Title of document:  Agroecology: A Global Paradigm to Challenge Mainstream Industrial Agriculture Authors: Hector Valenzuela Journal’s name if any:  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Global level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: agroecology; agrobiodiversity; biodiversity; farming systems; organic farming; ecological farming; soil management, convention agriculture meet the basic sustainability criteria…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any): Summary:  Considerable controversy continues to exist in scientific and policy circles about how to tackle issues of global hunger, malnutrition, and rural economic decline, as well as environmental issues, such as biodiversity loss and climate change adaptation. On the one hand, powerful vested interests, with close ties to government, media, and academic institutions, propose high-input technology-based solutions, speculative and neoliberal “market-based” solutions, and export-oriented agricultural models. On the other hand, an international scientific and grassroots Food Movement has emerged, calling for a redesign of the Global Food System in support of small-scale agroecological farming systems. A call to re-evaluate our current Food Systems was made in 2008 by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). Here, using the IAASTD study as a backdrop, we review the recent literature to outline key contentious points in the controversy between the need for high-input and “techno-based” versus agroecological farming models. A critical assessment is made of proposed strategies to protect soil resources, improve nutrient and energy cycles, protect agrobiodiversity, and promote social well-being in rural communities. With an increase in the number of affluent consumers (i.e., the middle class) in the developing world, and with the continued problem of extreme and chronic poverty with other larger sectors of society, Organic Farming and Agroecology models are put forward as a sound social, scientific, and rural development strategy.   Read More

Title of document:  Habitat eradication and cropland intensification may reduce parasitoid diversity and natural pest control services in annual crop fields Authors: Deborah K. Letourneau, Sara G. Bothwell Allen, Robert R. Kula,  Michael J. Sharkey, John O. Stireman III Journal’s name if any: Elementa  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation:  Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, United States ;  Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, c/o National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, United States ; Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, United States ;  Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, United State Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Global level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Organic vegetable, parasitoid richnes, Insect sampling, identification, and host range determinations, Habitat elimination around farms and parasitoid diversity……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary:  California’s central coast differs from many agricultural areas in the U.S., which feature large tracts of monoculture production fields and relatively simple landscapes. Known as the nation’s salad bowl, and producing up to 90% of U.S. production of lettuces, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, this region is a mosaic of fresh vegetable fields, coastal meadow, chaparral shrubs, riparian and woodland habitat. We tested for relationships between the percent cover of crops, riparian and other natural landscape vegetation and the species richness of parasitic wasps and flies foraging in crops, such as broccoli, kale and cauliflower, and interpreted our results with respect to the decrease in natural habitat and increase in cropland cover prompted by a local microbial contamination event in 2006. Our key results are that: (1) as cropland cover in the landscape increased, fewer species of parasitoids were captured in the crop field, (2) parasitoid richness overall was positively associated with the amount of riparian and other natural vegetation in the surrounding 500m, (3) different groups of parasitoids were associated with unique types of natural vegetation, and (4) parasitism rates of sentinel cabbage aphid and cabbage looper pests were correlated with landscape vegetation features according to which parasitoids caused the mortality. Although individual species of parasitoids may thrive in landscapes that are predominantly short season crops, the robust associations found in this study across specialist and generalist parasitoids and different taxa (tachinid flies, ichneumon wasps, braconid wasps) shows that recent food safety practices targeting removal of natural vegetation around vegetable fields in an attempt to eliminate wildlife may harm natural enemy communities and reduce ecosystem services. We argue that enhancing biological diversity is a key goal for transforming agroecosystems for future productivity, sustainability and public health.   Read More

Title of document:  Finding alternatives to swidden agriculture: does agroforestry improve livelihood options and reduce pressure on existing forest? Authors: Syed Ajijur Rahman . Jette Bredahl Jacobsen . John Robert Healey . James M. Roshetko . Terry Sunderland Journal’s name if any:  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation:  Forest and Nature for Society (FONASO, initiated by the Erasmus Mundus programme of the European Commission to enhance and promote European higher education throughout the world) and Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Bangor University, University of Copenhagen, and ICRAF Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: National Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Agroforestry, adoption Income, Social potential, Forest protection, Policy support ……) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary:  Swidden cultivation can contribute to deforestation and land degradation, which can subsequently result in a number of serious environmental problems. This paper examines the economic and social potential of agroforestry systems and the barriers to their widespread adoption, as a land use alternative to swidden cultivation, which may potentially help protect local forest. The Gunung Salak valley in West Java, Indonesia is presented as a case study. Based on farmers’ and experts’ assessment, costs and benefits have been estimated, which show that the two investigated agroforestry systems have higher net present value and benefit-cost ratio (B/C) than the two swidden cultivation systems. Tree ownership also creates more permanent rights to farmland and is prestigious in the community. Agroforestry products (fruit, vegetables etc.) have high monetary value and help strengthen social cohesion when shared with neighbors. However, farmers are reluctant to implement agroforestry. Stated reasons are related to both culture and capacity. Farmers practicing agroforestry are less involved in forest clearing and forest products collection than swidden farmers indicating that it may contribute positively to conservation of local forests. Increasing the adoption of agroforestry farming in the study area will require support to overcome capacity constraints.   Read More

Title of document: Alder trees enhance crop productivity and soil microbial biomass in tea plantations Authors: P.E. Mortimer, H. Gui, J. Xu, C. Zhang, E. Barrios, K.D. Hyde, Journal’s name if any: Applied Soil Ecology  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Key Laboratory of Plant Biodiversity and Biogeography of East Asia (KLPB), Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, China; World Agroforestry Centre, East and Central Asia, Kunming, China;  School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand;  Changning Forest Ownership Management Service Center, Baoshang, Yunnan, China; World Agroforestry Centre, Headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Global level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Agrofoestry, Alnus nepalensis, Crop productivity, Soil bacterial, soil fungi and tea monoculture…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary:  Monoculture farming systems lead to soils depleted of nutrients and diminished microbial functional diversity, disrupting processes crucial to maintaining soil health. The planting of trees in these monoculture systems is one way to improve soil nutrition and biodiversity. Therefore, the objective was how planting the N-fixing tree Alnus nepalensis (7 years old), into monoculture tea (camellia sinensis var, assamica) plantation (32 years old), influences the soil fungal and bacterial communities, and how this impacts on tea productivity. Soil samples (0-15, 15-30, 30-60 cm depths) were collected from plantations of monoculture tea and tea interplanted with A. Nepalensis trees. The samples were analyzed for basic soil properties and nutrients. Phospholipid fatty-acid analyses were conducted on the soil samples to determine the microbial functional groups and biomass of bacterial and fungal communities. Biomass of soil fungi and bacteria were 41% and 10% higher in the tea + A. nepalensis sites than in the tea monoculture sites, respectively. These higher levels were recorded despite there being no changes in the diversity of the soil fungi and bacteria, or the soil nutrition, between the different sites. Tea productivity increased between 52% and 72%, and is attributed to the increases in the soil community biomass. Ectomycorrhizal biomass, as well as Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and actinomycetes bacterial biomass, all increased ranging from 10% to 83%. These groups of organisms have been shown to contain plant growth promoting characteristics, contributing toward increased crop productivity. We provide clear evidence that A. nepalensis in tea plantations promotes the growth and development of the soil microbial communities and that this impacts on above ground productivity. This study highlights the benefits of introducing N-fixing tree species, such as A. nepalensis, into monoculture systems, and how this relates tosoil health and harvest yield.   Applied Soil Ecology addresses the role of soil organisms and their interactions in relation to: agricultural productivity, nutrient cycling and other soil processes, the maintenance of soil structure and fertility, the impact of human activities and xenobiotics on soil ecosystems and bio (techno) logical control of soil-inhabiting pests, diseases and weeds.   Read More

Title of document: Assessment of Rice IPM Practice and Inputs Authors: Roy Bateman and Le Cao Luong Journal’s name if any:  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation:  Farmers and Storekeepers in Dong Thap – A Province in the Mekong Delta Region of Viet Nam. Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: National level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Action thresholds, Natural enemies and biological control agent, IPM strategy, crop protection product, spraying practice and application equipment…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary:  1.       A greatly improved training infrastructure is needed on pesticide science as part of the integrated pest management (IPM) curriculum: for farmers, spray contractors, retailers and agricultural colleges. Key weaknesses include the apparent confusion, by both store-keepers and farmers, about mode of action (MoA) with mode of dose transfer: in which case the prospects for effective IRM are fairly bleak. Products with questionable AI mixtures are a registration issue that should be addressed. Farmer ‘cocktails’ and late-season applications are also a significant problem. A curriculum for responsible selection and use of crop protection products is given, covering important health-related and technical issues such as: MoA, resistance, resurgence, residues (the ‘three Rs’), the importance of pre-harvest intervals and rational application techniques. 2. Pesticide application: existing practices are unsafe and inefficient. Most (>99 %) farmers and contractors walk into their own spray, with virtually all farmers relying on PPE as their ‘first line of defence’. The design of spraying equipment contributes to very inefficient application. Engineering solutions might involve the introduction of tail-booms and specifying equipment capable of using international nozzles, which would both improve safety and save famers money: both for labour (work rate) and more efficient use of PPPs. Volume application rates in post-tillering rice average 400 L/ha, but it is technically feasible to reduce this substantially, with commensurate reduction of inputs: thus potentially making the work attractive to farmers and attainable within a medium-term project. In the longer term, adoption of international (e.g. FAO, ISO) standards and higher-level training and research are needed in this area. We suggest the formation a national (or regional) pesticide application unit, possibly in the form of a University-based lab, be set-up to address these issues. 3. Only a small minority of farmers in Đồng Tháp even claim province practice IPM (84% reported that they do not) and most farmers evidently are spraying unnecessarily. Most farmers spray their fields merely on incidence of pests, or preventatively. An especially common insect thus treated is the rice leaf-roller, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis, with a large number of products specifically registered for this ‘pest’. Similar levels of BPH were reported by farmers (92% in Winter-Spring, 84% in Summer-Autumn crop); rice blast is the principal disease and Echinochloa spp. are the most important weeds. We suggest that it time to seriously re-evaluate the role of action thresholds as part of a realistic IPM strategy for the main rice pests and introduce clear, simple guide-lines for farmers: agreed by major stake-holders and conforming to a code of practice.   Maintaining awareness of natural enemies is needed – especially for younger farmers in the post-1990s IPM-FFS generation, who are influenced by intensive advertising on the TV and elsewhere. However, a substantial minority (46%) are aware of natural enemies (NE) in their fields and a few farmers know about a wide range of NE. More than 80% of farmers claimed to use ‘selective pesticides’ (the question refers to all categories). However, biopesticides (if fermentation products are excluded) enjoy on a tiny proportion of the market: slow action and storage issues were frequently alluded-to as constraints, but as above, we discuss the need for realistic guide-lines for use and better training.   Read More

Title of document: The Role of Pesticides in SE Asian Rice IPN; A view from the Mekong Delta Authors: Roy Bateman, ForestFloorLodge, Cát Tiên National Park, Viê.t Nam Journal’s name if any:  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation:. Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute, CropLife International, GIZ, Nong Lam University and the Plant Protection Department Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: ASIA Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Rice, Integrated Pest Management, responsible pesticide use, efficient spray application, action threshold, brown planthopper, blast disease, farmer and retail training …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary:  Pesticide application remains an important component of rice pest management in Việt Nam and responsible use should be integrated back into a strategy of good agricultural practices. Crucial skills that need to be fostered include: better product selection with safe and efficient application; the role of action thresholds must also be re-considered. With such an important crop, strategies for good management perhaps inevitably become rather political in nature, with perverse consequences at the technical level. In many rice growing countries (besides VN) it is possible to identify where improvements may be made to pest management practices. There are a number of common issues, that sometimes become conflated and adopting an ‘anti-pesticide’ stance is not helpful: much better, surely, to adopt a set of rules where pesticides are truly used judiciously and as a last resort, on the understanding that a preventative approach is the basis of IPM. Over the coming years we intend to put this into practice.   Read More

Title of document:  DEMAND FOR ORGANIC AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS IN CHIANG MAI Authors: Manawin Songkroh (Ph.D.) Journal’s name if any:  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation:  Maejo University  Chiang Mai, Thailand Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: National level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: Organic agriculture product, market opportunity, organic product demand …) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary: This study aims to confirm relationship of determinants of demand for organic agriculture products in Chiang Mai. Self-administerred questionnaires was sent out to respondents in Chiang Mai and Lampang. Data analysis was done by multiple regression analysis. The results prove demand theory of determinants but various degree of importance. For application of the results, producers should provide more information regarding consuming organic products to increase demand and to consumer with higher income as they tend to consumer more organic food than those of lower income consumers. Nowadays, demand for organic products has been increased as consumers realizes the benefits of having good health in the long run. The production of organic products experiences with higher production cost. Regular production utilizes the chemicals pesticide while organic producers choose to use other more expensive methods. Nevertheless, the growth of organic product recently has made the industry experienced with external economics of scale resulting in the lower cost of organic product industry.   The author strongly recommend that producers should increase demand by providing more information regarding benefits to consumers including benefits on protecting environment. This should stimulate demand as Taste has the highest degree of 0.28 (the second biggest). The 0.29 Income infers that marketing of organic products must be targeted at higher income level consumers to ensure the increase of demand. Determinants of price and price of complimentary products confirm demand theory; and there is no use of managerial perspective. In sum, to increase organic products demand, information about benefits of consuming it must be publicized as much as possible and to higher income consumers.   Read More

Title of document: Integrated Pest Management for Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture in Asia and Africa. Authors: Jules Pretty; and Zareen Pervez Bharucha. Journal’s name if any:  Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Biological Sciences and Essex Sustainability Institute, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, UK; Department of Sociology and Essex Sustainability Institute, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, UK Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Global level Main issues / topics addressed (for example: farmer field schools; integrated pest management; social capital; sustainable intensification; resilience…) School of agroecology (if any): Web address to original document (if any):  Summary:  Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a leading complement and alternative to synthetic pesticides and a form of sustainable intensification with particular importance for tropical smallholders. Global pesticide use has grown over the past 20 years to 3.5 billion kg/year, amounting to a global market worth $45 billion. The external costs of pesticides are $4–$19 (€3–15) per kg of active ingredient applied, suggesting that IPM approaches that result in lower pesticide use will benefit, not only farmers, but also wider environments and human health. Evidence for IPM’s impacts on pesticide use and yields remains patchy. We contribute an evaluation using data from 85 IPM projects from 24 countries of Asia and Africa implemented over the past twenty years. Analysing outcomes on productivity and reliance on pesticides, we find a mean yield increase across projects and crops of 40.9% (SD 72.3), combined with a decline in pesticide use to 30.7% (SD 34.9) compared with baseline. A total of 35 of 115 (30%) crop combinations resulted in a transition to zero pesticide use. We assess successes in four types of IPM projects, and find that at least 50% of pesticide use is not needed in most agroecosystems. Nonetheless, policy support for IPM is relatively rare, counter-interventions from pesticide industry common, and the IPM challenge never done as pests, diseases and weeds evolve and move.   Crop pests, diseases and weeds pose a substantial challenge to global food security, poverty alleviation and agricultural livelihoods. Approaches of IPM provide an array of methods by which damage can be reduced. We have demonstrated that for farmers across Asia and Africa, IPM projects have been able to deliver substantial reductions in pesticide use coupled with increased yields. Reduced reliance on synthetic pesticides delivers a range of on- and off-farm benefits, including savings, improved public health and improved natural capital on and around farms.   Read More

Title of document: Agroecological and agroforestry practices in tropical wet zones Authors: A collective work coordinated by Justine Scholle (GRET) Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: GRET Year of publication: 2017 Geographic focus: Mekong Region and Central Africa Summary: This guide is designed as a support tool for technicians and farmers involved in actions to promote and develop agroecology. It is a follow-up to a first technical guide published in 2014 in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the DEFIV project, a food security project implemented by GRET, funded by the European Union and Agence française de développement. This guide features two parts: The first part presents the current context and issues of agroecology in tropical wet regions. Having demonstrated the limits of conventional agricultural systems, analysed the effects of deforestation, the green revolution and climate change, the authors specify the objectives and the principles of agroecology, and remind readers of the conditions necessary to promote it. The second part is very operational and covers the various agroecological techniques, which were tested in a tropical wet context with satisfying results in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DEFIV project), Cambodia (APICI project) and Myanmar (Delta and NRS projects). Firstly, the various agroecological techniques are presented, and secondly the plants used to implement these techniques are described. Naturally, techniques such as plant inventories mentioned in this guide are not exhaustive.   Read More

Title of document: Composite farming systems in an era of change: Nagaland, Northeast India. Authors: Malcolm Cairns and Harold Brookfield Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Anthropology, School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra A.C.T., Australia. Year of publication: 2011 Geographic focus: India Summary: Composite farming systems, first clearly identified by Rambo, are those in which radically different technologies are found together in a single farming complex. Data from diaries kept by groups of farming families in two Angami Naga villages in northeast India, Khonoma and smaller Tsiesema, detailing inputs into and outputs from wet-rice terraces and jhum (swidden) fields in the years 2000 and 2001, are presented and discussed to detail the workings of related but different composite systems. The 2000–2001 survey caught an important set of changes in midstream. Although returns to labour from the first-year jhums were much higher than those from the wet-rice terraces in 2000–2001, jhums were declining in significance as a growing non-farm economy joined the production of cool-climate vegetables and a spice crop for the Indian market as principal sources of livelihood. This story is told in the light of recent writing on the demise of swidden in the larger Southeast Asian region, and it is suggested that greater attention be paid to the composite systems, which are not uncommon in this region. This might help diversify what has perhaps been an oversimplified discussion.   Read More