Browsing by Subject "Farming system"

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Interactions of farming and plant biodiversity in weed control related ecosystem service provision and weed conservation
(2020) Schumacher, Matthias; Gerhards, Roland
There is evidence that diverse plant communities in terrestrial ecosystems are either more stable or more productive in terms of food web support and ecosystem service provision. In agro-ecosystems, characterized by high disturbance and external inputs, plant diversity and their services can only be provided by weeds. In the first study, vegetation recordings and farmer surveys were conducted in on-farm experiments in two regions of Southwestern Germany. The aim was to examine the effects of agricultural management on weed community composition, weed biodiversity and occurrence of rare arable weed species in cereal fields. Weed biodiversity was influenced mainly by crop species, herbicide use and farming system as well as nitrogen and light availability. Weed communities were quite similar in both study regions and dominated by Alopecurus myosuroides, Galium aparine, Viola arvensis, Polygonum convolvulus and Veronica persica. A redundancy analysis revealed that the weed community was mainly shaped by crop species, tillage, location in the field and timing of herbicide application. The results highlight the erosion of weed communities due to intensive agricultural practices and emphasize the conservation of weed biodiversity per se and rare arable weed species in particular. The next aim was to examine if this biodiversity is able to support weed control related ecosystem services, like the predation of weed seeds. The objectives of this study were to investigate the connection between weed biodiversity, Carabid beetle diversity and weed seed predation as well to evaluate the role of farming intensity in this sequence. For this purpose, on-farm experiments were performed on the Eastern Swabian Alb. A positive correlation between weed biodiversity and Carabid beetle diversity was identified as well as a pattern of medium Carabid beetle diversity providing the highest weed seed predation. There was no consistent influence of farming intensity on weed seed predation. The revealed connection between weed diversity, Carabid beetle diversity and weed seed predation highlights the role of plants in food web support and subsequent ecosystem service provision. The utilization of these services depends on the promotion of biodiversity by designing appropriate management strategies. In the next step, the general principles underlying ecosystem service provision by biodiversity, were conveyed to a cover cropping system. The aim was to test single sown cover crops and species mixtures in terms of weed suppression efficacy and reliability. For this purpose, cover crop species were sown singly and as mixtures in a field experiment. Lower weed dry matter and weed densities were found predominantly in treatments with favorable establishment and above-average biomass production. Mixtures performed much more homogeneous in regard to the measured parameters compared to single sown cover crops. The results suggest that, although particular single sown cover crops are more effective to control weeds than mixtures, mixtures are more reliable under changing conditions. Altering the species composition of cover crop mixtures according to more complementary traits might further improve their weed control efficacy. The results of this dissertation demonstrate the importance of plant biodiversity in the provision and reliability of weed control related ecosystem services, either by weeds themselves or by specifically designed cover crop mixtures. Furthermore, management factors influencing weed biodiversity were determined, which can aid in the creation of more sustainable management strategies for a diverse agroecosystem and the conservation of rare arable weed species.
Die Ökobilanz zur Abschätzung von Umweltwirkungen in der Pflanzenproduktion - dargestellt anhand von Praxisversuchen zur konservierenden Bodenbearbeitung und von unterschiedlich intensiv wirtschaftenden konventionellen Betrieben
(2003) Arman, Beate; Claupein, Wilhelm
In the agricultural field difficulties in life-cycle assessment result from the fact that the methods of life-cycle assessment were developed in techno-industrial production. Agricultural production, however, differs from industrial production in that it depends more strongly on natural resources and, moreover, has a direct influence on them. Hence, apart from preparing data for the used production goods, the expansion of environmental impact categories to include specific effects from agriculture is focused on in the adaptation of ecobalances as an agricultural method. Among others deficiencies here include the balancing of effects in agriculturally utilized soil. The ecobalances at hand were carried out with two different goals in mind. For one, the impact of conventional and conservational cultivation methods were to be balanced. The goal of this ecobalance was to show whether life-cycle assessment have adequate selective power in order to be used as a decision criterion in the optimisation of cultural methods and their environmental impact. For another, the intensity of cultivation of three agricultural enterprises was compared. It was to be shown here whether life-cycle assessment can provide transparency as to the environmental effects of various production methods, which would enable the consumer to obtain information on the environmental relevance of these methods. A further goal of this work was the development of a method for the recording of effects on the soil in life-cycle assessment. The examined farms are situated in the Hohenlohe region and were integrated in the subproject "Conservation Tillage" of the "Cultural Landscape Hohenlohe" project group. In order to balance soil working methods, the three methods plow, cultivator and mulch sowing were examined. The data was obtained from two test fields with the same crop rotation on one of the farms. Balancing of the intensity of cultivation was carried out on three conventionally working farms using varying levels of fertilizer, crop protectants and tillage. The balanced crop rotation of the three farms did not vary (sugar-beets, winter wheat, winter barley). When developing methods for balancing environmental effects on agriculturally utilized soil three aspects were decisive in the selection of balanced effects: 1. What soil properties are there? 2. Which of these properties are influenced directly by cultivation measures? 3. For which properties are relevant negative effects caused by agriculture known? Based on the indicated methods the impact was assessed for the following soil properties: - Soil depth is influenced by soil loss. Soil loss was calculated with the universal soil loss equation. - Impact on the nutrient content was assessed with the help of a nutrient field balance, humus content with the help of a humus balance. - Variations in soil density caused by loading were assessed with the help of the weighted soil load. - Soil life is affected by pollutant input, modelling of the effect potential was carried out with the help of the Critical-Surface-Time model. All in all the results show that in order to differentiate between the tillage variants with respect to their environmental impact, it is necessary to also consider effects on the soil. Comparison of the farms showed that life-cycle assessment can reflect the environmental relevance of different cultivation intensities and can make them visible for the consumer.
Participatory evaluation of sustainability of farming systems in the Philippines
(2010) Vilei, Sonja; Dabbert, Stephan
Forest cover in the Philippines has been greatly reduced in the past and slightly recovered since, estimated at around 24% of land surface currently. Small-scale farmers have to survive on small landholdings (2 ha on average and mostly under 5 ha), face insecure land tenure, and the high population density leaves little scope for gaining new agricultural land. Their farming systems continue to form an important part of their livelihoods, but often their strategies are unsustainable in the long run. While the need for evaluating common farming systems and compare them with new alternatives exists, it is important to involve local stakeholders in the search for suitable sustainability indicators. In this study, the search was based on the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework and therefore organised under its five types of capital assets: natural, financial, physical, human and social capital. Farmers from five study sites along the Western side of the island of Leyte were gathered in eight focus group discussions to discuss the issues of success and sustainability of their farming systems and identify and rank possible criteria for an evaluation of sustainability. Nine other stakeholders from the same sites were interviewed individually. In a second research phase, all 49 identified criteria were given to 30 farmers and 18 other stakeholders for ranking. Three groups of farmers from the municipality of Baybay were used for comparison: one group of rice and coconut farmers; a second group with (additional) exotic timber trees (usually Gmelina and Acacia mangium); a third group with (additional) indigenous timber trees (?Rainforestation Farming?). The identified indicators were tested regarding their usefulness for comparing the three groups of farmers. Rainforestation Farming, as promising alternative farming system, was analysed further regarding financial aspects and its adoptability with regard to small-scale farmers. The Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework was useful for identifying suitable evaluation criteria. The importance of the five capital assets groups was perceived similarly by farmers and other stakeholders, but ranking results for single criteria (i.e. soil quality, membership in organisation) differed. The same holds true when comparing results for the four study regions, where the individual ranking was carried out: significant differences existed for single, mostly financial, criteria (i.e. record-keeping, investment costs) but not for importance of the five capital asset groups. The ranking results differed quite substantially, though, between focus groups and individual farmers, indicating on the one hand the influence of group leaders. But, on the other hand, farmers had the complete list of criteria for the individual ranking, including several criteria which they had not thought of previously, but which they still regard as important. Fifteen criteria were selected as indicators for comparing the three farmers groups. Rainforestation farmers were the group scoring significantly higher on most indicators (i.e education level adults and children, land available per capita, (perceived) soil quality, number of soil conservation measures used, membership in organisation) than farmers without timber trees. Farmers having planted exotic timber trees scored closer to Rainforestation farmers. But to be able to judge if the specific farming system leads to a more sustainable livelihood, time series data would have been necessary. The data of this study allowed concluding that tree farmers planting (indigenous or exotic) timber trees are endowed with higher resources ? more land, higher income, higher education levels. Most likely they had these resources before starting their farming systems. In addition, these farmers were also more actively engaged in organisations and had more contact to extension agents, therefore enhancing their social (and human) capital. The higher score regarding (perceived) soil quality and (non-) use of pesticides these farmers groups reached are likely to be an outcome of the farming system practiced. Analysing the financial feasibility and adoptability of Rainforestation Farming, it shows that the system has the potential to be profitable, but coming with a high risk: investment costs are very high and it takes up to 13 years to regain them. Consequently, the first adopters either had unused land areas or substantial off-farm income, and the subsequent adoption rate is low. Sustainability has to be understood as a dynamic and not a static concept and the concept of sustainable land management must consequently evolve as well. This study tried to add further findings regarding the use of suitable methods for this cause, but as already mentioned above, time series data would be necessary to assess the progress of farming systems towards ?sustainability?.
Prozess der Transformation der Landwirtschaft Usbekistans und Probleme bei der Umstrukturierung der landwirtschaftlichen Betriebe
(2002) Nazarkulov, Umidjan Rakhimjanovich; Zeddies, Jürgen
Privatization of agricultural enterprises in former soviet countries has led to changes in production structure, methods of production and management of enterprises. Hence, the main objective of this dissertation is, at first, analysis of development of the agrarian sector and agricultural enterprises on the example of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the identification of their weaknesses and problems. Furthermore aspects of management and marketing are considered and recommendations on improving the strategy of optimization the production process, which will serve as a basis for decision-making in the appropriate organizations. The structural changes in typical farms of 3 regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan under different frame conditions are analyzed using a linear programming model. The results of these optimization calculations are leading to the following requirements: - Change of the production structure and reduction of the state influence and governmental control; - Cancellation of fixed state prices of cotton and wheat with a simultaneous increase of water taxes; - Reduction of labour input and increase of wages with the purpose of improving the motivation and efficiency of labour; - Extension of the area of family farms. According to the model calculations a liberalisation of agricultural markets would lead to the following consequences for farm enterprises and agricultural production: - A substantial reduction of cotton production will lead to a wider crop rotation and better soil fertility; - The total gross margins of the farm enterprises will increase due to an optimization of production and marketing structure; - If the fixed producer prices for wheat and cotton will be eliminated, wheat production would increase significantly; - Depending on the region animal stocks will show a different development pattern. While in one region the big farms will reduce their livestock production, in two other regions they will be increased. Family farms tend to reduce the livestock number due to scarcity of land resources; - Farm incomes can be increased by reducing the number of workers; simultaneously increasing wages and introducing better labour management practices thus contributing to higher motivation and business success; - Profits should be invested in new machinery and equipment in order to maintain adequate levels of production; - Private family farms show a relatively high labour capacity and would be able to increase their farm land. Therefore liberalization of land market is necessary; - For family farms a liberalization of producer prices will lead to similar changes in production and marketing structures as for big farm enterprises. In conclusion it can be recommended to state institutions to reduce their influence on the operational decisions of farmers. The main objective of agricultural policy in future should be improvement of frame conditions for trade, liberalization of markets, effective support to structural changes and creation of a system of social support to farmers.
Simulation of the sustainability of farming systems in Northern Thailand
(2008) Potchanasin, Chakrit; Zeddies, Jürgen
Introduction Due to an increase in environmental problems and resource degradation, economic development should be pursued with consideration of environmental functions and the supply and quality of natural resources. Monitoring and assessment of whether the development approaches a sustainable path are required to provide information for policy development. This becomes increasingly important ? especially for marginal areas where the environment and natural resources are sensitive. The study area is located in the mountainous area of Northern Thailand with abundant natural resources and a healthy ecological environment. However, population growth, land limitation, and external factors ? such as market forces ? are inducing change and pressure on resource utilization. The resources are intensively used and farming systems are changing to more commercial practices. Therefore, the region?s long term sustainability needs investigation. Objectives This study aims at assessing the sustainability of the farming systems in the study area under the sustainability concept, farming systems approach and Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) approach. The first objective of this study is to describe the characteristics of the farming systems in the study area. The second objective is to develop and use a MAS model to evaluate sustainability of the study area. The last objective is to use the model to present sustainability of farming systems under different scenarios based on changes of significant factors and policy intervention. In addition, the ability of the systems to cope with and recover themselves from these changes is examined. Methodology The sustainability of the farming systems in the study area was assessed through defined indicators representing three conditions: the economic, social and environmental condition. The indicators were defined based on the framework of indicator determination to serve the objectives and methodology of this study. The selected indicators for this study are: household income, net farm income, household capital, household saving, food security, top-soil erosion and fallow period. For these indicators the following sustainability classes were defined: Sustained (S), Conditional sustained (C), and Non-sustained (N) class. Evaluation of sustainability was carried out at two levels: the household and the village level. At the household level the sustainability situation was evaluated based on the individual farm household performance corresponding to each indicator. The sustainability at village level was assessed through the Sustainability index (SI) when single indicators are considered and the Performance index (PI) in which a group of indicators is regarded. The dynamics of the sustainability situation at household and village level were extrapolated over 15 years (2003 ? 2017) in order to examine the sustainability of the study area?s farming systems. The MAS model was developed and named CatchScapeFS. The model structure relies on descriptions of the farming systems in the study area. The MAS approach was applied in order to capture the complexity and extrapolate the long-term sustainability situation in the study area. The model composes of two components: a biophysical and a socioeconomic component. The biophysical component is based on the CatchScape3 model. It consists of biophysical models: a hydrological model, a crop model, a water balance model and a soil erosion model, which are embedded in the landscape model of the study area (represented in spatial grid cells as plots of one rai or 0.16 ha). The socioeconomic component is composed of farm household agents and other social elements. The farm household samples were classified based on the similarity of characteristics and behaviour into the market, subsistence, and partnership oriented group. The Monte Carlo technique was applied to generate farm agents out of the existing farm household samples. The CatchScapeFS model was designed according to the object-oriented modelling approach. The CORMAS platform was selected as a capable tool to facilitate modelling and simulation. During a simulation time step covering 10 days, activities in six principal phases including activities in eight phases of farm agent household activities are executed. The model was validated and tested for its stability. Validation was conducted by social validation and statistic data comparison validation. The results of the model validation and stability test showed the reliability of using the model to serve the study objectives. Main results Sustainability of study area at the household level The results show unsustainability over time in the study area. The number of households in the Sustained class (S) decreases whereas the number in the Non-sustained (N) and Conditional sustained class (C) tend to increase. For the economic condition, unsustained aspects occurred because of rising private household expenditure and decreasing capital products on the farm. For the social condition, the results show an increase of the households? rice deficit and rice acquisition in the long run which enhances the area?s unsustainability. For the environmental condition, erosion and shortening fallow aspects induce the area?s unsustainability. The area?s erosion is severe and increases over time. For the fallow aspect, the average fallow period is shortening because of intensive land use in order to produce for consumption ? which potentially induces land degradation in the long run. Sustainability of the study area at village level Similar to the results at household level, the findings show that farming systems in the study area are not sustainable. Unsustainability was observed by a declining Performance index (PI) and declining Sustainability indexes (SIs) of all indicators in the long term. By considering PI values with the trends, the area?s sustainability in economic condition is better than the social and especially environmental condition. This can be explained by relative high SI values for the economic indicators compared to the SIs of the social and environmental indicators. By considering all SIs and their dynamic trend, sustainability issues can be ranked to determine the sustainability issues which need to be improved. Food security is the most unsustained issue followed by the issues of household saving, household capital, top-soil erosion, household income, fallow period, and net farm income respectively. Scenario analysis The scenarios were the implementation of a policy to improve sustainability and occurrence of unexpected events through changes of biophysical and economic factors. The scenario of the sustainability improving policy is defined as introduction of a high yield variety of upland rice and maize including introduction of mango to the households who currently only produce annual crops. Unexpected events due to the change of biophysical factors were simulated with a drought and rain increasing scenario. A decreasing crop price scenario represented an unexpected event due to the change of an economic factor. Implementation of proposed sustainability improvement policy The results show that the sustainability in the study area is obviously improved; represented by an increase of the PI value with a positive trend over time. In addition, the SIs of many indicators increase in this scenario, except the SI of household saving, which was rather constant. The PI of economic indicators improves with a higher number of households in the sustainable class when considering the household income, net farm income and household capital indicators. For the social condition, PI and SI values of food security increase because of a reduced rice deficit. For the environmental condition, the PI value of the environmental indicators increases because of a reduction of soil erosion and a longer fallow periods. It can be concluded that this scenario provides a policy option which potentially leads to an improvement of the sustainability situation in the study area. Drought scenario The results show that the study area was still unsustainable similar to the baseline scenario. However, the results show a slightly better PI during drought with a higher value and a slower decrease over time. These are the effects of the trade-offs between the indicators. The top-soil erosion indicator (influenced by decreasing rain) becomes better. This positive effect compensates for the negative effects regarding household savings, food security and fallow period indicators ? which all declined. In addition, the simulation results presented the adaptation and reaction of farm agents to drought. Drought is perceived and causes a delay in planting to avoid damage. This induced a variation of the planted area. However, the variation becomes lower because of adaptation as the farm households learn from their experiences. During drought, an increase in the rice and maize deficiency occurred. The average amount of borrowed rice increased over time and the rice acquisition of the farm agents is performed by borrowing from the village rice bank and neighbours In addition, the farm agents acquire maize by collecting wild vegetables to feed their animals. Furthermore, the results indicate the ability of the farm households to cope with and to recover to some extent from a drought. Rain increasing scenario In this scenario, the study area was still unsustainable, similar to the baseline. However, for this scenario, the top-soil erosion is worse because of the increasing rainfall. The PI of economic indicators slightly increased in the first year with increasing rain because of the rising income from livestock production. However, this was caused by random effects influencing the model?s initial stage. For the social condition, there are only small random changes compared to the baseline scenario. For the environmental condition, the PI and SIs of environmental indicators become worse due to an increase of top-soil erosion. Price decreasing scenario The results show that the area?s sustainability is worse compared to the baseline. A reduction of the crop price directly affects household income and cash ? which consequently generates a cash deficit problem. However, due to the area characteristics and household behaviour, there is no effect on resource use because prices do not influence the farm agents? decision making. The PI of this scenario declines faster than in the baseline. This was affected by the decrease of the SIs of the economic indicators which decreased during the periods of the price fall. The households are confronted with a decline in cash which results in a deficiency of cash. Cash acquisition of the households is performed by selling livestock and borrowing from the village fund and neighbours. For the social and environmental condition, there are only small changes due to random effects. Policy recommendations Based on the study results, policies to improve sustainability of the study area farming systems are recommended. Firstly, to improve the area?s sustainability, the introduction of high yield variety of upland rice and maize with conservation practices as well as the introduction of mango to the farm households who currently produce only annual crops is recommended. Secondly, diverting research efforts to develop cash crop alternatives is required in order to improve household cash income. Thirdly, the promotion and support for raising livestock and off-farm activities, such as weaving and the development of tourism, should be performed in order to increase household cash income. Fourthly, awareness raising measures for stakeholders concerning environmental and resource protection have to be executed and achieved. For this, the CatchScapeFS model can be used as a tool to promote a common view between stakeholders. Fifthly, the introduction of birth control in this area is also necessary. Simultaneously, an understanding of households? regarding the effects of population growth should be created in order to obtain the villagers? cooperation without cultural conflicts. Recommendations for further research Guidelines for further studies and applications are recommended. Firstly, development of the model to be more realistic could be undertaken by representing more details of the systems, for example, introducing a nutrient soil dynamic model. However, this should be based on the considered research question (s) and should consider both the marginal benefits and marginal costs of development. Secondly, application of the CatchScapeFS model to other study areas would need to consider the compatibility of the model components and structure of the characteristics in the new study area. In addition, if applied to new areas the indicators to represent sustainability of the study area should be revised. Thirdly, applications following this study framework can be extended to different sustainability approaches ? such as sustainable rural livelihood or sustainable land management. However, the compatibility and relationship of the indicators with the study framework should be considered. Fourthly, a framework through application of object-oriented modelling is recommended as an alternative for further studies to investigate the consequences of policy interventions. However, resource requirements for any research application should be taken into account. Fifthly, the CatchScapeFS model can be used as a tool to test and monitor the effects of potential policies which can be implemented into Bor Krai village. Also, the model can be used as a tool to promote a common view of the overall village systems as well as to support collective decision making managed by stakeholders of the systems. Recommendations for newcomers to MAS application research Suggestions from the present study for newcomers have been proposed. The first recommendation to deal with the MAS application research is that newcomers have to learn the computer programs and programming. Learning programming with advice of programming experts at the beginning period and attention of newcomers to apply the code in different circumstances are highly recommended. Secondly, development of an integrated model in multidisciplinary research requires learning the academic knowledge from other disciplines. Therefore, determining the study objectives within the possible extent, introducing assumptions to simplify the additional disciplines, and consulting specialists to learn the required knowledge within a short time frame are suggested. Lastly, the development of integrated model requires a huge amount of data. Therefore, in the case which required data cannot be obtained, introducing assumptions based on theory and literature is recommended.