Integrating crop redistribution and improved managements could meet China’s food demand with lower environmental costs

Sustainably feeding the growing population in China attracts attention globally. Despite practices success, producing enough food to simultaneously address resource and pollution problems has been infeasible. To assess how to achieve this goal in 2035, we created a pathway that synergistic combining improved managements and cropland redistribution based on 11.1 million farmer surveys and 4,272 georeferenced field observations. Here, we firstly selected the practices of top 10% performers in crop yield and nitrogen (N) efficiency as crop-specific attainable improved managements at the county level. The optimized crop distribution within improved managements was then performed to minimize inputs (N and phosphorus fertilizer, irrigation water) or environmental impacts (reactive N [Nr] loss and greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions). We identified that combing improved managements and cropland redistribution could produce enough food demands in 2035, with 24% more production compared to 2012. It also reduced the inputs and environmental impacts in a range of 19%-35%, mainly sourced from the central and eastern coastal areas by improved productivity and diminished cropland of fruit and vegetables. These findings highlight the necessity for a synergistic combination of measures to sustainably feed the growing population and establish a more realistic and effective policy.

Consistency of Yield Ranking and Adaptability Patterns of Winter Wheat Cultivars between Multi-Environmental Trials and Farmer Surveys

Cultivar recommendation based on mean performance determined by multi-environment trials (METs) conducted on research stations could be unreliable and ineffective for assessing performance in farmers’ fields. It is important to improve the efficiency of cultivar recommendation based on METs. For this purpose, it would be useful to validate recommendations based on yield data obtained directly from farmers, i.e., through surveys. The aim of this study was to discuss the possibility and statistical methodology of assessing cultivar performance patterns based on yield data obtained through farmer surveys. We suggest that this might be accomplished by assessing the conformity of yield ranking and yield performance patterns between MET and survey datasets in the same growing regions. As an example, we compare winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield data obtained from Polish farmers via surveys with data obtained via METs. In the METs, cultivars were evaluated at two levels of crop-management, a moderate-input management (MIM) system and a high-input management (HIM) system. Based on the yield evaluations in the current study, half of the agro-ecological regions had relatively high levels of consistency in yield rankings between the MET MIM system and survey yield dataset. This indicated a relatively high efficiency of cultivar recommendations based on METs in these regions, especially for the MIM system. For the HIM system, however, with the exception of one region, we observed a poor degree of consistency in cultivar ranking.

Genetic erosion and changes in distribution of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench)) landraces in north-eastern Ethiopia

Ethiopia is believed to be the centre of origin and domestication for sorghum, where sorghum remains one of the main staple crops. Loss of biodiversity is occurring at an alarming rate in Ethiopia and crops, including sorghum, have long been recognized as vulnerable to genetic erosion. A major collection of sorghum germplasm was made in 1973 by Gebrekidan and Ejeta from north-eastern Ethiopia. A new collection of landraces was made in 2003, and these were field evaluated at Sirinka in 2004 along with representative samples from the 1973 collection. Farmer surveys and soil and climate surveys were also performed. Preliminary analysis demonstrated that some important landraces have disappeared either locally or regionally in the past 30 years and many other landraces have become marginalized. Landraces which are less preferred in terms of agronomic value and end use, and introductions, have become increasingly important. Late maturing landraces were found to be particularly vulnerable, with a number disappearing altogether. Farmers have become more risk averse, and factors such as declining soil fertility, more frequent drought and unreliable rainfall, and increased pest infestation have contributed to a change in farmer landrace selection. Data are presented on the variability and unique characters of some of the Ethiopian landraces, and implications for conservation are discussed.

Identifying potential approaches to improve the reliability of terminating a lucerne pasture before cropping: a review

In the mixed cropping regions of Australia, the perennial fodder legume lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) is being utilised to improve the sustainability of farming systems through improving soil fertility and reducing groundwater recharge. However, the full rotational benefits of lucerne cannot be realised without a reliable approach to terminate the lucerne phase before cropping. Farmer surveys have identified difficulties in successfully removing lucerne before cropping as a significant problem with lucerne-based phase-farming systems. In 1 survey up to 40% of the respondents were not satisfied with the level of lucerne control they were achieving, while in another survey 49% indicated that lucerne removal issues were a constraint to further adoption of lucerne on their farms. Most growers used herbicides to kill lucerne, usually in conjunction with cultivation or grazing. Respondents estimated that herbicides were capable of killing 80% of the lucerne, but most regarded this level of control unsatisfactory. Lucerne removal using herbicides is ineffective when lucerne is able to regenerate from buds in the crown that have not received a lethal herbicide dose. Systemic herbicides such as glyphosate and the auxinic herbicides are predominantly translocated to those parts of the plant with a high demand for photosynthate, often the apical meristems. Hence, effective control of lucerne can only be achieved through targeted application of systemic herbicides to lucerne plants that are actively translocating photosynthate to the crown and taproots. Evidence presented in this review suggests that this is most likely to occur when the storage reserves in the crown and taproot are being replenished several weeks after defoliation. The importance of timing of removal and the potential for intercropping are also discussed.

Evaluation of Stored Maize Losses in Cameroon

SummaryFarmer surveys have consistently shown maize storage losses to be of primary concern to farmers in the western highlands of Cameroon. Past attempts at evaluating these losses, however, have proved to be unsatisfactory, mainly because of failure to consider qualitative, as well as quantitative, losses or to take account of consumption patterns (that is, timing and end use). A simulation model is presented that overcomes these deficiencies while providing a reliable estimate of the economic value of storage losses to the farmer, albeit at the cost of requiring fairly exacting data. The model is used to estimate the value of storage losses to farmers in the North West Province of Cameroon.

Farmer-Researcher Collaboration in Developing Cropping Practices that Involve the Complementary Use of Mechanical Tied Ridge and Fertilizer Technology for Sorghum in Burkina Faso

SUMMARYSpecific soil fertility and water retention constraints limit increased crop production in the subsistence-oriented farming systems of Burkina Faso. Previous attempts to introduce apparently promising technologies based on research that had not directly involved the fanner and that had not benefited from farmer-feedback have been largely unsuccessful. Active farmer involvement can help to identify relevant constraints to production and to identify and modify technologies to make them viable. Formal and informal farmer surveys and farmer participation in field experiments have led to the development of potentially useful cropping practices involving the complementary use of mechanical tied ridge and fertilizer-based technology.