [1]. However, soils can also function as a carbon (C) sink, as they have a high potential to sequester C and mitigate climate change [2][3][4][5]. The soil can be a source or sink of carbon depending on its management [1,6], and the most sustainable management practices must necessarily be adapted to the specific characteristics of each biome or region [5], aiming to benefit from increased soil fertility and higher nutrient availability, better conditions for soil organic matter (SOM), improved physical attributes, and higher potential to sequester C [3]. ...
... However, soils can also function as a carbon (C) sink, as they have a high potential to sequester C and mitigate climate change [2][3][4][5]. The soil can be a source or sink of carbon depending on its management [1,6], and the most sustainable management practices must necessarily be adapted to the specific characteristics of each biome or region [5], aiming to benefit from increased soil fertility and higher nutrient availability, better conditions for soil organic matter (SOM), improved physical attributes, and higher potential to sequester C [3]. ...
The Pantanal has a high diversity of native pastures that provide food for many wild and domestic animals. Pantanal cattle raising is practiced in an extensive grazing-based system that varies according to the flood levels in the area. This study aimed to evaluate the fractions of soil organic matter in areas of native pastures under different uses and to quantify C and N stocks in sandy soils of the Pantanal. Soil samples from three native pastures differentiated by the predominance of Hymenachne amplexicaulis, Axonopus purpusii, and Mesosetum chaseae under different land use systems (continuous grazing and no grazing for five years) were collected and used to quantify the contents of carbon, nitrogen, and humic fractions. The dynamics of SOM are modified in grazed areas of the Pantanal, with influence on C and N, including their stocks. Native pastures of Axonopus purpusii and Hymenachne amplexicaulis showed an increase in organic matter after five years without grazing, while Mesosetum chaseae showed lower soil density and nitrogen levels. The highest C stock was observed in ungrazed areas of H. amplexicaulis (127.41 Mg ha−1 in the 0–40 cm layer). The dynamics of nitrogen in Pantanal pastures are influenced by the type of vegetation and land management, with higher nitrogen content in the surface layer (0–10 cm) and an increasing C/N ratio with soil depth, indicating lower nitrogen availability.
... In the coastal plains and islands, salt-tolerant varieties such as rice and wheat are used, along with integrated farming systems that include crop rotation and intercropping to manage soil salinity (Mahata et al., 2010;Tarolli et al., 2024). In the Deccan Plateau, rainwater harvesting and drought-tolerant crops such as cowpea and pigeonpea are being used, with intercropping and agroforestry practices such as the use of nitrogen-fixing legumes and fruit trees improving resilience and income diversification (Nwaogu and Cherubin, 2024). ...
Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA) effectively responds to climate change while contributing to sustainable productivity adapted to local hydro-meteorological conditions. CRA provides resilience to climate variability by enhancing agricultural viability through water exchange between surface and groundwater systems. In water-stressed countries such as India, where demand for water from agriculture, industry, and domestic use is increasing, CRA offers ways to address current and future food security challenges. This review examines the role of the CRA in agricultural sustainability and community participation in India. It assesses critical CRA projects and policies in India and explores how CRA can improve water policy by integrating farmers' perspectives in groundwater-based agriculture. The study also shows that collaboration between government agencies, NGOs, and local groups is important to sustaining CRA initiatives. Discussions indicated that empirical studies, clear sustainability indicators, and integration of advanced technology such as artificial intelligence and geo-spatial tools are needed to improve India's adaptation strategies to climate change. This study highlighted how CRA aligns with key SDGs by addressing poverty, hunger, climate action, and community wellbeing. GRACE data indicated that northwestern India emerged as a critical water scarcity hotspot, displaying negative trends of around −7.413 cm per year. Furthermore, the analysis clearly showed that the Western Dry Region, Western Himalayan, and Gangetic Plain agro-ecological zone (AEZ) experienced the sharpest declines in equivalent water thickness (EWT) compared to other AEZ regions in India. The review also highlighted the value of knowledge-sharing platforms and tailored CRA strategies that increase agricultural productivity and enable farmers to make informed decisions in the face of climate uncertainty.
... Other important keywords such as "agroforestry" and "cover crops" appeared but indicated to have a small contribution. This highlights that despite the wide recognition that these practices are great strategies for promoting soil C accrual and restore soil health (Jian et al., 2020;Lange et al., 2015;Nwaogu and Cherubin, 2024;Steinfeld et al., 2023;Yang et al., 2024), the number of research in these topics is still limited. Unlocking Estimated soil C sequestration capacity (Mt) for the 0-30 cm depth up to 2030 (2030 scenario) and 2050 (2050 scenario). ...
Soil represents Earth’s largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon (C) and is an important sink of C from the atmosphere. However, the potential of adopting best management practices (BMPs) to increase soil C sequestration and offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agroecosystems remains unclear. Synthesizing available information on soil C sink capacity is important for identifying priority areas and systems to be monitored, an essential step to properly estimate large-scale C sequestration potential. This study brings an overview of thousands of research articles conducted in the Americas and presents the current state-of-the-art on soil C research. Additionally, it estimates the large-scale BMPs adoption impact over soil C dynamics in the region. Results indicated that soil C-related terms are widely cited in the literature. Despite that, from a total of ~13 thousand research articles recovered in the systematic literature review, only 9.2% evaluated soil C (at any depth), and only 4.6% measured soil C for the 0–30 cm soil layer, mostly conducted in North and South America regions. Literature review showed a low occurrence of terms related to BMPs (e.g., cover cropping), suggesting a research gap on the subject. Estimates revealed that upscaling of BMPs over 30% of agricultural land area (334 Mha) of the Americas can lead to soil C sequestration of 13.1 (±7.1) Pg CO2eq over 20 years, offsetting ~39% of agricultural GHG emissions over the same period. Results suggest that efforts should be made to monitor the impact of cropping system on soil C dynamics on the continents, especially in regions where data availability is low (e.g., Central, Caribbean, and Andean regions). Estimating the available degraded area for the continent and the soil C sequestration rates under BMPs adoption for Central, Andean, and Caribbean regions were major shortcomings encountered in our analysis. Thus, it is expected that some degree of uncertainty may be associated with the obtained results. Despite these limitations, upscaling of BMPs across the Americas suggests having great potential for C removal from the atmosphere and represents a global positive impact in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
... Generally, in similar climate conditions, SOC stocks are assumed to be higher in the forests, pasturelands, and grasslands when compared with croplands [19,35,36]. However, it has been shown that in most regions, enhanced agricultural system such as climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has high potential for SOC enrichment in croplands [37][38][39]. In Brazil for example, several agricultural policies have been introduced to enhance SOC through agriculture. ...
To address national and global demand for agro-based products, agricultural expansion has rapidly become a norm in Brazil since 1950s to date. In recent decades, agricultural expansion and technological advancement have placed the country among the top producers and exporters of agricultural products. The paradigm shifts in farming system from conventional to integrated approach has brought significant changes in land use, which consequently influenced carbon sequestration and soil organic carbon (SOC). This is more prevalent in the State of Mato Grosso, one of the most producers of food in Brazil. On this background, we hypothesized that though forests have potential for SOC stock, which decreases due to conversion to cropland but in longer-term with sustainable management, carbon might accrual significantly in cropland. Therefore, this paper aimed to unveil the nexus between long term land use and carbon stock changes and estimate future SOC stocks in Mato Grosso State of Brazil. To achieve this aim, a hybridization of machine learning and the InVEST prediction models was applied to estimate the land use changes and the SOC stocks between 1990 and 2020 and estimate for 2050. The study revealed that between 1990, 2020, and 2050, croplands increased significantly by at least 78%, pastures decreased by 32%, while forests decreased marginally by about 4% due to agricultural expansions. However, in 1990 and 2020, the SOC stock was slightly up to 147.34 Mg ha⁻¹, it recorded an increase after a longer-time (i.e., in 2050). This increase was substantially under the forests, and marginally in the croplands. Climate-smart agricultural systems such as crop-livestock forest, integrated crop-livestock, and other conservation agricultural practices have great potential to contribute to sustainable development by increasing the levels of carbon in agricultural soils especially, after a longer period. Therefore, agricultural policies geared towards low carbon agriculture should be fully integrated into the various government decision making processes as this will guarantee food security and maximize soil carbon sequestration and stocks in the long term. Simultaneously, it is crucial to promote the dissemination of best practices for implementing and sustaining conservation efforts, thereby safeguarding the carbon stocks established to prevent their depletion. This will also support the Brazilian government in achieving its Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) through agricultural soils.
... It was not surprising to find higher SOC in the areas where most of the crops are sown especially soybean, sugarcane, and other temporary and permanent crop land areas. This could be attributed to the sustainable management of the agricultural through the intensive agricultural systems (IAS) which has diverse potential for promoting SOC stocks [10]. Integrated agricultural system has become a popular farming system adopted by the farmers since it has been inculcated Brazilian policies for the integration of crop-livestock-forest. ...
This study is aimed at assessing the dynamics of soil carbon (C) and land-use in the greater part of Cerrado biome between 2015 and 2020, and to predict the future scenario. Increasing anthropogenic activities, especially agriculture, has significantly impacted land-use, consequently the balance inflow and outflow of carbon under different land use. Data on soil C, land use-land cover (LULC), and other variables were collected from USGS EarthData, FAO, and Mapbiomas. By applying support vector machine and InVEST models, we identified the LULC and quantified the soil C stocks under each land use. Pastures (2,016,793 km²) and savanna (1,789,150 km²) covered more than 70% of entire biome. Significant landuse transitions occurred between 2015 and 2025 with croplands increasing by more than 10% in area. Integrated agricultural system (IAS) accounted for ~ 40% more SOC stock than business as usual (BAU). Unlike the BAU which involves the conventional farming systems, the IAS is a low-carbon agricultural practice which serves as a nature-based solution to enhance C sequestration. The findings from the study might contribute to closing the gap in knowledge about soil C stocks in the region, and in smart-climate agriculture agendas to improve carbon stocks, food security and other SDGs.
Pest rodents cause extensive damage to crops worldwide. Up to 40% of global crop production is lost annually to pests and diseases, with rodents accounting for 15–30% of this loss amounting to billions of dollars each year. The current method of controlling rodent populations involves the extensive use of chemical rodenticides. While effective in the short term, these chemicals pose serious environmental and health risks, leading to secondary poisoning of non-target species and other long-term negative ecological consequences, underscoring the need to adopt more sustainable pest-control measures. Nature-Based Solutions (NbSs), on the other hand, are increasingly recognized for addressing environmental challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development, and they include actions that protect, sustainably manage, and restore ecosystems. In this context, Barn Owls (Tyto alba) are highly effective as a natural pest-rodent control agents in agro-ecosystems. The species has a wide distribution and adaptability to various environments, and its diet consists predominantly of small mammals, with rodents making up from 50–60% up to even 90–95% of the diet according to different geographical regions. Each Barn Owl family can consume thousands of rodents annually, creating a high potential to reduce crop damage and infestations. Deploying nest boxes in agricultural areas can significantly increase Barn Owl populations, ensuring continuous and effective rodent control. Limitations of this solution must also be taken into consideration such as predation on rodents and small mammals that are not pests, and possible competition with other nocturnal birds of prey. Ιn the current paper, we aim to introduce the concept of owls as a NbS for pest rodent control and outline the main challenges, pitfalls, advantages, and disadvantages of implementing this solution in a new geographical region, and all the necessary in-between steps (scientific, societal, administrative, educational) that have to be followed for a successful implementation. So far, several countries have successfully implemented Barn Owl nest box schemes, with Israel and Cyprus achieving reduction in the use of pesticides by 45% and 58%, respectively, whereas the project is spreading to other Mediterranean countries (Jordan, Palestine Authority, Greece, Morocco, Spain), in palm plantations in Malaysia and USA, and in the vineyards of Napa Valley in California. The success of Barn Owl nest box programs relies on integrating scientific research, societal needs, supportive policy frameworks, and education. Barn Owl nest box programs are both bottom-up and top-down initiatives, in need of the participation of farmers and local communities to establish and deploy the Barn Owl solution. Continuous research is also necessary to explore systematically Barn owl trophic ecology, foraging and breeding ecology, interactions with agricultural landscape, and land uses in temporal and spatial scales, and challenges such as habitat suitability, availability of nesting sites, and regional ecological conditions must also be addressed.
Integrated systems (crops, livestock, and forest) are tools to avoid increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as CO2, CH4, and N2O. The objective of this study was to evaluate the GHG emissions and soil biological and chemical characteristics in an integrated system. The experiment was carried out in an area with crop-livestock-forest integration systems (CLFI), in Pindaré-Mirim, state of Maranhão, Brazil. The treatments consisted of maize (Zea mays) intercropped with forage (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandú) between eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus urophylla × Eucalyptus tereticornis) (S1); maize intercropped with forage (Megathyrsus maximus cv. Massai) (S2); and degraded pasture areas with no soil or forage management for more than 14 years (S3), which was used as reference treatment. The experiment was conducted with four replications of four trenches for soil collection or four static chambers for gas flow assessments. The GHG emissions were collected by static chambers and analyzed by gas chromatography, and the soil quality was determined by chemical analysis. The interaction between GHG emissions and soil characteristics was assessed for each treatment, using multivariate analysis and PCA. The soil of the degraded pasture presented higher GHG emissions. The integrated systems presented negative methane fluxes, which denote their mitigating effect on GHG emissions. The CLFI system with eucalyptus and maize intercropped with U. brizantha cv. Marandú was the best option to improve the soil biological characteristics and mitigate GHG emissions. Crop-livestock-forest integration with Eucalyptus, maize, and U. brizantha cv. Marandú is indicated to improve soil biological characteristics and mitigate GHG emissions in the Amazonian region of the state of Maranhão, Brazil.
The rapid specialization of livestock production contributes to spatially decoupled crop and livestock production. Relinking croplands and livestock to promote wastes and by-products exchange has been suggested to provide opportunities for sustainable intensification of agriculture systems. However, the environmental and economic performances of such crop–livestock systems remain highly context specific and unclear. This study proposed an emergy-LCA-based framework to study the GHG mitigation and ecological and economic benefits of the integrated crop planting and livestock feeding systems, by taking wheat maize rotation-swine systems (WMRS), tea-swine systems (TS) and citrus alfalfa intercropping-swine systems (CAIS) as the empirical cases. The results showed the three case modes can generally promote GHG mitigation and ecological and economic benefits. CAIS had the lowest carbon footprint per kcal product (0.12 g CO2-eq kcal⁻¹), followed by TS (0.61 g CO2-eq kcal⁻¹) and MWRS (0.66 g CO2-eq kcal⁻¹). The significant difference in this indicator can be attributed to their different upstream input and manure management. Due to the lower dependence on purchased resources, CAIS also had the best performance on emergy-based sustainability and economic benefits. Based on our results, the policy implications, including promoting wastes and by-products exchange, choosing reasonable manure treatment mode and conducting systematic planning have been suggested to provide opportunities for GHG mitigation and sustainable intensification of agro-systems.
Global warming is widely recognized to affect the built environment in several ways. This paper projects the current and future climate scenarios on a nearly zero-energy dwelling in Brussels. Initially, a time-integrated discomfort assessment is carried out for the base case without any active cooling system. It is found that overheating risk will increase up to 528%, whereas the overcooling risk will decrease up to 32% by the end of the century. It is also resulted that the overheating risk will overlap the overcooling risk by 2090s under high emission scenarios. Subsequently, two commonly applied HVAC strategies are considered, including a gas-fired boiler + an air conditioner (S01) and a reversible air-to-water heat pump (S02). In general, S02 shows ∼6–13% and 15–27% less HVAC primary energy use and GHG emissions compared to S01, respectively. By conducting the sensitivity analysis, it is found that the choice of the HVAC strategy, heating set-point, and cooling set-point are among the most influential parameters determining the HVAC primary energy use. Finally, some future recommendations are provided for practice and future research.
Conventional dryland cropping systems are characterised by low crop diversity and frequent fallows. This has significant impacts on soil microbes that underpin soil function. Diversifying crop rotations can potentially counter these effects; however, limited data exists on the impacts of diversified crop rotations on soil microbes in drylands. Using phylogenetic marker gene sequencing, we characterised soil microbial diversity in conventional and diversified dryland crop rotations in subtropical Australia. This included winter and summer dominant rotations. Conventional systems were cereal-dominant with a crop-fallow rotation. Diversified systems included greater crop diversity, double crops, cover crops, and a multi-year ley pasture. In summer rotations with increased crop diversity and cover crops, bacterial and fungal richness increased, and distinct communities were formed compared to fallow land. Often, these community shifts were associated with greater soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen. All winter rotations had distinct fungal communities and ley pasture resulted in greater fungal diversity compared to other rotations. No effects of the winter rotations were evident on bacterial communities. Our results show that diversification of dryland crop rotations leads to significant shifts in soil microbial communities in both winter and summer cropping systems. Both summer and winter rotations incorporating cover crops and ley pasture had greater soil respiration and nitrogen, indicating increases in soil fertility. These rotations may offer an alternative to conventional crop-fallow rotations to counter ongoing declines in soil health.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with ruminant livestock production is important for climate change mitigation. Regenerative Agriculture (RA) practices are increasingly promoted to improve forage production and livestock performance in temperate livestock systems. These practices include i) rotational grazing (RG) of livestock around multiple subunits of pasture to achieve ungrazed periods of ‘rest’, and ii) herbal leys (HL), where perennial forbs such as chicory, lucerne and trefoils are included as components in multi-species swards. While there are plausible mechanisms for adoption of these practices to improve agricultural productivity, quantitative syntheses of their impacts are required. Here, we conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of RG and HL practices on herbage dry matter (DM) production, animal daily liveweight gain (DLWG), and sheep wool growth in temperate oceanic regions. We use quantitative predictors in our Bayesian hierarchical models to investigate the role of rest period and stocking density in RG systems, and specific plant traits and sward diversity in HL. We found that herbage DM increased by 0.31 t.ha⁻¹ over a growing season as the proportion of rest in an RG grazing system increased from 0 to 1. Stocking density significantly moderated the effect of rest period on sheep and cattle DLWG; at higher stocking densities, longer rest periods were required to maintain livestock growth rates. In HL studies, herbage DM yielded 1.63 t.ha⁻¹ more per metre of increased sward root depth and a sward entirely comprised of legumes yielded 2.20 t.ha⁻¹ more than when no legumes were present. Sheep DLWG increased by 3.50 g.day⁻¹ per unit increase in leaf nitrogen concentration (mg.g⁻¹), but we could not determine an effect of leaf condensed tannin content on animal performance. Although there remain differences between the RG and HL study treatments meta-analysed here and RA in practice, our results provide empirical support for some of the mechanisms attributed to increased pasture and livestock productivity following adoption of selected RA grazing practices.
There are currently 180 million hectares under pasture in Brazil, and despite the country being one of the largest meat producers, there remain around 64 million hectares that show signs of degradation and contribute to the substantial loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). The aim of this study, therefore, was to derive the factors for SOC stock changes in managed pastures and evaluate the potential for SOC sequestration when converting degraded pastures to well-managed or recovered pastures in Brazil. The study involved 169 paired comparisons, including different types of pasture spread over 14 states in Brazil, and analysed the data in linear mixed-effect models deriving the SOC stock change factors for various soil depths (30 to 100 cm) over 30 years since the change in management. The results showed that for 30 years at a depth of 0–30 cm, compared to native vegetation, nominal pasture (non-degraded grassland, but with no significant management improvements) and improved pasture increased SOC stocks by 15% and 8%, whilst degraded pastures reduced the stocks by 10%. However, the recovery of degraded pastures enhances the SOC by 23%. In terms of the rates of SOC change, pasture degradation leads to losses of 0.25 Mg C ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, whilst nominal or recovered pastures can sequester SOC at rates from 0.25 to 0.54 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Overall, it was estimated that the recovery of degraded pastures can sequester up to 3445 Tg of CO2. Nominal management or simple improvement practices can maintain or enhance SOC stocks, helping to mitigate the GHG emissions of livestock in Brazil.
The COVID-19 epidemic and the Russian–Ukrainian conflict have led to a global food and energy crisis, making the world aware of the importance of agroforestry development for a country. Modern agriculture mechanization leads to massive energy consumption and increased CO2 emissions. At the same time, China is facing serious demographic problems and a lack of consumption in the domestic market. The Chinese government is faced with the dilemma of balancing environmental protection with economic development in the context of the “double carbon” strategy. This article uses annual World Bank statistics from 1990 to 2020 to study the asymmetric relationships between agroforestry development, energy consumption, population size, and economic development on CO2 emissions in China using the partial least squares path model (PLS-PM), the autoregressive VAR vector time series model, and the Granger causality test. The results are as follows: (1) The relationship between economic development and carbon dioxide emissions, agroforestry development and carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, and population size and carbon dioxide emissions are both direct and indirect, with an overall significant positive effect. There is a direct negative relationship between population size and carbon dioxide emissions. (2) The results of the Granger causality test show that economic development, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions are the causes of the development of agroforestry; economic development, agroforestry development, population size, and CO2 emissions are the causes of energy consumption; energy consumption is the cause of economic development and CO2 emissions; and agroforestry development is the cause of population size and energy consumption. (3) In the next three years, China’s agroforestry development will be influenced by the impulse response of economic development, energy consumption, and CO2 emission factors, showing a decreasing development trend. China’s energy consumption will be influenced by the impulse response of economic development, agroforestry development, population size, and CO2 emission factors, showing a decreasing development trend, followed by an increasing development trend. China’s CO2 emission will be influenced by the impulse response of energy consumption and agroforestry development. China’s CO2 emissions will be influenced by the impulse response of energy consumption and agroforestry development factors, showing a downward and then an upward development trend.
Intercropping, i.e., association of two or more species, is promising to reduce insect populations in fields. The cereal aphid Rhopalosiphum padi, a vector of the Barley yellow dwarf virus PAV (BYDV-PAV), represents a major threat for cereal grain production. In this study, we tested the potential of winter barley intercropped with clover to reduce the size of R. padi populations and to lower the BYDV-PAV incidence in fields. We used arenas (i.e., sets of 36 barley plants) intercropped with or without clover plants (at different sown densities). In each arena, a single viruliferous founder, R. padi, (with an alate or a wingless morph) was deposited to introduce aphids and viruses in the experiment. Thirteen days later, the number of aphids in the arena, the percentage of plants hosting aphids and the infection rates were monitored. Data produced through this experimental design showed that clover alters the distribution of the aphid progeny (lower aphid spread) produced by an alate founder morph. Moreover, clover reduces the size of aphid populations produced by a wingless founder morph. However, despite the effects of clover on biological parameters of R. padi, the presence of clover in barley arena did not modify BYDV infections, suggesting complex mechanisms between partners of the BYDV pathosystem for plant-to-plant virus spread.
In Ethiopia, soil degradation has been ongoing for centuries and caused the population to be food insecured. To cope with the challenges of soil fertility loss and related stress, various indigenous reclamation practices have been developed and implemented by local smallholder farmers. However, the contributions of indigenous soil management in augmenting soil quality and crop productivity were not well studied. This study selected two neighboring districts, Derashe and Arba Minch Zuriya, with different indigenous soil management practices. The Derashe people as an adaptation strategy designed indigenous soil management, locally known as Targa-na-Potayta with zero tillage, and mixed/rotational cropping. However, in the neighboring Arba Minch Zuriya district, smallholder farmers use conventional tillage using animal power. Representative soil samples were collected from selected four adjacent kebeles of the two districts. Eight farm plots per kebele were selected and a total of 32 composite samples were collected following a zigzag pattern to the depth of 30 cm. Bulk density (BD), field capacity (FC), permanent wilting point (PWP), particle size, soil textural classes, power of hydrogen (pH), cation exchange capacity (CEC), available potassium (Av. K), available phosphorous (Av. P), total nitrogen (TN), exchangeable bases (Na, Mg, Ca, and K), and soil organic carbon (OC) were analyzed. To assess crop production and income, a total of 392 household heads were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using an independent sample t-test. The results showed, soils under indigenous management, clay content was 53.74 ± 2.68%, FC 47.8 ± 1.09%, AWHC 15.2 ± 0.37%, pH 8.02 ± 0.07, SOC 1.8 ± 0.02%, and sum of cations 68.2 ± 1.66 meq/100 g. The values in the tested parameters were statistically significant (P
The most serious threat which humans face is rapid global climate change, as the Earth shifts rapidly into a regime less hospitable to humans. To address the crisis caused by severe global climate change, it will be necessary to modify humankind's way of life. Because livestock production accounts for more than 14.5% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is critical to reduce the dependence of humans on protein nutrients and calories obtained from livestock. One way to do so is to use insects as food. Compared with typical livestock, farming edible insects (or "mini-livestock") produce fewer GHG emissions, require less space and water, involve shorter life cycles, and have higher feed conversion rates. It has been recently reported that consumption of certain insects can prevent or treat human diseases. This review goes beyond entomophagy to entomotherapy and their application to the food industry.
This paper aimed to quantify the C and N stocks and the natural abundancy of ¹³C (δ¹³C) in organic matter fractions of soil, as well as soil labile C, in a long-term experiment (1997–2019) on silvopastoral systems (SSP) with low and high tree diversity in the Mata Atlântica biome. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected in transects that were perpendicular to the tree rows every five meters (0, 5, 10, and 15 m of distance), at depths of: 0.0–0.10, 0.10–0.30. 0.30–0.60, 0.60–1.0 m. Litterfall, root density, total organic C and N content, δ¹³C values for particulate organic matter (POM) fractions as well as mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) and soil labile C, whilst stocks were calculated afterwards. Litterfall production was higher in the high diversity SSP for all distances, except for 5 m from the tree row. In contrast to litterfall, higher root density was observed for the longest tree distances (15 m) in the low diversity system. The high tree diversity SSP increased TOC stocks in the top soil layer (0.0–0.10 m, distances of 0 and 10 m) only and C-MAOM stocks in the surface (0.0–0.10 m, 10 m distance) and subsurface (0.10–0.30 m, 0 m distance). In contrast, total N stocks or stocks associated with MAOM and POM were higher in the high tree diversity system. The increases were of 37, 36 and 63%, respectively, for total N, N-MAOM, and N-POM up to 1 m depth. The smallest δ¹³C values found close to the tree row (0 and 5 m distances), especially in the high diversity system, indicate the influence organic residue from leguminous tree species, whilst the C4 grass held the highest contribution at the 15 m distance, also in the high diversity system. In general, the high diversity tree silvopastoral system has shown potential at storing most C in the 0.0–0.10 m soil layers only and N up to 1 m depth. Results showed very little shift in total C stocks, but the increased N stocks with the inclusion the legumes trees, which is reflected in a lower C:N ratio of the SOM. The silvopastoral system containing signal grass both legumes trees can be looked at as a viable strategy towards sustaining existing soil C stocks, whilst increasing N stocks and SOM quality.
Brazilian soil scientists have increased the use of the term "soil quality" in their scientific publications in the last decade. However, it remains unclear if those publications only mention "soil quality" in a broad context, or the studies are focused on soil quality assessments, integrating soil chemical, physical and biological indicators. The objective of this systematic review was to carry out a critical analysis of the conception in using the term "soil quality" in recent publications derived from studies performed in Brazil. For this purpose, the terms [("soil health" or "soil quality" or "qualidade do solo") and ("Brazil*" or "Brasil*")] were searched in databases of Web of Science, Scopus, and Scielo from 2014 to 2021. Initially, 1,284 peer-reviewed papers were found, subsequently selected according to the criteria established in two filters: (i) First filter-studies carried out in Brazil, which mentioned at least one of the terms of interest ("soil health" or "soil quality" or "qualidade do solo") and that evaluated soil biological, physical or chemical indicators, assessing at least one of them; (ii) Second filter-studies in which all three groups of soil indicators were assessed and integrated, and presented a specific discussion about soil quality. According to the results, 36 % of the papers met the first criteria (n = 464), and only 2 % (n = 30) attended the second filter. The terms "soil health" or "soil quality" or "qualidade do solo" were mentioned 7 and 37 times per paper for those papers selected in the first and second filter, respectively. We evidenced in our study that the term soil quality in agricultural science papers has been predominantly used in a broad context, mostly to refer to the suitable soil conditions for plant growth. Thus, we concluded that even if the use of soil quality term is increasing in Brazilian literature, there are still very few researchers working specifically with soil quality assessments, in its full conception (i.e., integrating chemical, physical and biological indicators). Therefore, there is a promising research field to be explored to promote scientific advances in the soil quality area (e.g., new concepts, assessment frameworks, on-farm monitoring protocols), as well as disseminate the soil quality assessment among the Brazilian farmers, environmentalists, and other stakeholders.
Citation: Gopinath, K.A.; Rajanna, G.A.; Venkatesh, G.; Jayalakshmi, M.; Kumari, V.V.; Prabhakar, M.; Rajkumar, B.; Chary, G.R.; Singh, V.K.
Land degradation and reduction in productivity have resulted in losses of soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural areas in Brazil. Our objectives were to 1) evaluate the predictive performance of CQESTR model for a tropical savannah; and 2) examine the effect of integrated management systems, including Integrated Crop-Livestock System (ICLS) scenarios on SOC stocks. Two long-term paddocks, under similar edaphic and climate conditions were used in this study. In Paddock 4 (P4) the rotation was corn (Zea mays L.) and 3.5/4.5 years pasture (Urochloa ruziziensis), while rotations in Paddock 5 (P5) included 2.5 years of soybean (Glycine max L.), dryland rice (Oryza sativa L.), and corn followed by 2.5/3.5 years pasture (U. brizantha). Measured and CQESTR simulated values were significantly (0.0001) correlated (r = 0.94) with a mean square deviation (MSD) of 7.55, indicating that the model captured spatial-temporal dynamics of SOC. Predicted SOC increased by 18.0 and 12.04 Mg ha⁻¹ at the rate of 0.90 and 0.60 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ under current ICLS management for P4 and P5, respectively, by 2039. ICLS increased soil C sequestration compared to simple grain cropping systems under both NT and CT due to high biomass input into the production system.
The agricultural sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in Ethiopia, as it is the basis of the economy and the primary source of employment. This study investigated the implementation of mitigation and adaptation practices in smallholder farms in Ethiopia, estimated GHG emissions associated with mitigation practices, and identified potential mitigation options and barriers and enabling factors for implementation. Twenty-five smallholder farmers were selected by a local development agency and interviewed in the field about their land use and land management practices and the Mitigation Options Tool (MOT) was used to estimate GHG emissions, to identify mitigation options and co-benefits, and as a platform for promoting learning and knowledge exchange across different types of stakeholders. All farmers interviewed in the field acknowledged changes in the climate, but only some were implementing adaptation practices to cope with such changes, namely, crop rotations, planting new crop types, and the early sowing of crops. Fewer mitigation practices were implemented, namely reduced tillage and application of manure in cereal crops and potatoes. These practices were mainly implemented because of their benefits for soil conservation (e.g. fertility, soil water holding capacity, yield stabilization, erosion avoidance) rather than for mitigation (carbon sequestration) purposes. Greenhouse gas emissions from the application of synthetic fertilizer to crops, and from livestock production varied widely across farmers depending on the amount of fertilizer applied and the number and type of livestock raised. Tenancy rights and extension services were identified as potential enablers of the adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation practices by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, and competing uses for straw was a potential barrier for the incorporation of residues in the soil. Barriers and enabling factors should be assessed thoroughly through further engagement with farmers as well as data on the amount of organic matter added to the soil, as these practices have co-benefits in terms of soil conservation, which are especially relevant for climate change adaptation in semi-dry climates. The MOT could be used in the future as a facilitator for knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners in Ethiopia, and in other developing countries where data availability is low, to support the identification of effective climate change mitigation and adaptation actions.
Key policy insights
• Climate change mitigation practices in agriculture can provide co-benefits for adaptation and food security, including the stabilization of crop yields, especially in semi-dry climates; more evidence about these co-benefits is needed.
• The systematic collection of data on manure and crop residues should be supported as a priority as well as the identification of implementation barriers for mitigation and adaptation practices.
• Smallholder farmers need to be engaged throughout any assessment of climate change mitigation potential to raise awareness, identify co-benefits of possible actions, and to identify and address barriers for implementation.
• Tenancy rights and extension services are potential enabling factors for the adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia.
• In developing countries, user-friendly tools such as the MOT can promote learning and knowledge exchange across diverse stakeholder groups about the impact of land use and management options on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The use of integrated systems in Brazil started in the beginning of 20th Century. Since then, with the evolution of researches focused on the soil-plant-animal-forest interactions, several integrated systems have been shaped in association to farmers. The main benefits provided by the synergies among crops and pastures are: increase animal productivity by restoring pasture yields, increase crop productivities by improvements in the soil's physical, chemical and biological properties and the interruption of biotic cycles of weeds, pests and diseases. The main positive impacts on the environment are related to soil and water conservation, increases in soil organic carbon and land-saving effect. From an economic standpoint, mixed systems allow a more rational use of inputs, improvements in cash flow and reduction of the economic risks. The greater nutrients cycling from forages associated to more efficient use of fertilizers by crops saves fertilizers and reduce the production costs. Integrated crop-livestock (ICL) and crop-livestock-forestry systems (ICLF) might be considered as a key strategy to promote sustainable intensification in agriculture.
Crop diseases affect crop yield and quality and cause significant losses of total food production worldwide. With the ever‐increasing world population and decreasing land and water resources, there is a need not only to produce more food but also to reduce agricultural greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions to mitigate climate change and avoid land use change and biodiversity loss. Thus, alternative climate‐smart farming systems need to adapt to produce more foods per ha in a more sustainable way than conventional high input farming systems. In addition to breeding new high yielding cultivars adapted to future climates, there is a need to deploy integrated crop management (ICM) strategies, relying less on synthetic inputs for fertilisation and crop protection and less on fossil‐fuel powered machinery to decrease yield losses due to pest and pathogens and guarantee food security. In this review, we compare some low‐input farming systems to conventional agricultural systems with a focus on ICM solutions being developed to reduce synthetic inputs; these include crop genetic resistance to pathogens, intercropping, canopy architecture manipulation and crop rotation. These techniques have potential to decrease crop disease frequency and severity by decreasing amounts and dispersal of pathogen inoculum and by producing microclimates that are less favourable for pathogen development while decreasing GHG emissions and improving environmental sustainability. More research is needed to determine the best deployment of these ICM strategies in various cropping systems to maximise yield, crop protection and other ecosystem services to address trade‐offs between climate change and food security.
Under conditions of high temperature, humidity, and incidence of solar radiation, dairy cows use behavioral changes as a strategy to decrease the metabolic heat production at pasture. The objective of this study was to evaluate the behavioral and physiological responses of Gyr and Girolando (5/8 Holstein 3/8 Gyr, and ½ Holstein ½ Gyr) dairy cows submitted to environments with and without shade. The experiment was conducted at Embrapa Cerrados (Technology Center for Dairy Zebu breeds—CTZL), Brasilia, Distrito Federal—Brazil, with 48 Gyr and Girolando cows total in the lactation group, with low to medium milk production, in full sun or shade with Eucalyptus urograndis (267 plants/ha−1). The physiological and behavioral characteristics evaluated were panting score, superficial temperature, and time spent grazing, ruminating, and lying down. Other traits included skin and coat thickness, hair diameter, density and length, and predominant coat color. In addition, body measurements, such as body length, the height of withers, chest circumference, and shin circumference, were measured. Shaded cows had 34% longer rumination times than cows in full sun (p = 0.01). With a temperature-humidity index ranging from 79 to 83, the rumination time was 1.7 times higher in cows under shade (p = 0.01) during a 24-h period of observation. There were no significant differences in the grazing time between the environments, but lying time was 23% longer in cows under the sun (p = 0.01). The panting score was not influenced by the environment (p = 0.17). Girolando cows had a 35% higher panting score than Gyr cows (p = 0.01) regardless of the environment. The panting score increased two and a half times during the afternoon compared with the morning (p = 0.01). The surface and rectal core temperatures had significant differences between treatments and time of the day. Body measurements were not different between cows in both environments, but there was a difference between breeds. The use of trees in pastures with a silvopastoral system for dairy zebu cows is indicated to improve grazing behavior, as well as time spent ruminating and lying down.
The implementation of integrated agricultural production systems is considered a promising strategy for sustainable agricultural intensification in Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different monoculture and integrated production systems on the microbiological attributes and organic carbon of soil from the Cerrado region in Piauí, Brazil. Soil samples were collected from the 0.0-0.10-m layer in the following systems: no-tillage (PD), pasture (PAS), exclusive eucalyptus cultivation (CEE), integrated livestock-forest system (IPF) and a native Cerrado (CN) area, which was used as reference. Total organic carbon (TOC) and nitrogen (NT) contents, microbial biomass carbon (CMIC), microbial respiration (MR), microbial quotient (qMIC), metabolic quotient (qCO2), as well as the activities of the hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (FDA), acid phosphatase, β-glucosidase and urease enzymes were evaluated. High TOC contents were found in the CEE, IPF and PAS systems, and high CMIC and qMIC values were found in the CN and CEE systems. The variables MR, qCO2 and enzymatic activity varied as a function of the management systems. The IPF and CEE systems caused improvements in the soil attributes, with increases in organic carbon and microbial biomass. The IPF integrated production system promoted improvements in the microbiological indicators of soil quality and was considered an environmentally sustainable agricultural production system. The transition from CN to agricultural areas caused changes in the soil microbiological indicators, which were perceived several years after anthropogenic intervention, indicating that even with the adoption of conservation systems, it was not possible to reestablish the soil microbial biomass.
Keywords:
microbial biomass; enzymatic activity; livestock-forest integration
Integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS) can be productive, sustainable, and climate-resilient agricultural systems compared to specialized and intensive systems. This review explores the beneficial traits and contributions of ICLS to food security, social and economic benefits, and resilience, and proposes strategies to adopt ICLSs in low-, medium-, and high-income countries. Currently, global food security faces two main challenges. First, one in nine people do not have sufficient protein and energy in their diet, of those 50% are smallholder subsistence farmers and 20% are landless families in the low-and medium-income countries (LMICs). Second, specialized intensive agricultural practices often cause soil and environmental degradation. ICLS is an agricultural practice that could play a significant role in mitigating these challenges. The diversified cropping systems in ICLS can improve the productivity of the principal crop as well as enhance food security through increasing nutritional indicators such as food consumption score and household dietary diversity especially for rural households. An ICLS, therefore, could be a key for achieving food and nutritional security and environmental sustainability both in short and long-terms. While ICLS practices have increased over time, there are still adoption challenges due to lack of investment, sustainable awareness, lack of skills by the producers, and market competition. In LMICs, successful implementation of ICLS requires organizational and/or institutional support to create new marketing opportunities and adoption of ICLS can be improved if government policies provide capital, markets, and educational services to subsistence farmers. These government policies can also increase the producer's knowledge, change farmer's attitudes and enhance trust in organic matter management for sustainable soil management. Therefore, agricultural scientists are challenged to provide fundamental and credible information to integrate crop and livestock production systems so that worldwide adoption of ICLS can be used to increase the agricultural production compatible with food and nutrition security.
Ecological theory suggests that biodiversity has a positive and stabilizing effect on the delivery of ecosystem services. Yet, the impacts of increasing the diversity of cultivated crop species or varieties in agroecosystems are still under scrutiny. The empirical evidence available is scattered in scope, agronomic and geographical contexts and impacts on ecosystem services may depend on the type of diversification strategy used. To robustly assess the effects of crop diversification in agroecosystems, we compiled the results of 95 meta‐analyses integrating 5,156 experiments conducted over 84 experimental years and representing more than 54,500 paired observations on 120 crop species in 85 countries. Overall, our synthesis of experimental data from across the globe shows that crop diversification enhances not only crop production (median effect +14%), but also the associated biodiversity (+24%, i.e. the biodiversity of non‐cultivated plants and animals), and several supporting and regulating ecosystem services including water quality (+51%), pest and disease control (+63%) and soil quality (+11%). However, there was substantial variability in the results for each individual ecosystem service between different diversification strategies like agroforestry, intercropping, cover‐crops, crop rotation or variety mixtures. Agroforestry is particularly effective in delivering multiple ecosystem services, i.e. water regulation and quality, pest and diseases regulation, associated biodiversity, long‐term soil productivity and quality. Variety mixtures, instead, provide the lowest benefits, while the other strategies show intermediate results. Our results highlight that while increasing the diversity of cultivated crop species or varieties in agroecosystems represents a very promising strategy for more sustainable land management, contributing to enhanced yields, enhanced biodiversity and ecosystem services, some crop diversification strategies are more effective than others in supporting key ecosystem services.
Soil, water, and nutrient loss by water erosion are among the main factors leading to land degradation, decreasing soil productivity and the provision of ecosystem services. The Cerrado-Amazon ecotone in western Brazil has suffered rapid land-use cover changes with impacts on soil erosion and land degradation. Despite the importance of the region for Brazilian agriculture and environmental conservation, studies on soil, water, and nutrient loss are still scarce. We tested integrated crop-livestock-forestry (ICLF) as a sustainable agriculture management system for the Cerrado-Amazon ecotone region. A field experiment was established in the north of Mato Grosso state to quantify total soil, water, carbon and nitrogen loss during the rainy season in 2012-2013 in plots of integrated crop-forestry (ICF), pasture (PAST), eucalyptus plantation (EUC), no-tillage crop succession (CS) and bare soil (BS). Total soil, water, carbon and nitrogen losses in BS were, on average, 96.7% higher than in ICF, EUC, PAST, and CS. ICF had significantly lower water loss than CS, EUC and PAST. Total loss of carbon (4.3 - 428.2 kg ha-1) and nitrogen (0.3 - 29.2 kg ha-1) differed significantly among treatments. The production systems with tree components (EUC and ICF) and PAST showed reduced soil and nutrients loss compared to CS. Our results demonstrated that ICLF can avoid soil quality loss and thus improve agriculture sustainability in the Cerrado-Amazon ecotone.
p>Crop and livestock production are essential to maintain food security. In China, crop and livestock production were integrated in the past. Today, small backyard systems are still integrated but the larger livestock farms are landless and largely geographically separated from crop production systems. As a result, there is less recycling of animal manures and there are lower nutrient use efficiencies in the Chinese food production systems. This, in turn, results in considerable losses of nutrients, causing water pollution and harmful algal blooms in Chinese lakes, rivers and seas. To turn the tide, there is a need for agricultural "green" development for food production through reintegrating crop and livestock production. An additional wish is to turn the Chinese water systems "blue" to secure clean water for current and future generations. In this paper, current knowledge is summarized to identify promising interventions for reintegrating crop and livestock production toward clean water. Technical, social, economic, policy and environmental interventions are addressed and examples are given. The paper highlights recommended next steps to achieve "green" agriculture and "blue" water in China.</p
Ongoing specialization of crop and livestock systems provides socioeconomic benefits to the farmer but has led to greater externalization of environmental costs when compared to mixed farming systems. Better integration of crop and livestock systems offers great potential to rebalance the economic and environmental trade-offs in both systems. The aims of this study were to
analyze changes in farm structure and review and evaluate the potential for reintegrating specialized intensive crop and livestock systems, with specific emphasis on identifying the co-benefits and barriers to reintegration.
Historically, animals were essential to recycle nutrients in the farming system but this became less important with the availability of synthetic fertilisers. Although mixed farm systems can be economically attractive, benefits of scale combined with socio-economic factors have resulted in on-farm and regional
specialization with negative environmental impacts. Reintegration is therefore needed to reduce nutrient surpluses at farm, regional and national levels, and to improve soil quality in intensive cropping systems. Reintegration offers practical and cost-effective options to widen crop rotations and promotes the use of organic inputs and associated benefits, reducing dependency on synthetic fertilisers, biocides and manure processing costs. Circular agriculture goes
beyond manure management and requires adaptation of both food production and consumption patterns, matching local capacity to produce with food demand. Consequently, feed transport, greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient surpluses and nutrient losses to the environment can be reduced. It is concluded that reintegration of specialized farms within a region can provide benefits to
farmers but may also lead to further intensification of land use. New approaches within a food system context offer alternatives for reintegration, but require strong policy incentives which show clear, tangible and lasting benefits for farmers, the environment and the wider community.
Land use and coverage surveys show that 30.5% of Brazil´s territory was dedicated to the production of food, fibers, biofuels and raw materials. This paper fulfills a gap and provides information to society and decision‐makers about the effectiveness of the adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA) principles with Zero Tillage (ZT/CA) and integrated Crop‐Livestock‐Forest (iCLF‐CA) systems as the central policies to mitigate soil erosion, the main agent of land degradation and productivity loss. The increase in CA area by 2030 was estimated using Holt’s damped for ZT/CA and simple linear models for iCLF‐CA. The annual potential for soil erosion with intensive conventional tillage and monocropping, considering land use and cover in 2017, is of 3.0 billion tonnes. The economic impact, based only on replacement of nutrient losses, is estimated to be 15.7 billion US for ZT/CA in 2017 and 0.5 billion US$ for iCLF‐CA in 2015. The future increase of the CA area was forecast at 34.4 Mha and 25.4 Mha for ZT/CA and iCLF‐CA, respectively. The positive impacts of the adoption of CA principles in Brazil are the result of the determination of farmers, among many actors, and of the effectiveness of government plans and policies.
Polidoro JC, de Freitas PL, Hernani LC, et al. Potential impact of plans and policies based on the principles of conservation agriculture on the control of soil erosion in Brazil. Land Degrad Dev. 2021;1–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3876
Background
Both exergy and energy analysis methodologies are used for analysing energy efficiencies in various processes, including agriculture. This study focuses on the connection of three main process components (husbandry-crop-fishpond) in a typical farming household located within an acid soil region of rural Vietnam. The concept of exergy analysis is used to underline the potential for resource efficiency in alternative processes in the agricultural system. For development of an integrated ecological system aiming towards zero emissions, the analytical methods of material cycles and energy flows utilized a set of indicators of resource efficiency in a sustainable agriculture.
Results
The design of the ideal integrated farming system “Agro-Industrial Zero Emissions Systems” (AIZES) can increase the system efficiency by making use of indigenous natural materials and waste reuse/recycling. Recycling waste produce energy, fish feed and fertilizer can result in a decreased environmental load of approximately half. Using exergy analysis to calculate an indicator non-renewable yield ratio (NRYR), the systems verified sustainability of agriculture production.
Conclusions
The farming household will be able to subsidize their fuel and electricity consumption by utilizing biogas. Surplus biogas will be distributed to proximate households, further creating sustainable goals. Biochar, created by mixing the biomass residues with local plants, will improve soil quality and pig sludge, mixed with biomass residue, will create high-quality fertilizer.
Agrosilvopastoral systems have been promoted as sustainable models that combine crops, livestock grazing, and forestry in the same area. We hypothesize that agrosilvopastoral systems can improve soil C and N stocks over time. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the changes in soil C and N stocks after conversion of low-productivity pasture into well-managed pasture and agrosilvopastoral land in the Brazilian Cerrado. Soil samples were collected in 2016 and 2018 at 0–5, 5–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm depths from the following areas: integrated crop-livestock-forest (ICLF), marandu grass (Brachiaria brizantha) monoculture (MAR), low productivity pasture of signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens) monoculture (PAST), and native vegetation (NV; “Cerrado”). The C and N content and stocks, ¹³C natural abundance, and C contents in the physical and chemical fractions of soil organic matter (SOM) were measured. The ICLF and MAR systems promoted faster recovery of soil C and N stocks at all soil depths compared with PAST. The C content of the free light fraction of SOM under the ICLF and MAR systems increased, reaching values similar to NV up to 20 cm. The C content was higher in the humin fraction at all depths in all areas, and for this measurement, the ICLF system performed remarkably compared with PAST at a depth of 5−10 cm. Our findings support the hypothesis that conversion of low-productivity pasture into agrosilvopastoral and actively managed pasture systems leads to improvements in soil quality and C and N stocks in the Brazilian Cerrado.
Production systems that feature temporal and spatial integration of crop and livestock enterprises, also known as integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS), have the potential to intensify production on cultivated lands and foster resilience to the effects of climate change without proportional increases in environmental impacts. Yet, crop production outcomes following livestock grazing across environments and management scenarios remain uncertain and a potential barrier to adoption, as producers worry about the effects of livestock activity on the agronomic quality of their land. To determine likely production outcomes across ICLS and to identify the most important moderating variables governing those outcomes, we performed a meta-analysis of 66 studies comparing crop yields in ICLS to yields in unintegrated controls across 3 continents, 12 crops, and 4 livestock species. We found that annual cash crops in ICLS averaged similar yields (-7% to +2%) to crops in comparable unintegrated systems. The exception was dual-purpose crops (crops managed simultaneously for grazing and grain production), which yielded 20% less on average than single-purpose crops in the studies examined. When dual-purpose cropping systems were excluded from the analysis, crops in ICLS yielded more than in unintegrated systems in loamy soils and achieved equal yields in most other settings, suggesting that areas of intermediate soil texture may represent a “sweet-spot” for ICLS implementation. This meta-analysis represents the first quantitative synthesis of the crop production outcomes of ICLS and demonstrates the need for further investigation into the conditions and management scenarios under which ICLS can be successfully implemented.
Field measurement data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are still scarce for many land-use types in Africa, causing a high level of uncertainty in GHG budgets. To address this gap, we present in situ measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) emissions from the lowlands of southern Kenya. We conducted eight chamber measurement campaigns on gas exchange from four dominant land-use types (LUTs) comprising (1) cropland, (2) bushland, (3) grazing land, and (4) conservation land between 29 November 2017 and 3 November 2018, accounting for regional seasonality (wet and dry seasons and transitions periods). Mean CO2 emissions for the whole observation period were the highest by a significant margin (p value < 0.05) in the conservation land (75±6 mg CO2-C m-2 h-1) compared to the three other sites, which ranged from 45±4 mg CO2-C m-2 h-1 (bushland) to 50±5 mg CO2-C m-2 h-1 (grazing land). Furthermore, CO2 emissions varied between seasons, with significantly higher emissions in the wet season than the dry season. Mean N2O emissions were highest in cropland (2.7±0.6 µg N2O-N m-2 h-1) and lowest in bushland (1.2±0.4 µg N2O-N m-2 h-1) but did not vary with season. In fact, N2O emissions were very low both in the wet and dry seasons, with slightly elevated values during the early days of the wet seasons in all LUTs. On the other hand, CH4 emissions did not show any significant differences across LUTs and seasons. Most CH4 fluxes were below the limit of detection (LOD, ±0.03 mg CH4-C m-2 h-1). We attributed the difference in soil CO2 emissions between the four sites to soil C content, which differed between the sites and was highest in the conservation land. In addition, CO2 and N2O emissions positively correlated with soil moisture, thus an increase in soil moisture led to an increase in emissions. Furthermore, vegetation cover explained the seasonal variation in soil CO2 emissions as depicted by a strong positive correlation between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and CO2 emissions, most likely because, with more green (active) vegetation cover, higher CO2 emissions occur due to enhanced root respiration compared to drier periods. Soil temperature did not show a clear correlation with either CO2 or N2O emissions, which is likely due to the low variability in soil temperature between seasons and sites. Based on our results, soil C, active vegetation cover, and soil moisture are key drivers of soil GHG emissions in all the tested LUTs in southern Kenya. Our results are within the range of previous GHG flux measurements from soils from various LUTs in other parts of Kenya and contribute to more accurate baseline GHG emission estimates from Africa, which are key to reducing uncertainties in global GHG budgets as well as for informing policymakers when discussing low-emission development strategies.
Insects are the largest biological group on the earth, characterized by high biodiversity, easy rearing, and large populations. The utilization of insects in China has a long history and some insect species have contributed to the formation of characteristic industries. Insect products, such as silk and honey, are already familiar to the public; however, many beneficial insects and their products are not well known to most people, for example, lac insect and lac, gall aphid and Chinese gallnut, and insect wax. A new industry featuring the utilization and industrialization of insects has been rising in China. Chemically, insect products are used as raw materials; agriculturally, insects are utilized to pollinate crops for better yield; natural enemy insects have been reared to control pests; insect protein may be used for human food or animal feed; medicinally, chemical compounds may be extracted from insects as active ingredients for pharmaceutical usage; and ornamental butterfly has been applied in travel sightseeing. Insects' new purpose and function will be exploited as they gain recognition for their resources. This paper reviews insect industrialization in China and discusses the prospect of insect commerce in the future.
Crop rotations have well-known aboveground and belowground benefits. At regional to continental scales, the unifying mechanisms of how diversified rotations alter soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics have not been demonstrated. We assessed how increasing crop rotational diversity across a soil-climate gradient affected the integrated response of SOM chemistry, microbial community composition, and its enzymatic potential to degrade SOM. Agroecosystems with the same crop rotational diversity (all sampled during the corn phase) shared similarities in molecular SOM patterns with a strong microbial signature, pointing to common transformation processes. Differences in SOM chemistry between rotations were mainly characterized by shifts in microbial necromass markers and in lipids produced or transformed by microbes rather than by intact plant lipids. Microbial resource allocation to enzymes, which catalyze the decomposition of organic matter, differed between systems, with lower resource investment into recalcitrant C-degrading enzymes with increasing crop diversity, pointing to higher resource availability for the microbial community. Our multivariate analyses suggest that this could be regulated via relative changes in microbial functional groups – emergence of relatively more non-oxidase producing microorganisms like arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi rather than an absolute decrease in oxidase producing microbes. These uniform responses to increased crop rotational diversity over a wide geographical area point to enhanced stabilization of microbial-derived SOM and functional shifts in the microbial community as a common mechanism underlying the positive plant-soil feedback in cropping systems.
The main purpose of a classification scheme is to provide a practical framework for the synthesis and analysis of the information about existing agroforestry systems (AFS) and the development of new and promising ones. During the early stages of AF development in the tropics, a substantial database was generated from a global inventory of tropical AFS. Using that database, a classification scheme was developed based on the system’s structure (nature and arrangement of components) as the primary criterion, and three major categories of AFS were identified: agrisilvicultural, silvopastoral, and agrosilvopastoral systems. Other criteria such as the system’s function (major role or output), ecological distribution (rainfall, elevation), and socioeconomic characteristics (subsistence, commercial) were then used to group the systems in a purpose-oriented manner: for example, a silvopastoral system in tropical savannas, an agrisilvicultural system for soil conservation, and so on. In situations where such a detailed classification is not relevant or needed as in the temperate regions, classification has been limited to the identification of the major practices. Thus, during the late 1990s to early 2000s, alley cropping, silvopasture, forest farming, riparian buffer, and windbreaks were recognized as the major agroforestry practices in North America. Almost identical terms with slight modifications were adopted to designate the AF practices in Europe too. These terms have subsequently been modified and expanded in both North America and Europe.
Crop-livestock systems are critical for global agricultural sustainability. Here we show for the first time a new crop-livestock system: farming Muscovy ducks in maize fields (FD). To test whether FD is a practicable crop-livestock system, we conducted a 3-year field experiment to explore the growth and weight performance of Muscovy ducks in FD and to compare the FD with conventional maize planting (CMP) and raising ducks indoors (RDI) regarding crop growth and yield, weed biomass and density, feed conversion ratio, and economic benefits. We found that Muscovy ducks could adapt and thrive in maize fields with grain supplementation. The average weight per duck in FD at the harvest stage of maize was 2.24–3.82 kg, which met the local market standard and was higher than in RDI with a lower feed conversion ratio. When compared to CMP, FD did not significantly reduce the maize production in terms of yield or biomass, although the ducks fed on or damaged an average of four maize leaves. Importantly, FD significantly reduced the weed biomass and density. In addition, the net present value (NPV) of FD was 10.993 per duck, which was three times and 22.8% greater than those of CMP and RDI, respectively. These results indicated that FD, as a new crop-livestock system on dry land at the field scale, can promote sustainable agricultural production and act as a potential crop-livestock system due to the large global maize area.
CONTEXT
Cacao-based agroforestry systems is an appropriate technology as it contributes to improving the standard of living of the population of an agricultural region based on land use without causing undesirable environmental changes. Brazil contributes approximately 5% of world cocoa production. The main cocoa producing states are Bahia and Espírito Santo in the Atlantic Forest biome; and Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Mato Grosso in the Amazon biome, with an estimated total planted area of 606,794 ha and about 76,000 rural producers, of which almost 80% are in family farming.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this review was to describe the various commercially adopted models of agroforestry systems with cacao trees (cacao-AFS), with an emphasis on their agronomic, economic and social-ecological advantages as key technologies for the sustainable rural development of the cacao regions in the Atlantic Forest and Amazon biomes in Brazil.
METHODS
A survey of the literature produced on various models of cacao-AFS was carried out, with an emphasis on farming system design, productivity, profitability, stability, employment and sustainability.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Cacao crops provide several social, economic and environmental benefits. The predominant cacao-AFS models in Bahia and Espírito Santo are the cacao-cabruca, cacao-erythrina and cacao-rubber systems, while the Amazon implements models in mixed and zonal systems with a high diversity of consortium multifunctional species. The social importance of the diversity of cacao-AFS models is to generate new technologies and knowledge, to preserve tree species with a social function (medicinal and fruit species) and to produce food in the systems installation phase. The cacao-cabruca system has the lowest productivity among the cacao-AFS of approximately 180 kg/ha, but with proper shade management and the use of high technology it can achieve much higher productivity. The diversity of cacao-AFS models in the cacao regions characterizes an agroforestry mosaic, forming a forest continuum in relation to conservation and production values. Thus, the mosaic of cacao-AFS can be considered a technology to help preserve and promote biodiversity without harming its commercial production.
SIGNIFICANCE
This study demonstrates that the cacao-AFS mosaic could also be considered an environmentally-friendly agroforestry technique and/or climate-smart agriculture. For this reason, implementing payment for ecosystem services should gain greater relevance as a mechanism to increase added value. This would allow access to niche markets with higher added value by paying for both environmental services and the fine cocoa market.
Changes with land use and management are the second largest cause of greenhouse gas emissions (E-GHG) into the atmosphere. So, it is important to better understand agricultural systems regarding C and N stocks, which are directly associated with soil quality. The objective of this work was to evaluate the impacts of pastoral use systems on C and N stocks and the natural abundance of 13 C (δ 13 C) in the fractions of soil organic matter in the Brazilian Amazon biome. The pastoral systems evaluated involved two silvopastoral systems with 30% (SP30) and 60% (SP60) of shading, two full-sun pasture systems, one in use and under intensive management (IMP) and other in fallow and is considered degraded (DP), as well as a control area under forest (NV). Dominant the grass of the pasture areas was Mombasa grass (Megathyrsus maximus). The experiment design consisted of four rep-licates where the collection sites (trenches) were systematically distributed within the areas (SP30, SP60, NV, DP and IMP) and the layers (0-5, 5-15, 15-30, 30-60 and 60-100 cm). Silvopastoral system with 60% shading had the greatest carbon stock, even greater than the control forest at some depths. In comparison to the control condition (NV) in soil profile, SP30, DP and IMP, reduced C-total stocks by 24%, 17% and 20%, and N-total by 14%, 10% and 18%, respectively. The δ 13 C values were higher in the IMP and DP systems and lower in SP60 and NV, both in organic matter associated with minerals (MaOM) and particulate organic matter (POM). An isotopic enrichment occurred in all systems in the soil profile.
During the past few decades, commercial silvopastoral systems (SPS) with exotic Eucalyptus (hybrid) trees have become popular in the Brazilian Cerrado (savanna). With the increasing awareness about the role of carbon (C) storage in soils as a climate-change mitigation strategy and the relationship between the nature of soil aggregates
and the soil’s carbon sequestration potential, it is important to understand the influence of such SPS systems on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. We studied C content in three aggregate size classes in six land-use systems on Oxisols in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The systems were planted forest, native secondary forest, managed pasture, and three 8-year-old SPS, differing in their tree-planting configurations. Eucalyptus hybrid was the tree in SPS and planted forest treatments, and Urochloa decumbens was the grass in SPS and pasture treatments. From each treatment, replicated soil samples were collected from four depth-classes (0–10, 10–30, 30–60, and 60–100 cm), fractionated by wet sieving into the three aggregate-size classes, 2000 to 250 μm, 250 to 53 μm, and <53 μm size classes representing macroaggregates, microaggregates, and silt + clay, respectively, and their C contents determined. Down to 1 m, total SOC stock values ranged from 260 Mg ha− 1 under pasture to 167 Mg ha− 1 under native forest, with 174 Mg ha− 1 for Eucalyptus plantation and about 195 Mg ha− 1 for the three SPS. Compared to the degraded native forest, the pasture system had significantly higher SOC in the whole soil and the aggregate size fractions, especially in the lower soil-depth classes. The lower SOC stock of Eucalyptus hybrid SPS compared to open pasture differs from the general trend of SPS having higher stock. Given that the Cerrado biome is a biodiversity hotspot, the use of native nitrogen-fixing trees, of which there are several, is worth investigating. In addition, the conversion from Eucalyptus monocultures to SPS could be considered as a strategy to increase the SOC stock.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of livestock rearing system, sheepfold vs. integrated crop-livestock system, on heat tolerance and physiological traits of crossbred sheep (Santa Ines x Dorper) in the semiarid region of Brazilian Northeastern. Forty crossbred hair ewes (Santa Ines x Dorper), 15-48 months old, were assigned to two treatments: 20 in treatment I (SF – Sheepfold) and 20 in treatment II (ICL - integrated crop-livestock system with tall coconut palm trees). Physiological and environmental evaluations were conducted on 21 consecutive days. Respiratory rate (RR), rectal temperature (RT) and heart rate (HR) were recorded at 06:00 am and 05:00 pm, while air temperature and relative humidity were recorded from 06:00 am to 05:00 pm. Temperature and Humidity Index (THI) in the SF and ILC indicated severe stress for sheep regardless of the period of the day, and although THI in integrated crop-livestock system was 1% lower than in the sheepfold, there was no statistical differences between the treatments. Ewes from integrated crop-livestock system had lower RR and HR than sheepfold ewes at 06:00 am and 05:00 pm. The afternoon period led the animals to more dangerous situation of thermal stress condition in both treatments, however we suggest that the presence of trees in the ICL system promoted an amelioration of heat stress on grazing ewes.
With economies heavily dependent on agriculture, South Asia is the world's most poverty-dense region. Nepal—a country of considerable geographic variability ranging from population-dense low-elevation Terai region to the sparsely inhabited, poorly accessible Himalayan hills and mountains—has enormous environmental and socio-economic challenges to agricultural development. Runoff from the hills and mountains feed networks of rivers that are crucial for supply of surface and groundwater for the Terai and northern India and Bangladesh, benefitting approximately one-fifth of the world's population. Nepal's farming systems are complex, with insufficient documentation of research evidence on the challenges and opportunities facing them. This review documents the key environmental, socio-economic and agronomic issues affecting cereal-based farming systems in Nepal. Evidences suggest farmers in the hills and mountains primarily practice integrated crop-livestock-tree based agroforestry systems with local varieties of crop and livestock species, and use farm-derived organic amendments and limited external inputs, resulting in low but stable yields. The Terai's cropping systems are predominantly rice-based, with wheat, maize and pulses grown in rotation with low to moderate use of inputs, although high yielding varieties are increasingly common. Major environmental challenges in the high and mid-hills include erosion and soil degradation, while in the Terai, reduced soil fertility and sub-optimal management of water resources are important constraints. Climate variability and extremes are cross-regional challenges. Socioeconomic issues include land use policy, labor out-migration and agricultural feminization. Large gaps between potential and farmers' yields are consistent concerns. While summarizing past and current agronomic research findings, this review suggests new research needs and agricultural development pathways that could address these environmental, socioeconomic and agronomic issues and challenges.
This book contains 17 chapters focusing on the impacts of climate change on ecosystems, food security, water resources and economic stability. Strategies to develop sustainable systems that minimize impact on climate and/or mitigate the effects of human activity on climate change are also presented.
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) have been increasingly dominated by carbon dioxide (CO2) with its negative effects on the global climatic system. Malaysia has forest land around 67% of the total land area which helps to mitigate climate change by absorbing atmospheric CO2 and enhancing the national carbon sink. However, there is a lack of study on the cost-effectiveness of potential mitigation measures in the forestry sector of Malaysia (e.g., forest conservation, afforestation, natural regeneration). Therefore, this article attempts to do a cost–benefit analysis (CBA) of the potential mitigation measures for 25, 50 and 75 years by considering the discount rate of 0% and 3%. The costs considered for the CBA include the establishment and maintenance cost of the mitigation measures. The CBA considered benefits associated with carbon sequestration, timber production, forest revenue, biodiversity, and other forest ecosystem services. A meta-analysis has been conducted to evaluate the carbon density in Malaysian forests, which has been used to assess the forest carbon sequestrated by each mitigation measures. This study found that the forestry sector of Malaysia has a huge potential to mitigate climate change whereas natural regeneration is the most cost-effective mitigation measure followed by forest conservation and afforestation. The outcome of this research would be useful for forest management planning to mitigate climate change in a cost-effective way. This study could encourage other countries to identify and implement the most cost-effective measure to mitigate climate change by achieving maximum carbon sink with minimum cost.
Conservation biological control consists of managing agroecosystem to maintain and enhance the action of natural enemies. Agroforestry systems such as shaded coffee system has been shown to maintain high diversity of organisms, including predators and parasitoids of insect pest. The coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei, is one of the most widely distributed coffee pests frequently causing severe economic damage. Ants have been reported as natural enemies of the CBB, but different species of ants are known to have different and sometime contrasting effects against the CBB. In this study, we examine the damage and survival of CBB on coffee plants that are dominated by six different species of ants, Solenopsis invicta, Wasmannia auropunctata, Monomorium floricola, Paratrechina longicornis, Brachymyrmex heeri and Pheidole moerens, in Puerto Rico. This represents a novel community of natural enemies since four of the six species are non-native. We hypothesized that the large and dominant species, S. invicta, would reduce the damage of the CBB by preying on adult CBB outside the berries, while the smaller species, would reduce the survival of the CBB by preying on the reproducing adults inside the berries (and potentially also on the immature stages, although not quantified in this study). Results show that S. invicta was associated with significantly reduced CBB damage. The only species associated with reduced survival of CBB inside berries was W. auropunctata, whereas the others were not associated with any effect on survival. Surprisingly, P. moerens and P. longicornis had a significant positive effect on the damage of the CBB suggesting that these species could only forage on plants that did not harbor S. invicta or W. auropunctata, the two most aggressive ants both of which were associated negatively with the CBB. The study also suggests that the negative impact of S. invicta on W. auropunctata indirectly facilitates the CBB by protecting it from predation by W. auropunctata once the adult CBB gains entrance to the coffee berry.
Cattle ranching is the main land use after deforestation in Amazon region of Colombia. Those poor-managed pasture system typically induces soil compaction, acidification, organic matter losses and soil erosion, leading to soil health degradation and ecosystem service losses. To mitigate this problem, alternative production systems such as silvopastoral systems, where trees, forage, and cattle are combined in an integrated and intensively managed system, have been established in the last years. Hence, we conducted a field study that aimed to assess soil physical quality changes due to the traditional management of livestock and the subsequent transition to a silvopastoral system in two sites in Caquet´a state, northwestern Colombian Amazon. In each site, soil samplings were performed in a chronosequence conformed by three areas following the typical land-use change at the region: i) native vegetation, ii) traditional pasture and iii) silvopastoral system. The soil physical properties quantified were: soil bulk density, porosity, penetration resistance, visual evaluation of soil structure, aggregate stability as well as soil organic carbon. Compared to native vegetation, traditional pasture management causes a degradation in soil physical quality, with increases in soil bulk density in subsoil from 1.10 to 1.33 g cm − 3 and penetration resistance, which reached values around 5 MPa, affecting the distribution of pores and soil structural quality. When pastures were replaced by silvopastoral systems, we observed a recovery in the physical soil attributes with bulk density reaching values of 1.09 g cm − 3 and penetration resistance of 3.77 MPa. Those improvements as well as the enhacement in visual evaluation soil structure could be associated with increases in soil C content since diversified and greater above and belowground biomass production are expected, as well as improved animal/pasture management. Thus, the implementation of silvopastoral systems is highlighted as an efficient strategy to restore soil physical quality of degraded pastures, contributing to increase pastureland productivity, and indirectly decrease deforestation pressure in the Amazon Basin.
Silvopastoral systems (SPS) have been widely implemented in the Colombian Amazon region to improve pastures involving a greater diversity of species, soil tillage, fertilization, and higher stocking rate, which can induce changes in soil properties and functions. This study aimed to evaluate soil chemical properties and carbon sequestration changes due to the transition from traditional pastures to silvopastoral systems. The study was conducted in the Colombian Amazon region, specifically in La Montañita and El Doncello Counties, in Caquetá, the second most important hotspot of deforestation in the entire Amazon basin. In each study site, we established a chronosequence consisting of three areas following the typical land‐use change at the region: (i) native vegetation, (ii) traditional pasture, and (iii) silvopastoral system. We found that agricultural practices involving liming and tillage, performed under the silvopastoral management, contributed to reducing soil active acidity and exchangeable acidity with soil pH increasing from 3.8 to 4.3 and H++Al3+ decreasing from 5.8 to 2.3 cmolc kg−1. These alterations favored increases in Ca2+ and Mg2+ contents mainly, increasing the base saturation from 17% in traditional pastures to 55% under silvopastoral systems. The synergic effect of the mix of grasses and trees under silvopastoral management improved soil micronutrient contents and modified soil C stocks in 20–30 cm layer. A rate of soil C accretion of 0.26 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the 0–30 cm detected in silvopastoral systems suggests that its implementation could be a promising tool for C sequestration in tropical regions, capable of restoring soil functioning of degraded areas.
Integrated crop-livestock (ICL) system that include livestock grazing of crop residue and/or cover crops is an agricultural practice that manage crops and livestock on a single farm. Integrated crop-livestock system can provide opportunities to restore ecological services and interactions among different land-use systems to enhance agricultural ecosystems' efficiency. These systems help to enhance nutrient cycling, soil health, and protect the environment. This study was conducted at four different locations to understand the synergistic effect of the ICL systems on soil health by keeping native grasslands as a reference. Data showed that ICL system significantly increased the cold-water soluble carbon (CWC) by 44.2, 126.2, and 94.8% than the control (CNT) treatment at sites 1, 2, and 4, respectively. At site 2 and 4, the ICL system significantly increased the hot-water soluble carbon (HWC) by 265, and 104% higher compared to the CNT, respectively. The total phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) abundance was 95.4 and 25.5% higher under ICL system compared to the CNT at site 3 and 4, respectively. ICL system significantly increased the dehydrogenase, fluorescein diacetate, urease, and β-gluco-sidase activity compared to CNT at all the locations. The type of carbon (C) input (easily mineralizable organic matter), substrate availability (labile C and nitrogen), enzyme activities, and suitable soil environment or ecology of the system have been found to be the major influencing factors that determine the shifts in bacterial community structure and composition of the soil. This research finds a clear correlation between the ICL systems and the microbial communities, and soil health. It provides a viable option for restoring the natural ecosystem and achieving food security.
