what can new research bring to sustainable intensification of ......“modern agriculture requires...
TRANSCRIPT
Competing demands and perceptions of sustainability for the food industry Workshop - University of Birmingham, 4th July 2017
What can new research bring to Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture?
Dr Adélia de Paula
The global growth of fertilizer use and cereal production, 1960-2010Source: UNEP 2011
THE GREEN REVOLUTIONResponding to demands for increasing food production
The challenges:
“There is a pressing need for the 'sustainableintensification' of global agriculture in which yieldsare increased without adverse environmentalimpact and without the cultivation of more land. ”
Priorities for action: Promote sustainable
intensification
Sustainable Intensification (SI)
Sustainable intensification means simultaneously raising yields,increasing the efficiency with which inputs are used and reducing thenegative environmental effects of food production.
It requires economic and social changes to recognise the multipleoutputs required of land managers, farmers and other food producers,and a redirection of research to address a more complex set of goalsthan just increasing yield.
The Future of Food and FarmingChallenges and choices for global sustainability
Ecological Intensification
Intercropping
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Conservation Farming
Organic Farming
Genetic
Intensification
Higher Yields
Improving Nutrition
Resilience to Pests and Diseases
Resilience to Climate Change
Nitrogen Uptake and Fixation
Socio-economic Intensification
Creating Enabling Environments
Building Social Capital
Building Human Capital
Creating Sustainable Livelihoods
Push-Pull technology in Africa
SI examples from developing countries:
Rice-fish in Asia
Trade-off and short- and long-term gains
SI requires research with more ‘systems’ orientated approaches:
Holistic approach for farming, planning and management – connecting resources,production, consumption and investments
Research should be participatory (diagnostic, design, evaluation and learning) Should address farmer’s priorities, strategies and resource allocation decisions Systems should be delineated by spatial and temporal boundariesUses systematic investigation to understand interdependenceRequires inter-disciplinarityApplies modern technology tools It is depended of data, information and knowledge → development of models,
scenarios It is also important to provide evidence for agricultural policies
£4.5M investment
Examples from the UKPartners and sub-contractors
Understanding thesystems
Designinginterventions
Socio-economic context
SIP 1 - Integrated Farm Management for improved economic, environmental and social performance (led by NIAB)
Metrics/indicators Integrated Farm Management
practices
Decision support
SIP 2 - Opportunities and risks for farming and the environment at landscape scales(led by University of Exeter)
Land typology(capability and risk)
Landscape scale interventions
Collaborative land management,
performance and benchmarking
SIP 3 - Markets and drivers (led by ADAS) Resilience of UK farming
Income streams Sphere of influence
• Farmers attitudes and practices – adoption ofnew practices strongly influenced by supply chain(including farm suppliers and advisors)
• The role of value chain in influencing farmingpractices – costumer-orientated focus toproduction, good relationship with buyers tosecure market and premium price
• Mechanisms for driving changes to SI practices –most effective are those that stimulate long-termchanges in beliefs and norms which then influencethe behaviours that supports SI
Achieving Sustainable Agricultural SystemsASSIST (£11 million research programme)
• Develop a large-scale network of study farms & new sensor networks to undertake hypothesis-driven experimentation
• Provide data, models, web portal, infrastructure & opportunities to support complementary research programmes & Horizon topics
• Develop innovative farming systems in collaboration with industry and stakeholders to: Increase efficiency of food production Improve resilience to extreme events Reduce the environmental foot print of agriculture
Soil to NutritionS2N
• Identify the key processes determining nutrient useefficiency, productivity and resilience across foodproduction systems
• From soil to landscape, will provide the keymechanistic indicators necessary to directinterventions for sustainable intensification of futurefarming systems at the field, farm and landscape scales
• SIRN is a community network for UK researchers inagricultural, biological, environmental and social sciences
• SIRN aims to: achieve better integration of research and resources and
looks for innovative approaches to address SI
stimulate proposals for innovative, systems-orientedresearch relevant to SI at the interfaces betweendisciplines in the biological and environmental and socialsciences
The Sustainable Intensification Research Network (SIRN)
Leadership team
Prof Andy WhitmoreRothamsted Research(Principal Investigator)
Prof Sue HartleyUniversity of York
Prof Michael WinterUniversity of Exeter
Dr Matt HeardCentre for Ecology
and Hydrology
Dr Adelia de PaulaRothamsted Research (Network Coordinator)
Coordination with other research groups and networks and interfaces with funders
Integration of agricultural, biological,
environmental and social sciences
Facilitate sharing and coordination
of capabilities, resources of
expertise
Promote, disseminate and connect activities
in SI research, and stimulate
new ones
Encourage links with other
related UK and international
activities
Achieving Agricultural Sustainable Systems
(ASSIST)
Soil to Nutrition (Optimising Nutrient Flow)
How you can get involved?
• You can become a member of the network• You can subscribe to SIRN newsletter and follow SIRN on social media• You can participate in our events and discussion forums
For more information: www.sirn.org.uk
@SIRN_tweets
“Modern agriculture requires an innovative capacity
which goes far beyond the individual farmer, researcher,
industrialist, trader or adviser, even beyond the abilities
of any one of their organizations or institutions.”Paul G. Engel