Industrial production of soybean developed in the Argentinean Pampa since the 1990s is not sustainable. Specifically, herbicide use creates glyphosate-tolerant weeds and pollutes waters. To solve this issue scientists Salembier et al. designed a method to identify alternative practices developed by farmers. These alternative practices include diversification of crop rotations, occasional return to tillage, and low pesticide use.
Both increasing human population and pesticide pollution call for alternative food production. Agronomists are thus currrently designing new cropping practices such as ecological intensification and sustainable intensification. However, the meaning and concrete applications of such practices is not clear so far. Wezel et al. review the definitions, principles and practices of ecological intensification, sustainable intensification and agroecological intensification. The photo shows relay intercropping of wheat and undersown lucerne in south-eastern France, an example of agroecological intensification.
The growing world food demand and climate change is threatening the long term survival of the human society on Earth. Sustainable solutions are therefore urgently needed. Agronomists Jacobsen et al. describe innovative solutions based upon the use and protection of biodiversity in agriculture. Examples include cultivation of quinoa (photo), lupine, yam, watermelon, amaranth and nopal.
Climate change, increasing food demand, decreasing natural resources and rapid degradation of most ecosystems are calling urgently for alternative farming practices. This virtual issue published by the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development gathers 20 visionary reviews describing principles and applications of agroecological engineering. Key topics include climate-change resilient farming, food sovereignty, organic farming, weeds for bees, water management under drought, alternative pest management, ecological services for agriculture, cereal-legume intercropping, landscape engineering, and soil carbon and biodiversity.
Farming does not provide only food to humans. Sustainable agriculture indeed offer many free services named Ecosystem Services, such as climate regulation, water conservation, pollution remediation and social enhancement. Rapidel et al. explain how farming system influences ecosystem services.
Ecosystems could provide many beneficial services to agriculture. But the main question is actually how to apply ecological principles to crop management. Rey et al. provide guidelines deduced from the analysis of case studies.
Industrial agriculture has improved yields but has also induced many negative impacts such as pesticide pollution, greenhouse emissions and soil erosion. Agroecology is a promising alternative that foster the use of biodiversity instead of chemicals. However switching from industrial to agroecological farming is risky because there are actually few guidelines to optimize a such change. Agronomists Duru et al. review the issues of using biodiversity for agriculture. They also propose to design ecological farming at the local level with farmers.
Improving food production is now a difficult task because sustainable cropping depends upon many factors such as climate, pest management, land use and economics. Agronomists Craheix et al. provide guidelines to design software models that optimise the sustainability of farming systems.
Grass species in pristine and agricultural landscapes are essential for biodiversity, soil quality and food production. For instance, grass flowers provide food for honeybees, grass roots decrease soil erosion and clean polluted waters, and grass diversity is known to influence the good taste of milk. It is therefore important to understand how grass species emerge, disappear and adapt to changing environmental conditions and agricultural practices. Da Silveira Pontes et al. review the latest advances on plant strategies in grasslands, using a recent scientific discipline named functional ecology.
Agriculture is actually facing major issues such as climate change, overpopulation, decreasing soil fertility, droughts and pests. There is therefore a need for new plants that tolerate novel stresses and contain higher minerals and vitamins. Wani et al. review the advantages and potential applications of plants modifed in their plastid genome, as an alternative to common genetically modified plants, that are plants modified in their nuclear genome. Biosafety issues and public concerns are discussed.