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L'intensification durable a été proposée comme moyen d'atteindre la sécurité alimentaire et de réduire les impacts environnementaux de l'agriculture en se concentrant sur la réduction des écarts de rendement sur les terres agricoles existantes tout en améliorant l'efficacité de l'utilisation des ressources. Il existe un consensus général sur le fait que les régions présentant de grands écarts de rendement peuvent bénéficier le plus d'une intensification durable, mais il n'est pas clair dans quelle mesure cela est durable pour les agriculteurs compte tenu de leurs contraintes actuelles en matière de ressources et de leurs stratégies de subsistance. Ici, nous nous appuyons sur trois études de cas contrastées, pour lesquelles des données détaillées au niveau des champs et des exploitations étaient disponibles pour la décomposition des écarts de rendement, afin d'évaluer le fonctionnement de l'intensification durable des cultures (au niveau des champs) au niveau des exploitations à l'aide d'indicateurs environnementaux et socio-économiques. Bien qu'il existe un grand potentiel d'intensification future (plus de production avec plus d'intrants) de la production céréalière dans le sud de l'Éthiopie, l'utilisation actuelle des intrants dans ces systèmes agricoles n'est pas durable sur les plans économique et environnemental au niveau des exploitations. Il en va de même pour la production de riz dans le centre de Luçon, où une intensification durable (plus de production avec moins d'intrants) peut aider à réduire les écarts de rendement et à améliorer l'efficacité de l'utilisation de l'azote (nue), mais elle n'est pas rentable en raison de la forte dépendance à une main-d' œuvre embauchée coûteuse. Des compromis entre la réduction de l'écart de rendement et la productivité du travail ont également été observés dans les systèmes agricoles susmentionnés. Les fermes arables aux Pays-Bas présentent de faibles écarts de rendement ainsi que des performances économiques, des nue et des excédents d'azote plus élevés que ceux observés dans le sud de l'Éthiopie et le centre de Luçon. Pour améliorer la durabilité environnementale, ces exploitations nécessitent des augmentations de l'efficacité de l'utilisation des ressources et une réduction des impacts environnementaux grâce à une utilisation moindre des intrants (même production avec moins d'intrants). Nous concluons que les investissements publics propices à l'innovation et à une agriculture rentable sont essentiels pour rendre les technologies accessibles et abordables pour les agriculteurs et pour veiller à ce que les écarts de rendement puissent être réduits et que les objectifs de durabilité soient atteints au niveau des exploitations. La intensificación sostenible se ha propuesto como una vía para lograr la seguridad alimentaria y reducir los impactos ambientales de la agricultura, centrándose en reducir las brechas de rendimiento en las tierras agrícolas existentes al tiempo que se mejora la eficiencia en el uso de los recursos. Existe un consenso general de que las regiones con grandes brechas de rendimiento pueden beneficiarse más de la intensificación sostenible, pero no está claro qué tan sostenible es esto para los agricultores dadas sus actuales limitaciones de recursos y estrategias de medios de vida. Aquí, nos basamos en tres estudios de casos contrastantes, para los cuales se disponía de datos detallados a nivel de campo y granja para la descomposición de la brecha de rendimiento, para evaluar cómo funciona la intensificación sostenible de los cultivos (a nivel de campo) a nivel de granja utilizando indicadores ambientales y socioeconómicos. Aunque existe un gran potencial para la intensificación futura (más producción con más insumos) de la producción de cereales en el sur de Etiopía, el uso actual de insumos en estos sistemas agrícolas no es económica y ambientalmente sostenible a nivel de granja. Lo mismo ocurre con la producción de arroz en Luzón Central, donde la intensificación sostenible (más producción con menos insumos) puede ayudar a reducir las brechas de rendimiento y mejorar la eficiencia del uso del N (nue), pero no es rentable debido a la gran dependencia de la costosa mano de obra contratada. También se observaron compensaciones entre el cierre de la brecha de rendimiento y la productividad laboral en los sistemas agrícolas mencionados anteriormente. Las granjas cultivables en los Países Bajos exhiben pequeñas brechas de rendimiento, así como un mayor rendimiento económico, superávit de nue y N en comparación con las observadas en el sur de Etiopía y el centro de Luzón. Para mejorar la sostenibilidad ambiental, estas granjas requieren aumentos en la eficiencia del uso de los recursos y una reducción de los impactos ambientales a través de un menor uso de insumos (mismo producto con menos insumos). Concluimos que las inversiones públicas propicias para la innovación y la agricultura rentable son esenciales para que las tecnologías sean accesibles y asequibles para los agricultores y para garantizar que las brechas de rendimiento se puedan reducir y que los objetivos de sostenibilidad se cumplan a nivel de granja. Sustainable intensification has been proposed as a pathway to achieve food security and reduce environmental impacts of agriculture by focusing on narrowing yield gaps on existing agricultural land while improving resource use efficiencies. There is a general consensus that regions with large yield gaps can benefit most from sustainable intensification but it remains unclear how sustainable this is for farmers given their current resource constraints and livelihood strategies. Here, we draw upon three contrasting case studies, for which detailed data at field and farm levels were available for yield gap decomposition, to assess how sustainable intensification of crops (at field level) works out at farm level using environmental and socio-economic indicators. Although there is large potential for future intensification (more output with more input) of cereal production in southern Ethiopia, current input use in these farming systems is not economically and environmentally sustainable at farm level. The same is true for rice production in Central Luzon where sustainable intensification (more output with less input) can help to narrow yield gaps and improve N use efficiency (NUE) but it is not profitable due to the heavy reliance on costly hired labour. Trade-offs between yield gap closure and labour productivity were also observed in the aforementioned farming systems. Arable farms in the Netherlands exhibit small yield gaps as well as higher economic performance, NUE and N surplus compared to those observed in Southern Ethiopia and Central Luzon. For improving environmental sustainability, these farms require increases in resource-use efficiency and a reduction of the environmental impacts through a lower use of inputs (same output with less input). We conclude that public investments conducive for innovation and profitable farming are essential to make technologies accessible and affordable for farmers and to ensure that yield gaps can be narrowed and sustainability objectives served at the farm level. تم اقتراح التكثيف المستدام كمسار لتحقيق الأمن الغذائي والحد من الآثار البيئية للزراعة من خلال التركيز على تضييق فجوات الغلة على الأراضي الزراعية الحالية مع تحسين كفاءة استخدام الموارد. هناك إجماع عام على أن المناطق التي تعاني من فجوات كبيرة في المحاصيل يمكن أن تستفيد أكثر من التكثيف المستدام ولكن لا يزال من غير الواضح مدى استدامة ذلك بالنسبة للمزارعين نظرًا لقيود الموارد الحالية واستراتيجيات سبل العيش. هنا، نعتمد على ثلاث دراسات حالة متناقضة، حيث كانت البيانات التفصيلية على مستوى الحقل والمزرعة متاحة لتحليل فجوة الغلة، لتقييم كيفية عمل التكثيف المستدام للمحاصيل (على مستوى الحقل) على مستوى المزرعة باستخدام المؤشرات البيئية والاجتماعية والاقتصادية. على الرغم من وجود إمكانات كبيرة للتكثيف المستقبلي (المزيد من الإنتاج مع المزيد من المدخلات) لإنتاج الحبوب في جنوب إثيوبيا، فإن الاستخدام الحالي للمدخلات في هذه النظم الزراعية ليس مستدامًا اقتصاديًا وبيئيًا على مستوى المزرعة. وينطبق الشيء نفسه على إنتاج الأرز في وسط لوزون حيث يمكن أن يساعد التكثيف المستدام (المزيد من المخرجات مع مدخلات أقل) في تضييق فجوات الغلة وتحسين كفاءة الاستخدام (NUE) ولكنه ليس مربحًا بسبب الاعتماد الكبير على العمالة المستأجرة المكلفة. كما لوحظت مفاضلات بين إغلاق فجوة العائد وإنتاجية العمل في النظم الزراعية المذكورة أعلاه. تُظهر المزارع الصالحة للزراعة في هولندا فجوات صغيرة في الغلة بالإضافة إلى أداء اقتصادي أعلى وفائض NUE و N مقارنة بتلك التي لوحظت في جنوب إثيوبيا ووسط لوزون. ولتحسين الاستدامة البيئية، تتطلب هذه المزارع زيادات في كفاءة استخدام الموارد وتقليل الآثار البيئية من خلال استخدام أقل للمدخلات (نفس المخرجات مع مدخلات أقل). نستنتج أن الاستثمارات العامة التي تفضي إلى الابتكار والزراعة المربحة ضرورية لجعل التقنيات في متناول المزارعين وبأسعار معقولة ولضمان تضييق فجوات الغلة وتحقيق أهداف الاستدامة على مستوى المزرعة.

Abstract. A 5-year greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange study of the three major gas species (CO2, CH4 and N2O) from an intensively managed permanent grassland in Switzerland is presented. Measurements comprise 2 years (2010 and 2011) of manual static chamber measurements of CH4 and N2O, 5 years of continuous eddy covariance (EC) measurements (CO2–H2O – 2010–2014), and 3 years (2012–2014) of EC measurement of CH4 and N2O. Intensive grassland management included both regular and sporadic management activities. Regular management practices encompassed mowing (three to five cuts per year) with subsequent organic fertilizer amendments and occasional grazing, whereas sporadic management activities comprised grazing or similar activities. The primary objective of our measurements was to compare pre-plowing to post-plowing GHG exchange and to identify potential memory effects of such a substantial disturbance on GHG exchange and carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) gains and losses. In order to include measurements carried out with different observation techniques, we tested two different measurement techniques jointly in 2013, namely the manual static chamber approach and the eddy covariance technique for N2O, to quantify the GHG exchange from the observed grassland site. Our results showed that there were no memory effects on N2O and CH4 emissions after plowing, whereas the CO2 uptake of the site considerably increased when compared to pre-restoration years. In detail, we observed large losses of CO2 and N2O during the year of restoration. In contrast, the grassland acted as a carbon sink under usual management, i.e., the time periods 2010–2011 and 2013–2014. Enhanced emissions and emission peaks of N2O (defined as exceeding background emissions 0.21 ± 0.55 nmol m−2 s−1 (SE = 0.02) for at least 2 sequential days and the 7 d moving average exceeding background emissions) were observed for almost 7 continuous months after restoration as well as following organic fertilizer applications during all years. Net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEECO2) showed a common pattern of increased uptake of CO2 in spring and reduced uptake in late fall. NEECO2 dropped to zero and became positive after each harvest event. Methane (CH4) exchange fluctuated around zero during all years. Overall, CH4 exchange was of negligible importance for both the GHG budget and the carbon budget of the site. Our results stress the inclusion of grassland restoration events when providing cumulative sums of C sequestration potential and/or global warming potential (GWP). Consequently, this study further highlights the need for continuous long-term GHG exchange observations as well as for the implementation of our findings into biogeochemical process models to track potential GHG mitigation objectives as well as to predict future GHG emission scenarios reliably.

Forests of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have a rich diversity of valuable non-timber forest products (NTFP) that local communities extract for their sustenance and income. The region is home to over 60% of species recognized for novel bio-medicinal properties in the Indian Himalayas. There is significant national and international demand for these species, providing income and employment for more than 60% of the population of J&K. Despite this, NTFP are not adequately recognized for their contributions to rural livelihoods and the regional economy due to the lack of appropriate policy and governance mechanisms. In this study, we embrace a bioresource vision to examine challenges and opportunities for transition to a sustainable bioeconomy in J&K. Selected NTFP were considered for valuation to showcase their bioeconomy potential using two approaches. First, we used the ‘market price method’ to estimate the contribution of NTFP to the local economy. Second, the ‘maximum willingness to pay method’ was used to project the bioeconomy potential of NTFP in the region. The analysis reveals that local communities’ revenues could increase by as much as 18 times their current price with appropriate actions to include NTFP. However, to realize this potential, policies and governance frameworks based on increased access and benefit sharing with inclusive institutional models would support the transition of the local economy into a bioeconomy. Fostering public–community partnership by improving the local participation of producers and processors in NTFP value chains for overcoming the existing governance barriers is needed.

Several dairy farms in the Netherlands aim at reducing their environmental impact by improving the internal nutrient cycle (INC) at farm level. Practices to improve nutrient cycling at these INC farms, however, might not only reduce the environmental impact on-farm, but alter also the off-farm environmental impact associated with supply chain processes (production and transport) related to inputs entering the farm, such as purchased feed or fertilizer or the economic or societal performance of these farms. We compared, therefore, a set of sustainability indicators of nine INC farms with a group of benchmark farms, comparable in terms of farm size, intensity and site-specific circumstances. This benchmark group was composed using statistical matching to exclude the effect of these characteristics on economic, environmental and societal performance. Economic indicators used were: farm income per unpaid annual working unit and the costs to revenues ratio. Environmental indicators used were derived from a cradle-to-farm-gate life cycle assessment: land occupation (LO), non-renewable energy use (NREU), global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP) and eutrophication potential (EP), expressed per kg fat-and-protein-corrected milk (FPCM). In addition, we quantified the soil content of organic carbon and phosphorus, and the soil nitrogen supply. Societal indicators used were: payments for agri-environmental measures, grazing hours and penalties for aberrant milk composition. Results showed that INC farms had a lower non-renewable energy use per kg FPCM, higher soil organic carbon content and received higher annual payments for agri-environmental measures, whereas economic and other environmental, societal indicators did not differed. Furthermore, we demonstrated the need for a sound benchmark to assess the effect of INC-farming on the economic, environmental and societal performance. Statistical matching enabled us to define, for each INC farm, a benchmark group with similar farm characteristics, which are known to affect sustainability indicators. Observed differences in sustainability indicators between both farm groups, therefore, truly resulted from aiming at internal nutrient cycling, and not from differences in other farm characteristics.

European landscapes are facing a deep crisis. As a consequence of globalization and the economical change associated with it, traditional functions like production agriculture are becoming less important. After the self-evident but inspired landscapes of numerous generations of peasants, monks and landlords, landscape has now largely become a nameless by-product of the global economy. This paper shows that the key to developing new living landscapes lies in a participatory process of landscape development with respect for their inherent values. Today, even in traditionally small-scale farming systems like organic farming, diverse and sustainable landscapes only develop if they are consciously wanted and when landscape development is integrated into the objectives of farming. The work that is needed to achieve such landscapes we call `landscape work¿. This paper describes a phenomenological approach to identifying landscape values and finding new inspiration for landscape management. It gives examples of the application of this approach in organic farming in Germany. It is concluded that a living, sustainable landscape combines the functional effects of producing economic and social benefits with the intertwined effects of providing identity and inspiration for getting actively involved in it, in accordance with its dynamic character. Living landscapes will enhance the well being, also of the predominantly urban European population. In other words: landscape work s.

African mixed crop–livestock systems are vulnerable to climate change and need to adapt in order to improve productivity and sustain people’s livelihoods. These smallholder systems are characterized by high greenhouse gas emission rates, but could play a role in their mitigation. Although the impact of climate change is projected to be large, many uncertainties persist, in particular with respect to impacts on livestock and grazing components, whole-farm dynamics and heterogeneous farm populations. We summarize the current understanding on impacts and vulnerability and highlight key knowledge gaps for the separate system components and the mixed farming systems as a whole. Numerous adaptation and mitigation options exist for crop–livestock systems. We provide an overview by distinguishing risk management, diversification and sustainable intensification strategies, and by focusing on the contribution to the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture. Despite the potential solutions, smallholders face major constraints at various scales, including small farm sizes, the lack of response to the proposed measures and the multi-functionality of the livestock herd. Major institutional barriers include poor access to markets and relevant knowledge, land tenure insecurity and the common property status of most grazing resources. These limit the adoption potential and hence the potential impact on resilience and mitigation. In order to effectively inform decision-making, we therefore call for integrated, system-oriented impact assessments and a realistic consideration of the adoption constraints in smallholder systems. Building on agricultural system model development, integrated impact assessments and scenario analyses can inform the co-design and implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies.F